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And they are off.

Steve Cooper - SleepMonsters Australia / 05.06.2009

Just getting to the start was a leg in itself, 90 mins drive from Forster was Honeysuckle Picnic area nesteld high in Barrington Tops National Park.

This was the starting point for all full teams, the half teams got to skip this 53km MTB, climbimg out of Barrington over the Copeland Range past old gold mines the convoy of vehicles made their way to the drop offs.

The air was still and fresh at Honeysuckle Picnic area, and the ground was crisp, and white. Teams readied their bikes for the individual start times pre determined from the previuos days prologue. You knew after the drive to the start that this legs would have its downs and some big ups, Teams would be paying their dues for the awesome downhills on stage 1, stage 3 after trek has a gruelling 4km clmb up to CP 5, before descending back to Rocky Crossing and CP 6, and the TA. From here teams will be transported via a bike drop and gear drop at CP 9 back to HQ.

For now the support crews are taking in Barrington general store and the small town of Gloucester, before heading back out to the TA to collect their teams.

For more news click on Mountain Designs GeoQuest.

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