This stage of RAAM we were well into the race, had no idea where the hell we were or what we were doing. We were being woken up, put on the bike and told to ride. Everything was just happening on autopilot. We would walk into a store at the time station, stare blankly at the cans of caffiene filled energy drinks and coffees, then decide we needed one. Or two. After putting the can on the counter for purchase, I'd then ask, rather dimly, "Whats the time?"
"Its 5.30," the clerk would reply.
"Really, that's early. What time zone is it?"
"Central," The reply would come, rather confused.
"Oh damn, i was hoping we were in Eastern. Where are we?"
"Your in Sullivan." The reply coming hesitantly, as the clerk was really confused.
"What state is that?"
"Indiana"
"Were in Indiana, sweet."
Our confussed manner and slow minds didn't change much after knocking back a few rock stars or ice coffees. Our team was still talking as much s#&* as we were at the start of the week, and the were still cracking jokes when we could muster the energy. The only problem was the rest of the van was becoming a lot slower to click on. Someone would say a joke, then there would be a delay, then one person would start laughing, then the next, and eventually all the van would get. It did take some time though.
We were now riding through the windy streets of Indiana. The route from which RAAM took went over some very short little rolling hills and round some tight little corners. Bob was smashing it through the turns and Scott's driving was pretty crazy to catch up to him. Lucky for us we had a formula one driver behind the wheel, otherwise Bob might have been on the road for far too long.
This leg was the first we had done in which we saw the break of day. For a few of our legs we had the sun setting behind us, but for the first time we were able to see the sun rising infront of us. We had quite a cool sunrise, and this is suppose to be a symbol of rebirth and reawakening, right? Well, I did have to wake up few times during this shift to get back on the bike. Below is a photo of tired Timothy having a little nap in the back seat.
In our tired state, the van really was starting to change. The clean van that was once was proudly part of the Team Type 1 convoy was now resembling a garbage truck. The roof was caving in, the lining of the door was falling off, the seats were wet with a mix of water and sports drinks, test strips littered the floor and the riders were far too tired to keep s*&$ organised. The photo below only just begins to show this.
So we were tired, falling asleep in the car, struggling to decided which helmet/bag/jacket/bottle belonged to who, and we still had along way to go. So how did we keep motivated? Well, we had an awesome crew that were in our ears the whole time, driving us on, congratulating us after every pull and amping us up before we started. Below is a photo of our crazy mechanic Brendon, whose Aussie views were a bit upside down at times, and below that, our insane coach Nate, who was someone to look up to for sure.
Later on in the leg, after battling through the windy rural streets on IN, we got to roll through the college campus. Well, Tim P did, flexing his huge quads and calves for all the cute college girls out walking around. Though Tim doesn't need to flex his legs for them to get attention.
After a hard day in IN, then a good sleep in the RV, we were then ready to smash it out through Ohio. Well, i don't know about being 'ready', but we were as ready as we could have been. Riding through the "Buckeye" state was reasonably similar to riding through Indiana. The roads were simialr and we did both of them in the light. The time of day wasn't important, all that mattered was that it was light and we we were riding. One thing that did matter, and that we didn't get quite right, was the directions. Raambo was on the road, and luckily for us he went he right way, so we didn't use any energy unnescarilly. The riders car, however, went the wrong way, drove round in circles a few times, and despreatley tried to the follow car on the radio. Then by chance we were drove past the side road from which we were suppose to come out, then drove down it to find Bob smashing away on his bike still. Phew. Good thing we found him, cause he had been on the road for a long time.
The end of our pull was given to Tim P, and he had some pretty cool roads to be able to ride on, thats for sure. The roads were brick, and some of them quite steep as well. Good thing it wasn't raining, or this could have made for some slippery riding.
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