Stage 5-8 Preview

• Stage 5: After an easy 750 feet climb up Ibex pass (Mountain Section Seven), there’s a killer, long downhill, then the road to Baker is mostly flat and straight. Here we can see the Baker’s world-famous, world’s largest thermometer in the distance. The crew should be stocking up on gas, ice and food in Baker as no supplies are available until the finish.

• Stage 6: Leaving Baker, you climb a gradual but relentless 2500 feet in 20 miles (Mountain Section Eight). It may be heating up at stage. A long descent leads to Kelso at mile 418.

• Stage 7: Compared to the just completed Baker Grade, you now head up a slightly steeper climb: 2000 feet in 12 miles to the top of the Granite Mountains (El 4000') (Mountain Section Nine). The downhill to the outskirts of Amboy is fast and long.

• Stage 8: After you pass through the funky throw-back hamlet of Amboy (where you can not count on any services), you cross the valley and at mile 472 begin the last climb: 1500 feet in 10 miles to Sheephole Summit (Mountain Section Ten). The climb begins gradually and gets steeper near the top. The shoulder is very sandy; the crew should be careful with the vehicle. A quick descent leads to the rough road and rolling slight uphill to the finish line.