What to expect from today's ride

Team ViaSat racers will spend most of today in Arizona. They crossed the border into AZ around 1:00 this morning, and have passed through Time Station 7 in Cottonwood, AZ as of this writing. (437 miles into the race, 21 hours in - they're on fire!) They'll do a lot of climbing today - almost 20,000 feet of it. (Fortunately, there's a fair amount of descending, too - the net elevation gain is only about 5000 feet.)

The Norwegian team ( Byggkjøp / BMC Cycling Team) is fast! They've put over an hour on our racers, and are 40 minutes ahead of Team Type 1. At any rate, the Norwegians should be fast - they're well funded pro racers. [Ed: As it turns out, I was misinformed about the professional status of the Norwegians - none are currently pro, some have been, but not all. They're all elite athletes, and they're all over 40. Impressive!]

Both Byggkjøp / BMC Cycling Team and Team Type 1 have earned themselves penalties - 15 minutes for the Norwegians, and 30 minutes for Team Type 1. Team ViaSat has no penalties. Team Type 1's penalties mean that Team ViaSat is about 15 minutes out of second place. If a third penalty is assessed, the time hit goes to a total of 60 minutes added to the race time. It pays to follow the rules!