Imagine climbing to the dizzying heights of 5,416 metres above sea level while navigating over 500 kilometres of mountainous terrain over the course of 10 days in one of the most remote areas on the planet.听
Now throw in temperature fluctuations, mechanical issues, unfamiliar food, and a lack of clean clothing and rest and you get what is widely considered one of the toughest mountain bike races on the planet鈥搕he Yak Attack.
The vomit-inducing race in Nepal comes as advertised, just ask Cory Wallace, who was found lying in a ditch unable to finish the race in 2014 because of severe stomach cramps.
After skipping last year鈥檚 race, Wallace vowed to return in 2016 to redeem himself and prove his mantle as one of Canada鈥檚 best mountain bike riders.
Not only did he manage to avoid getting sick this time, but he also managed to crush the race, clinching first overall and becoming the first foreigner to win the race in its 10-year history.
鈥淲inning this race was one of my top five goals,鈥� said Wallace, who is sponsored by Kona Bikes and Freewheel Cycle.听 鈥淭here are only two stage races that I haven鈥檛 finished, this one and the BC Bike Race when I crashed and had a concussion.鈥�
The first part of the race included five stages and followed the Annapurna Circuit, one of Nepal鈥檚 most popular hiking treks. The second part of the race, which was added to celebrate the race鈥檚 10th anniversary, included four more stages in the Upper Mustang, a remote and isolated region in Nepal that was a restricted demilitarized area until 1992.
The first stage was a 32-km time trial through the jungle and rice patties around Besisahar, Nepal, the gateway to the Himalayas.
鈥淚 had a really bad day that day,鈥� recalled Wallace, who finished fourth after struggling with flat tires.
Down eight minutes heading into the toughest stage of the race, Wallace鈥檚 demons from 2014 returned to haunt him when he went to bed that night.听
鈥淚 was having flashbacks from 2014,鈥� said Wallace. 鈥淚 went to bed and woke up after two hours and was just feeling sick and a little anxious because the next day was the biggest stage of the race and I knew if I had a bad day the race would be over.鈥�
Using a tube in the front tire and an extra patch in the rear, Wallace crossed his fingers that his bike would hold up as he ascended a 65-km route into the heart of the Himalayas.
For the first hour Wallace tentatively followed the lead pack, worried that another catastrophic meltdown or flat tire would derail his race, but about half way through the stage his body started firing on all cylinders and he managed to catch the leaders before hightailing it past them to secure an 18-minute lead heading into the third stage.
鈥淚 think a lot of it was because I had adapted to the altitude,鈥� said Wallace. 鈥淚 had spent three weeks before the race in India and Nepal up high in the mountains.鈥�
The next two stages continued to go in Wallace鈥檚 favour as he dieseled his way past Yaks wandering around dusty streets, donkeys carrying supplies up mountains and loads of tea houses for weary travellers.
Stage five started with a five-km 鈥渉ike a bike鈥� over Thorlong Pass, which is 5,416 m above sea level, before launching down a wild single-track descent down to the village of Muktinath. 听
To make things even sketchier, organizers were adamant the race would start at 4 a.m. to try and avoid the 鈥渨ind鈥� at up top of the pass.
鈥淯sually the race runs in March so there鈥檚 always snow up in that pass so it takes guys 2.5 hours to get up there and then the daylight hits and then you can go down the descent fine,鈥� said Wallace.
鈥淚 think the organizers had that mindset still, but when I looked at it this year it was dry and going to be fast, so I started doing the math and we were going to go over the top in the dark, so we tried to get organizers to change the time but they wouldn鈥檛.鈥�
Unable to convince the organizers to change the start time, he accepted his fate and after a couple of hours of sleep he woke up at 2:30 a.m. to prep for the pass.
By 5:30 a.m. (an hour-and-a-half into the race), Wallace was already cresting the pass and onto the epic descent.
鈥淚t was still pitch dark, cold and sketchy as hell as I couldn鈥檛 see a lot with my pocket headlamp,鈥� Wallace wrote on his blog. 鈥淵ou could only see five feet ahead of you.鈥�
By 6:10 a.m. Wallace had arrived in Muktinath where the finish line was suppose to be, but the race official was no where to be seen.
After riding around in circles for a bit he decided to make his own finish line and started time keeping for the rest of the riders.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e all small towns with one street on them so I figured this was the finish line and pulled out my phone and started the stopwatch and took time for the first six or seven guys,鈥� said Wallace.
Despite the unforeseen circumstances, Wallace still managed to hold onto his 15-minute lead to win the stage.
With four stage wins under his belt and a comfortable lead going into the final four stages of the race, Wallace decided to change tactics for the final phase.
鈥淢y goal was to stay with the leader and let him take all the chances,鈥� said Wallace.
鈥淚 was feeling really good, but was just trying to stay out of trouble.鈥�
In a stroke of good luck, his tires that he had been waiting on for weeks finally arrived from Kathmandu. Unfortunately, they were the cheapest, most paper-thin tires possible and not what he had ordered.
Worried about the rocky terrain that lay ahead, Wallace asked two of the riders who were no longer in contention if he could use their spare tubes and they happily obliged.
鈥淚 had been on the road for three-and-a-half months so my stuff was getting worn out, so I order these new ones from India because it was so close and they said three or four days, but it took close to three-and-a-half weeks for the tires to come and they sent the totally wrong ones,鈥� said Wallace.
鈥淭hey were a super-light weight tubes that would just detonate on any rock up there,鈥� he said with a chuckle. 鈥淚 got two spare tires off a couple of my buddies, which was a huge relief because I could ride normal again.鈥�
With fresh tubes, Wallace stayed close to the leader during stage six, which included a climb overlooking Dhaulagiri, the seventh-highest mountain in the world.
The final two stages of the race were relatively straightforward as Wallace took things easy to avoid any catastrophes while keeping an eye on his closest competitor.
Along the way racers got a day off to explore cave dwellings up on the edge of Tibet听and even got a chance to watch a Yak being butchered.
After 11 days up in the mountains, Wallace won the overall title by a comfortable 13 minutes to become the first foreigner to win in the race鈥檚 10-year history.
Reflecting on his win, he said it will go down as one of his all time greats.
鈥淐oming here in 2014, I got hit by all the x factors and didn鈥檛 finish the race, but it gave me the knowledge and the experience for what it would take to win it,鈥� said Wallace.
鈥淚t鈥檚 rough, hard, and a struggle at times, but the payoff is big in the form of insane views, an inside look into some ancient cultures and the experience of seeing how the mountain people of Nepal make a living in such a harsh environment.鈥�
Wallace will spend the next two weeks earning some money in Grande Prairie before enjoying the holidays with friends and family in Jasper. He will begin training again for next season in California at the end of January.
Paul Clarke [email protected]
