Silk Road Mountain Race (SRMR)

Here comes the snow

Hope Samuli is having a fun race, he is doing well. Sofiane has a commanding lead. What a shame Skinny you aren't there!

I wouldn't say commanding, Adrian is waiting for him just behind. Adrian really deserves a big result. Such a nice guy and knocking on the door for ages.

And yeah, devastating. I can't watch it.

Both Adrian and Sofiane had a solid 6/7h stop last night and are back on the road. Sofiane has a 7h lead on Adrian based on when they left Tosor, although the latter seems marginally faster on climbs, he has also slept less (a couple of hours in total).

Would not say commanding lead since they're only halfway, but comfortable lead for Sofiane. They both have a good margin on third place contenders

Yeah I haven't had chance to look at the race before yesterday. Looks to be becoming a tight battle for 3rd. Samuli is consistently riding with the group around him (Jenny's tracker is showing something odd on the graphs so I didn't include it). His group have gained a little on Sofiane's pace so he must be going ok.

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Sofiane is back singing and he’s taking requests - Bonnie Tyler

https://instagram.com/stories/sofianeshl/2641952544127117255?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&utm_medium=copy_link

Samuli is moving up the field since yesterday. Stephane Ouaja maybe has a faulty tracker or an issue he hasn't updated for a while.

Stephane is having some health issues and not sure if able to continue or not.

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Worrying but fingers crossed for him, glad he’s waiting.

He's now scratched.

wtf is happening?

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Looks like Sofiane needed to take a car ride to the nearest town and bike shop. Let's hope it gets fixed and he's able to return to the track!

A wheel issue. Looks promising thought.

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What you get for running hunt.

FYI rules state

Finally, I would also like to clarify what to do if you suffer a mechanical that you are unable to fix yourself
or any other issue that requires a hasty retreat towards civilisation not under your own power.
Essentially, the only good bike shops are back in Bishkek. You may be able to come up with a creative
fix using some basic parts in the bazaar in Kochkor, Naryn, or off route in Karakol, but it won’t be easy.
Basically, if you want to continue your race you’ll need to find a way to get back to Bishkek, fix your bike
and then head back to the spot where the mechanical occurred. We will allow you to hitch or pay for a lift
out, but also back, as the distances involved are such that riding back to the spot where you had the
issue would essentially mean the end of your race. However you get back to where you were, it won’t be
easy and it will cost you a lot of time. If you do end up needing to do this, we expect you to document the
exact location where you were picked up and make sure that you return precisely to the same spot. The
best solution, of course, is to be certain of the gear you bring to Kyrgyzstan, carry plenty of spares and
ride conservatively to avoid breaking anything in the first place.
Riders should talk to us. If there’s ambiguity on the rules or riders

ride conservatively to avoid breaking anything in the first place

Is that what you did in Scotland? ;)

lol

999 I need to report a fire

Sofiane trying to make it interesting at the front 😁
Samuli in 13th, go go go.

Sofiane has entered the last pass and its discusting gradients.

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It's still really tight outside the top three. @Samuli has a shot for top 10 with some really challenging terrain left.

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Go go Samuli!

It took him 10h to cover 20km, must be a brutal hike a bike, especially after 1780km of racing.. Seems to be near the top now and hopefully the descent is more rideable

What I recall from Nelson that the descent is also mostly unrideable.

I recall from Dotwatcher this to be deemed rideable actually, depending on weather conditions. His pace picked up now and looking at the satellite the trail becomes more of a road in 4/5km once he gets to 2600m altitude, I guess we'll find out soon