I do know that it was on Thursday that we rolled through Indiana!!! But what day of the race itself was still a mystery. For many of our team this meant a homecoming since a good number of the cyclists and crew call Indiana home. The ZZZ team took over nice and early in Effingham, IL and began the journey east toward the Hoosier state. All 4 ZZZ Team riders took a moment to celebrate our cross in to Indiana right at the Wabash River. Due to rain and flooding you can see that the Wabash is sitting up pretty high. In fact due to high waters there were sections of Missouri that we had been rerouted because of flooding.
Being so close to home also meant we got to see some of our loved ones along the way! Bill Zeh's wife, Lisa met us in Bloomington along with Jeff Zaniker's father in law, Jack and Jill Zaniker's uncle Dick. We also received 44 pounds of brisket from Jill Zaniker to boost our morale and provide the guys with a much needed home cooked meal on the road! I know I enjoyed a quick sandwich or two when we transitioned teams :) You're also going to be hard pressed to convince me that there is a more hospitable state than Indiana. There were signs posted along the road in several places to inform drivers that this was a bike route, there was a whole family of supporters cheering on the cyclists with signs in Bloomfield, IN (they even gave us a card with some encouraging words) and other friendly folks just sitting in their yard cheering on the teams!
The ZZZ Team made it to Batesville, IN before passing the baton back over to the Green Team. Keegan, Markus, Clark and Kurt pressed on in to Ohio where Kurt was able to catch up with some family of his own. His foster daughter, Jerrie was on hand at Time Station 41 in Oxford, OH with her family to support the team and Kurt on their journey.
The Green team consisted of the same 4 members from last year's RAAM ride. Kurt Lorch, Clark Griffin, Keegan Greene and Markus Naegeli once again joined forces for RAAM 2015. As a team they had definitely seen several different landscapes up to this point. Mountains, deserts, plains, fields, forests are just some of the scenic views both teams come across during the RAAM ride. The Green Team went through most of Ohio over night on Thursday with an exchange in Athens, OH for ZZZ team's final leg before the finish line.