The BMW Around the World Relay is now in Australia, where four new riders (J. Bellmunt, J. Domingo, J. Fabregas and G. Sole) are making their way from Sydney in New South Wales (on the south-east coast) to the city of Cairns in Queensland, a ride of about 2,500 kilometers on the most direct routes.
However, the Vuelta Al Mundo riders never take the most direct route and will ride closer to 4,000 kilometers on their two-week lap because each stage (of between 3,000 and 6,000 kilometers) of this amazing relay has been designed to link places that are of considerable significance in terms of history, adventure, nature, art and culture.
Furthermore, the teams of riders have been encouraged to choose their own routes between cities, as well as researching the country that they are riding in, including its attractions, culture, and customs. With this stage of the trip including many world-famous tourist hot-spots such as Sydney Harbour, Bondi Beach, The Great Dividing Range, Cape York Peninsula, The Gold Coast, The Great Barrier Reef and even tropical rainforests, it's no surprise that the Round the World Relay riders will be stopping off at a few places en route.
The good news for followers of this 150,000-kilometer ride that will cross five continents is that a live tracking function for the relay is now online that can be accessed from the home page of the www.vueltalmundobmw.com website. This will allow browsers to pinpoint the exact location of the riders via Google Earth, as well as see their altitude and current speed.
"This tracking system is a fantastic way of keeping in touch with how our riders are doing," commented Vuelta Mundo organiser Gerardo Seeliger. "The trip has so far been an unbelievable success, despite the challenges of the terrain and varying amounts of 'bureaucracy' in the different culture. However, long-distance travel teaches you persistence, determination, patience, flexibility and diplomacy - not to mention riding skills!
"We have five Australian stages of this journey that started five days ago and the exact route through Australia will go from Sydney to Cairns, then Darwin, Adelaide and Perth before returning to Sydney on 10 May. There are four riders on each stage and although the bikes have now done 80,000 kilometers, they are in very good shape mechanically, albeit a little bit battered after some rough stages in the Andes! The riders are in contact with some BMW Clubs in Australia and have also met with John Bertrand, the Aussie hero winner of the Americas Cup in 1983 (ending 132 years of American supremacy) who is also a passionate BMW rider."
The relay had also planned to visit New Zealand but due to time and quarantine constraints, this has not been possible, so the south-east Asian leg of the relay from Islamabad in Pakistan to Dunhuang in the Gansu province of China will take place from 31May to 13 June.
Tthe next five stages of the relay are as follows: Sydney to Cairns (22 Feb - 06 March); Cairns to Darwin (8 - 21 March); Darwin to Adelaide (24 March - 08 April) Adelaide to Perth (11 - 25 April); and Perth to Sydney (28 April - 10 May). To access the satellite tracking system, simply visit the www.vueltalmundobmw.com website and follow the 'Siguenos en directo via satellite' link.