Objective - was shooting for a finish somewhere between 16-18 hours riding tempo (140-150 bpm's to a maximum 160). Official times just posted (https://www.jumpertrax.com/1851/results/10398). I finished 31st overall and 4th in the Master's category with a time of 17:40:32. Had a mech issue when a stick got caught in my chain and cassette when riding through a vineyard at the 59 km mark. Took a while to untangle the chain in the dark - and so much for the new drivetrain - spent the rest of the ride with the gears constantly slipping and making a horrible grinding sound.... Monica will b e thrilled - NOT! I was with a good fast rider when it happened, so really gunned it to catch back up 6 km later (I saw my heart rate hit 173 bpm's on the Garmin. But I had to do it to get back on pace. Very congested at the start - and hard to see with the dust in the pitch dark (I had 2 good lights, plus a little spare that got me through the dark - just a sliver of a moon). When I was alone or leading a peloton I concentrated on watching the bushes on the sides of the road so I could tell if there was a bend or sharp turn on the gravel roads. A lot like driving in heavy fog where your lights just reflect back at you. Fred from Ride Life George was manning the 2nd checkpoint and said I was in the top 16 riders to come through out of 1,000. I was right on target for averaging 22 km/hr at both checkpoints 1