Friday, July 22, 2005
Rayce Day 4 - Steady pace
This team is beaten up. The constant grind and lack of sleep is relentless. This is the smallest team still present, at only 11 members large. Other than for the Solar Car, there are no driver shift-changes. Everyone is playing a critical role, whether it's driving, navigating, or relaying information, everyone is loaded up. There's no chance of sleeping during the long highway drives. There's no chance of relaxation until the car is packed up for the night.
Luckily, the incredible mechanical reliability of the car allows the team to safely store the car overnight untouched, and instead catch a late supper and some sleep. The battery problem still remains, but with the impounding of the batteries overnight, they can't be serviced anyway.
This rule seriously hinders the team, as they know they can get more miles by replacing a dead battery cell, but don't have time to change it and properly test it, then run a stage. They therefore decide to drive the stage at a slower pace.
Another problem created by the slower pace though is the time it takes to reach destinations is significantly increased. More time is spent on the road, following the slow 30-mph average Red River Raycer, eroding the available time to handle logistics like lunch, supper and constant Motel loading and unloading. It's a significant drag to the entire team's operation, and its ability to rayce.
Nevertheless, the team puts on good miles today. With the car starting in Topeka, Kansas, shortly after 9:00 AM, they reach Omaha, Nebraska, early in the afternoon, pause for the mandatory 30 minutes in the Checkpoint, and continue on towards Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Another first for this team full of significant and difficult firsts; the team charged through a Checkpoint and entered two stages in one day.
Mileage total for today was an impressive 270! Impressive, because of the fact that it was all mostly on Solar Power in a very hilly section. Again, the batteries are not 100%, so the team is confident that there's even more pace in the car, but are unable to show it.
It's demoralizing for the team to see the car run its current pace, knowing its potential. But at least the car is still in the rayce. The team is very disappointed, but also accepting of their current situation.
Luckily, the incredible mechanical reliability of the car allows the team to safely store the car overnight untouched, and instead catch a late supper and some sleep. The battery problem still remains, but with the impounding of the batteries overnight, they can't be serviced anyway.
This rule seriously hinders the team, as they know they can get more miles by replacing a dead battery cell, but don't have time to change it and properly test it, then run a stage. They therefore decide to drive the stage at a slower pace.
Another problem created by the slower pace though is the time it takes to reach destinations is significantly increased. More time is spent on the road, following the slow 30-mph average Red River Raycer, eroding the available time to handle logistics like lunch, supper and constant Motel loading and unloading. It's a significant drag to the entire team's operation, and its ability to rayce.
Nevertheless, the team puts on good miles today. With the car starting in Topeka, Kansas, shortly after 9:00 AM, they reach Omaha, Nebraska, early in the afternoon, pause for the mandatory 30 minutes in the Checkpoint, and continue on towards Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Another first for this team full of significant and difficult firsts; the team charged through a Checkpoint and entered two stages in one day.
Mileage total for today was an impressive 270! Impressive, because of the fact that it was all mostly on Solar Power in a very hilly section. Again, the batteries are not 100%, so the team is confident that there's even more pace in the car, but are unable to show it.
It's demoralizing for the team to see the car run its current pace, knowing its potential. But at least the car is still in the rayce. The team is very disappointed, but also accepting of their current situation.
