Most would consider riding 1700 kilometres over the world’s toughest terrain in 5 days an impossible feat, but for 55-year-old Guy Jennings from Noordhoek, Cape Town, this was the ultimate challenge. And on Saturday, 31 August, Guy completed this mammoth undertaking, placing 34th out of 144 competitors in the 2019 Silk Road Mountain Race.
“This is billed the toughest mountain bike race in the world, so I had to try it. I was also keen to explore a new country, and I love mountains, so it was the ideal challenge!”
The Silk Road Mountain Race is a fixed route, unsupported, single-stage cycling race through the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Leaving Bishkek on 17 August, competitors followed long-forgotten old soviet roads with very little tarmac. Every cyclist carries food and kit and is responsible for their course planning so as not to run out before any of the three checkpoints.
The Capetonian adventurer has had a lot of experience with endurance racing, having competed in 11 Comrades Marathons and three 7-Day Desert Runs. His love for exploring new territories has also seen him completing the 230-kilometre Jungle Ultra Marathon through the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, as well as the world’s longest winter ultra-marathon – The Iditarod Trail Invitational in Alaska.
(Adapted from the original article by Agnes Matladi, source: goodthingsguy.com)
