The first full day of the Silk Road Mountain Race is behind us. From Osh, riders faced over 6,000 meters of climbing in just 300 kilometers en route to Checkpoint One at Peak Lenin Base Camp. For some, that meant pushing on through the night. Others chose to rest early and save energy for the long road ahead.

In this episode, we follow riders up the tight switchbacks of the Koy-Djul Pass topping out at 3811m. They recount stories of their first night on the road. By late afternoon, the leaders had already reached CP1, with Robin Gemperle arriving first and Meaghan Hackinen the first woman to arrive in 10th position overall. For everyone else, it’s still just the beginning of a long journey that will stretch to the cutoff on August 30th.

Riders featured in this episode

• Maarten Vanhaverbeke - Cap 122
• Andrei Tereskin - Cap 12
• Miron Golfman - Cap 137
• Max Cherkasov - Cap 131
• Carlotta Schumacher - Cap 31
• Daniel Gottschalk - Cap 45
• Victor Eklund - Cap 205
• Sergei Cherepanov - Cap 320
• Josh Ibbett - Cap 101
• Adam Palin - Cap 1
• Meaghan Hackinen - Cap 132

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Production and hosting by Mel Webb

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Music by Batyrkan

Cover image by Lloyd Wright

Thanks to our race partners Albion, Pertex, Tailfin, Styrkr and Julbo. 

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