Wow, I thought day 2 was a hell of lot easier than day one. Even with the hills! In my neck of Houston I have nothing to climb except overpasses (on Sunday, when the plant workers aren't going to work) and I didn't do much climbing training. But the wind day 1... I didn't hear much about wrecks/bike issues day 1, tons on day 2, but day 2 was a million times easier for this first timer. I was really impressed by the support (coming into Austin and even in the small towns) of people encouraging riders! The "dualing banjos fiddle band" on the side of the road playing was quit entertaining. Wish I had pulled over and took a picture with them. Ran into some single speed riders. And unicycles. And a guy that had a prosthetic leg cruising up hills and battling wind. No matter how tired/sore/butt hurt I was. I wasn't going to stop. Very motivating weekend. Already looking forward to next year!