What an absolutely incredible day. I think that is the most beautiful 30km course I have ever seen. Rolling hills, trees, farm animals, gers, blue skies

I did it

I

A long, slow day today. 49.6km with 1,000m of elevation made for a long day in saddle of almost 10 hours. I slept much better last night so rose about 6 to a beautiful clear morning. We headed off under cloudy skies, which stayed most of the day. Perfect hiking weather really. There was one really big steep hill at the end of stage 1, but the feeling at the top, standing in the wind, was marvellous, if a bit cold. We headed off and made good time, again doing 12 minutes kms throughout the day.

We had a group of three, which meant plenty of chat about various topics. One of the joys is meeting new people, sharing stories, finding out about each other

An amazing first day of the race. a 39.6km stage completed in 7:50. We woke early at about 5.20am and had breakfast with lots of chat. I had a terrible night

So, here we are. It's Saturday morning in Ulaanbatar. I arrived on Thursday morning after a flight via Beijing. Immediately I was struck by the green rolling hills of Mongolia (I'm sure they won't feel so rolling when we have to climb them!). Then I was struck (literally) by an old friend jumping at me giving me a big hug....and its been hugs for two days. One of the absolute joys of 4Deserts is the camaraderie and friendship. For two days I have been chatting, laughing, hanging out, drinking and eating with both old and new friends. It has been wonderful. We all share the same stupid passion for this sport and this challenge - good to know I'm not the only nutter out there.

Ulaanbater is not the greatest city in the world, but interesting. I've visited the last King's palace, a couple of interesting temples and a huge, communist era style square in front of the Houses of Parliament. Mongolians are a very friendly and welcoming people.

Today is registration, kit check, final preparation and then the bus leaves at 2pm. We head to Camp 1 and the beginning of this experience.

My next post will be from the Gobi Desert itself. I have wanted to go there since I was a kid

We left Ulaanbaatar under a rain cloud at 2pm today for a 5 hour bus ride through the Mongolian countryside. The scenery was just incredible

It is 8 hours until I get onboard the plane and head to Mongolia. 6 months of training. Almost 2,000km on my feet since New Year. I am both petrified and excited in equal measures......

This is really different from last year in Namibia. Then, it was all new. First desert. First multi stage race. A journey into the unknown. This time, I'm supposed to know what I'm doing - even if I don't :-)

Looking forward to seeing friends again and experiencing this amazing race. More blogs to come when I get there.

Thanks for the great words of support

Steve