I was very impressed (and humbled) by many of the folks I saw on the ride: big ones, tiny ones (the kids on the tandems), etc. Did you see the guy with one leg and no prosthesis?! Now THAT'S hardcore.

BC, your brother's story is very motivational. You SHOULD be proud of him. My hubby just started riding about 1.5 yrs ago after never really doing anything "athletic" in his life and he has had a similar experience. I fully expect him to be leaving me in the dust by the end of this summer. I'm very happy he has fallen so hard for cycling as it sounds like your brother has.

Sidebar re: Solvang: I finally got around to cleaning up my bike last night and lo and behold! The seat post is cracked. I know exactly where it happened: on the downhill of the first of the big hills in the last 15 miles. The pavement was really bad and I was going faster than I had any business going.

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