IMAZ Day 20 - Long ride before short race

I wanted to go long today but was a bit undecided due to the race I'm in tomorrow. Well, it's only a sprint, so how bad can I possibly feel? Guess I'll see when I'm out there redlining it for 37-38 minutes. Anyway, I decided to put a good one in today, and while I wasn't expecting 90-100, I was looking for 70-80. I had no playmates, however, and it was drizzling most of the ride. I took a nice tour around Westchester, heading from West Harrison through White Plains and Greenburgh to 9A and through Ardsley to the Tarrytown lakes. Around the lakes and back over to 119 to Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow to Rt. 9 and 117. 117 over to Chappaqua and Mt. Kisco, and then the turn back through to Armonk. From there, over 22 to Bedford and Bedford/Banksville Road into Greenwich to Riversville in Glenville, up Sherwood and down Anderson Hill to 127 and back. In all, 71 miles in 3:55, an 18mph average. However, the last 31M were at 20mph average and I felt very strong. Once again, the nutrition seems to be working (CarboPro only for drinks, GUs, a PowerBar at 2 hrs and endurolytes every 30 minutes. Legs feel pretty good tonight -- let's see how they feel in the morning.