I love this ride. The climbing into the hidden valleys and great vistas in northern MA and southern-most VT area superb. I think it's the prettiest century that I have done. Perfect day for this ride: a front had gone through early this morning, bringing a little rain, but most importantly, bringing a NW wind to the course, especially that part in the Connecticut River Valley for the afternoon. Saw the constellation Orion while driving on Rt 2 near Orange at 5:30am, so I knew the skies were clear. Got to the start with ample time, but found that my newly installed rear wheel was flat: the tube had leaked, so had to replace the tube before the start. Was a little rushed getting all set, but managed to set out with the century riders at 7am. It was cool, with relatively low humidity, in the low 50's, but opted not to wear arm warmers, which in retrospect was a mistake. I could have used them on the descents for the hilly bits. In any event, got on with the climbing from the outset, which means that you warm up, sheltered in the trees. You climbing at about 1-2% for 7 miles, then 3-5% for 5 miles. Probably went out a little fast, as I got out in front of a group of riders from the Northampton Cycling Club, but ultimately they caught me after the first rest stop on the second big climb. I opted to stay with them as we went up to Vermont, and we turned out to be a pretty. well-matched group. After we turned south and descended the second hill and got onto Rt 112, we had a stiff tailwind and we had a smoking pace line going, doing 26 mph for 10 miles. The climb from Colrain was hard as always, but just got a PR. We had a nice climb up to the second rest stop at the apple farm that overlooks Greenfield and has a stunning view up into southern NH and Monadnock. After a couple of punch 10-12% short climbs, we got the descent into the Connecticut River Valley at Greenfield to the third rest stop. I opted to stay with the group of 8 riders as we were working well together and I wanted company for the last 35 miles. The Valley leg had a nice amount of the ride along the bike path in Turners Falls, which is a nice way to skirt the busy streets and nice way to to stay along the Connecticut River. Then we turned south and just ripped along the floodplain averaging 23 mph for 10 miles to Sunderland. It felt like such a gift. We picked up John Poikenen along the way and he got on the pace line and went with us all the way to the finish. We were a little more subdued after we crossed back to the west side of the Connecticut River through Hatfield and Northampton. We got onto the bike path and had some nasty interactions with drivers as we crossed streets on the bike path. We took it really easy after that. Had a nice chat with Catherine, the co-founder of Bike Reg on the bike path. As always, I was totally tired at the end, but it was very gratifying to have done it with such a nice group and with such a stiff tailwind. That was a gift. The buffet lunch and the craft beer in cans was a welcome reward for the hardest one-day effort of the year