The Trans American Bike Race (TABR) launched on Saturday morning, June 4th. From Oregon to Virginia, the Trans Am is the hardest unsupported road race in the US. At 4400 miles, it’s twice as long as the Tour de France.
Day 8 Trans Am Race Report: The Snap!
Temperate mid-60s is an interesting break for our duo out front as they roll further into Colorado. Early evening and Sarah breaks form and takes an early nap while Steffan Streich marches on. Certainly high altitude and accumulated miles are taking a toll on everyone. The punishing regiment that Sarah was running in order to hold a top ranking was perhaps just a little too inhuman. The fight for the lead will depend greatly now on what Sarah’s strategy was for an early rest vs. whether or not Streich wants to complete the high point of the Rockies before closing down for the day. It’s likely that Sarah will be able to regain 50-70 miles of Streich’s already 80 mile lead if we see familiar riding but there is a high possibility she won’t see him again. Sorry, Transhamsters. I’m a fan too.
We turn our attention to the Third Place riders. Lael Wilcox and Evan Deutsch might as well be riding a tandem at this point. That said, they did manage to shake-off Kai Edel, who spent most of the day 50 miles behind the couple. The biggest development here is that Lael/Evan are currently only 35mi off of Sarah and closing. By tomorrow morning, we will see Sarah regain mileage over them again but maybe only hold by 50 miles which is a big change over a few days ago. The new race is the race for Second.
It’s also not inconceivable that Lee Fancourt could claw his way back into the Top 10. It’ll be interesting to see how much damage the comeback kid can do to the rest of the field in the next 12 days or so.
So. Here’s the thing. Yesterday I also called out Bo Dudley as a possible comer to the Third Place group in the near future. Just after posting, a dotwatcher commented on Dudley skipping to Dubois. Reviewing Dudley’s tracker I guessed that there was some problem and he’d caught a ride to the nearest city. Dudley spent 14 hours in Dubois and headed off again. Seemingly without retracing the 10 miles or so of erratic recording from his tracker. Not an issue if he didn’t catch a ride. Maybe he just rocketed to Dubois? From Point#1125 to Point#1130 Dudley rides the course at a recorded 39.1mph. Each dot records the same 39.1mph. Sarah rode that stretch at 12.5-14.5mph. Steffan rode that stretch at 18-20mph. I’m not saying that I know what’s going on here but something looks like it’s either recorded wrong or… i don’t know. I’d love for somebody to tell me how I’m misreading this. Here’s a link to Dudley’s tracker: http://trackleaders.com/transam16i.php?name=Bo_Dudley
FEEL GOOD: Jodi Ashley has been notified that Greyhound has recovered her second box. Hopes to be on course on Sunday. Felix Wong rode out to visit with Steffen and Sarah today.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Rider Jason Marshall justifying his fast food stops, “Say what you want about McDonalds but $1 for a pop with a free side of filtered water and clean bathroom is good by me.”
For additional information about the Trans Am race visit them at: Trans Am site
Among his less savory qualities, he's a poor sport, a sore loser and ill fitted for honest labor. He makes bad friends and worse decisions. Animals avoid him and children despise him. He's been known to drink to excess, carry on with seditious talk and leer at women. He's a coward, a card cheat and a known liar.
Mrs. Call's second grade class said perhaps all that needed to be said about Larsen.In a moment of vindication and possibly clarity, Call would add to Larsen's permanent record that he was a bit of a dreamer and that Larsen was "an excellent student but his grades trailed off in the final semester."True, Larsen was filled with promise and saddled as starry-eyed but one can't help but notice that Call's inability to chisel this raffish diamond-in-rough wasn't also a clerical trick to distance herself from the responsibility of the 'Nurture' debate.She also said he was "prompt".She wasn't wrong.
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