Annie Dunlap is an adventurer, athlete, and active duty army officer currently living in Bavaria, Germany. She is also a Class of 2021 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. In August 2024, Annie completed the Silk Road Mountain Race through Kyrgyzstan. Annie was one of only 102 racers to complete the 1,204 mile pack-biking ultra-race (186 bikers began the competition). In this interview, Annie discusses her journey to and through the Tian Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan. She reflects on pivotal moments in her journey and offers inspiration for others looking to push their comfort zone. If you are enjoying these articles, stay engaged here.
she has green valleys
deep and wide
old rocks by her side, tumbling down,
her mountain passes; steep and unforgiving
but when you see the top
everything is beautiful and nothing is hard.
her descents are chasing you
pushing below the pass
this is not your space they scream
so we tread, carefully,
back to the path
by the horses
with the horses
running for the last bit of light
settling down
just out of reach
shimmering rivers
on repeat
Annie Dunlap
My name is Annie Dunlap and I am currently living in Bavaria, Germany. I’ve been in Germany for my entire ‘lieutenant life’. Aside from a rotation to Slovakia in winter of 2023, this duty station has allowed me to explore and experience pieces of Europe I only dreamed about in high school and college. When I went to Kyrgyzstan, I had just wrapped up my Battery Executive Officer (XO) time and was in the middle of transitioning to Battalion Staff. I try hard to keep my work and life passions separate, as I feel its emotionally easier to keep some space for me.
Growing up, I always maintained an active lifestyle, but never entertained the thought of major adventures. I grew up on a farm in Northern Virginia, and played various team sports through high school, so the regularity of schedules with practices and school became the norm.
I struggled through my first two years at West Point. I came for the lacrosse program, but realized the collegiate level was not for me (nor I, for it). After two ACLs surgeries, I finally fell into a good rhythm within my company, C2, as a junior. From then on, school never got easier, but the friends and people around me made such an immense difference in my life, the path towards graduation felt more and more attainable. This is all to say I have never been a “natural” at anything I pick up, but with repetition and some persistence, anything can start to feel like home base.
Biking the 2024 Silk Road Mountain Race
The Silk Road Mountain Race is roughly a 1,200 mile race with nearly 100,000 feet of vertical gain. The official time limit is 14 days. This averages out to just over 83 miles a day. I completed the race 12 hours over the official time limit, but rolled in relieved and thankful to be there.
Call to Kyrgyzstan
In a very honest answer, I was in a YouTube deep dive while on my indoor trainer this past march. Ski season was coming to a close in Germany, and I felt this panicked need to find more avenues for long days outside. The visuals of Silk Road are unmatched. The Tian Shan Mountain range immediately pulls you in with towering peaks from 13,000-16,000 ft peaks. The valleys are lush and the rivers are silk. I don’t think there are enough English descriptors (or at least in my writing) to capture the sense of awe from summiting a mountain pass and seeing the vast change in landscape below you.
After seeing the initial video of Silk Road Mountain Race, I kept researching. I read every blog I could find, watched the Youtube based gear and race reviews from riders in the past editions. Seeing Kyrgyzstan’s landscape over these videos reminded me of how I felt when I took my first cross-country road trip following graduation. As someone who grew up on crowded East Coast roads, the draw of the “West” felt like everything I could ever need: wide landscapes, open skies, mountains, and some rugged, exposed terrain. When I finally reached Wyoming and Montana I felt a new sense of home.
The same feeling accompanied me through Kyrgyzstan.
Training for Silk Road Mountain Race
I signed up for the race quite late, around May of 2024. By that time, I had already completed a ride from Munich, Germany to Bozen, Italy (~230 miles/24 hours), and was preparing for a Zurich, Switzerland bikepacking race of about ~300 miles. I only had a gravel bike at the time (Nelson, the organizer, highly recommends a mountain bike), and was sure that I was “gritty” enough to complete the route without suspension. I ended up getting a mountain bike five weeks before the race after Canyon had a decent enough sale to justify a last minute purchase. I don’t think I would’ve made it past the second day on my gravel- and my respect for the riders that did skyrocketed after seeing how rough the course was.
I ended up completing the majority of my training miles on my gravel bike, and about 20% on my indoor trainer during the colder/wet late winter/early spring.
I have no idea how this compared to other riders, but seeing nearly 3,000 training miles since February gave me a good confidence boost for the goal of completing the course. I’m a pretty regular runner as well, so I hoped the “time on feet” and easy miles throughout the year would give me a “good enough” base for the “hikeabike” sections. Despite covering about 70-100 miles a day on the bike, my garmin showed my average step count around 30,000 with all the “hikeabike” sections.
Mindset
In the last 2.5 years, I’ve attempted to go to U.S. Army Ranger School twice. This also meant shaving my head twice. The first attempt was directly after BOLC. While I had passed RTAC (Ranger Training Assessment Course/Pre-Ranger) without major issues, I failed the RPA (Ranger Physical Assessment) Day 1.
The second Ranger School attempt was following Slovakia. Ultimately, I went back to RTAC with an overuse injury that I should’ve recognized earlier. I had characterized a lot of my time as a PL and XO as someone that wanted to go back to Ranger. The goal felt like the ultimate achievement, and conveniently, the people around me wanted to support me in this pursuit.
My mindset shifted in the Fall of 2023, after I came back from Ft. Moore with my foot in a boot for the next eight weeks. I rely on movement for my emotional health a lot. This is primarily in the form of running, but biking has always been a reliable back up. I’m continuing to work on my approach to challenges, and not basing my worth or value off of completion or competition. I would rather identify hard things through cycling, running, or another physical/mental pursuit and work to put myself in a position to get to the start line. I never want to be my own limiting factor for any challenge. I don’t mind diving head first on a new goal, as I would rather have tried than never showed up at all.
Highlights from Silk Road Mountain Race 2024
The entry was intimidating! Bishkek is an extremely busy city and not conducive to cycling. Luckily, I only had to navigate the roads for three days before the race kicked off on the south end of the city.
Riding through a new landscape forces you to slow down, even when you wish the terrain could carry you through a few more easy miles. The people of Kyrgyzstan have an unmatched attitude towards hospitality. I was invited in for chai, dinner, and a bed more nights than not. I ended up sleeping in yurts three different nights, so grateful to have a reprieve from the wind, rain, or high altitude chill!
The Athletes
Ultra cyclists are a breed of their own! Everyone is immediately welcoming and impressively fit. Throughout the race, I met incredible individuals, each so passionate in their cycling endeavors and from diverse employment backgrounds. Before the race, I had an idea of how dedicated the top athletes were through blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos. However, seeing (hearing about it, in reality, as I was so far behind!) them cycle at such an impressive pace through some of the roughest terrain felt impossible to comprehend. It’s incredibly humbling knowing the athletes in front of me completed the race in less than half the time I did.
Last Day Crisis
My last day was nearly a lowlight! I started my final ascent at 0100 on Sunday morning – knowing I had already missed the cut off, but feeling satisfied with my decision to stop to dry my socks and shoes (the last river crossing was right before the last mountain pass). The pass is littered with old (and new) landslides that have blocked the old tank trail that moves up the mountain.
Around 0600, I was a mere 1,000ft from the top of the pass, but I noticed my front tire kept losing pressure. I run tubeless tires, and at 11,000ft, sealant is undoubtedly frozen and completely ineffective in the case of a puncture. Forgetting this, I try plugging my puncture- effectively taking out all the air. I decided to put in an innertube, but can’t take the old valve out. With little choice – roll my bare rim over the reminder 1.5 miles to the summit, stopping every few minutes to try to loosen the old valve. Looking at my GPS, there are 29 miles to the finish line… I could walk it- it’s only 0700, but I knew this wouldn’t be a realistic option.
The race had finished, walking it in 29 miles wouldn’t prove anything and I felt like I had to accept that cycling 98% of the route is still an achievement. I told myself that I would keep trying to get the valve out, and after three miles of descending, I found a group of scientists by the mouth of the river. To my luck, they had an extra pair of pliers. With some extra force, I was easily able to change out the valve and fix the innertube. I was on my way to the finish. These 26 miles still took me over two hours to complete, but the satisfaction of getting there under my own power made the 15 days feel so valuable.
Advice On Pursuing Silk Road Mountain Race 2024
If you’re confident in your mental game and baseline fitness- go for it. I can’t emphasize enough how many times I was told NOT to do this race- whether it was for personal safety, others perception of my ability or experience, or even other’s perception on if Kyrgyzstan was a cleared country to take leave to. Do your own research! It is easy to find reasons not to step out of your comfort zone. There is so much personal growth that lies just beyond what we believe is possible.
Next Steps for Annie Dunlap
I made sure to take September off, and I found that the time away from the bike has reignited the love. Its always something I’m happy to come back to. I’ve been applying for the next set of 2025 races – all mountain based. May – The Accursed Race (The Balkans), August – Mother North (Norway), and September – Ascend Armenia (Armenia). My bike will be in single speed for the beginning of 2025. Prior to and in between these races I’ll likely keep up on my regular running schedule and be skiing in Austria each weekend we have snow 🙂
Stay In Touch
I post partly sentimental reflections of my rides, runs, and ski adventures on my blog, Walks by Wheat
Strava is my guilty pleasure: Annie Dunlap
You can follow Annie’s Instragram here.
Gathering Fire
Special thanks to Annie for her thoughtful interview.
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