Updates from The Mountain Zone Cybercast

Chris in Queenstown winter mode. (photo: Chris Vile)

Hi from Queenstown, New Zealand. After a hectic few weeks, the Eco-Challenge is almost upon us. It's hard to fathom, but it's a long way from the fresh snow and snowboarding surrounding me now to the jungle and madness of the Eco-Challenge in Cairns, Australia.

Several of the Kiwi teams are based here in Queenstown, and I have had the opportunity to be part of some of their training rides and pre-event planning. Its definitely exciting stuff and has been a real insight into what goes into an event of this magnitude. Needless to say for the Kiwis it has been a challenging event in itself to even get there. With minimal sponsors and in many cases fellow team members spread around the globe, they have all done incredibly well to get to Cairns in the first place.

Cairns is where it all really begins, and all the training and planning will really be put to the test. So with laptop and digital camera in hand, I am off to be part of this wild event and hopefully bring those of you not lucky enough to be there an inside look into what it's all about.

Stay tuned for daily updates, photos, and audio interviews from the ten-day, 300-mile test of grit and brawn.

-- Chris Vile, Mountain Zone Kiwi Correspondent