Update #11 Up, Up, Up he goes! (by: Heather)

Ok, it is 2:24 am on 5/6/2008. I have 2 posts in one...

First post:

12:16 am - mile 408 - driving on Rt. 9, 1 mile South of White Planes, AL

Second post:

2:02 am - mile 427 - Hwy. 281 Junction with county Hwy. 24 - Still a few miles from starting to climb Mt. Cheaha.

Weather--Because of the altitude, it is really foggy. It is really hard to see a couple feet of front of your face. They are a little worried about when Andy gets to the downhills. Hopefully, when the decent starts they will come down in elevation enough for the fog to lift. The temperature is a steady 55* in the mountains. Looks like the temperature is going to stay right around 55* until Andy finishes (and no more rain :)).

Conversations with pit crew...

I asked if they have seen any wild life. Geno has seen a fox and some bunny rabbits. Awe...how cute. He also mentioned the first night at 2:39 am a deer ran across the road about 10 yards in front of Andy. Pretty exciting stuff. I bet that got his heart pumping. I also asked about the dog situation. How bad has it really been and if any dogs have gotten close to Andy? Mick simply stated, "We don't let them get close to him." I was like, "What do you mean?" Well, Meredith's description of the frogger game was pretty spot on. They really do "run those bastards down." I am a huge animal lover, but seriously I am SO glad those guys are "running interference" for my man. Gotta love a sleep deprived crew ready to protect their rider!

Mick also wanted to mention to the blog readers, when they get home there will be pictures to post. Not too sure of the quality because they have been moving non-stop since the start, but nonetheless there will be photographic documentation of this epic journey. Yeah photos!

Not sure what check point they are at now...I am guessing maybe 6? Mick mentioned 2 check points ago (check point 4) Team Sweet discovered the guy behind Andy is 1 hour behind Andy. The crew is pretty confident this is a substantial lead, especially in this type of terrain.

And again I asked about Andy's mental state. The crew says he is in really good spirits and he keeps plugging along. It sort of reminds me of the Tour riders in the movie "The Triplets of Belville." Great movie. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend the rental. Plus it is a cartoon. Gotta love cartoons, right?

Later taters. I will leave you with this thought for now...they are getting closer and closer to their goal (under 90 miles to go!)