Category: Kyrgyzstan
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Silk Road Mountain Race ~ last day
The journal for the last day of the race has been long overdue, as are some closing thoughts about the experience of taking part in the race. Perhaps it’s better this way, to put some emotional distance between the event and the moment you write the closing thoughts. In my case it’s been one year…
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SRMR Day 9, the goat path, Kegeti and the Chinese gold mine
This night I slept quite well. Stopping at 7 pm I probably managed to got fall asleep at 8 and the alarm sound at 3:30 am means that I got a solid 7 hours of sleep, good enough for one more day in the saddle but not enough to erase the lack of sleep from…
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SRMR day 8, the descent to Baetov and the climb to Song Kul
The alarm rings again at 4:30 and I manage to pack everything and be back on the bike in less than half an hour. Generally I really like the early morning start and I like being on the bike when it’s still dark and today this seems to work out. Even the legs feel OK…
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SRMR day 7, the Chinese border road and the old caravan route
It must have been past midnight when I finally managed to fall asleep, so when the phone rings at 4:30 in the morning I feel far from rested, but at the same time I know I need to get moving. It’s almost 12 hours since I arrived at the checkpoint and as I pack up…
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SRMR day 6, headwind, Kel Suu and the struggle to sleep
From all the elements the wind is the cyclists biggest enemy. If I can tolerate the cold, the heat, the snow, the rain and even the mud wind gets me mentally every time.. And it’s not that I don’t have the power, I’m but no means scrawny, it’s just the simple fact that you have…
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SRMR day 5 ~ Tosor pass and the road to Naryn
After 4 days of racing I start to wonder if there’s any way of knowing in advance what will make the day ahead of you a good day : is it sleep?, is it what you eat?, is it how you pace yourself? or is it a simple matter of perception? For example the way…
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SRMR day 4 ~ a race to the Arabel pass
The phone alarm sounds at 4:30 but when I check the weather outside I see that overnight it started snowing and a low cloud cover doesn’t promise anything good for this morning. In the end I decide to go back to the sleeping bag, snatch one more hour of sleep, wait for the daylight and…
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SRMR Day 3, cold, snow, sun and 270 kilometres in the saddle
When the alarm rings at 3:30 in the morning the first thing I do is to get out of the sleeping bag and check the conditions outside. The air is cold and crisp, the menacing rain clouds from last night have all but disappeared and a clear black sky full of stars stretches above. You…
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SRMR Day 1 ~ fresh legs and tyre destroying descents
The police Lada which escorted us out of Talas stops, waves that we should go past and the race actually begins. It’s still dark, but the first signs of the new day are already visible in the eastern sky, the air is brisk and cold and a long string of cyclists stretches out in the…
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Silk Road Mountain Race 2021, lead-up.
The lead-up to the race started for me on a bleak February day, bombarded with grim COVID news, under a nation-wide night quarantine and suffering from job burnout. It started by sending a mail to see if there are any free spots in the race. When Nelson responded that there still are some spots left…