Close Is As Close Does

Both Reto and Strasser started off again within 1 mile of each other after Reto's missed left turn situation was resolved, but the Swiss rider quickly re-established his lead, mileage-wise, anyway, over the Austrian.

A mere 28 miles up the road from when we last saw them, Reto was back to being roughly 30-40 minutes in front, which meant the two riders were more-or-less tied for the overall lead again.

We actually found out about Reto's position from a bystander who was following the race. He had pulled over in his car and told me that he had seen Reto at least 30 minutes earlier but that Strasser was still on his way.

We wouldn't have missed Reto had we we not made a pit-stop at, where else(?), McDonald's, but we are human, so we occasionally get hungry… er… umm… thirsty!

Yeah, that's it: Thir-sty!

Oh, and check out that picture I took of Strasser as he rode past us. He's smiling, yo! I finally caught him without his game face on. Cool!

By the time both racers reached Time Station 40 (Greensburg, Indiana), Reto was ahead by 37 minutes, which was good for a 7-minute overall lead.

We actually caught up to Reto just before we arrived at the Time Station, so we took some more pictures of him and his follow vehicle, made sure all the rules were being followed, and, because he continued on, we continued on, as well.

As we made our way to Time Station 41 (Oxford, Ohio), we noticed that there were now RAAM signs every mile or so along the side of the road marking the route.

The signs were there to alert drivers about the bicyclists that were likely to be on the narrow roads ahead, as well as to mark the way, since there were quite a few turns around there.

A little bit farther down the road, we arrived in Oldenburg, a quaint little town with obvious German roots. The streets theree were full of bi-lingual street signs as well as other random signs in German, including the "Der Kleinstadt Laden" sign on The Village Store.

Jody and I decided to wait for Reto just outside of town, since we didn't want to get too far out in front of him.

Just after Reto passed us, we followed Saint Mary's Road for about 14 miles. Saint Mary's Road is a really nice, peaceful, windy road in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mostly flat countryside.

At first, we tailed Reto down the road, but after a while Jody and I drove out a few hundred feet in front of Reto and his crew, just to change up our pace. I enjoyed watching Reto from the front for the first time, even though by then it was dark, but let me tell you, that was some slow going!

We stayed in front until Saint Mary's Road came to an end in Brookville. From there, we drove the remaining 17 miles to the Time Station, which happened to be an actual landmark this time, rather than just an intersection, and that landmark happened to be a, you know it, McDonald's!

(By the way, I don't think intersections should be used as Time Stations, but they often are.)

As soon as we walked into McD's, we noticed that we were at a manned Time Station. For whatever reason, neither Jody nor I got a great vibe from the people who were hanging out, though, so we decided to chill inside the restaurant rather than outside with everyone else.

About an hour after we arrived, so did Reto. I was surprised, but certainly not shocked, to see him pull into the parking lot next to the Time Station, so I went outside to check on his condition.

While Reto was resting, I talked to several members of his crew.

Some of them were still a bit confused and possibly even upset about the left turn issue from earlier in the day, so they wanted to talk to me about it. I tried my best to answer their questions and also offer up any explanations I could come up with, but I told them that Jody and I had followed orders, and that, ultimately, headquarters would be the one who would make any final decisions if there was a protest.

Since both of us were really tired, and because there was a huge, unlit parking lot right next to the Time Station, Jody and I decided it was time to check in to our hotel for the night, the Nissan Royal 4-Door Deluxe Hotel.

A little while later, at 1:35 a.m., we were woken up by the sound of clapping. We looked up just in time to see Reto taking off for Time Station 42 (Blanchester, Ohio).

20 minutes later, we heard more clapping. That time, everyone was cheering was for Strasser as he passed by.

The two leaders were down to a tiny 20-minute gap between them.

How amazing is that?

Here's to a another great day of racing tomorrow!