Updates from The Mountain Zone Cybercast

Louisa Stieger of Team Sweden, just off her bike. (photo: Chris Vile)

We left the teams last night as they began their 81km mountain bike ride into the darkness. Once they rode out of Kirrama, they came face to face with a grueling ride along an old logging road, cut through dense rainforest. At this point the bio-geoclimatic zones collide; it is another world where the dense tree canopy is overgrown and shrouded in mist and rain. The change from the outback terrain of the last four days is amazing.

Followingthe Eco bikers. (photo: Chris Vile)

This ride is at least six hours and is the competitors' first taste of the rainforest of Tropical North Queensland. In total, teams will have ridden over 100km across streams and dripping forest by the end of this week. The teams rode through the night with Team Eco-Internet in first, followed an hour later by French team ARS who has moved up in the placings overnight, and then Team Endeavour. "We feel like we've just cycled through Jurassic Park," remarked Team ARS as they reached the check in point.

Trek into the rain forest. (photo: Chris Vile)

At check-point "Tully Weir," the teams leave their bikes and set off on a ragged 3km bush walk down to the Tully River in the gorge below to begin the rafting leg. After many hours of driving, we finally caught up with several of the teams at this point. Team Peak Sweden was enthusiastic but freezing cold and shivering after a long night in the rain. The competition is really gearing up with less than three hours separating the top three teams.

-- Chris Vile, Mountain Zone Kiwi Correspondent