Quillfred, it is a gorgeous route. I sort of wish they held it in August or September when the weather is more likely to be good, and I'm not sure I'm ready (in fact, pretty sure I'm not), but I'm going to try it (I think) anyhow. Being local, I will always know where I am and can bail out & call someone to come get me! :-) How's that for a can-do attitude! Did the Ridge road today up to the tunnels. It is still COLD up there, but I was testing out some new granny gears on the back, and I LOVE them. It was a nice aerobic ride, for a change, rather than lactate threshold work! I'll try to remind for next year...the date seems to be about the same, I think.