Road testing - day 6 between Justin and Mineral Wells

Today, we had a new lower gear ratio and a fresh night's sleep and we were to ready to head out for Snyder, TX again! We did realize a modest improvement (i.e. lowering) in energy consumed per mile with the new lower gear ratio; however, the most surprising thing that we learned, is that our average speed on the course improved at the same time. After some analysis, we realized that this is due to the fact that the motor did not lug down as much when going up the hills, but the speed that we gained from going down the hills stayed about the same. By later in the afternoon, we learned that the hills west of Mineral Wells, can be brutal and should be trailered over during the actual race.