Toms Alsbergs likes to keep things simple. A no-nonsense bike and the fastest route out of the city will set him right.

First and foremost a family man, on the bike he considers himself more of a lone wolf, very happy in his own company. That said, Alsbergs will soon be flying out to Kyrgyzstan for the Silk Road Mountain Race, which he’ll be riding in a pair. Since hearing confirmation in January, he’s been trying to balance his training with home life, work, equipment testing, not to mention recovery from a broken ankle. It’s been challenging, but for Alsbergs, it’s all part of the game.

Now Alsbergs is motivated by pushing himself on the hardest terrain at races that can barely even boast gravel roads. His first event was the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco, which ran a month or two before the pandemic ripped up the calendar in 2020, and his next stop is the Silk Road Mountain Race, run by the same organisers.

“Every year I need a challenge, some new challenge, a trip or bike race that’s outside everybody’s comfort zone. I’d been dreaming about Silk Road for a couple of years, then finally I realised, why sit home and just dream about it?”

He had no expectations for the Atlas Mountain Race, not knowing how hard it might be or how long it might take. But he raced into the top 15 out of 96 finishers, which for his first ever ultra bike packing race in such good company was a great result.

Also in Morocco was fellow Latvian Jānis Viškers, who had raced the first edition of the Silk Road and had much more experience than Alsbergs. Both had only ever raced as solo riders, but having identified their similarities, their strengths and their compatibility, they started talking about racing as a pair. The rest, as they say, is history.

“It’s going to be my first time doing something like this together with somebody else. I think I’m kind of a lone wolf, I enjoy my own company and never get bored riding alone. But this time, I think doing this race in pairs is a good challenge. It’ll be fun.”

Alsbergs and Viškers now ride together every week, planning routes and shredding roads. It couldn’t be a better situation for preparing to race together, but even so, there are other, more important things to consider during their build-up.

“Sometimes it’s hard because we’re both family guys. I have a wife, Jānis has a wife, we both have two kids, so we need to balance home, work and workouts, and sometimes it’s not easy to find the time for both. But until now it’s been better than I expected. We’ve done lots of rides together and I think it’s been good for both of us.”

With 1,800km and 30,500 metres of climbing in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the Silk Road Mountain Race demands some serious training. Only a third of the field were able to finish the race in its inaugural running, the same year Viškers finished sixth after spending 10 days, 10 hours and 29 minutes out on the route.

“We do a lot of long rides to prepare the heart. Living in Latvia, the main issue is that it’s mostly flat. The highest hill is 311 metres, so it’s not easy to prepare yourself for the big mountains. But I don’t see that as an obstacle for us, because we’ve been in mountains and we have some experience. We need to be in good shape, but we also need to be mentally ready. I think these races are more about mental power than the power in your legs. If you’re not 100% sure about your skills or preparation, you need to be confident at least. I can say I’m ready mentally and physically, so I can smile and look forward to my flight to Kyrgyzstan.”

Training so hard and for so long can be a real drain on an individual, not to mention the mental pummelling the pair can expect once they push off on 13th August. But Alsbergs is pragmatic. He’s learned how to maintain a healthy equilibrium.

“For me, the most important thing is that I know I’ve done everything I can do to prepare myself, and I couldn’t do more and I couldn’t do better, because I need to divide my time between my family and work and bike. In the end, I have to make sure my family is still happy and I’m not stealing time away from them. Of course, I want to ride my bike, but I have to find a golden way to balance how I need to prepare and how I want to feel.”

Though Alsbergs’s experience is not extensive, his preparation is, and with Viškers as his partner, he feels his potential is multiplied.

“Usually I don’t have any expectations. This is going to be only my second of this kind of race, but still, our main goal is the top of the podium. I was talking with Jānis about this – it’s way harder to reach the top of the podium in the solo race, but in the pairs category, if you’re two very similar and good riders, then I think we have a good chance to be on top. So this time we have a goal, that’s the place we’re looking for, and we’re going to try to get there. Of course, there are lots of things that could happen, there could be rain or snow storms, obstacles that can stop us from this dream, but as I said before, we are ready, we are prepared, and we both feel confident.”

Follow Toms and Jānis on their Silk Road Mountain Race adventure on Instagram.