May 30th...Friday. Important links at bottom of page and...everything's on track.

Still sorting out odds and ends equipment wise on the bike but I'm 90% there.

Waiting for Easy Racer carbon fiber fairing to arrive as well as my new patriotic body sock.

The good news is, if they don't come in, I can run with what I've got and still be efficient and competitive in my own right w/o it messing with my mind. 

Remeber the 'turtle and the hare' race? My race strategy is exactly that. Time in the saddle...or T.I.T.S. for short. The norm for me is to always keep moving. Note worthy to help me accomplish that... I have some 'aircraft grade quality' back saver foam arriving next Monday that's reported to absorb 90% of the impacts. It's thin and it's very expensive. It'll go on my seat and wrap aways up my lower back. I decided to remove the cobra seat and am now running the heavier, less performance oriented Kool Back seat with the reason being comfort. 15-18 hours/day in the saddle? Comfort trumps everything.

I'm no longer going to focus on ' mileage for the day' but rather hours in the saddle. So regardless of conditions and my speed, providing I haven't bonked or am dangerously tired and confused or injured, I'll just keep pedaling. I can eat and pee without ever having to get off the bike though I prefer to stop when I pee ;) 

The theory is, come around day six or so, a lot of the racers will be battling the saddle sores, achy hands, neck, back etc and, being the turtle, I hope to just keep on cruising in my very efficient and comfortable machine and start to reel them in. At least that's the theory. Coming off the Rockies, I hope to start reeling in some of the racers. I know there's going to be a fight during the first 36 hours to see who's out in front and my hope is there's going to be a lot of tough and strong racers who overdo it a bit with the adrenalin stuff. We'll see.

As to the bike:

In the cockpit area, I'll have the following:

Easily accessible one gallon feeding trough

Four water bottles w/another one in the panniers though will run with minimum amount of fluids, weight wise, through the Rockies for obvious reasons.

iPhone handlebar mounted w/a quick disconnect

Headlight system

speedometer

Like it or not, have been off the bike this week but getting plenty of leg muscle stimulation by pushing, shoving, walking, climbing around our property with the uneven terrain we have. I don't feel I'm losing anything 'bike wise' though the next three days will work in some easy rides.

This weekend, I start my bike packing going with the minimum hopefuly. Goal is under 60lbs. w/lighter being better.

Btw, had a nice long talk yesterday with my race consultant, Robert johnson.  Robert, along with his wife Adrienne, are truly seasoned ultra-racing coaches and crew chiefs with many RAAM races under their belt. Robert was also our crew chief on our two very successful Race Across Oregon Recumbent Team victories. They're both my only "go to" contacts during the race at any time...any day...any stress going on at the time. Very level headed. Like I said, they're both experts in coaching high level competitors to the finish line across the US and I'm fortunate to be able to call them both my friends and coach. 

Did I mention there's going to be a full length documentary about the race?

Here's a link to get you started.

http://www.bikingbis.com/2014/05/28/ride-the-divide-film-crew-returns-for-trans-am-bike-race/

With the link below, you can follow my actual real-time progress during the race

http://trackleaders.com/transam14

With this link, you can listen in on my actual "call-ins"...voice mail...during the race.

http://mtbcast.com/site2/