A few days before the start of this year’s Silk Road mountain race, I found myself bed ridden with a bad case of tonsillitis. For two days, I couldn’t do much but sleep, cough and drink tea. As the start got closer, I got a little bit better, but on race day I was stillContinue reading “Looking back at the 2022 SRMR”
Author Archives: Sofiane Sehili
Malteni Bootleggers 2022
In just a few years, the Malteni Bootleggers has emerged as one of the premier gravel events in France. With a challenging distance of nearly 250km, uncertain weather conditions, technical gravel on spoil tips and some of the most infamous paved sections of the flemish spring classics, it’s no wonder it took little time forContinue reading “Malteni Bootleggers 2022”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Final day
As my final effort in this race begins, I can’t say I have a lot of energy. My last resupply was roughly 18 hours ago and I have very little food left. Thankfully I don’t have far to go. 90km is all there is left. However, it looks like there’s around 2000m to climb andContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Final day”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 8
One of the things I struggle with the most in ultra-cycling races is getting out of my sleeping bag after grabbing a few hours of sleep outside. Paradoxically I have absolutely no problem with the discipline required to get out of bed after 4 hours of sleep in a hotel. I never press snooze. AlarmContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 8”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 7
It’s 5:20AM when I set off from Baetov where I slept for 4 hours and I’m 460km away from the finish. When racing I’m constantly making calculations to try and figure out where I’ll be at a certain time or how long I have before reaching the finish. When I started making these calculations atContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 7 “
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 6
As the sun slowly rises, I’m still slowly making my way towards Tash Rabat pass. The skies are clear and the temperature rises steadily. In my misfortune, I’ve been lucky enough that it didn’t drop too much during the night. At this altitude, it can easily go down to -10°C. I made it through theContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 6”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 5
I wake up in my comfy bed just 5 minutes before breakfast, get dressed and head straight to the buffet. Ample amounts of coffee, crepes, all sorts of pastries, bread and eggs: I down as much food as I can in the least amount of time possible. While doing it, I exchange a few messagesContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 5”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 4
When I wake up in Tamga four hours after falling asleep, it’s bright and sunny outside and yesterday’s storm is nothing but a bad memory. The babouchka who took care of me last night is already up. Looks like running a guesthouse in Kyrgyzstan involves as much sleep as ultracycling. She offers me some breakfastContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 4”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 3
It’s 4am and a light drizzle is falling when I leave Kochkor. I have a bit less than 40km to ride on the main road before returning to the gravel but it’s not exactly rush hour, so I enjoy a quiet stroll on gentle uphill gradients. As the sun rises, the light rain stops andContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 3”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Days 1 and 2
It’s 9:30pm when about 100 riders extract themselves from the mini busses where they were all cramped up for about 6 hours. The Silk Road Mountain Race is supposed to start in thirty minutes, but all of us know there’s no chance this is gonna happen. The semis carrying our bikes are hundreds of kilometersContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Days 1 and 2”
Sofiane Sehili 