One word... WOW! Today went almost exactly as I had planned in the previous weeks leading up to the event. I got all my belongings together on the night prior to the event. I had checklists to make sure I didn't forget anything. I got up around 4:50 AM and left around 6:15ish. Like I anticipated, getting up in the morning was the most difficult part. Once I was up, I felt good to go. We arrived at the Kmart parking lot at about 6:30 AM and I shoved off around 6:45ish. It was real easy to find the start line and I checked in on the previous day, so I didn't have to check in on the ride day. I arrived at the start line around 10 minutes ahead of time and got somewhere in the middle of the field. The ride started in mass, no waves, just one gigantor field. When the ride started the pace was fast from the start. I didn't anticipate this. I thought it was going to be an easy start and then have the pace pick up. We made it to Woodford-Teh. in good time. I was drafting in the field, so I was able to go that much faster. I felt a bit squirly, not having pack experience for a while. There was a bit of confusion on the right hand on to Woodford-Teh. Fortunately, no casualties. Like I anticipated, there was a bit of congestion going past white pine, being that there were 3 different routes. Making my way up to the top of the descent, it felt very familiar, almost exactly like my training rides, but with the benefit of the draft. I think the most dangerous part of the ride was going down to Keene. Being that it had twists and turns and steep, I was a bit jittery in some places. Up until this point, people were cutting in and out of the left lane. Soon enough, I arrived at the base of the climb and started to make my way up the climb. I was somewhere in the 1st half of the field, maybe just a bit further back. I knew how to pace myself for a ride of this duration. I found myself being able to stay within my limits and not go through many matches at that time. There were people spread out all over the climb, mostly 2 cyclists wide and a lot of single file. I was able to make my way through the pack, so I probably advanced further to the front of the pack. Reaching the top was a relief, knowing that this was the most difficult climb of the day. The next thing on my agenda was to feed and stop. My original plan was to stop at one of the dirt streets just over the summit. I ended up going further because there were people there and I was feeling ok at that time. I ended up going through OTR and stopping near the route 202 intersection. I stopped for about 3 or 4 minutes, fed half a power bar and then commenced. Banducci was no different than any of my training rides. It's all about pacing it over the wall, recovering over the plateau and then pushing on over the summit. My body continued to feel good at this time and I was able to stretch my legs and back as I was going through the plateau section. My next thoughts were about the next feed stop. I was going to stop at one of the corners of the Banducci descent, but there were people taking photos and videos. I started to think where I was going to stop. I was feeling good, my legs felt fresh, so I decided to make my way to SS and find a place to feed. The way out to SS was mostly moderate tempo, I was able to draft a few times. As I created the summit, I looked for a place to stop. The mailbox drive through had people, so I continued and found a nice cross street to pull over and have the remaining half of the power bar. I knew there was a rest stop just down the road, past the tunnel, so I made my way there. At that point, I had consumed most of my fluids. Fortunately, they had just what I wanted. Water and Gatorade. I refilled the bottles and continued within about 3 minutes. At that time, I felt like I had to take a nature break. I ended up going to the quickie mart and using their rest-room. No lines, nice and clean. Could not have been better. At this point, I had in my mind that I made it past the most difficult parts. I continued back east to Pelliser, and eventually to CVR. From this point on, the field started to spread out. I did not see any packs greater than a few people. Not what I expected. I was wondering where the elite riders were. I was expecting to see a field of elite riders while I was making my way to SS. Not the case, no where to be seen. The wind conditions, at this time was modest. This was good for average speed, but not fast time splits. The next section was the mystery loop around Bear Valley. I didn't know what was beyond the gate, I paced myself accordingly, knowing that there was an uphill section just passed the entry gate. It turned out to be a wall of a climb that was somewhere in the 1 to 2 mile range, really difficult to gauge in my mind right now. I know that I was slowed down to a crawl and I was doing everything I could to put power into the pedals, fortunately I found my rythm and crested the summit of that section. There was one bit of confusion as I went through the downhill portion. There was a right hand turn, into a residential area. There were 2 arrows pointing right, and then there was a green arrow pointing straight. I didn't know what to do, so I followed the arrow that went straight. I saw some people emerge from the right hand turn, so I've no clue if I went through the correct path. Nevertheless, I didn't gain or lose time by making this choice. The downhill was very nice and a welcome reprieve. There were about 3 sections of challenging uphills. It felt like 3 Banducci climbs clustered together. I put in my mind that when I make it past these uphills that I was going to have a nice downhill and only one last modest climb remaining. The next thing in my mind was where to stop and feed again. I decided not to stop, but I ate 2 fig bars while climbing. I felt good overalll at this point. My thighs were burning just a bit and my hips were a bit sore too. I was able to make it over the summit with a bit of a push. About 1 or 2 minutes through the CVR plateau, I noticed that my Gopro camera had stopped recording. It was around 3:30 hours into the ride. This was the perfect opportunity to stop and there was a nice turnout. I replaced the battery and SD card and shoved off just as quick. My legs had a bit of a reprieve, so I was able to increase the pace just a bit. My body felt good overall with some feeling of exhaustion. The last challenge was getting through Highline and the 1 mile climb. I had some matches to burn, so I put them into the last uphill. I think I passed a few people. Over the top, it was like my training rides. A brisk tailwind that was a welcome at this point. There was one last rest stop just before the left turn into town. I grabbed a bottle of water, but it into my bottles and took off. I was able to do good tempo for the remainder of Highline. After that, it was just making the last few miles back into town. The winds were mild and I was doing around 18mph most of the way back. I still had some reserves left in the legs, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I was in no danger of bonking or over exhaustion. Overall it was a well calculated ride. With no mishaps. Concentration was real good. There was always something to see and focus on, and that helped the time go by very fast. Balance was good, but not great at times. Still some work to be done there. Gear was 100% today. No flats, or any mishaps. I ended up riding solo to the finish and my time was around 4:24 hours. They announced my name and there was an applause. The announcer called out my name and where I came from, Tehachapi. I think the applause was especially greater given that I was a local rider. I received a medallion, but no official time print-out, which doesn't matter to me, since I have the time showed on one of my Gopro videos. A fantastic day and ride!

I received an Email that included my Results.
I wore Bib #427
Age: 41 Male
Time 4:24:53 Hours
Pace 15.2 MPH (Average)
Overall Place: 17 / 119 | 14%
Age Group: M 1-99
Age Group Place: 16 / 97 | 16.5%

Other notes: About my right knee. I think that I forgot to mention that it was sore the night prior to the ride. I had it on ice for a few days. When I was going up the Keene climb, it started to get a bit sore, but got better as the ride went on. After reaching the summit, the soreness went away and never resurfaced during the ride. My new Pearlizumi shorts worked great. I'm so glad that I chose to wear bibs, the added comfort made it 1 less thing to worry about.

After checking the results, I noticed that they have changed:

Overall: 17 / 140 | 12.1%
Age Group: 16 / 111 | 14.4%

Now I need to update my photos.