Despite everything Sheeper van handed off to Quincy van at the base of the Wolf Creek pass (10857ft)
Dave and Bill split the 8 mile climb brilliantly, they looked strong, The rain .held off
And Bill took the flag over the top
Carrying us over the Divide
Great descent down into South Fork and TS17
Picked up some Blimpie sandwiches and headed through Alamosa before the team hand off. We used the imprecise hand-off procedure(tm) allowing Quincy van to attack the lower slopes and the Sheeper van to take "upper" La Veta pass itself, rumored to be visually stunning but it was pitch black and no moon. What I did notice was Tim descending at 41mph and the outside temp was 37F on his way to Trinidad, Colorado. i think Quincy van got a hotel in Trinidad but the follow vehicle never rests....
Lots of strategizing in our van trying to work how we are going to drop Teri, and Doug and pick up Katya at Witchita airport tonight.
- from my iPad
Location:Continental Divide
Awesome pictures! Thanks for all the updates!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are taking some good drugs (reference to divide comments and dRAAMa comments):-). I know - sleep deprived. Can't imagine the thoughts going through the cyclists heads. Or maybe the crew is more sleep deprived than the cyclists??? Didn't realise the crew was getting spelled. Even more logistical challenges. Joan and I are enjoying this very much. We read the drama of Team4mil. If you didn't hear they lost their RV near Durango. Nobody seriously hurt. One of their riders is an amputee - war injury. Michele makes it to the videos on the RAAM home page. One day she didn't want to talk. One day she was speaking Italian. Who knew? With a last name like hers I shouldn't have been surprised.
ReplyDeleteActually, I could be wrong, but I think the "Italian" speaking Michele was actually third-place female rider Sabrina Bianchi and the RAAM folks just put the wrong name on the screen.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great blogs and let the riders know we are all following their progress!