Word from the Leaders

XPD Australia

Word from the Leaders

Team blogs and Geoff Hunt / 24.05.2010

The comments from the lead teams as they progress through the final paddle, still racing neck and neck for the finish, reveal a little more about the tough second half of the race.

Orion at CP ¡V 17

Hey all, Very nasty stuff in there, went our separate ways near the start of the trek and Brent got us through pretty clean and on the most direct line, slowed towards the end but all good. Not a single track, road, fence or anything non natural for 60km, not really used to that! Being dragged towards the finish by the promise of a cold one now¡K

Orion at CP 22:
Boats inflated, 3rd floor lucky as they got well thrashed in the river section and feel sorry for themselves. Had a sleep near the start of last night¡¦s bike and anticipated finishing at first light but a myriad of false trails and new ones since the map was made meant it was a veeeery long bike ride. Magic bakery stop half an hour ago though which sets us up nicely for a push to the finish some time tomorrow¡K Getting really hot again so we¡¦re glad to be on the water.

Blackheart at CP ¡V 17
Gee that was a tough trek! The navigation was particularly difficult at night and we were pleased to find the CP before Orion and McCain. We then went our separate ways but arrived just a few mins behind Orion in TA so it will be interesting to compare our routes after the race. The bets have been laid about how much longer it will take to finish from here. Damon wants ice cream ready for 6pm Monday night while Rob wants to cancel our accommodation since he doesn¡¦t think we¡¦ll be there til Tuesday. Only one MTB, kayak and trek left¡K.

Blackheart at CP 22:
Kim here. Josh and Damon are busy pumping up boats, Rob is busy phaffing as per usual Æ’º Only two stages to go now, so we can start to enjoy it again! We¡¦ve just completed an overnight MTB. Many of the marked roads ended up being little off road goat tracks so I¡¦m sure everyone would have enjoyed watching our Spot device do several circles throughout the night. We ended up calling it a night early and catching a couple of hours of sleep until the sun rose before continuing. Off for a paddle now in the heat ¡K..

McCain Adventure Addicts at CP22 ¡V Tinaroo Lake (Speaking to Geoff Hunt)

After a 2hr paddle we arrived back to the arrival of McCain - in after the 130 kms of bike from Mt Molloy

The first comment from Graham Bird was -' boy some teams are going to be in that trek a long time'. They took food for 16hrs but it took 33hrs and Tatum Prins confirms they were hungry.

Graham adds that the navigation on the bike was particularly difficult as well - he noted that Merrell were using them as navigators and did not even know where they were. (This seems to be the story of Merrell/Akali¡¦s race ¡K they commented on getting lost on the long trek as well.)

They are quite motivated to continue and are moving through the changeover to boats quickly, taking on a little food and some battery replacements.

Merrell/Akali are expected here at any time, but McCain may well be gone by then.See All Event Posts