200K DNF

I did not finish (DNF) my 200K yesterday. Actually, I did finish. I just didn't finish within the time limit. It's disappointing but hopefully I can learn from this.
The route was the Log Cabin Permanent. It starts in Marion, IL and makes a clockwise loop. It is a permanent route which means that it can ridden at any time with prior arrangement with the route owner. I had contacted the route owner, Miles Stoneman, at the beginning of January and arrange to ride it yesterday.

A rider who had done the route before called it "...a good route, especially if the wind isn't out of the south."
I had arranged a 7:00 am start for the ride. My plan was to get up at 4, leave before 5, and get to the start before 7. I packed everything I needed the night before so that all I would have to do would be to load the car and put the bike on the carrier.
I wasted some time in the morning, but I thought that I would still leave before 5. When I got my bike I noticed that the front tire was flat. This put me behind schedule and I did not start the ride until 7:20.
It was still cold at the start, but it was predicted to warm up into the mid fifties. The wind was supposed to be around 20 mph out of the SSW all day. Both these predictions would turn out to be accurate.
The ride started out great. The first 50 miles head primarily north so I had a tailwind almost all the time.I made a quick stop in Benton (mile 20) to get some food and shed some layers. I saw a bald eagle fly overhead near there. Later I passed Rend Lake and took some pictures.

I got to the first control (mile 49) at 10:45. I had a slice of pizza and a soda, and relaxed for a little while. Everything was still going great but I knew that the hard part would be coming soon.
At 12:30 I reach Log Cabin Road (mile 63). The next 50 miles would be heading south and I would have to fight the wind the whole way. On the bright side, it took me 5.5 hours to do the first half so I had 8 hours left. All I had to do was average 8 mph (including stops) to finish on time.
The wind was as bad as I feared it would be. There usually wasn't anything to stop it. Sometimes a gust would make me feel like I had come to a complete stop. Event the sound of the wind was mentally draining.
It was around this time that I started to notice a problem with the rear hub. At first I thought that it was a shifting problem where the chain was jumping from one gear to another.
At mile 75 I made a mistake reading the cue sheet. I was supposed to make a left on Ewing Road but I had skipped over that line. I thought I was on an 11 mile section so I wasn't even expecting a turn. I did not notice my mistake until I stopped to take a picture. By that time I had gone about 2.5 miles past my turn. At least backtracking was easier because I got a tailwind.

I got to the next control (mile 90 (mileages here do not include bonus miles)) at 4:26, just 14 minutes before the cutoff. This means it took me almost 4 hours to go 27 miles on the route. Even counting the bonus miles I was only going 8 mph. I knew I would have to maintain 10 mph to finish it time. I put some layers back on and tried to get going as quickly as possible.
It was getting dark which makes reading the cue sheet more difficult and I was paranoid about making another mistake. I was also very concerned about finishing on time. The route was getting more hilly and the problem on my rear wheel was getting worse. Sometimes the cassette would spin forward without spinning the wheel. I had a problem with this wheel before, but I thought the bike shop had fixed it.
I got to the final control in Creal Springs (mile 113) at 7:15. A few minutes after the cutoff. Even if I had made it, I knew that I wouldn't be able to make the final cutoff. I had to keep riding though. I didn't have any other way to get back to my rental car. My phone ran out of batteries at this point.
The rear hub got worse. When starting up, or after coasting, I could sometimes make several revolutions with the pedals before the freewheel engaged. I started to worry that it would fail entirely, forcing me to walk the rest of the way. The last
I finally reached the end (mile 128) at 9:15, 45 minutes after the cutoff. It was frustrating but I was glad to be finished. I had a snack and the packed everything up for the drive home.
My plan was to charge up my phone using the USB port on the stereo of the rental car. Unfortunately, that USB port did not provide enough power. I ended up stopping and using a pay phone in a rest area a little north of Marion.
The easiest problem to fix would be getting to the start early. That would have saved 20 minutes right off the bat. Not getting lost would help too, but I can't guarantee that won't happen again.
The wind was the biggest problem but that is obviously out of my control. It's just something that has to be dealt with. I don't know what I could have done to prevent the problem with the hub either.
I think it was a combination of factors that lead to my DNF on this ride. I just have do better next time. I also have to decide if I want to do another 200K this month to keep my R-12 streak going.