{"id":23527,"date":"2023-09-27T09:36:42","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T09:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/?p=23527"},"modified":"2023-09-28T11:08:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T11:08:57","slug":"neil-armstrong-in-the-silk-road-mountain-race-2023-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/2023\/09\/27\/neil-armstrong-in-the-silk-road-mountain-race-2023-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Armstrong In The Silk Road Mountain Race 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fws_69f3b302bae29\" data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\" class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row   mpc-row\" style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap\"><div class=\"row-bg\" style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding  inherit_tablet inherit_phone mpc-column\" data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" data-column-id=\"mpc_column-1869f3b302bc071\">\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\r\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\">\r\n\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\r\n\t\t<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Watch Neil&rsquo;s Interview on his Epic Adventure<\/h2>\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\t<div class=\"wpb_video_widget wpb_content_element vc_clearfix   vc_video-aspect-ratio-169 vc_video-el-width-90 vc_video-align-center\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_video_wrapper\"><iframe title=\"Silk Road Mountain Race Interview with Neil Armstrong\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hDnnQICnXgg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\r\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\">\r\n\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\r\n\t\t<p>In this captivating interview, we sit down with&nbsp;Neil Armstrong,&nbsp;Merlin&rsquo;s Engineering Director, who conquered the gruelling Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan last month.&nbsp;Neil shares snippets of his experience of this remarkable cycling race; the exhilarating highs, the challenging lows, and his advice for those who fancy following in his draft.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"divider-wrap\" data-alignment=\"default\"><div style=\"margin-top: 12.5px; height: 1px; margin-bottom: 12.5px;\" data-width=\"100%\" data-animate=\"\" data-animation-delay=\"\" data-color=\"default\" class=\"divider-border\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"none\">\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy\" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"659\" width=\"883\" data-animation=\"none\" src=\"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/MicrosoftTeams-image.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/MicrosoftTeams-image.png 883w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/MicrosoftTeams-image-300x224.png 300w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/MicrosoftTeams-image-768x573.png 768w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/MicrosoftTeams-image-16x12.png 16w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1450px) 75vw, (min-width: 1000px) 85vw, 100vw\">\r\n          <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\" data-alignment=\"default\"><div style=\"height: 25px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\">\r\n\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\r\n\t\t<p>A massive shoutout to Neil Armstrong, Merlin&rsquo;s Engineering Director, for an incredible achievement: completing the gruelling Silk Road Mountain Race as a solo rider! We&rsquo;ve been eagerly tracking your journey every step of the way, Neil covered a colossal 1,879km of tortuous terrain in 13 days, 13 hours, 34 mins and 30 seconds. Your determination and passion are truly inspiring! Bravo on this extraordinary accomplishment!<\/p>\n<p><em>*Please note this photo was taken early into the race, Neil may have been mistaken for wondering wizard, Radagast the Brown shortly after crossing the finishing line.<\/em><\/p>\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f3b302bc4f6\" data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\" class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row   mpc-row\" style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap\"><div class=\"row-bg\" style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding  inherit_tablet inherit_phone mpc-column\" data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" data-column-id=\"mpc_column-6469f3b302bcab4\">\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"divider-wrap\" data-alignment=\"default\"><div style=\"margin-top: 12.5px; height: 1px; margin-bottom: 12.5px;\" data-width=\"100%\" data-animate=\"\" data-animation-delay=\"\" data-color=\"default\" class=\"divider-border\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"75%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"none\">\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy\" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"443\" width=\"800\" data-animation=\"none\" src=\"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/NEIL.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/NEIL.jpg 800w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/NEIL-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/NEIL-768x425.jpg 768w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/NEIL-18x10.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1450px) 75vw, (min-width: 1000px) 85vw, 100vw\">\r\n          <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\">\r\n\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\r\n\t\t<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"caption\">Neil Taking Part In The Silk Road Mountain Race 2023<\/span><\/h6>\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"divider-wrap\" data-alignment=\"default\"><div style=\"height: 25px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\">\r\n\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\r\n\t\t<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Neil says; &ldquo;I&rsquo;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&rsquo;ve always liked an adventure and this one looks like it could be the toughest yet. I think it&rsquo;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&rsquo;s see if I can hack it!&rdquo;<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f3b302bcd01\" data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\" class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row   mpc-row\" style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap\"><div class=\"row-bg\" style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark center\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding  inherit_tablet inherit_phone mpc-column\" data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" data-column-id=\"mpc_column-7569f3b302bcff2\">\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"nectar-button large regular accent-color  regular-button\" style=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/srmr2023.maprogress.com\/?bib=79\" data-color-override=\"false\" data-hover-color-override=\"false\" data-hover-text-color-override=\"#fff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>Track Neil&rsquo;s Live Progress Here<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f3b302bd1c7\" data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\" class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row   mpc-row\" style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap\"><div class=\"row-bg\" style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding  inherit_tablet inherit_phone mpc-column\" data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" data-column-id=\"mpc_column-9769f3b302bd613\">\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"divider-wrap\" data-alignment=\"default\"><div style=\"height: 25px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"75%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"none\">\r\n      <div class=\"inner\">\r\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \r\n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy\" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"630\" width=\"1172\" data-animation=\"none\" src=\"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Neil-Update.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Neil-Update.jpg 1172w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Neil-Update-300x161.jpg 300w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Neil-Update-1024x550.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Neil-Update-768x413.jpg 768w, https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Neil-Update-18x10.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1450px) 75vw, (min-width: 1000px) 85vw, 100vw\">\r\n          <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\">\r\n\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\r\n\t\t<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"caption\">Neil&rsquo;s progress as of 10:00 BST, 24th August 2023<\/span><\/h6>\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<div id=\"fws_69f3b302bd824\" data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\" class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row   mpc-row\" style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap\"><div class=\"row-bg\" style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-4 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding  inherit_tablet inherit_phone mpc-column\" data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" data-column-id=\"mpc_column-4769f3b302bd99d\">\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<div class=\"vc_col-sm-4 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding  inherit_tablet inherit_phone mpc-column\" data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" data-column-id=\"mpc_column-3169f3b302bdbf9\">\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"divider-wrap\" data-alignment=\"default\"><div style=\"height: 25px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"sharing-default-minimal\"><div class=\"nectar-social default\" data-position=\"left\" data-color-override=\"override\"><div class=\"nectar-social-inner\"><a class=\"linkedin-share nectar-sharing\" href=\"#\" title=\"Share this\"> <i class=\"fa fa-linkedin\"><\/i> <span class=\"social-text\">Share<\/span> <\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<div class=\"vc_col-sm-4 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding  inherit_tablet inherit_phone mpc-column\" data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" data-column-id=\"mpc_column-3169f3b302bdd32\">\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watch Neil's Interview on his Epic Adventure In this captivating interview, we sit down with&nbsp;Neil Armstrong,&nbsp;Merlin's Engineering Director, who conquered the gruelling Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan last month.&nbsp;Neil","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23527"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23704,"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23527\/revisions\/23704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merlinerd.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}