The Plan: /ridewithgps.com/routes/18378004 Big hill out of Keene for about 15 miles, then downish the rest of the way. I was not ready at 7 and Nancy, Anne and Mark left (perhaps Doug too, although he may have been with another group). That was probably good for me because I had been holding them back badly the last 2 days. And I would have been struggling to keep up. A couple of miles out of town, before big hill, I noticed a rider, Mike Cavanagh, heading back towards the start and then turning around. Turns out he was trying to get extra miles to do a century every day. He turned out to be one of several Angels I met this day. I could climb at his rate, because he was heavy and we rode together or in close proximity for a lot of the climb. It was nice to have someone in view. Of course, on the downhills he powered ahead quite rapidly. A few miles later Peter and Jessica Jenkins (young Pfizer couple) came up and I was able to draft them a lot to the first stop. My second set of Angels. During all of this I kept telling myself not to panic, take chances or overstress. But it had to be a conscious effort. One of the highlights of the trip was to be Lost Lake Rd in the Groton area. Except for one small thing - I really don't like that road, but can tolerate it once or twice a season. But I knew I could bypass it on Rt 225 and pick up further down the way - but it did mean going "rogue" and being off-course with no way for the sags to find me. Or even worse, if they decided to look for me, then they would feel under pressure. That went back and forth several times. It turned out I found a way to do it that cut out only 2-3 miles and was on roads they had arrowed in prior years and did not bypass any of the controls. Finally, about 10 miles out I got picked up by the two Brits (the final pair of Angels) who had 2 other fellows in a very tight paceline and they were going at a pace I could maintain, and I got in cleanly at the end. Made amends with Nancy, Anne and Mark about missing them at the start and they were just as happy because they could fly. I did hang around to ring the cow bell for the final rider (one other rider waited as well) She was a good hour+ after I got in. Speed 14.5, climb 3856 Overall a good experience. Post Ride - On Sunday 2 days later, my bike had a funny noise - but no Eric to diagnose it. Sounded like it was on/near the rack/fenders. Lo and behold - a tie wrapped bell Hmm. When did Eric put it there?