Where to start! Such an awesome event. This ride had everything. Super steep private tracks, loose and chunky gravel downhills, singletrack climbs, and my favorite part of the whole ride, a very flowy and fun singletrack downhill to a farm where we got to ride through a huge 100 foot long barn. And we got to do it twice! I made my way over to the start corral around 6:35am, and by that time I was pretty far back behind c several hundred riders. No worries, except I was very careful to try and avoid any crashes. Thankfully all was well at the start and inside of 10 miles we climbed a steep hill that broke up the field nicely. I was with people all day long, not always the same people but I usually had a group to ride with. First few climbs went by pretty quick and I started to settle into what I hoped would be a sustainable all day pace. As usual I was able to pass loads of people on the descents and gain time, whereas my climbing ability is not nearly as stellar so I mostly just tried to keep from blowing up too early. Highlights of the first 50 miles were North and South Summit Lake roads. Super curvy and pretty flat gravel, they were a blast. I rode with a few people each time and we rode at a reasonable, conversational pace. Towards the end of this section I stopped for the first time at an aid station and filled my bottles. It wasn't that hot but very humid so I was trying to drink lots. We next rode some interesting low traffic pavement in South Carolina, with a nice tree canopy, surrounded by land all owned by the Greenville water authority. Very pretty but the SC roads were super bumpy as expected. Soon after we made a sharp turn onto a private road that had extremely steep pitches with very loose large gravel. I had gotten dropped from a large group before this and since I was able to ride most of it, I caught up to lots of people who had to walk. Ultimately I had to get off too as the road became a super steep logging road, with only one line. Eventually we descended some grassy and extremely twisty singletrack through a big open field with great views. This was a blast. I decided to bypass the rest stop here as I had plenty of water, but this meant our group dwindled a lot. I rode with three other nice folks and we mostly stayed together till the first climb up Pinnacle mountain. This was extremely chunky and loose with lots of holes, and it was the longest climb of the day. It was also mentally hard to imagine having to do this it all over again on the second lap... Mercifully after a few false tops it ended and we were able to enjoy a nice gravel descent on Sky Valley road. We turned onto an extremely steep paved road that wasn't all that long, and at the top was the most fun of the day. A long descent on flowy singletrack. It was smooth enough to allow us to really make some speed and actually catch air a couple times. At the bottom we rode through the barn which had a band playing drums inside, and I was very glad to see the aid station nearby. I downed a coke and a few snacks and filled my water bottles again, and headed out through a grassy field through the farm to Staton road. This was easily the worst part of the ride. Nearby Dupont State Forest was absolutely packed and so the road was full of traffic, and there were two steep climbs on it to deal with, and it was getting pretty hot climbing in the sun. It was demoralizing to think we had to do it one more time. The next trip up Pinnacle mountain for the second lap took us on some brand new looking singletrack up a little knob, and then back down to the road. Soon after we took a right onto an extremely rough track, which brought us back out to Pinnacle mountain near the top. On the descent on the gravel Sky Valley road, I and another rider, Randy from Gadsden were passed suddenly by a Subaru. This really peeved me and I swore I'd pass it back on the next steeper descent. So I did, then it passed me again on a flat section, casting plumes of dust behind. Now I was determined. I caught back up on the next series of curves and passed it yet again, along with two other Jeeps, and I held a good gap to the next trip up to the top of the flowy singletrack. Got more water and coke and got going fast. The following climbs of Staton road were really wearing me down . I got passed by some Waffle riders but used the lovely descent down Cascade lake road gravel to get away again. I was alone through the valley to Jeter Mountain road, a beast of a climb. I really fell apart here and got passed by 7 riders. I passed a few on the descent but I had nothing really left in the tank and unfortunately there was another climb before the finish so I got passed back again, plus a couple more riders I hadn't seen in hours. I made it in to the finish on fumes and was very glad to be done. But I had a blast overall. Very well run event and I definitely got what I signed up for, a full day of suffering in western North Carolina. I'm pretty happy with how I did, 89th overall in a field of hundreds, 23rd in my age group. Definitely left everything out there.