The dinner is done, the race begun.

We have had our pre-race dinner and briefing. It is really interesting to see how the various competitors portray themselves. You would think that most believe they are incapable of going the distance, with their laid-back "hope I can make it to the start" type comments (4km ride to start). Yet, you can be certain that everyone is capable, or they wouldn't be here. The racing snakes are well (and intentionally?) disguised among the trail tourists.

Their true colours will be revealed tomorrow. The first support station is roughly 90km which is reachable in about 6 hours by the real cycling machines, and 9 or 10 for the average rider. The second support station is another 90km up the road, but is all but unreachable given the cold conditions, moonless night, and really difficult navigation required. There is an intermediate stop between the first and second support stations, which only offers a place to sleep (and no food supplied). Those who push on to that station are out to race! It doesn't matter who gets there first, only that you get there. With the given conditions, nobody's going to push on, so we'll all start off on equal footing tomorrow. At least then we'll know who to look out for.

A fellow competitor commented that you can see who wants to race just by looking in their eyes...I wonder what he sees on mine?