Day 5 - An exciting Day as we overtake a 4 Woman team called "Quattrae Bavariae" by Nicky Szapary

We made really good headway since half-way point yesterday ... according to RAAM tracking we are averaging more than 20 mls./h which adds some 480 miles every day ... the shift with riders Chris Peters, Mark Colman, Marc Christensen and Fred Horwood had motored through the night ... their only complaint when Kevin Bespolka, Andy Cooper, Stuart Baldwin and Nicky Szapary took over in the morning was that they could not get by the 4 women team "Quattrae Bavariae" (who - by the way are no spring chickens but are determined to set a new RAAM record for 4 woman teams and are all serious competitors with lots of specialized equipment - like time trial bikes etc.).
When we started pedaling the countryside in the rolling hills of Missouri presented itself lush and beautiful and although the temperature was well in the high eighties/33 Celsius we are proud to report that our group after a couple of hours of trailing finally managed to pass the Bavarian Ladies in the mid afternoon handing over a substantial lead to the evening shift ...
We meanwhile have passed the 2,000 mls. marker (since leaving Oceanside on Saturday) and will soon be crossing the Mississippi into Illinois in the early morning hours ...
Severe weather warnings have been posted for the next couple of days on our track - we hope to dodge the worst though.
A lot of climbing is awaiting us in West Virginia and Maryland - let's hope at least the weather cooperates.


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