Sheeper van leapfrogs ahead

Sunrise leap..



- from my iPad

Location:Eastern Illinois

Missed Michele - darn.

We knew we were very close but now conclude Michele must have been resting as we shot by this morning. We should have passed her 8 miles after TS37 but didn't see her.


- from my iPad

Location:TS37

Things that can go wrong, TS34-35

We ran into a text book RAAM problem last. Leaving TS34 there is a quite short but steep pitch 8 miles into the section. As luck would have it there was congestion prior to the hill. This then led to a line of support vehicles stuck behind a tandem that was having trouble. Enough trouble to justify (in their team's mind) a crew swap mid hill. Night time so stationary handoff and the subsequent stall rippled back through the queue. All this was too much for our rider who leap frogged the traffic jam, abandoning us (his mandatory support vehicle) at the back of the line. Eventually the sewer became unclogged and we retrieved our stationary rider at a T junction as he didn't have the correct direction. Good decision to stop.
This was taking place on narrow two lane undulating and windy roads. David immediately phoned back to Sheeper van to warn them to allow extra time to advance to the next team swap position - along the same route.
Alas, it was too late. When we eventually pulled off the swap it was 3:00am at least one hour later than planned. As a result the retiring team was out for 10 hours. - a long time indeed.
Any frustrations were mitigated by the ride over the Mississippi at Alton - a very cool bridge and symbolic for any west-to-east journeys.

- from my iPad

Location:Washington, Missouri