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Tour of Himalayas pt 2
Nice Trophy
Stage three started at the village of Kawai - the location of the school that is being built by the foundation. This meant leaving Naran and being driven down the valley 70km, along a narrow road that clung to the side of the mountains with breathtaking views and a stomach churning drop to our right. Upon arrival we were given a tour of the progress on site so far, before trying to find some shade from the midday sun and a chance to slap on some suncream. The start was located on the road leading through the village and with an altitude of ‘only’ 1450m we stood in the 40°C heat, while the road ahead was cleared by our police escort.
Faced with a 20km hill climb, nobody seemed to want to lead the pack out, so Karsten Keunecke of Germany saw his chance, lit the touch paper and sprinted up the road. Marg Fedyna chased after him and the group instantly split behind them. I spotted Chris Reid of Canada just ahead of me and caught onto his wheel, promising myself not to let him go. Chris was lying one place ahead of me on the overall standings and I wanted his 13th position badly (it would have been a very apt way of summing up my tour). Ahead of him was Chris Burr of New Zealand, he’d been playing down his chances today, saying how he was dreading the climb. We’d been told it was an average of 10%, with the first 9km paved, then 7km off-road, followed by three laps round the picturesque Sri Paya meadows, up at 2925m.
However, what we thought was 10%, turned out to be 12% with steep ramps of 18-21%. It may not sound much, but it was the difference between the hope of staying in the middle ring and the reality of being in the granny ring only ten minutes into the stage. With the sun beating down, following the racing line round corners was forgotten as riders rode from one patch of shade to the next, glimpsing views of the valley below through the trees.
At the first water station, 4km in, I was still riding with Chris Reid and Marg, taking it in turns to up the pace. Imagining I was in the Tour de France, I decided to grab a bottle of water, drink a mouthful then pour the rest over my head. It may look cool on TV, but oh my word, the shock of the cold water almost gave me a heart attack and my jersey, now soaking wet, was four times the weight!
With no let up in the gradient, the sheer length of the climb was beginning to take it’s toll, with my cadence slowly dropping as we worked our way up the next 5km. Once past the second water station, the tarmac ended, the jeep track began and the conversation I overheard earlier between Marg and Jennifer Shultis (a national adventure racing champion) of team USA rang true. “The women’s teams are the worst – nobody is ever willing to take it easy”. Running out of energy, I was now hoping that the change in surface would be a shock for legs that had spent the last hour spinning a steady rhythm and people would be content to get to the top of the climb. But no, as my speed began to drop, leaving me no choice but to shift down to my easiest gear, I was slowly overhauled by not one, but five women! The climb was rocky, rooty and rutted with steep switchbacks to negotiate, leaving little chance to take in the amazing views or take your hands of the bars to grab an energy bar.
Luckily for team Britain & New Zealand (and a sight I’m seeing all too frequently these days), one of those five women to overtake me was Nadine, hot on the heels of Catherine Vipond and overtaking the Canadian rider at Sri Paya meadows to claim fifth place. After two frustrating days of racing, she was happy to finally grab a decent result. Michelle on the other hand was unfortunate to get a puncture early on, leaving her with a (literally) uphill battle to claw back the time she’d lost fixing it.
The third day saw a different country winning the stage in the men’s competition, with Rob van der Werf, despite living in the very un-hilly Holland (he also placed 23rd at this year’s Grand Raid Cristalp!), riding strongly for the stage win and leapfrogging to third place in the general classification. In a similar fashion, Britta Martin flew up the climb to win the women’s stage and move up to first place on the GC.
In the team classification, it was team Britain & New Zealand who were presented with the winner’s trophy by the Pakistan minister for tourism later that evening. An interview with a reporter from CNN followed, with a chance for 15 seconds of fame. Canada held on to second, while three days of consistent riding by team Australia enabled them to grab third.
Sitting in the sunshine the following morning, watching the organising committee taking part in a criterium round the lawn in front of the hotel, gave me time for everything to sink in. It had been a truly amazing experience. The hospitality of the local people, the support from the organisers, the food (curry for breakfast – just like being a student again!) and the spectacular scenery all adding to the event. It was great to meet racers from other countries, swap stories, compare bikes and learn about other crazy races in their home countries.
On the flight back to England, with race director Mansoor’s words fresh in our minds “it is worth much more than money if you can be ambassadors for us in your own country” we decided that we would sponsor one of the children who will be attending the school when it opens in March. Check out http://www.kmt.org.pk to learn more about what the trust are doing and maybe make a donation.
Finally, a big big thank you to Khurram Khan and all the organising committee for taking great care of us and for the opportunity to be part of such a great event. The race was organised by The Kaghan Memorial Trust in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Tourism of Pakistan, and was made possible through generous contributions and sponsorships by Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC), Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), Pakistan State Oil, ABN AMRO Bank, LMKR Resources, Lucky Cement, Standard Chartered Bank, Pepsi, Coke International, Telenor and the Pakistan Red Crescent Society.
James Hampshire
Faced with a 20km hill climb, nobody seemed to want to lead the pack out, so Karsten Keunecke of Germany saw his chance, lit the touch paper and sprinted up the road. Marg Fedyna chased after him and the group instantly split behind them. I spotted Chris Reid of Canada just ahead of me and caught onto his wheel, promising myself not to let him go. Chris was lying one place ahead of me on the overall standings and I wanted his 13th position badly (it would have been a very apt way of summing up my tour). Ahead of him was Chris Burr of New Zealand, he’d been playing down his chances today, saying how he was dreading the climb. We’d been told it was an average of 10%, with the first 9km paved, then 7km off-road, followed by three laps round the picturesque Sri Paya meadows, up at 2925m.
However, what we thought was 10%, turned out to be 12% with steep ramps of 18-21%. It may not sound much, but it was the difference between the hope of staying in the middle ring and the reality of being in the granny ring only ten minutes into the stage. With the sun beating down, following the racing line round corners was forgotten as riders rode from one patch of shade to the next, glimpsing views of the valley below through the trees.
At the first water station, 4km in, I was still riding with Chris Reid and Marg, taking it in turns to up the pace. Imagining I was in the Tour de France, I decided to grab a bottle of water, drink a mouthful then pour the rest over my head. It may look cool on TV, but oh my word, the shock of the cold water almost gave me a heart attack and my jersey, now soaking wet, was four times the weight!
With no let up in the gradient, the sheer length of the climb was beginning to take it’s toll, with my cadence slowly dropping as we worked our way up the next 5km. Once past the second water station, the tarmac ended, the jeep track began and the conversation I overheard earlier between Marg and Jennifer Shultis (a national adventure racing champion) of team USA rang true. “The women’s teams are the worst – nobody is ever willing to take it easy”. Running out of energy, I was now hoping that the change in surface would be a shock for legs that had spent the last hour spinning a steady rhythm and people would be content to get to the top of the climb. But no, as my speed began to drop, leaving me no choice but to shift down to my easiest gear, I was slowly overhauled by not one, but five women! The climb was rocky, rooty and rutted with steep switchbacks to negotiate, leaving little chance to take in the amazing views or take your hands of the bars to grab an energy bar.
Luckily for team Britain & New Zealand (and a sight I’m seeing all too frequently these days), one of those five women to overtake me was Nadine, hot on the heels of Catherine Vipond and overtaking the Canadian rider at Sri Paya meadows to claim fifth place. After two frustrating days of racing, she was happy to finally grab a decent result. Michelle on the other hand was unfortunate to get a puncture early on, leaving her with a (literally) uphill battle to claw back the time she’d lost fixing it.
The third day saw a different country winning the stage in the men’s competition, with Rob van der Werf, despite living in the very un-hilly Holland (he also placed 23rd at this year’s Grand Raid Cristalp!), riding strongly for the stage win and leapfrogging to third place in the general classification. In a similar fashion, Britta Martin flew up the climb to win the women’s stage and move up to first place on the GC.
In the team classification, it was team Britain & New Zealand who were presented with the winner’s trophy by the Pakistan minister for tourism later that evening. An interview with a reporter from CNN followed, with a chance for 15 seconds of fame. Canada held on to second, while three days of consistent riding by team Australia enabled them to grab third.
Sitting in the sunshine the following morning, watching the organising committee taking part in a criterium round the lawn in front of the hotel, gave me time for everything to sink in. It had been a truly amazing experience. The hospitality of the local people, the support from the organisers, the food (curry for breakfast – just like being a student again!) and the spectacular scenery all adding to the event. It was great to meet racers from other countries, swap stories, compare bikes and learn about other crazy races in their home countries.
On the flight back to England, with race director Mansoor’s words fresh in our minds “it is worth much more than money if you can be ambassadors for us in your own country” we decided that we would sponsor one of the children who will be attending the school when it opens in March. Check out http://www.kmt.org.pk to learn more about what the trust are doing and maybe make a donation.
Finally, a big big thank you to Khurram Khan and all the organising committee for taking great care of us and for the opportunity to be part of such a great event. The race was organised by The Kaghan Memorial Trust in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Tourism of Pakistan, and was made possible through generous contributions and sponsorships by Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC), Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), Pakistan State Oil, ABN AMRO Bank, LMKR Resources, Lucky Cement, Standard Chartered Bank, Pepsi, Coke International, Telenor and the Pakistan Red Crescent Society.
James Hampshire
adelansley
dabaldie
