It was a wonderful ride. I started just north of Tully and rolled in with 98.3 miles on my Garmin. I debated riding another 1.7 miles to bag my first century but am less OCD these days and didn't want to brave an extra loop with the traffic around the finish in La Grange. The tailwind made a huge difference, and I ended up averaging 2 mph faster than my usual pace on training rides even with the substantially greater distance. The last 5 miles as we turned into the wind on the final approach to La Grange were a reminder of how tough the ride would have been under normal circumstances. I have to admit that I was nervous before the ride because the longest ride I had done before was in the 65 mile range (last year's MS 150) and it was hard to imagine tacking on an extra 30-35 miles, particularly when my training this year was less than ideal. But I took it easy, had a huge tailwind pushing me along, and riding with a big group of people the entire way made it less of a grind.

The rest stops were a lot of fun - lots of loud music, energy, and snacks. The volunteers were terrific - very friendly and encouraging. Snow cones at the Deloitte stop were awesome. If I could figure out how to get all of my fluid intake via snow cone, I'd never have to worry about dehydration. Fayetteville was just as great as people told me. The residents were out in full force cheering everyone on, and riding through a storm of bubbles created by a bubble-making machine picked me up even though I was starting to tire. And, as usual, the people cheering along the route who had MS or family/friends with MS thanking us for riding were an inspiration and helped make it a very special day for me.

In a way, I'm glad the second day was canceled. It's been frustrating that each of the two years I've signed up for the MS 150, one of the days has been canceled, but I can now say that I've done the MS 150 - it just took me a year. I also think the organizers, faced with a hard decision, made the right one. Riding in the rain, especially heavy rain, would have been dangerous with riders of all skill levels riding so closely together. Braking at intersections and - at one point - a 90 degree left turn right at the bottom of a hill would have resulted in a number of individual and group crashes, I'm sure. While it would be nice to say I rode the complete MS 150, it's ultimately about the cause and I'm happy to have participated, shortened ride or not.