From the Condor website:

After last year’s ride, we invited our participants to give us some comments on how to make the next Condor Classic an even better event. We received a couple of hundred responses and we read each one. We are keeping what you liked best and we made some changes to make the ride more enjoyable and safer for everyone...

...To help with the wind situation, we will be running the course in the opposite direction, which will allow the ride home to be more protected in case the wind should come up. Also by running the event the other direction, we will avoid the vehicle traffic going up Cienega grade to the Hollister Hills Off Road Park.