Entirely different than last year as line work was almost negligible. I think I was in worse shape, but 8.75 hours and 7500 vf almost-alone will do that to you. At 80 miles I reeled thinking of 3 more hours. I ate everything i had, didn’t quit only cause there was no alternative, still surprised i didn’t just topple over empty.

The ground was lush. The big climb at mile 53 started at 93 degrees, but was 63 at the top as a thunderstorm roiled before us.   We waited 10 min for it to blow past the road we hit 10 min later, and continued to skirt storms for 6 hours, the worst we got were spray off the roads and a little sprinkle.