Day 5

Five days on the road and there’s no apparent let up in Abdullah’s lead. He had his first major rest yesterday, clocking up around seven hours off the bike. His closest competitor, 59-year-old Keith Morical, doesn’t appear to have stopped for some time (roughly 24 hours), so his gap will likely increase as the day goes on and Keith is forced to break.

As Abdullah advances into Wyoming (more than 100 miles in and currently the only rider in the state), he gets closer to this year’s alternate route option. It’s either a left turn towards Nebraska – cutting out Colorado and Kansas – or continue straight towards the Rocky Mountains. We have our suspicions which way he’ll head, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Further down the pack, Britt Barcroft is experiencing the first signs of every ultra cyclist’s worst nightmare – knee pain. Valuing the ride itself over blindly pushing through, she’s taking some time to rest up before getting back on the bike. Best wishes Britt!