A more complete race report soon. In short, Bert and I completed all 100 miles in fabulous fashion. Not fast, mind you. But enjoying every minute (well, maybe except for that darn hill) and in good health. It was a truly amazing experience.

In the meantime, I’m here to say that my team rocks! Team Fat Cyclist is a virtual team…readers and fans of fatcyclist.com and supporters of his wife Susan who is fighting cancer. Check out his site for updates and race reports from my fellow riders.

Getting to meet these people was a real highlight of the weekend.

Our co-captain Matt is a great cheerleader along with his brother Greg and their friend Paul — all of them carpooled together from Southern California.

Ryan, his wife Allyson and their adorable kids came all the way from Utah! Ryan was Elden’s first bike mechanic back in the day and I greeted him with a “hey, you look like you cycle a lot.” Check out his race report and you’ll see I was right. He was in the lead group and did a sub 5 hour century!

James (college buddy of Ryan), his wife Carmen and their kids made the trek from Arizona. Their parents joined us for the BBQ and had big smiles on their faces. Andrew G (awesome cyclist and cancer survivor), Lexi and Andrew C. (turns out they live in our neighborhood!), Erin (from San Diego!), Judy (taking on her first 50 mile bike ride!), Laura (cancer survivor), Angie (burgermeister, awesome woman and she covets my new Sidi shoes!), Mike (makes a mean guacamole and knows his way around a BBQ) and others whose names have drifted out of my aging mind.

Click here to see it large from Fatty’s site.

This is the entire team at the start of the race. As the team that raised THE. MOST. MONEY. we got to start at the front. That was BIG. FUN. I am now spoiled and would like a police escort for all of my rides.

WIN Susan!!!