X-Trail Altay Expedition
A Long Ride in China
Daniel Hocking-Murphy / 05.06.2017
Daniel Hocking-Murphy raced the demonstration Altay Expedition event last year and much of the course is the same this year, including the 201km long cycling leg which all of the leading teams are now on at sunrise on day 2 of the race. Here he describes the ride they are facing.
As the teams in this year’s Xtrail Expedition Race embark on the first MTB leg of the race, it follows the same initial stages as last year, so here is a description of what they will face.
Starting at a transition with one of the few sit down toilets in China, teams will be heading up a sealed road before turning off onto a fast gravel track that will lead them to a nasty hike a bike up 700m of ascent. At time of writing the top teams had reached the summit, and were on a beautiful section of single track that would take them at speed to the marshland plains that lie beneath.
In the daylight it’s easy enough to pick a line through the maze of trails running between the raised plant beds, at night it will be more challenging.
After negotiating this section, and its unmarked river crossing, it will be time to climb back up to 2000m and then a descent down a valley cut deep by ancient rivers, leaving the ride-able "road" cluttered with fist to foot sized rocks to catch out the weary riders. This section goes on for some 8km and in the dark should make for some heart in the mouth moments for many teams.
Once completed, and after passing a small shop at the base of the valley, teams will then head up again, this time along a road that was still being built last year and had many large dump trucks winding their way up and down at speed. If the Chinese have been working away at this section then competitors may get a nicer surface to grind out the long uphill which at times is above 20% gradient. As they get to the top they may get lulled into a sense of confidence as they embark on a nicely graded dirt road leading back down to the flats on the other side - but - they will soon face a new challenge!
The next 30kms will be along badly rutted and confusing tracks that crisscross between each other and are sometimes on and sometimes not on the map. The landscape in this area is largely featureless and navigators will need to be on their game to ensure they stay on track for the next check point. After passing a Dam seemingly in the middle of nowhere, riders will follow a more defined trail to where last year the rope section was held.
From here teams will continue south, but unlike last year, rather than heading East towards Atlay and the finish, teams will continue South to take on a long lake paddle and then a trek in the nearby mountains.
Once back on the bikes, the remaining route to Atlay will cover similar territory to last year, and that territory caught out many tired navigators including the leaders of the 2016 race, so it will be interesting to see if it claims any victims this year.
Without jumping ahead too far, the reward for teams racing in Xtrail is the finest finish hotel in ARWS - complete with polished marble floors to traipse across in dirty MTB shoes!
This is a long MTB section, well over 100km, but teams will be lucky not to have to deal with the heavy rain that in 2016 turned the dirt into mud!
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