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 Dominique Briand is helped by a member of his support team as he leaves the Fort Scott time station early Tuesday evening to resume competing in the Race Across America. Briand is one of two competitors in the Solo Male 50-59 division. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune photo) [Click to enlarge] |
Four riders checked into the station -- the 29th of 52 the riders must pass before the finish in Annapolis, Md. -- in a 20-minute stretch that began shortly before 5 p.m. One, the individual who was taking his turn for the Team Type I eight-man team, breezed by the station at about 25 m.p.h., never so much as turning his head to confirm he had passed by.
The soloists all chose to stop, however. Michael Cook of the United States arrived first at 4:56 p.m He was followed by the Team Type I rider at 4:58.
Frenchman Dominique Briand, one of two competitors in the men's 50-59 age group, arrived at one minute past five. Then Richard Newey of Great Britain stopped in at 5:17, which was about 20 minutes earlier than had been estimated.
Team Type I didn't have to take a break in Fort Scott because the riders had taken a long break at the previous station at Yates Center, according to their online blog. With an average speed of almost 24 m.p.h., they are blistering the eight-man field in hopes of reclaiming the race speed record they had held until last year.
Second-place Team Via Sat passed through the Fort Scott station at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night, averaging about 23 m.p.h.
According to the RAAM Web site, www.raceacrossamerica.org, even though Team Type I is one time station ahead of Team ViaSat -- Type I checked in at Weaubleau, Mo., at 7:47 p.m. -- ViaSat has actually been on the road longer. When Type I -- so named because every rider has Type I diabetes -- checked in at Weaubleau, they'd been on the road for 3 days, 3 hours and 14 minutes. When ViaSat went through Fort Scott, they'd been on the road about 37 minutes longer but were about 66 miles behind. And, remember, ViaSat checked into Fort Scott a half hour after Type I checked in at Weaubleau.
Other activity at the Fort Scott station since Tuesday's report included:
* Janet Christiansen of the U.S., the women's solo under 50 leader, checking in at 10:45 p.m. Monday night. Second-place Daniela Figueiredo Genovesi of Brazil passed through at 12:50 a.m. Tuesday. They are the only two riders left in their division.
* Ann Wooldridge of Great Britain, the only woman in the solo 50-59 division, passed checked in at 5:12 a.m. Tuesday.
* Jim Rees, currently fifth in the men's solo under 50 division, arrived at 9:20 a.m. Tuesday.
Newey was the last man to pass through in the men's solo under 50 division as the remaining nine men have dropped out, including RAAM veterans such as Julian Sanz Garcia of Spain and Jean Mark Velez of France.
Slovenia's Jure Robic continues to set the pace. Robic, 44, who is looking to three-peat and win his fifth title overall, passed through station No. 38 at Bloomington, Ind., at 5:10 p.m. Tuesday while Dani Wyss of Switzerland passed through there at 6:05. Gerhard Gulewicz of Austria is third, went through No. 36 at Effingham, Ill., at 7:04 p.m. Marko Baloh of Slovenia had made it to No. 35 at Greenville, Ill., which is the first station after crossing the Mississippi River, at 8:39 p.m.
Christiansen and Genovesi have both reached time station No. 32 at Jefferson City, Mo., in what is now a two-person race in the most literal sense in the women's under 50 division. Christiansen was there at 4:47 p.m. Tuesday while Genovesi arrived there about 2 1/2 hours later.
There are other entrants, all of them team competitiors, that have not yet passed through Fort Scott but are expected to do so sometime today. Among them are:
* Team JRDF, which is the only team in the open division. The team expected to arrive here around 6:30 a.m., according to projections.
* All Wheels 4 Fibromyalgia, currently leading the four-person mixed under 50 division, was projected to pass through Fort Scott at about 7:15 a.m.
* Buchholz Goes America, the only team in four-person mixed 50-59, should arrive around 1:50 p.m.
* Georgia Chain Gang, the only team in four-person male 50-59, was projected to check in around 5:45 p.m.
* Team Reaching Heights, the lone entry in two-person make 50-59 division, was estimated to arrive at 7:20 p.m.
Another team to look out for is Team Can Be Venture. Each member of the team is paralyzed and using hand-driven bikes. They are expected to come through Thursday at around 8:30 p.m.
The list above does not include riders who were projected to pass through between the Tribune's 11 p.m. deadline and 6 a.m. The arrival times also assume each team will be able to maintain the pace they had when they passed through the last time station.