It was an INCREDIBLE ride.
1900 in attendance, and Bud and I were at the back of the 100k pack. Took quite a while to get towards the front of the pack, even adding in a near 50m/hr descent on the first big downhill. Lots of really good cyclists out there, and it took a lot of work to keep the pacelines from dogging us too much. There was one dude on a trike with yellow foam wheelfairings that was cutting through the lines like a hot knife through butter, and Bud and I stayed on his heels until he fell behind us the first big hill. We saw Eddie too, being a traitor and riding a df!
We saw no bents once we got towards the front of the groups, though one Aero passed us while we were taking a break at the 40mi rest stop and we never saw him again, so he either stayed ahead or we leapfrogged him at a rest stop we passed.
We spent miles 40-60 playing tag with a spinning instructor with short shorts and a tied-up tank top so you could see her belly button ring. Took some of the sting out those ridiculously big hills. There was MAYBE a half mile of flat road the entire 100k. It was tough enough that I started to hate the downhills because I knew I was just gonna have to climb back up the darn things.
Lots of great scenery, including a little stopover in a small downtown that had buildings from the late 1800s, a farm that had a Cadillac Ranch thing going but with Volkwagon Beetles instead of caddies, and bicycle art along one fence out in the middle of nowhere.
The route was tough. I had thought all the tough hills were in the first 20 miles, so when we stood at 20mph average for that section, I thought we were the nuts. I had a cow when he hit a couple WALLS later in the ride. We still made it up all the hills though - many roadies were walking, and one was kneeling and puking their guts out. I'll swear I about to black out once or twice myself.
The great thing, was that the rally price came with free admission to the germanfest and 2 free beers, or in my case, 1 beer and 1 margarita. Coupled with a couple bratwursts, it turned out to be a great post-ride good time. The people were extremely friendly. Walking into the festival grounds someone gave us extra drink tickets they couldn't use (maybe we just look like we needed a drink badly!), and We got hit on twice. After spending all my money on brats, I didn't know I couldn't use my drink tickets in the food tent, and when I wanted a tea, I discovered I didn't have any more cash on me, and someone in the crowd just handed a fistful of change to Bud for me.
My wife joined us at the food pavillion when I started into the second brat, which i handed over. After Bud left we went back for a brat and veggie plate (ummm, red cabbage saurkraut) , followed up with some strudel. We hung around talking to people and taking in the scene until 6pm or so.
Just a great day all around. These rallies are really nice when you have something to do afterwards other than load the bikes and go home.
I'll close out the report with a pic of Bud I snapped at mile 40.