On the fund-raising side, 290 people raised $176,000. I thought that was pretty cool.

The organizers have mapped out an optional 25 mile loop for people who might want to do a century either/both days. My plan was to do the minimum (150) regardless, and consider one or more centuries, depending on how I felt. The extra mileage loops begin near the end of each days ride, so you can make the call based on how you feel at that point.

Well, this is my first MS ride, so I wasn't up on the details. I rode the 75 (actually 77) miles the first day, and at the end was feeling too good to stop, and it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. So I asked one of the support people, "okay, where's the century??" "Oh, you sign up for that at the last rest stop." Well the last rest stop was only about 6 miles back, so I went, signed up, and rode the extra loop. The total was ~114 miles. If a metric century is 100 kilometers, I guess this would be a nautical century... 100 nautical miles. The second day was less eventful. I did my homework so I would know where to start the century loop.

There were a lot of factors that contributed to completing 215 miles. First, there were tons of rest stops and support. Hydration and energy food were never issues. Second, the weather was darn-near perfect, and it was a point-to-point ride, with a tail-wind most of the way both days! Third, the second day I was riding with a group for the first 50 miles and we were able to paceline, which reduced the effort and made the miles go by quickly. All in all, it doesn't get much better!