Larry, I stayed with the main group, or rode off the front of it at times, for the first loop (121.9 miles). My power dropped to a crawl for 48 miles on the first and second laps of loop 2, the 24-mile loop. I thought I had burned myself out on the first loop. I could barely make it up the hills. I was feeling so bad, I thought I was going to have to drop out. At the rest stop, I covered myself in wet towels from an ice bucket and sucked down some cold drinks. Then I went out for third lap on loop 2. It turns out that I had been suffering from heat exhaustion. It was 91 degrees, and I wasn't paying much attention to the heat. After cooling my core, my power went back up to virtually unlimited. I felt like a jet plane. I was flying on the uphills. I was blowing past people like they were standing still. A guy in green, who had passed me earlier when I was at turtle speed, yelled, "Awe, come on!" as I passed him at 35 mph. After the first loop of 122 miles and then four laps of loop 2 (96 more miles), I started the third loop, which is 7.6 miles per lap. I did 11 laps of loop 3. A storm was rolling in and it started pouring so hard, it was painful on my face and arms. I could barely see between the torrential rain and the glare. There was a lot of lightning getting close. They stopped the event around midnight because of the storm. I had 301.5 miles in by then, but I should have had more. The storm appeared to be never ending on the radar, so I decided to pack it in. I wasn't going to set any records anyway due to my 48 miles at turtle speed and an unpredictable storm delay. And I didn't feel like trying to sleep on the cold, hard hallway floor while I was soaking wet and caffeinated. Four hours later, the event started up again. But I was showered and fast asleep in my own bed by then. When I woke up, I was ravenous. I ate, and ate, and ate some more. That's the best part. Then I took a vacation day on Monday, layed around, ate a lot more, and watched movies. Next year, I'll be paying better attention to the heat. This spring was so cold, I didn't get heat acclimated in time. Of course, next year, you and Kevin will be back to share the fun. Can't wait!
