Racing Bikes in Tibet: Day 4
Posted on May 06 2016
Day three ended with a mix up and day four was an absolute gift. While we thought we would be racing today, we were told there had been a mistake in the schedule. We actually had an entire extra day to adjust to the altitude and enjoy the country side. The mantra of the trip became, Tibet and chill and this followed us until the last day.
It had been dumping rain the entire night and we awoke to find full cloud coverage overhead with intermittent drizzling. Tyler was able to find the positive and he was thankful he didn’t have to apply sunscreen constantly throughout the day. The sun was incredibly strong in Pagsum Lake and most of us got a little burnt sometime during the first day in the sun.
We took the opportunity for the day off to acclimatize and explore a bit more. After circling the route for the first stage of the race, we headed to where the single track began and took the route going up instead after a suggestion from Morten and Rob.
The outline of the ridge made beautiful contrasts against the clouds. Stopping often to chat and partially because we were climbing even higher from 3500 meters. Reaching the end of the road, we quickly found ourselves following a livestock trail. Passing rules are a bit different out here. The majestic yak of Tibet get right of way. Though pretty docile, I didn’t want to get kicked or pierced by a yak horn.
Our friends Larry and Jacob (pictured above) hand make bamboo bicycles under their company, Source Cycles. They extended the invitation out to Tibet with them and we were more than stoked to ride out there. We had some fun ripping around the edge of the lake and took turns riding the bamboo hardtail. The bike handled well and the rear triangle provide a bit of natural suspension on the rougher stuff.
Having to get back for race orientation, we were unable to further the adventure. We headed back, slopping around in mud and yak poo the entire time. The sky opened up a bit and the snow capped peaks made their debut for the day. Luckily this was right as we were descending back to the town and we were able to capture the moment.
P.s. If you want to find more photos from the trip look on under the Instagram hashtag #tibetandchill