It was quite unsurprising that David Zabriskie blazed away to victory, winning margin was just over a minute to Drapac’s Adam Phelan.   Zabriskie was excited and wanted to go out fast, and fast he went averaging 49.5km/h on what was a deceptively tough course that looked easy on paper. “I started faster than I should have and that initial effort caught up with me in the end.” says Zabriskie. In preparation for the heat here in Malaysia, he spent time sitting inside saunas to help the body adjust to the warmer conditions. “It now comes down to the hilly stage in Genting and I have a good gap of over one minute which is good for me as it puts me ahead of my key rivals in this race.”

Stay tuned for the Tour de Langkawi updates on my Twitter: Bikedan and tomorrow’s 151km stage to Melaka promises to be a sprinters fest with many ‘sprinter’ teams looking to stamp their authority!

If you wish to read more in-depth reports checkout the following sites for good reports. Keep on scrolling to view a selection of photos I took for the day.

CyclingIQ

CyclingTips

Cyclingtime

Tour de Langkawi

There are seven Pro-Continential teams represented: Androni Giocattoli (AND), Champion System (CSS), Colnago CSF Inox (COG), Farnese Vini (FAR), Rusvelo (RVL), Team Europcar (EUC), and United Healthcare/Neil Pryde (UHC). Nine Continential teams:  Aisan Racing Team (AIS), Azad University Cross Team  (AZC), Drapac Cycling (DPC), MAX Success Sports (MSS), OCBC Singapore (TSI), RTS Racing Team (RTS), Seoul Cycling (SCT), Tabriz Petrochemical Team (TPT), Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG). Three National Teams: Malaysia National Team  (MAS), Indonesia National Team (INA) and the New Zealand National Team  (NZL).

The city of Putrajaya is the new symbol of Le Tour de Langkawi and this is going to be the location of stage one, a 20.3km individual time trial that will surely set the GC order before the real racing even begins. The 17th edition of the Tour is going to be held from February 24 till March 4: 10 action packed days in the tropical heat of Malaysia!  Stage two begins in Putrajaya and ends 151kms later in the historical Dutch village of Melaka. Stage three Ayer Keroh – Parit Sulong (187.6km); Batu Pahat – Muar (169.4km); Ayer Keroh – Pandan Indah (190km); Proton Shah Alam – Genting Highlands (108km); Bentong – Kuantan (205.8km); Pekan – Chukai (100.8km); Kemasik – Kuala Terengganu (165.7km) dan Tasik Kenyir – Kuala Terengganu (114.8km).

Traditionally the Tour de Langkawi had ended with the street criterium in downtown Kuala Lumpur but the final three stages of the  2012 edition will be hosted by the state of Terengganu. The final stage will culminate in the scenic East Coast city of Kuala Terengganu.

LTdL 2012 is organised by the National Sports Council as a mark of continuity to the organisation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in 2010 and 2011 in collaboration with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation. The race maintains a 2.HC (Hors Classe) status and is recognised and sanctioned by the UCI and UCI Asia Tour.

The rider list is below. As I will be attending the Tour of Langkawi, stay tuned to this site for the updates. I will announce other sites that I will be covering for soon and my twitter Bikedan will be used to provide live-updates of the Tour where possible.

It was impossible to separate us two riders as we lunged for the finish line after 153kms of hard racing in atrocious weather conditions; heavy rain and gusts of winds. Even when you enlarge the high resolution photo, its hard to tell. Most people, given my bike throw, think I might have nabbed it at the line despite the timing chip.  On the day, two weeks ago now, I did not worry about protesting it (nor had the inclination to). It was a fun ride and a good race by the front runners. The fact we finished so close together provided some good entertainment for the audience and a good story in the local Taranaki Daily. American takes out Mountain Race with myself as the first kiwi home. The full results can be viewed online at the official race website.

How the racing unfolded

I had only been in New Zealand for a couple of days and gotten two rides in before the 153km event, including a nice ride in Christchurch and my first exploratory ride in Taranaki out on the Coastal Cycle Way and out Lepperton way. For this month in January my goal was to put in some good base miles for the upcoming season. So the Taranaki event was a perfect long ride with a slight race focus.

The race start was only five minutes bike ride from the Devon Hotel where I was staying and after consuming bananas, cereal, yoghurt as my pre-race meal I turned up with 450 others at the start line. It was threatening to rain as we took off. It was a neutral start to begin with and I was content to just follow wheels and wait for the action to unfold. The 450 rider peloton rode through the city of New Plymouth at a controlled pace. When the racing did begin, it was not hard and fast as I expected it to be. It was quite windy with a constant drizzle coming down. There were the occasional riders going off the front trying their luck in either forming a breakaway or escaping solo. However the peloton was not keen to let them escape from their clutches. Before Okura, I had my first dig jumping across to a young triathlete rider in green that was going pretty strong. He did not last long on my wheel as I pumped hard through the small village of Okura. However, the peloton were steadily pulling me back so I just cruised along at a good steady pace till I was caught.

I rolled along with the bunch quite comfortably up and down the numerous rolling hills in the lead up to Okato. The young guy in green took off again and was putting some good time on the main group with no one reacting. It was not till the final steep climb prior Okato when several riders at the front of the peloton put in a big surge and a gap opened up immediately. I saw this happening and accelerated quickly to the front and spent a few moments to make the bridge across to the five riders up the road. As I connected, I saw that we had a gap and yelled out that we had one. Immediately the six of us start rotating like a well oiled machine and the gap just grew bigger and bigger.  Several minutes later, pro rider Michael Torckler comes across with eight riders in tow. The front group become a 15-man breakaway.

I was doing my fair share of the work, pulling hard into the wind and driving rain but then missed a couple of turns when I noticed half the group were just sitting on. I guess they were already on their limit as eventually most of those riders dropped away after the Opunake turn off. The pace was poured on for a brief section on this road section towards Stratford and this succeeded in reducing the breakaway group to just 10 riders. All of a sudden, we just cruised along and chatted. It was kind’ve fortunate this happened, as my legs were starting to feel it and could have cramped. The easy riding lasted for about 40 minutes before we increased the pace in the push for the finish line back in New Plymouth. Just before Eltham, Torckler’s father punctured and his son stopped to help out. They never caught back on. Once on highway 4 heading into some very strong winds, the group further split up and it was now only seven riders.  Riding through Stratford and up through to Midhurst on the way to Inglewood, the pace was reduced to a snails pace.

Right before Midhurst, the first real attack of the day came from Vaughn Obrien, the American (& eventual winner), this was quickly snuffed out by myself and then I went on the counter-attack that immediately got a decent sized gap. Local strong rider, and last year’s winner, Gregory Marfell put out a powerful attack that launched him up the road. However I saw it coming and was accelerating up to speed as he came past and it took a couple of minutes hard riding to bring him back. The American was interested in keeping it animated but I was keen on rotating hard and fatiguing riders this way.

After passing through Midhurst, I found myself on the front and drifting away. I took the opportunity to ride hard at this point and opened up a sizable gap. I went into time trial mode and hummed along at a decent 45-48km/h for a good couple of minutes. At the point I was about to be caught again, I saw Greg Marfell launching yet another one of his power attacks with the rest of the group scrambling to latch onto his wheel. I responded by accelerating hard to snuff out any forward momentum before he caught me. When the group was about to catch up, I noticed they eased up a bit so I seized another opportunity to try and get away. The attacks I put in were to no avail as I was reeled back in each time.

Going through Egmont Village, it was absolutely belting down with rain and Gregory Marfell made another big attack with one other rider. This forced me to close the gap as the others were just following my wheel. It was a hard effort but it was back together again as we passed by the old rusty spider cobwebbed covered bikes outside the camping ground. It was game on for the last five kilometers as each rider sought to bid for victory.

Coming into New Plymouth, there are two climbs that keep you honest. On the first of the climbs, Marfell smoked it hard over the top and gapped myself and the American. This climb also served to blow up the seven rider group. Going down the descent on the other side, after hard chasing by myself and Obrien we reconnected with the front two riders. Coming to the final climb into the city, Marfell again attacked hard but the group still came back together coming into the city outskirts. From there it was cat and mouse games. I was on the front leading the way, waiting for any moves by the others. With about 1km remaining, Obrien hit it out hard and immediately got a substantial gap before I reacted. I was waiting for Marfell to make his move and it was a little late. I clawed back to Obrien’s wheel just after the final turn. It was there that I should have attacked immediately, but I just sat on his wheel and this allowed him to recover somewhat. I was also not clear where the finish line was and going into the last bend about 400m from the finish line, I hit the front with Obrien on my wheel. It was there that I had no choice but to open my sprint 400m out. I was hoping that I would have dropped the American, but somehow he clung to my wheel and then came at me again and got past me with less than 50m remaining. I had another late surge for the line ending with a desperate bike throw that I thought I had gotten the win. However, the timing chip said otherwise…

Stay tuned for more reports about my Taranaki cycling adventures!

The 2011 Edition of the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge was truly a global one with cyclists from all regions stepping up to embark on the journey of epic riding before the curtains of the year drew to a close. The Rapha Challenge hosted by Strava saw a stunning 3,030 cyclists sign up to do the challenge. It appeared to have inspired a great deal of people, however when you calculate the total miles world-wide against the numbers that signed up – it was a paltry 29.3kms per person for the entire week.

I think that most people would have liked to complete the challenge but keeping the motivation to actually do the challenge is another thing, especially when most of the challenge participants come from cold corners of Europe and North America. Doing 500km in a week is a big ask for most people, but try doing 500kms in freezing or raining weather conditions; that requires some unshakable will power. Then you throw in the family commitments, last minute errands before Xmas and the end of the year not to mention preparing Xmas feasts all takes time. Suddenly the Rapha Challenge becomes that much more challenging. Kudos to those people who managed to finish their 500km! Also a big round of applause to those die-hard riders that created an elite 1,000km club – just 22 riders made that distinction. I wonder if Rapha will create a special category for these types of riders for the next challenge – you either opt in for a shot at making the Mad Elite Club or you go for the Sportive Club which is completing the 500kms!

TOP 22 RIDERS - 1000km ELITE CLUB

It was interesting watching how riders started doing longer and longer rides towards the tail-end of the Rapha Festive 500, it was obvious that many were going for personal glory in their race to rank high as possible on the Strava leaderboard. It was also particularly interesting to see how some riders left their GPS postings towards the end, so as to make a sudden ambush and occupy a high-point on the board.

It was a fiercely contested battle between numerous riders, but gigantic battle of them all has to go to two riders: Rapha-Condor rider Kristian House (who cares if he is pro or not) and Spanish hard-man Stefan Rohner who is a 50 years old. The contest went right down to the wire, with 7kms the difference. Kristian House posted a mega total of 1424kms for the week. I bet that would be one of his biggest training weeks for the 2011 year period, not including racing.  For most pro riders riding 500-800kms in any given week would be a normal week, however the last week of 2011 was far from being normal. If you are interested in finding out more about Kristian, an exclusive interview is published on the Rapha site, quite an amazing read. He is one phenomenal rider and I know this first hand from having first raced him at the 2006 Tour of Southland and subsequently at races in Texas (I also lived in Austin).

For the Asia-based riders, Jeff Paine achieved the distinction of being the best with his 4th place overall for the Challenge. After his amazing 331km ride in the Jungle heat of Southern Thailand, he vaulted into the top spot and was overall leader till Stefan Rohner and Kristian House both woke up to find their rankings to be threatened and ensured big counter rides. Jeff Paine would have finished 3rd overall had Matthew Carnal from Tulsa USA not came along with his late ambush 240km ride that was only cut short by the bad weather and darkness.  Paine together with his partner-in-crime David Kolpak and one other rider made the huge ride from Phuket to Krabi and return. Check out their map below. David Kolpak finished 9th overall and 2nd behind Jeff Paine.  Peter Pouly who lives in Thailand finished 3rd with his tally of 880kms followed by myself in 4th position for Asia-based riders and 59th overall with 818kms.

Jeff Paine and his understanding wife...

In the women’s category, there were some pretty tough gals out there on bikes. One of them, Sharona Guggenheim from Irvine California put out mega-daily rides to enter the coveted Elite 1000km Club. She is the only female so far to achieve this feat with her 1030kms for the week and 18th overall. Jessica Chong came tantalizingly close to also making the Elite Club, only falling short by 19kms and along the way she achieved 24th overall. Lisa Rodgers – Green Sunn Rider was third woman on the leaderboard with her amazing 940kms in the cold climates of the UK. Judith Swallow also from the UK finished with 919kms ridden in the London area to be forth overall just 32kms of early pace-setter Carlee Taylor who chose to have a recovery spin plus a complete day off. Kudos to these top five gals and to all that participated in the Rapha Challenge.

I checked out the Rapha facebook page and collected a few photographs that caught my eye. Here is my selection below (Click on them to enlarge).  Also found a selection of blogs that are worth mentioning.  A Swedish Cyclist, Full On Triathlon Racing, Daniel’s Journey, Diary of an Epic, and  Stefan Rohner Photography. Finally, and not the least, is a cool Rapha report just in from Steve Donohue @ Headsetpress.  Steve has just recently moved to Taiwan and is discovering what a cyclist’s paradise the island is.

Bjarte Bjorgen Olsen

Peter Elmesioo

Derreck Schar

Stefan Rohner

Christopher M.Webb

Stevie Donohue

Jeff Zell

Henrik Oijer

Nicette Quintero

No.1 IRAN

This has to rank no.1 for me as it was a fulfillment of a lifetime dream to visit Iran. I had made friends with the Tabriz-Petrochemical Cycling Team at the Qinghai Lake Tour the previous year and they invited me to go to Iran to cover some of their big races in Azarbaijan and Tehran. Even though, I was in the middle of preparing for the World Deaf Cycling Championships in June, I jumped at the opportunity to go to Iran.  It was a brilliant experience and I also got to visit a long-time family friend in Shiraz in-between the cycling Tours.  It was an action-packed three-weeks there, covering the two international road cycling races as well as getting to explore the beautiful country on my own two-wheels.

What was so good about Iran? I know most people have certain images of Iran, mostly from what the media tells us.  You might think Iran is a dangerous place to visit etc, but I discovered a country full of hospitable friendly people, some awe-inspiring scenery, and some awesome Persian food.  The Azarbaijan Province was a particularly stunning area of Iran with its majestic snow capped mountains, ancient cities and wide-open sweeping plains.  The place is on my list to visit again and spend more time exploring by bicycle.   In fact, in 2012, I am hoping to go again.  Check out my Velonews articles: Racing in Iran and the President’s Tour of Iran. Also take a look on my own website – Iran Azarbaijan Tour and Iran Azarbaijan 26th International Tour.

No.2 MONGOLIA

Mongolia is the largest country in the world with the lowest population density and most of its inhabitants are still living the Nomadic lifestyles reminiscent from hundreds of years ago; virtually unchanged and extremely remote areas. I went to Mongolia to participate in the Mongolia Bike Challenge as both a journalist and racer. It was one of the most grueling and toughest experiences I have ever underwent in my life, but it was also very rewarding.  The scenery in Mongolia is unreal and it is a perfect place to do a long-distance cycle touring trip. If you are up to the challenge, you can enter the 2012 Mongolia Bike Challenge – its a fully supported race and they provide great food in the camp but you have to contend with icy-cold showers every day. I wrote prolifically about this epic race and some of my work can be read on Matador Network, CyclingTipsBlog, China Travel, WhatsupUsana, as well as my daily reports on my website.

No.3 CANADA & USA

This year was a World Cycling Championships year for hearing impaired cyclists and I was proud to represent New Zealand at the Championships held in Quebec, Canada. I had the most thrilling race of my life in the 1,000m match sprints to take Bronze medal for my country and I had the great support of my wife, Jennifer and also my major sponsors Hansaton Hearing Systems. Without their support, I would not have been able to represent New Zealand in Canada. After a great week long of racing in Canada, we flew down to Austin, Texas where we spent three weeks vacation. As I had the Mongolia Bike Challenge coming up, I was out clocking up some big miles on the lonely Texan roads. As always, the Driveway Racing run by Andrew Willis held exciting times to race with some of the best criterium riders in the USA. On the way back to China, I stopped off in California to visit WTB – Wilderness Trail Bikes -  in Mill Valley as I was going to be doing some PR work for them in Asia-Pacific. I got a couple of good mountain bike rides in the area where mountain biking was first invented. To end my US trip, I took part in two awesome criterium events, the San Rafael Twilighter and the Lodi Cycle Fest.

No.4 THAILAND

Thailand is always a favorite place of mine to visit. I love the food, scenery and the people there. The food is just simply the best. Even here in Hangzhou we frequently visit Thai restaurants or make Thai food ourselves. This year I was privileged to have represented the Neil Pryde Epic Riders Cycling team at the Tour of Friendship, a five day stage race in and around the Bangkok area.  It was here that I also met Wade Wallace from Cyclingtipsblog for the first time and also raced together with him on the same team. While in Thailand I could not get enough Phad Thai and drank endless amounts of Thai ice-tea.  They were my staple food and drink!  I can’t wait to get back to Thailand again for more riding and island beach time.

No.5  PHILIPPINES

I have been to the Philippines twice this year and each time it has been an amazing experience. The Philippines have an amazing cycling community and I find them to be a very friendly and positive bunch of people. I raced earlier in the year at the Tour de Larrazabal which I would have won if did not have mechanical problems during stage three. The second time there was at the invitation of the Mossimo Cycling Team to race at the Tour of Matabungkay. We stayed on the Matabungkay Beach Resort in the South of Luzon Island for four days and had an action packed three days of racing followed by endless Mango shakes and great food served up at the resort.  I will always look forward to returning to the Philippines for some more great adventures.

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There were other places that I visited that also deserve mentioning, but did not rank in my top five for 2011, and they include Taiwan, Bintan Island (Indonesia), Hong Kong and Interbike, USA (riding in Red Rock Canyon).  Taiwan is always a favorite place of mine to visit as it offers world-class cycling and awesome food (both night market and breakfast food). Its a place we would definitely like to move back to and live if we had the opportunity in the future. Hong Kong is also a cool place to cycle with its numerous mountain climbs and large cycling community. Bintan Island was a place we visited during the Chinese Spring Festival and enjoyed four luxurious days on the Nirwana Gardens Resort. Bintan also happens to be host to a fantastic 2-day cycling event which I missed out on this year but was part of in 2010. Finally, the Interbike experience in Las Vegas was an awesome experience and the highlight of that event was seeing the Crossvegas race, meeting the Strava team, meeting the WTB team and riding in the Red Rock canyon with Dave Christiansen.

What does 2012 hold in store for me? I think its going to be a bigger year than 2011 and we are kicking it off with a trip to New Zealand for three weeks and a trip to Australia on the way back for a week.  I also have a new cycling team that I will be racing for in 2012 and this will be great especially since I raced unattached for most of 2011. I will announce my new team sometime in early 2012 once I have everything organized.  2012 also promises to be a big year for my business and university studies.  I have a few projects that I have been working on and will be unveiled in 2012, so stay tuned to my Bikedan in Asia website.

Thank you for reading my blog during 2011 and I will continue to bring my stories in 2012.  If you like my content, please consider listing me on your blog-roll or linking to me within your own articles.  All the best to all of you and here’s to a prosperous 2012.

You can see how close this is...

Getting set up

Since I had not ridden mountain bike since the Ningbo event, I had to re-tune the bike and had issues with getting the disc brakes stop rubbing the rotor, also mount the new Volt saddle and install the new front WTB Vulpine tire. I was only given these items on the day of the event – so it was a mad rush to get the bike ready in time after I had completed the road event. In the end, the disc brakes were not perfect – they were howling for most of the race and my seat post was raised a tad too high for my liking.  Anyhow, it was a short race and it meant a harder workout with the rubbing brakes!

The Elite Race

I lined up just in time for the start and was immediately hustled by a couple of riders eying my 29er wheels and they told me “you gonna use your 29er to bully us huh?” I just laughed it off as I knew the 26ers would be able to keep up just fine despite the 29er’s better cruising speed. It would be through the numerous corners on the course that I would struggle to accelerate faster than the nimble 26ers. So, I had the benefit of higher cruising speed, while they could accelerate out of the turns faster than me. It evened out the “mismatch” they were thinking.

MTB race getting strung out at the U-turn

The race was balls out racing from the gun and no one could get more than 100m on the bunch before being reeled back in. I tried on numerous occasions with some nice counter-attacking moves but failed to jump away to a gap. I just succeeded in stringing them all out in single file. I guess I offer too good a draft for the smaller Chinese riders – you can see from the photos that I look like a giant! My heart rates were sky-high just to keep up going over the short punchy climbs – the Strava file shows my max heart rate at 194bpm!!. It was good that my WTB tires featured tightly packed tread on the center – this helped for faster riding on the road. In fact, the Nano Race 2.1 was the same tire that got me through the Mongolia Bike Challenge.

As the race approached the business end, I was poised in mid-pack ready for the final sprint. With 500m to go, I still had more than 10 riders in front of me and I motioned Gao Zhengzhao from Cronus Bikes to follow me. In any sprint, patience is the name of the game and I moved forward as gaps presented themselves to me with Gao slotted in right behind me. Just before the final bend, about 300m from the line, one rider opened his throttle and I was instantly on his wheel. However, the rider in front of me drifted wide and gave me the inside line through the bend. It was at this point I unleashed my power and hit the front and was looking very good to nab the win. There was a strong challenge from an ex-Hong Kong national rider on the far right, but he was still half a bike length behind me. 40m to go disaster struck, my right foot came out of the Exustar pedals and I was unable to click back in while in full-flight. I did the best I could and was still in front with 10m to go, but the Hong Kong rider surged ahead to beat me by less than half a wheel at the finish line! It was an exciting sprint for the spectators and Gao from Cronus Bikes managed to finish third following my wheel during the final stanzas.

I was quite disappointed that the Exustar pedals yet again failed me. I used them at the Mongolia Bike Challenge and they did not last for three days before I started having engagement problems. I had no choice but to toil on with sub-standard pedals in what was arguably the world’s toughest mountain bike stage race. When in Ningbo, after getting some replacement parts, the pedals still did not hold my feet in securely – although they survived the sprint for my win at that event. At the Shimano Festival in Shenzhen, mid-race my feet popped out and had to re-engage and I was praying that my feet would not pop out again during the sprint…  I have now gotten the new Shimano XT (PD-M780) SPD pedals which should be totally reliable.  My previous experience with Shimano SPD pedals have been all very good and no issues with engagement except in the muddiest of conditions.  Unless Exustar come up with a better and fail proof pedal, I will not be using the Taiwanese branded pedals again!

Biketo.com has some good photos of the event as does QQride.com.

I noticed quite a few riders in the intermediate group riding in this dangerous position....

Many lone attacks went but never got more than 100m on the pack...

Exciting sprint... image by S Quickspeed

I made the first attack that paved the way for Lee Rodgers to counterattack

The three day tour in the Philippines kicked off today with a double stage day that made for a long energy draining day for all 200 plus competitors.  It was a three man breakaway group that finished with strongman Lee Rodgers (Mossimo Cycling Team) edging out Colin Roberston (Franzia Wines) by 10 seconds and Michael Velasco (Inquirer Multisport) rounded out the top three.

How it unfolded

Immediately after I was caught, Lee went and established the three-man winning breakaway

After the 70-strong elite field rolled out at 7am for a rather longish 18km neutral section, the race sprung to life on the 20km climb. Daniel Carruthers (Mossimo Cycling Team) was the first rider to attack and gained a threatening gap, which was joined by several other riders. The key contenders sensed this and immediately brought Carruthers back, and once the catch was made it was Lee Rodgers who made a counter-move when the road angled even steeper upwards, this created an immediate split in the field with Robertson and Velasco joining forces to leave the scrambling field in their wake.  Another group of six formed behind the trio including Damian Barrett (Franzia Wines), Robert delos Reyes (VG & GE Trading Diagnostic), Ronnie Nacario (Aboitiz Power), Matt Kinch (Franzia Wines), Mark Cook (Franzia Wines) and Ricky Calla (Mossimo Cycling Team). This group finished nearly five minutes behind the winners while the main group a further three minutes down.

Picturesque Phillipines!

Stage Two – 30km TTT

The Mossimo Cycling Team led by Lee Rodgers

Riders who were smart headed straight back to the Matabungkay Beach Resort to get clean, eat food and have a quick nap before the afternoon’s TTT which was held on a very challenging out and back undulating course finishing with a 2km climb.  The Franzia Wines Cycling Team emerged as the winners, largely led by Colin Robertson and Mark Cook, but only by a scant 37 seconds over the Mossimo Cycling Team who only had Lee Rodgers and Daniel Carruthers doing 90% of the work on their Magnus road bikes. The Franzia Wines outfit definitely looked more the part with their high tech time trial rigs outfitted with disc wheels; it was surprising that they did not win by a larger margin.  Team BVTC Jac Motors was a distinct third, 3min55secs behind.

The winning Franzia Wines Team led by Colin Robertson

As a result of the Franzia Wines Team win, Colin Robertson now slips into yellow and leads Lee Rodgers by 29 seconds.  Damian Barrett (Franzia Wines) moves up to third overall, but 4min38 back. At this point, it looks like a two-man battle for the overall glory; however anything can happen during tomorrow’s 120km stage that features some more difficult climbs and tight windy roads through scenic Matabungkay.  The later start time of 9am will allow the tired riders to sleep in a bit longer but the downside is that the racing will be held during the hottest part of the day and keeping well hydrated will be key to performing well.  Sunday’s final stage is the 40km ITT and this is the ultimate stage where the true winner will emerge.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s action All photos taken by Jojo Rinoza, a talented local Filipino cycling photographer. He will have a website up and running soon and I will let you know his website once it is launched.

Colin Robertson also wrote an update which can be found on his Biketrainingtips website.

The Mossimo Cycling Team relaxing after Stage 1

Displaying the evil grin yet again while on the attack...

Image by:  OTTAVIO TOMASINI

Since returning from Mongolia, I have been very busy with various projects on the go including getting started for the new term at Zhejiang University – thus I have not had the chance to completely finish my diary updates on the Mongolia Bike Challenge. Just Stages Eight and Nine remain to be told and they both still remain so indelible in my mind that it still feels like yesterday I returned from Mongolia!

Stage Eight – brilliant start

The start of this stage could not be more perfect for me as I managed to make a solo breakaway as a counter to a Cory Wallace/Marzio Deho move. When the duo was caught by the charging pack, they eased up slightly and this gave me the momentum to leap away to a massive gap.  Despite my pedal issues, they were holding up in the early stages of the day, I reached the first KOM climb in first position after 8kms. The climb itself was not very long, just two kilometers, but very steep. About one third of the way up, I was caught by Wallace and Deho. I tried to dig deep to stay with them, but they were just too quick for me. I was quickly down to my granny gear and really suffering as I struggled with my 84 Kilos of body mass! At the half way point, the second group containing just four riders (Tom Skinner, Craig Richey, Rohin Adams and Alex Denham) came past me. I was still in a good position but could not stay with this group either.

Two more riders came up to me on the climb including the Spaniard Contador (the look-alike) and I was able to hold his wheel to crest the climb together. I knew that if I was with Contador, I would have a good chance of a good finish. But disaster again struck. I was leading the way on the descent and had made it to the bottom without any mishaps, only to hit something at speed to cause my front tire to pinch flat!  It was a devasating blow as I was primed to catch the four riders in front with Contador – he went on to finish 5th for Stage Eight.

It was frustrating to see rider after rider past me as I changed tubes. Once I got going again, it was always going to be difficult to catch riders in front due to the fast flowing nature of the first 40kms. With my continued pedal problems, getting a good result was dashed.

Stage Eight had the most variety of all the stages and it was cooler/rainy weather which I did not mind. It was also the longest stage – 144kms, however I managed to ride an extra 10kms as I went off course following other riders who did the same. We all rode five kilometers up an interesting track that was very much like cow paddocks back home in New Zealand before we realized the mistake and turned back.  I rode a total of 154kms for another big day in the saddle.

This stage was probably the most varied of them all and even having a really cool pine tree forest climb that we rode through.  It consisted of some really neat downhill sections that were through some farmland that resembled that of back home in New Zealand. There was a really interesting ride through a large village before shooting back out into the countryside. There were numerous “farm” brooks and streams to cross that either required a wade across with the bike slung over the shoulder or to find the right line to actually ride across some.  The stage finished with a super fast final 10kms after cresting the final climb of the day, averaging over 40km/h for the hard packed trails leading straight to the camp perched on what basically looked like a cows paddock with some nice rolling hills in the distance.  I finished yet another 17^th for this stage.

Stay tuned for the final stage report and more photos from the Majestic Mongolia Bike Challenge.

Where we were at 2,500m above sea-level, the weather can change very quickly and the temperatures dropped to freezing during the night. Once the sun was gone, it too cold to shower! Since I had been waiting for my bags to come (the baggage truck) had broken down enroute during stage six, I did not get the chance to shower that day. My bag was one of the last ones to come to camp and by this time the sun had disappeared and I was just too tired! So went to sleep that night without showering after the Epic Queen Stage. I must’ve stank badly!  At least I did wash my head, legs and arms.

Stage Seven

I awoke to a freezing cold eighth day, and there was a thin layer of white frost covering everything, the bikes, tents and grass. I emerged from my tent wearing my toasty warm Mavic jacket and had on arm/leg warmers and my skull cap.  Everyone else was the same, but the sun was out blazing and steadily thawing the camp. I could tell that it was going to warm up quite a bit during the stage, so I made the decision to peel all the winter layers off just prior the start at 7.30am.  After I had finished taking care of all the pre-race chores, I made it to the start line with only 30 seconds to spare! Actually, I was not even on the start-line proper and was still putting my gloves on when the field took off. I was at the very back and it was an extremely tough start as it was uphill on rough steep grassy slopes that climbed about 200m in elevation before you could recover and go fast on a dirt track. I worked my way through the field and by the time I got to the dirt track, I was in about 14th position. I could see at the head of the race it had splintered into fragments. Two riders, Cory Wallace and Marzio Deho, were racing away into the distance while another group of four riders was chasing.  There was another group of about half dozen riders, but they quickly fragmented and were dotted along the trail. I slowly picked up riders as I powered along the rough pot-holed puddled road leading to the first KOM climb of the day. It was a steep climb that did not offer much traction and for a good portion, the best path was a goat trail on the side that was steeper but offered a smooth surface. The last 400m of the climb was back on the rough shifting road. I crested the summit in 11th position and bombed the steep descent with canine-delight. I hit the river crossing at the bottom with a lot of speed, but the deepness of the water killed the momentum very quickly. I saw Tom Skinner on the side of the trail right there with his bike upside down with the TV crew filming his predicament (he punctured right after that river crossing). The trail snaked downwards through a small valley and I had my next rider (an Italian) in my sights. I kept pedaling with power and felt like I was flying. The valley was dotted with Mongolian Gers that emitted wispy morning fire smoke as the inhabitants were having breakfast when we flew by on our bikes. There was also plenty of Yak sightings along the way.

There was a total of 59 river crossings during this stage and many of them required a dismount/wade through swift flowing cold waters. There was a splendid valley with interesting looking rock formations and yet more hidden valleys spanning out from the one we were riding in. The surface alternated between extremely rough rock strewn tracks to the hard clay surface that you could build up some good speed on as you kept climbing relentlessly (not steep) all the way to the second KOM of the day. The last couple of kilometers leading to the KOM were rough again and angled upwards more steeply. I was continuing to ride well but the problems with my Exustar pedals were becoming more frequent. My feet kept popping out and causing major disruptions in my pedaling and momentum. I had passed two more riders in the valley, the French Chiru rider and the Contador lookalike from Spain. I continued to gain some time on them on the climb and I chose not to stop at the second feed-zone so that I could maintain that gap and hopefully even extend it on the 50km downhill that was coming up. Shortly after going through the feed zone, disaster hit. I had hit a rocky river bed that had a drop off that I just bombed due to too much speed and pinched flatted. All of my good work undone. I only had one tire lever with me so it took me a while to work the tire off the rim to change the inner-tube. Within the first couple of minutes, three riders passed me and since I had a tiny pump (the width of my hand) it took me a good 10 minutes to pump enough air. I lost 20 minutes! Right before I was ready to go, Tom Skinner and Dutchman Roel Van Scalen passed me. When I got going, I could see the pair in the distance and normally I should’ve been able to catch them; but the terrain just got rougher and rougher. Massive sized rocks were strewn all over the road and what made it worse was the fact there were no lines to take! Your body just had to take the pummeling for the next 50kms. My feet also kept popping out of the pedals and kept getting worse. It was dangerous. One time, I almost crashed when both of my feet popped out and I felt my whole body weight slam down on the saddle. It could have broke the seat post. I was lucky to barely keep control of the bike with both my feet out!  The frequent cold river crossings made the going tough. It was only the last 10kms that were easier to ride, with more dirt trails and more options to take on offer. But I could not pedal full force as the feet would just pop out otherwise. I was caught by two more riders and I kept them within 15 seconds of me the whole time and in the last one kilometer I almost caught them, finishing two seconds behind for another six hour plus day in the saddle!

I was not the only rider that suffered punctures as Cory Wallace who had been in the leaders pink jersey till he suffered three punctures (he was on tubeless!) and ultimately loss over 25 minutes to Marzio Deho and the overall lead. Sven Gerber from Germany had been high on GC till he also suffered multiple punctures and was seen on the trail-side pleading for another tube.

The camp was nestled among large pine trees and right next to another river. I had an icy cold swim and shower in the river! It was refreshing and then spent a couple of hours napping..

Stay tuned for the stories from Stage Eight and Nine. Due to the internet problems while racing in Mongolia, I am behind with my updates and have been kept busy in China with my other writing projects.

I lost both my water bottles on the first descent immediately after the start, so I was without fluid for the first 40kms. Race organizer, Willy Molina, did give me some gulps at the top of a small climb, which I had to stop briefly for. Despite the lack of fluid and the fact the weather was a little cooler, I was able to stay with the leaders. At the first feed zone, I collected my two bottles; one of them containing the REV 3 Energy surge drink that I have been using every day. I continued riding in the lead group, which had been whittled down to just 12 riders.

I did cop some flak from some of the riders for not pulling through on the front as I was disrupting the flow by not rotating through like you normally would in a road race breakaway. My intention here was to avoid working too hard and hopefully survive longer with the leaders. I did eventually start rotating through though! Once the track got more technical, a line of riders took a bad line through some deep ruts and long grass. This enabled Canadian’s Craig Richey to attack unanswered by taking a different line. Marzio Deho, the Italian chased very hard to reel Ritchey back in. I was clinging on to the second group for my dear life going over some sharp, but short climbs and was in 9^th position for a long time. I was eventually dropped by the group I was in once the first of the ‘super climbs’ hit serious gradients.

I was riding solo in 9^th position for most of the climb, only to be overtaken by two riders after the two-thirds point. It was truly an epic day as I was almost seven hours in the saddle, a long time to be riding on a mountain bike. I rode through forgotten valleys that were amazingly beautiful and devoid of any sign of the outside world. It was like riding back into medieval history, witnessing the nomadic life along the way. Their only livelihood is the herds of Yak, goats and horses they own. The children came running out to greet riders as they rode by. There was a line of kids all holding up Yak cheese for those who dared to eat it. I tried some the other day and did not particularly like it.

On numerous occasions riding through the valleys I would have to yell at the Yak and goats to get out of the way. After riding through this Valley of Nomadic Life, I then faced many challenging climbs, some steeper than the first KOM climb and this was extremely taxing on the body. Once cresting the second KOM climb, it took me a few moments to catch my breath back at the last feed zone. I made sure I grabbed a big fistful of dried fruit and gulped down several small cups of Sprite to give me the sugar lift I need at this late stage of the race.

The downhill that followed was extremely treacherous and even had a river flowing down the middle of it. I made it down without any problems and continued riding on extremely rocky terrain before doing a couple more stream crossings to emerge onto a wide-open grassy valley. In the distance, I could see a Mongolian cowboy herding his Yak over the “mini” mountain pass – the climb over the bumpy grassland was extremely steep and it took all of my focus just to remain on the bike. Once over the pass, I descended into yet another magical valley and passed the Mongolian cowboys and the running Yak. There was one Mongolian clothed in full traditional winter cloak holding his horse by the trailside observing my progress.

There was still yet another climb that was impossibly steep to get over and the lead up to it was very tough, riding through boggy terrain full of Yak droppings. There was even one spot that was a mud ‘quicksand’ of Yak business. I stopped at the last river crossing before the climb to re-fill my bottle with the pure river water. The final climb was also very tough and required me to dismount halfway up and push for about 200m before getting back on to ride.

Once over the final KOM climb, it was a fast but very rocky and wet descent to the finish line but not before dismounting to splash across the river to where the camp is set up.

This Mongolia Bike Challenge is a long and arduous one but I seem to be adapting well since the first three stages that were straight from hell. I feel like I am getting stronger with each day. In a race like this, its vitally important to recover from each day with adequate rest and nutrition.

Once at the camp, riders had to wait all afternoon for their baggage and tents to arrive. The route that was raced on was also very tough on the transport trucks; the water truck broke down and the luggage truck got stuck in mud. This meant that riders had to remain in wet and muddy bike clothes without the opportunity to shower till much later. I spent a lot of time staying inside one of the vans to keep warm from the chilly wind that was blowing at 2,500m above sea level!