GET ON YER BIKE…..

Kathmandu Kora 2014

I think we can all agree that the buzz word in Kathmandu at the moment is “Cycling”, and we don’t just mean mountain biking, cycling of “all wheels of life”. The increased amount of cyclists on and off the road these days is indeed an inspiring thing to see.  A few years ago selling a mountain bike was a tough deal in our shop, now we get people from all walks of life, from the young to the old, boys, girls, men and women come into the store daily to check out our offering of bikes.

Riders Head off for the 2014 Tour De Lumbini

With the increase of cyclist, comes the increase of events involving cycling.

Recently an event at Lamatar saw more than 200 participants join in a races for all levels of riders, just yesterday 80 riders set of from the capital city on their mission to “Pedal for Peace” as participants of the 2014 Tour DeLumbini. The past weekend saw the inaugural Kathmandu Sports Carnival which featured the Nepal National Mountain Bike Team, BMX and Street riding stunts and several Mountain Bike Stalls. The word is getting out there and many more people are discovering that feeling of freedom of riding a bike, be it in the city, as a commuter or for the pure sense of fun and freedom of recreational riding.

Promoting the Nepal National MTB Team at the 1st Sports Carnival

But to date there is no bigger word(s) in cycling that this one …. “ The Kathmandu Kora” . The event was a small dream to bring cyclist and stake holders in cycling together four years ago and began with a mere 30 riders trundling off on a 50 km kora of the outer suburbs of Kathmandu, with the aim to raise money to build critical birthing centers in remote regions of Nepal! The event grew. Last year saw over 800 riders turn out in the balmy monsoon sunshine to sweat out the Kora. Last year also saw the introduction of a 75 km Challenge which was proudly led by our team at Himalayan Single Track.

Kora 2014 is happening again, with the expectation of over 1200 riders and 2 million rupees raised in funding. Himalayan Single Track is immensely proud to be part of this historic event, bringing riders from all walks of life together in one case….But in our view the cause is bigger than a birthing center, it’s about the power of the bike to bring people together as one. A mass of over 1000 people stopping traffic and turning heads…. "Look at them, look how happy and free they are moving through a normally congested Kathmandu." There are no egos here, just people on bikes enjoying themselves.

This year we will again be leading the 75km Kora with our young team of cyclists and some group management training from the British Cycling Association. Once again we are very excited to part of this event! Save the date – 19^TH JULY 2014 and also keep in tune with HimalayanSingle Track and the Kathmandu Kora Face book page for pre Kora rides, riders tips and of course special in store discounts and sale items for the Kathmandu Kora.

And Remember – While entry to the Kora is FREE, don’t forget to pledge your donation to the Cause – This year the cause aims to build a birthing facility in Pyutar, in South Lalitpur, about 80 kms from the ring road, due south! Lets build together the target of 2 million Rupees!

800 plus rider turned out for the 2013 Kathmandu Kora