Trans Am Bike Race Update 2016: Catawba, VA

 

Lael left Anchorage on May 1 with a lightweight touring load including a pair of running shoes, a jump rope, and all 12 maps for the Trans America Trail which she studied on the ferry down from Haines.  I will meet Lael at the finish line tomorrow with her seatpack, jumprope, sleeping bag and pad, and a fresh pair of clothes.  We’ll take a few days to rest before riding to northern NY.  Here, Lael calls from western VA while riding past a Dollar General, the “rural Wal-Mart” as I like to call it.  Check out more photos from Nathan Jones and Anthony Dreyer on the Trans Am Bike Race Blog.  

“Did you see me riding good?  I just drank a Mountain Dew!  It’s everywhere around here, and in Kentucky.  Mountain Dew is everywhere there, and there are lots of those above ground swimming pools and broken cars.  Kentucky is pretty ghetto but I like it.” 

Lael called this morning while working hard up the hills of western Virginia.  Her proximity to the end of the race lifted her spirits, and the Mountain Dew sent her through the roof.  She was whooping and hollering on the phone.  Notice how many photos Nathan and Anthony have posted of Lael on the Trans Am Bike Race Blog where she is pumping her fist, usually at road signs?  She does that a lot in real life too.  Usually, when we’re trying to get some miles done, she pretends to be wielding a six-shooter and fires off a few rounds at signs indicating places and distances, once these micro-goals have been achieved.  320 miles to Yorktown?  Bang, bang!  

Lael seems to have settled down for a 3.5 hour rest last night, preparing for the 400+ mile push to the finish line.  If she can stay on the bike tonight, she is likely to arrive in Yorktown before noon on Wednesday.

Steffen holds strong to his lead out front, currently fifty miles ahead of Lael with 265 miles to the finish.  This distance will be hard for any rider to challenge unless Steffen is forced to stop.  Steffen appears to have slept for as little as 45 minutes last night, although he did sleep about 6 hours in Hazard, KY the night before.  In the nights before Hazard he also dabbled in short cat naps as Evan and Lael pressed from behind.  All of this is contrary to the regular long periods of sleep he took through much of the race.  However, he did ride through the first night of the race, only to stop before the end of the second day for a nine hour rest.  If he can keep his eyes open tonight he will be the first rider to Yorktown.

Evan Deutsch stopped for only 2.5 hours last night in Wytheville, gaining an hour on Lael in the process.  He is also coming off a 7 hour rest the night before in Hazard.  It will be interesting to see if all three riders will be able to continue through this final night.  

I received a message from Gerry this morning, a TABR fan who was on the route in the mountains of western VA.  He writes, “I just met Lael in Catawba at about 8:00 am. She was smiling, looked strong, and was pleased to have a tailwind. She said that she was trying hard to do well. She blasted off, missed her turn, and then got back on course. She is moving!”  

As of 10:44 AM EST, Steffen is 260mi to the finish, Lael is 310mi, and Evan is 344mi.  We can expect the first rider to arrive around sunrise on Wednesday.  Showdown at the corner of Bacon and Main Street in Yorktown, VA.  

Check out this brief video captured by Nathan Jones of Lael riding alongside a cycletourist this morning.

Follow the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 at Trackleaders.com.

 

 

Trans Am Bike Race 2016 Update: Breaks, VA

Folded, eroded by water, and steep.  The roads are anything but straight in eastern Kentucky and western Virginia.

Lael called this morning as she passed into the twelfth and final state on the historic Trans America Trail, the beginning of a series of larger climbs through the deeply folded Appalachian Mountains.  She was breathing hard, riding one handed uphill with the phone to her ear.  The next hundred miles may be the most mountainous of the entire route, although the climbing doesn’t end there.  The Trans Am doesn’t descend out of the mountains and onto the gently sloping coastal plain until three hundred miles from her current location.  She just crossed the Russell Fork River in Kentucky, and soon thereafter passed into Virginia adjacent to the Breaks Interstate Park, one of the only interstate parks in the country.  The region boasts a canyon as deep as 1600ft, one of many natural features I’ve heard billed as “the Grand Canyon of the East”.  As we ride north from Virginia to New York, we may take in the rail trail in the Pine Creek Gorge of northern PA, often called the “Grand Canyon on Pennsylvania”.  I’ve also visited Letchworth State Park in Eastern NY, also called “the Grand Canyon of the East”.  Here are a list of other deep river valleys which stake the same claim. 

Once out of the mountains, there are about 200 miles to the end.  Lael knows that her strengths include her ability to climb.  At the moment, she is healthy and rested.  She did, however, take a short night of sleep last night, bedding down for about 2.5 hours.  In doing so, she put some miles on both Evan and Steffen.  Evan trails her by 50 miles, and Steffen is now only 28 miles ahead.  With just 500 miles to go, the tension builds. Lael’s energy levels remain high; she maintains an exuberance which first emerged after the extreme heat of Kansas passed.  She is excited to be finishing soon, and was thrilled to learn that I am already in Atlanta, boarding a plane to Virginia.

Follow the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 at Trackleaders.com.

Trans Am Bike Race 2016 Update: Kentucky

I’m excited to be reunited with Lael.  Speaking with her this morning, she is now racing to meet me at the finish. Photo courtesy Przemek Duszynski in Poland.

The Trans Am Bike Race continues with three riders gunning for the finish.  Steffen Stretch, who has held the lead since the Rockies, holds onto a 75-80 margin.  Early in the race, he rode at breakneck speeds and slept long nights, at much as 7 hours.  His pace has diminished, now matched by chase riders Lael Wilcox and Evan Deutsch, and he is taking shorter and shorter nights of sleep.  Last night, for the first time, he recorded several one hour breaks— most likely roadside cat naps— yet no prolonged period of rest.  For now, the plan is working, but it signals that he is digging deep.

I spoke with Lael this morning form Kentucky.  She was exuberant.  She has been healthy for the entire race (for the first time ever in an ultra-distance cycling event), she has been sleeping a lot, and she claims to be riding well and crushing the hills.  I don’t know what her plan is, and I don’t think she really has a plan, but at some point in the next two nights she needs to dig deep if she wants to be the first rider to Yorktown.  With under 800 miles to the ocean, there may not be a third night for the top three riders.  

The remaining route includes continuing punchy climbs in eastern Kentucky, and a few longer ascents up and over the Appalachian Mountains to the rolling coastal plain of eastern Virginia.  

I told Lael that both of the riders who reached out to us to prepare for the Tour Divide had dropped from the race, Adam Martinez of Anchorage, AK and Jan Bennett of Houston, Texas.  Josh Kato and Seb Dunne also dropped from the Tour Divide.  Juliana Buhring dropped from the RAAM.  I gave her updates about Mike Hall’s progress on the Tour Divide and she was stoked.  Lael said, “I gotta do this”.  Only 730 miles left to do it.

I fly from Anchorage, AK to Newport News, VA this evening to meet Lael and other racers when they arrive.  We plan to rest for a few days and and begin pedaling to Northern NY to see my family.  I hope to include a segment of the C&O Canal Trail along the way.

I will be at The Bicycle Shop on Northern Lights Blvd in Anchorage today if anyone wants to stop by.  I leave for the airport at 4PM.

Follow the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 at Trackleaders.com.

Trans Am Bike Race 2016 Update: crossing the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers

The ferry at Cave-In-Rock, IL is a unique feature of the Trans Am Trail, and provides passage across the Ohio River from Illinois to Kentucky.  The ferry operates from 6AM to 9:30PM.  All photos courtesy Nathan Jones and Anthony Dryer via the Trans Am Bike Race Blog.  

Less than a thousand miles to Yorktown for the top three riders in the Trans Am Bike Race 2016.  Riding fast will expedite the process, limiting stopped time will help, but at this point the first person to the finish will do both of those things and sacrifice sleep.  For Lael and Evan, who continue to trail Steffen by about 75 miles, one of them will need to trade around 5 hours of sleep over the next few days to catch Steffen, and maybe more to overtake him with any margin.  Although I expect Steffen is currently running low on sleep, if he can employ the same strategy, he may hold off the chase.  And if he can get his legs moving like he did at the start he might be able to make some distance by riding fast.  For the first half of the race he recorded long nights of sleep and extremely fast rides.  His pace has changed, and he is now taking shorter nights, traveling at a similar pace to other riders.

Just one day out of Newton and Lael put a 1 cm long gash into her tire.  The tubeless system lost air and sealed at around 50 psi.  She attempted to air it up again and it continued to lose air, even after applying some Super Glue to the gash from the outside.  She put a tube in the tire and continued riding, and found a shop yesterday that stocked road tubes with long valves.  Her 64mm rims require 80mm valves, which are not especially common in small shops.  In addition to the single long valve tube she packed at the start of the race, she also has a valve extender in case her option for tubes are limited to standard length valves, such as in a small town bike shop or a Wal-Mart.  

Steffen, Lael, and Evan crossed the Mississippi River by bridge yesterday, entering into Illinois for a little over 100 miles of riding in the Land of Lincoln.  They continued into Kentucky by ferry at Cave-In-Rock, IL.  Temperatures remain in the high 80’s in Kentucky, and the weather looks mostly clear to the finish for these three riders.

I finish my brief season of work at The Bicycle Shop in Alaska this weekend and jump on a plane Sunday night, arriving in Newport News, VA on Monday.  I will put my bike together at the airport and ride to Yorktown to meet the riders.  Lael and I will rest for a few days before beginning a slow pedal to northern New York to visit my family.

Follow the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 at Trackleaders.com. 

 

Trans Am Bike Race 2016 Update: Ellington, MO

Missouri rollers.  All images courtesy Nathan Jones and Anthony Dryer via the Trans Am Bike Race Blog.

I called Lael last night after a shop ride at Kincaid Park.  Days before summer solstice, with temperatures around 80F in Anchorage, everyone in Alaska is outside having fun.  We get up early, we go to bed late, if at all.  We awake with the sun blasting through our windows at 4AM and do it all again the next day.  I pedaled to the trails for a group ride with friends from The Bicycle Shop.  We made a broad loop of the singletrack trails and even ran into a black bear in the last few minutes.  As I pedaled home, dropping into an aero position on my 785mm wide handlebars, I thought of Lael and called.  I wasn’t following the tracker, I just called to see if she might be awake, and if she might actually have her phone on.  She keeps her phone off to save battery, and turns it on if she needs to make a call.  

She answered in a small, sleepy voice.  She was inside a motel room somewhere in Missouri.  Our conversation was brief, mostly a series of I love yous and how are you feeling. In her sleepy voice, she said that Evan was hurting.  I didn’t inquire further, but I assumed this meant that he was physically tired, perhaps achy or cramping.  From the webcast at the Newton Bike Shop, we learned that Steffen is suffering from some numbness in his hands, and he seemed a bit stiff.  None of this is surprising considering the distances covered in the last twelve days, and both Evan and Steffen are in their 40’s, 42 and 46 years old, respectively.  Lael is nearing 30 and makes a daily habit of cross training by doing the things that she loves— running, yoga, jumping rope, swimming.  In speaking with her the last few days, she hasn’t complained of any stiffness or soreness, and aside from a few trying moments, her energy levels seem high.  We know she is sleeping a lot.  The question is, who will make it to Yorktown first?  

All three of the top riders can do it.  For many miles in the middle of such races, riders typically fall into sustainable patterns to pass the distance.  The drama of the first few days has passed at that time, and it would be too soon to begin racing to the end.  However, the top three riders are around 1200 miles from the finish.  The race to the finish starts now.

From photos on the Trans Am Bike Race Blog, Lael appears to be in good form.  She isn’t an experienced road cyclist, and hasn’t owned a road bike since the early ’80’s Bianchi she rode on our first bike tour in 2008.  She borrowed her mom’s Specialized Ruby a few summers ago for a series of long point-to-point rides in Alaska, as well as for the Fireweed 400 race.  I’ve seen her improve her skills over the course of this race.  She is now riding lower on the bike, standing when it makes sense, staying seated more than ever before, and tucking into the wind on fast descents.  Now that she knows how to ride a road bike, perhaps she can race these roadies to the finish.  The next few days will be exciting to watch.

Follow the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 on Trackleaders.com.

Trans Am Bike Race 2016 Update: Fair Grove, MO

Pushing into Missouri, followed by Illinois, Kentucky, and Virginia.  Go Lael Go!  All photos by race organizer Nathan Jones, who is driving a media car back and forth across the country to bring us these awesome images.  Buy Nathan a cheap motel and a burger by donating to the Trans Am Bike Race Media Fund.  Check the TABR Blog for photo updates daily.

Lael called from Pittsburg, KS yesterday near the end of the day.  Temperatures were near 100F, the heat index ranked the day at 107F, and a creaky seatpost caused a brief stop in town.  Lael’s bike came with an ultra-plush carbon post, the vibration damping Specialized C-GR post.  It is a great riding seaport, but in an effort to shave some weight off the bike in several places for the race, I ordered an ultralight Woodman carbon post, one of those no frills concepts that ranks as one of the lightest posts available.  It might have been a bad idea, it might have been improperly installed, or it might just be under-engineered for real world use.  Anyway, while in Newton, James noted that the seat had developed a bit of play.  By Pittsburg it was very loose and creaking.  The small town bike shop was quick to replace it with a standard 27.2mm seatpost.  Near the end of the day, as the afternoon heat boiled over into evening, Lael and Evan each decided to sleep for a few hours, and push through the cooler night air.  Lael texted just before 1AM her time to say that she was headed out.  I suspect a few hours of sleep and the cool night air would make for a nice ride.

Temperatures are expected to remain above 90F for the remainder of the race.  Thunderstorms and even tornadoes are not uncommon in this part of the country at this time of year.  Lael called again briefly this morning from Fair Grove, MO and described leaving Pittsburg last night in the dark, with tailwinds fed by local storm clouds.  She was sleepy by morning, but sunrise changed that.  

From her current location near Hartville, MO, Lael has about 1400 miles to the finish at Yorktown, VA.  

Check out this short video of Lael and Evan stopped at a gas station in Missouri this morning, send by a TABR fan in the area.

Steffen remains in the lead, Lael and Evan are holding 80-90 miles back, Kai is steady around 100-110 miles behind them, and Sarah is now further back after a longer layover in Newton.  Massimiliano Fancoli and Ken Bathurst follow in 6th and 7th overall, and Massimilaiano just overtook Ken, who was stopped in Newton.  Janie Hayes, from Salida, CO is the third female rider, currently 8th overall.  Three women in the top ten!

Follow the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 at Trackleaders.com.

To support the media tracking provided by race organizer Nathan Jones, donate to his Trans Am Bike Race Media Fund.  All images courtesy Nathan Jones.

Trans Am Bike Race 2016 Update: Newton, KS

Lael pens her name on a sign from the original Bikecentennial Route, featuring the classic “76 cyclist logo.  The Trans Am Trail turns 40 this year.  Join us at the Montana Bicycle Celebration in Missoula, MT from July 14-17 to celebrate bicycle travel and the 40th anniversary of the Adventure Cycling Association.  The Bikecentennial started it all.  This is the third edition of the Trans Am Bike Race.  Photos courtesy Newton Bike Shop webcam.

The top five racers in the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 are all across the halfway point on the route in Eads, CO, and in the next few hours, Sarah and Kai will both arrive at Newton Bike Shop, the self-proclaimed midway point which is actually 2500 miles from Astoria, OR (about 1750 from Yorktown, VA).   Stefan, Lael, and Evan are all through Newton and on their way out of Kansas and into Missouri.  All eastward riders in Kansas seem to be blessed with light tailwinds.  The top three riders will pass into Missouri today, where the terrain will change. Sarah and Kai will likely stop at Newton Bike Shop for a few hours, receiving a full dose of their special service.  

James and his staff at Newton Bike Shop serviced three riders yesterday.  Stefan arrived in the early evening and after a short nap and bike service he was back on the road, at which point Lael and Evan were about 15 miles from Newton.  Upon hearing this, Steffen quickly repacked his bike and rolled out of town.  Steffen is riding a Specialized CruX E5 X1, an aluminum cross bike with hydraulic brakes and 1×11 gearing.  He is from Lesbos, Greece.  

Lael and Evan arrived at the same time around 8PM, “riding side by side down 6th Street”, according to James.  Both riders were quickly ushered into the shop, introduced to the webcam, and sent to the showers.  Lael declined laundry service when asked, although she came out of the shower dressed like a high school basketball player post-game, wearing longs shorts and flip flops, so I assume her grey Hanes t-shirt and technicolor Nike running shorts went to the laundry.  At this point, those shorts have taken a ride down the Baja Divide, and across most of the country from Alaska.  The t-shirt is fresh from a Fred Meyer in Oregon, but is Lael’s new preferred race top.  She wore the same model grey Hanes on her first Tour Divide ride last year and loved it.  I’ve saved that shirt for memory, now threadbare and full of holes.  I also saved the cotton “Alaska Grown” t-shirt she wore on her second Divide ride, a gift from her grandmother.

As planned, James installed a new chain and cassette on Lael’s bike, along with two new Hutchinson Sector 28 tires.  These tires are rated for road tubeless use, meaning that they feature a tight fitting bead and a nearly airtight casing, a system which is completely sealed with the use of a liquid latex-based sealant.  Most road tubeless tires are very difficult to mount by hand, and most would be impossible to remove from the rim on the roadside after a 200 miles day.  This tire is different, and can be installed and removed by hand.  Further, at 28mm wide, it represents a new range of endurance tires now available, including the 26mm Specialized Turbo and the 28mm Schwalbe Pro One, two other tires that I ordered and considered using for this event.  There are also a growing range of tubeless road and “all road” tires ranging from 28mm to 40mm to suit the new breed of adventure road bikes and gravel bikes with larger tire clearances, tubeless ready wheels, and disc brakes  Lael purchased the chain and cassette through Newton Bike Shop, which she communicated several weeks before the race.  She shipped two Hutchinson Sector 28 tires and a bottle of Stan’s Race Sealant to Newton from Oregon before the race.  Lael is riding a Specialized Ruby Pro Disc UDi2 with CLX 64 wheels with an SP Dynamo hub from Intelligent Design Cycles and lighting from K-Lite in Australia.

Both Lael and Evan are using Shimano Di2 electronic shifting systems, and both riders report less range than expected.  Thus, Lael is sure to charge the battery whenever convenient, which partly explains the frequency with which she has taken motels along the route.  Lodging is frequent and convenient along the Trans-Am, which allows racers to recover better, travel lighter, and ride faster.  As always, the procedure takes a little extra time.  But for Lael, for this race, it works.  In the last week, I’ve watched her become an experienced road cyclist, riding at higher average speeds and maintaining a more consistent pace. Lael is carrying an extra seat-tube battery, fully charged, along with a spare tube, patch kit, derailleur hanger, and a few other small repair items..

Evan also had his bike serviced at Newton Bike Shop, receiving new Continental tires, and settled down for a few minutes of massage.  Both riders ate, slept for a few hours, and were back on the bikes around 2:45AM.  

Thanks to James and Heather Barringer and all the staff at Newton Bike Shop for taking care of Lael and the Trans Am racers, and all the cyclists that pass through Newton.  You are certainly curating an #oasisinthegrassdesert.  Donate a few bucks to the Newton Bike Shop to support their expansion project which will provide more space and facilities to serve traveling cyclists.  They are currently partway through the campaign to raise $7000.  We helped them raise their first thousand dollars yesterday, let’s push them toward their goal.  If you haven’t checked out the webcam to see how they support this race, tune in to the James Barringer show in Newton, KS on UStream.  Sarah and Kai will be there later this morning.

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Follow the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 on Trackleaders.com.

On the Tour Divide, Mike Hall continues his total dominance out front.  Chris Plesko holds second place, on a singlespeed!  Josh Kato and Seb Dunne have both withdrawn from the race, both suggest they may return in the future.  Follow the Tour Divide 2016 on Trackleaders.com.

The Race Across America (RAAM) started yesterday, a 3000mi supported cross country race, complete with medics and required vehicular support.  Juliana Buhring is riding (Team JuJu), and is the current women’s record holder on the Trans Am Route, from 2014.  Sarah Cooper, an Iowan, is out front racing for the lead in the solo division.  Several teams of riders, where riders rotate the task of riding from a support vehicle, ill make it across the country in 5-6 days.  It is a good summer for women ultra-endurance road racing.  Follow RAAM on Trackleaders.com.

The documentary film “Inspired to Ride”, about the inaugural Trans Am Bike Race in 2014, is now on Netflix and is also available as a digital download from the website.  In his third film, director Mike Dion captures Mike Hall and Juliana Buhring in their record setting rides across the country

Trans Am Bike Race 2016 Update: middle of Kansas

 

Live, from Newton, KS.  James and Heather Barringer curate the Newton Bike Shop experience, complete with bike service, bodywork, burgers, and beer.  Follow Trans Am racers live from Newton via a live webcam. And when there aren’t any racers in the building, expect James to provide non-stop entertainment from the #oasisinthegrassdesert. Photo grab from The Newton Bike Shop webcam.

Lael called yesterday from Eads, CO.  She stopped in town for a brief resupply and was planning to push into the night.  Tornado warnings in the area were cause for concern, although it was the mass of dark clouds to the east which was truly concerning.  Even so, Lael said she would continue into Kansas “if I don’t get caught in a storm”.  Riding over two hundred miles a day in a race across the country, dodging thunderclouds and tornadoes, makes Trans Am racers protagonists in their own Western tale.  I’ve always loved riding into, out of, and away from high energy systems.  And in a race that sometimes seems like a long slow burn, with only a few exciting moments, I now realize that every day has it’s fireworks.  For Lael: Sunday was a cut tire and a 11,542 ft pass, Monday was the threat of tornadoes, today should be the great welcoming at The Newton Bike Shop, also know as the #oasisinthegrassdesert.  

Once across the border into Kansas it appears that the threat of thunder was traded for a light tailwind, with recorded pedaling speeds over 20mph into the night.  Lael and Evan both finished their day in Scott City, KS.  Lael is planning to reach Newton Bike Shop in Newton, KS by the end of the day for planned service and some rest.  Newton Bike Shop is a unique stop on the Trans Am Route, a haven for cycletourists and Trans Am racers, a shining example of middle-American philosophy in the middle of America— Heather and James Barringer aim to provide equal opportunity service to their community, as well as to the community of riders passing through their small town in Kansas.  Trans Am riders are treated to late night bike service, restorative bodywork, a place to sleep, and perhaps even a bite to eat.  The Barringers are a colorful couple, well known in Trans Am circles, and I look forward to watching all the Trans Am racers through Kansas this year.  Connect with Newton Bike shop on Instagram as @newtonbikeshop, Facebook, and via their live webcam this week.  Even before any racers have arrived, James is already in front of the camera waving around bottles of whiskey and reading fan mail from riders all over the country.  If you want to get involved, donate to the “Build the Oasis in the Grass Desert” fund on Gofundme.com to help Newton Bike Shop grow their resources to better serve your favorite racers and all cycletourists into the future.

Lael called briefly this morning from somewhere in Kansas.  She sounded great, not even a hint of tiredness in her voice, and was excited about the final miles to the Atlantic.  She already knew that her SPOT batteries had died (Matthew tends to text racers when batteries are low), and she plans to replace them in Newton.  Steffen remains steady out front, 90-100 miles ahead of Lael and Evan, Kai and Sarah are around 100 miles behind.  The top five riders are all within about 200 miles of each other.  Their respective stopped times in Newton may shake things up a bit.

Follow the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 on Trackleaders.com.

In other racing news: The archived pink LW ITT bubble is also fun to watch on the Tour Divide Trackleaders page, although the data reflects Lael’s  “call ins” last year, as she lost her Spot in northern Montana  Later, near Lima, she got stuck in the mud for a period of about 12 hours.  Mike Hall is setting the course on fire, riding well ahead of record pace.  Josh Kato should be in second, although his tracker has been inactive for some time.  Chris Plesko is putting out a really strong effort, vying for 2nd or 3rd place right now, on a singlespeed.  Follow the Tour Divide 2016 on Trackleaders.com

And for real, give those guys at Newton Bike Shop some money, they’re doing great things out there.  I donated $50 this morning in Lael’s name.  Consider doing the same to help them achieve their mission to help others.

Trans Am Bike Race 2016 Update: Breckenridge, CO

Lael and Evan ride through Breckenridge joined by a Trans Am cycletourist, and our friend Kyle who is behind the camera.  All images courtesy of Kyle Sheehan. 

Lael called from Breckenridge, Colorado.  She reported a sliced tire earlier in the day, just before Hot Sulphur Springs, CO, which she repaired by removing the tubeless valve and reinstalling the tire with a tube and a tire boot of some sort.  The whole procedure, from archived tracking data, took relatively little time.  Lael stopped in Breckenridge to replace the tire at a bike shop.  The shop offered to mount a new road tubeless tire, but for fear that the process would take more time than is worth it she selected to get out of town as soon as possible on a new tire and a tube.  Too many road tubeless tires are impossible to mount and remove by hand.  Lael has planned service at Newton Bike Shop in Newton, KS, a well-known stop for both racers and cycletourists on the Trans-Am Route.  Check them out on Instagram as @newtonbikeshop for a good time.

Lael, Evan, and Sarah all left Walden, CO yesterday morning at the same time, around 3:30AM.  Sarah rode today at less than her previous pace, although she managed a longer day than yesterday.  Still no reports about Sarah’s exact condition, although Lael said she “didn’t look good” when they rode past each other yesterday.

Our friend Kyle Sheehan joined Lael, Evan, and the unnamed cycletourist up Hoosier Pass south of Breckenridge.  We met Kyle back in 2010 after our first Baja trip, when I took a job for a few months at Velo Orange in Maryland.  We’ve since run into him in a few places around the country, and he is currently living near the Trans Am Route in Colorado.  He reports, “I honestly have no idea how Lael is doing that many miles every day.  I’m in awe.  Attached is what I took, unfortunately not much  because I was getting pretty worked keeping up with those two.  The one of us rolling out of Breckenridge also pictures this dude on a tour who had veritable suitcases on his rear rack, really liked to talk about weed while riding 2x on a sketchy road, and who totally destroyed the pass.  He summited way before us.  The picture of the first switchback you can make out Lael going around the turn and Evan a little ahead.  It was steeper than it looks, and only got steeper.”  He adds, “She seems to be doing great, super positive and pumped on the ride!”  Thanks Kyle!

Also, check out this short video of Lael riding into Breckenridge, CO yesterday, shared by Eric Morton on FB.  Thanks Eric!

Lael and Evan dropped out of the mountains last night around midnight, reaching Cañon City at the end of the day after their 3:30AM start in Walden, CO, traveling a total distance of about 246 miles.  Daytime temperatures in eastern Colorado and Kansas are expected to increase during the week, with highs over 100F.  Thunderstorms are predicted for late afternoon and evening on Monday.

Steffen holds a 100 mile lead out front, Lael and Evan continue together, Sarah is another 40 miles back, and Kai’s tracker is stopped in Hartsel, but Is suspect he is well beyond by now as that’s very near where he camped last night.

Follow the Trans Am Bike Race 2016 at Trackleaders.com. 

Thanks Kyle for the update and images!

Trans Am Bike Race 2016 Update: Kremmling, CO

Trans Am Bike Race leaders will descend out of the mountains today, headed for the flatlands of eastern Colorado and Kansas.  Steffen, Evan, Lael, and Sarah make up the top group, while Steffen clings to a 90 mile lead.  All images by Nathan Jones and the Trans Am Bike Race blog.

Lael called yesterday just after I posted an update from our conversation the night before in Lander, WY.  I don’t remember where she was at the time, the wind was overwhelming the microphone on her flip phone.  She sounded great, fully energy, her voice was healthy.  I asked how she liked riding with Evan, since she’s never much liked riding with anyone.  She said it helped that the two of them were riding a similar pace, and when riding within range of each other they are loosely racing each other, more like a constant reminder to keep the pace moving.  It reminds me of the tactics employed by riders in the professional peloton to chase down the leaders, except this race is over 4200 miles on one stage.  

Steffen is riding very strong out front, getting plenty of rest and pushing a fast pace during the day.  

Sarah made a very short day yesterday, riding less than a hundred miles from Saratoga, WY to Walden, CO.  She stopped in Walden around 2:30PM for about 12 hours, and seems to have spent much of that time at a local motel.  Lael rode from Jeffrey City, WY and arrived in Walden, CO in the evening just after dark and stopped for a nearly six hour rest, so both female riders should be well rested.  However, it seems likely that Sarah may have slowed during the day and stopped early for more than just a few extra hours of sleep.  During such extreme endurance challenges, many strange ailments may arise to challenge a rider.  At the time of writing, I do not have any clear information about her condition, although she is riding strong this morning, which is a good sign.  I hope she is able to continue the race in her own style.  I know how hard it was for Lael to race the Tour Divide last summer while suffocating through Canada and Montana.

Lael, Evan, and Sarah all left Walden, CO within five minutes of each other, and they continue to ride within 5 miles of each other this morning.  Steffen is about 90 miles ahead of the newly formed chase pack.  His lead over Lael and Evan has diminished slightly since yesterday, although they still must climb to the highest point on the route today, over 11,542 ft Hoosier Pass.  Thereafter, the route dives eastward out of the Rocky Mountains and onto the plains of Kansas and into the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.

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