'Twas a fine day. We didn't get any wind the first 27 miles until we climbed Pistol Hill. It was chilly in the beginning (42 degrees) but a light windbreaker did the job. The sun was out, the line of 6 was tight (Barry, Terry, Larry, Ron, Steve and me) took turns leading to Vail.
-We were riding a section of the Tour De Tucson 2019 from Houghton to Sunrise so Barry and Terry could memorize the course and road conditions.
-Our major excitment was when Ron announced that his rear cassette cable had broken. No problem -- Larry and Terry turned the bike over, pulled the cable out of the sheath, tensioned the cable to put the cassette into 5th gear and tied a big fat knot against the biek frame so it could hold tension and keep the cassette in 5th gear for the rest of the ride home.
This was my first ride over 50 miles since last January and it was easily my longest ride of the year. But I survived because we basically kept the group together, kept the watts at a reasonable level, and therefore no one burned up. We still managed 17.3 mph. avg.