Cory Wallace, Jasper’s intrepid mountain bike racer, had the adventure of a lifetime in Mongolia from Aug. 31 to Sept. 11.

Cory was in the country to participate in the Mongolia Bike Challenge, a gruelling 10-day race that brought the Jasperite through some crazy terrain, and forced him to overcome crippling jet lag. 

The 15-hour time difference didn’t stop Wallace from doing what he does best – biking his heart out. Wallace arrived in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator which, with a population of more than one million people, is a far cry from the humble streets of Jasper. 

“Everyone drives like a bunch of sugar-high 11 year olds in a go-cart derby,” Wallace wrote about the city on his blog.

The first part of the adventure was a chartered flight to the Gobi Desert and Dalanzadgad, located in the centre of the country. The hour-and-a-half flight took Wallace over a desolate landscape. Shortly before landing, things went sideways for the cyclists aboard, as the plane rammed into a head wind causing turbulence and a tense landing. 

“The landing ended up being sketchier than Mexican seafood in the middle of a desert as the plane bounced off the run way, balancing on one wheel for a few seconds and then getting control just before the runway ran out,” Wallace wrote. “After we all let go of each others’ hands, we unloaded our plane and were welcomed to our first camp of the week which had already been set up by the 50-man-strong Mongolia Challenge work team.”

Wallace and his travel companions – and fellow racers – Craig Richey and Thom Skinner, noted how well tied-down the tents were, but had no idea what they were in for. 

“This we would understand later once the first of many dust storms of the week would hit, causing everyone in camp to stop everything and to cling onto whatever tent was nearest by to prevent it from becoming a distant ornament in the Mongolian landscape,” Wallace wrote. 

The first stage came in with a roar – almost literally – as a dust storm ripped through the tent village which consisted of two massive dining and cooking tents, four tents for massages, and a tent each for the 69 riders.

“On Stage 1 we woke up to a huge dust storm which caused havoc in our race preps as racers tried to mouth down bowls of porridge with a nice sandy topping,” Wallace said. “I learned after 30 minutes of trying that putting contact lenses in during a dust storm isn’t a pro move.”

Shoving the contacts in anyway, Wallace and the other racers headed for the start line – sand and all – to kick off 1,200 kilometres of insanity. 

Wallace said the race brought them through a plethora of different zones in Mongolia, from deserts to mountains to green valleys to what he describes as “moon-like landscapes.”

“Every day was a slow moving movie which kept surprising us around every turn,” he said. “There our moments in our lives which stand out, usually these moments come around once every few months, but during this race it was pretty much an everyday occurrence. Coming over a hill and seeing the powerful sand dunes of the Gobi Desert or watching camels come out of a dust storm across the desert are unreal images which are left imprinted on my mind forever – or until I get Alzheimer’s.”

The Mongolian locals were a highlight for Wallace, as the riders ticked off the kilometres. Passing by their traditional ger huts and see them herding animals with only the slightest acknowledgement of the spandex-clad riders was an experience the Jasperite won’t soon forget. 

“There were some problems with the locals though as they would steal the race direction arrows as they were on wooden stakes which made perfect support beams for their gers. These were a hot commodity in a land with no trees.”

One problem Wallace had was keeping his mind on the race with so many things to look at and explore.

“At times it was tough to concentrate on the race with all the foreign mind stimulation around us. We were here for a bike race and what a bike race it was,” Wallace said. 

The first five stages were all topped by different riders. Wallace said that last year’s winner, Marzio Deho of Italy, pushed hard in the first stage on his own, while Wallace and Richey trailed – but not too far behind. 

“My ally Craig Richey and I dropped everybody else as we battled hard together to bring back the possessed Italian,” Wallace said. 

The battle paid off, and Richey and Wallace overtook Deho with only 20 kilometres to go, and left him behind, exhausted. 

“We accomplished our mission at the last feed zone and I immediately set out on a flyer with 20 kilometres to go as Deho looked drained from his big effort,” Wallace said. “This was a success as I broke away and would cruise in for a five minutes victory.”

The Italian attempted to chase the Canadian group, but ultimately his early efforts to pull ahead cost him the first stage win. Wallace cruised in, followed by Richey in second place. 

“This was an unreal start for the race for us and it put Deho in a tough position as he was now forced into setting the pace of the race in an effort to take the leader’s jersey off my back,” Wallace said. 

The two Canadians would continue to be a thorn in Deho’s side throughout the next few stages. Wallace held on to his leader’s jersey, as Richey earned himself a stage win and was a familiar face on the podium each day. The third Canadian in the race, Skinner, was ill for the first five stages, but was instrumental in the group’s planning each night. 

“He (Skinner) was our mastermind behind our race tactics as we would have small powwows every night to discuss how to manage the Italian,” Wallace said. 

At the start of Stage 6, the racers entered the Mongolian mountains – a familiar type of trail for the Jasper athlete. The games of cat and mouse that continued between Deho and the Canadians would be put to the test.

“Deho tried everything in the book to drop me including blowing by feed zones and descending at speeds which were far out of control,” Wallace said. 

The Italian’s tactics were no match for a mountain biker raised on Jasper’s peaks and trails, however, and Wallace claimed the lead heading into the second of three mountains. He kept the lead until the descent of the second mountain, when Deho rode away like a maniac. 

“He would catch me on the back descent as he continued descending like a seven year old on his first bike who had no perception of the consequences of wrecking his bike or body,” Wallace said. 

That crazy lead wouldn’t last, as Wallace owned the next climb up over the next peak. Deho once again took a risk, and again it cost him the stage. 

“On the last climb of the day I would drop him again and then on the final descent to the finish line Deho finally paid for his kamikaze descending style and flatted 500 metres from the finish line,” Wallace said. “Taking the victory on this stage was a big blow to Deho as he was counting on riding away from everyone this day.”

Wallace’s luck ran out during the seventh stage, however, when he got three flat tires but only had two inner tubes as replacements. The resourceful mountain biker tried for a while to use duct tape to fix the holes, which was not very successful. Eventually a fellow racer was kind enough to lend him a tube to fix the flat, and Wallace continued, however he called the stage forgettable. He finished 30 minutes behind the Italian, and lost his leader’s jersey.

Deho’s masterful navigation of the flat terrain proved better than Wallace’s, and despite following a minute behind for an hour, the Italian won the eighth stage. 

“Deho stuck to my back wheel like a piece of yak dung and dropped me on his own attack with 50 kilometres to go, through the feed zone as I filled my bottles,” Wallace said. “I chased one minute behind him for one hour but the Italian is a monster on the flat land and would eventually pull away to secure his overall lead.”

After Stage 8, the racers got some down time and enjoyed a Mongolian wrestling match – and it was unlike anything Wallace had seen before. 

“All us racers made the wise choice and declined all requests by the Mongolians to tie us into knots,” he said. 

Finally it was the last race day, and Richey and Wallace set out with a bang to try to once again overtake the Italian, but were unsuccessful. The race finished and an Italian-Canadian feud had been firmly started.

“At the finish line there was a bit of animosity between the Italian and us two Canadians,” Wallace said. “We’re still not too sure what he was all bunched up about but we’re guessing he probably found some camel crap in his morning bowl of cornflakes.”

The adventure was not quite over, as the 10th day meant a six-hour car ride back to Ulan Bator. 

“Scariest day ever in a car,” Wallace said. “When we hit a traffic jam going into the city we started driving on the sidewalks, which perfectly sums up the driving style over here in Mongolia.”

After the final hair-raising adventure, Wallace enjoyed the sights and sounds of Mongolia, with a less intense bike ride, some sleep and relaxation. 

“Overall the race was very solid and gets the gold star stamp of approval. It is tough and may make you cry but the organization is dialled, the adventure is unreal and the overall experience is something which is out of this world.”

For more on Wallace’s crazy adventures, check out www.corywallace.com