Well that went pretty well. Definitely not in the same shape of early August when we did the Covered Bridge Classic (66 miles) but did ok. Average speed was a lot faster than I expected; though, I did look down at the garmin at one point and realized I was well past 30 miles at the 2 hr mark and did the math. But didn't think that'd stick given the climbing from 30 onward. Contact points got unhappy about 36 miles in AND there was a pretty strong NE wind AND the last half of the route is where most of the climbing occurs AND there was no official rest stop after Mile 27 for said contact points. Made my own stop about 36 and then again around 45. Route was advertised as 1800 feet of climbing and by about 40 was starting to think about how much farther. What if I just break it off and go straight back the firehouse? Well. It got a little easier AND Garmin don't lie (too much), and it says there was 2500 feet of climbing when all was said and done -- and that seems about right, actually. Finally, woulda probably been easier/more fun with my own crew, but ... caught up to several small groups and hung off the back of them for awhile, but they weren't really going at a comfortable pace for me -- was riding the brakes on any little downhill, so off I went. After a week or two of August-like weather, we lucked out and got fall. Temps were cool enough to suggest a two-shirt start, which after about 10, led to one shirt, but even still, it was NOT hot nor humid and started out with zero wind... which, of course, changed later ...