Ooooooohhh the suspense.

After a quick rest while teams make repairs and fuel up, our riders are greeted with their first sunrise in days.

Straggling riders coming in during the down time have a huge chance here as there are no official rules on resuming the race.

DRONGO VIK : We just received the message of "GO" over the omni-net, so with syntec-café in hand, I am up in the helo!

Bursting out of camp, our racers head for the open plain !!

07 WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM

DRONGO VIK : A bright clear sky here over a wind-blown wastescape.

Huge smooth boulders rise up from the sand in long ascending rows.

There is not enough room in the open lanes for passing, and some of the giant stone buffs' block the way.

If that wasn't enough, don't forget SANDWORMS!!

!! I HATE SANDWORMS !!

These giant mutant graboid creatures spring forth to grab anything that moves!

some near collisions with the bluffs and at least one rider gone missing!

STANDINGS:

01. SHOWSTOPPACHOPPA
02. CHAOS MK II
03. DRAGULA
04. BLACK NOVA
05. ARCLIGHT HAMMER
06. FIREBREATHER
07. SHADOW WING
08. SHADOW CYCLE
09. SHADOW BLADE
010. FIRST CLASS

“...able to patch into Iron Griffin’s drone camera. It looks like it had a near miss and one its stabilizers jarred loose and hit a Sandwarm that had the Suicide Tank in its maw. Both bikes are free, but damaged and with a whole lot of distance to make up as they enter ...

Checkpoint 7.5 Idaho; Out of the Fryer and into the Fire



This short route through what was once rural plains and farming country is now a highly industrialized aggro-cultural manufacturing facilities and waste management system. The smog blots out any remnants of the sun. There are no people as the machinery here is bio-driven automatons.

DRONGO VIK : The riders have all veered off from each other as they navigate the corridors of the grid-like streets and buildings, zig-zagging their way through the city. As you can see from our helo shot, the riders don’t appear to make much headway over one another as they rev up to one sharp turn after another.

Wait a minute ... Dragula seems to making a bee-line for one of the manufacturing plants. His steering must be broken!!

He just plowed right into the doors and busted into the building...which looks to be some kind of Tater Tot producer.

HOLY SMOKES, he just flew out the other side in a massive explosion of metal and spuds and has miraculously taken the lead away from ShowStoppaChoppa!!


STANDINGS

01. DRAGULA
02. SHOWSTOPPACHOPPA
03. CHAOS MK II
04. BLACK NOVA
05. ARCLIGHT HAMMER
06. FIREBREATHER
07. SHADOW WING
08. SHADOW CYCLE
09. SHADOW BLADE
10. FIRST CLASS
11. SUICIDE TANK
12. IRON GRIFFIN

_________________

_________________

“As cool as the other side of the pillow”
Stuart Scott...,,

_________________

DRONGO VIK : AVID RACE FANS ! We are heading into the wasteland plains of OLD WYOMING, with a bearing that will take us directly to NEW OL' FAITHFUL, the formerly-scheduled water geyser that now randomly spouts lava after the eruption of the YELLOWSTONE CALDERA. Our riders need to be careful, as random bursts of super-heated steam explode from the ground.

TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, THERE APPEARS TO BE AN ASH STORM RISING, LIMITING VIEWING AND CAUSING LIGHTNING STRIKES FUSING THE ASH INTO CEMENT-LIKE COLUMNS, REACHING ALL THE WAY UP TO THE CLOUDS !!

!! AND AS IF ON CUE, LIGHTNING STRIKES BETWEEN WHAT'S LEFT OF TEAM SUPERBEAST !!

BOOGIEMAN bears down, as if possessed, tearing off to the EAST, as if the devil himself were on his tail ...

NO SUCH LUCK FOR CAPT SPAULDING, as the SUICIDE TANK clips the resulting ASH COLUMN and goes spinning off course, throwing SPAULDING from the bike ... INTO A SUPERHEATED JET BLAST...

?!? WHAT ARE THE ODDS? ?!?

!! CAPT SPAULDING IS COOKED !!

The SHOWSTOPPACHOPPA tears out after DRAGULA, looking hell-bent on retaking the lead ...

TEAM RED SHADOWS are signaling notes to each other ... pointing to their SAT-SCREENS, and then pointing SOUTH ... then follow AVE and BOOGIEMAN along the EAST path, DIRECTLY TOWARDS NEW OL' FAITHFUL !!

BLACK NOVA, ARCLIGHT HAMMER, AND IRON GRIFFIN ALL TURN SOUTH ...

CHAOS MK II GOES SOUTH

FIRST CLASS HEADS EAST

THE FIREBREATHER HEADS EAST

Ive got a bad feeling about this.....

_________________

Well all my bikes went the same direction but surely at least one out of 4 will make it through. Or maybe Red Shadows have a plan.

The racers scream EAST across the PLAINS, jockying for positions the entire way.

DRONGO VIK : "I don't know where they are all going, but they have gone in the wrong direction, I'm heading SOUTH in my helo to follow the riders remaining on course."

TO THE EAST:

DRAGULA is so far ahead as to be unreachable now ...

TEAM RED SHADOWS have overtaken SHOWSTOPPACHOPPA and seem to be continually trying to setup some kind of .... something.

FIRST CLASS notices all the commotion ahead, and after conferring between themselves, THE TWINS veer off from the pack and head SOUTH

FIREBREATHER makes a play for FIRST CLASS as he passes them, but at this speed, was unable to catch any purchase...

... something begins to grow on the horizon ...