Hi Pat
Thanks for your suggestions. 35 pounds lost sounds good to me. When you did your training before the ride, how did you know you were fit enough to take it on? Did you, like others have suggested do a lot of weekend and multi-day rides or did you follow a plan for "X" number of days? One other person in the ACA forum said the rolling hills of Missouri/VA are tough, can you give more details? I will check out your blog, thanks.
Gary