Kevin appears to be locking into his 5th place position as
he heads into Bloomington this morning. Comparing his
average speed with Jim Rees over the past few time stations
(and attempting to account for sleep breaks), Kevin looks to
be maintaining a consistent gap over his nearest competitor.
Whether Kevin is faster or spending less time off-bike
(maybe both) doesn't really matter since his forward
progress is overtaking Jim's.
Riding into and through Bloomington will be somewhat hilly
today, though the climbs aren't long and not particularly
steep, compared to what lies ahead. But Kevin climbs well
late into his rides, so he shouldn't have problems here. He
knows that we climbed all these hills without the benefit of
gears last year, so this gives him a mental advantage now.
The current temperature is 80F with a high of 84F today.
Still hot, but about 15 degrees cooler than it's been during
the toughest portions of this ride. Tailwinds of 5-10 mph
are abetting his eastern journey, with a 40% chance of
scattered thunderstorms.
--
Jeff Bauer
Nashville, Tennessee
Thanks Jeff! You give true insight to this race, making it realistic to all of us armchairing the event.
Gator
Per RAAM Blog:
ReplyDeleteSolo Men’s Update
Robic picks up 9 minutes on Wyss at time station 47. Both men have average speeds over 15 mph. Outstanding!
Time Station 48 Robic increases lead to 16 minutes on course. This could get very exciting!!
Gerhard Gulewicz is in third a couple time stations back. This is a very impressive race because for the first two days of RAAM he was suffering with intestinal problems but he stuck with it and moved to a podium position. He set a goal of 8 days and 16 hours for this year race and he seems to be within long range striking distance of that. If he was successful, that would be potentially 3 men finishing in less than 9 days.
Marko Baloh is currently in fourth place which is another solid outing for him but it seem s like he doesn’t have the best of luck at RAAM. Still he remains one of the sports greatest.
Kevin Kaiser is ripping up the track and has moved into 5th place which makes him the top ranked American and the top ranked rookie. Spectacular effort, but that comes as no surprise considering his efforts in last year’s RAAM and the results he has been delivering in events leading up to RAAM.
Hey, at least Kevin isn't hiking the Applachian Trail :) lol.....Go Kevin!
ReplyDeleteNot hiking the Appalachian Trail, or cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive...It would be awesome to have the RAAM go on the Parkway or even in NC...a good route would be around Spartanburg, SC and ride part of the route the Assault on Mt. Mitchell takes. Keep on pedaling, Kevin!!
ReplyDelete