Silk Road Mountain Race

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The Silk Road Mountain Race (short: SRMR , German: Seidenstraßen -Bergrennen ) is a cycling race that has been held annually in Kyrgyzstan since 2018 . Due to the difficult weather conditions, the large differences in altitude and the fact that the riders are almost completely on their own during the multi-day race, the SRMR is one of the toughest bike races in the world.

history

The initiator and organizer of the extraordinary race in Kyrgyzstan is the Briton Nelson Trees, who is himself active in extreme cycling. Trees had taken part in a long-distance race from Shanghai to Paris in 2013 , where he also crossed Kyrgyzstan. The impressions from this time inspired him to plan a race in Kyrgyzstan, which resulted in the first staging of the race in 2018.

conditions

The conditions make the Silk Road Mountain Race one of the toughest bike races in the world.

Routing

View of Cholponata , destination of the 2019 edition

The routing of the two previous events in 2018 and 2019 differed slightly, in both cases the route was around 1,700 kilometers in length. At the first edition in 2018, 26,000 meters of altitude were conquered, in 2019 it was even 31,000 meters. Above all, old roads from the times of the Soviet Union were used, which so far have hardly or not at all for cycling. There were also passages in which the participants had to carry their bikes, for example to cross rivers. The 2019 race started on August 17 in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek and ended in Cholponata on the shores of the mountain lake Issykköl east of Bishkek. There were three checkpoints on the route that all drivers must have reached. On August 31, 2019, a graduation ceremony took place on Issyk-Kul, all drivers who had reached the destination by then were honored as successful graduates of the race.

Weather

In particular, the extremely changeable weather conditions during the race presented a great difficulty for the participants. While very high temperatures are reached in less high areas of Kyrgyzstan in August, the participants saw themselves in the mountainous passages up to 4000 meters above sea level with cold and snow faced.

care

The participants themselves have to take care of food and sleeping facilities, escort vehicles are not in use during the race. As the only safety measure, all drivers are equipped with a GPS transmitter, which enables them to be located and, in an emergency, a rescue.

Attendees

The start of the Silk Road Mountain Race is possible both as a single rider and as a couple on a tandem . In the first edition of the race in 2018, a good 100 cyclists took part in the race, including journalists and observers who accompanied the race on the bike. In 2019, 135 participants started, of which 71 made it to the finish.

winner

  • 2018: Jay Petervary in 8 days, 8 hours and 15 minutesUnited StatesUnited States
  • 2019: Jacub Sliacan in 7 days, 6 hours and 46 minutesSlovakiaSlovakia

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Florian Coppenrath: The “Silk Road Mountain Race”, a bike adventure made in Kyrgyzstan. In: Novastan German. October 11, 2019, accessed on November 4, 2019 (German).
  2. ↑ Silk Road Mountain Race 2019 | Collection by komoot. Retrieved November 4, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Rigs of the 2019 Silk Road Mountain Race. August 14, 2019, accessed November 4, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Silk Road Mountain Race - August 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2019 (British English).
  5. ↑ Florian Coppenrath: The “Silk Road Mountain Race”, a bike adventure made in Kyrgyzstan. In: Novastan German. October 11, 2019, accessed on November 4, 2019 (German).
  6. ↑ SRMR No. 1 GENERAL CLASSIFICATION. In: Silk Road Mountain Race. Retrieved November 4, 2019 (UK English).
  7. ↑ Jakub Sliacan Wins the 2019 Silk Road Mountain Race! August 24, 2019, accessed November 4, 2019 .