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Each day we leave in three waves. Fastest first and slowest last, separated by only a minute for each group. I have spent all day with each group of riders so I have a pretty good overall view of what the Elite Pac Tour looks like from each vantage point.
I think that the fastest group and the slowest group have the strongest identities.
The slowest group is lead by Andrew Puddy from Australia, I also saw good leadership from Franz Neuert. These two riders are very strong. Andrew does an excellent job of setting a tempo which allows everyone in the group to finish within the time limits each day. He doesn't ask for help as he grinds out the most efficient pace each day. When your hurting (like I was on day 11) every acceleration or surge over a rolling hill saps your strength and a strong leader enforces a pace which doesn't hurt the weakest rider. (If your really down Andrew will give you snakes to eat, they work)
The fast group goes out most mornings and trys to make itself smaller. This is accomplished by riding just fast enough to hurt your weaker brother at a speed you can endure. Recently I hear that the pace has been fairly friendly until the first rest stop. At this point it is all about who is strong enough to give Mark Pattinson a run for it. Mark is a powerful and remarkably consistent ultra distance racer. My friend Peter Beeson, Charles Breer, Scott Macintosh, Vernon Smith, Scott Luikhart, Eric Hallam, Ed Pabst are consistently there at the finish. A real wild card is the very strong and independent Wayne Riley who motors along solo 95% of the time. He surely has the best power to weight ratio of any rider here but because he rarely drafts for any length of time he usually doesn't finish the day first.
The middle group is the most independent set of rides. Two cyclists, Harold Trease and Phil Holcomb are riding this qualifier for RAAM without drafting. They are strong so if you are riding in a middle group you will see them throughout the day as you pass and arepas sed by them. Many of the "middle" riders are there by choice and some days they will go play with the big dogs but most of the time they are following their own program. The word that best describes the middle is smart. I think of riders like Charles Combs, Kevin Kaiser, and Dan Fuoco, they are riding this tour on their terms.
I have only mentioned a few names and their are 40 riders still going which means I've left most people out. Sorry!
As for me I had great day on the bike. I did not ask Lon to wrap my ankle this morning because it felt fine, and guess what after a 172 miles it still feels great! The hands however have continued to deteriorate. I'm now typing the blog using two fingers on each hand. But I can still shift gears on the bike and in three days let the healing begin!
My friend Eric posted a really cool passage from Isiah in the comments section for yesterdays blog. I was going to type the verse tonight but now I don't have to, just check it out in the COMMENTS section. My sentiments exactly!
