The Mongolian Bike Challenge in 2011 has been an epic adventure and I am so pleased to have come here and completed it. Of the 9 days in this event I believe that at least 5 of them were harder than any other one day event than I have ever done. This event as a whole was the single most physically and mentally challenging thing I have ever done and probably at this point would be very happy if it remains as just that. Just the thought of riding in Mongolia has a fair element of extreme to it but I truly could not come close to explaining properly what we have just completed. But don’t for a second think that I did not have the time of my life. Yes I’m saying it was balls out hard but that’s why I came and along the way whilst overcoming the mental and physical challenges that this event through at me I saw a lot of an amazing country, had some sensational experiences both on and off the bike and met a truly amazing bunch of people. Any event like this is going to draw a crowd of people with similar interest’s and outlooks in life and that’s a big part of why together we all helped each other to complete this very amazing event.
Of the 7 Australians there has been some mixed results. The first to mention is Melinda Jackson who came here for an adventure as did we all but has gone away with 9 stage wins to her name. An unbeaten record of stage wins. She didn’t do it easy and I have never seen saddle saws like what Melinda had after just 2 days but she stuck at it and rode amazing each day. Turi Berg found a good crew of riders to ride with each day and then pushed herself on a few getting a 3rd and a 2nd. Mark Sandon was the ultimate domisteque working for Mel for 3 days and then helping Ashley and Sam get through a few of their harder days. Alex Denham took a bit to get going but once the smell of top podium in sporty man was on offer he certainly stepped into gear. On day 7 working together with Craig from Canada we moved Alex from 3rd into 2nd in the category and he took 3rd overall in that stage. The next day the leader had a mechanical and Alex had to defend against a very strong Contodor (look alike) to then take 1st in the category. Unfortunately though on the last day when Alex was securely glued to Contodors wheel where he had been all day he got a flat tire. The curse of the sporty man hit him hard and he ended up getting 3 flats and slipping back to 2nd. Samual Mcgregor our ‘Top Biker Nominee’ fell sick after day 2 which was most likely caused by consumption of sand in the desert. He was unable to finish day 3 and had to skip a few more stages whilst he waited to get his strength back. He did finish 6 of the 9 stages which is a great effort. Ashley Hayat suffered a very similar fait. On day one he awoke not feeling great, pushed hard through the stage but never recovered for the rest of the event. In the end for Ashley it became about finishing each stage and he did a great job to achieve this. Mongoiia is no easy place to ride your bike, let alone when your body is suffering illness.
The event for me was a bit of a roller coaster of both emotion and of results. I wasn’t well leading up to day one with a head cold, cold sores and mouth ulcers which was all probably my body reacting to massive change in environments and the sleep deprivation that travel presents. Still I was here to ride bikes and looking forward to it. Day one demanded everything I had and more. We rode 70kms of the 75km stage into a massive head wind over sandy corrugated roads. It was hot, sandy and relentless. I suffered sever cramping towards the end and had to stop and walk for a bit. That for me was a first and even with a perfect hydration plan my body just couldn’t take the effort that was needed to ride into that headwind on dead road and in that heat.
The 2nd stage brought a more interesting track for the first 80kms. The bunch got split up after the 1st feed zone when a few riders attacked as we stopped (what a dickhead move). Ash, Alex and I worked together for about 50kms which was great. After the 2nd feed station we had been told the track got rougher. As we hit a section where the ruts were stupidly deep and any track outside the ruts was soft sand I joked to Ash “Settle in for 46kms of this” Gee I wish I was wrong...... That 46kms shook every joint in my body and finishing in 6th I was happy with my ride but completely destroyed.
That night we slept in a Gur camp which was lucky as the winds got up and were blowing sand over everything. In the morning it was still blowing a gale and we were getting sand blasted as we set off for another big day in the desert, 132kms to be exact. Luckily the track changed direction after 5kms making the head wind a tail wind which had us doing up to 45kms and hour. The front bunch whittled down to about 8 riders all happy to swap turns. During this stage the terrain was changing a bit with rutted sandy tracks becoming a bit smoother through some mud flats and then we hit a beautiful gorge that we rode for several kms through a mountain range. As the ‘King Of Mountain’ (KOM) approached the pace lifted and bunch splintered. Down the other side was a reminder of why I ride mountain bikes, because I love it. We ripped down the hill we had climbed back into the gorge hitting every corner at full tilt in hot pursuit of the lead three. The two Italian riders got spat as their mtb skills were, hmmm SHIT HOUSE. Sven, a German and I got working but as it turns out the three leaders and ourselves took a wrong turn as we excited the gorge. A car chased Sven and I down and pointed out the direction we had to go. We turned off the road and went across the desert for a km till we hit the course again. The three leaders were about 2mins ahead of us but with the tail wind and slightly down hill it took quite some time for the event vehicles to catch them. I could see them getting further off course off to my left. This made Sven and I the leaders with 15kms of rutted but fast road to ride. Sven was too strong in the open and I settled in for a 10kms solo time trial to the finish with the Italians and Ash in pursuit. It was another tough day but that gorge section had made it all the more fun and getting on the podium was a hoot, even if it was due to a bit of luck.
Day 4 and my body was getting into tour mode, Another 105kms of rutted sandy desert ahead but hey, that’s what you do in the Mongolian bike challenge. A sizeable lead group formed early and settled into a good pace. All was good until 45kms in when my bottom bracket started to make some unsavoury noises. As a few kms past I could start to feel a bit of resistance as I knew all too well one of my bearings was shitting itself..... Jokingly I yelled at the bunch (who could all hear the bearing squeaking and grinding away) “ANYONE GOT A SPARE BOTTOM BRACKET WITH THEM” It was less than a minute later and it completely ceased up. It wouldn’t pedal at all. I just had to pull out of the bunch and come to a stop. At that point I thought my Mongolia Bike Challenge was over. I was pretty emotional. Yep even a tear. Id trained hard for this event and come along way and having this happen with 50kms to go on only day 4 was shattering. Not helping was the several media cars around me capturing the disappointment unfold. Eventually (10mins later) I got up and just started walking. What else was I to do. I was in the desert and it was bloody hot. Another media car filmed we walking for a bit and then moved on. Still shattered and angry as all hell I gave the pedal a descent kick as I walked. This moved the cranks over half a turn. Still ceased, I kicked it again a few more times. It eventually started to turn again. I jumped on and started riding. It wasn’t great. The bearing was blown and the cranks were all over the place causing all sorts of issues with my front gears. But I was moving. I was in no hurry, I knew that I was probably damaging the whole bottom bracket assembly but I had to get to the finish if I wanted to still be in the race. The race mechanic caught up to me at the last feed zone with 30kms to ride. By then the cranks were sloppy like a mop in a bucket. He said he had nothing to fix this on course (like I thought he would) he did though have Sam’s bike on the roof as Sam was too sick to ride that day. But if I took that they said I may get disqualified so again out of the race.... So I rode on. I got to the finish and had lost over an hour on the leaders. Not what you would call my best day. I was lucky that Mark had spare BB30 bearings so that arvo the mechanic and I set about a complete rebuild. It all worked out, which meant day 5 I would start again.
Day 5 was my day. We were headed for the hills. Alot less sand on the cards and more climbing to be had. The next day was a big hill day so most riders were all looking for a bit of a rest. This to me seemed to be a good day to try and make something happen. I tested the waters about 20kms in and nobody came with me or bothered to cover my move either. Still I wasn’t going to ride 95kms alone so I sat up. I rolled turns in the bunch waiting to get a good opportunity and eventually it came. The 2 riders in front of me were Italian and I knew they were strong. Sven who was behind me wanted an easy day so Ii told him I was about to attack and asked that he not cover us. I then rode up beside the Italian riders and tapped them on the back as I went past saying come on, we are going. At first they both said NO. So I convinced them we wouldn’t have to ride too hard as the bunch was taking an easy day. Then I lifted the pace and they came with me sitting on for 5kms as I built us a gap. At this point Craig one of the Canadian riders bridged over. Craig was 3rd overall in the race so I was unhappy to have him there as I thought the bunch may want to catch him. He agreed if the bunch responded he would go back to them and let us stay away. The bunch never responded! A few other riders tried to get over to us but didn’t make it as we got a good system going and the gap got bigger and bigger. One Italian crashed in a sandy creek bed so he was out and the other was getting weaker. With 20kms to go and the majority of climbing ahead it was just Craig and I. We were both still riding strong and we knew we would not be caught now. So it was time to negotiate. Craig had a stage win and he knew I had made this happen so he said it was mine. I was happy with this, I cant sprint very well and the thought of spending 5kms attacking each other on the climbs after working so hard together was not high on my list of things i wanted to do. That last 20kms to the line was a great feeling. I was so happy that it had worked and knowing that I was not far of taking a stage win had a smile from ear to ear. We were getting some good local support and i was waving and enjoying it all. I crossed the line a stupidly happy man. Having nearly been out of the race the day before and now to have taken a stage win was great. I would have loved to smash a few beers but the next day presented 132kms and 2620 high meters so rest and recovery was needed. But hey Bellie, when I look back at my cycling career in many years from now I am sure that this stage Win will be one I list as one of my greatest achievements.
So Stage 6 was the last day before the rest day and one of the hardest for the event. The bunch wasn’t in too much of a hurry in the first relatively easy 50kms. Marzio (2nd position at this stage overall and winner last year) was covering all the attacks and wanted to keep it all together. As we approached the first major climb the pace lifted and the bunch got splinted. The grade of the climb was getting steeper and steeper and we were down to 6 of us which included Alex who was having a good day. Marzio lifted the pace again and only Cory from Canada was able to go with him. I settled into climbing mode as we hit some grades of up to 30% (damn steep) I was pretty happy that I had the triple chain ring option as i was giving the granny ring a work out. Over the top I was with Craig who I worked with yesterday. Alex was a min or more behind with Sven. The positions stayed like this all day. Craig was having a tough day and I couldn’t see any reason to leave him. I just sat on the front most the day and pushed up the hills and into the head winds. At one stage he got a blood nose which made one hell of a mess of him. He had blood all over his top tube and face. The final climb was a killer. We had ridden up a soft, muddy grassy covered road into a head wind for 5kms before hitting another 30% and loose rocky section of climbing. It seemed like a good time for a walk. It wasn’t a big walk but it was necessary. Over the top and we hammered down the road to the finish with a 50m waist deep creek crossing to greet us just before the line. I took 3rd in another good day on the bike for me.
Finally we had made the rest day. It was so nice not having to get up at 5:15am. I even enjoyed a beer that night with dinner. Yeah 1 beer, really letting my hair down. It was also nice on our stomachs to not be forcing a heap of gels and sports drinks down for a change. A few of us had a bit of a ride but mostly we just fixed our bikes and had some great little naps.
On the morning of the 7th stage we awoke to a frost. It was about 1 deg and packing up camp was no easy task. Ahead of us 125kms with 2 bigger climbs but nothing major. On paper this was going to be an easy day on the bike............ Oh how wrong. Of the gun Marzio went hard and only Cory could go with him. The next bunch had myself, Alex, Craig and Tom (3rd Canadian who was finally getting his strength back after being sick all week). Alex this day wanted to get into 2nd in sport men so had the pace on. Myself and the Canadians were chewing the bars just to hold Alex’s wheel for the first 20kms. We joked about him being shot out of a cannon. As the climb got steeper though Alex slowed and on the back side we formed a good working crew. This stage threw us a massive curve ball. Whilst the rest of the gradients weren’t hard the terrain was brutal. The roads were full of tennis ball size loose rocks and we crossed river after river after river. To be exact Im told one Italian counted them all and there were 59 in that stage. Allot were rideable but several of them were crutch deep and quite cold, a bit refreshing on the plums as we went through. Even the rideable ones though had all loose rocks so were quite hard to get through. The endless rocky roads made it physically very hard all over. My forearms were killing me and it was hard to hold the bars. I kept smashing my pedals on rocks nearly bucking me off my bike. It was relentless. With about 5kms to go it did get smoother and we powered for the line. In the end we had got a massive gap on Contodor putting Alex into 2nd in Sporty Man and I had moved into 6th overall with now just over 1 min off getting into the top 5.
The campsite that night was beside a river with trees all around us. This was a novelty. We had only just seen trees for the first time on that stage and to be camping under them was a massive bonus. Its hard to explain what its like not seeing any trees for 8 days. You are always in the elements, no wind break, no shade. Just wide openness. The river also made it easy to do some more washing of clothes. You would think great for a swim but it was FREEZING.
Day 8, only 2 days on the bike to go but this was the big one. 144kms, 2100 high meters with the profile looking like a saw tooth. We knew by now though that its not the distance that gets you in Mongolia, its the road surface and the winds. Luckily though this day would bring favorible winds for the most of it and some of the best roads yet. In fact one of the climbs was actually up through a forest. We were all pretty excited about that as we rode through it. Again the two leaders broke away on the first climb and it was Alex the two Canadians and myself in the chase group. Today Alex needed to ensure he was in front or with Contodor and I needed to get just over a minute on the Italian rider we had called ‘The Bull’. He got this name as he rode like a bull, super strong. All was good for us working away but the group from behind caught us 50kms in and it had both Contodor and the bull in it. The rest of the stage was interesting from a tractics point of view. Alex was not feeling fresh after our hard day yesterday but Contodor was climbing really well and getting stronger. I needed to break ‘The Bull’ as climbing was his weakness but I also needed to ensure we didn’t drop Alex as this would mean him possibly slipping back in the Sporty Man category. Also the leader of the Sport Man Category, Sven had a mechanical and had been seen by Contodor pulling off the track and stopping. So both Contodor and Alex had the chance to move up in 1st and 2nd. So over each climb I put the pressure on the bunch and each time it was really only Contodor that could come with me. So over the top I had to take it easy and not work with Contodor until Alex had got back on. Luckily Contodor wasn’t great on the descent and Alex was that really only meant rolling down the descents. As we got to 30kms to go we got head winds and open gradual climbing. We were down to a bunch of 4 with Criag, Contodor, Alex and myself. Behind there were a few riders chasing and I suspected it was ‘The Bull’. Craig and Alex were both not seeming too fresh, in fact Alex asked me that if he got dropped can I not help Contodor. So it was Contodor and myself doing the work on the front. Finally we topped the last climb, Alex digging deep to keep with us and Contodor showing amazing strength. Today there would be no organised finish order, it was going to be a sprint. Not my ideal situation. I wanted that 3rd place and having done alot of the work would have been deserving of it. But anyone that has sprinted against me knows its not my strength. I found myself on the front with 1km to go and thats not ideal either. I kicked with 200 left with everything. Then 50m till the line there was one last creek crossing. Alex, Criag and myself went full tilt right into the creek which almost stopped us dead. Coming out the other side and to the line I was not successful but hey, good day. I had got into 4th overall now as Sven lost alot of time with his front deralier coming off. I had got 2mins on ‘The Bull’ as well to get over him. Alex was now in 1st in Sporty Man and only one day to go.
Again we were camping in the middle of nowhere. It was the equivalent to a cow paddock really. Not a tree in site. This day was my birthday, 33 years old. At dinner I was presented with a massive chocolate sponge cake and bottle of wine and sung happy birthday by the whole camp and staff. Really quite an amazing birthday. I kind of forgot to drink my optimizer that day and night and instead got a bit drunk on wine. Not the biggest help for the last day as it turns out.
So the final day had arrived. 100kms and 1300 high meters lay between us and finishing this massive event. For me this day was as hard as the first day of the event. My legs were not feeling great which was too be expected as I had done alot of work on the last 2 days and also not had a great recovery plan. The first two hills were steep and I went over the first one in 2nd place taking a small time bonus but on the 2nd climb just 5kms later I couldn’t hold the bunch and got dropped. Luckily the other side was a long fast descent so I just tucked right up and got back on after a few very fast kms. For the middle part of the stage the bunch just rolled turns pretty easy but with 50kms to go the pace got lifted by a few riders and I started to struggle. For one 10kms section Marzio got on the front and bought back a rider who had attacked quite some time earlier. The pace was fast and relentless and the road had some pinches in it and some rough sections. I was chewing the bars, head cocked, mouth open just tyring to hang on. Alex unfotunatly flatted and Contodor was in our group. To keep his lead in Sporty Man he needed to loose not more than 9min. Contodor knew this so had the pace on. To his credit he was riding really well. I was not. I was Yo Yoing off the back and just hanging in there, but with 10kms to go up a short pinch I was DONE. Boom Boom Boom. I rolled for a kms to recover and eventually got back into a rhythm. 10km time trial to the finish and one annoying climb in there also.
We were finishing in the small city of Karakurum right beside the first buddest centre of Mongolia that had 108 magnificent Stupa. There was a great crowd on the finish line and a heap of media. I was so happy to have finished. The event had pushed me to my limits and even that last day breaking me was some how part of what the event was about. After crossing the line for some 20mins all the locals wanted photos with us. It was pretty funny kids, parents, grandparents etc hugging us whilst their photo got taken. What a way to make you feel like you had just achieved something great.
So some of you may wonder would I do the event again. The answer is I’m not sure. For now I see this as a once in a life time experience. It was always going to be a massive challenge and I was so happy to have achieved it. But its a long way to go, a lot of time and a very hard even to train for and i don’t see that on my horizon for next year. Now that said if you were to ask me if I would recommend somebody else do this event my answer would be HELL YES.
Yes I recommend any mountain biker take on the Mongolia bike Challenge as a once in a your lifetime experience. You need to do the training for it and you need to be ready to get pushed to your absolute limits but that’s what life is about some times. Get outside your comfort zone, go beyond what you thought you were capable of and then sit on the other side with a massive sense of achievement.
The event was sensationally run and the organising staff were fantastic and really great people to get to know. They work hard to look after the rider. They are running the event as they have a dream of showing riders this amazing country and creating an amazing experience and they achieve it. Get your mates on board and book your spot for 2012.
The course is rumoured to be changing a bit which could mean anything. I believe it does mean less desert so that should be good. Out of 7 of us here now 5 days later 4 of them are talking about going back next year. Good on em.
For me, Im thinking about another country and another experience. Just what that will be i cannot say yet but either way I am again going to have a fantastic time.
2011 was a massive year on the bike. I raced the tour in Alice Springs, Mongolia Bike Challenge, Tour de Timor and finally the Cape to Cape in Margret River. I'm not going to say that I'm the worlds best but I sure gave every event my all and had some completive results. 
