A little delayed updating my notes for this ride. Needed a bit of downtime from the trip overall…but here we are a week later :) This was the main event! Had a fantastic two weeks riding in Colorado leading up to this and so excited to be doing this ride with Sara and William which they suggested we do together eight months ago. All the planning had come together and everything went so smoothly. Weather was fantastic. Roads on the route were mostly pristine and scenic. Very rural, rolling and tree lined. Cool to start and warmed up nicely by about mile 40 or so. Sara and Will might feel a little different about that, but between the heat in Phoenix and Denver prior to coming out, I loved it. Events like this are always fun, being around so many people all brought together for the love of cycling (its probably better just to assume they all love it) and all the eye candy (bikes and gear I get to drool over), that I can't help but stare at. On top of that, to experience it with Sara and Will for their first time as they dive into the abyss of the sport and get hooked (That was my Pacific coast tie in), was an extra splash of ocean bliss for the day (over the top, sure, but it was worth it). Anyway, well done ride overall. Volunteers were all fantastic. Route markings were minimal, but all worked out. Especially since the route was available and downloadable to GPS units. Parking was a bit of a cluster, but mostly just getting in and out. I think they did what they could to make it work out and it did. I wasn't thrilled about not being able to pick up my registration the day before the event, but even that worked out fine. No line to get my packet the morning of. Aid stations were all well manned and stocked overall. I never felt like I was missing anything. Dig the rhubarb pie at the last aid station. That was a first. William gave us a valuable lesson on cows early on. Really appreciated that. Then during the discussion and trying to figure out the importance of brown cows, another rider chimed in as we were passing to say "Chocolate Milk" duh! Feeling good on the ride overall. Glad I did the riding in Colorado in the weeks prior. Still on the big climb of the day, I could not keep up with Sara and Will. Thought I had it but about half way up Sara and Will just pedaled by. Stung a bit, but impressed and couldn't help by smile watching them go. Speaking of stinging (the bees found me), after the big climb and starting the decent on the other side we rode past a bunch of wild flowers along the side of the road. They seemed to have bees all around them. Could feel them hit me as they bounced off while picking up speed on the downhill. Felt one hit my collarbone that left a mark (you know, stung). William was trying to convince me that bees just naturally hurt when they fly into you at speed. Sure, okay. I've been nursing that welt for a week now and it's just now going away. Something occurred to me while I was trying to keep the bike upright and the pedals turning on that climb…I am used to riding roads built for snow country. They switch back and twist and turn as they climb, but in warm temperate climates that don't have to worry about snow and ice, they can just build the roads straight up the mountain. No need to worry about vehicles sliding backwards due to ice and it's probably cheaper since it takes less road to get to the same location at the top. Not sure if that is accurate or not, but I'd like to think the engineers that designed these steep roads on the coast without any switchbacks in them had some reasoning aside from torturing the motor-less. The end is near…couple short hills that we kept thinking shouldn't be there. The last one gave us a glimpse of the parking lot. Think we were ready for that. Rolling in feeling energized at the completion of what we set out to do for the day. Timed it pretty well somehow, Becky and Steve had just parked again and were standing along the road to the finish area when we rolled past them. We stopped to say hi, then remembered we still had to finish. All three of us crossed the finish line together, safely and smiling! Happy days. The event organizers put on a nice post ride event. Good food options, beer and music. Tired but felt good overall. Sitting at a picnic table with Becky, Steve, Sara and Will, a beer and a hefty bean burrito, I felt something bothering me in the front of my jersey. Tapping around before rolling up the bottom of my jersey. It appeared I had a hitchhiker for that last 10mi of the ride. A bee feel out and onto the ground, still kicking a bit, I imagine wondering "WTF!" El Tour de Tucson…here we come!