Day One- Horrific start

I am finally tucked up in a tent thanks to two very nice guys Jez and Matt. We had a pretty terrible start because the wind has been really ferocious in our faces and we have not really been able to cycle much at all. It has been freezing cold, but now everything is fine and we are having some food in the tent in sleeping bags. Yes, morale is still OK. I can't say I am looking forward to tomorrow but will take one step at a time.

Maria jets off to Moscow

Arrived at Terminal 4 at Heathrow with three hours to spare in spite of intermittent fog on the way. Maria very excited even though she couldn't get her very large bike bag through the bollards. That was a minor concern considering her massive challenge ahead. Lots of good luck wishes came in today from friends far and wide.
Just had a text from her saying 'arrived in Moscow after a rather eventful journey. Great group of people with lots of chat about tactics. It's anyone's race.'
Don't forget Maria is raising money for Alzheimers, click on the Just Giving link on her website.

Yoga for relaxation

The nerves are building so I've decided to head off for a yoga class tonight to try and ensure I get a good nights sleep.

My mother will take over from here with write ups and you can also keep up with the latest news on the Extreme World Races Website.

Excess baggage

I don't think I've ever boarded a plane without a major excess baggage concern and tomorrow will be no exception. I've worked out that it's all my food that is adding the weight. I'm carrying 11kgs just of food! I'm hoping I won't need it all but I can't take risks and need to prepare for worst case scenarios.

I don't think it's so easy to get hold of advanced nutritional substances and expedition food in Irkutsk!

One more day before take off

Since I'm an ultra organised type of person I'm all packed and ready to go with one day to spare.

The GO PRO Hero 2 camera arrived yesterday so I've been running around learning how to use it. At the moment I can't get it off wide-angle so everything looks curved!

There are so many gadgets that I need to consider for charging purposes and as always there is not one lead that does all. I have a camera, an ipod, a Satellite phone, a GPS, a head torch and a front bike light and to charge them I have 12 spare lithium batteries a power monkey solar panel and a storage unit.....I hope I can figure it all out.

I've calculated how long the race could take me, but this is the very lucky, brilliant weather, no wind, no storms, no mechanicals, lots of ice and not snow and legs feeling strong scenario.......80hrs & 30 mins!!!!  If I'm finished by 8pm on the 21st March then I would have managed it. We start at midday on the 17th.

This is the first race I've done where I genuinely don't know how it will go and most of my decisions and planning will need to be done en-route. This makes it very difficult to work out food rations and clothing but for worst case scenario I've taken 9 days worth of food and plenty of clothing with me.

I'm starting to wander if my Baffin minus 100 boots are a little OTT since the daytime peak temperatures have been around minus 8 degrees C recently! Night time is still down to minus 27 degrees so at least my toes will be warm at night.

My mother has very kindly agreed to keep my blog up to day whilst I'm racing, so keep tuning in for more updates.