Racing Over The Himalayas

I just receive word that I’m one of 25 international riders to get into the Yak Attack, a 10-stage mtb race around Nepal that goes over a Himalayan pass at nearly 20k feet. Can you say psyched? Instead of me yammering on about a race I’ve never done check out Sonya Looney’s account. She’s a professional mountain bike racer, and first female finisher ever, but was still was so broken down by the rigors of the endeavor that things came to this:



I don’t know if I can promise such detailed and candid race coverage but my friend Rebecca has vowed that “if any of you cry I’m videoing it and pasting it all over the Internet”. So there you have it; if I lose it because I can’t finish the race you’ll get a video courtesy of “The Queen of Pain” that Specialized will make sure gets plenty of action. It very well could happen.

Not that we’re making fun of Sonya because she’s as tough as they come and will kick my ass on a bike any given day. In fact, her blog is so rad it's the highlight of today’s (mid-week ‘cause I was too busy to write anything up last weekend) Psyche. It’s truly a fantastic account of the race and Nepal in general. Having been there I can say she captured it exceedingly well. So sit back, grab a cup o’ chai, and enjoy the ride (or hike-a-bike)...

Sonya Looney’s Yak Attack blog: Welcome to Nepal

It’s a long read and she posted it one day at a time (so you need to scroll forward). I savored it a couple of stages at a time.

Photos: Paul Topham and Jeremy Dean