What a long, hard ride! The beauty was worth it.

Starting from my house was easy. Mostly flat, along bike path, until McMenamin's Edgefield Winery. The Half Iron Team wanted to finish at approximately the same time, so I started late since I'm theoretically faster. From Edgefield, we worked our way down the Historic Highway for a short distance before heading south and east toward the Bull Run Watershed. There were 3 total climbs out, which also somehow had 3 just has hard climbs back, for a total of about 3400 feet of elevation gain.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/or/...

I think I was just a bit low on caloric intake. As I finished the ride, I chose my easiest gear for the last 1/2 mile to cool down. It was almost impossible for me to get above 85 rpm on level ground which meant I was pretty gassed.