ouch...
can't honestly say i enjoyed more than the first five miles. those being the ones i was actually able to ride. according to race veterans, this year saw the worst conditions for the race in at least ten year. a perfect trail friday night turned into a windswept and largely unridable trail come saturday morning. even the guys with endomorphs, which dwarf the girly little 3" tires on the kung fu gorilla were pushing alot. i reached the first check point on flat horn lake, mile 22, after 4+ hours, and joined a bunch of other riders who were taking advantage of the figure 8 nature of the course and bailing out via the 15 mile return trailto the finish line instead of the remaining 80 or so miles.
today was the first time in memory that skiers reached the first check point before the bikes. skiers having only won the race one time previously. so, i got in 37 miles in conditions that rivaled deep, dry sand, at 5-20 degrees, with occasional 25mph+ winds, including one sustained headwind the really killed me.
fwiw, i was with the lead group of 7 for the first ten or so miles. at that point the trail became ridable by the fat tires, but not for my chubbies.
hopefully the rides i get in over the next week will be more pleasant...