The race started at 8:30 am and as would be expected on such a hard ride, the pace was very slow at the start--about 15-16 miles an hour on the lower slopes of about 2-3% grade. We had a crash in the first minute and two near-misses when the entire peloton of 105 riders locked up their brakes. I have no idea what they were doing so I dropped back a little to avoid crashing. At 15 miles an hour you don't get much of a draft anyway, I was nervous about crashing, and it was most important that I finished this ride--I'd wanted to complete this climb for well over ten years. I wanted to do well, but most of all, to finish, so I rode cautiously. Unfortunately, the reconnaissance ride I'd done the day before had spooked me into being very scared. As I later found out, it's less frightening to do this mountain on a bicycle than in a car--go figure! Bicycles don't generally explode into flames after careening off a cliff. I came off the back of the pack very early. I hadn't been feeling well or climbing well this year. My jersey was too tight with the extra bottle of energy drink in the back pocket so I unzipped it all the way to get air. Here are the opening miles.