Gary has passed Time Station 1 - Lake Henshaw

Gary obtained Time Station 1 - Lake Henshaw at 19:23 race time. Race time is the current time at the finish line of RAAM - Annapolis. 19:23 translates to 4:23 pm Pacific Daylight Time. Gary averaged 14.2 miles per hour on a 57.2 mile leg with over 5,000 feet of climbing. It took Gary just four hours and five minutes.



The weather at Lake Henshaw is warm - 91 degrees F., but it about to get warmer. Gary is nearing the "Glass Elevator" a 3000 foot descent to the desert town of Borrego Springs, where it has been known to be hot enough to fry an egg on the road way. Gary will be riding through in the early evening, but it will still be hot.







The next Time Station is in Brawley, Ca and is an 88.4 mile leg. This leg is has about half the amount of climbing but is longer and hotter than the first leg. At the end of this leg in Brawley, Gary will be below sea level! The RAAM website is predicting that Gary will arrive at Brawley at 1:42 RAAM time, or 10:42 PDT.

The next Time Station is in Brawley, Ca and is an 88.4 mile leg.  This leg is has about half the amount of climbing but is longer and hotter than the first leg.  At the end of this leg in Brawley, Gary will be below sea level!  The RAAM website is predicting that Gary will arrive at Brawley at 1:42 RAAM time, or 10:42 PDT.

You can send your cheers and kudo to Gary via jmaurice@easystreet.net and we will get them to him.

-John Henry Maurice-

By RAAM/RAW race rules, the crew cannot follow directly behind our rider during daylight hours except for a few exceptions. I think it puts riders at risk, all for motorist's convenience. We were limited to "leap frog" support, where we would drive ahead of our racer, stop at least 5 feet off the road, provide any support needed, then drive ahead again.

Gary had missed the "virtual racer" time to Time Station 1 by a significant margin, but was still ahead of pace calculations he had made based on his self assessed strengths and weaknesses.  The race was young and it was my job as crew chief to determine if adherence to a pre race pace plan was still attainable.   I would keep watching the time on the ground as it related to our calculated plans and adjust as necessary.

-Kevin