Cycling: Race Across America - Day 2 Updates

Tuesday, June 13, 2006 - 06:08 PM

On the second day of racing, a day marked with over 10,000 feet of climbing, the competition at the front of the pack shows no sign of slowing down.

Robic regained his #1 spot and had 6 minutes on Baloh at Time Station,#11 in Kayenta, AZ. A little over two hours behind them, but riding within minutes of each other are Jonathan Boyer, Tinker Juarez and Kenny Souza. (Souza fell back a spot when he missed a turn and lost approximately 40 minutes.) Valentin Zeller, of Austria, dropped out in Flagstaff, AZ after a valiant effort to overcome the serious dehydration he suffered on Sunday.

In the women’s race, Shanna “Banana” Armstrong’s initial lead of 1+ hour over Patty Jo Struve is now a matter of minutes.

Mixed in with the top five Enduro riders are Traditionalists Marcel Knaus, Daniel Wyss, James Kern, on a recumbent, and Gerhard Gulewicz who fought serious dehydration yesterday. Kevin Wallace has moved into 7th place among the soloists! Please excuse his exclusion by the US author.

It will be very interesting to watch the race play out this year, with the Solo Enduro riders riding up to this point as they would ride the Solo Traditional race. Once the Enduro riders start taking time towards their minimum 40 hours sleep/rest time, the leader board will mark changes that may or may not have any effect on the race’s final results. We may also see race speeds pick up.

The 24-hour teams pedaled their way into Flagstaff, AZ fast and furiously. Team Beat Cancer, a team that could not be missed in their pink team kits in honor of breast cancer, slew the field with a total time of 24:24, 90 minutes of which was not riding time but penalties incurred. The Swami’s Team and Pam Reed’s Badwater Crew fought hard for second place and arrived in that order with 40 minutes difference. Team Illumina, made up of colleagues from the biotech firm of that name, came in around 90 minutes later, just before Robic.

Allen Larsen, calling in from Tuba City, AZ (TS 10) says that other than some trouble navigating Flagstaff, the route was marked with beautiful weather, nice temperatures, and tailwinds to Tuba City. It should be gorgeous riding weather as the racers cross Monument Valley.