The Unnamed Epic

The day all started at 3:45 AM, Joe and I got up and left the house. We packed all our gear the night before and staged it by the front door so we would not forget anything. I should be used to that time of the morning now, as we are staring work at 4AM since we are busy, a blessing.
The drive to Mineral Point, WI from the house was not too long, just under two hours. We arrived a little after 6AM, and the race started at 8AM. Checked in and picked up our race numbers. Joe missed priority starting by one number, fifty and under got to start up-front, he was 51! Bummer.
Joe got our bikes out and tuned up. I just did not feel right waiting around by the car. My stomach was upset, but I kept eating.
The race director called us all over around 7:45AM and went through all the details, described the course and told us again about the couple "tricky" spots the course would roll by before we entered Blue Mound State Park. At 8AM we were off to a neutral roll out. As we started the 14% climb in Mineral Point's downtown there were lots of spectators egging us on to "get after it" and "pass him!" It was cool to be in town for the first 4 miles. I passed a lot of guys, on the up, only to lose the battle with their gravity on the down. I got passed by a guy on a fixie with his legs hanging off the side like a V. It was crazy.
The first long stretch was road and rails trail. I am not really a very good roadie, but seemed to hang in there and passed a group of women only to get passed back. I thought, just don't red line, its too soon to blow up, 75 miles is a long race. I was also surprised by how many people only had water bottles, as I was wearing a Camel-Bak, and not needing to use any of the aid stations.
As we entered Governor Dodge State Park I caught the group of women that passed me on the road, not good technical riders, not that I am either, but just sand? I tried to pass them on a climb, but they were so spread out and did not seem to understand "rider, please, move over." Stopped I was irritated and took off with my bike, they continued to doddle. I made great time in the park and passed everyone I could see.
As we were exiting the park there was a road climb to the next section of rails-trail. There was a man ahead of me who put up quite a fuss being "girled" on the climb. He kept moving over, taking up more of the road. He actually was swerving to prevent me from coming around him! I pulled out and pulled around him only to be chastised by him for passing, come on, here? All I could think was, what? I moved around you like 4 feet away, I took off on the hill and never saw him again, I hope he quit! Not like we are even racing each other. 300 guys and less than 20 women? Come on!
The ride over to Blue Mound was fast. The first 52 miles were not that technical, and took me a little over 3 hours. Blue Mound was mostly a rocky blur. First lap was bad, fell hard on my other side, and was befriended by Dave who continued to ride out the rest of lap one of the park and lap two. He was likely the only reason I carried on, as I had worn holes in the back of my ankles from a poor sock choice and running some of the early hills in the park pushing my bike. We rode and talked about the course, our bikes, and looking forward to the brats at the finish line, which we could smell the whole time we were in the park!
My day ended with an official finishing time of 7:13, good for 6th overall the women. Lots of racers dropped when we got to Blue Mound. The weather was hot and the terrain is really rocky.
The aid station volunteers were great! They did everything they could to be helpful, and were very encouraging. I will be back for this race next year, very fun!