75k--ha! Actually much closer to 100k. Marked this one down on my calendar early in the year. Left home after putting Harlow to bed and slept in the Mazda overnight at a "rustic" fishing camp just a couple miles from the start. Only $5 and that was fair. No facilities other than an outhouse I swore I was going to be murdered in! Slept surprisingly well. Cindy B had made the trek too and camped at the same place. It was raining heavily as my alarm went off in the morning. Thankfully that cleared after about 10 minutes and other than a few sprinkles while getting ready at the venue, that was it for precipitation. Met up with Cindy at the start and we started out together. There were about 140 riders in all, but we only started together with the riders doing the two longer distances--the shorter distances started a bit later. It was cloudy, cool, and damp in the morning, then started to warm up a bit too much as the sun came out later in day. The course was fabulous. Tremendously hard--look at the climbing!--but beautiful. Amazing views, some nice historic bridges, quaint farms, the usual neat abandoned buildings, etc. Gravel roads were nice. Some peanut buttery stuff early on, but it quickly became nicely tacky. Also a lot of the roads were fairly hard packed and the gravel pushed in because of all the oil/gas well traffic (lots of heavy trucks on the route). There was definitely more gravel on the first loop. Only one road was really gnarly--a descent of loose baby heads. Fast descents were the order of the day, but this one was one that demanded going slow. I felt pretty good the first loop. I ate at the first rest stop but then waited to eat until we returned to the start before starting the second loop and that was a mistake. As soon as we set out on the second loop I was hurting. Most of the climbs were not overly steep, though, so generally I could stay (very) slow and steady and keep going; there were only a few really steep sections I had to gut out (there were at least three single-speeders--masochists!). Ironically I think some of the steepest climbs were paved. Cramps started to threaten at about 10 miles to go but never fully came on thankfully. About this same time Cindy went ahead (she and I had ridden together the entire time until then) and I took a couple of small breaks to take electrolytes, eat, and socialize with some other riders. I didn't walk any climbs, though! All in all a great event. The route really was nice and the stacked loops make so much sense. I love being able to pick stuff up from the car at the halfway point. The rest stops were a problem for sure, though. They both only had bars and gels for food, even the start/finish where lunch hadn't arrived when we came through. No real food, even though they had said fruit and PB&J would be available. I was so glad I brought my own stuff! Lunch made up for it, though! What a delicious spread. I only wish I could have indulged in the whiskey tastings more! The start/finish also could use better bathrooms and some running water for cleaning up post-ride. It's definitely an event that should stick around. They seem to be intrigued to prove that it is harder than Hilly Billy. In some ways it was (more climbing per mile) but also wasn't (no epic "roads", maybe less gravel). They're talking about making it a race next year (boo) and adding a 100mile/10k route--insane!