Yak Attack

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Singlespeeding Around Annapurna

Paul Errington / 18.03.2010

[Paul Errington continues his blog from Yak Attack in the Nepal Himalaya.]

With limited internet access for the last 3 days its not been possible to blog the race as it happened. Today we are in Manang at 3540m, a rest day to acclimatise before the next climb up to 4450m.

The last 3 days have gone like this;

<b>Besi Sahar to Tal, 43km</b>

This stage started on jeep track from Besi Sahar, with 27km on jeep track then 16km carrying/climbing it didn't look like a bad day for singlespeeding on paper. The start was fast as usual with the Nepalese guys going off the front, Aussie Phil chasing, then me.

The climbs initially were short and sweet but as the stage went on the climbs lengthened and the surface became more and more dusty till eventually I couldn't get any grip to turn the gear and back to walking.

After about 15km I glanced back to see another rider coming quickly ... thinking it was maybe Andreas, a fast Swedish rider I was surprised to see it was Aussie Phil ... apparently he had taken a wrong turn and was trying to make up lost ground.

As the jeep track seemingly went on for ever the temperature as always was pretty hot until eventually as expected the jeep track ended and the carry/ride section started ... this short carry was pretty steep but ended in a water station.

After the water station it was a mix of carry and short riding sections along the side of a cliff, passing numerous trains of horses, some going in the same direction which caused delay until a suitable passing point was found.

The trail wound along the base of the cliff until the final carry came into sight. It looked pretty steep but not so sustained and the carry was slow and steady until Col from Alpkit.com came into view nearing the top taking pictures..

Cresting the climb Tal came into sight, sitting on a flat wide valley floor just a short ride and carry down to the flat then a short ride saw the end of the stage.

Surprisingly there ws no Andreas at the finish, turns out the Swedish had been playing practical jokes and while the field chased him down Andreas was back riding with the our Rockstar, the other Swede Martin, shortly after his lightening start he had found a good hiding place and let the field chase down a ghost :)

In the evening the skies opened and it rained hard but luckily before going to bed the skies were clear and it looked good again for the next days stage.See All Event Posts