Great event! This was the hardest cycling event I have ever done. I went too hard (and didn't eat or drink) in the first 78 miles (and it felt great!) so I had to back off for the remainder of the ride. It rained moderately hard for the first couple hours and was 47 degrees descending Foxen Canyon. I was comfortable in rain gear although slowed down by the floppy outerwear. I think I gained a couple mph extra speed after taking off the rain at mile 78. I attempted to make up for my lack of eating and drinking later in the ride. Around mile 140 (just after CP4) my stomach was not happy to have been stuffed and deprived of energy to digest that extra food. I was almost an hour ahead of my schedule at CP5, mile 164 and it started raining hard so I decided to wait for 45 minutes or so and let my stomach settle. The last 28 miles went well and I finished a few minutes after 9:00 which was slightly ahead of my plan. Start: 5:00am Finish: 9:07pm The good: Terrifically scenic route, great company during the ride (Bryan Patterson, Ron Ng, Steve Meichtry) The Bad: Rain, rain, go away, but the rain didn't define the ride The Terrible: After CP 5 a terrible stretch of bumpy "trail" and Ballard Canyon bumpy road in the last five miles All-in-all a great day! Funny extra: Megan was at the host hotel and watched the finishers. She noted that the folks coming in at 6:30pm looked like they had just gone for an easy-peasy ride. This was in great contrast to those coming in after 8:30pm who could barely get off their bikes and walk into the hotel lobby, lol