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Yak Attack day one – a glimpse of the pain to come..
March 9th, 2010
Filed under: News, Team – by: Paul Errington 6:46 pm
I never viewed my participation in this event as a ‘race’, I knew the local guys had the event sewn up as although we can match them on the flat and the climbs, when you limit the supply of oxygen we have no response.
So with this in mind I have no idea why I couldn’t sleep last night, I had my usual pre race nerves and spent most of the time going over what little I knew about what lay ahead. Everything usually feels better after the first stage…
Kathmandu – Singlespeed Capital of the World
March 8th, 2010
Filed under: News, Team – by: Paul Errington 1:36 pm
Not much to do at the moment but wait… I’m always worried of too much activity pre-race in case of any bike or body mishaps which would take me out the race before the first day begins. Instead today was spent building and checking my bike then taking a walk around the surrounding streets, the number of singlespeed bikes in Kathmandu is amazing… its not niche here it’s the norm. Fair enough most of those are rikshaws and the rest are ‘make do or mend’ modifications to keep a vital mode of transport working but all the same it’s making me feel better.
Over the first hurdle
March 8th, 2010
Filed under: News, Team – by: Paul Errington 11:49 am
Before any International racing can take place there is always the worrying matter of getting there in the first place. Bikes have to be packed, gear has to be checked and double checked, you have to remember to smile extra nice at whoever is checking you in in the hope that they didn’t see you struggling to lift an overweight bike bag..
Well the first hurdle is over and I’m in Kathmandu.
Deja Vu.. Packing for Yak Attack
March 3rd, 2010
Filed under: Team, Uncategorized – by: Paul Errington 12:31 pm
The spare room bed is again covered in gear waiting to be packed into the bag… jerseys are folded, energy bars have been organised and spares have been accounted for. I’m now 2 days away from leaving for the next challenge.. the highest race in the world.. Yak Attack, organised by Phil Evans of Extreme World Challenges. (http://www.extremeworldchallenges.com)
I’m getting pretty good at this packing lark now… well I hope I am… I’m finding it hard as always to get excited about what lies ahead and I know I won’t relax until me, my bike and my luggage are safely in Kathmandu.
But every now and then between the constant organising I get a chance to look forward to the riding ahead… this is the roof of the world.. riding unlike anything I have done to date.. not only will I have to battle the competition, the climbs, pushing the single gear I am going to have to get involved with a totally new problem… altitude… can I literally breathe thin air?? 2 weeks from now I guess I’ll have an answer.
This will be the first outing in anger for the TiO titanium singlespeed I’ve been nurturing in my garage for months… its very light and fast so at least I have no bike worries… and with DT providing some suspension forks for the trip it’s going to be sheer luxury.
Arrowhead 135… the race…
February 16th, 2010
Filed under: Team, Uncategorized – by: Paul Errington 4:20 pm
4.00am… I’m wide awake… I’ve never really suffered from jet lag but on this trip it had been killing me, its race morning and with a 7am start to the race I was kinda glad of it… at least at this time it was proving useful to be awake and organised… the night before however I had struggled to even touch my food with a bad combination of nerves and tiredness.
Before that ill-fated attempt at carb loading for the task ahead I had been to the pre race meeting… as I looked around it was a real who’s who of snow racing… Oatley, Pramman, Basinger, Andre, Farrow, Gray… all the old hands of snow racing were here and moods were high. Even a welcome letter from the Mayor couldn’t settle my pre race nerves which were amplified tenfold by the experience in the room.
My bike had literally been packed ready for 2 days… as soon as I had got my gear checked at sign in I had come back to the room and loaded it up followed by the obligatory spin around the block just to make sure all was well… the front rack looked a little bent after the flight but it wasn’t causing any problems.
I had bought an egg and sausage muffin and a selection of doughnuts for breakfast as I had been reliably informed that fatty foods were king when the temps are low… what came out of the microwave after putting in the muffin package was inedible so it was a few doughnuts and a lot of water.
The race start was luckily not far from the Voyageur motel… the sight of rows and rows of fat tired bikes with flashing led lights was a true sight to behold… the temperature was low.. Apparently -30 degrees Celsius… we were called over to what was a vague start line and with a voice from the dark shouting “its 7.03am… we better start them…” we were off and onto the first section of trail.
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