Yak Attack – A Riders Tale

The following is a blog account from John Williams who competed in this years Yak Attack

7-8/4/2010

What you expect two days before a big race. Built my bike, ate, slept, drank (water), met the other competitors. Here’s a brief description of them…

Andy Foers – Medic in the Army…of sorts. A genuine top bloke who basically ended up lumped with me for 90% of the trip. More about him later…

Phil Hystek – 6ft 4 Aussie who, like any other Aussie, unwittingly turned everything into a competition. Again, a genuine nice, helpful guy who helped me with my bike issues and was always eating. He’s 51 and a ridiculously strong cyclist! He’s also a paragliding instructor with the ability to damage himself in a padded room…so how he’s made it to 51, I don’t know! (kidding Phil) Also, enjoyed running kids over on his bike. Last count was 4 if I remember rightly?

Paul Errington & Colin (photographer…oh, and semi owner of AlpKit) – Paul is 31 (I think) and was a sponsored rider from Genesis & AlpKit…unfortunately he forgot all but 1 of his gears. Seriously, a single speed in the Himalayas…luckily, like Phil, he is a seriously strong rider. I can also confirm that Paul never suffers from hangovers.

Colin (the photographer) was brought out on short notice and had to leave his newborn baby and wife. He’s very good at unknowingly offending the locals during a time of mourning and probably has a life ban from the reggae/jazz/rock/pop…(or whatever music they play on the night) bar next to The Kathmandu Guesthouse.

The Swedes (Martin Stenmark – rider, Andreas Denielsson – rider, Lasse – team manager & Johan – cameraman) -These guys were great. Martin is a Eurovision song contest contestant…does that make sense?! All-round nice guy, a mean guitarist, and I have no issues with saying this, live acoustic music sung by a male makes me feel uncomfortable…not sure why?! It just does. But…I didn’t feel that uncomfortable when he and Andreas messed around.

Andreas was a pretty cool guy…he’s obviously a strong rider, but he was there to support Martin through the race…a little like Andy to me.

Lasse was the team manager. He’d organise everything and was pretty good at what he does looking from the outside…plus I don’t speak Swedish, so I’m guessing he was pretty useful.

Johan…now this guy cracked me up. He was allergic to nuts. So he pretty much had to bring his own food out, which wasn’t entirely a bad thing! There’s only so much Dal Bhaat you can eat. Unless you’re Aussie Phil…who will eat his own weight/height in the stuff…and some.

Phil Evans – Event Organiser and runs Extreme World Challenges – He’s a Northener who got bored of riding his bike the conventional style so threw himself over the handlebars 1km into a 18km downhill section therefore busting his elbow open, grazing his chops and giving himself a black eye and ruling himself out of the race 3 days before it kicked off. Nice.

The Nepalese guys…ranging between 45-65kg, they were lightening at pretty much any terrain, height or distance. Led by Ajay, a 5ft 4, sub 50kg rocket, they included a 3 time Everest summiter (also on his way up for his 4th summit right now!), a yoga fanatic, Nepalese MTB representatives and Snow Monkey. That’s right, Snow Monkey. Oh…how can I forget…the Raksi drinking lunatic Rattaman! All complete lunatics on the bike, but very friendly, helpful guys. Seriously, who wins a stage then waits around to help clean the bikes with a toothbrush and rag?! Awesome.

RACE DAY 1 – 9/4/2010

Bhudlinakantha (Kathmandu) to Nuwakot – 45km | 983m ascent | 1383m of descent

Well, packed my camelbak and decided to use High5 in the bladder, and water in my bottle. Carried 3L through the stage and the plan was to refill during the stage.

We had a 1hr ride through the middle of Kathmandu with a ceremonial dance performed in front of us for the hour. People lined the streets and we also had all the local riders/clubs join us for the opening. It was a great feeling, but I was dying to get on with it and get into some ‘racing’.

So, after cycling to the start, where the temperatures started to rise sharply, we suddenly found the 10 of us waiting for the GO!

8km of steep, snaking tarmac threw us into the deep end and we got a taste of what was to come. I found myself in front of Andreas, Martin and Andy and got into a good rhythm. I could hear Martin breathing heavily behind me and Andreas was right by his shoulder (hadn’t even broken into a sweat!). We got to the top of the climb when we got into the first taste of off-road, undulating jeep track for around 30mins. As we neared the downhill, I could see Andreas and Martin in front of me (my off road skills were pretty ropey, and this showed as the pair gradually put distance into me) then when I went to put the power down, I completely lost control of the bike as there was no resistance and I figured something was horribly wrong! The chain had snapped. 15Km into the first stage and already disaster. I walked around 500m back and found the chain lying there catching some rays…stuffed it into the bag (I had no chain repair tool on my multi-tool) and free-wheeled my way down the 18km hill. Andy caught up with me and realised something was wrong, luckily he had the tool and we were caught by the jeep with the organiser and Swedes in tow. Chain fixed (so I thought) we continued down the hill.

It was pretty brutal, big rocks, sand, mud, bog, gravel, rivers…etc basically everything!! But good fun too.

Every time I peddled, there’d be a horrible noise from the rear derailleur…I figured it was the new link rubbing against the cassette (it later turns out to be the chain rubbing against the outside of the rear-mech, we put the chain on and forgot to put it through the jockey wheel – feck!!).

So, the stage was pretty undulating and uneventful until the last 15km where I could only select the ‘granny ring’ and had no way of changing up a gear. Blow!

By now, I had run out of fluids, but knew there was a water stop 12km from the end…so I thought.

I was with Andy since I snapped my chain and decided to stick with him for the stage. We got the bottom of the final hill (a beast too) and realised there was no water stop so we carried on in the knowledge there was only 5km left. No chance! The hill was steep and I managed to cycle 50% of it before I completely ran out of gas and realised I stopped sweating. By now, Andy had dropped back and I decided to push to the end. Once I saw the van, they assured me that there was only…that’s right…5km left. At this point, I lost my sense of humour. Anyway, more pushing and free-wheeling and I got to the finish. I was shattered and very thirsty!

Made myself up to the hotel, sat next to Andy (6mins behind me) and realised that I was starting to lose vision in my right eye…Andy (the medic) assured me that I was severely dehydrated and I should pile the fluids down me. I obliged and I ate a good amount that evening. Oh, the hotel was pretty stunning and I sorted my bike out with the help from Aussie Phil. He pointed out that all my running gear (cables, brake pads, wires…etc) were shot! Then it dawned on me that when I took the bike to the LBS, they hadn’t actually changed anything…this would be interesting.

That night at 3:30am, I woke up feeling very sick…I just made it to the toilet and spent the next 20mins throwing up…I felt awful!! Managed to get some sleep, then woke up the next morning feeling exhausted! I went down to breakfast and realised that I had to summon all my strength just to lift my 10kg bag…this was trouble. I physically couldn’t manage any food and could only just drink some water. It wasn’t good. Phil (the organiser) suggested that I not ride the next stage (which would be a group, transition ride, not part of the race) and for the sake of my health, I thought it would be the best idea.

For the rest of the day, I drank and slept in the back of a jeep. I felt nauseous all day and the thought of food was making me heave.

RACE DAY 2 – 10/4/2010

Transistion Stage – Nuwakot to Dhading Besi

Spent the day in the back of a jeep, sleeping. Ate 2 pieces of dry toast at 8pm and a meal replacement drink then went to back to bed at 8:30pm and slept through to 7:30am. As grim as it sounds, I had pretty bad diarrhea. Sorry, bad times!!

Diary quote – “FUC*ING TERRIBLE DAY!!”

RACE DAY 3 – 11/4/2010

Gorka to Besi Sahar – 60km | 1121m of ascent | 1368m of descent

Make or brake really…from what I gathered, Phil (the organiser) had contemplated pulling me out of the race for my own health, and in my own mind, I knew that if I didn’t attempt to finish the stage, then the Yak Attack was over for me…after 1 day of cycling.

I forced 4 pieces of dry toast down myself and managed to keep them down. A good start. I was feeling somewhat better and forced myself back on the bike, not sure how I managed it, but it had to be done.

Within the first 5km, I managed to keep up with the back of the group, then (unsurprisingly) I was dropped and I realised I had no energy/strength whatsoever…it was soul destroying. I found it pretty upsetting in all honesty, I trained my balls off for the event, then due to something out of my own hands, I found myself at the back and the people in front putting huge time/distance into me. It was a pretty lonely place.

In an effort to make up some time, I decided to throw some risks in the first downhill section. I was doing pretty well until I cut a corner pretty sharply and found a local lady with a basket on her head standing in the middle of the jeep track…she didn’t move and my instant reaction was to turn into the 20ft embankment. It hurt…a lot. My right knee, thigh, hip, elbow and neck took the impact and it managed to bend my bar end and rotate my handlebar upwards. Helmets’ are a wonderful thing!!

I turned around to find the woman wetting herself laughing, and it took a while to calm down from this…I wanted to punch her. I kinda lost my confidence for the next 30mins as I took the remaining descent very slowly…

When I got to the ‘updulating’ parts of the course, I had to leave it in the granny ring, I had no energy. 6 pieces of toast in 2 days wasn’t going to get me far. I was now so far behind, I had the locals laughing at me when I crawled through the villages…this didn’t help.

I got to a slight incline (one of MANY) and had to take 5mins for me to gather myself near the top. This incline back at home would be nothing, but it was killing me out there. It was very hot again, but I had no issues drinking water, I just couldn’t keep any gels/bars down…they’d come straight back up.

As I very slowly crept around a corner, I saw someone pushing their bike. As bad as this may sound, I had an instant lift from this. It turned out to be Andy; he had completely sheared the bottom rear stay on his Orange ST4 (I think…). Turns out it’s the second Orange that has failed with him. Understandably, he was completely fu*ked off. A few years ago, he had a pretty big motorbike accident and cause some serious damage to himself, most notably, his back. So, with the prospect of trying to find out if he could source a bike from somewhere, it was looking unlikely that he could get his hands on a full-suss (needed for his back). I stuck around with Andy for the rest of the ride until we found one of the marshals, he phoned ahead and we met up with the van after 90mins of walking. Luckily, the local marshal offered his Giant hardtail and Andy was on his way.

Unfortunately for me, I still wasn’t over my illness and after 45mins of cycling, I had to stop on the side of the road…I was completely empty. I had never felt like this before. I couldn’t even get up the slightest of tarmac inclines in the granny ring. I slumped off my bike with 12km to go and had a long hard think about the rest of the event. I came to the conclusion that if I carried on (I know…only 12km) then I would be in serious trouble and possibly wreck my chances for the remainder of the ‘race’. So, I called for the van to come pick me up, take me to the finish and try get some food and fluid in me. After this stage, it’s only going to get harder I was told. It’ll be inaccessible by van and involved a load of hike/carry/push.

I still think it was the right decision, and I have no regrets about it. I know it was 12km, but it would have taken me hours. So, I was given a 60min penalty. I’ll take that.

Andy went on to finish with the company of a marshal and used the Giant for the remainder of the race.

That night I ate a handful of chips, a couple biscuits, some fruit and a couple slices of potato. It all stayed down, but I still had diarrhea. Sorry.

RACE DAY 4 – 12/4/2010

Besi Sahar to Taal 44km | 1705m ascent (Snowdon is 1,085m) | 815m descent

This is where the previous 3 Yak Attacks started from. Jesus Christ…this was going to hurt!!

Breakfast was uneventful. Dry toast, fruit juice and a couple spoonfuls of porridge…all staying down.

I stayed with the group for around 2km then Andy’s chain on his new Giant XTR2 decided to fail and snap. I decided to wait with him as if I was stuck on my own, then I would take forever to get to the finish. We decided to stick together since our luck had completely run out, so if/when we ran into trouble; we could stick two heads at it. It took 20mins to repair the chain then Andy spent the remaining time adjusting a slipping seatpost…it wasn’t a good start. Although by now, I could at least pedal in the granny ring.

Today was the first sight of some of the amazing snow capped peaks, they were huge. So big, they just didn’t look real…it was weird.

The trail was very ‘updulating’, hot and dusty. It would ruin your drive gear, the chains would fill with sand and dust, making changing gears a nightmare (well, for me…not so much single speed Paul). We got to a bulldozer on the track when we were told Phil (organiser) and the local army that they were blasting a new route…possibly the loudest ‘boom’ I have heard! It echoed down the valley we were in and you could hear it for miles. So…a 30min wait and we were off again. Well, until Andy’s chain snapped…I just burst out laughing for the next 5mins. It seemed that everything was going wrong…luckily, Andy joined in.

It wasn’t long before the first carry section of the event. Luckily, I did take this into account when I trained, and I found I could balance the bike frame on my camelbak which would take the majority of the weight leaving me to just grab the handlebar and seatpost.

15km of carrying later, including some very steep sections, steps, more steep sections (reminded me of the top 5k of Snowdon…ish) and also heavy rain, we got to the finish. It was brutal, but for some reason, I found it easier carrying that cycling. It all kinda passed in a blur too. Thank Christ.

From what I wrote in the diary, it seems as though it had a running theme from day to day…

Day 1 – the hardest day I’ve ever had on a bike.

Day 3 – scrap day 1, this is the hardest day on the bike.

Day 4 – scrap day 3, this is the hardest day on the bike.

So I came to the conclusion that tomorrows stage was going to be the hardest I’ve had, then the next day…etc until I crossed the pass.

Managing to eat more and not throw it back up. Still struggling for energy through the sheer deficit in calories I’ve built up. I could physically see I lost weight too…

RACE DAY 5 – 13/4/2010

Taal to Chame 23km | 1171m ascent | 209m descent

The night before this stage, I wrote – “Only 23km, should be ok…”

Then as soon as I got back from the stage I added – “How wrong was I?…VERY FUC*ING WRNG!!”

Sums it up really. I spent 85-90% of the 23km+ (I got lost for an hour and a bit…jesus!!) carrying the bike.

The track basically was straight forward but they did mention that there were a couple places where you could get lost…but I managed to make it to the point and not see the track turn on itself and carried on a footpath…it went on for ages and when I didn’t see anyone for the best part of 45mins, I started to worry. There were no locals, no travellers, no hikers…nothing. I then turned a corner to find stones being blown off the ridge into the valley below me. They were blowing new footpaths into the route and I knew then, I was going the wrong way. Gutted!! I had to turn around and head back. Luckily I found some locals who pointed me in the right direction. Their grasp of English was basic, so I learnt pretty quickly not to ask “how far to Chame?” as I mentally couldn’t take the range of answers…I had everything from “30 minutes” to “2 days”. It was pretty disheartening.

There was one epic climbing section. It was very steep and had huge drop-offs down to the river/valley. I found this very unnerving when you consider the bike was too wide for the overhanging embankment/trees. It would mean banging the tyre against the obstruction, unbalancing yourself then finding yourself looking at a 200-600m drop. Plus, no-one would know you were gone till the end of the stage. Now, if this wasn’t bad enough…the locals used donkeys to transport goods between towns, so you’d constantly find yourself pinned to the wall in hope they don’t loose it and start charging…an experience to say the least.

By the time I got lost, I managed to loose track of Andy who had pulled over to wait for me further up the track. In the mean time, he went for a crap, only to find his bike moved to the side and he assumed I went past. He spent the day calling me names, and vice versa. I thought he left me.

So the remaining 17km, I was alone. And this took it out of me. Again, I couldn’t cycle up the hills and could only manage to free-wheel down. This was the hardest day.

Although the tea houses were very basic, they were very appealing when you finished the stage. Warmth, food (not so much in my case), water, bed, tepid shower and for me, company again.

Regardless how bad I felt on the stage, within 2mins of arriving at the finish I was in an incredible mood. It was a great feeling seeing the finish line and the rest of the other guys clapping me in (last on all bar one stage). But the next morning is a different matter.

I think I broke the 24hr mark on this day…tough times!! Ajay, the current leader (I think) was just a shade over 11hrs.

Also, as we sat in the tea house, we were talking about other events everyone had done and it came as a surprise that I hadn’t ever done a single mtb race before…too late now.

Also, 2 ½ days of climbing left and the altitude could start to kick in from tomorrow onwards. We were currently at 2,700m (altitude kicks in at 2,500m). Oh, and it was beginning to get colder…was not looking forward to the ritual that was; wake up at 5:45am, pack porter bag, pack sleeping bag into porter bag, back to bed for 90mins, get up, change into gear, breakfast (kinda) and off we go at 9am.

Another 2,700m left and it was going to get harder before it got easier. Sh*t.

RACE DAY 6 – 14/4/2010

Chame to Manang 30km | 1239m ascent | 244m descent

Starting at 2,700m and finishing at 3,500m, this was going to be (surprise, fuc*ing surprise) a tough day.

From yesterdays effort with the whole carrying lark, my shoulder in the morning was pretty sore…nothing to cause problems, but I could feel it aching. A pain killer in the morning before setting off and I was good to go. Although I still wasn’t eating properly, I could feel myself getting somewhat stronger…and thinner.

From my diary, I rode 70%, pushed 15% and carried 15%. The riding was pretty good on the day with some flat sections near the end. It would have been brilliant riding bar the boggy sections where the previous nights rain had settled. But hey, this was not ment to be easy!

I rode with Andy all day and we both started to feel the effects of the altitude. When it came to the hills, we agreed to get off, push and have a breather every 10mins. Seemed to work and I was actually enjoying it at some points.

The views were pretty spectacular as you could clearly see some of the 7km+ peaks all around. It was surreal.

The biggest issue (wouldn’t feel right not to have one every day) was the fact that I managed to get some saddle sores…which were no fun. I’m putting this down to the fact that I changed bib shorts and they gave me some problems. I decided to stick to my Castelli shorts and pile the chamois cream on at any opportunity. Seemed to work.

We were firmly in the middle of no-where at some sections of this stage. The biting cold wind, mountain ranges and snow were a reminder that I was a long way from home.

But…there was a huge draw to finish this day as tomorrow was a rest day. I couldn’t wait to get a day off and try re-gathering myself and patching up the shambles that was my body.

I even managed to get into the mid ring for the first time in 4 days. Pffft.

The stage went by pretty quickly, although it did drag slightly towards the final 5-7km when we passed the smaller villages thinking it was the finishing line…but we got there in the end and just before it started snowing.

You could tell that the altitude was starting to affect the guys when there were murmurs of headaches, tiredness and slight issues with nausea…etc

During the time in Manang, I took an instant shine to noodle soup. This would be my meal for the next 2 days. It was good!!

That night, I was in a 4 season sleeping bag, wore my thick merino socks, my skins, a HH thermal top, a Berghaus fleece and a woolly hat. It was pretty cold at 3,500m.

REST DAY – 15/4/2010

3,500m

The rest day was used to try and acclimatise to the altitude as we were told to continue ascending at the rate we were doing could have fatal consciences. I was more than happy with this. A great idea in fact.

It was spent eating noodle soup, beef Pringles, drinking water, coke & tea and we even managed a 400m ascent walk. It was tough…but good to keep active. Though my thoughts were quickly turning to tomorrows 17km stage, I was feeling a load better and was looking forward to a mostly rideable day.

RACE DAY 7 – 16/4/2010

Manang to Thorong Phedi 17km | 972m ascent | 244m descent

Now, I know I’ve said it for all the stages, but this was in fact…the hardest day.

It started off ok. I was keeping up with the guys until the very first ascent. I had nothing in me to get over it…I had to carry up the stairs, and then push up the hill before stopping for 5mins. I couldn’t get the breath I needed to carry on. Andy was staying with but I didn’t want to hold him back.

To cut it short, I pushed the bike until the final 8km, then I had to give it to Phil (organiser) for him to push. I had nothing in the tank. It broke me. I got to a tea house half way through the stage and ordered a tea and pancake. I ate ¼ of the pancake and put 4 sugars in the tea. I was still in a pretty bad place…well, the worst place. I was told that if I’m thinking of pulling out (which I was) then today would be the day. The final flight home for 5 days was going tomorrow. A tough call, but luckily Andy was with me at the time and said he wasn’t going to persuade me wither way; I was old enough to make that decision myself. He gave me Diamox (to help cope with altitude – he told me that it would take 20mins to kick in…after the race finished; he told me it would take hours). That was the kick in the arse I needed. I walked the entire way to Thorong Phedi. It took me just over 6hrs to do it.

I had a meal replacement drink, a mars bar and headed off to bed with an oxygen mask NOT looking forward to tomorrow’s summit.

RACE DAY 8 – 17/4/2010

Thorong Phedi to Muktinath 18km | 906m ascent | 1748m descent

3:30am wake up call for a 5am start.

I realised after yesterday that there was no way I would be able to carry the bike over the summit so it was organised that the bike was carried over. I wasn’t bothered by this news as I physically couldn’t do it. There was no way I could have carried the bike!

So, within 15mins of walking up the climb (very steep and snakes back and forth), we caught up with Andy. He looked pretty beat, he was struggling with his breathing and was occasionally stumbling with his bike. They decided to take the bike off him and he joined me in walking up. 5km in 4hrs gives you an idea of the speed we did to get to the top, but, it was by far the most spectacular view I have ever seen. It was amazing! We were at 5,416m and we were still being surrounded by 7km+ peaks on all sides. Simply amazing!! And the relief that I had no more extreme climbing was very welcome. It was all (nearly) downhill from here. Headaches were going, pins and needles in my toes and hands were going, swelling in my hands was going down and mostly…I was on my way down. Finally!

The descent came and went in a blur and I even managed to cycle the final 10km(ish) into the finish. The whole stage was done in just over 7hrs. I even include a pathetic fall during the first 100m of riding. Just got a little too excited I think.

Tuna sandwich, chips and a load of pepsi. Happy with that. Two more days left.

RACE DAY 9 – 18/4/2010

Muktinath to Tatopani 70km | 442m ascent | 2834m descent

That’s right, over 2.8km of downhill. Finally.

Basically, it broke forks, brakes, tyres, seatposts and a couple riders.

It was a tough downhill stage with some pretty big rocks, rivers, headwinds, sand, dust, hills, traffic…etc

I enjoyed this, although being the last ‘official’ day of racing, I was glad to get it over and done with and get into the hot springs and chill. I was looking forward to drinking my first beer and eating my bodyweight.

The only notable thing to happen during the day was Andy taking a seriously big off within 1km of the start. I was behind him at the time and it looked pretty nasty. It involved a cartwheel, a couple forward rolls and a bike landing on top of him. He was in serious pain and complained about his kidneys…which in my book (I know sod all) is pretty bad news. Maybe a broken rib? But he soldiered on for 69km and we crossed the line together. Awesome.

Once we crossed the finish line, I went straight into the bar, 1 Everest beer and a chicken sizzler, then down to the hot springs to show off my new cycling tan lines.

Done and done.

I drank some that night and even tasted the famous ‘Egg n Raksi’. It was filth.

RACE DAY 10 – 19/4/2010

Tatopani to Beni 22km

After spending the night drinking and abusing foreigners (well…Germans), I was pretty hung-over and was pleased to find out about the 22km group ride. It was good to finish with the group and we had a laugh. Well, I did. Mostly at the expense of Paul (singlespeed) cycling in the same clothes he had on last night…shorts and a Johnny Cash t-shirt…good effort mate!

It was a weird feeling coming to the end of my first mutli-day endurance event…although it was the hardest thing I have ever done and probably will always be, I was already feeling those post event blues…weird.

Then the 4hr bus journey soon got rid of any feelings I had for the race. Still firmly hung-over.

We had another night out on the town in Beni after our race presentation and trophy awarding. The local press turned up and it was pretty cool to see the local guys ‘clean up’ in the positional stakes. I finished with 48:20:55 on the clock…the winner, Ajay, finished with 22:13:53. Nearly…maybe next year?!

Final top 10 Results for 2010 Yak Attack

1 Ajay Pandit 22:13:53 (Nepal)

2 Kaji Sherpa 22:37:38 (Nepal)

3 Mangal Krishna Lama 23:18:25 (Nepal)

4 Chandra Chhetri 24:03:02 (Nepal)

5 Phil Hystek 26:02:07 (Australia)

6 Paul Errington 28:55:14 (UK)

7 Andreas Danielsson 34:15:24 (Sweden)

7 Martin Stenmarck 34:15:24 (Sweden)

9 Andy Foers 45:51:45 (UK)

10 John Williams 48:20:55 (Wales…Wink )

Flight back to Kathmandu the next day, a couple more beers with Colin from AlpKit, then a taxi to the airport before my flight home.

I lost 7.5kg during the 10 days of racing. Epic. I was only 73-74kg going out.

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