We chose to skip the first water stop at mile 20, and continued to the second water stop where we rehydrated and fueled up. I drank well on the bike, which is unusual for me, but I made it a point to continuously drink. The day got MUCH hotter as it went on, but riding at 17mph kept us cool - until we stopped. The lunch stop at mile 60 was emotional, as usual, what with all the pictures of the pedal partners lined up. I ate well, but got back onto the bike too soon. I didn't digest well enough. I ate peanut butter sandwiches, gel packs, and granola, and drank LOTS of water and gatorade. I felt like I stayed hydrated, and fueled well. I felt good getting off the bike and didn't feel as wasted as I did last year.

We stopped twice for extended periods - one to eat lunch, and one to visit with my friends family who had come to see us at a water stop.

Not much really. We tried to find solid riding groups, but it was really hard to find one. It seemed that whenever we got into a good pace line, it EXPLODED as soon as we hit a hill. With everyone wearing the same jerseys on Day 1, it was hard to tell who was part of a normal riding group, and who had just latched on. So, when we hit a hill, if you got stuck behind a hanger-on, they slowed instead of pounding up it. Thus the explosion at the hills. It's not really a race, but I did want to get along as quickly as we could. So doing things differently doesn't really count...

Got off bike, and went immediately to sign up for a free 15minute massage. Got our bags, took a shower, and then went for a beer and food.


Too many people on the road (there were 5000 riders who all left at the same time), and heat.


Overall, this is one of the most amazing events of any type. 5000+ riders, 2500+ voluteers, 2 days, all organized so well, people should write books about it. On top of that, we will most likely raise over $27million this year for cancer research.