Controle #2: Danielsville

Bottom of the Little Gap climb
Compliments of Len Zawodniak

Eric Keller limped into the controle at Danielsville riding on a flat tire, due to a pump failure.  Lucky for Eric, volunteer Len Zawodniak was there to greet him, and just happened to have the exact same frame pump to loan Eric.  That's "save" number one for the volunteer staff.  Greg Smith was also delayed with a flat tire, apparently caused by the same broken glass they encountered.

Len reports that all riders have cleared the Danielsville controle and are now headed to a secret controle at Fox Gap, where the riders will be crossing the Apalachian Trail for the second time today.  Several riders have already crested this climb, including Jos Verstegen from the Netherlands.  Volunteer Steve Hallett who is manning the Fox Gap secret controle reports that Jos is smiling and in good condition.  His SPOT tracker is not showing up on the Tracking website, due to a technical problem with the database (which we hope to sort out soon).  Meanwhile, those following Jos's progress can go to this alternate link:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=08huP9hdZSaLBqeAcj5Ys73NfZzxgnrOf
Jos has planned a rather intense cycling holiday:  After participating in the Endless Mountains 1240k, Jos plans to ride self-supported from the finish up to Cananda, where he'll be riding the Granite Anvil 1200k.  For somebody from the flatlands of Europe, he's certainly has found some of the hilliest terrain to ride!

There is a similar problem with Luis Vargas's tracker, and his alternate link is here:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0RbkTtfpjfCHDb395vSex6p4VQo9yjx5B

Overcast skies have kept temperatures in the upper 60F's -- nearly ideal conditions for the many big climbs for day 1. The band of rain showers passing through the overnight controle appear to be dissipating.  With a bit of luck, the riders will have several more hours of dry weather.