Awesome thread, guys.
I'm 36, and finally got back on the roadie last year, after many years of t.v., beer, Winston Lights, and griping about not being able to afford a decent bike.
But, yeah, that tailwind was kickass on the way back. It was when we started heading North, on whatever highway that is on the other side of the lake, the one that eventually goes past Camp Williams. But it is a little hilly, nothing big, just small ups and downs. But those downs with that huge wind pushing along, put me up that fast a few times, with very little effort.
I was mostly impressed with the other riders. Yeah, there were a couple snobs, but mostly people were cool, and I had made a new riding buddy every fifteen miles or so. One guy made fun of my touring shoes, but so what, I made fun of most of the people that passed me calling them, "DOPER!!!" It cracked up most of them.
I have no idea how many people actually finished. But I did see a lot of flats, and a TON of people getting sagged up the course.