Heat, height, hail and hell: Kiwis begin world's toughest mountain bike race

Saturday, 17 August 2024

The day Rufus Wenlock flew from Christchurch to Kyrgyzstan to compete in the world’s toughest mountain bike race, he finally finished building his bike.

He’d sculpted, welded and painted the frame that he’d spent a year designing. And built the bags that fitted around it that would carry the gear he’d need for the 2000km race in some of the world’s most remote mountains.

Then he’d added everything from wheels, to brakes, to lights - just in time before heading to the airport.

“I managed to ride up and down the driveway, and then put it in the bike box.

“So it’ll get its first proper ride in Kyrgyzstan ‒ which is quite cool.”

Or a bit risky.

His great mate from Christchurch and fellow Silk Road Mountain Race competitor, Joe Nation, is in awe of Wenlock’s skill and Kiwi resourcefulness.

“He’s an absolute evil genius.

“He’s just throwing it together at the last minute. It’s classic.”

When they arrived in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, a few days later, Wenlock also demonstrated Kiwi aptitude for saving a few bucks.

Having traded Christchurch’s winter for 38 degrees as they stepped out of the airport in Kyrgyzstan, Wenlock decided to hoist his bike box on his shoulders and sweat his way across the city to their hotel instead of using a taxi.

The next day, after rebuilding his bike, Wenlock leapt on his prototype for its first trial, as he and Nation rode out of Bishkek under hot and hazy skies for a four-day shakedown mission.

The Silk Road Mountain Race, which begins today, is widely regarded as as the toughest mountain bike race in the world, alongside the famous Tour Divide which runs 4000km down the length of America.

The Kyrgyzstan race is only half that distance, but its notoriety lies in its brutality.

Competitors almost immediately climb to a strength-sapping 4000m, higher than Aoraki/Mt Cook, and later cross two other passes at that height.

The route is phenomenally remote.

Riders need to be totally self-sufficient. That means buying whatever they can find in tiny village stores, and filtering water from mountain streams.

Sometimes there will be 250km of desolate, barely-tracked backcountry between re-supply points.

Temperatures will range from 40 degrees in daytime, and plunge to minus 15 degrees overnight.

In the afternoons, thunderstorms pour down from the peaks.

The race is simple ‒ whoever gets to the finish first, wins.

That means riders avoid sleep, taking the least amount of rest they can, before pedalling on.

The front riders will survive on a few hours’ sleep a night, over the seven days it will likely take them to complete the race.

There will be precious little sealed road along the way, just rocky passes, horse trails, river crossings, and routes with shuddering “washboard” corrugations.

Some stretches are so steep you can’t ride. Others are so rough you have to carry your bike.

The result is that only 50 per cent of starters make it to the finish, even though they have 14 days to complete the race.

Sickness, destroyed bikes, accidents, fatigue, all take their toll and trash dreams.

Joe Nation has ridden many tough races in the past, including coming third in last year’s Tour Divide.

But even he is slightly scared by what’s in store during the Silk Road race.

“It’s certainly going to test me, I think.”

In February this year, Nation and Wenlock pushed themselves the length of the South Island in the Tour te Waipounamu, an epic race that Nation won in just under five days, a few hours ahead of his friend.

Nation, 34, was a professional enduro cyclist, but now works full-time as an engineer to pay the bills, while undertaking extreme ultra-cycling adventures.

Wenlock, 36, is a stay-at-home dad to two children, who worked in cycle shops for years, and now has a nascent business building bikes, such as the one he’s riding in Kyrgyzstan.

The pair have known each other for years, but Wenlock says that friendship has limits.

“Once the start gun goes off, the gloves are off ‒ every man for himself.

“We’re best mates, but always fierce competitors when it comes to racing.”

When that gun goes off today, Wenlock says adrenaline and expectation will seize riders.

“Everyone goes hell for leather, till it settles down after a couple of days, and you just fall into a pattern of three to four hours’ sleep a night.

“But it gets pretty hairy at the end, when the hallucinations kick in.”

Wenlock and Nation had 10 days in Kyrgyzstan to prepare for the race.

This included the initial shakedown ride, which introduced them to some of the race course, including the first 4000m pass, which riders hit just 100km from the start in Bishkek.

The aim was to get some time acclimatising to the altitude, and test themselves and their bikes in race conditions.

Success in ultra “bikepacking” races relies on carrying as little as possible.

There are no tents, just light sleeping gear and bivvy bags.

But the limits of this were brought home to the pair on the second day of their training ride, when they sought to camp at 3000m.

Forests in Kyrgyzstan finish at about 2500m, meaning there’s virtually no shelter above this.

So when an afternoon thunderstorm hit them, Nation’s sleeping bag became completely drenched.

Eventually, he decided to pack up and head down the valley, crossing swollen rivers, and chased by angry dogs, before he reached a village where he found a room for the night to dry out.

Meanwhile, Wenlock, determined to reap the benefits of sleeping at altitude, stayed cocooned in his bivvy bag as the storm continued, before descending the next morning to meet up with Nation.

The 400km trial ride took four days, and saw Nation and Wenlock climb 7500m in total.

Nation says the ascent to the first 4000m pass was “the slowest 40km of my life”.

But they learnt lots about the terrain, the trails, the weather, and riding heavily supplied bikes at altitude.

However, both admitted it was a reality check.

“I’m quite apprehensive about the race, to be honest,” Nation admitted afterwards.

“We barely covered 10 per cent of the route, and while it was some of the most technical riding, it’s the more remote areas that I'm worried about.

“The race route follows the Chinese border for over 300km at one point, and there’s extremely limited water and food options.

“There's only so much watching YouTube videos and hours on Google Earth can prepare you for. It's always different in real life.”

Wenlock says he’s feeling better prepared for the race now

“Although the intimidation of knowing what’s coming, and how hard it’s going to be, is worse.”

The ride was also a chance to check out what supplies will be available en route, when they do find a town, or come across an isolated store.

Stuffing themselves with enough food as they burn through thousands of calories is critical, and race rules decree riders can’t hit up locals for food or help - everything has to be sourced from commercial outlets, or freely offered to them.

Wenlock says stores in Kyrgyzstan are like very simple New Zealand dairies that have soft drinks, ice cream, biscuits, Snickers, and “sometimes filled rolls with a questionable amount of mayonnaise in them”.

But all the locals they met, from kids congregating at shops, to high-country shepherds at their yurts, were unfailingly friendly, and interested in their bikes, with one man even making an extremely hopeful bid to buy Nation’s high-tech watch for four bucks.

While recognising the value of international trade, Nation politely declined.

Nelson Trees has been described as a “dream maker” and also a “morale breaker”.

The creator of the Silk Road Mountain Race, now in its sixth year, grew up in England and France, then found himself studying in Shanghai.

In 2013, he decided to cycle from Shanghai to Paris.

And that was when he encountered Kyrgyzstan for the first time.

Amazed by its remoteness, wildness and safety, he held his first ultra cycle race there in 2018, with 100 entrants.

This year’s race will see nearly double that number of riders lining up, from 35 countries, including four New Zealanders.

And Trees, himself a top ultra endurance cycle race competitor, who now organises three of these races around the world, says Nation and Wenlock are among those he’s picking to do well.

“I think they have a good chance, but it’s very hard to say.

“It’s a very long race, anything can happen.

“They haven’t raced it before, and it is a bit different. But they’re definitely up there.”

This year’s route is as tough as any of the previous Silk Road races, Trees says.

“It’s definitely a very difficult one.

“It will depend on the weather ‒ I think that’s the biggest factor.

Trees shies away from superlatives about which race is the hardest or most gruelling, though he accepts the Silk Road race is right up there at the peak of endurance events.

“The distances, temperatures, altitude, weather - all of that speaks for itself.”

The utter remoteness of the route (“there’s really nothing out there”) means he personally has to be responsible for emergencies - dealing with police, taking riders to hospital, and playing diplomat with the man who claimed a rider had caused his horse to drop dead.

Among the field are some riders who are professionals with sponsorship, he says.

“And then you have the vast majority, this is their holidays - and it means a lot to them - but it’s not their job.”

His job, as race organiser, is fraught with potential difficulties and danger.

But witnessing the overwhelming satisfaction riders get from completing the event, is one of the reasons he does it.

“You see so many people, how much this means to them at the finish line - and people say it’s changed their lives.”

Joe Nation is relishing the challenge Trees has set down.

“I’m just looking forward to getting started and settling into a nice rhythm, which often happens on day three or so.

“I'm also really looking forward to seeing a whole lot more of this epic landscape.”

But it’s not a sightseeing jolly - Nation knows he’s there to race, including racing Wenlock, his good mate and endurance nemesis.

“I’m trying to win, for sure.

“I’m hoping the Kiwis can put down another 1-2 - but we’ll see.”

Follow Nation and Wenlock during the Silk Road Mountain Race here, or at silkroadmountainrace.com