At 11pm Irish time last night Jason Black started out on the 1,000km unsupported race in Oman. As at 1.30pm Irish time today Jason had completed just over 340km in around 14 hours – average pace 25km/h. The last 21km was a brutal climb gaining 2,000 meters of elevation. The Voodoo performance team spoke to Jason at the top and he was in good spirits and riding well. He was delighted that the hardest climb of the race was out of the way and was looking forward to a nice fast descent to recover. He was feeling strong and happy with his nutrition and hydration. He’s in “the green” and chasing the leader who was approx 30km ahead at that stage.
While the race is available to track on https://bikingman.waa-tracking.com the Voodoo Performance team have noticed that the tracker is not updating constantly with delays of up to approx 30 minutes. It is also showing some riders coming back down off the climb whereas they are only on the way up. We are hoping that there will be more clarity on the tracker as the race unfolds and once the riders are all back on the main route.
Also some of you followers may have noticed other competitors not following the race route. This is allowed as the race is also a navigational challenge and competitors who are racing on cross bikes can go off road if they so wish. It is however important to note that there are 4 checkpoints on the course and each rider must pass through each of these during the race so large shortcuts cannot be taken by off road riders. Jason will be sticking pretty much to the set race route as he is on his road bike.
That’s it for now…..we will update later!
