Silk Road Mountain Race (SRMR)

Jakub 15k behind after sleeping for about 3h. Sofiane did about 1,5h? Who can hike the last climb the fastest? I'd say it's gonna be close. I know Jakub is into ultra running, might come in handy :) I'd also say that Sofiane is willing to take risks in a way Jakub is not, might be what it comes down to. Will they reach the pass before dark? It's about 100k with something like 2300m of climbing.

More importantly, Jakub had a gap of 4h to Sofiane when he woke up, that is now down to 1h. He is definitely faster. I predict he's going to catch Sofiane today. It might come down to who's more willing to take risks (push through the night) on the last mountain, in which case I'd say it's hard to make a call between Sofiane's racing mentality and Jakub's relative freshness.

Justinas gap to the front increased to 7h, with Adrien and Steven closing in on him and currently 4.5h behind. But they both had less sleep than him, not sure if they'll contend 3rd place. Skinny and a few others had a good sleep at CP3, but are currently about 15h behind the lead.

Sofiane is responding whenever Jakub gets super close. Jakub is better rested for a push to the line. There is a decent gap right now and 'road' is running out. Sofiane seems to like these close finishes also.

Agreed, he's a hell of a front runner. However, Jakub on a hike a bike might have the edge, it's whether he has enough of an edge to claw back the time. Gonna be a great finish.

On the satellite pictures it looks the route will shrink into a double track after about 20 km from where Sofiane is now, but at least there is a road or a track all the way over the mountains. Except for one kilometer to connect to the next road at the point where they turn to the steeper part of the climb. If the situation is still the same as in the picture, no landslides or anything. Steep too, shows 25 % for some of it.

What time does it get dark there?

At about 9

25% climb after a week of this course and #nosleep 😭

Gap at the front has now increased to 1.5h, Jakub took a longer resupply break in Kalmak-Ashuu, but it seems Sofiane has also upped his pace and has been slightly faster than Jakub since the break - must have checked the trackers!

Some photos on Google maps of the last pass

Yes, probably knows too that Jakub is most likely faster on the hike-a-bike so the time to push the pace is in the valley.

^ madway rally sticker! https://madwayrally.com/

where exactly is the hike a bike part? Is it this bit?

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At least that part, probably starting a bit further down.

Jakub 15k behind after sleeping for about 3h. Sofiane did about 1,5h?

The competitive sleep-deprivation side of this sport is extremely depressing

What happened to Skinny?

Yea I agree. I’d say that 3h on the final night is alright, especially after sleeping about 6h the night before. But doing 1,5h or less several days in a row? Just no way thats enjoyable and only doable on considerable amounts of caffeine.

He stopped in a town at c.1620km for a bit and Sebastian pulled away, but I didn't notice what happened after that.

Skinny showing as scratched :(

From skinny's instagram.

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Fark. Poor dude can't catch a break.

enjoyable

My understanding of racing (in different contexts, including this) is that if done right it's not supposed to be enjoyable. It's about pushing limits, including sleeping deprivation ones. But I am no racer myself, so this is just me guessing behind a keyboard.

Great ride @skinny. Tough call, you didn't let down anyone.

Sofiane turned away from the valley towards the pass now, Jakub still at 1.5h. Strong ride from Sofiane.