Police chases through prohibited zones: Was this Cory Wallace’s wildest race yet?

The Northeast MTB Challenge was a doozy, even by Cory Wallace’s wild standards for adventure races. Which, considering the Jasper, Alta racer’s history of far-flung expeditions, is really saying something. Then again, it’s not often you have to talk your way out of a police chase while leading a race, let alone do that multiple times.

Northeast MTB Challenge isn’t designed to be tame. It claims to be the world’s longest singe-day mountain bike race. With a race distance of 301km, that is a well-founded claim. But it wasn’t the mileage or even the 5,000-plus metres of elevation gain on route that were Wallace’s biggest challenge. Instead, it was a course that veered from a restricted zone into one of India’s forbidden areas, where no foreigners are allowed to enter, that caused the Canadian some difficulty.

Racing beyond the Inner Line

Starting at the Dirak Gate, the Northeast MTB Challenge starts at the border of Arunachal Pradesh (A pradesh is like an Indian province), a remote northeast part of the country squeezed in between Bhutan, Myanmar and China. From Namsai, the race traverses the state to its border with Chinese Tibet. The entire state, and so the vast majority of the race, happens to be in a restricted zone. Foreigners accessing a restricted zone require a specific, government issued Protected Area Permit. Getting one requires at least two people travelling together and is usually organised by a guiding company. Even Indian nationals require an Inner Line Permit to visit the far-flung state.

Wallace was travelling with his partner, Nepal’s Usha Khanal. The two new the course would require permits, but thought it had been arranged for the race organisers to get them.

“We were coming just a week before. When we realised the permits weren’t organised, I messaged a friend in Delhi who has all the government connections,” Wallace says. “He connected me to the state officials in Arunachal and they got me my permit.”

It wouldn’t be the last time Wallace would phone Delhi. And arriving and finding no permits, which were needed to start the race, was probably the first hint that this wasn’t going to be a standard event.

“We were on the border, 20km from the race start just waiting. We just had to sleep like we were racing,” Wallace says, hoping the permits would arrive on time.

The Delhi friend came through, just on time. Wallace got his at 8 p.m. before a midnight…