Rob took a long nap (by his RAAM standards, at least) early this morning–one of my favorite parts about today was seeing him looking refreshed this morning. He practically sprung out his chair after a short time-station stop and hopped back on the bike.

Rob makes his crew laugh at the time station in Athens, Ohio.

He needed his rest, because today he began racing through the Appalachians of West Virginia–the part of the course he said he feared most before starting the race.

Rob crossing into WV.

Tomorrow brings a little more of the mountains of West Virginia, and then the deceptively long final push through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and then Maryland again to the finish in Annapolis. With around 300 miles left, the end is almost in sight for Rob: but many grueling challenges (and many hours of cycling) remain in store for him.

Support Rob during his final push by donating (100% of donations go to funding brain cancer research) at 3000milestoacure.com.