Team Donate Life Grace Valley checked in at Springfield CO at 1:46 AM CA time.  They checked in at Ulysses KS 4:53 AM CA time.  Their average speed this leg was 23.29 mi/hr.  They are predicted in Montezuma KS around 7:15 AM CA time.  They are 2nd in the 8-man division and 4th team across divisions.  They check in at Montezuma at 7:22.  They are predicted in Mullinville KS at 10 AM CA time.  They checked in at 10:13 AM CA time.  They are predicted in Pratt KS MacDonalds around 12:15 PM CA time.  Reported checkin time was 12:25 PM CA time.  Predicted arrival at Mount Vernon KS between 3 and 3:30 PM CA time. They check in at 3:04 PM CA time.  Good time!  1496.8 miles traveled, 1546.0 to go - they are almost halfway, within the hour!  Their average speed since Oceanside 1350 1500 miles ago is 20.6 mi/hr.  They are predicted at El Dorado KS about 6 PM CA time.  They checked in at 6 PM on the dot!  They are predicted at Yates Center KS at 00:00 Race Time, which is 9 PM CA time.  TDLGV checked in on the dot of 00.00 Race Time.  They are predicted at 11:51 PM at Fort Scott KS.  They checked in at 11:45 PM CA time.  They are expected in Collins MO at 2:45 AM CA time.  Is it Friday?  It must be Kansas.  But if it’s Saturday, it starts out in Missouri.

TDLGV is 5.5 7 hours behind Team Type I - monitored by: Freestyle, an all-diabetic team.  This 8-man team’s trainer is putting up to 3 riders on the road at times especially in headwinds to draft off each other.  This technique is rarely used for fear of rider burnout, but the strategy seems to be working for this team.   TDLGV is 4 4.5 hours behind 4-man Beaver Creek - Catlin, 3 4 hours behind 4-man Team Psycho (Psycho tracks competition Beaver Creek - Catlin relatively closely)  and is in fourth position overall for teams.  The relative standings of the first four teams has been constant throughout the race so far.  But wait! At about 4:30 Team Psycho caught up with Beaver Creek - Catlin at Yates Center KS.  We have to see how they stand at the next station - and Psycho checks in first at 6:47 PM CA time at Fort Scott KS ahead of Beaver - Creek Catlin to take first place in the 4-man team division standings, powering 25 mi/hr this leg.  But wait again!  RAAM just posted the exact same checkin time 10 minutes late for Beaver Creek - Catlin and flipped the first and second standings back to Beaver Creek - Catlin in first place for 4-man division!  So Psycho was in first for about 10 minutes. 8-man Team ViaSat is in 5th position 1 hour behind TDLGV, but accelerating to try to close.

The above was a false alarm.  There was a reporting error that has been corrected.  Team ViaSat is about 2.5 hours behind TDLGV and going at an average speed similar to TDLGV.  I hope TDLGV didn’t get too worried.  As you remember, we all want God’s definition of success.  Team Type I is almost 7 hours ahead at 3 PM CA time.

2-man Swiss team IWC Schaffhausen is in 6th overall, 2.5 3 hours behind TDLGV.  Helpful chart again, useful to see the ranking, distance spread and speed trajectories of the teams.  This chart does not include the 2-man teams, so doesn’t show the Swiss team.  Look for the TDLGV magenta trajectory in fourth place.

Update from RAAM mentioning some TDL teams and the 32 riders for Team Donate Life spread across 6 teams racing for a cause

Google earth RAAM tip from Jay:

Here’s a link to the entire RAAM route in Google Map:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/RAAM-2007-by-raceacrossamerica-org

Use the “hybrid” display option to see both map and satellite/aircraft imagery, then navigate along the route.

For users of Google Earth, click on “Share” at the top of the map and download the .KML (Google Earth) file to “fly” along the route.

Aurelie and Aliotsy spotted these (photo,  photo) of  Steve Jackura and Greg Chapla making his way through gorgeous Colorado.  Dwight (photo, photo) More team road pictures on Keturah’s site

Inspiring story from kidney recipient rider who is having a difficult RAAM

I just heard from Ron Lewis who had a double cheeseburger and fries at the MacDonalds in Pratt KS, that is open 24/7 only during RAAM.  You can see that MacDonalds on video update 9 with the RAAM 2007 sign up.  The RAAM video announcer calls it his favorite RAAM station in the race. 

Ron got a camera and microphone pointed at his face from a car for an interview while riding his turn.  We’ll watch for that video update (photos - I laughed out loud when I looked at this)!   Ron sounded great on the phone (esp. to me his wife)!  He felt he was bonking once and forced himself to eat half a peanut butter sandwich and got totally rejuvenated.  So there are highs and lows as to how they feel  (I purchased this copyrighted picture for personal use only).

I just read  a San Diego Tribune article about the 5th place in the 8-man division North Coast Cycling Team, whose racers and crew include members and the pastor of North Coast Church in Vista.  Their community service charity is separate from but administered by their Evangelical Free Church.  The riders include past record holders in RAAM and some are among the oldest in the race.  They are one of the three 8-man teams closely vying for 5th overall behind us.

Team ViaSat is trying to stream live video and has some commentary of which this is a snippet from yesterday (that’s us they are talkin’ about in the top four) and I hoped they clicked to our compelling tdlgv.org website and read about our Simeon and Joan kidney donation story, and our involvement with Team Donate Life promoting awareness of organ donor registration, which is linked from our team roster, 2007 rider websites list, and a couple of other places on RAAM:

“The top four teams in the race are FLYING - three of the four have pulled into Pagosa Springs, which gives them roughly a 70 mile lead. These teams have average speeds of about 22 mph. In the top four are last year’s overall winner, Team Beaver Creek, and last year’s Corporate Challenge division winner, Team Type 1. Again, if you have a chance, the RAAM website has a lot of information on these teams, and they do have some compelling stories.”

I just tried the streaming video, and it really gave me a feel for riding at night, since the live camera is shooting from Team ViaSat’s follow vehicle.  People had trouble getting timeouts in Internet Explorer, but found it worked by pasting this address http://mfile.akamai.com/22774/live/reflector:53345.asx?bkup=57486&prop=n into the File > Open dialog box on RealPlayer (worked for me) or Windows Media player.  It gives an idea what is happening 2.5 hours behind the TDLGV guys!