This has started again in Kyrgyzstan this morning with the great and good of the unsupported racing world setting off. I followed last year and the pictures of the area were staggeringly beautiful.
I was following Naomi Freireich and Lee Craigie in 2018... Naomi's bike got lost en route and missed the start by a day or so before having to scratch due to diet and food problems..
Lee went madly off route with her own glorious adventure as told on her blog.
Anyone else watching?
Yep, got my eye on a few dots. And that scenery is something else!
I'm interested, where are you watching it?
enjoyed dot watching it last year although I'm a little unsure about the Lee Craigie alternative route. It didn't seem to involve anything that looked remotely like a path which is just fine when you are wandering around yourself but I'm not so sure about when you are part of an event. It is spectacular though and really rather inspiring
edit: and dots on https://www.silkroadmountainrace.cc/
the instagram feed is usually good for pics
Think Lee explained her off route adventure in her blog.. I think she effectively rode herself out of contention but had an amazing experience of her own.
All the data and dots are here: https://srmr2019.maprogress.com/#
Some of the most recent Insta pics show snow at over 2000m... few riders scratched already.
You may enjoy this:
https://bikepacking.com/bikes/2019-silk-road-mountain-race-rigs/
A friend of mine is racing it. She's done TransCon and loads of audax inc PBP but this is the first time she's been off-road.
She's spent the year basically re-learning to ride a bike - she's brilliant on-road but trialling her kit off-road has been a big learning curve for her.
Theres a fascinating variety of bikes and kit on there!You may enjoy this:
> https://bikepacking.com/bikes/2019-silk-road-mountain-race-rigs/ <
Crazy-legs, would that be Jayne by any chance?
Bookmarking.
How long does this event usually go on for before the first riders get to the goal?
Last year, Jay Petervary: approx 1700k distance, 27,000 height metres in 8 days, 8 hrs and a ikkle bit.
Pairs (slackers and sight seers) came in at 14 days..
You may enjoy this:https://bikepacking.com/bikes/2019-silk-road-mountain-race-rigs/
**** yes! Thanks for posting that : D
Is Jay Petervary the one Salsa just dropped for being a bit of a dick?
Yup he is. And the girl he was being accused of being a dick about is in 3rd or 4th place.
Yup he is. And the girl he was being accused of being a dick about is in 3rd or 4th place
But without the camera crew. That was all a bit funny and I'm not sure that was all of the story.
photos so far here:
Oh I’m sure it wasn’t all of the story, unfortunately for Petervary I haven’t heard of anyone publishing anything to show his side as being innocent/misunderstood.
As for the race, he’s one hell of a rider, as is anyone who takes part in these ultra events. I think it takes a very particular mental attitude to win and I’m sure people with this kind of fortitude and determination can come across as a bit ‘opinionated and short’.
The photography is amazing the riders are amazing and who would have thought the combination of this via social media and dot watching could be so compelling.
I know a few of the riders and have met a couple more - normal folk just prepared to ride their bikes for a long time.
Shona and Rich from Keep Pedalling in Manchester were attempting it on a tandem (they've already completed the HT550 on it) but they were stopping in a guesthouse and Shona got food poisoning:
Anyway middle of the night I feel rough and get up to go to the loo, I don’t remember anything then apart from coming round on the floor with blood p1ssing out my head. I’d fainted and smacked it on some metal stairs, Rich stuck it together with steristrips but I’m headed back to Bishkek to get it looked at.
Markus Stitz is doing it.
He's run into a few problems, but nothing a bloke who's ridden round the world on a single speed couldn't fix.
Following him on FB
It's a pretty enthralling race so far
Just past over the 1000km mark
They've had some brutal weather by the looks of things
5th day of riding - 2 leaders separated by less than 10km and the top 5 by less than 60km
The IG reports make for great reading 👍
Be interesting to see who the leaders pass going the other way once they get to the return section coming up. May be dark too I guess.
Following James Hayden (ever since he passed me whilst I was out for a bimble an he said "Hi" 😉
Crazy-legs, would that be Jayne by any chance?
It is. She's scratched, split from her riding partner, and taken a shortcut right across the middle to come out at the 800km mark. Quite a few retirees already and a huge spread along the course. Leaders are past the 1000km mark, last place is only just past the 500km mark.
To be fair
That's some challenge crazy legs.
To relearn not only riding to go off-road but just existing out there requires total readjustment
I've worked in the region fairly extensively and I find it really quite tough mentally as things we take for granted just don't exist. Its not even something you can throw money at -they just *don't* exist.
I certainly have no desire to race in the region. I'd love to tour it on my own time line though it's a fascinating part of the globe and a nicer people you won't meet.
Sidenote/back on topic. I take it Jeff kerkove hasn't reset his tracker or is he having issues. Doesn't seem to have moved much today. Lael and jay are having a good old ding dong. Would be interesting to be a fly on the wall there.
I'm watching Stu Taylor (or Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery fame), currently close to the 870 mark.
Beat Heim? Surely a pseudonym?
Beat is a fairly common given name in Germanic countries.
Looking at the route profile there's a long section of about 300km above 3000m altitude that might be problematic for some if they don't acclimatise well.
Usually on these long distance events the leaders are about twice as quick as the tail enders plus/minus a bit depending on the field, weather, etc. Also everyone is so spread out after a day or two that whole storms can affect just one part of the race while everyone else is in sunshine.
Just checked into the tracking , no sign of Lael , has she abandoned?
No, she is still there. Zoom in on Petervary and Lael is right there.
Underneath jay petervary...
I’m in the race, currently nursing a ruined knee in Naryn (crashed descending in the dark) and not sure whether I’ll be able to carry on but holy shit it’s been amazing! Beautiful country, lovely people, great organisation and good camaraderie from the other riders. Can’t recommend it enough.
It’s all changed up front of the markers are to be believed 😮
jamiecj Member
I’m in the race, currently nursing a ruined knee in Naryn (crashed descending in the dark) and not sure whether I’ll be able to carry on but holy shit it’s been amazing! Beautiful country, lovely people, great organisation and good camaraderie from the other riders. Can’t recommend it enough.
Blimey, an update from the coal face! Hope the knee is OK and you are able to continue! Respect for taking on such a challenge!!
It’s all changed up front of the markers are to be believed 😮
It really has. Lael is now 5k off the lead although on mobile it is difficult to see how much of that is prediction
Just seen this about James Hayden in a thread on Bearbones which originally came from Facebook:
While climbing the Kadzhi-Sai canyon section of the route, James was stopped by two horse riders with dogs. Without going into details, James quickly realised the situation was not friendly and things escalated fast into an attempted robbery. James was eventually able to get away from the two horse riders by descending back the way he came. The incident has left James a bit shaken, he will take some time to consider next steps. This is sadly an isolated incident in what is a wonderful country.
There's currently 12km separating the top three: Jakub Sliacan; Lael Wilcox; Jay Petervary. That's with predictive mode off BTW.
James Hayden's had an untoward incident (attempted robbery) occur on the Kadzhi-Sai canyon ascent, he took evasive action by rapidly descending back to CP3 & is assessing his options.
... I wonder what he said / went through the minds of those racers he passed heading on up...
Some great pics from Markus at
Looks like Lael has forged her way to the front. 👍
Jakub and Lael well out in front now, 110km back to Jay Petervary.
James Hayden spent time giving statements to the police and is now carrying on.
Some riders have scrathed and said as their trackers are working, they will continue for the exprience and hop through to the end... which is an admirable thing to do. Photography is stunning again this year.
Jakub the rookie looks like this years winner with just 15km to go 👏👏 with an amazing challenge put in by Lael in the second half of the race.
