Most people would consider riding 1 700km over some of the world’s toughest terrain in 15 days an impossible feat, but for 55-year-old Noordhoek resident Guy Jennings, this was the ultimate challenge.
And on Saturday August 31, he completed the 2019 Silk Road Mountain Race, placing 34th out of 144 competitors and is the first South African to succeed in this adventure.
Mr Jennings described the race as “very, very hard but beautiful”. The Silk Road Mountain Race is a fixed-route, unsupported, single-stage cycling race through the mountains of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. “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!”
Discussing his preparation for the Silk Road Mountain Race, Mr Jennings said he did a lot of strength training including long rides and hill training.
“I would also do big weekends with eight to nine hours on the bike and then a two-to-four mountain run or hike,” he said.
Next up on his list of adventures is a race in Costa Rica in January or Morocco in February next year.
