Silk Road Mountain Race (SRMR)

Undoubtedly.

That's bound to help.

NHS website says risk of altitude sickness starts at 3000 m. There are only 3 or 4 places where this goes a tiny bit higher than that so I'd have thought risk was small, although possible.

Has anyone actually reported getting it?

While it does look like the route is rather mtb, Jay is riding a gravelbike with 42mm.

Mikko seems to be doing well. https://twitter.com/mkpaa
Narrower tires and rim brakes, and he's riding very carefully, if there's anything sketchy. Or at least he was spending a lot more time than some on the rougher parts of a gravelrace around here this spring, when he was testing his kit. But he's a legend, he should be fine.

Rich and Shona are racing veggie, they made the call to take extra deyhdrayed stuff with them to be in the safe side. Will see how that panned out for them when they get back...

Totally agree. Very easy for me to sit here and criticise from my sofa. But fuck me. Sound so ill prepared.

Interesting to see such a mix of bikes competing for the top places. Top 6 right now:

1. Petervary: Salsa carbon gravel 700c
   
2. Bagoly: Carbonda carbon gravel 650b
   
3. Raeymakers: HT mtb? Might be rigid
   
4. Searby: full susp mtb
   
5. Le Magnan: Ti monstercross kinda
   
6. Jacobsen: Carbon rigid mtb
   
   

No steel to be seen.

Not much to do about Petervary but I'd bet on Searby getting stronger and stronger compared to the others.

Interesting-I did the TCR vegan and had no problems at all

I presume that Seven Day Croissants have nothing natural or from animals in them.

Sounds like an even tougher day

• 43 scratches now, 50 still riding
  
• lots of riders holed up in naryn with the shits, including shell. He's going to wait for 1-2 days as there's a storm coming in. Will then be tight for time and may not make it.
  
• petervary going strong, well clear of the front
  
• new guy in second, bagoly levante (DK him)
  
• altitude is higher than I thought, the is a 4000m pass (which petervary walked over in a blizzard, whatever the guy did in the past he is earning massive respect for this one) and a fair bit over 3,000 m so altitude sickness could become a risk.
  
• temperature swings, they are getting -6 to +35.
  
• loads of amazing photos on Facebook of scenery and the locals.
  
  

Fucking glad I didn't do it!

Carbonda in 2nd @amey

altitude is higher than I thought, the is a 4000m pass (which petervary walked over in a blizzard,

Bonkers

Lee Craigie's story

For the first three days of the Silk Road Mountain Race I battled with my sick body to find a rhythm but in the end, could not. Every pedal stroke felt like an assault on myself and time crawled supernaturally slowly. On the morning of the fourth day I realised that I hadn’t felt a single moment of joy since beginning the race or noticed anything other than what was happening inside my own head or body. I had hoped that the sickness I was carrying from the start would clear, but instead, it got worse.
On that morning, dehydrated and exhausted, I had to ask myself why I was carrying on racing and whether I stood the risk of hurting myself more by doing so. After a brief battle with my ego I decided that this was just not my time and that I should let the race go.
Not disciplined enough to remain on the race route and not continue to race, I left the purple line on my gps and rode to Tash Rabat, a 14th Centuary trading post on the Silk Road. I left my bike and race head at a yurt camp and shuffled up the valley to explore the incredible, sprawling stone monument set deep into a spectacular hillside. I sat on its roof the size of a football pitch and thought about all the travellers throughout the centuries who had sought sanctuary here. I then slept for 14 hours and woke up to the realisation that for the first time in four days I didn’t feel sick and was thankfully devoid of any urge to make an emergency beeline to the toilet.
Tash Rabat is a historical stopping place within a travellers journey. Historians think it was somewhere traders could take stock and refuel in safety and warmth. With that in mind I considered hard what it was I wanted from this experience and was surprised to realise that although my body wasn’t functioning as I would like and couldn’t do this race justice, I still craved adventure and exploration.
No one knew if it was possible to ride over Tash Rabat Pass (3960m) and down the other side but I found myself perfectly positioned to find out. I set off slowly up the pass, pushing and carrying my bike then riding / running down the other side. In this unexplored little patch of mountain range, while skittering about on narrow horse track or on no track at all, I found the beginnings of joy returning.
Once safely on the other side of an enormous mountain range I was committed to carrying on on the race route. Without a sleeping mat (I melted it on my stove on the first night 🙄) and only cold high desert ahead of me I was committed to getting to check point two that night if I didn’t want to sleep cold.
I struck out across the 12 miles of pathless desert that lay between me and the original route east while storm clouds amassed overhead. And this is when the magic returned. Believe me when I say that on this desolate plain there was nothing other than mud cracked earth and tufts of stiff yellow grass. Yet on this random desert traverse in the vague direction of the gravel road that would eventually lead me to CP2 I encountered two yurts at exactly the same time as the heavens opened. Both times I was invited in and I sat warm and dry listening to the rain pound off the yurt felt and breathing in the comforting smell of damp wool and wood smoke. My hosts smiled toothless and wordless at me and continually topped up my cup with chai or fermented horse milk until the sun came out again.
It was these two encounters, together with the use of my hosts toilet, that gave me the resolve to reach CP2 where I received medical help (thank you Adrian).
Mingled with the disappointment of having not met my own and others expectations in this race is the comforting knowledge that it was all still worth it. The colours and splendour of Kyrgystan have returned to me and although I’m still feeling pretty ropey, I’m able to feel joy again.

Bagoly Levente was in TCR last year. Was riding close to me between cp4 and finish, but I think he then tried to take a shortcut over the mountains, but that didn't exist.

Guessing there's roughly 30km between Jay and Bagoly. Big gap in this terrain but a lot less than there was and makes for a bit more interest at the business end of the race.

Yes, just 32km by the tracker. Handy buffer but momentum clearly with Bagoly. Not sure if he has ridden a blinder or jay is now struggling.

Leicester Forest CC uber-veteran and allround hardman Mike Sheldrake is still trucking. A few pics i'm sure he won't mind me sharing from Facebook:

Legend.

Well, it's safe to say that this all looks considerably more bonkers than certain other races. :)

Yep. It's up there with the New Oxford Street run.

The difference being that the NOSR is so tough that it has not yet been attempted

One day Gadget. One day.

Jay is on the downhill to the finish, should be able to wrap it up today.
Bagoly 80km back, still climbing up the goat track.

44 active, 49 scratched.
How many finishers are there going to be, maybe 25?

Someone scratched because she was unsure whether she'd find gluten free food out there?

Hang on, they scratched or they didn't enter in the first place? Who the fuck rocks up to a race in the middle of nowhere and goes "oh, i can no haz cheeseburger?"

The landscape has definitely looked very gluten free in all the pics I've seen so far.

I can't imagine they'd have entered if they were coeliac, I bet they claim they're 'gluten itolerant' which scientifically translates to "fussy twat".

That shit sneaks up on you during the night, steals your pea protein bars and impregnates you with a soy baby.