MEDIA 1 IS OUT CHASING WOMEN

Vic Armijo / In a Dodge Mini-Van moving at about 60mph somewhere East of Cottonwood

June 16, 2011

It’s about 3:15p.m. local time here on Arizona Highway 89 outside of Cottonwood. Your friends here in the Media 1 van are probably going to keep our Eastward heading. We’ll get some photos and footage of the Women’s field along the way and will continue until we reach Women’s solo leader Leah Goldstein, who’s about 200 miles ahead of us. Factoring in that we’re chasing a moving target and it seems that we won’t see her until nine or so tonight! Oh well, another late night at the office.

We just rolled past 3^rd place RAAM men’s solo rider Gerhard Gulewicz. He gave a smile as we passed and then dropped back down into the aero position, intent and focused on getting himself up the road. He’s no doubt thinking about Marko Baloh and the thirty or so minutes that separate them. And Baloh? He’s gotta be thinking about the mere seven minutes that he’s given up to leader Christoph Strasser. This battle will likely continue into the night. My guess is that all three will pedal on to Monument Valley before taking a sleep break.