Tour of the Himalayas

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BY: Melanie Alexander

Published: 2nd October, 2011

What a fantastic experience, I so want to go back. A great three days of racing and an eye opener to a country which does not normally attract tourists.

The tour of the Himalayas is a 3 day mountain bike stage race held in the north of Pakistan. It is
organised by the Kaghan Memorial Trust in aid of the Kaghan Memorial School. The main purpose of the 3 day stage race is to raise money for the school which was built and is still expanding after the aftermath of an earthquake in 2005 which devastated the area, killing a total of 77,000 of whom a big percentage were children. Many of the children who attend the school are orphans due to the earthquake. The school aims to give education to disadvantaged children from an underdeveloped region of Pakistan and wants to expand to have a capacity of 900 children in education. At present there are around 272 children.

Photo courtesy of KMT and Asif Kanja

 

A varied bunch of racers were attracted to the race from different disciplines of cycling and levels of experience. There were world cup racers, an ex tour de France rider, national cyclocross rider, endurance riders and others new to racing. 11 nations were present. We were to race as a team of four or five representing our different nations. The fastest two men's times and fastest women's time of each day would be added up to make each team's times in the general classification. There was also a jersey for the leading woman and leading man. Myself, Mark Spratt, Rickie Cotter, Matt Page and Rob Friel made up the United Kingdom team. Other countries that were represented were Denmark, Holland, Slovakia and two Pakistan team plus two teams made up of a combination of countries - Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Germany and Mongolia; these were called World united and Eurasia.

 

I was fairly stressed ahead of our trip to Pakistan and got mixed comments from friends and family about our trip. Getting visas, complications in getting insurance and bad reviews of air flights were not helping. But this all became insignificant as we were made to feel extremely safe and our flights were brilliant, in fact we seemed to be treated with extra care and were not charged any extra cost in taking bikes.

 

 

Mark and I flew out with Rickie and Matt landing early on the 12th September. Later on that day we met Rob and a few of the riders from Holland, Germany and Slovakia who had just flown in. We had dinner at Khurram's house before travelling in convoy to Shogran, a beautiful spot in the Himalayas where we were going to be based for the majority of the week. The journey, although 7 hours long, flew by as there was so much to soak in; the shops that line the streets, all forms of traffic; some with a motor, other brave people were on two wheels and some had four legs all using the same road with very little rules but somehow enough order. Once out the traffic we started to climb in to the mountains. At Shogran we had the opportunity to relax, go for a couple of rides testing out how our bodies would react to the altitude and to visit the Kaghan Memorial School for a couple of days before the race.

 

The day at the school watching and participating in the children's sports day was brilliant, making the race even more purposeful for me. It was a pretty amazing day and hats of to all the volunteering teachers and members of the trust who dedicate their lives to these children.

 

 

The next day we had a three hour drive further up the valley to Naran, 6 years on after the earthquake the road was still under reconstruction and the effects of the earthquake could be seen.

16th September, race day 1 - The Babusar Challenge (60K)

 

Photo courtesy of KMT and Asif Kanja 

Race day one (The Babusar Challenge) started at Jalkhad at an elevation of 2,900meters. Over 25k we were to climb to 4,200meters. The only time I have been this high before is at the start of the Mega Avalanche but then I took a cable car. The first 17k was relatively gradual with a few flat sections. The last 8k was a lot tougher as it was noticeably steeper and the higher I got the harder it became to breath. I found I got into a rhythm, any extra exertion and you were soon reminded of how high you were as you tried to get your breath back. 2k from the top I passed Mark who was having a tough time with the altitude. I reached the top at the same time as Line from Demark and Steffie from Germany. There was fresh snow at the top of the Babusar pass, the planned trail was lost beneath the snow and it was too risky to send riders down so we were diverted and sent straight down the climb we had just ridden up. I knew it was going to be a close race for third between us three. Team mate Rickie Cotter was a couple of minutes ahead and Lisa from Austria seemed to have a pretty strong lead on the rest of us.

 

Photo courtesy of KMT and Asif Kanja 

It took two hours twenty to get up to the top and an hour to descend and there were surprisingly more flat sections and a couple of hills on the way down than I anticipated from the climb. I managed to finish third a minute down on Ricki and 11 minutes down on Lisa.
Rob and Matt had strong rides whilst Mark had a tough time with altitude finishing 10 minutes down on me. Team GB finished 4th in the team general classifications with Rickie's, Matt's and Rob's times being used.

 

17th September, race day 2 - The Lake Criterium 52k
Lake Saif -ul-Maluk is the most beautiful place I have raced a cross country race. The lake was an hour's drive upwards from Naran in jeeps on a jeep track and this was an adventure in itself.  The lake is situated at 3200 meters and is surrounded by mountain tops and not much else, pretty amazing to be racing in such a secluded area. Absolutely stunning.

 

Photo courtesy of KMT and Asif Kanja 

The race was 8 laps of 6.5 k around the lake on a relatively flat course. Not overly technical but really enjoyable with a rocky technical section to start, a drop down to sand then a few streams to cross, up a sharp hill followed by a fun section of single track which gradually descended before heading back to the start again. I had a good start, felt good and held my position, as the race progressed I made up more spaces as others tired or punctured. I was glad there was very little climbing, the one climb was quite tough by the 7th lap.

 

Photo courtesy of KMT and Asif Kanja 

Team GB had a great race with Rob finishing 2nd ¬behind Martin Haring of Slovakia, Matt 3rd, New Zealander Nathan 4th. I finished 5th two minutes up on Mark in 6th who was struggling with the altitude again. Steffi came second and Lone Sand from Denmark third in the women's category.
This was a fantastic result for Team GB and we moved up the overall classification from 4th to 1st with a 44 minute lead on 2nd placed team Slovakia.
After the race we drove back to Shogran.

 

18th September, race day 3 - The Pia Ascent 16k
We had pre ridden this hill during the 3 days prior to the race. The top half one day and the bottom half the other and it was tough - steep in places, at altitude and with talk of people collapsing at the top on previous occasions we knew it was going to be a hard race. Starting at the school (where the children had come to wave us away) at a height of 1,400 meters we were to climb to 3,200 meters in 14k and finish off with two 1k loops around the meadow of Pia.

 

The first 8k up to Shogran where we were staying was on a road of sorts, then followed by 6k on a jeep track which had become more difficult due to rain the previous days. Climbing for 2 plus hours at the altitude was tough. Near the top I was having to get off on a few sections to push over which seemed to be quicker than me riding, though I had not had to do this on the previous days. As we climbed the weather got worse and about 1k from the top it started raining heavily then upon reaching the top we were furiously hailed on. It was so painful as these lumps of ice hit our bodies, leaving us with bruises. The majority of us had made a big mistake, starting in the heat of the day with blue skies, of leaving our waterproofs back at the hotel. How quickly the weather can change, it was freezing. Upon finishing we were rushed into tents where a fire was blazing, coffee was drank and the volunteers were stripping off their jackets to help get us warm again. It was pretty epic and amazingly everyone who started finished. Having to cope with a lot more freezing hail than others, a couple of riders came in shivering, struggling to breathe and obviously in a lot of pain from being cold and wet but still they were tough enough to finish. It's mad what we can put our selves through. It was a tough day, a big challenge and definitely memorable.

 

Photo courtesy of KMT and Asif Kanja 

Rickie had a fantastic ride finishing 1st and in an impressive time, catching the amazing climber Lisa unaware in the final loop around the top of Pia and beating her with a sprint finish. Lisa was second and Steffi third. I finished 4th lady holding on to first in the overall classification, twelve minutes up on Steffi who was only 27 seconds up on Rickie who finished 3rd overall. In the men's general classification Rob came 3rd and Matt was 5th, Mark had suffered with altitude sickness all week and finished around 13th. Later on that evening was a celebratory Pakistan BBQ, entertainment and we were presented with a huge Cup for coming first in the overall classification.

 

The event was a huge success due to Khurram and The Kaghan Memorial Trust's dedication in driving such a logistically challenging event and against odds which would put most people off it succeeded. Money was raised for the the Kaghan Memorial School mainly through donations by ministers and the event got huge publicity. Having a bike race with riders from 11 nations is not something you see every day in Pakistan, The media was following us throughout the race and a report on the race got on to the front page of 'Dawn', one of the leading newspapers in Pakistan. This was huge as the only other sport which has achieved this is cricket.
Few tourists visit Pakistan due to bad publicity and this is an issue Khurram is tackling. Pakistan is alive, it is exciting with so much to look at, the locals are very friendly and we were extremely well looked after. The whole experience, both the race and our time in Pakistan, was hugely enjoyable and memorable.