Started about 11 minutes ahead of the fast 6AM group (adjusting for the 7 min. I lost going back to the hostel to retrieve my reading glasses), and it took them less than an hour (soon after the turn onto Old Sherwin Grade Rd) to pass me, after which I was DFL until well after the lunch stop in Lee Vining. I rode solo all day, and did catch up to some riders at the lunch stop, notably David Slaten who was having a rough time of it coming back from a long layoff due to injury. (On top of that, his knee was barking something fierce, but he took his Vitamin-I and persevered!) I spent a lengthy amount of time at that stop, > 30 min., and also stopped or slowed down from time to time to take a picture, but was really not going very fast. I had checked and saw that Holy Smokes, where the post-ride dinner was located, normally closed at 9PM, and I realized I was going to have to work hard to make it there before 9! I picked up my level of effort on the climb to Sagehen Summit, and was then surprised by the perceived difficulty of the last, long climb Wildrose - at the top of which I caught Shelby, Loren and Rick. I was hit by some heavy rain, with a little hail, on the last third of the June Lake Loop, and then much heavier rain from just after passing Tom's Place on the return and particularly the descent from Sherwin Summit down the 395. I ended up taking the #2 traffic lane and pretty much bombed down the 10+ mile grade, passing Vic Cooper's group on the way down. That rain let up at the bottom of the grade, and I had largely dried off by the finish, which came after an easy 10 mile run-in. I made well before 9 and hustled over to Holy Smokes for dinner at 8:40, only to discover that they were staying open an extra hour for us. LOL. Got my tri-tip, though! :-D Last comment: this route has more expansion cracks in the pavement than the old route, and I'm getting more crabby about riding over these things with the constant insult to my wrists every 1-2 seconds for lengthy periods. Might be enough to drive me towards a rando bike with 43mm tires! LOL.