Monday, June 18, 2007

Hurricane Force Tailwinds in Ohio

Physically Jeff had a better morning today. I was worried about him because we couldn't get him through Indianapolis last night and knew we were going to have to be dealing with commuter traffic in the morning. I woke up to trucks screaming by at 5am and the traffic was only increasing on what had been a nearly abandoned US 40 in the wee hours. I was nervous about putting Jeff on a bike considering his previous mornings' performances. Tim & Gail had the 1st shift in the follow van and I asked them to pin him to the shoulder so if he swerved he would hit our van instead of passing traffic. This ended up being unnecessary as he was physically fully awake very fast this morning.

Mentally however he was struggling and couldn't seem to understand why we were pushing him to ride his bike and kept stopping to ask why we were doing this. Everytime we reminded him that he was in a bike race he would nod and say something like, "Yeah, that sounds familiar, you need to keep reminding me about that so I don't get confused." That happened about 10 times this morning.

We crossed the state line into Ohio a little after lunch time today and mostly tail/slight cross winds have been picking up all day long and are now bending trees and destroying the time station volunteer tents. Great for Jeff as long as it keeps up in the current direction. We're 185 miles from West Virginia and hope to make it there tonight if the tailwind keeps up as Jeff has already covered 153 miles since 6am.

A link to today's News-Miner article by Matias: http://newsminer.com/2007/06/18/7542


Jeff being interviewed by RAAM media in Marshall, IL last night around 9pm

9 comments:

Lee Oatley said...

I hope the winds of good fortune are blowing this whole crew to Atlantic City. The stress of this race has got to be overwhelming. It sure is from here. We'll be on an airplane tomorrow headed for AC and we'll be cheering at the line when Jeff finishes. See you soon !!

Emily & Luke said...

Go Like Percy Snow chasing a ND RB!!!

Keep it up Jeff and crew!

Luke

morgan said...

There is no point commenting for ornery, confused, STILL BIKING(that's what matters, right?) Jeff, so I just wanted to say: Go, Crew, Go! You are all saints with unearthly stamina. Hope you can keep that boy going and stay sane yourselves... And don't let him escape.

Lee Oatley said...

Just for those that are interested, Jeff is not a native Alaskan. I'm his mother and I know he was born in Lansing, Michigan. Since he seems to love cold weather, I've often thought he was part eskimo (obviously a case of being switched at birth).

Sandra Oatley (his mother)

Tsunamic Minds said...

Unfortunately, I think you will have to deal with unhapppy Northeastern drivers...from here on. So, keep taking care of Jeff....people out here don't understand bikers/pedestrians...or even other cars...

You are all doing great! Almost there!!!

Unknown said...

Keep going Jeff! My prayers are for you and your wonderful crew. Please keep him safe...and riding. Jeff let me know if you would like some puertorrican moonshine...same stuff we drank at Iowa when we finished our thesis...I'll ship it to AK

J. Ahern said...

Outstanding job, Jeff & crew. Not much farther now...

I'm channeling good weather your way as we speak (concentrating especially on wind).

julie

jennica said...

I'm sitting here full on dinner, winding down and feeling....tired somehow- heh heh. Sure wish I could give you a few hours of my mental awareness, such as it it. Erik and I are sure rooting for you and your crew, and sending thoughts of tailwinds your way. Stay safe and hang in there!

Zippy said...

"Yeah, that sounds familiar, you need to keep reminding me about that so I don't get confused."

Sounds like a typical morning at work!

Tailwinds is good. Keep pedaling.

Zippy