under-prepared...... normally relies on a lot of other people:....... he had to take time out for visiting bike shops...........
May I suggest you have severely underestimated the advantage of individualism and self sufficiency. Tarzan doesn't need the new bikes or someone else to recharge his GPS, nor to tuck him in bed every night. As helter skelter as it may appear his method has him almost 1000 miles ahead during the first two months. Tarzan is doing just fine.
Maybe, maybe not. The real target isn't what Steve does, it's Tommy's total. OK, he's over 2000 miles ahead of Tommy at the same stage, but as we have been saying ad nauseam, he has had perfect riding conditions and a lot more daylight than either Tommy or Steve has had. Also, he knows what he has to beat. Tommy didn't know, I'm sure, that he was going to have such a fantastic 6 months between May and October. Steve and Kurt know that they have to build a buffer because it's going to be incredibly difficult to keep up with Tommy at the same stage.
Take a look at the past week. Steve has had the best weather of the year so far and Kurt's has taken a turn for the worse, combined with his transition from Florida to Arkansas. For the first time in the year, Steve has ridden more miles in a week than Kurt. Even though Steve has increased his miles, the past week's figures, if repeated until December, would see him fall short of the target, and for Kurt it would be touch and go.
It's such a massive challenge that maintaining the required rate is still going to be incredibly difficult. We know that Kurt, when at his best, can knock out 220 mile days with apparent ease. It's what happens when things are not going so well that matters, and that is all uncharted territory.
Fascinating stuff, giving us the opportunity for endless speculation. Great, isn't it?