CATHEDRAL GORGE STATE PARK, Panaca, Nev. – Day three of the Land Rover G4 Challenge Nevada Passage took competitors across the high desert to some rugged mountain biking trails then through a colorful rock wall canyon for a 50-foot vertical climb.

Just after sunrise teams caravanned from the campgrounds at Cathedral Gorge along a scenic two hour off-road trek through eastern Nevada’s unspoiled outback to the Chief Mountain Trail Head for the start of a challenging 17-mile mountain bike race on the Gray Dome trail.

The race started with teams scrambling to take their bikes off the roof racks of their Land Rover LR3 competition vehicle. Team Purple – Lisa Lieb and Tom Lyons – was first on the course and the fastest team on two wheels. Both Lieb and Lyons won world mountain bike multisport championships last year and were clearly excited to get in the saddle.

At about mile 13 of the bike teams had to stop, pull out their hand held GPS devices and find a treasure. Lieb and Lyons were the first to the checkpoint and took seven minutes to locate the cache hidden some 500-feet away up a ridgeline. Mission accomplished, the pair sailed into the finish line unchallenged in one-hour, 36 minutes.

Team Green – Tim Menoher and Linda Lindsay – started the bike in fifth and moved up to second by the finish. The pair also found the geocache in the fastest time – just five minutes.

Adam Chase and Caroline Colonna of Team Royal Blue were sitting in third at the checkpoint with an opportunity to maneuver into second but had a hard time finding the cache and their 12-minute search cost them three spots in the finish order down to 6th place. Laura Home and Phil Glenn of Team Lime Green took advantage of the miscue to finish in third.

Some teams were out of contention before it even started like Team Orange – Sage Grossi and Nate Brown – who had a flat tire on the bike straight off the racks then a series of tire mishaps thereafter. Orange rode under the finish arch a full hour after Lyons and Lieb had won.

THE ROCK

Following the ride teams got back in their LR3s for a 30-mile trip through a series of spectacular geological formations in Lincoln County’s Rainbow Canyon. Their challenge for the afternoon was to scale 50-feet up a welded tuff – a rock formed of compressed volcanic ash. The wall featured a variety of holds – crimps, sloppers, and finger pockets – and had competitors utilizing muscles they never knew existed.

Team members started their climbs simultaneously but on two separate routes determined to be 5.7 and 5.9 in difficulty, and the scoring was based on the teams combined time. Most of the competitors were novice rock climbers, and although they were on belay (a technique of controlling the rope so that a falling climber does not fall far) the fear still exists.

The rock climbing event joined the Land Rover trials competition as the most visually stimulating activities for spectators, and more than 100 people gathered around to cheer on the individual climbers on their quest to ring the bell at the top of the route.

The first two teams – Green and Gray – completed the climbs in roughly 11 minutes combined and displayed impressive strength and persistence. Then came Team Lime Green, and Laura Home practically danced her way up the rock wall in two minutes, 36 seconds (tied for fastest time up the 5.7 route with Tom Lyons) all while eliciting cheers from the crowd with every successful maneuver. Home’s teammate Phil Glenn went side-to-side and was continually looking over his shoulder to see where his hands and feet should go, and the two set the bar at a combined seven minutes, 43 seconds.

The sixth team up was the slim and agile pair of Adam Chase and Caroline Colonna – and both were extremely smooth, took the best routes, and combined for a time of five minutes, 20 seconds – a mark that could not be beat.

The best show of the day, however, came from the last team and the amazing cat-like climbing abilities of Brandyn Roark-Gray on Team Red. Roark-Gray, who years ago spent time as a climbing instructor, went up the toughest route in the quickest time - two minutes, 23 seconds which pushed her team into second place.

Note: The Land Rover G4 Challenge scoring system combines a series of written tests for first aid and mechanical knowledge, navigation skills, Time-Speed-Distance, driving skills, brand communication, and athletic skills. Totals will not be revealed until the final day of competition.

The four-day multistage competition, which lasts through Friday, May 9, is the United States’ sole qualifying event for the prestigious international Land Rover G4 Challenge. The top two teams will advance to the international selection event at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, United Kingdom, in early 2009, where one team will be selected to represent the United States against teams from 17 other countries in the three-week-long finals taking place in Asia mid-2009.

The competition is being filmed for an hour-long show syndicated on national networks throughout the country starting in May.

For more information on the Land Rover G4 Challenge Nevada Passage, visit www.landroverG4challenge.com. For daily highlights and photo galleries visit www.nevadapassage.com. Media interested in receiving footage or photos should contact:

Land Rover, Bryan van Gorder, 213-926-0378 - bryan.vangorder@cliffordpr.com
Nevada Commission on Tourism, Chris Chrystal, 775-687-4322 - cchrystal@TravelNevada.com

DAY THREE RESULTS

Day Three - Thursday, May 8, 2008

MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE – Gray Dome Trail
Total Time
Rank

Team 5 - Purple
1:36.38
1
TOM & LISA

Team 1 - Green
1:39.53
2
TIM & LINDA

Team 3 - Lime Green
1:46.54
3
PHIL & LAURA

Team 2 - Gray
1:48.18
4
DEAN & EMMA

Team 7 - Turquoise
1:49.33
5
PETER & SARAH

Team 6 - Royal Blue
1:51.09
6
ADAM & CAROLINE

Team 9 - Yellow
1:56.22
7
GARRETT & MARNE

Team 8 - Burgundy
2:02.33
8
SCOTT & RACHEL

Team 10 - Red
2:10.15
9
JIM & BRANDYN

Team 4 - Orange
2:35.27
10
NATE & SAGE

ROCK CLIMB @ Rainbow Canyon
Difficulty Level
Individual Time
Team Time
Final Ranking

Team 6 - Royal Blue
ADAM
5.9
2:38
5:20
1
CAROLINE
5.7
2:42

Team 10 - Red
JIM
5.7
3:22
5:45
2
BRANDYN
5.9
2:23

Team 3 - Lime Green
PHIL
5.9
5:07
7:43
3
LAURA
5.7
2:36

Team 7 - Turquoise
PETER
5.7
3:31
8:12
4
SARAH
5.9
4:41

Team 5 - Purple
TOM
5.7
2:36
10:06
5
LISA
5.9
7:30

Team 4 - Orange
NATE
5.9
5:47
10:40
6
SAGE
5.7
4:53

Team 1 - Green
TIM
5.9
6:23
11:20
7
LINDA
5.7
4:57

Team 2 - Gray
DEAN
5.9
5:49
11:55
8
EMMA
5.7
6:06

Team 8 - Burgundy
SCOTT
5.7
3:28
12:02
9
RACHEL
5.9
8:34
\
Team 9 - Yellow
GARRETT
5.9
5:13
12:47
10
MARNE
5.7
7:34