Well, I'm not sure what the tailwind was down on the ground, but the day gave us a 50km/h tailwind, with gusts to 70 km/h.

At times on the open road, it truly did seem that there was no draft advantage (I was chasing, and making up ground way too easily on the pack, for example).

However, I wasn't spun out nearly as often as I thought I would be (I think the gravel surface, a majority of the course, was a factor in that), and whenever we were in the trees, there was certainly a noticeable draft advantage. Of course, it wasn't all tailwind, and it seemed that much of the open road riding happened in a cross-wind: that is a force to be respected!

Creakyknees called it: the race this year was wide-open compared to previous years' results, and I'd be willing to bet that the slogs through the mud were also a deciding factor in the results (again, no draft advantage, just pure muscle, skill, and nerves).

Personally, I was very happy with my effort, tied for 10th woman out of about 100 female finishers (despite taking a detour off-course at an unmarked junction). I think I'll be back next year to try to improve on that!