Through The Liwa Desert

Teams are currently still trekking through the soft sands of the Liwa Dersert, which is also commonly known as the 'Empty Quarter' with dunes as far as the eye can see. Prior to reaching here they spent about 5 hours riding over desert roads which ranged from fast asphalt surfaces to unridable sandy sections. As teams were riding they had Saudi Arabia to their left, and never ending sand dunes to their right. Team Blackheart rode solidly to finish in around 15th position before arriving at the 5 star Hotel for a quick 30 minute mandatory rest stop to prepare and refuel for the next leg - the 121km trek. Team Giddiup was only one position behind having also ridden well, and Team Rogue / Sleepmonsters arrived not too long afterwards.

(Photo courtesy of sleepmonsters.com.au)

As I went to bed last night all teams had started the epic trek where the heat was picking up to about 38 degrees. During this stage teams are required to take a minimum of 8 hours rest at two of the CPs along the way so strategy with the heat could play a big part of finishing this stage strongly. Team Thule, from NZ, who have been leading for the majority of the race decided to keep pushing on from CP H3, 17.5kms into the trek. The majority of other teams chose to take some of their mandatory rest time here to sit out some of the most intense heat of the day, including Team Blackheart. Giddiup was one of the only other teams not to rest here probbly wondering why people were complaining about the heat, however decided to bypass at least the next optional CP and short-cut to the next one.

(Photo courtesy of sleepmonsters.com.au)

Overnight, Australian time, Team Blackheart (according to Orion's Blog - thanks - but who is Blackwater????!!) left CP H3 together with Team Orion and appeared to be moving well. Currently (now just after 2am local time), they are about 3kms south of CP H4, where they appeared to spend some more of their compulsory rest time. Team Giddiup are moving well up near the front of the field, having missed some CPs, while Team Rogue / Sleepmonsters have also recently left CP H4 and appear to be short-cutting straight to CP H5.

Team Thule (NZ) leading the way.

(Photo courtesy of sleepmonsters.com.au)

There is still a lot of sand trekking to go, but at least conditions should be a bit more manageable during the cooler temperatures of the night.