Byron Rieper (51) broke Tom Parks' 1993 record of 29 hours 52 minutes for crossing Kansas West-to-East on May 21, 2000. Rieper did the 425 mile course in 26 hours knocking four hours off the record. The course ran from west of Tribune to Leoti, Scott City, Rush Center, Lindsborg, Hosington, Herington, Council Groves, Osage City, Ottawa and just east of Louisbourg.

After driving to Scott City on Friday night and with only four hours sleep the three-man crew, two-judge entourage went to the Kansas border just west of Tribune, KS to start the attempt at 7 a.m. The temperature was in the low 50s with no clouds. A five mph tailwind and the flat terrain allowed the racer to cover the first 100 miles in a straight 4.5 hours, a personal best. The average for the first 133 miles was 22 mph. The winds picked up and shifted to a 15-20 mph crosswind slowing the pace. Still the first 200 miles were covered in slightly under 10 hours.

At 10 p.m. the rain hit - it would last most of the 11 remaining hours. The cold, driving rain made it impossible to stay warm even when peddling hard. By midnight it was in the low fifties and hypothermia was a problem. The wind and rain out of the east at 5-10 mph made progress difficult. Just seeing the road was difficult in the dark countryside. I hallucinated that bystanders were all over the road. At one point I thought I saw PACTour's motel van parked in the middle of nowhere. I changed clothes frequently in order to try and stay dry but by the end of the course we were out of dry clothes having even used the sweaters off the back of one of the judges. Poor Dr. Tom was standing naked from the waist up in a driving, cold rain bombarding his skin as he handed me his fleece pullover. Thanks Tom! It felt sooooo good.

At the halfway mark I thought I would have to fall off the bike not to break 24 hours. By the time we made it to Osage City with 70 miles to go I thought I would be fortunate to finish. I have never ridden so long, so cold, so wet in the 20 years I've been riding. Still we made it to the finish at 9 a.m. Robert Giacin and his family had come to the finish line to cheer us on and take a few photos. This was most appreciated.

My greatest of thanks to my crew: Oki my wife of 25 years, my brother and sister-in-law and most of all to my two judges: Dan (he'll try to break the record next year) Jordan and Dr. Tom Dougherty who will be joining me on RAAM. These two judges were superb.