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hanford
The latter stages of the race are developing into a rhythm now. More people finished yesterday but the number of people finishing daily is starting to drop. We may have one cross the line today.
#175 Dimitry Kumundzhiev is 210 km out from Meteora. He hasn't started to ride yet today but it is still early. Yesterday he rode only 88.1 km but in previous days has gone between 114 km and 264 km. It is possible that he will have one last big push.
#127 Shiela Woollam is up and riding early. She still has 317 km to ride. In the last week, she has varied between 60 km and 223 km in a day. I think that it unlikely that she will be making a last push today but hope to see her across the line tomorrow.
#91 Caroline Item is 335 km out. She has just set off at 6 am local time. She has been riding pretty much at the 200 km a day level and so one would hope that she will arrive tomorrow as well.
#184 Michel Vandermeerschen is 348 km from the finish. He hasn't started for today yet. His typical recent day has been 150 km to 220 km and so there is a good chance that he will cross the line tomorrow as well.
#163 Denis Uzadiaev is a little further back with 489 km to go. He has just set off on his 20th day. He has been covering between 83 km and 219 km per day. With luck, he should finish on Monday.
#131 James Illman is somewhere between CP4 and the end. His tracker isn't working but he is tweeting. He stopped last night at a hotel near Gurez 410 km from the finish. He has had a torrid time recently. Food poisining, hospital admission, a drip and then having to drag his weakened body onto his bike and ride a further 50 km through a storm to a hotel. He has been suffering the effects of the medicine he received and has been complaining of agonising constapation. I am pleased to report that his bowel movements appear to have reignited but the balance has swung a little too far in the other direction. We all know how awkward it is to wrestle with bibshorts behind a bush (don't we?).
His twitter feed is worth following. It is a little harrowing at times but shows an incredible determination. He tweeted late yesterday "Starting to wonder if #TCRNo6 will ever let me finish. My body has clearly decided it has had enough." But ends with the hashtag #NeverGiveUp. He is late back for work but appears resolved to fight on. Go James!!
Still on their way to CP4 are the next two riders.
#33 Rafael Martinez Gonzalez is 319 km off CP4 and around 1028 km from the end. He is already moving today. Yesterday he put in a big 227 km but had two quiet days before that. Hopefully he is firing on all cylinders now but remember he has the nightmare parcours to come. We are now almost three weeks from the start. He ought to finish within 28 days but still have a way to go.
#44 Lionel Bobb is a veteran TCR rider. He is not far behind Rafael. 1060 km to go. In recent days he has been putting in some solid hours and has been covering round about 200 km a day. Sadly I can't find anything about him on social media but will keep looking.
#227 John Cooke scratched at CP 3 yesterday.
#171 Neil Matthews. The last rider on the road still on his way to CP3. He has 509 km to get there and approximately 2211 km to the finish. Given that he has covered 1711 km so far in 19 days, it seems that, unless something remarkable happens, he will either scratch or set a new record. Clearly we must hope for the latter. He posted a picture on Instagram taken outside a cafe yesterday looking fairly cheerful. We need to discover more about his ride.
So we have nine riders left but by Monday will be down to a group of maybe four. The end is still quite a way off.