Race report: Bike4Kids charity race, Angkor Wat

Last weekend, whilst some brave souls were slogging it out doing 9% hill repeats in freezing rain at the Shanghai Classics race, a small but not insubstantial group of Shanghai cyclists made the trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia, to take part in the 20^th annual Bike4Kids charity race around the complex at Angkor. Where it wasn’t raining. And was 25 degrees.

A few Shanghai riders had been last year, bringing back mixed reports of great racing, chaotic mid-race elephant and tuk-tuk dodging, amazing scenery, and roads so bad the only sensible course of action was a mountain bike. The reality, as I experienced it, was somewhere in the middle- but definitely very positive!

The course is four laps (100km) of the “Grand Tour” around Angkor, basically taking you straight through the north and south gates of Angkor Thom, past the Elephant Terrace, around the Bayon, past Angkor Wat and around its moat, alongside the Srah Srang and Jayatataka lakes, passed Preah Khan temple and then back into Angkor Thom. That’s a whole lot of old stuff. The profile is flat, and the road is for the most part single-lane. A 5km section is quite lumpy (but not broken up), a single turn is covered in dried mud and stones, and there are few potholes that had been back-filled with fine gravel. But honestly, the road was what I’d expect to find while riding in rural Europe. Sure, you can get unlucky and hit a particularly sharp bit of gravel (or spectacularly unlucky, in Justin’s case- flatting in two consecutive years on the same patch of road), but that’s life…

The race starts just after dawn, which arrives rather suddenly; so you make your way to the start and line up in darkness, and just before the gun goes you realise that you’re actually wedged between an ancient temple and some sort of elephant fighting pit. No time to take it in, though, because the neutralized start is policed by a motorbike that just accelerates if a rider gets near it. This is probably a good thing, because the participants range from local elite riders down to guys on folding bikes who are just aiming to finish the whole 100km. As we steadily accelerate up to 50kph for the first few minutes, most of the potential crash-fodder (along with some riders who were caught unawares) is left behind. Justin, Bjorn L, Seb, and I make the cut. Katrine gets caught out and settles in the second group with Allen Lueth.

Seb and I had a plan to try and get away together in the third lap, but testing the waters in the first two suggested that it wasn’t going to be easy. Most local riders were quite happy to pootle along at 30-35kph if on the front, but would chase any attack relentlessly. So, by and large, the group stayed together, with speeds bouncing between 30 and 50kph depending on who was on the front and whether anyone was being chased. With the narrow road and elongated peloton, it must have been a bit confusing for riders at the tail end…

Still, nobody had tried anything serious going into the third lap, so we were hopeful. Seb and I both attacked and get clear for a few minutes; but in both cases we were shadowed by local riders who refused to work. At this point we have no idea of their abilities (except that they appeared strong and fresh), and had no desire to deliver a couple of freeloaders to the line and lose the inevitable sprint, so after a few moves each we gave up. Then, to make matters worse, a couple of Cambodian guys slowly rode off the front, and nobody reacted. All the riders looked at Seb to bring them back. But Seb wasn’t playing this game anymore, and so they rode uneventfully out of sight and were promptly forgotten.

And so began the last lap. At this point, Justin had succumbed to a puncture, Bjorn was floating about mid-pack, and not much in general was going on. But then Seb put in a couple of last-ditch effort attacks, immediately covered but stringing the peloton out. This time when he slows, the speed drops dramatically, and on an impulse I jump. Seb’s efforts had obviously had the desired effect, because nobody followed; seemingly, they were all looking at him to do it! At this point we are 12km out from the finish, which handily translates into just under a 20-minute effort, which is something I am very used to doing. Unfortunately, my steady progress was interrupted by the reappearance of the forgotten two-man breakaway, who on being overtaken suddenly found renewed energy to chase and cover attacks, but under no circumstances do any work. Great. And so began a game of trying to force them to the front, whilst not letting the overall pace drop enough to get caught by the peloton. In the end, I was able to split them with a couple of kilometers to go, and then outsprint the remaining rider with a few hundred meters to go. Bjorn and Seb finished safely within the bunch, and Katrine towed Alan to the line a little later, netting herself a very respectable second place in the process (it was only her second bike race)!

All in all, great results from the Shanghai team, enjoyable riding and racing (I hope!) for all, and a great weekend relaxing in the sun and wandering around ancient temples. I definitely hope to return next year and would recommend this event to riders of all levels.