Silk Road Mountain Race 2023: Race Preview
This will be my fourth time in Kyrgyzstan but third time racing, after a failed start in 2021 due to COVID. The Silk Road Mountain Race is an 1,895 km bicycle race through the wilds of the Tien Shen mountains in Kyrgyzstan. This year will be the fifth edition of the race and looks like the toughest course yet; 30,600 m of climbing, a long stretch above 3,000m and a few passes of 4,000 m.
In the north-east of this landlocked country is the Issyk-Kul Lake, where the race will start on the south shore and end on the north. It’s the second largest mountain lake in the world behind Lake Titicaca in the high Andes. For fifteen centuries, trade between East and West passed by the lake along the Silk Road. The lake is at 1,600m (5,270 ft) and is surrounded by mountains. All the rivers in the country flow into the lake, none flow out. These many peaks and rivers feed the valleys creating fertile pastures and planes, feeding the inordinate flocks of cattle, sleep and yaks. Kyrgyz people come from nomadic Shepard origins, their culture is of kindness and warmth, a Yurt is always open to strangers in a storm. This life of a time gone is in stark contrast to the bustling metropolis of Bishkek and the holiday resorts of Issyk-Kul.
Photo: Nils Laengner
My debut year was 2019. This race included one of the scariest experiences I’ve had while racing, or life. Two drunken, horse mounted bandits tried to mug me late one night in the mountains, forcing a hasty descent from over 3,000 m. I stopped for a day to deal with the police and calm my mind, incredibly I still finished fourth.
Photo: Nils Laengner
After the 2021 non-start, I entered again for 2022 without hesitation. I felt I had something to prove to myself on the dust washboards of Kyrgyzstan. However, 2022 was not my strongest year on the bike, I struggled to get into a good rhythm of training and failed to lay down a good foundation. I went to Kyrgyzstan in far from my best shape, unsure how the race would go and with no expectations beyond a desire to have fun and finish. It went well though, my mind fell into place out on the route and my body obeyed its server demands. Eventually I rode into finish in second place, less than an hour behind the ever-phenomenal Sofiane Sehili, an accomplishment and more importantly, personal performance, for which I hold my head high.
With the passing of time, sitting here enjoying a warm glow on the mountains around our home in Catalunya, I feel a long way from the remote magnificence of this extraordinary country. I now feel much the same as I did a year ago, I simply want to go to Kyrgyzstan to have fun and finish. Now, I feel I’ve nothing left to prove to myself, I’m content with my performance and palmarès. I’ll be racing for the internal beauty that arises when I find total peace as I push myself to the physical and mental limit of my being. This complete silence and peace are one of the greatest pleasures in my life, it’s just a shame it brings such pain with it. Nothing good comes easy.
Home
Sitting here, daydreaming back I can close my eyes and feel the vibrations of those Kyrgyz roads as I propel my bike forward, the hypnotic rhythm, the sole purpose, a simple delight for my senses.
The weeks before a race are always hard, sacrifices are made, by my wife Isabelle as much if not more than I. There’s much administration. The anxiety of travelling such a long way, being away from my home, my family, my life, isn’t enjoyable. Earlier this year I realised I hadn’t left this valley in 6 months, these days I am content in being a quiet soul in my own mountains. To pull myself out of the simple daily life takes some effort as I push against the current. No doubt, once I’m there and settled into this new flow with its own direction, I’ll feel comfortable to be back in the familiar mountains.
We’ve now spent a year living in the Catalan Pyrenees. It was being here in winter that earned us the respect and embrace of the locals. In winter many depart, but the only place I departed for was up high to peruse my new joy in ski mountaineering. I feel very comfortable in the mountains now, from their oppressive summer valley heat to their all-encompassing winter storms. With such time at altitude this year in Kyrgyzstan, perhaps we will again be treated to real storms.
Whatever happens, it won’t define me. Just as in May this year when I decided that I must scratch from the Highland Trail, didn’t define me. I had worked hard and gave it my best and I’ll do the same here.
Ultimately, it’s the memories made that mean so much. The more adversity and personal tests that I face when racing, the more I grow as a person beyond just a pedal pusher. I can only dream that I’ll be able to finish and have fun while doing so. As we know, it’s when I am enjoying racing that I am at my best.
Have fun everyone!