I opted for the 1200k version and Mike was doing the 1300k. Right from the start my bike's front shifter was hard to press. I had to use my whole hand to get it to shift. This day started dry. Thankfully Mike shamed me during the shakedown that I would want to have fenders for this Day 1 ride. So after the shakedown I found a local bike shop, bought fenders, and had them install them. So started with fenders, to Mike's surprise. Started at 4am from a parking lot along the road just north of hotel. It was dark. Lost Mike and fast group about 3 miles in. Then it was Stephen and I and 2 others for about 10 miles. Not sure when I was dropped by Stephen. At 915am the rain started and it lasted all day, on and off. Lost Stephen a few miles before that as i was starting to run a bit short of fuel. Rode solo most of day after that. At mile 93 I finally put on my yellow wind breaker to help with the rain. Heading over to Niagara from there the rain stopped for a bit and then started again near Niagara. Then it was cloudy and ugly at the falls. Mile 107 - 119 was what Sonja and I drove from Niagara Falls to Rochester when we arrived. That was a long stretch along a busy road with a wide shoulder and rain. Niagara Falls was not croweded at all but the rain made pics a challenge. I enjoyed the ride up the Niagara Gorge and up along Lake Ontario. It seemed so much longer than I recalled. At 148.5 I saw this bar with tables to sit and they were not really open, so stopped there for 15 minutes to rest and eat my rollup with Oreos. Yummy. At mile 189.5 as I was about to get on the Lake ontario Pkwy some ride volunteers hailed me and said Pkwy was closed due to Giovanni being hit by a car. They routed me on a detour south of Pkwy. Gio was air-lifted out. Later from Mike I found out that this first section of Pkwy was full of holes and cracks. My detour ended at mile 205.6 where I rejoined the original route. My detour was a bit bumpy and sort of busy, but once back on main route it was quiet and smooth. 223-232 was a pretty ride. Along here is when it became completely dark. Long, wet day, yet plenty of quiet roads and nice scenery. Glad that was over.