Jane Hall had a battered chin and was attended to at the medical center. Hall fell twice yesterday during the first jungle trekking sections, slipping on the wet, rooty ground and bashing her chin on rocks. Just an hour or so behind the Aussies was Team Salomon/Eco-Internet [go to Team Bio] , which had overtaken the Kiwis of Team Fairydown Fleet CookieTime [go to Team Bio] during the night. There are now three of the best expedition teams in the world at the front of the race. The Aussies having benefited from their lives on the water.

Thankfully, the feared storm of last night never fully materialized, and most teams in the top 25-30 pressed on across the huge expanse of water from PC 8 to PC 12, with short island stops en route.

At the first transition area in Silam, teams portaged their trusty Perahus a short distance, then moved quickly to the gear boxes and bikes where they tried to make the gear change as fast and efficient as possible. Unlike a triathlon transition which takes only seconds, an expedition race transition is a serious, deliberate event that requires discipline, organization, and clear thinking. Teams must separate used gear from new. They must add mandatory gear for the upcoming disciplines, and must decide how much food to take on the next leg. Here at PC 12/Camp 1, teams pulled personal gear from wet, mildewed piles and tossed fins, snorkels, and swim gear into mesh bags. The paddles they�ve spent hours with already will be transported to the jungle river section ahead, where they will paddle dug-out canoes through whitewater rapids.

Thankfully, the feared storm of last night never fully materialized, and most teams in the top 25-30 pressed on across the huge expanse of water from PC 8 to PC 12, with short island stops en route. Today should be very busy indeed in Silam at Camp 1, where a large number of teams will be arriving, glad to be out of their Perhaus, for now.

The leaders are in for a 13- to 14-hour jungle mountain bike ride, which takes them on the Danum Valley Road and then a single-track jungle section. As the day progresses, teams will have to start contemplating sleep -� that delicate and elusive state which must be used and stored like a battery charge. In the next few days, such subtle tactics will begin to come into play.

Salomon/Eco-Internet rode out of Silam on rigid-framed cyclo-cross bikes with narrow tires that should provide speed on the Danum Valley Road, but may be testy to handle on the rougher single-track section. They departed at around 11:15 a.m. (Borneo time) in second place. Said Ike Wilson, �We�re happy to be in our element now.� Mike Kloser is a former mountain biking World Champion. For the ride, Kloser has designed special toe bars, three-foot-long metal bars affixed to the saddle and equipped with a small, looped bungee cord that his teammates can grab from behind on steep hills. Kloser and Wilson are the stronger riders and this will help the entire team move at one consistently fast pace.

Team Schroders [go to Team Bio] was the third team into PC 12 at Silam, arriving at roughly 10:15 a.m. local time. The English contingent includes model Sarah Odell, a member of this year�s winning Raid Gauloises team. Right behind them in the bike transition, looking fresh and rested, was the most feared team in all of expedition racing, Team Fairydown Fleet CookieTime. They are the Kiwis that Ian Adamson of Salomon/Eco-Internet calls �The God Squad� including Neil Jones, husband and wife Keith and Andrea Murray, and the legendary John Howard. As they rode out of Silam, Howard said, �We�re not happy, these bikes and packs are too heavy,� but there was a smile on his face, and they were now ahead of Team Schroders in 3rd place.

The race is heating up, and will only get hotter.