The Race:
With
eyes straining to catch a glimpse of what color jersey might appear from
the exit of 'The Tunnel' perched high above at the
exit of Raniban forest, spectators of the second race in the Himalayan Mountain
Bike Race Series waited far below in the valley at the end of gritty, knarly
switchback trails that riders had to negotiate to reach the finish line.
The last 2 kilometers would see the leading riders nudge a treacherous speed
of 60kms/hour to claim the maximum number of points towards their tally
in the Series.
Watching the 3rd and final lap in the 33km race of the open/seniors section
the lead had changed twice on the approach to the finish line in the earlier
two laps. Suresh Kumar Dulal had shot from the tunnel
in is vibrant blue HMB jersey
on lap one with a 30second lead on the Slovenian biker Tomaz. The next 11kms
locked them in a dual for first place inside Raniban Forest, during lap
two. Tomaz had eased seconds ahead of Dulal. Five kilometers of consistent
climbing on rutted, rocky post monsoon ripped trails whilst adding an almost
dizzy 400-meter altitude gain from the valley floor, was the time to dig
deep into the reserves & will to advance on fellow racers. It was the
turn of Tomaz in his bright green jersey, negotiating the red mud steps
above the Tunnel to emerge 5 seconds ahead of the Nepali mountain biker.
Both had taken falls along the steep descents and the abrasions & blood
told the unspoken story of their determined efforts to gain the lead and
hold it.
The crowds eagerly gathered in the race compound, listening to aerobic pumping
music to spur on the racers for those few sections as they flashed through
the 100 meters of dirt road. They'd waited 38 minutes for the leading riders
to complete their last lap and the roadside barriers were lined with photographers
& applaud from their supporters. Groups gathered around those with binoculars
giving a commentary to the eager spectators wanting news of every move the
leading bikers made & the many others that followed. Once in sight of
the spectators the finish line it would be less than a minute away before
the winners ribbon would be broken by the oxygen starved & heaving chest
of the Race Champion for the day. China Lama in third place was trailing
by some 3minutes and so main focus was on the result of the battle for first.
For the day there was five race categories and three had
been raced and won earlier in the day having started at 11am. Twelve nations
were represented with a total field of 126 mountain bikers. Amazingly, many
riders were not prepared for the day with many not carrying puncture repair
kits or pumps, which are a constant companion in any racing. This resulted
in a number of competitors not finishing the course due to mechanic troubles.
Again, even with Dashain holidays underway and many students heading home
for the festivities, thirteen of Kathmandu's top schools still arrived to
compete for the Inter-Schools Mountain Bike Trophy. This
was two schools more than the first race in September and the word seemed
to be filtering amongst students to get their bikes and legs ready for the
Himalayan Mountain Bike Champ's & the first ever schools event in this
now Olympic sport.
Race One, had seen strong riding from Little Angels as their five riders
filled the first ten places. With 20 points awarded to each student for
racing as well as the 100 points awarded to the winning school based on
the aggregate time of the first three riders from each school, there was
a maximum score of 200 points to be claimed for the top school of the day.
This would be added to the results of Sept 9th to determine the over race
leader following Race 2.
Again, it was the motivated riders of Little Angels supported by an active
Sports Master (that had been planning their training program), that stood
on the winner's stage, school flag proudly in hand, to receive their winners
gold medallions and Certificates and also taking a firm grip on the overall
series trophy.
The British School took out second place and LRI School third. These three
schools were now the overall leaders of the competition and only 40 points
separated each school on the approach to Race 3 on 11th November. Although
Little Angels had secured two wins in as many races as we approached the
final event on 11th November the series winner was still open to be won
by several schools if any of the top 3 faltered.
Enthusiasm is a contagious emotion and a race audience of 100's had gathered
to see the start of the Interschool, Juniors Race and Women's Event. The
Start / Finish line was packed to capacity 30minutes prior to the scheduled
race starting time of 11:00am, all vying for pole position to ensure a speedy
& clear start. Race organizes had to send them back to the shade of
the Race Marquee and out of the sunny conditions, only for them to reappear
15 minutes later.
The Junior's category saw some spirited performances and
a swap in the leaders standings following race one. It was the 15 year old
Rajendra Khadka, a full time bike mechanic, with Himalayan
Mountain Bike that claimed first place on this occasion after finishing
3rd in Race One and Sanjeev Thapa claimed the 2nd step
on the awards stage after having claimed the leaders Yellow Jersey in Race
One. For Rabindra Adhakari, this was his first mountain
bike championship and only started his biking some 5 months earlier. In
race one mechanical troubles dashed his hopes of finishing. He'd made up
for lost time now and had secured a well-deserved third place. The overall
series winner for the Junior's is now wide open and certainly will be determined
by the final event.
For the Women's Category there is still some more encouragement
needed in the sport amongst our biking females given the disappointing turn
up of these athletes, although there is many more sports minded women riding
bikes around Kathmandu than decided to complete. All the same a small field
saw a challenging course tackled by the same leading riders from Race One.
Outstanding riding by Nepali mountain biker Sarswoti Bhujel
claimed her 2 win from two races, keeping Kate Thompson
in second place, and she now heads the leaders board with 240 points and
20 points ahead of Kate from the United Kingdom.
The Over 40's mountain bikers in the Seniors Category saw
a strong field of veteran mountain bikers riding the same course as the
open category and a largely foreign race field made up of men that have
been working in Nepal for some years on various aid programs. Having ridden
the Valley for some years the terrain of Nepal was familiar to them although
the HMB-C course was somewhat more technical than the majority of trails
faced in their weekly training rides.
It was the strong Dutch rider Nico Vreeken that had now put in two consistent
rides who crossed the finish line first with visiting Australian rider David
Wells second. Vreeken's fellow countryman and riding companion Willam Boer
securing 4th place. Nico & Willam had also claimed top positions in
race one, although their times and been slashed from their previous performances.
A great result was seen from Nepali rider and first time racer Gyanmani
Ray who rode himself into 3rd place with a strong performance.
Meanwhile……….. back in the open event everyone
was shading their eyes from the sun and perfect weather conditions, to find
if it was a blue or green jersey that would negotiate the sharp right bend
with brakes on full lock along the narrow, slippery single track of the
tunnel. With less than 2 kilometers to complete the 33.4 km, 3 lap circuit
and having been racing for just on 1hr 54minutes it was Tomaz that the binoculars
picked up first moving towards his final descent. All things being equal,
whoever could manage the rugged descent best, given their fatigue, would
surely be the winner. Counting off the seconds…. 14, 15, 16, 17….18!
it was now Dulal in second place and the first Nepal rider through. Both
riders were 21 years of age and also shared the same determinations to win,
however on the final exit from the tunnel it was Dulal's
front brake cable that gave out and the next few switchbacks of downhill
added a further 50 second deficit to his time whilst Tomaz Volcic
showed his speedy Slovenian style to take the finish line, arms raised,
in first place with a 68 second advantage.
Suresh Dulal claimed 2nd place and 110 points to his Series
tally. This was one of the closest fought races in the history of Seven
Himalayan Mountain Championships with two riders' only seconds apart over
a hotly contested 33.4 kms.
In third place China Lama had gained some time and finished
third 1min 51sec behind his fellow Nepali rider Suresh.
This was in many ways a replay of the first race of the HMB-C on Sept 9th
when local rider and professional mountain bike guide Ranjan Rajbhandari
held first place for the first two laps until UK rider Richard Shirley stole
first place during the last lap. It was Dulal, also a mountain bike guide
with HMB, who was 'on-tour' during first event that kept him out of the
event and now in race two it was Rajbhandari turn to miss a race due to
tours. Both had now secured a second place whilst first places had gone
to visiting riders. The third and final event (11th Nov) would see all Nepal's
top riders back in Kathmandu for the main & deciding event.
Several
of our top placed Nepali riders in Round ONE will be absent from the event
as they are on duty leading mountain bike tours throughout Nepal & Tibet.