Max Altitude - 2200m
Riding time – 4.5 hours
The conclusion to a great trip was the Nepal Mountain Bike Champs. About 80 competitors lined up at the start, including about 20 foreigners from Europe, Asia and the antipodes. It was a reasonably professional set up, with a start and finish chute and the course marked out reasonably clearly. The start of the race was frenetic with a climb to get things underway. Once I cleared the traffic I made good progress through the field and settled into a position in the top 10, and third in the masters division. It was amazing weaving through tiny villages with kids screaming along the road. The race had a few things I had not encountered before: lots of dogs, water buffalo and people walking on the track carrying buckets or hay. At one point I came around a corner and had to jump over a small calf that was lying on the road.The race lasted just over an hour and I managed third place, which was great for me as my technical skills are not that great on a mountain bike. The altitude training had no doubt helped. There was an official presentation and photo shoot for media, and we tucked into a post race meal of dahl baht (vegetable curry) which was an interesting selection.
After the festivities half a dozen of the foreigners decided to go back to town through the mountains – anther three hours of riding in technical terrain. I was travelling OK until I went over the handlebars (was making a habit of it) on a steep downhill and decided it was then time to find some tarmac.
When I got back to town I picked up my finisher’s t-shirt and trophy and dropped my bike off at the shop. It would be the last time I would see it, and I was promised that my money would be ready for me in the morning. I did some initial packing, washed the mud off my panniers and headed out to dinner with a couple of people I had met. I had a few beers and said goodbye to Nepal.
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