Bikingman Laos

By Paul Maunder

By Soigneur

June 13^th, 2019

In a series of tough ultra-endurance races, BikingMan Laos was the toughest to date.

A new addition to the calendar, the race’s statistics were similar to those of the preceding event in Corsica–780km and 11,000m of climbing to be completed within the five-day time limit. But cycling in Laos has the added challenge of climate. During the day, the riders experienced 40-degree heat and humidity far beyond what most were used to.

Just before dawn, 15 riders set off from Luang Prabang, the cultural capital city of Laos and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Having won both the Oman and Corsica events, Peru’s Rodney Soncco was the favourite, and he indeed started fast. Through rolling hills over the first 100km, north to Pakmong, Soncco drew ahead. At Pakmong the race headed west and up into the mountains. Now Soncco started to struggle, and the battle started in earnest.

Contending with heat, humidity, gravel and broken tarmac roads, the riders soon realised this race was going to be longer than others, and fuelling and resting correctly would be even more critical. With all of the riders stopping to eat sticky rice and bbq chicken at the roadside, grab a few hours sleep in hotels, and receive hand-outs of salt tablets from Dr Gerard, the motorbiking medic, the race lead changed hands between Jonas Deichman, Michael Duane and Jason Black. Soncco’s troubles continued, as he vomited shortly after the first checkpoint, and decided to turn back for a rest.

Day two saw the race disappear into the dense jungle, with many stiff climbs including Mount Kasi, a 40km ramp with gradients up to 15%. Duane, leading, tackled it during the heat of the day, while Jason Black got some sleep and waited until evening. Then heavy rain descended on the mountain. Duane stopped to rest and shelter from the elements, but Black made an impromptu decision to keep going. It proved a wise one; by the time he caught and passed the sleep Duane, it was 46 hours into the race. 5 hours later he rolled back to Luang Prabang as the winner. Duane finished just over an hour later. And in third place came BikingMan debutant and local Thavone Phonasa. Defending series champion Soncco fought through to an eventual 4th place, 17 hours behind the winner.

And while these athletes raced hard, they also underwent an incredible experience, pedalling through tiny Laotian villages, receiving the hospitality of the friendly local people, passing buffalo and elephants, temples and rice fields. Cycling in Laos is a unique experience.

Next the BikingMan series moves to its spiritual home in Peru with the ultimate backpacking epic–1,650km over ten days with more than 23,000m of elevation. The star of the show (other than home-boy Soncco) is the Huascaran National Park, heartland of the Inca Empire, with some of the most spectacular mountain landscapes in the world. Last year, Soncco won by some 18 hours. He’ll need to find a return to form if he wants to retain his title.