Reports from the Race Day Seven

Here's a slideshow of the race so far:


1:00 AM Tuesday Morning - KR taking first shift. Temp a very nice 62F. KR is wearing the white baselayer under the AFC jersey. All white is his favorite. No knee warmers, but he does have the full finger gloves. The storm potential seems to be completely gone and it is a great night for cycling. We are driving along with the windows open. -Merrill

1:42 AM - Tonight we are planning to knock out 42 and 43 and cover 18 miles to coolville, OH nearthe WV border. Most likely that puts PAD on 45 and 46 and KAL on 47 and the downhill 48.

2:25 AM - 2581 miles in the bag at the start tonight. The Surly bikes look cool at night. Weezal out on all the required reflective tape for RAAM. He taped up a few of the spokes and they give the wheel a dish look at night. The riders also have the tape on their heels that accentuate the higher cadences. The tape is yellow reflective which is unfortunate since it gives the bikes a redskin-esque look. (haha - MZ) 10 mi in 25 mins for Alex first turn.
2:41 AM - Just cleared 42 at 0225 EDT jun 17 Hard to believe only 12 left. 505 left to go.
2:59 AM - There is a beautiful nearly full moon out as Alex is on 23 mph cruise control. I am in the car with Papa D and it is a tough night to stay awake.
3:03 AM - Before we left the has station where we had the motorhome KR was doing warm up laps around the pumps. The locals didn't get it.

4:26 AM - 0426 EDT Tuesday 52 F pretty much everyone is tired

5:01 AM - We're still here. Riding all night. Alex trying to wake himself up by sprinting uphill.

6:02 AM - KR plugging away near Athens, OH. Sun coming up, KR not really full of energy at this hour. This is a serious night of fatigue for everyone. Alex just swapped in for the final 11 mile push to the RV. He still has a but in the tank (? a but in the tank?), he is accelerating up a small grade now and I am his biggest fan. A bed is at the end of this ride! Hopefully a toilet, too.

6:49 - Wrap up. That was the worst shift we have done the entire trip. A big shout out to the Goat and Madi for getting the riders home. Keith and Adam put in another gritty effort. They didn't match some of their best speed days, but they moved the chip another 114 miles in about 6 hrs. The way it has worked out, the crew are on roughly opposite shifts. So I want to say that Stacey, Weezal, Peter and Fabio are doing all the same stuff with PAD. When Patt came in last night after battling the Brits all evening he was obviously tired. It is nice to see everyone digging deep, riders and crew alike. I have hard time believing that a fixie team can ride this fast across the country. -Merrill

7:00 AM (approx)Telephone call between KR and YDT "Merrill, hands the phone out the window to our hero KR, who is pedalling furiously somewhere east of Athens, Ohio, headed through rolling hills to West Virginia. In the interest of his fans, I can tell you KR was a cheery
as anyone I can imagine riding his bicycle for the 6th straight day across this great country of ours. He was happy to hear from me and commented that the Ohio U campus in Athens was very beautiful. I had heard as much I said, as we have a neighbor going to school there. As typical of this kind of on bike call, the wind was ripping the conversation to shreads and we fairly quickly said our good byes and I wished KR good luck and safe travels over the remainder of RAAM. I cannot get over how wide awake and happy he sounded. His only complaint was related to some kind of numbness, which region of his body I do not know as our conversation was cutoff, but I would assume at this point it could be anywhere or everywhere. Keep it up AFC, you guys are awesome warriors!"

11:17 AM - Tues We stopped the RV somewhere that has Mcdonalds and KFC in the same place. KR is going for the filet o fish as an appetizer to get him over to KFC for a quart of mashed potatoes.

1:48 PM - 65F KAL tackling a painful WV section of hwy 50 out of Grafton. Mostlycloudy blue sky, low humidity and shade all over the road. Great dayfor riding one gear.
1:59 PM - KAL is over the first 15 mile climb of the day. I left late and caught them on the back of the 1600 foot climb. There were many 8 and 9 % incline signs on the way up and down. It is a very beautiful climb, and the valley on the way to the next mountain crosses the Cheat river that is famous for whitewater. It looks like they did the first 25miles out of TS 46 in 1:30.
2:15 PM - This second climb is 1300 feet in 3.3 miles. KR began to crack as it steepened, but these WV mtns don't have many turnputs, so he had to really wait for relief. Alex climbed most of the first ascent and is back out now. At least for the first hour and a half it looks like the 23 year old legs have more left in them than the 40 year olds. KR will do his share today, but it looks like Alex is carrying the heavier burden so far. Alex is hunched over the bars turning very slowly the 48 x 16 at 8 mph. What an effort.
2:21PM - Still a mile to the summit Alex has accelerated briefly. Now he weaves back and forth in the roadway, careful not to get taken out by a large truck. A dog is barking as he passes mile 29. At least this one is tethered.
2:24 PM - Gotta love WV. Speed limitis 55 on this road! KR on now close to the summit. He must have had some of that 5 hour energy stuff, he is climbing the last 100 feet quickly. Still one more 500 ft bump, but the real pain of this section is behind them KR rolling along the 2600 ft top of this at a good clip.
2:30 - It is a cool 61 at the too as KR enters cathedral state park. Actually that was Alex
KR is just taking over going into the park. The days of riding have taken a couple points out of Alex body fat. Back at the RV, everyone was excited about all the time that PAD took out of Team Cry. Also excited that Annapolis is under 300 away!
2:40 PM - If you have the profile, they are in the little calm before the last 500 ft storm and are in Maryland! Unfortunately not yet in MD for good. Here is the profile:
2:45 PM - I am getting really tired of these peanut butter crackers and I have restarted my diet Coke habit. That will be easy enough to remedy at home tomorrow.
What's this? Just passed solo 138 with a Brit flag in the window. He looked OK, was even able to acknowledge my shout of encouragement with a little nod of the head.
2:47 PM - The top of this last climb is 3100 feet and is on the eastern divide. Backbone mtn is the name.
2:52 PM - I passed our united 8 friends way back on the first climb when I was driving spiritedly to catch KAL. Adam told me that he and Patt were diving with them up to TS46, but finally broke them. Now they are at least 45 min back and losing time to KAL. We loaned them a spare front wheel. I guess they didn't need/want one of our back wheels!
2:54 PM - By the way Adam has really been a leader on this trip in his riding, his comportment and enthusiasm. I only see him briefly between shifts, but he has really impressed me.
3:15 PM - Alex is through 47 and part way up the first climb of the next segment. Here's the profile:

3:19 PM - Just passed the AFC tifosi car on climb out of 48! KR is out of the saddle climbing one of the large risers out ofthe time station. This one is ilchester steep.
3:26 PM - KR is wearing some black baselater today. I think that must be why I misidentified him. Could also be the 2 hours sleep.
3:33 - One of these summits is 2851 ft Allegheny mtn. Seems higher to me.
3:44 PM - With so many miles behind them the turns are getting shorter in the climbs. Goat and Madi are director sportifing today and I am slacking with the camera. The story is the same each time in the mountains. The riders go until we have to hold them up after they pass the baton. Then 10 min later they go again. It is a seriously determined effort. None of the riders want to let is down even though we are all already in awe of the effort BTW there is no actual baton. Raam rules state that wheels must overlap inorder for an exchange to count. We have followed this and many other rules for almost 3000 miles. I cannot say the same about our ******* friends ha ha ha! The windmills at the too of this mountain are all facing the right way.
3:53 PM - Its really windy in a good direction up on too of hartmansville. Some of the crowds are starting to look threatening. (Crowds? -MZ)
3:57 EDT. I just passed a quad towing a ford focus wagon by a chain going up a hill
4:48 PM - KAL are rolling the long gentle descent into 48 at la vale, MD.
4:57 PM - I think Cleo is riding along in the follow car. Next year we will charge for that! (Next Year?)
5:07 PM - Unofficial predictions
Mt airy, MD at 0200 weds
Serve 15 min penalty
Odenton, MD TS 53 at 0410 weds
Annap mall TS 54 0450 weds
City dock depends on timing of escort. Could be we wait for it up to 45 mins. I think you could ride from mall to city dock with us, but may have to stay behind support car, not sure. Opening parade had some non entrants riding along.
5:10 PM - I'm going to go take a nap now so I don't crash the RV next shift. Last big climbing stage is 48 to 49 and that one will be team PAD. KAL are doing about 119 this afternoon to set them up Here's that profile ouch:
6:05 PM - Mike W says "I could only find 5 teams (total) faster than AFC between TS47-48. In the 4-man category (and a good chunk of the 8-man), AFC has put its stamp of authority on the climbs. We should get the a polka dot jersey or something. Oh...wait."

6:55 PM - Team PAD are out on the way to TS 49 right now. Possibly the worst climbing stage of the race. Once you get their time to 49, you can adjust the projected finish time. I expect we will average 20 after that like a horse returning to the barn. The goat and I are about to take the RV to one of the RAAMmeister fans favorite places. "4 score and 2920 miles ago our 4 riders, in order to perform a perfect union of the coasts, set out to ride fixies across the USA... " See you in annapolis! -Merrill

9:13 Mt Airy prediction: 0215 to 0230
9:25 PM - KAL to take handoff near Gettysburg at 2330 Tuesday. 56 miles to Mt Airy. Should be serving 15 min penalty there at Mt airy bike shop. No warranty expressed or implied about this info. PAD finished 49 and reported real fatigue for the first time. Hey, everyone is human. See you soon. Adrenaline should keep is awake. KR is like a horse heading for the barn, or the glue factory as he says.

11:30 PM - KAL are gearing up for the last shift! Mt airy is 56 miles, 15 min penalty box and a visit with TMR, then off to annap. Mt Airy to odenton is 40 and then 11 to the annap mall.
I'll update the times when we are on the road. Merrill
11:35 PM - It is a full moon and cool temps. The riders are psyched, the crew is ecstatic except for those still asleep