Show Notes
The first Taurus Mountain Race gets a baptism of rain, with 100 millimetres forecast for the first 24 hours. In places the track has turned to thick, sticky mud. We hear from riders as they settle into the adventure ahead.
Riders featured in this episode: Lorenzo Carraro — Cap 22 Daniil Sadomskij — Cap 167 Marco Sartori — Cap 303B Jost Litzen — Cap 113 Christian Dupraz — Cap 48 Hannah Simon — Cap 175 Josh Ibbett — Cap 82 Steven Davis — Cap 35 Chris Mehlman — Cap 122 Joachim Maclean — Cap 115 Sebastian Sarx — Cap 169 Sean Geivett — Cap 312A Emma Missale — Cap 312B Stefan Haehnel — Cap 70 Grzegorz Sowa — Cap 181 Nicholas Hulse — Cap 80 Eric House — Cap 79
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Production & hosting by Mel Webb Sound design by Ben Crannell Music by Visal
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Day two of the inaugural Taurus Mountain Race, and the field has well and truly spread out. A night of thunderstorms has left riders scraping peanut-butter mud from their tyres. Some slept on mosque verandas, in goat sheds and under concrete shelters. Others found a warm welcome from strangers, including a Syrian refugee family offering tea, dry clothes and a litter of kittens. We catch riders pushing up the hike-a-bike before CP1, chat with others as they head back out from the checkpoint, and follow them through the cedar forests and up onto the yaylas.
We begin our race coverage in Antalya, where the Taurus Mountains rise straight out of the Mediterranean, for registration day at the inaugural Taurus Mountain Race. Riders trickle in throughout the day outside The Beaver, a coffee shop on the beachfront boardwalk, collecting trackers and race caps while storm clouds gather over the mountains. With the route only revealed 48 hours ago and 100mm of rain in the forecast, the mood is equal parts excitement and nerves. We hear from first-timers and old friends from past Mountain Races, ahead of what will no doubt be an exciting first edition.
Not long now until the start of the inaugural Taurus Mountain Race…
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