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Hi everyone! Jen here with an update from Patrick and Julie on the road. Internet access has been tough and the team has had a hard time updating the blog as often as they would like to.

At the time of this update, Xtreme4 had passed time station #22, more than 1311 miles into the race, and were almost to station #23 with average overall speeds of more than 20 mph, including their last shift which averaged over 25 mph! Xtreme4 has a solid lead in their category and are close behind the second place 4 person mens team. As we talked, Patrick was about to overtake a rider from team #607, an eight person team, who had just passed them on the last shift.

When I talked to them, Xtreme4 had just hit the cornfields of Kansas and was looking forward to the gradual decline in elevation facing them for the next few time stops. A welcome change after the 10,000+ foot peak they faced yesterday!

Last night's shift was a bit hectic with the biggest climb of the race and tough riding. Both Eric and Patrick were feeling tired, but they kept on trucking and really pounded up the mountain. They had serious burrito and burger cravings after their shift, and combined with malt milkshakes, it seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. They have both perked up a bit today, and are looking forward to many more mikshakes to come!

Julie and Andy have been playing Eric and Patrick's favorite tunes over the loudspeakers as they ride, and they downloaded fun movie clips to play for the riders to give them a laugh or two along the way.

Temperatures have been fluctuating between the high 30s at night and high 80s during the day, which makes biker wardrobe planning difficult! Raquel, the team masseuse and helper extraorinaire, and Lee, the bike mechanic, have been great, and both the biker's muscles and the bikes themselves are in great shape as a result.

The entire crew has been doing a wonderful job!  They are all a bit tired and have found the RV to be hard to sleep in, but they are all hanging in there. They team is doing rider shifts measured by both time and distance at this point, and are being flexible and changing their strategy frequently depending on how the riders are feeling. The crew has found that there is not as much time with the RV stopped as they thought there might be, so cooking is a definite challenge. The few hot meals they have had have really hit the spot, and they have all eaten enough turkey sandwiches to last a lifetime!

Next up is a long stint through Kansas and Missouri all the way to the Mississippi River. Fingers crossed for a strong tailwind and lot of crew and rider rest (and milkshakes :-) )!

More updates to come soon...Stay tuned! Go Xtreme 4!

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