Yak Attack
Riding into the Himalaya
Phil Evans (Extreme World Challenges) / 14.03.2011
<b>Day 6; Taal to Chame, 23km with 1365m of ascent.</b>Whilst day 5 finished with a tough carry section, Day 6 started with one as the Yak Attack route continued its climb into the higher mountains.
Leaving Taal the route climbed high above the river along trails carved into the solid rock cliff face. The competitors were soon once again in full sun as they crossed the river via a high suspension bridge and as ever, the going was made tough by the incline and the rock strewn surface. There was little descending to be had today so once again the top local riders broke away from the rest of the field, leaving the rest to toil up another tough carry section heading rapidly up to the village of Timang. From here riding conditions improved but a run of muddy sections made slow going of the final 10km into Chame.
With no major rapid descents today there were few incidents although a number of riders did have near misses with the numerous ponies that frequent the trails carrying goods up into the mountains.
Ajay Pandit Chhetri (Genesis/Torq) made it 6 out of 6 stage victories today and extended his overall lead to over an hour as second placed overall Padam Sabenhang could only manage 4th, finishing 17 minutes after Ajay. Mangal Krisna Lama is starting to come into his own with the increase in altitude, finishing second today only 4 minutes after the winner, whilst the earlier consistent Narayan Gopal Maharajan is starting the feel the effects of this arduous stage race, finishing in 5th place.
Aussie social worker, Paul Bolla, riding on a bike he bought merely for transport in Kathmandu, sporting training shoes, flat pedals and suspension forks that have given up the ghost was the first international rider back today, 5 minutes before the very consistent UK rider John McGillivray.
UK rider and ex-mountaineer Steve Rysdale said of the day’s riding; "This is raw. This is mountain biking at its base level. I’m loving it!"See All Event Posts
