Overall, the ride was a good experience.

However, the rides were not 35 and 45... they were 27 and 37. Apparently there was the same error last year and they forgot to change it this year. Ah well, it's a really cool route, I'll probably ride it myself again.

ALSO, The wind was HORRIBLE!! We really were fighting it for 3/4's the way. It was a SW wind, and it was a semi tail/cross wind on the way out, but then we were fighting it all the way back in to town. Miserable. So, by the time we were getting up to mile 25 or so and we're getting in to town and back to the start point part of me is like, "Wait a minute, I told people that I was going to ride 35 miles! I don't CARE if I have to fight the wind... I want to follow through, damn it!" But then the other part of me was like, "Oh thank God! I am ready to be done, it FELT like I just rode 35 miles!" So, I compromised. I went and ate my meal and then on my way home (my house was only a mile or so from the event site) I stuck in a few extra miles to finish out the route.

I found another woman to ride with. We were dropped by the pack right away. The woman I rode with had a hybrid type bike but with fatter tires than I have. There were a few times that I could've ridden on ahead a bit quicker, but it's good for morale to ride with someone else. I generally can deal with wind, at the time I didn't know that it was only a 27 mile ride (I've ridden 26) and I didn't know how I would react to the wind, distance and I didn't really know if there were many hills. So, I was perfectly content just taking our time. I was able to get to the top of the little hills quicker, though sometimes I would just zone out and plug away, I'd look back and she'd be a block or so behind me.

I was telling her about drafting, I generally just ride by myself, so I was curious to try it with this wind. I went first and she couldn't find the pocket. Then I tried to ride behind her and couldn't really tell a difference. Then when I reached the top of another incline I looked back and she was drafting behind the SAG vehicle. Good plan, I told her she was a cheater, I didn't mean it of course. I rode behind the car a little too, and it must've helped because we got above 10 mph for a bit. The driver said she wouldn't tell anybody.

But, I'm going to send this website to this other lady. She said she hadn't bothered to look for much online. She's been riding for a year or so and wants to do the MS150 next year, so I think she'd benefit a lot from the experiences of others on here.

I only just got my bike on July 23, I'm not quite to 350. I'm glad to have met a few other hobbyists in town. It was a fun morning... though it would've been an even more positive experience if we could've had a tailwind on the way home!!!