The 3rd day of life on the road consisted of even more beautiful landscapes and sites. The ZZZ team picked up the road again in Kayenta. The ZZZ Team spent their darkened morning traveling from Arizona, through the bottom corner of Utah and into Colorado. There was a nice canyon just outside of Cortez, Colorado which offered some fantastic views. The riders basically traveled alongside a series of creeks that had carved this stretch of canyons. One of the other teams had parked along the side and were using a drone to film the area as well as their rider on the road. Unfortunately the road through this area was full of loose gravel making the the road difficult to traverse. The ZZZ Team persevered and pushed that gravel out of their way toward Cortez.
The ZZZ Team continued on through Durango, CO. Last year we staged an exchange at this point, but had some difficulty with the RV getting situated in time for the riders to be ready. John Zaniker and Dave Wise continued on until the other vehicles were able to get the other team caught up. This year we moved the transfer point to the next time station at Pagosa Springs. The team was fortunate enough to have some fans and friends in Pagosa Springs. Jim and Connie Hayes greeted the team at the Walmart exchange point and were a welcome site of familiar faces. Riders Clark Griffin and Markus Naegeli used to bike with Jim when he lived back in Indiana.
Shortly after the exchange at Pagosa Springs was the Wolf Creek pass climb to the Great Divide. This marks the highest point of elevation that the riders will face on the trek. In order to accomplish this climb, all 4 riders from the Green Team took to the hill. Each rider took a 1/2 mile section of the climb at a time. Kurt began the ascent at the bottom until the team reached the 10, 857 foot summit at the top. Just because this event is called a race doesn't mean there shouldn't be time to celebrate an accomplishment with your team. Even if that means pausing for the opportunity to pose for a group photo at one of the landmarks along the way.
The Green Team continued on their way to the next full team exchange at Trinidad, Colorado where the ZZZ team was prepared for their third leg of RAAM. As muscle fatigue sets in, emotions run high, sleep deprivation rears it's ugly head and both riders and crew are becoming more and more physically and mentally exhausted, I'm reminded of something one of my high school teachers said that has forever stuck with me. You can't change a person you can only change your attitude toward that person. We can't change our situation but we can change the way we view the situation. It's difficult for everyone involved and instead of focusing on the negative aspects of how things are affecting us, we should change our point of view and focus on our accomplishments. We are all still healthy, we've traveled 1,135.9 miles in just 3 days time, we've shared our story and journey with thousands of people, we've only had a couple flat tires and most importantly raised awareness and funds to find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis.
Gears 2 a Cure!!!!!
Gears 2 a Cure!!!!!