August 22nd, 2009
Today, I haven’t really done a huge amount, just getting ready for tomorrow.
The race starts at 9am tomorrow morning, so we’ve spent today getting all our equipment and kit ready and making sure its under 10kg, as we’re only allowed to put 10kg on the horse.
Everyone has had their kit spread out everywhere, struggling to get it down to 10kilos. I had to get rid of a few bits of clothing and some food, which was a bugger. But the rider weight limits has worked in my favour. The maximum weight limit for riders is 85kg, and if you’re not 85kg you can make up the extra weight with additional kit. So I’ve been able to take an additional 17kgs of stuff.
Once I had all my saddle bags packed, I went for a short ride of about 1km to make sure they were comfortable.
Some of my fellow competitors having been playing polo against the Mongolians. And tonight there is a big party planned complete with Mongolian wrestlers. They are apparently going to make all the competitors drink a special drink of fermented mare’s milk, sounds delicious! Its 12% alcoholic, I think I’m going to pretend to drink it.
Tomorrow we get weighed at 8.45am and the race starts at 9am. I’m hoping to cover 120kms tomorrow, riding from 9am until 8.30pm.
The weather is really going to test endurance. Its incredibly hot during the day, probably in 30s and then absolutely freezing at night. I’ve been wearing all my clothes and sleeping bag and am still cold.
Unfortunately Richard Dunwoody has pulled out of the race as he’s going to return to England to participate in Strictly Come Dancing but he’s going to come back and ride the first leg with all of us.
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August 21st, 2009
I arrived in Ulaanbaatar two days ago. Unfortunately the airline lost my tent so my first drama was finding somewhere to buy a new place to sleep!
I met my fellow competitors that evening for a meal, and it was really good to get to know everyone. Yesterday we had a 6 hour drive to Khairorun to complete which ended up taking 10.5 hours, (a good chance to get to know each other!). The Mongolian countryside is beautiful; amazing, huge, rolling steppe with blue sky overhead, and the people are lovely. The food is mainly mutton based (and as I don’t usually eat lamb it has been mainly energy bars for me). The toilets are very very basic so everyone is avoiding them until they are really necessary!
We had a party last night before spending our first night in our Gurs and woke up this morning for a 30km ride. The horses are feisty and need a firm hand but are very accommodating, dropping to their knees (like camels) to let us mount them. I nicknamed my horse today ‘Sydney’. He was only a small 13 hands but even still was hard to handle.You have to keep a firm grip on the reins but with my huge sheepskin rug I am quite comfy.
A couple of the rules have changed since my arrival here. Firstly, we have an imposed curfew during the race meaning that everyone has to stop riding at 2030 and is not allowed to set off until 0500 the following day. Secondly, every 40km the horses need to be checked by vets to establish that thier heart rates are sound and they have not been pushed too hard. If the horses heart rate exceed the guidelines then a penalty rest time of either 6 or 12 hours can be imposed. Two penalties mean elimination from the competition. As a result of this, the vibe of the competition has completely changed. I was planning on a slow(ish) race though, so my game plan has not altered as much as others. I am currently riding in a group of five in a real team effort.
Tonight we have another meal (mutton again) and then have another 30km ride in the morning before starting the race proper on Saturday.
Tags: Elite Endurance, Holly Budge, Mongol Derby
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August 17th, 2009
This is the new blog area where Holly will be keeping you up to date with all her adventures, speaking dates and thoughts.
Holly’s also a Twitter, follow her at, twitter.com/hollybudge.
This blog is setup and run by Thought Den.
Tags: Holly Budge, welcome
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