Day 7

Timing tent








Neill Kapoor/England (left) and Michelle Santilhano/South Africa living in California









Super Support Crew Rick Freeman. He crewed for Wayne Kurtz and also helped 4/5 people with bike issues, especially tires.

Kari martens of Sweeden

Still a little chilly this morning, the temps over night were 48F/9C and breezy. Today the sun finally came out about 11:00 and the temps are moderate now. Not too hot for them (it was a nice 66 deg this afternoon) – as the mood has started changing with the bikers finally getting off the bike. Another race is starting to form now and the better runners are strategizing to chase down the biker guys. Already Emmanuel has gone from last place out of the pool to currently 6th place, and running is his thing. Tho his crew has said he is battling bronchitis. Half of the athletes are now on the run.

Harn Wei dropped out of the race last night, he got an MRI and it did show a tear in his knee. So he will work on it the rest of the winter and see what he can do next year.

David Clamp is another one that did well on the bike and is currently in 2nd place, running well. His partner and support crew Sally will work on his feet when he stops for a formal food break, working on one while the other is in a icy tub. Petra has also been working on Kari’s feet as well when he stops. A few of the athletes have been getting massages from their crews at different intervals, trying to work out kinds in the muscles. Every little bit helps in this race at this distance. A few minutes now can mean big gains in the long run.

Marie-Josee of Quebec City, Canada and a support crew of Guy Rossi has worked on quite a few of the racers. She specializes in the Bowen Technique of Massage www.bowtech.com, and a few of them have been requesting her now.

When I came down this morning for breakfast and to check on the riders, Antal was riding in jeans. This lasted a couple hours then he switched back into regular bike pants. For a period two days ago, Suraya was riding in jean shorts. I don’t think that lasted long.

Speaking of breakfast, more pancakes and scrambles eggs, one batch had meat in them, the other one had diced potatoes. There was that rice pudding that everyone loves, more refried beans, the tacos that were left over from last night, hard boiled eggs, sliced carrots and potatoes, cereal and they made some dessert stuff using the wafer cookies, about five cookies in a pile with this lemon sauce – they were quite tasty. I had the ladies make me some easy fried eggs to go with the pancakes. I am sure I will have more pancakes tomorrow morning.

During his breakfast, Stephen Johnson’s crew had his Lightspeed bike ready for him, which he had agreed to before breakfast, he stops for a few hours every night. Near the end of his breakfast, he mentioned he wanted his bike prepared. So off come the lights and his pedals from the Lightspeed to go on his second bike. Since then –he has been turning in some consistent fast speeds. Speaking of bikes, they are all looking ragged from the dust around here. Look like those dune buggies that do the desert racers and end up caked with dirt and mud everywhere. Monterrey is a dusty place and the track here has dust everywhere. A few people have had problems with shifting and a quick clean of the derailleur’s and oiling fixes that.

Dinner tonight was mashed taters, macaroni salad, potato/carrot salad, chicken broth, oatmeal, rice, rice pudding, spaghetti, refried beans, scrambled eggs. I heard earlier this afternoon the ladies had made some potato and cheese fritters. By t he time I went to check and get one, they were gone. If something is good – you need to get it quick as people find out quick and jump.

Gonna close this post out for the night.