*REPORT FROM THE ROAD: 6-14-2010 8:15 AM EDT*

What to make of the current standings?

Rob reached time station 24, Montezuma, KS, at 7:18 EDT this morning. He is now in 8th place -  for the time being. He will likely move up again during the day today because there are a few factors affecting Rob's position right now:

- He was slower during the mountains than some of the other guys, so they crept up to Rob, but...

- ...sleep breaks will become an increasing part of any calculus - both for Rob and his competition out on the road, and for us at home trying to make heads or tails.

Rob is now rested (he obviously slept going into TS 24) and ready to ride for the day. Some of the riders around Rob are either sleeping now or are due to sleep. So these standings will continue to be fluid throughout the day.

Make no mistake - Rob has to bear down and put in some miles, but he is right there in the main group. With more than half the race to go, there is so much to play out over the next few days and these standings will change a hundred more times.

I know that Rob does NOT like to be passed. I also know that Rob is a smart RAAM veteran, who knows himself and knows when to be passed and when to do the passing.

I just had a long conversation with night crew driver Mike Desilet and he says Rob is doing well and had some good sleep again last night. His knee was bothering him when he woke up this morning, so it took a little extra time to get going. Also, his butt is pretty torn up, but probably nothing unusual for this point in RAAM. They took a little extra time to address those issues and now Rob is back on the bike and riding at a good clip.

***Note to Rob fans***
While blogging about my best friend is one of my favorite activities, the pay stinks to the point of non-existence. I have an actual job that will take me to Boston for most of the day today, so this will likely be the last road report until this evening. I may try to sneak one in before my return trip this afternoon, but no promises.

Rob's wife Kate is going to try to stay in touch with the pace van and provide updates over on Rob's Facebook fan page and, of course you can check My Athlete and you can keep checking the RAAM standings for position and photo updates. I'll be back here later tonight.