Fatigue is Setting In

Jody and I are now at the front of the pack. We passed Durango, Colorado, the last stop for RAW (the Race Across the West) hours ago and have now driven all the way to Trinidad.

We passed the lead female solo RAAM rider, Trix Zgraggen (Switzerland), over 100 miles ago and are planning to get a good night's sleep for once, if possible.

The plan is to wake up around the time Trix passes through town, which we are estimating to be about 6 am.

We are basing that estimation on her estimated distance from here, her average speed, and the fact that we believe she will sleep for two hours tonight (we got an inside tip).

I can tell you that we've had a mostly uneventful day, since we've driven way to the front.

We have passed several riders, we issued two warnings (one for not driving with no headlights on and one for stopping too close to the side of the road), and we heard that one rider was involved in an accident (he or she was apparently hit by a vehicle), but otherwise, we spent a lot of time by ourselves.

In short, here are the highlights of the day:

Driving through Monument Valley, Utah, early in the morning; passing through a lot of other incredible places to write home (or a blog!) about; catching and passing several riders we had seen before; catching and passing several riders for the first time since we left Oceanside; passing the Continental Divide; and, perhaps at the top of the list, the brief moments we spent chatting with crew members and riders, including my 30 seconds in German with Trix (pictured).

OK, that's all for tonight. Sorry that was short, but I'm sure you understand! I have lots more to write and several more pictures to post, but I'm all blogged out for today.  It looks like RAAM might be winning this battle, for now...