*REPORT FROM THE ROAD: 6-11-2010 10:55 PM EDT*

Rob made it to the Cortez time station at 8:20 PM. According to night crew driver Mike Desilet, Rob took about a 20 minute break to change his clothes, use the facilities and gear up for the difficult night ahead, which includes the climbs up to Durango and Pagosa Springs. (If you want to ride from California to Annapolis, you have to haul yourself up and over a few speed bumps called the Rocky Mountains.)

Mike said that Rob dodged some nasty weather, with some violent thunderstorms going through Cortez about an hour before Rob's arrival. A bit of good luck there.

By all accounts, he is riding well, though he is, of course, fatigued which is to be expected given the terrain he's covered in the past two days.

My guess is that he will try to make it through Durango and then at least part of the way to Pagosa Springs before he takes his sleep break for the night.

By the way - remember those mileage numbers I mentioned earlier: ~200 day, ~100 night? Those sort of get adjusted based on terrain. He still has some significant climbs in the next 24 hours before he descends down to the flats of eastern Colorado and on into Kansas, so if his numbers are a little lower over the next day, he'll make it up as he moves down into the plains.

Another great day for Rob.

(Side note: I did a quick 25 mile ride myself tonight and the whole time I was thinking about Rob. While I was trying to haul my sorry a** up over 1/4 mile long hills, Rob was riding up hill for 30 miles into Cortez. He both humbles and inspires.)