Trans Am Bike Race / TransAm / TABR

Abdullah now 348 miles in front. Lea still leading the women and in 11th place overall.

Abdullah's in Newton now. I can't see if he's stopped off at the Newton Bike Shop yet. Maybe he's already been or passed it by, as he's shown south of there.

With a gap of 400 miles to Keith Morical.

Lea continues to play leapfrog and alternating places with Tom Wick in 10th and 11th.

Fair play to Keith, he's more than twice Abdullah's age.

Oh, it seems the Newton Bike Shop no longer do their TABR thing?

https://www.newtonbikeshop.com/hostingservices

Or does that only apply to non-TABR people riding the Trail?

It does look as if Abdullah has stopped in Newton now, perhaps at the shop? They don't seem to Tweet any more, and I can't find any info, though.

Newton fell out with the organisers of the race for some reason.

Here's a Kansas safety warning TV report the bike shop participated in:

https://www.kwch.com/video/?vid=511065222

Ah, OK. Thanks. Shame, that. Was it because hippy ate all their food and drank all their beer?

What happens in Kansas stays in Kansas

It was probably worse than the Grasshopper Plague of 1874:

https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/grasshopper-plague-of-1874/12070

The invasion began in late July when without warning millions of grasshoppers, or Rocky Mountain locusts, descended on the prairies from the Dakotas to Texas. The insects arrived in swarms so large they blocked out the sun and sounded like a rainstorm. They ate crops out of the ground, as well as the wool from live sheep and clothing off people's backs. Paper, tree bark, and even wooden tool handles were devoured. Hoppers were reported to have been several inches deep on the ground and locomotives could not get traction because the insects made the rails too slippery.

Clearly, they've got nothing on hippy.

Abdullah's lead has dropped under 400 miles. This is nail-biting stuff.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Byk_g1nFGWa/

Looks to be treating himself to a decent rest in Newton. Big time ‘cafe legs’ when he gets rolling again 😁

Omar di Felice is back up to third--makes you wonder where he would be if he hadn't had to take time out because of the heat earlier.

The first eleven are still unchanged. Abdullah keeps increasing his lead, less fast now that all the first eleven are out of the mountains, but he has 415 miles on Keith Morical, so it's still creeping up.

Also, nobody (of about thirty riders who've passed the decision point) has taken the Mormon route so far.

"Post Newton Depression" is a real affliction.

He's about to head into the rollers in Missouri so his lead will likely reduce while the others are on the flat (pending wind direction/strength).

Some talk about AZ having a detour because of flooding in Kansas...

You mean Kentucky? If Kansas flooded we'd be hearing about it on national news and he's still in Missouri. Last year, there were a few riders detoured or delayed due to local flooding. I rode through a town with air raid sirens going off and a cop car came up to me and asked if I was going to be alright. Quite sketchy.

Ha, yes lol hippy. Just catching up on the race.. not Kansas! But a mention on Facebook that he was recently detoured... No idea how much.

https://trackleaders.com/transam19i.php?name=Abdullah_Zeinab

Maybe it's one coming up because that doesn't look like he's deviated so far does it? I'm on mobile, trackleaders is a pain.

I don't think he's detoured yet but even before the race started they were saying detours in Kentucky would be likely again. Storms again this year.

How much of a detour would threaten his time being seen as an official one? Or does it not matter? I know you said about if he didn't do McKenzie Pass it would rule out his time, but were you joking?