94kms Riding time 5hours:32mins
Well, the "Ultimate Downhill"...that light at the end of the tunnel for many of us, proved to be overhyped to start our day. It turned into the ultimate headwind...
The tents hit -21 last night, and it was tough to get things packed this morning in the cold when your fingers hurt. Our first contest is a little pass, rising not much, but steadily, for about 9k. That could mean 4 or 19k though. I started out, but within one k, my rear shock was dead flat out of air, and my shock pump was still on the bus back at camp. I waited, expecting the bus to be there shortly, while everyone continued on the climb. The bus took a full hour though. I got it set up then pushed to get up to the summit where some had waited for me thankfully. No time for a Mars, just a picture then get ripping.
The downhill from this point was pretty cool, lots of shortcuts and crazy trails. Mark duct-taped his video camera to his handlebar, catching some legendary footage of the downhill. The downhill lasted only an hour or so, and when we got to a small village a few of us had our brake pads changed (thanks to Mike). From there though, it was rough going for 20-30kms. The wind was just sapping our strength. Mike and I waited for Dil, our guide, but even he was beaten down by the wind and couldnt hold onto our backwheels, so he jumped on the bus. Mike and I stopped behind a massive boulder for lunch with some Belgian cyclists, then rode on, alternating with the headwind. Andres had a flat tire, his first, the lucky bastard. We got to the bus at a small village and ate a quick bite to eat before carrying on. I think a few of us (well me for sure) had poured it out yesterday, and had too high of expectations for this downhill promised to us on an 'easy' day. The road rolled up and down, and at one point I threw my bike down in disgust to sit down and recharge. Mark sat down and got me past my spaz moment. We made it to Nyalam, a shithole of a town, and from there it was actually a big big downhill.
But first I had a flat tire from a thumbtack picked up in Nyalam.
As I fixed it, a yak strolled right behind me, cool.
From there though, Mark and I cruised the downhill. Before we knew it, we were changing zones. What a contrast as we dropped a few thousand metres, suddenly it got warmer. We had started the day in full winter gear, now just shorts and tshirt. There was one point when I felt mist from a nearby waterfall and was shocked into realizing Id basically just left Tibet, instantly I missed it up there on the roof of the world. Mark pointed out that there were insects around too now, so many things, sights sounds and smells overloading the senses. We got to the border town of Zanghmu by 630pm, another full day, hard day. The town is sketchy, like all border towns tend to be, think Tijuana meets corrupt Chinese/Nepalese. ON top of all that, our hotel only would turn on the hot water from 930-1130pm, I thought the front desk was gonna get murdered, maybe he deserved it. So we went to dinner and celebrated with Lhasa Beers for a few hours, and showered later. One last day of riding left, too bad.
The tents hit -21 last night, and it was tough to get things packed this morning in the cold when your fingers hurt. Our first contest is a little pass, rising not much, but steadily, for about 9k. That could mean 4 or 19k though. I started out, but within one k, my rear shock was dead flat out of air, and my shock pump was still on the bus back at camp. I waited, expecting the bus to be there shortly, while everyone continued on the climb. The bus took a full hour though. I got it set up then pushed to get up to the summit where some had waited for me thankfully. No time for a Mars, just a picture then get ripping.
The downhill from this point was pretty cool, lots of shortcuts and crazy trails. Mark duct-taped his video camera to his handlebar, catching some legendary footage of the downhill. The downhill lasted only an hour or so, and when we got to a small village a few of us had our brake pads changed (thanks to Mike). From there though, it was rough going for 20-30kms. The wind was just sapping our strength. Mike and I waited for Dil, our guide, but even he was beaten down by the wind and couldnt hold onto our backwheels, so he jumped on the bus. Mike and I stopped behind a massive boulder for lunch with some Belgian cyclists, then rode on, alternating with the headwind. Andres had a flat tire, his first, the lucky bastard. We got to the bus at a small village and ate a quick bite to eat before carrying on. I think a few of us (well me for sure) had poured it out yesterday, and had too high of expectations for this downhill promised to us on an 'easy' day. The road rolled up and down, and at one point I threw my bike down in disgust to sit down and recharge. Mark sat down and got me past my spaz moment. We made it to Nyalam, a shithole of a town, and from there it was actually a big big downhill.
But first I had a flat tire from a thumbtack picked up in Nyalam.As I fixed it, a yak strolled right behind me, cool.
From there though, Mark and I cruised the downhill. Before we knew it, we were changing zones. What a contrast as we dropped a few thousand metres, suddenly it got warmer. We had started the day in full winter gear, now just shorts and tshirt. There was one point when I felt mist from a nearby waterfall and was shocked into realizing Id basically just left Tibet, instantly I missed it up there on the roof of the world. Mark pointed out that there were insects around too now, so many things, sights sounds and smells overloading the senses. We got to the border town of Zanghmu by 630pm, another full day, hard day. The town is sketchy, like all border towns tend to be, think Tijuana meets corrupt Chinese/Nepalese. ON top of all that, our hotel only would turn on the hot water from 930-1130pm, I thought the front desk was gonna get murdered, maybe he deserved it. So we went to dinner and celebrated with Lhasa Beers for a few hours, and showered later. One last day of riding left, too bad.
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