Dodging chickens, dogs, cars and other riders through the Himalaya foothills, Price managed to claim victory in India’s nine-day International Khachendzonga MTB Expedition. Due to shoddy organizational management the race ended up being more like a season of ‘Survivor’ with food deficiencies, tent shortages and poor medical services for the first four days. “Despite those problems the race ended up being a lot of fun,” Price stated. “There were two stages a day, one an uphill and the other a descent; each being anywhere between 5- and 25-kilometers long.”

Price rode an Independent Fabrications 29er with a Rocket V SLT saddle, Nano Raptor front tire and a Vulpine rear tire. “As it turned out that was the perfect set up since half of the downhill’s were mixed pavement and gravel. Some of it was really rough jeep road but the Vulpine hooked up a lot better than I expected at speeds around 40 to 60 kilometers/hour. Plus it felt like butter on the climbs.”

Price survived the lengthy stage race without a single flat or crash. “It’s the second long stage race in a row without a flat,” Price commented. La Ruta de los Conquistadores was the other race, where Price was the first-placed American (tenth-place overall).