Yak Attack
To the Annupurna Range
Phil Evans and Paul Errington / 12.03.2010
Following on from yesterday's tough transition stage which took the riders from Nuwakot to Dhading Besi over 50km and 1359m of ascent, competitors set out from Nepal's forma capital city, Gorkha, and headed for Besi Sahar, situated at the trail head of the Annapurna circuit.Australian Phil Hystek fancied his chances over this "flat" course and went off like a bullet down the initial 8km downhill. .Ajay Pandit lost his water bottle on the first descent and despite a valiant effort he was unable to catch the flying Australian and was eventually beaten to second place by Mangal Krishna Lama.
The race claimed its first bike today when UK entrant Andy Foers narrowly avoided a major "off" when the swingarm on his bike broke clean in half. Fortunately a race volunteer was able to lend him his bike so that he could complete the day.
Welsh triathlete John Williams took a tumble on the first descent but fortunately only suffered minor abrasions. The heat exhaustion he suffered on day 1 however, got the better of him during the final 30km sealed section and he had to retire 12km from the finish, incurring a 1 hour time penalty.
<b>Singlespeed to Besi Sahar</b>
Paul Errington continues his race blog from Yak Attack.
<i>After a transition stage group ride yesterday of 50km with a healthy serving of both up and down we found ourselves in Gorkha, the old capital of Nepal.
Stage 2, Gorkhaa to Besi Sahar, 60km ... the days stage was sold as a half and half, jeep track and sealed tarmac rode. On paper it didn't sound too tough although with that much tarmac involved it was never going to be a singlespeed friendly day and the best I could hope for was to minimise losses.
The day started with a descent of around 6-7km, not too rough but pretty rutted as rain has carved the surface into multiple channels to choose from. The jeep track flowed from reddish clay, to grass then into villages and back onto the familiar dusty brown surface of the last 2 days.
The first proper carry of the race came after a footbridge crossing which led onto a set of stairs. With the Swedish guys, Andreas and Martin, just behind me on the trail as well as in the race overall I tried to run the first flight of stairs which quickly turned into a brisk walk and then to a slow walk ...
Cresting the stairs the trail then wound undulating down the valley finally ending in a steepish climb to up and over down into the next valley. The going was as fast as my gearing allowed but still painfully slow ... geared too high for some of the ups and too low for the flat ... the curse of the singlespeed rider.See All Event Posts
