Jacob Hora is back after finishing the Ascend Armenia bike-packing race
VICTOR, Idaho (KIFI)- An 18-year-old from Victor is back from Ascend Armenia.
Jacob Hora recently competed in the ultra-endurance, 688-mile race, which takes competitors up 83,000 feet in elevation.
The race centers around bike packing - or camping while covering many different terrains.
Hora came in third in the week-long race, with a finishing time of 6 days, 20 hours, and 52 minutes.
"A couple of days in, I kind of noticed I was more towards the lead end of the pack and I'm like, 'Wow...top ten would be really cool at this point. Like, I'm going to stick to my race schedule of riding for 24 hours, sleeping for two, being efficient at resupplies, getting food and stuff, and taking care of myself. Trying to eat as much as I can when I stop. And I just kind of kept moving up when I was taking care of myself. And then before I knew I was in the top five," he said.
That led to Hora making a radical decision the last two days of the race. He would forgo sleeping and push his limits to reach the end of the race.
"The last 50-something hours. I didn't sleep. I went that entire time of just pushing, pushing my bike to the finish, not pushing, but pushing myself to get to the finish."
Hora says the experience was memorable in more ways than just his finish.
"This past race, I end up being very lucky and I kind of planned ahead and broke the course up into sections and I was able to sleep at hotels for every night except for one...it's not like that for every race, but for this race, I ended up being really lucky and it becomes kind of a challenge to it like push yourself to get to a hotel because it's kind of a reward. You get to shower, you get food and you get to bed as opposed to just sleeping in your bike clothes on the side of the road," said Hora.
Hora said he appreciated the beauty of Armenia as well.
"I don't think a whole lot of people travel there, but it was a very beautiful country and I'm super happy that I did it. It was quite the experience and yeah, I really like that area."
Hora says he did face some language barriers along the way.
"A couple of the places I stayed were guest houses. They didn't speak any English, so I put on my phone and we did a little translating, kind of telling them about what I was doing for the race. The people of Armenia are incredibly friendly, and I felt super safe there the entire time. Everyone was just kind of curious, looking at like someone who's in spandex riding their bikes, like just eating food."
Hora says after he gets some quick rest it's back to the races for him as he prepares for college and the next chapter in his life. He also has plans to travel Europe using bike racing.
