Pushing for Good Weather and a New Course Record – RAAM, Team Type 1 & Team Type 2 Day Four Report
Atlanta — A typical stage race, which has teams race during the day and transfer to the next location that night or early the next morning is like building a house over and over again, except this house is on wheels. But the Race Across America is very different—it never stops, whether it rains or snows, or is day or night. And like a typical bike race, RAAM doesn’t care is someone crashes, gets altitude sickness or battle a bout of stomach flu. The race just goes on.
Today for Team Type 2, the Race Across America continued across 338 miles of Kansas and into the western cusp of Missouri. Weather began to play a factor throughout the day as Team Type 2 eased into the back-end of a huge thunderstorm on the eastern edge of Kansas. But with the Missouri state line in the distance, spirits were high despite the weather. “Chances are pretty good we'll get wet at some point for the rest of the day,” noted rider Rob Coburn.
Team Type 2 has also battle its fair share of illness, just as Team Type 1 has. “One of the members of the team came down with a stomach bug late last night and into the early morning,” said Coburn. “So three of us went out about midnight local time and rode about 150 miles until our teammate got his energy back.” Despite the setback, “it was a great night,” noted Coburn. “After the cold of the night before, 60 degrees felt great! We raced back and forth all night with another team. And at the last time station, we averaged 20.87 mph for about 35 miles.’
“We are just over half way through the course. The routine is working itself out and we are all adapting in ways you wouldn't believe,” observed Coburn. “Our crew is top-notch and essential to making all of this work. As you can imagine, moving this crew down the road is no small task.”
Meanwhile, Team Type 1 is heading east into Ohio, having put in a solid 443 miles today across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. The team’s average speed is 23.5 mph and in order to beat the 2009 record, Team Type 1, according to Bob Schrank, “will need to increase its speed by a half a mile an hour. It’s going to be a hard slog, but we are making it happen!”
Two high points of the day were James Stout having the honors of crossing the Mississippi River. “We give this honor to members of the team who are from another country. It’s just a tradition we have,” noted Schrank. And Dustin Folger’s parents also came in from Colorado to cheer on their son and the team. They travelled with the team for about four hours before veering off to let the team race through the night.
Overall, though, “it was one of those messy days,” said Schrank. “In Greenville, Illinois, Jeff Banninck was struck by a car at low speed, but was not severely injured. It was just road rash. The situation was classic, with a car turning right into a parking lot and striking Jeff on his left side.” Banninck was recovering and back on the bike in no time.
Another challenge was when Adam Driscoll pulled out of his cleat at 23 mph. As Driscoll pulled up and out of the pedal, the cleat was demolished instantly. “Adam is one of those guys who channels his frustration in a positive way,” observes Schrank. “In this case, he not only kept riding, but he also increased his speed to around 30 mph! And with only one cleat intact”
On the diabetes front, the blood sugar levels of Team Type 1 are starting to vary, according to Schrank. “So there’s a lot of discussion about how to manage it best. It’s going to get a little crazy since the body is so tired at this point in the race. But, fortunately, we have done this before and know how to manage ourselves. We are excited about finishing this race as fast as we can. It’s a tall order, but we will are up to the challenge!”
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