Dafuq is SPC planning to stop tonight? Looks like she's in the middle of absolute nowhere. She heading all the way to Lead tonight, or is she planning on another fine park bathroom facility?

She is staying at a 2 room hotel in Lead and the owners know she will be biking in late night and have already given her the access code. She stuffed her face in sundance and bought a bunch of food. She has a collapsable back pack just for situations like this and expects the ride to Lead to take 5 hrs. With the mild temps all night and rain tomorrow she felt like it was a no brainer.

both the 2nd and 3rd place guys are having some issus with their bodies and it is starting to take a toll.

Man, I can imagine. This just seems absolutely brutal. Big props to all involved, but I'm with you and Bugs Bunny on this one.

Getting to Lead tonight is wild based on her map position. Not just because it's a decent click at her current speed, but the terrain and wildlife in that area ain't nothin' da fuq with.

I can see why she made that call, because the road she's on will be all but impossible to ride on if it turns to mud, and it's a pretty easy ride in to Lead once she hits pavement, but yeah... Hope she has a good light and replaced that pepper spray.

One of her saddle rails broke. She spent about 1/2 hr addressing the issue and is back in action. Unfortunately the saddle is now lopsided and an additional 15 lbs of gear are now in that backpack which is not the most comfy. They have a group chat so she is presenting the problem and there will be a great deal of help in outsourcing some sort of solution which is really cool imo. Shes currently on a beautiful paved road and is in great spirits but looking foreword to getting into Lead but there is one final steep climb

If the nex Situation is airlifting a new Selle saddle to SPC in Lead, SD...I'm in.

I think that would count as "support." JB Weld for a temp fix until she gets to a town with a bike shop?

Da fuq you awake at 3:49 am for? This race is affecting your sleep, sir!

@G they have some temp fixes. 1 is to insert a smaller diamater rod through the broken rail. We have a saddle here that I may send her. There are 2 ebike stores in Lead that open at 9 and she is going to try and obtain a saddle and possibly get a decent one from a good shop that is 45 miles away. Thy are also looking into getting the mfr to send one.

She got in at about 1 am. Lugging her gear in the backpack up those climbs was not nearly as much fun as it sounds and took a toll on her back. Shes fired up b/c it appears the weather will be $ when its time for her to set out.

eta she is also going to b on some famous bikepath in SD today that will be very relaxing and have a quality riding surface

Yeah, even I have heard of that path. It's an old mining trainbed, goes through some tunnels and over a bunch of rail-bridges, and supposed to be spectacular. Also, relatively flat. Nice to have changed time-zones, so the shops open an hour "earlier" by her clock, and I'm sure the good reason to get a bit more sleep is appreciated.

GL, SPC and keep on rockin!

The bike shop had a bag of old saddles SPC picked the best one - 10$. The saddle mfr is in cali and did not pick up when she called. Shes going to call them at 10 and get one shipped 300 milesdown the road to the "big city"

When spc has gotten unlucky she has been very lucky in that she has been able to get where she needs and find a solution. Unfortunately LS who is battling for 2nd had a spoke go through the rim and his wheel is completely out of true and is in the process of hithiking to civilization to obtain stuff then will have to get back to where he is, fix the problem, then resume.

Wow, this trek seems crazy!

GSPC=SpokePedalCrazy?G

Man, that is the suck. How far of a hike are we talking?

Glad to hear SPC was able to get a new saddle. Since she took the best, I assume she got one of these:

Wrenching on a bike with limited supplies in the middle of nowhere is pure badass stuff

SPC is back in action. Her goal prior to her saddle malfunction was to be on the road by 9am. She only lost 1.5 hrs this morning with this problem and is fired up. There are all kinds o thunderstorm issues going on this afternoon. As of right now her path looks good - very concernd about later in the day though based on some potential energy charts. Time will tell.

@G I was gunna make an always sunny ref about the ass pounder 4000 but that would be completely inapropriate. The bike store guy was ossum and would not let SPC pay for a saddle.

What kind of food is she eating/carrying Squid?

FW - the past 2 days she has spent 13 hrs peddling the bike spending approx 5,100 calories. She has entered more of a race mentality and is generally only stopping for sit down meals 2x per day. Chocolate milk is a huge staple for her and will knock back 1/2 gal at a pop. For breakfast she had what she claims to be the best chicken fried steak breakfast ever

and 2 litres of coke. She went to bed the other night after consuming 1/2 large pizza and kept the rest by her pillow which she finished throughout the night.

Her main goal during the day is constant snacking. She ate a family pack of chips ahoy cookies while on the bike yesterday. Her big thing is calories per grab. She has 2 snack bags on her handle bars that she fills with stuff she can graze on. She has a 3 litre camelback in her frame and has started puting lemonade and other sugar type drinks in there for a caloric boost.

Today is day 13 and she has done really well with her eating. Shes a bit leaner in the face but has done a fantastic job maintaining weight. There are a few in the event that are having issues with their caloric consumption and are looking very haggard.

A really nice retired guy runs ultracycling mag he got her to give updates for the event. It gets minimal traction but here is her latest quick update from sundance.

Yum

She eats similar to most college dropouts living in their parent's basement.

you better hope she never bumps into the chocolate milk king himself, el diesel, while out on the road or you may soon find yourself single

Appears to me she's going to go by Carhenge in Nebraska in a day or two. There's a campground next door, and the town of Alliance is 2-3 miles away. Big enough to have hotels, restaurants, groceries, etc.

Had a minor surgery/procedure a couple of days ago. Recovery has me up at odd hours changing bandages.

fyp