A Queenstown mountainbiking pair say they are “pretty proud” to have finished what may be the world’s toughest bike race.

Adam Carlson, 49, and Tom Baker, 43, last month completed the Silk Road Mountain Race — a 2052km bikepacking race through central Asia’s mountainous Kyrgyzstan.

It took the New Zealanders 12 days and 10 hours; they finished 42nd out of about 80 finishers.

Less than 35% of the field finished, Carlson said.

“The race director was like, ‘Well, guys, that was the hardest one we’ve done’. 

“It was longer and more vert [vertical metres] than any of the others.”

A lot of entrants had withdrawn due to the heat, he said.

By the end of day two, temperatures had climbed to 47°C.

At that point the pair ditched their original plan to finish in 10 days and decided instead it was “just about getting to the finish”.

Carlson said the South Island’s 1330km Tour Te Waipounamu, which the pair completed early this year, had specific things that were harder, but the Silk Road Race was “chronically difficult the whole time”.

In one section they carried their bikes about 26km as there was no trail. 

“It was like carrying your bike to the top of [Queenstown’s] Ben Lomond and then back down again.”

Carlson and Baker camped every night, while others mixed camping with guesthouses, and temperatures dipped to -3°C or -4°C overnight.

One consolation was the scenery in Kyrgyzstan, the country farthest from the ocean.

“It’s a similar beauty to New Zealand, but without the forested bits — very similar to a lot of Mackenzie Country-type views.”

They also saw a lot of shepherds living in their yurts.

“You can smell the yurt before you see it because cow dung is the only thing they have to burn, and it’s got quite a particular odour to it”.

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