Trans Am Bike Race / TransAm / TABR

Yes, always rough for people who have to scratch, whether it is mechanicals, injuries or other factors. I expect Darren will make the best of it, though, and attack the next couple of days with the benefit of fresh(er) legs.

I can't remember how many days he has left before his wife starves, and what his km per day requirement is / is it possibly acheivable - it would be great if he is able to pull it off.

It is hard psychologically, though, to chase a tight deadline. I had time pressure on the latter stages of my IndyPac - simply from riding too slow + minor problems, not a major bike issue like this - and it is psychologically very hard. I found myself spending a large proportion of each day wrestling with two problems:

1. working out the maths on how average km per day needed had changed and what I could manage, given the potential to throw in a couple of long days to close it out
   
2. trying to decide what order to do things in when I got to Sydney, between going straight to the finish, picking up clothes I had mailed ahead, going to a hotel, drinking beer, going straight to the airport. However many times I thought it through, there was never a good solution to that one!
   
   

I expect Darren might have some of the same brain-noise. It doesn't sound like a big deal from the point of view of the challenges to be dealt with in normal life, but things take on a different quality after a week or two on a bike!