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.  
 

We haven't heard from the others who did this ride. How many miles did you do, Eddie? Did you handle the hills ok? Ken, was that you I saw at the beginning next to the trike? Anyone else ride?

Quote from sstexex on May 1^st, 2007, 11:11am:

 
As a matter of fact, I do remember that pig.  
 
I'm still surprised at the number of riders who didn't make it up hills. Somewhere just past the halfway point, I mashed a bit too hard going up a hill and felt the beginning of a cramp. I knew then that spinning was my only choice for going up the hills, and made sure to keep my cadence up after that.

The aledo route had more climbing?  Are you sure?  Because I was MUCH more wiped out at the muenster ride, and I know for sure I'm in better shape, and it was 15 miles shorter than the Moritz....

Of course, feeling more wiped out might be explained by the 15.5mph average I did at Aledo, and the fact that Bud and I were near 21mph after the first hour of biking Muenster....