First off, I forgot my arm warmers so I used my knee warmers on my arms. It was around 37 degrees but it warmed up fast and I was only cold for the descent down the pavement from Unicoi gap, which didn't last long, other than that I was comfortable. I was surprised by the chunky gravel climbs on this route, and the short section of singletrack, and the numerous steep hills added up to a lot of elevation fast. It was easy to write off the second half of the route as simply rolling, but it was filled with short but challenging climbs and technical descents. Rode with three and then four other guys the whole ride, and we worked together fairly well. I had a puncture towards the end of the second timed segment, but thankfully sealant did its job and I only had to add more air with my pump and was on my way. It was good to be with others on the pavement, but they took a really long time at the rest stops. Had I not had trouble with my garmin not finding satellites at the beginning till sometime after Unicoi gap, I might not have had my off course moments and might've just soloed to the finish. But anyway it was a good race. Harder than expected. Perfect sunny weather and super fast rolling gravel. My garmin was all screwy at the beginning so this route file came from my phone which I had recording the ride as backup.