Day3

First and foremost, Cat is doing great!!! Of course she is having the usual RAAM-induced variety of problems, but her spirits are good and she is focused and determined. She is quite aware of whose RVs she is seeing and who might be taking sleep breaks, who might be ahead of her, who might be behind her, whose pace van that is pulled off the side of the road, etc.... Of course, like I mentioned before, her crew does not have access to the time station stats like we do on the RAAM site. They only have the data that is available at each time station, if they even have a chance to stop at it. Each time station lists who has already passed thru ahead of her. So, who is in back of her is really unknown to them unless they see a pace van belonging to a rider that they know is not ahead of them. If so, they can deduct that that given rider may be close behind or their van pulled ahead for a crew sleep break and is just going to wait for their rider and the 2nd pace van. It's really a lot of detective work for each crew to deduct where other riders are.

I updated Elaine on the placing of each rider, their average speed so that we could figure out who hasn't slept yet and who has, and how far ahead of her the next rider is so that Cat could pace herself.

Cat is having trouble with her knee. She has a neoprene support brace on it now and will be riding with that, probably from now until the end. This knee has been a source of trouble for her and prayers are needed to keep her knee in good condition to get her to the finish line. She also is wearing 2 pairs of shorts due to saddle sores and has switched to her larger pair of cycling shoes due to swelling in her feet.

Cat didn't sleep at all the first night, which I already knew... but she did take her sleep break last night and the night before. Her sleep break is scheduled to be for 3 hours, but Cat is waking up after 2 and has been getting back on her bike without the total 3 hours to sleep. REM sleep patterns are such that 90-minute blocks of sleep are most helpful and most resting, so 120 minutes has her waking up before her 2nd REM cycle. She also took another 30-minute break early this morning because she was so cold. They put her in the van and cranked up the heat and she snoozed for 30 minutes.

Since the crew has not had a chance to download the digital photos they have been taking, or check emails, I don't have any photos today and I can't read all of your emails to her crew. So, I'm trying to make a deal with Cat's sister, Susanne, who is coming to the course from Sweden on Sunday, and having her print the emails out so that the crew has them for the 2nd 1/2 of RAAM and can read them to Cat.

Cat has a big climb today....as she leaves Time Station #16 from Pagosa Springs and heads into Time Station #17 into South Fork, Colorado, she has to climb Wolf Creek Pass, of which the elevation is at 10,857 feet. The temperature looks to be cool, at 61 degrees (F) in South Fork, Colorado this morning. Then she has a 6% descent for 6 miles off the summit.

Cat is eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter bagels, Hammer Nutrition products Sustained Energy and Perpetuem, Clif Shots, and organic milk and organic chocolate milk. Nutrition-wise, she is doing great. She is having no problems with her food or water consumption.

Cat should be pulling into Time Station #16, in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, really soon now. This puts her at around 300 miles, give or take, for Day Three. From what I have read, the weather ahead of Cat looks great.... sunny, around the middle 80s (F), and SW winds.

A note to Susanne, Cat's sister.... yes, she has the Swedish National Anthem with her! Cat has it noted in her crew book and the CD is ready to be played while crossing the finish line!!!!