There were plenty of jokes about the Tony Christie song as we headed for Amarillo. But, the smiles soon turned to exhausted frowns as Day 6 proved to be the toughest day yet. The three teams were tasked with covering over 300 miles in soaring temperatures and it was always going to be a real test. One of the teams couldn’t make it as the road mapped out for them turned into dirt track, so progress on their carbon fibre racing bikes became impossible. But they still managed around 75 miles.
In the other teams, the going was equally tough with six of the team being forced to retire on to their RVs due to heat exhaustion. We hope that our supporters and sponsors will understand that continuing could have had very serious consequences with potential heat stroke and symptoms associated with sheer exhaustion. The Hope 66 riders are really putting their bodies through the extremes with long distances being covered, combined with high temperatures, rough roads and a head wind.
Tempers are at times being frayed as you can understand with 22 guys coming together for such an event, but the team is pulling together as things are not going to get any easier.
Next we have the New Mexico Desert!
