Welcome to the Silk Road Mountain Race 2024

Hannah Simon has won the women's race in a time of 8 days 20 hours and 16 minutes. An incredible ride from Hannah who had a lot to deal with including a broken pedal, her period starting on the first day of the race and finding access to clean water challenging and a tough fight from second place Emma Missale over the first half of the race. But not only did she take everything in her stride she went from strength to strength climbing up the overall leaderboard. A fast descent from the last pass of the race allowed her to build a lead over David Nicholls and she came home in 9th place. A fantastic result and a joy to follow her dot and updates during the race.

Emma came home in second place in a time of 10 days 1 hour and 0 minutes just pipping Will Robinson for 24th place overall by 17 minutes. Emma put in a great performance, really putting the pressure onto Hannah over the first 5 days and to finish top 25 overall is an excellent achievement. 

The final podium spot is currently up for grabs but the situation is not very clear. There have been numerous tracking issues going on which have affected both Jade and Claire. Before these issues started Jade had just overtaken Claire late on Sunday evening and had a slight advantage when they both slept that night. However Jade's tracker hasn't updated since then and Claire's tracker last updated 7 hours ago. If their pace was similar then they are probably closing in on the Secret Oasis and hopefully all to play for over the last section into the finish.

Hannah Simon wins the Silk Road Mountain Race 2024

At 3:10am local time Joe Nation crossed the finish line in Cholpon-Ata to win the Silk Road Mountain Race in a time of 6 days, 18 hours and 10 minutes. After 3 days of some very close racing with Tom Schwemberger, the final winning margin was a comfortable 8 hours. 

The winning move came late into Friday night as the riders made their way out of Kochkor and over Shamshy pass. Joe pushed on, possible using the knowledge from riding this section before the race, maybe knowing his strong descending skills would allow him to create a gap. Tom stopped for just a couple of hour sleep before the pass but by the time he was up and going the gap was there. By mid-morning the gap was up to 3 1/2 hours and from there Joe never looked like letting it go. He continued to extend his lead gradually through the day and then the advantage of hitting the last pass just at the end of the day and 6 hours early meant he had a bit more light at the start and no doubt a few less sleep monsters over the very hard last section of the climb.

Chapeau Joe, from my view this has been a really well controlled and paced ride from Joe. He didn't blast out too hard at the beginning, both him and Tom had great timing on their arrival at the key points of Naryn and CP3. He also looked like he was patient with when to make his move on Tom and timed this with where he would be strongest on the course. Epic ride.

And congratulations to Tom who came home in second place in a time of 7 days, 2 hours and 32 minutes. He's ridden such a strong race and hopefully in time will be pleased with his second place. He really helped make this race as exciting as it was and I'm sure wont forget his birthday in a hurry.

The podium should be complete later on this afternoon with Rufus overcoming his illness on the Old Soviet Road to come back strong and retake that last podium spot. He's right at the top of the last climb so probably a couple of hours from there if he goes full send on the descent.

I'll be back home from my family trip this afternoon so hopefully will be able to give a longer update this evening including another focus on the women's race and the pairs race.

Joe Nation wins the Silk Road Mountain Race 2024

Good evening DotWatchers. Apologies but this is going to be a brief update today (family holiday for me). Today it's all about the leading pair. Tom and Joe. They reached CP3 last night, separated by about an hour. It was a similar separation as they left the CP this morning with the task of climbing the Tosor pass. Throughout the day Tom's lead was gradually whittled down until around 3pm this afternoon Joe overtook him. Joe's lead gradually extended as the two riders made their way over the next pass and down to Kochkor.

Next up was Shamsy pass and whilst Joe continued to push on over the pass through the middle of the night, Tom decided to take a short break. Joe knows the descent having done it on his warm up ride so he knew what was coming as he took on the descent during the dark. This is supposed to be quite a narrow technical descent so a brave move from Joe to take this on. He now has a 24km lead over Tom, and with just 230km to go the question is can he hold onto that lead. There is a lot of hard riding still to come.

I'll be back tomorrow morning.

Joe takes the lead with just 430km to go

I want to start tonight's update with a focus on the women's race, and in particular a focus on Hannah Simon. She is absolutely bossing this race. Hannah has been leading the women's race since day one but the battle with Emma was close over the first 3 days. However, over the last 48 hours, Hannah has been turning the screw slowly and increasing her lead. She arrived in Naryn earlier on this evening at around 10:30 local time. It's now 1:30am Local time and Emma is still an hour away from Naryn. This is giving Hannah a big advantage as we start to approach the end game of this race.

But, what is more impressive is how Hannah has been climbing the overall leaderboard. She now sits in tenth place in the overall rankings and is just 21 hours behind the race leaders Tom and Joe. It looks like the main move was around CP2 and the Old Soviet Road. She managed to make it there last night whilst Emma had to camp out on the road by the Chinese border. Hannah then looked to have a good run over the big hike a bike and has held a big lead since then. Emma is sitting in 17th place overall and has also been climbing up the overall leader board. I will be following both closely over the next 3 days and cheering them on.

The gap to third place in the women's race is significant. Claire is nearly 300km further back and currently camped out where the tarmac road to the Chinese border starts. But she's having a strong race and seems to be loving the scenery and the wildlife if the daily race podcast is anything to go by. But she might need to keep an eye over her shoulder as the race behind her is hotting up. Fourth place is Jade, approximately 40km behind Claire but has stopped an hour earlier tonight so will either be able to start earlier or benefit from more sleep. I got a few messages from Jade this afternoon as she resupplied in Baetov. I think it's fair to say she is having a very nice time. She's loving the race. 

Gala is in 5th place a mere 8km behind Jade, albeit 8km of steep climbing so probably around 2 hours. 6th place is Samantha McMahon, she reached Beatov at 6:50 pm closely followed by Cat Magill in 7th place at 8pm. They are both staying in Baetov tonight along with around 40 other riders! There must be some ultra party going on there tonight. Positions 72 through 111 are in Beatov. Could be some reward for the early starters!

Next up a trio of our female riders are just short of the top of the major climb out of Kazarman around km 620. Marie-Pierre Savard is 8th, Becky Surridge is 9th and Annie Dunlap is 10th. They are all camped out for the night and a good 10 hours ahead of the snail and should reach Baetov in good time tomorrow to either get an early nights sleep or push on after resupply. 

Now back to the very front of the race. It turns out Rufus did indeed have a very sketchy night out right at the top of the Old Soviet Road. It wasn't a bad puncture but a very rapid onset illness. Maybe he had something that disagreed with him at CP2. One minute he was fine, 20 minutes later he was very much not fine. And he did point out what a stupid place to stop it was! This was confirmed by Angus who came over the same part whilst Rufus was in his bivy. Angus reported some big thunderstorms coming over and he took shelter for the night in the same abandoned village that I sheltered from a storm in last year. 

At the front it's been the Tom and Joe show. Tom got going about 45 minutes ahead of Joe this morning out of Naryn but Joe gradually reeled him in during the day and as they got to the top of the Arabel plateau they were just 10 minutes apart. Something must have happened to Joe though as between two pings of his tracker he lost an hour. Puncture maybe? Or a quick nap? Hard to say, it will have been very cold up there as it was around sunset. Tom and Joe are now at CP2 and both sleeping. With just 500km to go it could be just power naps from here on in. Who's conserved enough energy and reserves to push on through?

The battle for third currently is tipping towards Marin. He's made the move over Arabel during the night where it will have been very cold indeed. Rufus decided to camp out at about 3,400m below the pass and where it is a lot more sheltered. 

I can't wait to see how tomorrow plays out. Hope you enjoyed the update. Tune in tomorrow evening for more coverage.

Hannah Simon is bossing this race!

Up at the front the race seems to have blown apart today. And it was the Old Soviet Road that did it.

Overnight leader Tom	 continued to lead throughout the day but was slowly having his lead reduced by the chasing pack of Rufus, Joe, Marin and Ron, who were joined, as we saw yesterday evening, by Angus. These six made rapid progress along the remote Chinese border section. The combination of the slight downhill and a fairly good tailwind made it a very different experience compared to the lead riders last year. Tom arrived at CP2 at Kel Suu at around 3:30pm followed not long after by both Rufus and Joe.

It was after the CP, on the brutal climbs of the Old Soviet Road that things started to ramp up. Tom was out first and onto the hike a bike around 15 minutes ahead of Joe, with Rufus a further 10 minutes back. But coming over the top of the climb Rufus must have had some issue as he came to a halt, maybe some of the barbed wire in this area ripped a hole in his tyre? At the moment we don't know. What we do know is that he has been stationary for the last 5 hours. It's not exactly a sheltered place to stop, close to the top of the plateau. He's high up at an altitude of 3,600m and the weather can turn nasty here very quickly. I nearly got caught out in a bad thunderstorm last year in the same place. One minute it was sunshine and blue sky. The next I was outrunning lightening as I tried to descend down as quickly as I could. His tracker has pinged so we know he's not moving rather than it's just a dead tracker or no signal.

This has allowed Tom and Joe to build a commanding lead over third placed Marin. Joe has put in a big shift today and what was an overnight lead of 25km for Tom last night now has close to a mere 2km. Both riders are making fast progress towards Naryn and have hit the tarmac again now. It's downhill all the way so they should be safely in a guesthouse by 1am. Good timing for both of them.

Marin is about 50km further back but there are some great spots to camp where he is now so I suspect that will be his option rather than continue till the small hours to Naryn. Ron and Angus are 4th and 5th and very close together but still the south side of the next border zone check point. This south side is very exposed and not a great side to camp out for the night so I think they will get over the pass before descending down a short distance to camp.

The rest of the chasing pack will most likely stay at CP2 rather than take on the Soviet Road in the middle of the night.

My eyes and ears on social media have given me some information on the issues Daan was having yesterday. He stopped during the day then again early last night. Today his dot has been seen making rapid progress towards Bishkek. I've heard that this is a freehub issue he has so it looks like he's trying to get it fixed (thanks for the insight Joep).

The women's race is following a similar pattern to yesterday. Hannah has made good ground during the day. She arrived at the border crossing town some three hours ago and looks like she has taken shelter for the night in one of the tin huts up there. There are a collection of these old looking tin huts alongside the customs zone and if you knock on the right one you might get a cup of hot tea and some food. Or in this case maybe a bed.

Emma, as she did yesterday, is pushing on later in the night. She's still moving and is just 22km along a flat tarmac road behind Hannah. Tomorrow looks like it will be a critical day for these two as they take on the Old Soviet Road then make their plans for resupply in Naryn before the next remote section.

There are a huge number of riders stretched out between Jangy-Talap and Baetov. The real challenge for them today has been overcoming the heat. It looks like it's taken riders a long long time to make the climb out of Kazarman. It's a 1700m climb up so hard at the best of times, but temperatures down in the valley will have been over 40 degrees today and it's a super long stretch with minimal water available. It's also on a busy mining access road for a lot of it. The riders will have been happy to have got over the top and started the descent to Baetov. Well except for the washboard.

A quick word on our leading pairs team of Mona and Daniel. They are making solid progress every day and have a big lead. They are camped now at the start of the tarmac road up to the border.

The Old Soviet Road breaks the race up

As day three draws to a close it feels as though a sense of normality and rhythm has come to the race. The early excitement of riders pushing through the night, of everyone on different stopping strategies, has now given way to people prioritising regular sleep and regular food stops. The length and toughness of the race will be very apparent now from the front to the back of the field.

Up at the front the situation is now stabilising. Overnight last night we had a new leader in Tom Schwemberger. It was his birthday too so what a present to give yourself. Happy Birthday Tom. He was also demonstrating the need for some top MacGyver skills today. The positive terminal on his eTap wasn't working so he fabricated on from the contact from a USB plug. Genius.

Throughout the day Tom was leading a group of 6 riders including Rufus, Joe, Ron, Daan and Marin. Daan seemed to have issues on the long washboard section towards Baetov, first stopping for an hour in the middle of the day then stopping early for the night in the small town about 20km before Baetov. He's dropped out of this leading cluster. Also stopping early was Marin. He stopped in Baetov around 7pm this evening and looks to have settled down for the night. Not sure what his issue might be but I hope a good nights sleep sorts him out. This left Tom, Rufus, Joe and Ron pushing on from Beatov towards the tarmac section up to the border. This section between Baetov and the road is a beautiful and remote section with some stunning scenery. Tom has made it over both climbs to the road before camping for the night whereas Rufus and Joe have stopped in between the climbs and Ron is a little further back. This means Tom enjoys a 25km lead at the end of his birthday and with his setup being more favourable for the road section coming he could extend that further before he hits the long rough trail by the border.

Two riders look to be pushing through later this evening to bridge up to this leading quartet. Angus has been struggling with both illness and mechanical (well I should say electrical issues as it was his SRAM shifter that ran out of battery and his spare was a dud) issues. But that seems to be resolved, in his latest update his legs were working even if he was still feeling a little ill, and he managed to get a new coin battery in Kazarman. Artis is just behind Angus as they both make their way out of Baetov. I suspect they will get to a similar location to Ron before sleeping for the night. IT will be fairly warm down in the valley whereas higher up it will be more exposed. 

In the women's race it continues to be a cat and mouse came between Hannah and Emma. They have been within about 20km of each other all day. Currently Hannah has stopped to sleep about 35km from Baetov whereas Emma is still moving and closing the gap, now just 11km behind Hannah at 1am. You see this a lot, riders have different preferences on when they sleep some prefer to stop early and start early whereas others like to push deep into the night before stopping and then starting a little later.

Further back in the women's field, 3rd place Claire continued to ride strongly, reaching CP1 around 11am this morning. She's now camped out after the main climb after Jangy-Talap. But Jade and Gala are not too far back, both sleeping on the way up that same climb. 

The mid-pack have had a much better day of it today as many of them made the first goal of reaching CP1 well before the snail. After yesterday's rain, today saw sun and dry trails. 125 riders have made it to CP1 so far and with the check point not closing until 4pm on Tuesday everyone currently in front of the snail should have a good chance of making it. 6 riders are behind the snail right now so I wish them an early start and good winds and hope they can fight their way through. So Till, Matthew, Nicolae, Abhirup, Jenny and Jurgen I'm cheering for you all!

Day three and riders are settling into their rhythm 

Day Two dawned and the anticipated first night shake up did happen. Leader as we left it last night, Daan, stopped early and got a good amount of sleep. The main beneficiaries were Omar Martinello, Artis Zugs and Max Cherkasov who pushed through and climbed the leaderboard. Omar was first into CP1 on Song Kul lake just after midday. He was followed by Rufus. Omar didn't sleep at all so this was always likely to create a few issues and through the rest of today he's slipped back down the field and is currently lying 11th. Rufus did sleep a bit last night, a couple of hours at most, so has held position better today. He's now camped up for the night alongside Marin in the low lying section after the big climb after Jangy-Talap. This should be a warmer location and the lower altitude should allow for good sleep. However this is one of the few sections on the race where good campgrounds are hard to find. 

Up at the front, sleep has worked well for Daan, after waking up quite some way down the field following a 5 hour stop, his recovery has allowed him to push hard today and he has now retaken the lead. He's at km 528 and still moving. If he can push on another 10km it is then downhill for 38km all the way to Kazarman where guesthouses will be plenty and with an altitude of 1300m it should be a good place to sleep late and maybe late start after proper breakfast. It looks like Joe (3rd place) and Ron Roosmalan (2nd) may have similar idea. It's only just midnight there so not too late for this approach. Tom is in 4th place and looks to have stopped for the night.

What is amazing is how open the race is and how many riders have been challenging for 1st place. Less than 70km covers 1st to 20th position and those kind of distances can be made up quickly as the race develops. 

Included in the top 20 are our two female protagonists, Hannah Simon and Emma Missale. They've been trading blows all through the first two days. Hannah stopped earlier last night allowing Emma through but has fought back today and currently leads Emma by less than 4km. Both trackers are still pinging so they are racing through the night at the moment. They are just about to hit the big climb from Jangy-Talap so I would expect them both to sleep at some point on that climb as it is a long one that could take a good 3 hours. Claire has now taken 3rd place on the race from Gala. She is pushing on towards CP1 but with some of the climb to the pass before the lake still to go, she is probably a good 2 hours from the check point so a late finish and a high altitude sleep is on the cards. Gala has actually slipped back to 5th place with Jade sneaking through to take 4th place. Both have stopped to sleep and to dry off. 

![Kegeti in the mist this morning](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2iqul9fQDS7uOv4seIeCTO/3733f4018b7b117e5f6657fff99cdd17/IMG_0237.jpeg)
(Kegeti in the mist - Photo: Mel Webb)

The weather today has been challenging to say the least. Further back in the field, those who stopped the north side of Kegeti woke to find not only had the snail overtaken them during the night but the weather had also changed from the heat and dust of the first day to a cold wind and mist over the top of Kegeti and then later hailstorms and continuous rain for 12 hours. These are incredibly tough conditions to ride through and I've heard from a few riders to say they were stopping early to dry out, recharge, and eat all the things they can find. Luckily most have put some good distance on the snail today so many will be hopeful of making CP1 before the time cut. 

Exciting racing, and rain, lots of rain

At 9am local time, 172 riders set off from Bishkek at the start of the Silk Road Mountain Race 2024. On the menu for day one; Kegeti Pass. Whilst not the highest pass on the race, nor the most difficult in terms of technicality, coming straight up from Bishkek at 800m climbing to nearly 3,800m provides a serious challenge. Most riders will start with the intention of getting up and over the pass on day one but the reality is a lot will eventually chose to camp the northern side of the pass. A lot will depend on the weather up there. If the storm clouds close in then it can be a very threatening place to be caught out. 

So far though riders look like they have been making great progress. Up at the front of the race is Daan Marsmans. He's covered 197km already in just over 12 hours of racing. That is some very impressive pace. But it is still very early, I've been in a couple of races with Daan and he has been known to go off hard. He's also come from a road background as far as I know so I will be watching his dot with great interest. 

Daan is closely followed by Marin De St Exupery, who is just 6km behind. Marin has to be one of the favourites for this race, he's a super strong rider with a good off-road background. His issue in the past has always been struggles with fuelling and feeling sick on day one so to see him right up there 12 hours in suggests he's had a great day. This bodes well for his race.

Third is Tom Schwemberger at 180km race distance run. Tom's over from the US so I don't know much of his background but clearly a strong start. He is riding a gravel bike which may cause issues later. Silk Road is very much a mountain bike race in my view so I will follow this dot closely. I ran a 120mm travel full sus bike last year and never thought I was on the wrong bike whereas quite a few riders on gravel bikes regretted their decision.

Here are some of the other riders I'm following who could threaten at the pointy end of the race. Joe Nation comes from an Enduro mountain biking background and is probably one of the best descenders in the field. He won the Great British Divide in 2022 and came third in last years Tour Divide so has taken to ultra racing really well. Watch his shakedown ride video on YouTube, it gives a great insight into what's to come and to his personality on the bike. Joe is currently sitting 5th at 175km. He's closely followed by fellow kiwi Rufus Wenlock. Rufus builds his own bike frames and his ultra cycling mountain bike is a very special rig indeed. He came second to Joe at the GB Divide in 2022 and had a second place at last years Trans Balkans Race so has a strong pedigree too.

A little further back is experienced racer Angus Young. Angus was one of the favourites last year but sickness took him out when he was 1200km into the race. He is back with determination this year. He is currently 13th at km 160. Another rider to watch is young Jacob Hora. Mentored by the winner of the first edition of the race, Jay Petervary, he is growing stronger each year and I'm excited to see what he can do this year. He's currently in 23rd place.

One place ahead of Jacob is current Women’s leader Hannah Simon. A strong start from Hannah and currently at km 140. Hannah has a sub 19 day time on the Tour Divide and came second in the Atlas Mountain Race this year so can definitely back this up! Second place woman is Emma Missale at km 135 so well over Kegeti and on the nice climb up to Karakol Pass. Emma came second in the Hellenic Mountain Race earlier this year so this could develop into a great battle. Third place is Gala Giannini. She's over the top of Kegeti and just starting the tricky descent. Gala came second in the Italy Divide last year so another female rider at the pointy end with a great track record.

Further back there are some more women's dots that I will be keeping a close eye on. Claire Stevens has completed GB Duro, Race to the Rock, The Rhino Run and IndyPac and is coached by my fellow DotBooster colleague Jas Muller so I know Clare will be super well prepped and with great experience. She's currently 4th female. Right behind Claire is the Queen of the Lakeland 200, Jade Simpson-Field. As part of her prep for the Silk Road, Jade has been attempting the LL200 in all seasons. A super strong rider and I think as this race develops her strength will come through. One dot I shall be keeping a close eye on in the women's race is that of Cat Magill. Three time finisher of the Highland Trail 550 and one of my coaching clients. She's expecting a really tough race and just wants to enjoy the riding and beat the snail. She's done some great acclimatisation with Jade over the last few weeks so has a good idea of what's to come. That may be a bad thing.

Onto the pairs competition. Current leaders are Mona Stockhecke and Daniel Mayes. They have 3rd place on Atlas Mountain Race and 1st place on the Race Around Rwanda to their name and have set a strong pace today and are currently at km 135. But don't count out current second place pair Femke Van Kessel and  Janno De Bruijn. I know both Femke and Janno well and have raced along side them at the Trans Balkan Race. They are a strong pair and technically great mountain bike riders. This will be an exciting race to watch as well! Third place pair is Marcin Grudzinski and Petro Albota. They are at km 117 and hot on the heals of Femke and Janno. And finally another dot I will be watching very closely is that of Mel Webb who's riding with her husband Jake Cullen. They got married earlier on this year and this is their honeymoon. I've been coaching Mel for the last 6 months and helping someone get ready for their honeymoon race is quite some pressure! Looks like they may have bedded down for the night. Not sure it quite counts as the honeymoon suite but what a way to celebrate.

The race is now well and truly underway. Let's see how the race develops over the first night. It will be interesting to see who will go short on sleep and who will get a bit more in the hope of riding stronger tomorrow.

The Race Is On

Silk Road Mountain Race. The name alone is enough to conjure up thoughts of both excitement and nervous anxiety. This is one of the most extreme ultra races on the planet, covering nearly 2000km and 30,000m of climbing. The terrain is high, remote and unrelentingly challenging. There are a few events that can lay claim to being the best race in the world, but for me nothing can beat the Silk Road Mountain Race.  

Over the next 2 weeks I will be your guide as we follow the 178 riders taking on this incredible challenge. I rode the race last year so will hopefully be able to bring you all some key insight into what the riders will be going through as they brave the high altitude, extremes of weather, challenging terrain and irregular resupply.  

In this article I'll talk through the route and some of the key challenges that face everyone. In the next I'll look at some of the names to watch out for once the race starts on Saturday morning, 9am local time.  

## Bishkek to CP1 at Song Kul Lake  

The start line of this year’s race sees a return to Bishkek, which can only mean one thing dominating riders thoughts as the race approaches - Kegeti Pass. Kegeti is one of the standout climbs wherever it comes in the race. Here it will be the first major climb and riders will have to negotiate climbing from 800m above sea level at Bishkek to 3,785m at the top of the pass. The climb up is slightly easier this way with less technical hike a bike. In theory the climb is all rideable; however once the riders are above 3,000m the lack of oxygen will start to become apparent and walking with the bike will become necessary. Most riders have been able to arrive in Kyrgyzstan early enough to get some good altitude acclimatisation in, spending as many nights sleeping high as they can, but for those whose travel meant they didn't get there till a few days before the start may really suffer as they struggle to get over this first hurdle. The weather could also play a big part. If it's calm and clear then a lot will be looking to get up and over before the end of day one, but if the weather closes in and we see snow and cold temperatures at the top, many could be forced to sleep lower down before the pass.  

Once at the top they now face the challenging south side of the pass. This steep track, often destroyed by landslides, will be a nerve wracking descent. Looking at some of the content being shared by riders already out there it does look pretty good at the moment so the more skilled mountain bikers may be able to ride most of it.

![The south side of Kegeti pass](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/A42CNV4ewWwsqhS9gK81g/61af7dc73790eed09f64825a6fe7bc97/IMG_6652.jpeg)
(Kegeti South Face - Photo: Niel Copeland)

Once out of the bottom of the steep scree slope riders will now be able to relax as they descend down fast tracks before turning right and heading west towards the second major climb of the race, Karakol Pass at a height of 3485m. From here a long downhill section of over 200km takes riders through a number of towns and villages, hopefully offering some resupply. Shops here are often small with limited stock, great if you are in the first ten riders but if you are further back towards the other end of the field, supplies can be hard to come by, making a hard race even harder.  

The ascent to Song Kul lake goes follows a steep technical climb over Tuz Ashuu at 3,233m before an enjoyable descent down to the lake itself and a beautiful ride around the west side. CP1 is at the yurt camp on the southern side of the lake and riders will be able to get a hot meal, a few bits of resupply and may treat themselves to a night in a warm bed.  

## Song Kul to Baetov  

Upon leaving the check point, riders will have a gentle incline up to Moldo Ashuu pass at 3,235m before a spectacular descent of over 1,600m vertical to Jangy-Talap. Last year we climbed up this way and the climb was one of the most beautiful to ride in the whole race. Almost like an off-road Alpe D'Huez in the middle of Kyrgyzstan with stunning views all the way to the bottom of the climb. Coming down this will be fast and furious, no doubt a few overheated brakes will be seen.

![The Kyrgyzstan Alpe D’Huez](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2qDp5WyHL1BUvR2VPBZ2ye/09548346b4ebbb481b80f7789ec62293/IMG_6611.jpeg)
(The Kyrgyzstan Alpe D'Huez - Photo: Niel Copeland)

The fun soon ends and the next section through to Kazarman will be one of the hardest of the race. Temperatures in the valley will be hot, probably high 30's, and water on this stretch can be hard to come by (for most of the race route water is plentiful). One large climb of over 1000m stands between the riders and the first major town on the route, Kazarman. Here they will be able to find restaurants, guest houses, supermarkets and cash machines. After what will have felt like a very lonely ride over from Song Kul, riders will meet up again and no doubt share stories of their adventures. Resupply here is key as another long remote section is coming up. After the start in Bishkek, Kazarman is the next lowest point on the course at 1,300m, which means the only way is up. And at this height the midday temperatures could be up around 40 degrees. This means the climb out to Akkyl Pass at 2,932m will be long and tough.  

Now starts the washboard from hell. 80km of the stuff as riders head towards Baetov, the next major town on the route. These big towns are few and far between and provide an oasis of shops, restaurants and places to sleep. Many will choose to end their day early when they get to them to make the most of having a night’s sleep in a bed and a shower.  

## Baetov to Naryn  

Spectacular is the only way to describe the climb out of Baetov. Amazing geological formations have carved deep valleys into the land. When riders get to the top a glance back towards Baetov is advised. This is a remote and beautiful section of the route, a few yurts dotting the landscape are all that the riders will come across before descending down to the tarmac road up to the Chinese border. 70km of smooth road may come as a welcome relief by now. The border town offers no such welcome. A sparse place with one green shipping container turned into a small cafe where riders can get a coffee and some biscuits before turning off the tarmac and onto the long stretch down through the border zone. Done in this direction it is slightly downhill and the riders should benefit from a tailwind, but it is harsh and remote with little water and no resupply till riders go over the 4x4 track to the yurt camp at Kel Suu and CP2.

![Climbing out of Beatov](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/qy5CGu4IXJYeU4PWn96yN/307c74a181e3ddf5aa89f4c73932938c/IMG_6578.jpeg)
(Climbing out of Beatov - Photo: Niel Copeland)

The old soviet road is the only ever-present feature on the Silk Road Mountain Race. A grassy track climbing straight and almost vertically out of the valley is as brutal as it is unbelievable. 70-80 minutes of pushing up a 30% slope, avoiding old bits of barbed wire and stopping every ten paces to catch your breath. Don't forget to look back as the views towards the yurt camp and the mountainous border with China are not to be missed. But this comes with risk as well. The road over the top is high and exposed, last year it went from blue sky to lightning crashing into the mountain side in a matter of minutes and it was no place to hang around.  

![The Old Soviet Road](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6b0BAgFuy63ewNff4Sma0d/a55c8d199bca9b6e4a0b778de2352cfd/IMG_6548.jpeg)
(The Old Soviet Road - Photo: Niel Copeland)

This border zone is an arid sandy part of Kyrgyzstan but once through the military checkpoint at 3,400m on Kyndy Pass, the terrain once again turns green and more alpine like. A long fast descent followed by some more washboard leads riders to Naryn. Naryn is the largest town on the race and one of the easiest points to escape back to Bishkek. This can be a dangerous time for riders as it comes quite late in the race this year. They will have to stay focussed and determined to continue on because some of the best is yet to come. But not before a good night’s sleep and some excellent food in one of the many restaurants here.  

## Naryn to Kochkor  

Naryn to the Arabel Plateau could be the hardest section of the whole race. 190km of up from 2000m in Naryn to 3,800m on the top of the Arabel Plateau. Hopefully the winds will be kind and the riders will be gently pushed the whole way, but although the scenery is epic and there are camp spots everywhere, it could take riders the best part of 2 days to make it up and over the plateau. Arabel is no place to get stuck overnight. Temperatures up here are likely to be the coldest on the race, last year a few riders had to take shelter in the emergency shipping container, and -13 degrees was recorded.

![The Arabel Plateau](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/XGtqvgVmmFCvz42OKOo6u/99b75c32b9663e9fb49a5c540ba1574f/IMG_6445.jpeg)
(The Arabel Plateau - Photo: Niel Copeland)

The route avoids Juuku pass this year so rather than a long downward hike a bike, riders will have a super fast and long descent on the mining road down to Lake Issyk Kul. However this just makes the climb back out again come that much quicker! Straight back up from 1,700m to the top of the Tosor pass at 3,900m, at this stage in the race this is going to be so hard. Another long remote section as well with no resupply or guest houses, good decision making and risk assessment will be essential if riders are to avoid a cold night high up and they will need to get plenty of food down by the lake as the next stop is Kochkor which could be 2 days away.  

## Kochkor to Lake Issyk Kul  

The race is now entering its end game but the path to Cholpon-Ata is still fraught with difficulty. Next up after Kochkor is Shamshy Pass - at times nothing more than a goat track with a challenging descent off the far side. By now it will be pure survival for most riders. Once you've been riding in such a remote environment for so long with such difficult resupply your body starts to break down. Eating becomes more challenging and just moving forwards can sometimes be too much.  

The section from Shamshy to the Secret Oasis looks straightforward on paper but this was where I had my lowest moment last year. My body just refused to work and a 60km stretch that should have taken 4-5 hours became an 8 hour nightmare. The relentless hike a bike seems never ending and a land devoid of towns or villages means no chance of food. The secret oasis was my saviour. Restaurants and shops serving warm food and cold drinks. A chance to reset and prepare for the final leg - Kok Ayryk Pass. 

![Kok Ayryk Pass](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2RQ3IkiL9ZQ1tI74TmBgGK/bfe2851cbc02d8a6faa0ceda1d3e9e0d/IMG_6707.jpeg)
(Kok Ayryk Pass - Photo: Niel Copeland)

And what a final leg it will be. First, 90km of gentle climbing up a remote valley, surrounded by tall peaks and glaciers. Once past the final town of Kaindy you could be forgiven for thinking you were the only person left on the planet. Then a right turn and one final hurdle between you and the finish line. Kok Ayryk pass is immense. 4 hours of hiking, riding, dragging, carrying and cursing, you finally arrive at 3,890m, maybe with snow falling around you. One final effort to drag you and your bike to the top of the world before the endless descent to the lake. Brakes overheating, all your clothing keeping you warm at the top now causing you to overheat as well. A short 20km stretch along the lake and then the riders will finish. Quite possibly the greatest physical and mental achievement of their lives. Now the not inconsiderable task of replenishing a tired and broken body with more food than you could imagine.  

I cannot wait to see what happens over the next two weeks. This is going to be special.

Niel Copeland

Sofiane Sehili

Silk Road Mountain Race 2024 Tracking + Commentary: Kyrgystan offers one of the wildest and most inhospitable environments for a bikepacking race with its often harsh and unpredictable mountain weather, contrasted with the warmth of the local hospitality. The Silk Road truly is one of the pearls of the mountain bikepacking calendar.

Silk Road Mountain Race 2024 Tracking

Kyrgystan offers one of the wildest and most inhospitable environments for a bikepacking race with its often harsh and unpredictable mountain weather, contrasted with the warmth of the local hospitality. The Silk Road truly is one of the pearls of the mountain bikepacking calendar.

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