Three races started in Alpine simultaneously Saturday morning--a 1000 miler, a 383 miler, and a 208 miler (which was really a 196 miler). I was in the 208 that went from Alpine to Lajitas and back. We started in the dark, and luckily I was able to start when one of my three headlights worked--ugh! Up through the mountains we went and into the fog and rain from that hurricane that hit Mexico. Downhills were very scary with wet roads and gusty sidewinds at 40+ mph. I literally screamed at the bottom of some of the hills thinking I was going down. This was made worse by my eyewear fogging up so I had to take them off. I found that raindrops begin to sting at 33mph and hurt at 35mph in tightly squinted eyes.  I had to walk my bike up two of the hills going down to Lajitas. I was hoping some powerful drug lord down there would see my bike and just steal it from me. But, I made the turn and headed back. The rain stopped, but it continued to be coold. I finally stopped ten miles from the finish and put on a wool flannel shirt that I could not even button up because my fingers wouldn't work. I reached 47mph coming down the mountain to finish the race. Incredibly scary since my headlight didn't work and I would work my way out of my follow vehicle's headlight beams going around curves. Unbelievable! Finished in 14 hours 14 minutes. My wife and family were able to follow the race online with live stats like elevation, current speed, average speed, place, etc. Dex Tooke, the race director, did the best job of anybody I know of organizing this HUGE bike race. As a matter of fact, the 1000 mile race is still going on!!!

Way to go Reever.  Congrats on pushing through.

Mr. Wizard, the roads themselves were in good shape--no potholes, cracks or rough spots. The only bad thing was the pooling of water and water running across the road. I'll also tell you guys this. On the way down to Lajitas I had my seat all the way reclined, thinking aerodynamically. That absolutely killed me on the hills! On the way back I moved the seat more upright and also moved the "J" handlebars up to give me more maneuverability, and the difficulty climbing those hills lessened a lot. I don't think I'll go extremely reclined again unless I'm on a perfectly flat course.

That's a seriously impressive race with solid numbers!  I'm impressed and can't wait to maybe team up next year!