Page 14 - DLNsep2018-1034

Katie-Jane L'Herpiniere's Endurance

Adventures

August 15 at 6:35 AM ·

Kyrgyzstan here we come! Whoop Whoop! 24 hours of travel ahead of us, but
we are on our way.

The @silkroadmounatinrace is a new self-supported, single-stage off-road
bike race through the spectacular Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan. It will
follow gravel, single and double track and old Soviet roads that have long
been forgotten and fallen into disrepair. It’s 1700km in length and takes on
15 passes over 3000m, 7 of which are above 3500m. It will be an adventure
on a grand scale that will take me through some of the wildest areas of one
the most stunning, untouched and desolate parts of the world. The race
involves a lot of extreme isolation and remoteness, making it far more than
just a bike race. I hope to finish in 14 days, in time for the finishers party!

*August 25 at 5:52 PM ·

Just back into civilisation again briefly, and I can report that this race is
BRUTAL! We have just spent the last couple of days in no-man's-land on the
Kyrgyzstan and Chinese boarder, and it's where the race got another level
of tough. In the early days of the race we criss crossed other races all the
time, making friends and enjoying occasional chats as we peddle. In the last
two days we have been peddling alone as more of our fellow riders are calling
time on their race. There are a lot of sick people, broken bikes, but mostly
people have just had enough, they just don't want to hurt anymore!

The boarder land took us down roads to the end of the world, remote was an
understatement. At first in temps of high 30's finding water became a
massive issue, with river beds after river bed were completely dried up. After
checkpoint two came the other extreme... Crossing fast flowing glacial rivers,
that took some people clean off their feet. Then putting on wet frozen cycle
shoes this morning in well below freezing temps was less than pleasent. This
morning I fixed my first tubeless Tyre plug at 4.30 in the morning, pitch black,

14