An update from Keith Mearns …
Today saw us move from the beautiful Lake Barrington and head North to Launceston. We had a difficult 32km mountain bike section which took approximately 2 hours. The mountain biking was 3 laps of 9 km course with some challenging up hills and technical down hill sections followed by a 5 km paved section to Launceston Gorge. The highlight of the mountain biking was the opportunity for spectators and sponsors to view the from the comfort of the marquee which was set up adjecent to the course.
Once at the Gorge we had a tourellean road section this involved pulling ourselves across the Launceston Gorge suspended by cables high above the water. After a short sharp run we traversed back across Launceston Gorge on a flying fox, then a quick run down towards the lower end of the Gorge where we climbed back under Launceston bridge. From here we ran back to the top of the Gorge and finished the day with a white water rafting section.
From Launceston we have a 4 hour drive to Port Arthur and a challenging day tomorrow. Team Telstra is in 4th place around 1hour off the lead leading the Van Dieman’s cup by several hours.
Everyone is in good spirits although starting to feel the effects of 3 days of hard racing. We’ve had a few minor scrapes and bruises although nothing to serious.
