The wife and I had a great time too! I'm so proud of her for sticking it out, especially with her knee pain. We got a little late of a start from Waller, about 8:45ish, and we took it pretty slow/medium for most of the day, taking breaks at the rest stops so she could recover and bio-freeze her knees lol. She made it 56 of the 76 miles and then took the SAG bus to La Grange, and she was proud of that and I was too. I blasted the remaining 20 miles, arriving at at the campgrounds around 5:30. Plenty of time to enjoy the waiting BBQ and relax. Neither of us slept very well overnight. The weather Saturday was beautiful, but the wind sucked and the heat was hard.
Sunday was tons better. Cooler, and less breezy, and the route itself was much better. I felt like the hills on Day 1 were much more substantial than on Day 2, with the exception of the handful right as you get into Austin. We were toward the back of the line starting, around 7:30-7:45 I bet. We rolled into Austin around 4:00. It was awesome. The wife made it the whole day yesterday, too, all 66 miles. We both felt pretty great.
It was an awesome experience and I can't wait to do it again next year.
I was astounded by how organized it was as well. Kudos to the volunteers and how everything ran like clockwork at the rest stops and in La Grange and Austin.
On day 1 we got stopped by the police after lunch I think - because they had to call in a chopper to medivac someone out. It landed right next to where they stopped us. Hope that person was OK. Then yesterday we got stopped at the top of a big hill because apparently someone got run over or there was a crash or something at the bottom - we never found out for sure.
As to the riding behavior, I agree, a lot to be desired from some people. Some people were great, others were typical roadies flying everywhere thinking they can swerve into the road and between people because, hey, they can't ruin their pace! But I will say many people did properly announce passing on the left, which was excellent.
Overall, great stuff. Will post some pictures later. Off to work, now!