Explore the West, Southern California
Hi Altitude
Romero and Lundgren / 09.09.2006
Stretching his lead to 18 minutes, Ted 'the tow truck' Devito maintains the lead, Dart Nuun and Kayak Lake Mead just waiting to pounce the second Ted makes his first error.
Soloist Paul Ablett's footspeed did not match his bike skills and was passed on the trek by at least a few teams. He's still all smiles, and knows that the law of attrition is on his side.
Team Baja/Total Fitness has fallen off the pace just a bit, as navigator Dean Long (filling in for Alexandro Reyes) appears to have dropped his guard for just a moment on the 1st trek. That's all it takes up here, and mistakes are unforgiving. They'll return using their athleticism.
Notable mention: Fuzzy Logic came off the trek, passed a few teams and jammed out of the TA, and made a quick work of the 300' hike a bike right from the TA. Ridalin Kids and Nart Duun (no typo) had a solid trek and claimed they were amazed at the beauty of the course thus far.
The second bike section is a wild one, and teams will reach 9,000' and negotiate a screamin set of single tracks, most notably the Wild Horse Trail the forgotten gem of the region, though the trailhead is tough to find. Leader Ted Devito stated, "I made a 400' vertical error, and had to run back up hoping Dart did not see me, but I think they did." Devito, continues "this descent was freakin awesome, I pushed it very, very hard."
To the surprise of everyone but Paul Ablett himself, Paul arrived at CP6 (1/2 through the bike ride) in second place just 25 minutes behind Devito. Paul was quite happy with his efforts and was continuing to chase down Devito. The Finlays arrived just minutes behind Ablett, smiled and just kept pedaling. Support crews are taking advantage of the 80 degree temps and brilliant alpine sunshine, as the TA looked more like a tanning party than anything else. Nighttime temps will drop to the 30's, and the suntan lotion will be replaced by fleece and down.
SleepMonsters
