Lore,

Apparently your message disappeared when I went to approve it, so I
reposted it myself. But now I see it did get posted. Weird.

Yes, the 19.5 pace includes lots of drafting and pace lines. In past
years headwinds have been a major problem, and sometimes tailwinds a
major plus. A few years ago, a lead group was a few minutes ahead of
another group. When we turned around at the 100 mile point and
started to go south, the wind picked up tremendously. So the lead
group waited for the slower group, and the 4 strongest riders pulled
the pace line for the next 10 or so miles to the food stop. The wind
died down after that.

Bruce