So, there you have it. All done! Of our little group I had certainly done the least amount of preparation for this ride, and it certainly showed, but I still managed to ride the whole way relatively strong. Up until StP this year, my longest ride was around 70 miles. I think I only had about 5 rides over 50 miles total. My longest back to back ride was probably 30/30. That being said, my predictions going into the ride were pretty accurate.

On day 1 all went well for the first 60 miles or so. The group start was a bit nerve wracking. I think my highest heart rate of the ride was just sprinting around groups of people in the first 5 miles of the ride. Once we got out of Seattle I was feeling pretty good. At one point I watched Tom sprint up a hill. Once I got to the top I tried to catch him, not knowing he had pulled over to the side to wait for the rest of us. I spent the next 10 miles or so cruising along at 19-20mph wondering how he managed to get so far ahead. Eventually will caught up to me and joked about me going off the front so early. That's when I found out Tom was behind me. After that we all settled in to a nice easy pace and everything was uneventful until shortly after lunch when I popped a spoke. This is the third spoke I've broken now, I'm thinking I'm just too big (not that I'm *that* big! 6' 1", 200lbs) to be riding low spoke count wheels. Thankfully the next rest stop was only 6 miles away and I was able to cruise in and get it fixed.

As I predicted, I didn't really start to suffer until around mile 70. Luckily right around the time I was getting tired of turning the cranks we hit the little bike path which had a nice gradual descent that let me recoup a bit. As always someone in the group was willing to put up with my slow pace and keep me company, and make sure I wasn't dying. It was usually Sam, but at various points over the two days everyone took some time to slow up and ride with me when I started to drop off a bit. My theory is I was just a convenient excuse for them to rest a bit. I was more than happy to provide them with the excuse.

All said and done, I felt pretty good at the end of the day. Didn't ride as strong as some, but I was pleased enough.