today was supposed to be more of yesterday.
yesterday was the day that a lot of newbies thought was hot
but the veterans understood was not…
.
today got hot for real.
.
the temperature wasnt so bad by itself
only in the mid to upper 90s.
but with the humidity the heat index went well up over 100 in the shade.
we dont even like to think about what the heat index was in the sun!
for most of the field shade was a dream.
the stretches from mckenzie to huntingdon
and then from huntingdon to lexington
have excellent wide shoulders….
.
but on the open road
during the heat of summer
there are two things you want most:
shade and wide shoulders.
.
you only get to have one.
if you have shade,
there is little shoulder
if the shoulder is wide
there is no shade.
.
and so this second day turned into a test of will.
.
the road stretched out in front of them for shimmering miles
at the top of the highest hills.
miles of blazing sun scorched pavement
that would cook their feet inside their shoes.
.
miles that had to be covered one step at a time.
.
today was a test designed for superheroes.
but a test taken by ordinary people
who might not be so ordinary at all.
only 6 more fell during the day.
119 of the original 129 made it to nightfall.
.
all that humidity
and all that sun
turned the tennessee landscape into a pressure cooker
and as the afternoon wore on
the pressure cooker cooked up massive stormclouds
the water was so dense the clouds could not hold it all
and fierce thunderstorms broke out here and there
dumping all that water back on the ground
so it could steam up off the roadway
in boiling hot clouds.
.
no matter which direction the weather turned today
it was pure punishment.
.
at the start of the day
there were 4 athletes up at the front who had broken away from the rest during the night.
those were the only 4 who had made the turn in lexington between late last night and early this morning.
the nearest pursuers were just leaving parkers crossroads this morning.
.
michael carson had clung to his lead over addison hendricks all night,
pulling away by morning when hendricks took a break.
.
but there was no respite for michael,
as christine tokarz was moving well.
she passed by addison,
and was closing on michael as the heat intensified all morning long.
hendricks had fallen back into third
just a little ahead of matt barker.
matt’s steady movement during the first day had paid off with a position among the race leaders.
.
as the morning turned into the afternoon
it was addison coming on strong.
michael managed to hold off christine in the morning
passed thru parsons, and crossed the tennessee river in the lead.
only to have addison pass christine and close on him all afternoon.
.
michael crossed the tennessee river valley
and then climbed the high ridge separating it from the buffalo river,
(with linden on its high west bank),
still in the lead.
coming in to linden that lead had shrunk to a single mile.
so the leaders coming out of linden tonight will cross the buffalo river
then climb and descend a couple of high, steep ridges before starting up 16 mile hill to hohenwald.
16 mile hill is no stranger to vol state duels,
it is a challenge in its own right,
that has brought tears to the eyes of many a vol stater over the years,
but it somehow has a knack of hosting decisive battles at the front of the pack…
.
this is going to be a very interesting night.