40 sleeps to go.

All payments have been accepted and we currently have 15 riders booked in for Stage One, 7 new riders and 8 returning riders. 2 riders have pulled out, one to illness and one was transferred overseas.

We have 4 crew at the moment, 2 official and 2 unofficial.
Anna is returning for another couple of legs and we have a new recruit, Michael.

The shirts have arrived and are looking good. We got a larger size than requested by most riders as they were very small sizing.

We are slowly re-confirming all accommodation over the next couple of weeks to ensure the places have actually booked us in as requested. So far I have rung the first 10 nights and 3 had no record of our previous booking, it's a long way around and we are staying at a lot of towns so we need their help to stay on track.

Collis has sent out an email stating he will pick up from Tullamarine airport Wednesday 20th March & Thursday 21st between 9am & 10 am. Riders will need to contact him prior to these dates otherwise he won't be able to meet them as he won't be out there waiting just in case someone decides to arrive.

The trailer is nearly packed. The equipment is all bought. We have bought our own satellite phone this trip but we are awaiting the phone number.

The training ride was quite successful and we were fortunate in as much that the bush fires held off until we came down from the mountain. The road ridden by the riders has been closed since, due to continuing fires. The heat on the first riding day was a bit overwhelming for most riders and we probably won't experience a day like that on this leg and hopefully if we do, it won't be up such steep mountains.