I managed to call the pace van this morning just as they were in the middle of the transition from night crew to day crew, so they could not chat long.
Rob obviously slept last night after TS 33 in Jefferson City and is now making his way to TS 34 in Washington, MO. This time station and the next one (the Mississippi River) are relatively long distances (76 and 70 miles, respectively), as compared to the past few, which have been in the 35-60 range.
"Why does this matter?" you might ask.
Well, at this stage of the race, every little thing can become a big thing. I remember in the latter stages of past RAAMs Rob asking "How far is the next time station?" over and over again. He just looks for some kind of milepost or mini-goal to pull him along and the time stations are important ones. Also, back in the day, before we had the Internet and any semblance of cell phone service, the time stations were the only way we could get updates on what was happening in the race and where Rob was relative to the other racers. Rob likes to know that information and do the math while he is riding. (Of course, he is so tired, his math is about as reliable as a golden retriever's, but that's what the crew is there for.)
Anyway, I'll talk to the day crew in a bit and get a sense of how the sleep break was last night. I'll also remind them to grab, if possible, a photo or a video when Rob crosses the Mississippi. In addition to it being a time station, it also puts him into a new state, Illinois, and only one state more until the eastern time zone.
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You're exactly correct Bill, he's asking a lot about mileage to the next time station. He looked good most of the night, slept a good 2.5 hrs but was starting to tire around 6:30 am as he usually does but I'm sure he'll get his usual second wind. 123 miles with us last night. Seems he's getting stronger each night.
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