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On March 1, 2007, approximately 21 mountain bikers, racers and officials congregated in Besi Sahar, not far away from beautiful lake city of Pokhara in Nepal, all vying for the title of "KING/QUEEN OF THE MOUNTAINS" in the inaugural running of Yak Attack. 
The event which has attracted mainly British and Nepalese contingent, is set to decide the long standing dilemma of who is the fastest over a varied mountainous terrain, foot or bike. Starting at 800m, all competitors climb over four and a half days of 5416meter to cross the Thorungla Pass. Up to this point it appeared though that the runners may have an advantage over the MTB'ers, who had to push/carry their bikes over some technical sections and endure a four hour carry to cross the pass.
Here is the full report
STAGE I Besi Sahar - Bahundanda
800m to 1294m, Altitude gain 494m,12.7 miles,Cumulative climb - 760m
After an opening ceremony involving a hindu blessing and presentation of a flower garland to each competitor, the Chief District Officer of Lamjung cut the ribbon to start the first ever Yak Attack.
With a rolling start along the sealed road of Besi Sahar main street, the bikers quickly left the runners behind. The route soon changed to rough jeep track and then to single track, roughly following the river to Bulbule, where competitors crossed on a long suspension bridge.
The top Nepali riders were able to open up a gap on the rest of the field but, with the terrain rising rapidly in the last 4 miles, runner Hari Rokaya was able to capitalize and overtake all but two riders.
The UK team put in an excellent performance, all finishing the stage in less than the estimated time. Rob Jarman's Team 'Berghaus Extreme' stood him in good stead on the rocky sections, allowing him to build an approximate 1 minute lead over the next UK rider. Geoff Bamber, the sole UK runner finished strongly to pip the next Nepali runner to the finish line.
"Being chased by children armed with water bombs and coloured flour (Happy Holi Festival) was a big incentive to run faster" confided the London financier, Geoff Bamber. "Although that final climb was pretty brutal!" he added.
Phil Evans, the only British veteran, had contracted a stomach infection in Kathmandu and finished second from last. He admitted that his race preparation hadn't exactly gone to plan; "A cheese sandwich and a bowl of soup in two days isn't the carbo loading I had in mind, but at least I have finished stage one and haven't been to the toilet in at least two hours!" he joked.
RESULT
Suresh K Dulal (b) 1.41.03
Chandra b Chhetri (b) 1.50.13
Hari Rokaya (r) 1.50.38
STAGE II Bahundanda - Danaqu
1294m to 2226m, Altitude gain 932m, 28.1 miles, Cumulative climb - 1800m
A technical downhill start enabled Rob Jarman to open up a lead over the rest of the riders for over 15 minutes. Hari Rokaya, however, soon proved why he is in the Guiness Book of Records, running past Rob within minutes and never looking back to finish in under 4 hours. Unfortunately for Rob, the terrain soon started to climb and all but one of the Nepali riders caught and overtook him.
After the initial 500m descent, a gruelling day entailed, with the majority of the rest of the course requiring push or carry for bikers. Phil Statsiw commented; "This is the hardest physical thing I have ever done and I'm not even halfway yet!". He was, in fact, less than a quarter of the way through the stage.
Geoff Bamber excelled over the mountainous terrain, being 3rd runner and 4th overall.
The remainder of the UK entrants suffered in the 29 degree C heat, carrying their bikes for over 20 miles. Rob Jarman headed the UK riders in with 7 hours 45 minutes, with Phil Evans 2 minutes behind. Phil Stasiw rolled in 38 minutes later and Nic Cole, who found today's stage the hardest, came in 22 minutes later. "I have to go and lie down" said Nic crossing the finish line.
The first rider, Suresh Kumar Dulal, is proving why he is six times National Nepal Champion, but, with two and a half days more strenuous climbing to come, he is going to find it hard to stay with running legend Hari Rokaya.
RESULT
Hari Rokaya (r) 3.50.03
Ratna Man Gurung (r) 5.02.10
Suresh k Dulal (b) 5.02.53
STAGE III Danaqu - Manang
2226m to 3532m, Altitude gain 1306m, 35.4 miles, Cumulative climb 2000m
Stage 3 was always going to be tough with an overall gain of 1300 metres, but low lying snow made progress extremely hard work.
A terrain that should have put the advantage with the riders was again, for a large percentage, unrideable, allowing Hari Rokaya to extend his lead coming into Manang.
Yesterdays cumulative climbing of over 1800m had taken its toll on the UK team. Geoff Bamber awoke with a swollen knee and accompanied Rob Jarman for the day who had also injured his knee whilst climbing yesterday. Rob had to ride most of the day one legged and resigned himself to the fact that his race for a placing was all but over. When he and Geoff rolled in nearly 12 hours later Rob quipped
"On paper this looked like a very tough race, in reality its much harder than that!!"
Nic Cole was suffering from severe fatigue and found the going very hard today but he and Phil Stasiw came in in 10.5 hours
"The riding was good through Chame" said Phil " But as soon as we got higher the snowline appeared and it turned into a tourturous 10 hour ordeal of pushing, carrying and suffering. We only arrived just before dusk to the whistles and clapping of Hari Rokaya. It was emotional"
Phil Evans, fully recovered from his stomach upset, headed home the UK field in 9hrs 23mins.
Chhimi Gurung, the event manager commented
"Today was a real dawn till dusk challenge"
RESULT
Hari Rokaya (r) 4.52.30
Suresh K Dulau (b) 6.11.21
Pasang Sherpa (b) 6.19.42
The results at the halfway stage are:-
Hari Rokaya (runner) 10.38.03
Suresh Kumar Dulal 12.53.24
Pasang Sherpa 14.31.54
Ajay P Chhetri 14.42.04
Ratna Man Gurung (R) 14.44.50
Ang Gelu Sherpa 15.01.15
Chandra G Chhetri 15.11.35
Padam Sabenhang 15.55.26
Phil Evans 19.34.33
Geoff Bamber (R) 19.49.43
Sonam Gurung 20.00.03
Phil Stasiw 21.10.39
Nic Cole 21.37.19
Rob Jarman 21.44.04
STAGE IV Manang to Thorong Phedi
3526m to 4525m, 10.53 miles, 1185m cumulative climb
Even after the rest day in Manang this stage was never going to be easy, not with 10 miles at high altitude in fresh snow.
But yet again Hari Rokaya showed that he is in a different league, romping up to Thorong Phedi in less than 2.5 hours, over 30 minutes before the first rider, Pasang Sherpa.
Geoff Bamber, fully recovered from his knee injury, really excelled over the 1100m climb and finished in 5th place in 3hrs 37mins.
The UK riders rode the stage together for moral support, all suffering to some degree from the altitude. Bright sun, soft snow and diminishing oxygen levels all contributed to the "less acclimatised riders" toils proving why it is always going to be so hard to keep with the local participants.
Phil Stasiw commented; "This is no longer an MTB versus runner race, it's man against nature and nature seems to have the upper hand".
When the UK riders finally arrived 7hrs 03mins after the start, Suresh, the leading Nepali rider said
"The english riders have good technical skills, but I think they are too soft!!".
RESULT
Hari Rokaya (r) 2.25.25
Pasang Sherap (b) 3.07.31
Ratna Man Gurung 3.15.32
STAGE V Thorong Phedi to Jomsom
4525m to 5416m to 2748m, 1.9 miles to top of pass - 19.46 miles total
The toughest day of the race unfolded today.
A 4am start was necessary to ensure all participants were over the Thorong La pass before the late morning wind blew in.
Yet again fresh snow made progress extremely slow and in places treacherous. With a steep 1000m climb over 1.9 miles the advantage was always going to be with the runners and with the upper part of the fast downhill trail covered in deep snow and unrideable, Hari Rokaya all but secured his first place. He finished in 4hrs and 50mins, 1hr and 3mins in front of the first rider Ang Gelu Sherpa, whose time was 5hrs 53mins.
Pasang Sherpa, normally a high altitude climber, put in an astounding time of 40mins for the dangerous snow covered descent to Muktinath and was in minutes of catching Hari with the best of the riding for the day to come. 3 punctures in a very short distance however thwarted his attempt to beat the legendary runner but he still managed to finish in 3rd place overall.
Geoff Bamber was once again the first UK entrant coming home in 9hrs 19mins.
After being spread out during the climb the UK riders consolidated on the treacherous downhill trail and rode into Jomson together in 10hrs 38mins. Nic Cole and Phil Stasiw however had earlier elected to have their bikes portered over the pass,due to the severe effects of the altitude, so only Rob Jarman and Phil Evans qualified for a finishing time.
Hari Rokaya is now 4hrs 43mins ahead of his nearest rival Suresh Dulal Kumar, who joked
"The only way I can now win is if you extend the race to include an extra 80km road ride from Beni to Pokhara and even then I'm not sure I could catch him!!"
RESULT
Hari Rokaya 4.50.45
Ang Gelu Sherpa 5.53.05
Pasang Sherpa 6.03.03
STAGE VI Jomsom to Tatopani
2748m to 1236m, 29.87 miles, Cumulative climb 364m
Suresh K Dulal needed a miracle today to give him any chance of being in reach of Hari Rokaya on the final day.
A flowing 20 mile descent along recently constructed jeep track and along a wide dry river bed allowed him to build a considerable margin over the mountain runner. However a final 10 miles of technical rocky trails and a broken chain half an hour from the finish enabled Hari to cut the lead for the day down to 1hr 20mins, giving him a 3hr 20min advantage going into the final 12 mile stage.
Phil Stasiw, seemingly recovered from from a bout of "welsh illness" and heard groaning in the morning "I dont know if I will even be able to complete todays stage I feel so ill",
stormed home in 6th place overall in 3.57.42. He is the only UK entrant to finish ahead of Hari Rokaya in any stage.
Nic Cole and Phil Evans finished just under an hour later in 4.50, followed 40 minutes later by Rob Jarman carrying his recurring knee injury.
Geoff Bamber again put in a sterling performance to cover the 30 mile stage in 5.56 mins. "Im sure that is the hardest 30 miles I've ever run and not something I ever want to do again" said the ironman contestant a few minutes after finishing in Tatopani.
Later in the day all the competitors took advantage of a luxurious soak in the natural hot springs close to the guesthouse in Tatopani.
Rob Jarman confided he hadn't had a wash for 6 days.
"A good soak in the hot water has made me feel human again and I'm sure I can now win the final stage and maybe snatch overall victory" joked the Team Berghaus Extrem rider.
RESULT
Suresh K Dulal (b) 3.06.16
Padam Sabennhang (b) 3.17.53
Pasang Sherpa (b) 3.30.33
STAGE VII Tatopani to Beni
1236m to 796m, 13.27 miles
A party atmosphere developed the race as the competitors left Tatopani for the comparatively short stage to Beni.
The overall placings were all but decided but this was one of the most closely contested stages of the race.
With 85% rideability and a very fast final 8 miles, Suresh K Dulal continued his consistency finishing first in 1hr 21mins but only 9 minutes of ahead of the young up and coming rider Padam Sabennhang.
If Hari Rokaya had known how close he was to breaking 24 hours for the whole Annapurna circuit he may have pushed a little harder on this final day, but as it was he cruised into Beni in 1hr 55mins, victorious and 2hrs 55 mins ahead of his closest rival, 6 times Nepal National cycling champion Suresh K Dulal.
The UK riders grouped together and rode into Beni in good spirits, enjoying the 30mph final descent and finishing in 1hr 58mins, only 3 mins off the main Nepali pack of riders.
Nic Cole upon crossing the line said; "On days 2 and 3 in particular I thought I was not going to finish and never wanted to see another mountain bike or mountain ever again, but these final 2 days have more than made up for that and hopefully the nightmares wont be too recurrent!"
Geoff Bamber had the toughest day, having run the equivalent of at least 3 marathons on mountainous terrain in less than 7 days. It was a long hot and hard 13 mile finish for him.
Coming into Beni to the claps and cheers of hundreds of local onlookers in a repectable 2hrs 22mins Geoff croaked; "I think that qualifies me for at least 1 Everest beer!"
RESULT
Suresh K Dulal (b) 1.21.06
Padam Sabennhang (b) 1.32.06
Pasang Sherpa (b) 1.40.45
THE FINAL RESULT OF YAK ATTACK 2007
Hari Rokaya (r) 24.05.45
Suresh K Dulal (b) 27.00.03
Pasang Sherpa (b) 28.53.11
Ang Gelu Sherpa (b) 30.24.20
Ajay P Chhetri (b) 31.24.10
Ratna Man Gurung (r) 32.53.14
Padam Sabennhang (b) 34.30.49
Chandra B Chhetri (b) 35.29.20
Geoff Bamber (r) 41.05.03
Sonaom Gurung (b) 41.22.45
Phil Evans (b) 44.15.20
Phil Stasiw (b) 44.49.17
Nic Cole (b) 46.02.44
Rob Jarman (b) 46.54.21 |
