Rolled out from the start in the self-seeded 16-18mph group and quickly found myself moving up past people in the same seed group. I was feeling good and just riding my ride, looking for a group I might fall in with. Then the 10 mile stop came and I helped myself to some Tomato/Basil Quiches. Yummo! Nice breakfast treat. After leaving the 10 mile rest stop, found myself in the mix in a large hard-working group rotating pulls in the paceline (with a few persistent wheel suckers staying at the back). Maybe 15 people or so, all of us cruising around 24-25 mph or so. That lasted for about 20 miles when I realized that the pacing would be unsustainable for me for the full route and so I pulled the ripcord on my inclusion in the group with about 3 or 4 miles to go until Rest Stop #2 at Borderview Farm (better to voluntarily drop off than to completely blow up, get dropped, and suffer the rest of the ride horribly). It turns out, most of that group fell apart right at Rest Stop 2, maybe I should've hung on a bit longer... It had been lightly drizzling for about 30 minutes by the time I got to Borderview Farm where we enjoyed perhaps THE most delicious strawberries I've ever had...so ripe, juicy & sweet, bursting with flavor! and some home made tortilla chips and homemade salsas (corn/bean, green & red salsas...all fantastic, and very welcome savory item to cut through the sweet stuff). After rolling away from Borderview is then the rain REALLY started as I made my way Isle La Motte. The Isle La Motte rest stop at Hall Home Place was fantastic. Festive Volunteer Host Group, amazing cider donuts and ICE CIDER (so good!) tasters, poured by the head cider brewer himself. (I later made my way to a local market to buy a bottle for myself before getting on the highway toward home. Really delicious stuff!). By this stop, the rain was getting a little old, and I put my arm warmers to stay warm, not knowing when it would subside. After rolling away from Hall Home Place, I fell in (somewhat) with a small group from Team Kermit PMC group who were very nice, although very quiet, and ultimately trucking along at a slower pace than I had been going. I eventually ended up rolling off the front and away although they never really got TOO far behind...a few minutes at most at any given time. I would see them at every remaining stop for the rest of the ride, pulling in as I would roll away. By the time I got to Stop #4 (the name escapes me. A children's group, and a barn where some young girls did a dance routine. They had fresh peaches and the most delicious blueberry cheesecake tarts with buttercream frosting), the rain had stopped, the sun had come out, and the temperature shot up by about 20 degrees. It got pretty hot and humid, and the wind was beginning to really increase in stregth, very sustained. I removed my arm and leg warmers and got going again. By the time I reached Rest Stop 5 with hand made pizza slices, and jugs of pickle juice (POTENT STUFF!) I was just about starting to feel it. My average up to this point was about 18.9mph which was WELL BEYOND what I planned on, and well beyond pacing that I've maintained for other rides of similar length this year. My legs were starting to whisper at me "be careful...I can ruin your day if you don't play nice". The road leading up to this stop was fully into a headwind which really made the push difficult. Thankfully, we turned away from the headwind and into a side-wind not long after this stop. It was a wind that would only continue, mostly to the side or into my face, for the remainder of the ride (all but the final 2 miles). Rest Stop 6 was super festive. Kids singing Karaoke, one kid dressed up as a Giraffe in the middle of the road. Home made apple crumble and Island Ice Cream. It kinda brought me back to life as I savored it while sitting in the grass under the shade of a pop up tent. I could have sat there all day enjoying that cold, sweet deliciousness. Seriously...that apple crumble and ice cream came at a very good time. The sugar was just the boost I needed for the final push. The novelty of the sun, wind and heat had long since worn off and I was beginning to fade pretty badly. My average pace had gone from 18.9 to about 18.4 in the last 10 miles and I was just focusing on maintaining as best as I could. Pride goeth before a fall, right? Rolling from Stop 6, back into the HARD headwind for a long straight several mile stretch really put the hurt on me, but finally...FINALLY! a turn came where the wind was at my back...it was the final 2 miles back to Snow Farm Vineyards and the Finish. This man needs a beer! Rounding the bend on a slight incline as Snow Farm Vineyard came into view, I could see staff with flags cheering riders in and, determined to push to the very end and finish strong. With about 200 meters to go, my left leg completely seized up on me! I mean...100% inoperable. I had to keep it bone straight and slightly kicked out sideways or it would just keep clamping down on me. So, I literally rolled through the cheering squad and finish line garrison doing a single-leg pedaling drill I learned during the winter through TrainerRoad (form drill skills for the win!). I literally drained my own tank with an effort that got me right to the end...and not another mile more. I left it all out on the road up in those islands. I'm confident that it was my best possible effort for the distance. It was definitely a speed PR for the distance (not just the year, but ever, for me). Had it been a century...it would have been a speed PR for a century ride as well, by about 10 minutes or so. The after-party at Snow Farm Vineyards was great. Two couples who were both in that earlier "fast paceline working group" found me and we all ate together and talked about the day, other rides, life, etc. The meal was satisfyingly nourishing and the cold beer was exactly what I was looking forward to. The sun was blazing and life really couldn't have been better at that point. I lingered at long as I could, but with a 4 hour drive to get home, by 4pm, it was time to pack up and get out of dodge. All in all, a super good route, super fun day (the rain really didn't put a damper on it, for me, at all. Pun very intended), great staff and volunteers, amazing foods, friendly people to ride with and the speed PR was just the "icing" on the cake, not the actual goal itself. I really did come up with the intention of cruising it at my typical 16-17mph average. But...the day just came together at a higher level, and so I obliged. As a prequel to this ride...I spent the prior evening at the Vermont Brewers Association Festival at Waterfront Park in Burlington where I DEFINITELY indulged in as many of the fruits of Vermont's craft brewing culture as the ticket sellers would let me have, and on the drive TO Burlington...hit several breweries along the way (Hill Farmstead, The Alchemist, Burlington Beer Co., and Four Quarters). My body is spent...but my soul is nourished. Now I get to enjoy the afterglow for a day or two and then ask myself...."What's Next?"