I received the following update from John on the support team today. “The hard training work continues, my tutor, mentor, life guru and wife gave me a C minus for this effort, she said it would have been a B but I concentrated so hard on the eggs that I burnt the toast. My heart rate though on the final miles was an encouraging 120 bpm”.
This, of course, is related to the fact that one of my staple foods during a long tour is an omelette (or scrambled eggs if they don’t turn out too well). Some of those guys on the support team have been practising.
As I’ve said many times before, I don’t have very high expectations with food on the tour. Mind you, if there is toast to accompany that while I’m running in the USA, then I will see that as an absolute treat.
Thanks to John for his efforts in perfecting his omelette/scrambled egg making skills. In all seriousness, it’s amazing to think that there are people out there going to such lengths to support and feed me in a few month’s time.
While on the subject of the support team, I received an update from Geordie exile Phil in California today. Next Sunday he’s planning to drive the final 2 weeks of my route (in reverse) from Huntington Beach to Death Valley then onto Shoshone.
This is very much a scouting mission. Phil will be checking out places to stay overnight on highway 395. It’s very sparse there and options are limited in the desert.
Also on his list is to find places that sell water and ice. We’ll be passing through that region during the height of summer and to have some pre thought out options will be very useful.
The campsite options at Shoshone and Olancha which sit either side of Death Valley will be scouted.
Finally, Phil will be looking to attract the support of the hotel at Furnace Creek where he is booked to stay next Sunday. I don’t have a budget for such accommodation during the run. Having a room there will be hugely beneficial but it relies on the kinds of the hotel. That’s Plan B. Plan A is to stay in the motorhome overnight in Shoshone or Olancha as we progress through Death Valley.
We are unable to take the motorhome into Death Valley. Plan A, therefore, involves a lot of driving to and fro between the various points. Also, having a relatively nearby air conditioned refuge would be very welcome from a safety point of view.
The image below is some of the route that Phil will be driving next Sunday. It’s a picture that I took in 2019 while on holiday. I’ll be running up and over the mountain in the distance and into the valley you see in the picture on day 93 this year. That’s August 1st. It’s a 31 mile day from Stovepipe Wells to Panamint Springs (just out of sight at the end of the Panamint Valley). Day 94 is a 45 mile route from Panamint Springs to Olancha. That will involve running up that huge mountain to where I took the photo from (Father Crowley Point) and then onto the 5200ft summit before the final long push to Olancha.
Thanks to Phil for his scouting efforts and the expense that incurs.
