# Silk Road Mountain Race



## User169 (22 Aug 2019)

Two time TCR winner James Hayden got held up last night up a mountain in Kyrgyzstan by two dudes on horseback! He managed to get away fortunately. Makes TCR look a little tame.


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## User169 (22 Aug 2019)

Fascinating race by the way. 

Lael Wilcox and Jay Petervary seem to be neck and neck in 3rd and 4th place which could lead to some awkwardness at the checkpoints.


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## Crackle (22 Aug 2019)

I was just catching up on this this morning. Didn't read anything about the holdup so I presume that's on his own account somewhere.

https://www.silkroadmountainrace.cc/
https://bikepacking.com/plog/2019-silk-road-mountain-race-report-1/
https://www.instagram.com/silkroadmountainrace/?hl=en


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## User169 (22 Aug 2019)

Crackle said:


> I was just catching up on this this morning. Didn't read anything about the holdup so I presume that's on his own account somewhere.
> 
> https://www.silkroadmountainrace.cc/
> https://bikepacking.com/plog/2019-silk-road-mountain-race-report-1/
> https://www.instagram.com/silkroadmountainrace/?hl=en



It's in your third link - click on the photo of James..

_"While climbing the Kadzhi-Sai canyon section of the route, James was stopped by two horse riders with dogs. Without going into details, James quickly realised the situation was not friendly and things escalated fast into an attempted robbery. James was eventually able to get away from the two horse riders by descending back the way he came. The incident has left James a bit shaken, he will take some time to consider next steps. This is sadly an isolated incident in what is a wonderful country."_


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## Crackle (22 Aug 2019)

DP said:


> It's in your third link - click on the photo of James..
> 
> _"While climbing the Kadzhi-Sai canyon section of the route, James was stopped by two horse riders with dogs. Without going into details, James quickly realised the situation was not friendly and things escalated fast into an attempted robbery. James was eventually able to get away from the two horse riders by descending back the way he came. The incident has left James a bit shaken, he will take some time to consider next steps. This is sadly an isolated incident in what is a wonderful country."_


I'd just clicked on the pictures, shallow I know.


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## steveindenmark (22 Aug 2019)

It makes TCR look tame.

Last year one of the guys in TCR was in a punch up on a garage forecourt to get his bike back from a thief.

We have a new kid on the block. Rookie rider Jakub Slaican from Slovakia is leading the race by a big margin and has been in the front 3 riders all the race.

James is clearly shaken by his experience and has been at CP3 for a long time now. He was hoping for a top 5 finish and will have to make a decision pretty quickly to make that a reality. 

As a recently married man he has more than himself to think about now and I think that will come into his final decision.


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## User169 (23 Aug 2019)

James back on the road..
_
“Back on the road today. Can’t say I’m too happy about it.. In fact, I’m really annoyed. I spent a whole year sinking everything into preparing for this race for it to be taken away from me. I’ve had a day to rest but by no means am I feeling fresh. I pushed myself hard, and by stopping for this long, the body starts to shut down and the pain comes out. It’s torture. Hopefully the fun comes back soon..”_


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## Crackle (24 Aug 2019)

Interview with the winner - pretty down to earth!

https://bikepacking.com/plog/jakub-sliacan-srmr-interview/


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## contadino (24 Aug 2019)

What a great outlook. A breath of fresh air nowadays. Thanks.


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