Really the hardest part, especially the last day was just getting on the bike. And I think that everyone really inspired each other to keep going. A person gets into a 'We're all in this together' kind of mode. Everyone looks after each other. It was nice.

It is important to keep in mind how your own body is feeling. But, on the hard days we just set small goals and then re-evaluated the situation to see if we should continue. Fortunately on the rain day the wind shifted and the rain stopped. And on the really bad windy day that was ALL headwind, I'm glad that I could see that everyone was having trouble and sometimes it is okay to quit. In fact it's sometimes stupid not to.

There's a fine line between stuborness and stupidity, I find.

I did walk over several railroad tracks this year. There were a few that were angled like the ones that I crashed on last year.

Tuckerville: Good for you for making the 40 miles! Playing in the water exhausts me too. There's a 16 year old kid/guy that bikes with our group on organized rides. He's into triathalons. We did a 70 mile day Monday and he's like, "I should go swimming or running or something." It was about enough to make me puke. Good for him though.