This is the last update before the long march. We just had the race briefing. The start is at Devil City. We will start in the early morning and the cut off time is 26 hours. The stage is 82 km. First check point is at 16 km!

We had a long bus ride from our camp to the finish line and we left camp at around 1 am and drove for about 4 hours. The race started shortly after 5 am and this was before sun rise, but it was bright enough to se the very beautiful rock formations in the first section of the stage. This was the most spectacular view of the whole trip. The terrain was a bit sandy in the beginning, but we shortly came to a sand road where the sand was not so lose. Some areas of this stage were along roads and therefore less interesting, but all in all a very beautiful and special route.

Today

The route to day was around 40 km, where the first 20 km was uphill and the rest was downhill.

Second stage is over and done with. The route was changed, but we still had to go up to the planned mountain pass and a long descent. So we still got the expected ascent and descent. We started from camp and the first 4 km were on a gravel road, thereafter we started the ascent and shortly after we reached the forest. I enjoyed very much running in between the trees. There were several small ascents and descents in the forest, but as we advanced, the trail became steeper and more technical. Crossing several dry riverbeds and eventually running in a dry river upwards. The final part of the climb was very steep and felt endless. This was hard, but I didn

Had a difficult first night sleeping in the Yurt, but when I finally fell a sleep, I slept like a baby. Don

Arrival to camp 1.

Just a briefe update on my travel. I am sitting at the airport in Urumqi waiting for transport to the trainstation, wherefrom we will take a high speed train to Hami. I am already experiencing issues with the communication lines, such as certain social medias and their messanger. I also have problem getting the cell phone connected to the cellular network, but I guess I can just start getting used to being offline. I am sure it is going to be even worse in the Gobi Dessert.

Love you too Cherry,

Henrik, it is not a coffee,

This is my first blog post ever and I am writing this while on flight RC456 from my home country Faroe Island to Copenhagen. Just using the dead time on something more constructive than the entertainment system. So why have I started blogging? Well, that is a good question and I will try to make the story short.

Tomorrow