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	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	5 to 7 AM	Lock and Dam 7	river mile 637, 15 miles north of Praire Du Chen, Iowa	3rd
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01		Out at St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	early morning	Mile 403, Road Crew at Nauvoo, IL waiting 7 AM		Tied 1st/2nd
Kruger	early morning	Mile 403, Road Crew at Nauvoo, IL waiting for paddlers 7 AM		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.

Updates/Comments Received from Elizabeth Tynan, Safety Officer, 5-7AM calls:

I'm afraid our two teams on the cutting edge of this race will be deluged with a combination of thunderstorms, wind, and lightening as another strong storm front moves across the lower half of Iowa today.

Team Alaska:
In stark contrast, Kerm and his crew were preparing to paddle in "beautiful weather" this morning, starting out from lock and dam 7--river mile 637--about 15 miles above Prairie du Chien, WI. He said they "moteled it" last night in Prairie du Chien "for only about the second time on this trip."

I asked him if the hot shower felt good, and he replied that they've had hot showers all along, anywhere, because they have a special "truck-tailgate version" rigged up "piggy-back style" on his pickup. Seems this special shower hails one with heated, pressurized water and even comes with a shower curtain on a ring! At last, the great unsolved mystery--why paddlers have been clamoring from all sides to join the Alaska Team--is a mystery no longer. And now you know. . . the REST of the story. :)

Team Double Helix:
Andrew called at 5:00 from Nauvoo, IL (river mile 377), to report that Clark and Kurt were at approximately river mile 403, hopefully "holed up somewhere" because of the heavy rain and lightening already over the region. I am confident they took the proper steps to protect themselves from the lightening.

Team Kruger:
John reported that at 6:38, his team was at approximately river mile 403, the same as Team Double Helix, because they are not yet out of the closed section of the river where our teams must travel together per the instructions from Coast Guard Commander Ramirez, who granted us special permission to paddle the river. Their phone cut out soon after John called, and he tried two more times to reconnect, but the storm evidently was playing practical jokes with the satellite.

Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 PM

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	8:20 PM	Mile 343	L&D 11	3rd
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01		Out at St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	5:22 PM		Lock and Dam 19	2nd
Kruger	5:22 PM		Lock and Dam 19	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 Don Keller, official time keeper
Team Alaska
8:20 Paddlers at Lock and Dam #11, Support and tonight campsite at Lock and Dam #12
Kern said "I'm sorrry I didn't call earlier Every time the paddlers wouId call I couldn't hear because there is a train that blows it's horn" It's a beautiful campsite, right on the river, but next to a high speed train track. He said that last night in the motel they had a good rest. I told him tonight wouldn't be as good, since the train might continually wake them up. Kerm said he doubted it, they are all tired.

Team Double Helix
5:22 Support is at Lock and # 19
Andrew said "We found out they LOVE KFC chicken strips, we feed them chicken strips, and they brought some along as a snack"
Team Kruger
5:05 Support is at Lock and Dam # 20 waiting for the paddlers Stan called. "We are all sleeping together" "Bob and Clark slept in Verlen's boat last night" "I hope Mary doesn't get jealous". We are at Lock and Dam # 20 waiting for the paddlers

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