As you can see from the course profile (recorded by my Specialized p.brain bike computer) below, although there is some significant climbing initially, it is a net downhill ride. So the second half should be easy. However, the harsh reality is that there is always a relentless headwind out of the south on the lower leg, plus it's usually pretty hot. This year it was around 93F and fairly humid. Not as oppressively hot as when I did it last in 1997, but still pretty damn hot.
I requested permission to do it solo with no sag. My plan was to stop at Wawas (convenience stores) along the way. I hammered down to the Pemberton Wawa, mile 118, getting there at 11:48 am.
A friend rode out to the Wawa in Pemberton to meet me, and we cruised the last 85 miles down to Cape May together.
Total ride time was 10:29. Started at 5:38 am and arrived at 5:07. Total time was 11:29.
[Net climbing: 5718/4986/3152 ft at 10/15/30 ft hill threshold values.]