Weather -- predicted to be hot and sunny with light winds. What we actually got: fog, mist, overcast, mist, high humidity, mist, rain with hail, mist, strong winds, mist, cold temps, MIST! It was nice, sunny, and warm for about 3 hours Saturday afternoon ... just enough time for me to get a sunburn. It was cold and wet with howling winds for the other 35 hours. The weather was a huge factor in the difficulty level of this 600K.

8 riders started at 6 am Saturday, July 3rd, in the mist, and pretty much hung together for the first 70 kms .... And then there were 7. The other rider had only planned to go that far, just for an early morning ride. I thought later that he was probably the smartest one of all of us.

We continued to the 100 km control, and were congratulating ourselves on our great time we were making. We were comfortably ahead of schedule -- the beautiful tailwind helped a lot! .... And then there were 5. Two of the riders, on a tandem, are very strong, so they took off and disappeared into the distance.

We headed back out into the mist again and this time we had an annoying crosswind which grew steadily stronger as we proceeded. .... And then there were 4. Not too far up the road one of the guys with us decided to take off and see if he could catch the tandem couple. To our surprise, he did and as far as I know rode with them the rest of the way. .... And then there were 3. Another 20 or 30 kms down the road another one of the guys, who rides a recumbent, decided the rest of us were going too slowly for him, and disappeared off the front.

During this stretch we encountered the only sun on the whole trip and two heavy rain storms -- the second included hail. Ouch! We also turned north -- into the wind.

After 10 kms into the wind we stopped at our second control and found the recumbent rider waiting for us. He indicated that he wasn't feeling 100% and had decided to slow down. And then there were 4! Back out onto the road again, and into the wind (and mist) for the next 80 kms. We were no longer congratulating ourselves on our time -- I was 1.5 hours behind my time from last year.

Our third control was in a tiny town -- the gas station I had stopped at last year was closed for the night so we found a bar and ventured inside. Thankfully it was occupied by friendly older people who were quite curious, in a nice way, about what we were doing. The staff even opened the kitchen for us and made us all wonderful toasted tomato, cheese and lettuce sandwiches which really hit the spot!

Unfortunately the recumbent rider really wasn't feeling very well, but after some debate he decided to continue. It was COLD (and misty) and we were all dressed in pretty much everything we brought with us, and the recumbent rider even borrowed some of mine (See!! It pays to bring as much stuff as I do!!). This is July -- and yet despite the fact that I had a heavy pair of socks, my neoprene ankle braces, shoes, and my booties on, my feet were painfully cold by the time the night was over.

Back into the dark and headwinds. The next 85 kms were extremely difficult. It was pitch dark -- no bright full moon (it was blocked by the clouds containing the mist), very cold, terribly windy, and misty. We couldn't get the speed much above 15 km/h, and the wind often knocked that speed even lower. To make matters worse, the recumbent rider was feeling sicker and sicker and we were stopping a lot for him because we couldn't leave him out there.

I varied between feeling quite strong (I usually do at night) and feeling so sleepy I desperately wanted to lie down for a nap. However, I ended up pulling a good deal of the way and I expended pretty much all the energy I had. That section was also very mentally defeating. The kilometers tick by so slowly, and it was all we could do to not just curl up in a fetal position in the ditch and quit. The mist was probably the main factor preventing us from doing that -- we would have gotten colder and wetter than we already were!!

You cannot imagine my joy at seeing the lights of the town we were heading toward appear on the horizon. The joy was damped slightly by the fact that the wind was so strong we had to pedal downhill toward the town, but nevertheless eventually we reached it and eventually we arrived at the hotel in which one couple had the foresite to book a room. .... And then there were 3. The recumbent rider decided to pack it in.

After a shower, having our clothing dried in the hotel laundry, and getting about an hour's sleep, I woke up feeling . . . quite nauseated. I had forgotten to eat before going to bed!! I spent the next couple hours easing myself back from my bonk, but I don't think I ever really caught up for the rest of the ride ... I had no energy and my legs felt like they were made of rubber for the remaining 200 kms.

I was feeling somewhat refreshed though, and the fact that the next 42 kms would be with a tailwind, was also an encouraging thought. That was the last we saw of tailwinds -- the remaining 160 or so kms were with a cross or headwind. 475 of the 610 kms were into a strong wind.

An additional encouragement was that the mist had finally dissipated and we only encountered a few brief patches of moisture the rest of the way. It was very overcast and cold though. I can hardly believe this is July!! We wore our balaclavas, full fingered gloves, tights, booties, long sleeved tops, and jackets most of the way back in -- I finally took my jacket off about 3 pm.

We left our sleeping control just as it closed, and spent the rest of the ride fighting to keep our speed up enough to try to make the controls before they closed, and with enough time that we could get something to eat. It is very frustrating to want to go faster, but all you can do is 17.5 km/h for hours and hours and hours on end, and there's nothing you can do to change that. I was beginning to think my computer was stuck!

The last 30 or so kms of the 600K are my "usual training route". I had been struggling a bit with dozing off on the bicycle during the early afternoon (that's my usual down time on these rides, and also sitting at work), but when I reached my training route, I perked right up! I was still riding into a headwind and my legs still felt like rubber so I coudn't increase my speed at all, but I felt much more awake.

Unfortunately I can't say I flew into the finish like I did last year but I made it!

Some additional points:

1. Back pain - I'm still experiencing back pain my rides, but I did notice something. It was worse when I was in a paceline. Interesting. I'm not sure what that means, but . . . interesting.

2. Saddle sores - I've only ever gotten saddle sores on three occasions. Oddly, all three of these occasions were on 600K rides. I'm not sure what it is about 600K rides! However I do know what caused the set I have now ... MIST!! Riding for 38 hours in wet shorts is bound to have some sort of negative effect no matter how much J&J's you use.

3. Owl - the one bright event on that miserable night was the owl that suddenly flew out of the woods right in front of us. I don't think I've ever seen one so close before. It scared me half to death because it was the middle of the night and I wasn't expecting it, but after I calmed down, I thought it was great!

And the stats:

610 kms

38 hours total time