The Silk Road Mountain Race is something of a misnomer. There's nothing smooth or silky about the bike race.
In fact, it's more than 1,100 miles of straight-up torment over grueling, sometimes desolate, terrain in Kyrgyzstan, an Asian country that was formerly part of the Soviet Union.
The race is so arduous, in fact, that about half of the 200 or so participants don't finish. It's designed to be solitary, as there are no "support teams." Riding in groups is discouraged, and helping other contestants with mechanical issues is forbidden.
This is serious stuff.
Riding on goat paths or up and down 30-degree grades day and night for almost two weeks in the mountainous country -- not knowing where your next food and water is coming from -- is part of the experience.
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"Food was the biggest challenge," said Matt Schweiker, a Chattanoogan who participated in the race in August. "It was a good day if I got peanuts and a sandwich." Schweiker spoke to the Chattanooga Times Free Press in a phone interview.
Schweiker, a 36-year-old Chattanooga executive, is just beginning to appreciate his accomplishment and remember the race with something approaching appreciation. It took him a while to shake the memories of isolation and sickness that were pervasive after the race.
"(The race) transcends being a physical challenge," he said. "It becomes pretty mental."
Schweiker, who is co-founder of Capital Payments LLC here, completed the race on a Chattanooga-made Litespeed titanium trail bike, which was a source of pride, he said. While other international riders were dealing with mechanical failures, Schweiker said he was able to avoid any breakdowns because of his excellent gear.
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He can't say quite the same for his body. During one stretch on the mountainous course, he became so sick that he seriously considered dropping out. Normally 5-feet 11-inches and 160 pounds, Schweiker said he lost about 15-20 pounds during the race.
"I ended up slowing down for about four days and having one whole day resting in a remote valley," he said.
As a result, Schweiker said he was forced to change his goal from finishing in the top echelon of competitors to simply finishing the race at all. He completed the race mid-pack in 12 days, 23 hours and 23 minutes, he said.
But that nearly 13-day stretch took him years to prepare for.
Schweiker said he trained specifically for the Silk Road Mountain Race for more than seven months, but that it was part of progression of increasingly difficult trail races he has entered in the past couple of years.
"My girlfriend calls it my obsession," he said. "I've got 10 bikes in the garage."
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Schweiker said his hobby is as much about traveling and seeing the world as it is competing. At different points he spent months virtually living off a bike in South Africa and South America, he said, which prepared him for the Kyrgyzstan race, which traces parts of the Silk Road, a centuries old trade route between Europe and Asia.
Schweiker grew up in Memphis, attended the University of Alabama and lived for a time in Seattle and China before moving to Chattanooga in 2017. He said the proximity to his parents in Atlanta and Chattanooga's thriving outdoor culture -- he's also a rock climber -- influenced his decision to move here.
While Schweiker is feeling better about the race, he's not itching for a follow up.
"I really liked doing stuff like this," he said. "You learn about about yourself and managing difficult situations and persevering. (But) I probably won't go back. I'm one and done on that one."
"Life Stories" is published on Mondays. Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645. Follow him on Twitter @TFPcolumnist.