Chris Burkard's Silk Road Mountain Race

Chris Burkard just completed the Silk Road Mountain Race, which is set deep in the remote mountains of Kyrgyzstan. This 1,200-mile route climbs through some of the harshest terrain imaginable. For Chris, it was more than a race. It was a full expedition that tested his mountaineering background, bikepacking experience, and mental endurance.

Burkard commented on his journey, "It’s hard to call the Silk Road Mountain Race a bike race of any kind because it truly feels like something more. The amount of time navigating the mountains of Kyrgyzstan above 10,000 ft of altitude with multiple times touching the sky at 13,000 + ft left even the most seasoned athletes feeling breathless."

"1,200 miles of relentless terrain with nearly 30 miles of hike a bike called upon a mixture of all my years of mountaineering skills and time spent in remote terrain. The crux of the route certainly was the river crossings as there were entire days where your feet stayed cold and wet… some crossing’s were in the middle of the night anywhere you almost wished another rider would catch you so you didn’t have to do it alone." 

"Whether it was deciding how many calories you needed at a resupply for the long 250 mile segments of nothing or picking the ideal bivy spot so you stay out of the elements and ideally not at altitude that really made the race a full value experience." 

"I placed 4th during a year with the most scratches & DNF’s they have ever recorded… my bike and body paid a small toll for the monumental experience - outlasting what even I thought was possible”