Taklimakan Desert Rally, Final Update

Hi All…..to continue on with my Urumqi Bike Adventure. – Final update.

The next day after the 69km stage was a rest day, all the bikes were checked again and repaired where necessary and we headed out for a 240km ride to the to the next stage start.

This was a very straight sealed rode, heading into the desert, the plan was to get to the start, camp somewhere and then race the next morning.

Well, we were late leaving so when we got to the turn off point for a 40km ride across the sand to the riverbed start, it was around 10pm and dark, to dangerous to ride in soft sand, especially for 40 km.

After some organizational difficulties, it was decided to spend the night just off the road and ride in the morning.

We finally got organized and got the tents up around 1am, it was a beautiful clear night, and you could see the stars, no wind. no need for the outer fly on the tent. I was in a tent on my own and I found out my pegs were missing, however it was such a nice night, not to worry.

Well by 3am a sand storm started, the wind was up and we all were in danger of blowing away, if I had gotten out of my tent everything would have blown away, with the fierce wind , with no pegs the tent just wrapped around me, had to just stay put, well it goes without saying, we all did not get much sleep. .

The storm died out around 6am, we had to be up and drive the 40km across the sand to the start of the race, the stage started around 9-30. After all getting organized, we finally got away around 7am.

The 40 km was very tough, the sand storm and covered all the tracks with loose sand and the 40 km took us over 2hrs, we arrived and was quickly told we had to report to the race start.

Great, not much sleep, no real food, and we were off to race 240km up a dry river bed, was I crazy or something.

This was the signature stage of the race, straight up the heart of the Taklimakan Desert just gotta do this. This is why we came.

At the start my stomach was in my mouth again, very nervous, the wind had picked up again and we were in for another sand storm.

The widest part of the riverbed was 6km, the narrowest 2, with thousands of km’s each side to get lost in, I had plenty of water, there was a fuel truck waiting for us at 150m, so I was as prepared as I would ever be under the circumstances.

3 of us this time to start together, soon lost these 2, wind had picked up and you could not see a thing.

The terrain was real tricky, the river has only a little water in it for 2 months of the year, so there were soft patches mixed up with the deep dry sand, also the water that flowed and was last to dry up, left deep holes throughout the area, which you just could not see.

One minute all looked flat, then suddenly a deep hole that could be as big as 1 to 5 meters across and 1 to 3 deep, turned p in front of you, well if your too late stopping you just went straight in hoping to stay on.

I only stayed on about 50% of the time with many times flying over the handle bars.

These holes, the sand storm, the deep sand, all made for an exciting ride...

About 140km and around the 4hr mark, I came across the fuel trucks, 2 very big trucks, but very hard to find in a sand storm and open dessert., 2 foreigners in front of me and me on time. All looking good.

From the fuel truck I could see Max about 200m away out in the desert, looking for the trucks, he could not see us, but we could see him, he drove from left to right about 5 times until final he saw us.

I waited for him to arrive, safer for us both to ride together, we still had about 100km’s to go.

He was as tired and beaten up as I was, constantly falling off, picking yourself up as well the heavy bike. He fueled up, we rested some more than drove out into the desert together.

The last 100 km was as tough as the previous 140, falling off less now; I was being a bit more cautious and Max rode a little slower than me so I was feeling safer and more in control.

We still rode and toke our own paths, but remained within eye contact, this at times could have been between 2 meters to 500 meters apart, however keeping an eye on each other.

The on and off sand storms did not help, I actually lost Max with about 30 km to go.

I had lost track of time, I just needed to finish in one piece, well no broken bones anyway.

I crossed the line, exhausted, in 8hrs 20, a little disappointed not to make the 8hr cut off, however arriving in one piece was the main goal. Max arrived about 5 minutes after me.

An exhausting day’s ride, 6 finished within our group of 10 this time, me the 4th in, only 2 made it within the 8hrs.

To sum up.

Many many logistic frustrations along the way, however we all had ridden over 3500km around and across the Taklimakan Desert, racing just 2 stages, an amazing challenge.

Only 4 out of the 10 of us actually finished both stages, so overall I came 4th in our group.

For me, a great personal achievement and one to be proud of.

Am I going to do it again next year, well just maybe…… you will have to wait and see.

Hope you enjoy this long story of the trip, any questions or comments please contact me anytime.

John
www.Travel-the-Real-China.com

To see the Race pics, please click here