Yak Attack
Into the Mountains
Phil Evans (Extreme World Challenges) / 14.03.2011
Day 5 of 11 saw the riders head into the mountains proper, with another 4.5 days climbing ahead of them! Yet another hot day confronted the riders as they commenced on 30 kms of steadily climbing on jeep track. Fortunately the trail was dry and dusty which made the going much easier than last years mud fest, and with the road being pushed even further into the mountains this set the stage for an ultra fast finish time.
Following the course of the Marsyangdi river, the route clung to the side of the cliff high above the raging river on its way towards Chamje, and the end of the jeep track (for this year anyway). After crossing the river the riders then had to endure their first carry section, a rude awakening, with almost 6km of rocky unrideable trail to negotiate in the midday heat.
Remarkably most riders seemed to enjoy the carry, and some even found it easier than expected. "I used to do a lot of mountaineering", explained Steve Rysdale, UK mountain biker and ultra runner, "and am used to lugging 70kg packs up them, so just carrying my bike is almost a pleasure".
Kumar Gurung Tamang who had been struggling during the previous days also came good this afternoon, finishing in 14th place, his highest position yet. "It must be the Nepali in me. From the age of 4 I was running up and down hills carrying loads, so it must be in my blood", he quipped.
At the more serious end of the race, Padam Sabenhang couldn’t quite carry out his promise of victory made yesterday. Battling it out over the course , it came down to just 2 minutes between him and the 2010 champ Ajay Chhetri (Genesis/Torq) at the finish, but Ajay succeeded in recording his 5th stage victory overall and extended his lead from his nearest rival to over 45 minutes overall.
Rajeev Rai (John McGillivray), recorded his second top 3 placing, taking him up to 4th place overall while Narayan Gopal Maharajan (Ed Menzies) slipped back a place in the overall rankings by only managing 5th place today.
Greg McGoldrick (Aus) once again bought home the international contingency, but the consistent John McGillivray (UK) managed to hold on to his top international overall placing by finishing just 10 minutes after Greg.
After the trepidation of such a hard and long carry section, Andre Deplechin summed up most participants feelings about today’s stage " It was much easier than I thought it would be. No, correction, it was not as hard as I thought it would be", joked the French veteran rider.See All Event Posts
