Team AussieSpirit.com [go to Team Bio] was the first in, rowing confidently but quietly out of the grey morning horizon at 8:30 a.m. Team Salomon/Eco-Internet [go to Team Bio] was close behind, finishing the 24-kilometer trip between PC11 and PC12 in a blistering four hours, nine minutes.

By noon, the tented transition area, where equipment to be used on future legs is stored during the race, felt more like an international airport terminal than an Eco-Challenge checkpoint. Dirty and exhausted, competitors from around the world spoke English, Malay, Spanish and French as they busily readied themselves for the mountain bike leg, an 80-kilometer jaunt through dense tropical rainforest.

"God it's hot here," said New Zealand's Andrea Murry, mother of two and member of all-star Team Fairydown Fleet CookieTime [go to Team Bio]. Wearing tattered nylon tights, teammate John Howard poured a bottle of water over his bike-helmeted head.

After valiantly piloting their Perahu to fifth place, Team Sabah 2000 [go to Team Bio] seemed relaxed but serious as they spread their gear out on the muddy ground. Navigators Cowboy Miala and Ahmadul Tahir studied the new maps intently as husband-and-wife teammates, Kona Liau and Guianus Salagan, waded through heaps of shoes, backpacks, food and equipment.

Forty-four-year-old Billy Mattison of Team Vail [go to Team Bio] � who arrived at 12:22 p.m in ninth place � was playful as he walked into the tented gear box area. "Hola amigos!" he said loudly, addressing Spain's Team Red Bull-Playstation [go to Team Bio], who had arrived 26 minutes earlier.

Mattison's teammate Andreas Boesel, 49, was also in good spirits, asking a PC volunteer upon arrival, "Where's the closest restaurant?"

Team Hi-Tec [go to Team Bio] arrived in tenth place at 12:53 p.m., setting up a mini-campsite in the corner of the equipment tent. Lying down to sleep, the American team at first appeared to be implementing a conservative sleep strategy. But later, Karen Lundgren explained the situation. "We lost our passport," she said, dejected. "It was Jacques during the swim." The lost passport cost the team a six-hour penalty, which they'll wait out at Camp 1 before setting out on the bikes.

According to course tester Claire Melton, the mountain bike leg is not going to be easy, penetrating deep into leech territory. "There are jeep roads that go uphill in the sun," she explained. "You get to hike and bike and it's swampy and grown over."


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