Team ViaSat checked into TS 51 at 6:28 this morning. They have 93 miles left to go. This should have them finishing sometime around 11:00 or so this morning. John and Kevin are on course now. According to a series of text messages from Greg overnight, all the rain gear was used. Due to navigation errors, there was some time lost. At the beginning of last night's shift for Greg and Brad, they came on course a bit early to cheer Ken and Jeremy on, and Jeremy, who had already done a full shift, was interpreting the route book, and told Greg and Brad that he "wanted a piece" of the next climb, which was a brutal 8% grade over five miles. Greg and Brad cheerfully turned that over to him, and he CRUSHED it, even after putting in a full and grueling five hour shift.
Jeremy was having compatibility issues with his brakes and wheelset which meant that Jeremy had to ride his tri bike through the Appalachians. Brad shifted into Nascar pit crew mode, and had the brake pads on Jeremy's road bike switched out in about five minutes while Ken was doing his pull. That allowed Jeremy to use his road bike for the rest of his shift, which was much better suited to the climbing terrain.
When Brad and Greg took over, the rain had started. The terrain was 'twisty, crazy' through the mountains, with really severe riding conditions. During Brad's descent during his first pull, he noticed the need to dial back his speed. In addition, the road had a bunch of "blind chuckholes filled with water, so you couldn't really see them" so choosing lines correctly was a challenge. There was also a fog layer about two feet off the ground, further complicating the issue. They still managed to do well, in spite of being unable to open it up on the descents. Greg estimates that they were at about 70% of capacity on their descents.
1 comment:
Can I just point out how wicked accurate I was with my time prediction? :)
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