Neil Taking Part In The Silk Road Mountain Race 2023
Neil Armstrong, Merlin Engineering Director, is using the four weeks of holiday awarded at Merlin after 10 years of service to take part in the Silk Road Mountain Race. This unsupported mountain bike race covers a challenging course of 1880km in Kyrgyzstan, almost all off road with about 30,000m of climbing. The ultra-distance cycling community consider it to be one of the hardest races on the circuit because of the high altitude, severe weather and the lack of resupply locations. There are 118 entrants this year and all previous races have seen only half the entrants finish.
Neil says; “I’m grateful to Merlin for allowing me the time off at a busy time for the business, to my family for putting up with me spending so much time training and to my friends for listening to me droning on about the race and my preparation for it, since January. I’ve always liked an adventure and this one looks like it could be the toughest yet. I think it’ll be good to launch myself well and truly outside of my comfort zone into a challenge with so many unknowns and risks, with a high chance of failure. Let’s see if I can hack it!”
 
