May 17 2001 13 Thursay

2001 Race - May 17, 2001, Thursday
The Great Mississippi River Race for Rett Syndrome, May 2001
We are Going the Extra Mile..... The Extra 2,348 Miles to Find a Cure!

Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 AM

Team Name	Time Called	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	5 to 7 AM	near Lansing Iowa	3rd
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01	Out at St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	early morning	Burlington Iowa	Tied 1st/2nd
Kruger	early morning	Burlington Iowa	Tied 1st/2nd
Rebels	Withdraws 5/13/01	Out at Monticello, MN	4th

Team Kruger and Team Double Helix are paddling together on closed sections of the Mississippi River per a decision from the Coast Guard.

Webmaster/Mary Potter says - I lost the text from the safety officer call for this morning when I was updating the site after the race. Team Alaska stays overnight generally from their call the night before, and Team Kruger log indicates where Team Double Helix and Team Kruger were this morning, so the table above is my best estimate.

Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 PM

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	5 to 7 PM	Mile 343	L&D 20	3rd
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01		Out at St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	9 PM	Mile 870	Tiptonville, TN	2nd
Kruger	6 PM	Mile 873	Tiptonville, TN	1st
Rebels	Withdraws 5/13/01		Out at Monticello, MN	4th

Team Kruger and Team Double Helix do not have to paddle together after they reached L & D 19 (Bob's log indicates this was about 3 PM).

(Updates/Comments Received, 5 to 7 PM Calls:
From Steve Landick, Race Director

Team Alaska - Mile Marker 343, Lock and Dam 20. A local college has offered free rooms to the team tonight and the team is happy to accept!

Team Double Helix - Crew calling in at mile 870, paddlers not there yet but expected by 8 PM. High winds and storms are continuing for the evening, whole team will stay on land tonight. (Webmaster's note - paddlers arrive by 9).

Team Kruger - John called in at 6 PM CST, Mile 873. Support crew had a free ferry ride that saved them 50 miles of driving! Heavy winds and rain this evening, very bad storms now and more expected so team is stopped here tonight.

END OF SAFETY REPORT MAY 17, 2001

Note from Event Organizer/Webmaster Mary Potter - Clark called around 9 PM, paddlers just getting there at mile 870, very tired, very bad winds and storms all day. Clark said today we earned every inch. He was going to walk over to Team Kruger's camp to see how everyone was since they were about 200 yards away. Later called back to say all is well, everyone is fine and tired.

Team Kruger - Bob Bradford Daily Log, Enhanced by Stan Hanson
May 17, 2001 Thursday

In Burlington, we had to pull over. It had kicked up a wind and was pouring down on us. There was a lot of thunder and lightning. It was still dark. There was a railroad bridge just ahead of us, and we could not tell if there was clearance for our canoe under it. We pulled into the right shore and actually paddled right over a railroad track. We pulled our canoe up next to a large building. It was 2:00 a.m. - our support team would never be able to find us. We stood on the steps under an awning. The door was locked. We discussed our options. We had to sleep and try to stay dry. Verlen found an unlocked truck and crawled in to sleep. I slid down into the bow of our canoe with my raincoat on. Kurt slept under the dome of the Double Helix. Clark crawled into the stern of our canoe to rest. It was cold and wet.

We slept until early morning when two guys came to the building to work. We found out that it was a fertilizer plant. At the same time, the guy who owned the truck showed up. Boy was he surprised to find Verlen! The truck owner was a railroad switchman working the third shift. The guys in the fertilizer plant made us hot coffee. Then we were on our way. It was May 17.

When we passed Fort Madison, we couldn't find Team Helix's support team. We had thought they were going to be there. Fort Madison is on the right shore. The Mississippi at this point is 1-1 /2 miles wide. Just ahead of us, the river gets to be over 2 miles wide. We had called our support team, and they were to meet us on river left by Nauvoo, Illinois. We had to quarter across while battling a strong headwind. It was around noon when we pulled into the left shore. We were exhausted, and Verlen had a severe pain in his side and the very hard paddling into the wind really irritated it. The pain was almost a race ending pain for Team Kruger. We ate, then went into the trailer for a nap. Team Helix joined us. The last thing Verlen said to Captain Stan was "keep an eye on the weather."

At 3:00 p.m., Stan woke Verlen. The sun was shining, and the wind had not only let up, but was also blowing the opposite direction. Verlen said, "let's make some miles Bob!" We made it to Keokuk and Lock and Dam 19 by 5:10 p.m. The lock master used the lock gate to lift our boats out of the water. Double Helix support team fed us fried chicken. We portaged down to put in under bridge 218. Everything was flooded. The Coast Guard and race committee had instructed us to stay together until Lock and Dam 19. Now we had met this condition. Both teams had basically decided to continue to assault the record by paddling together until St. Louis. Then the race would be on again!

Late that evening, we passed Lock and Dam 20 on the right side. The lock master said the lock was flooded. We had to go around some fenced-in area and pull over some grass. We then paddled through a parking lot and down the road. When we got to Henderson Street, we found our support crew waiting for us. Some of the people from Canton, Missouri, had turned out to see us. We ate and so did Clark and Kurt from the Double Helix. It was our turn to treat them. When we finished eating, we paddled down the street and through the railroad crossing. Our canoe bumped a stop sign that was now in the river because of the flooding. We came back out on the river at Ayers Oil Company dock lights.
End of Team Kruger Log May 17, 2001 Thursday

May 16, 2001, Wed

May 18, 2001 Fri