Tuesday, June 19, 2012

RAAM Post 28: Flat Tuesday

Well its Tuesday a little after 8 local time in Kingsman, Kansas.  We had a rough day in the office today.  We (successfully) dealt with five flats.  Definitely cost us a fair bit of time but all-in-all, not fatal.  The wind, as I've documented was unbelievable.  At least it didn't make us dwell on the near 100 degree temp.  We basically went for 12 hours today in brutal conditions but managed to get 235 miles in.

Here is where we stood at TS 26, Pratt Kansas:

4th TDL
5th Our team 30 minutes behind
6th the coppers 75 minutes behind us
7th XSTRATA 20 minutes behind the Coppers

and the other 11 teams are probably too far behind to catch us.  The top 3 teams are well beyond us and in-fact are vying for the course record.

At Pratt we had covered 1473 miles in 3 days, 1 hour and 57 minutes--an average speed of 19.93 mph. In Kingsman, we are exactly 50% of the way done.  At our current pace we'll arrive in Annapolis around 9pm on Friday night.

The Killer B's are out on the course trying to chase the kiddies down.  They should enjoy much cooler and less windy conditions tonight.  With any luck, they'll also avoid our mechanical troubles--we wish them well and believe that they can close the gap a bit--they are very strong as a team.

As for me, I've been taking good care of myself, eating and drinking constantly.  I've kept my energy levels up and stayed hydrated.  Obviously with with 27 separate bike legs so far--all of them 215 watts, and with 66+ miles in brutal conditions today, my legs are a bit sore--but I'm really surprised at how well I'm holding up.  Our team coach has asked me to up my intensity tomorrow saying i can do more to help the team move up into 4th so I'll give it a go.  Who knows?  I was very surprised by the Battle of Monument Valley that we staged with the Coppers the other night.

I was able to sleep for 4 hours last night (brings me to 8 over the first 3+ days) and I'n\m hopeful for another 4 or more tonight.

Talk to you tomorrow!

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