When I kept reading in so many places that the Silk Road Mountain Race is the toughest MTB race in the world, I took it more as marketing hype than reality. Only once I got there did I have to bow down to that claim and admit it’s true. I found myself in so many brutal situations that it was downright uncomfortable. I got exactly what I’d been asking for.
Every adventure has a beginning, often a pretty innocent one. This one basically kicked off by accident. What pushed me to ride all three Mountain Race events, and why is the Silk Road the hardest of them all? How did our Czech crew roll into Osh with absolutely nothing—seriously, nothing—sorted out? Read more
Even though we were pretty laid-back about it, we still wanted to acclimatize and sneak in a bit of adventure before the race. Most of the time we only planned a day ahead, which ended up pushing us over one of the toughest passes ever featured in the Silk Road Mountain Race—Jiptick Pass. At 4,180 meters, a number I now know by heart, nothing higher was waiting for us on the course. Read more
Probably the toughest race start I’ve ever had. Normally I’d get thrown off by the smallest thing, but this time I kept a cool head and managed to handle the situation without too many hiccups. I’m glad I’ve got enough experience behind me to pull myself together. And at the same time, I gained new lessons I’ll definitely make use of again one day. Read more
I woke up hopelessly last, but I knew that would change. Sooner or later. The Silk Road Mountain Race is a long race, and I’d have plenty of time to catch a few cyclists. But first, I had to find a place in Osh to get new handlebars, and that was no easy task. Read more
On day three, I finally met some racers. Unfortunately, the speedsters had already cleaned out the best supplies from the shops, so it was hard to find anything decent. Even after ten days of acclimatization, I kept running into something new. A stone rain, for example, was definitely not on my bingo card. Read more
100 kilometers downhill and on a highway—that doesn’t sound like the route of the toughest MTB race, does it? I’ll admit it rolled relatively fast, but with a headwind in my face I couldn’t stop pedaling. The Pamir Highway was no highway; sometimes the asphalt was missing and now and then a flock of sheep blocked my way. At least in the evening I got very lucky with accommodation… Read more
What’s it like to walk 30 kilometers with a bike? Extremely demanding! Especially when you have to haul that loaded machine up absurdly steep slopes, ford a river over and over, and it generally just gets in the way. At times I felt my life was at risk. How did I handle it? Read more
What if? Sometimes I ask myself this question during races when I curse my own mistakes. I’m only human, but what kind of human would sleep on a sharp stone? And at that moment I had no idea how many problems it would bring me. Read more
The seventh day was crucial for the rest of the Silk Road. I was passing through the biggest city on the route - Naryn, where I had to buy food for the next 450 kilometers. Half the streets were dug up and finding any food without meat was a superhuman task. Read more
