National 9 (Spotlight Weekly)

Adventure Allure

The annual Himalayan Mountain Bike Race aims to establish Nepal as a leading destination for adventure tourists

By NIRAJ POUDYAL

At a time when Nepal is in crisis in almost every aspect of national life, efforts to promote the country abroad becomes a difficult proposition. Because of negative media coverage, tourists are canceling their plans. Tourist arrivals are plummeting and investors are turning away, ringing alarm bells across the wider economic spectrum.

Against this dismal background, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Himalayan Mountain Bike and Race Committee and Race Sponsors have collaborated to organize the third annual race. The Siemens Action Asia Himalayan Mountain Bike, Series 2002 is being held from November 22-25. The official sponsors are Royal Nepal Airlines, Hotel Radisson, the NTB, Qatar Airways, Himalayan Mountain Bikes, Action Asia Magazine and RooX Bicycle Components.

The organizers expect between 200 and 250 riders to take part the race. Among them, they assert, 50 to 70 will be from about a dozen other nations. Some top-class international riders, including Eric Koh (Malaysia), Alexandra Yueng (Olympian-Hong Kong), Martin Horneggar (Germany), Shahrom Abdullah (Malaysia) and Tasman Lawrie (Australia), are expected to participate. Some of the top Nepalese participants are Suresh Kumar Dulal (2001 Series Champion), Chandra Chettri (2000 Series Champion) and Suman Bhandu.

"The riders will have to face tougher paths, which include rough and tough roads, hilly paths and sometimes small rivers without bridges over them," said Peter Stewart, a member of the organizing committee.

The opening ceremony will be organized on November 22 at Thamel. The series will contain three days of races. On the first day, the riders will have to travel a distance from Sundarijal to Sanku. On remaining two days, they will respectively ride from Sanku to Nagarkot and Nagarkot to Bhaktapur.

The world's largest adventure and sports networks are to cover the race series, organizers told a press conference. National Geographic, Ten-Sports, ESPN and Star Sports, among others, will bring the series into millions of households around the world.

"The impact of such events† at a time when the nation is facing difficulties in tourism would be very wide and positive," Australian Ambassador Crispin Conroy said at the press conference. He admired the efforts to organize the event.

The organizers intend to make this Nepal's most publicized sporting event. "This event is emerging as a major international event to develop Nepal as a key adventure tourist destination," said Subash Nirola from the NTB.

Another important feature of the event is the race for handicapped Nepalese. The winners of each race and the whole series will be awarded trophies, certificates and cash prizes. The first three winners of the whole series will be provided with Siemens mobile phones.