It was cold at the start. Low 40's. When we started, it was tough to get the heart and muscles going. I don't like the cold. It seemed that I was the last rider after about 3 miles. It was still very cold and my body wasn't yet warmed up and hadn't fallen into a rhythm yet at 35 minutes into the ride. At 25 miles into the ride, I finally took off the jacket and leg warmers since we were starting to climb the mountain to Bisbee. I passed a mountain bike rider part way up the mountain and stayed ahead of him the rest of the day. I was surprised that the climb up to Bisbee wasn't that bad. It stayed mostly in the 3% gradient or less. I knew that there was steeper stuff near the top of the hill, but that turned out to be above Bisbee. It was steep! There was about a mile or two that had gradients between 8% and 10%. Some people think the steepest part is in the tunnel at Mule Pass, but since I was in a tunnel, my GPS lost signal. I think the steepest part was about a mile before the tunnel. Going down the other side most of it was spent above 50 mph - and this was coasting to terminal velocity. At 50 miles in, I stopped at an Aid station to get a water refill and use the toilet. There was a cattle guard just before it which I was very careful when I crossed. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the gravel when exiting the road and I laid my bike over. I could feel a raspberry on my left hip and could see that I had some minor scratches on my left forearm, but it didn't seem too bad. However, the thing that was irreparable was my bent handlebars. I could see a crease on the inner top side. I was afraid if I tried to straighten them, they could fail and break. So, the next 45 miles were ridden with bent handlebars. I found out that there were two people behind me, and no more. I had averaged about 12 mph so far, including up and over the mountain. I was planning on making up a lot of time on Davis Rd as it is 25 miles of level to mildly downhill. Then Arizona 191 would head south, but the maps all said to expect head winds on that section. So I figured, I could raise my average to at least 13.5 mph and perhaps even to 15 mph. I started out and soon found out that there was a very strong head wind - and it continued for all 25 miles, with gusts now and again to better cause havoc. At 66 miles, or 16 miles into the struggle against the head wind, I passed 5 people, then shortly after that I passed another 2. Now, that meant that I was faster than 9 people. But the head winds were unrelenting. Even though I thought I as rationing my strength well (I was keeping my heart rate in zone 2), I couldn't keep up the 16 mph to 18 mph that I had been doing. I dropped down to about 10 mph. At 75 miles, the intersection of Davis Rd. and AZ 191, there was another Aid station I stopped at. While there, 4 of the people I had passed showed up. Two just as I was leaving, and two very quickly after I arrived. One of these was a gentleman riding a hand cycle! By the way, he had stayed ahead of me for 66 miles of the race. However, the wind was wrecking havoc on everybody. One person took off just as I went to use the toilet, then I took off. He probably had a 1/4 mile lead on me, by my uneducated guess of how far it looked he was ahead of me. It didn't take long for me to catch and pass him. The next 20 miles were into a cross wind. I was able to maintain about 12 mph to 14 mph. At 5 miles to go, I turned off AZ 191 and headed toward the fairgrounds. At this time I caught up to another rider and passed him. I was not very far ahead of him as I turned south for the last 2 miles. I put everything I had into it and built a 4 minute lead by the time I crossed the finish line. I crossed the finish line doing about 28 mph because of a last minute burst to get the best time possible. After getting off my bike, I noted the following: 1) My knees did not hurt. The only time during the entire ride was a very short time after stopping at the 50 mile aid station. Once I loosened up again, no further pain. 2) I didn't have to battle foot numbness during the ride. There was only about a 10 minute period where I was beginning to feel some numbness and was afraid it might hit. 3) My only soreness was my left hip and left forearm where I had taken that spill at the aid station (They still hurt several hours later by the way), and a little chafing where my clothes didn't fit as nicely as they should have. 4) I was tired! I was hungry! I was glad my wife was driving us the 100 miles home. 5) I need new handle bars.