MOUNTAINEERING

CYCLE
Mountain biking, considered a
risky sport, is a competitive
cycling carried out in natural
circuits generally through forests
on narrow roads with steep
slopes and very fast descents.

These are the 10 best races in the

world of mountain cycle:
 Transpyr Gran Raid MTB
Pyrenees, Spain The organizers
of Transpyr great Raid MTB,
Oriol Sallent and Francesc
Sallent, from Girona, affirm that
it is one of the most exciting and
memorable mountain bike
adventures in which one can take
part. The mission that must be
fulfilled? Reach the Cantabrian
Sea leaving the Mediterranean,
after submerging in the valleys
and villages of the southern
slope of the Pyrenees and
crossing Catalonia, Aragon,
Navarre and the Basque Country.
Because that is what it is about,
to cross the fabulous Pyrenean
mountain range from coast to
coast, joining two seas in seven
stages in which the participants
combine the best of themselves:
performance, endurance,
capacity for improvement and
companionship, increasing the
spirit of adventure in a place of
extraordinary beauty.

Absa Cape Epic MTB Race,

Republic of South Africa
It is a mountain bike race that
takes place in teams of two and
that usually brings together the
best of the professional elite of
this sport, but also amateurs are
well received. The Cape Epic
departs and ends at the
University of Cape Town. Here
cyclists meet the first day and
make 26 kilometers to Tulbagh, a
large area of vineyards, from
where the race begins in seven
stages. They pass through
Wellington, Welvanpas (where
famous cycling paths run) and
the Stellenbosch Mountains, also
known as the city of oaks, to take
course towards Durbanville,
already in the vicinity of Cape
Town, from where the last one
faces back to the university. A
total of almost 650 kilometers
with a very hard accumulated
altitude of 14,950 meters and
many sections of extreme
climbing and descent that
require maximum concentration
and dexterity on the part of the
runners.

British Columbia Bike Race,

Canada This race takes place in
seven stages across the rugged
Canadian west coast, from
Victoria to Whistle. This is the
British Columbia Bike Race, or
BCBR, a world reference in MTB
trails, covering a journey of more
than 300 kilometers and
accumulating more than 9,000
meters of altitude. Here,
participants will find some of the
most impressive singletracks in
the world. The singletracks are
those narrow single track trails
that, due to their size and
characteristics, can only be
traversed on the two wheels of a
mountain bike. Those that
include the route of the BCBR
run, defiant, through the heart of
the forest, avoiding thick roots
covered with moss, rocks and a
rugged terrain that will test even
the most experienced. Without a
doubt, the BCBR is more than an
adventure, it is an authentic
experience.

Yak Attack Nepal The meeting

with the MTB race held at the
highest altitude in the world,
reaching altitudes of up to 5,416
meters, takes place in the
Himalayas. Not all cyclists dare
to face this challenge, which
takes place in one of the most
rugged and harsh territories on
the planet. Here, the lowlands,
warm and dusty contrast with
snowy peaks in which oxygen is
scarce. In addition, throughout
the 10 days that the competition
lasts, the participants have to
overcome an accumulated
altitude of 15,000 meters. Its own
organizers say that the Yak
Attack is unclassifiable, that it
plays in its own league. Although
it is not suitable for the common
cyclists, it is not only for the elite.
Physical strength is essential, of
course, but so is the mental self-
control and tenacity necessary to
get to the finish line. The success
of the Yak Attack has allowed the
creation of a foundation to
support the growing mountain
bike industry in Nepal and to
finance the best local cyclists,
which has encouraged the
organization to establish
extreme careers in other parts of
the world, like the Rumble in the
Jungle in Sri Lanka and the Alpac
Attack in the Chilean part of
Patagonia.

Bike Transalp, Austria,

Switzerland and Italy Spectacular
trails, amazing landscapes,
challenging gorges, beautiful
villages and impeccable
organization. These are some of
the characteristics of the
Transalp, a competition that, as
the name suggests, runs for 520
kilometers through the heart of
the Alps, in Austrian, Swiss and
Italian territory. It consists of
seven stages and cyclists
participate in a quarantine of
countries, organized into up to
600 teams formed by two
people. In seven days,
participants will drive their bikes
through a pure mountain terrain
that totals 17,750 meters. The
route starts from Imst, in the
Austrian Tyrol, and goes to
Nauders, crossing the valley of
the Inn along the old Via Claudia
Augusta, the largest of the
Roman roads that crossed the
Alps at the time of the Roman
Empire. Then it continues to
Scuol, already on Swiss territory,
and continues through the Italian
towns of Livigno and Bormio, a
spectacularly scenic stretch.

Mongolia Bike Challenge by

Selle SMP, Mongolia
This hard mountain bike event
takes place in the land of
Genghis Khan with stages that
exceed 170 kilometers and a 47-
kilometer time trial. It was
designed by the Italian
adventurer and cyclist Willy
Mulonia, who traveled to this
Asian country more than 10 years
ago to pedal at will and had a
crush on him. Soon after, he set
out to organize what is today
one of the most recognized MTB
races in the world. And also one
of the most striking: much of the
journey takes place in the
Mongolian steppe, a vast plain
without rules or barriers where
the body and mind are tested. In
this landscape of great beauty,
the runners, organized in teams
of at least five members,
compete in one of the eight
categories grouped by age and
gender. It is a long and difficult
race, open to both professionals
and amateurs. All of them must
overcome a gap of up to 14,000
meters during the journey.

Moab Epic Mountain Bike

Adventure Race Utah, United
States Moab, in Grand County,
Utah, is ideal for mountain
biking. The city is famous for the
large influx of mountain bikers
who come here every year to
compete in various races held in
this area near the Arcos National
Park and the Tierra de Cañones
National Park. The place is full of
trails and singletracks, such as
the so-called Magnificent 7 ("the
Magnificent Seven"), a system of
roads of just over eight
kilometers of intermediate
difficulty, or integrated into the
Moab Brands, almost 13
kilometers of roads that they
require some physical
preparation.

8
Crocodile Trophy, Australia
The Crocodile Trophy is an
annual race held since 1995,
which makes it one of the most
legendary. Although his
organizer, the former Austrian
professional cyclist Gerhard
Schönbacher, initially thought of
carrying it out in Vietnam, he
soon changed his mind and
moved the project to Australia, a
country where he had competed
many times and where he had a
house. Thus, the outback of the
largest island in the world was
the place chosen to celebrate
this tough test of MTB that
subjects its participants to
temperatures of 40ºC in some
places with a Martian look.
Although not all are desert
scenarios. With stages exceeding
135 kilometers per day and a
cumulative elevation of 17,000
meters, the competition starts
from Smithfield, in the northeast
of the country, in the state of
Queensland, and goes south
through the rainforests of Cairns.

uta de los conquistadores, Costa

Rica
Every year, hundreds of the best
cyclists in the world come to this
Central American country to test
themselves in a unique journey,
fighting a pulse with the
orography, great distances and
meteorology, and immersing
themselves in the Costa Rican
culture. The Route is the only
race that crosses the American
continent from the Pacific coast
to the Atlantic, and is famous for
its great difficulty. It begins at
sea level and travels five
mountain ranges, about 260
kilometers, which force the
cyclist to face a cumulative
altitude of 8,840 meters. An
irregular territory that 500 years
ago took the Spanish
conquerors. If it took them 20
years to cross Costa Rica from
coast to coast, today, following
almost the same steps as those
colonizers, the hard-working
adventurers, mounted on their
suffering mountain bikes, get it
in three very hard days.

Iron Bike, Italy This MTB

competition is known as Iron
Bike, and part of Limone
Piemonte to finish at Sauze
D'Oulx, both locations located in
the Piedmont region, in the
Italian Alps. It is a very hard race
that combines extreme climbs
and descents and some stretches
of porteo on foot. The Iron Bike
runs for about 700 kilometers
and accumulates an incredible
drop: 27,000 meters, which
makes it one of the most
arduous MTB races in the world.
As if that were not enough,
includes sections that require a
certain dose of heroism, such as
the climb to Mount Chaberton,
3,131 meters above sea level, the
biggest challenge of the
competition. At the top is the
highest military fort in Europe,
built by the Italians between
1896 and 1910. Although until the
Second World War belonged to
Italy, in 1947 Mount Chaberton
came under French sovereignty.
Undoubtedly, facing this
escalation is a brutal mission, not
suitable for all audiences.
those were the 10 best races in
the world.

The best of the mountaineering

cycle is:

practitioner of the 'BikeBrothers'

group from Barranquilla.
Who invented cycling?
Already the Egyptians used the
bike. In countries like China,
Egypt and India appear the
oldest testimonies on the
background of the bicycle and its
use and the names of the oldest
cyclists. But it was not until 1790,
when the French De Sivrac
presented his celerífero in the
Court of Versailles. It was a two-
wheeled device made of wood
and joined by a bar about one
meter long, and without pedals!
Since the cyclist moved by the
momentum of the feet on the
ground. Already in 1817 the
sporting use of the bicycle was
considered to be called "running
machine" and "Horse of fun",
because it has always managed
to unite in the same body to be a
means of locomotion and a tool
of amusement, leisure,
enjoyment and above all sports.
Some curiosities of the bicycle
world: The first pedal bicycle was
called velocipede and was
invented by a Scottish
blacksmith, Kirkpatrick
Macmillan, in 1839. In 1886 the
first tandem was manufactured.
In 1989, C. Kelly and G. Fisher
built the first mountain bike,
with pedals. In 1870 the first
road competition was held from
Florence. In 1883 the first indoor
World Championship in Great
Britain was held. At the end of
the 19th century, cycling began
to gain strength and specialized
magazines emerged and the
names of elite cyclists
resounded. In 1889 John Boyd
Dunlop invented the current
chamber using a tubular rubber
ring filled with air, which could
insulate the wheel from the
ground. In the last quarter of S.
XIX, the device had become so
popular that there were even
schools to learn to ride a bicycle.
During the twentieth century the
great races emerged in stages:
the Tour de France, the Giro
d'Italia and the Tour of Spain,
whose first edition was held in
1935. And the last curiosity: who
is the fastest cyclist of all time?
John Howard who reached in
1985, 245.08 kilometers per hour.

cycling was invented by Ignaz

Schwinn,

¿Where did they create cycling?

Mountain Biking was born in
California in the late seventies,
however, its origins go back
much further to 1933 specifically.
That was the year that Ignaz
Schwinn, built in the USA, a
bicycle of great robustness, the
Schwinn Excelsior, which very
soon became popular among the
distributors of newspapers at
home. Towards the middle of the
seventies, just when the first
BMX (teenage bicycles, designed
to practice the Cross) were born,
some fans created downhill
competitions, especially in the
county of San Francisco. It was
then that the old Schwinns were
"rediscovered", which proved
their perfect utility for
competitions of this kind.
Gary Fisher, one of the pioneers
of Mountain Biking, modified his
Schwinn, applying the speed
changes to use them also in
climbs. Very soon Joe Breeze,
understood that the secret of the
old Schwinn, did not depend on
the thickness of the tubes, but
on the geometry of the painting.
These considerations impelled
him to build new bicycles with
frames of a similar geometry, but
equipped with more efficient
groups, in this way the all-terrain
bicycle was born.

In the history of Mountain

Biking, other pioneers appear:
Chalie Cunningham and Tom
Ritchey, Mike Sinyard, Tim
Neenan, who created the
Stumpjumper, one of the most
famous models and other names
such as Muray and Ross. These
bicycles acquired the name of All
Terrain Bike (all terrain), from
these bicycles were created the
competences designed for them.

The First Cycling World

Championship was held in 1991
with 8 valid ones of 30
kilometers each and an
inclination of 20 degrees. Today
in the USA alone 19 million
Americans ride mountain bikes.
there are five best cyclists in the
mountain range or mtb that are
the following :

1. Finn Iles, Canada ( DHI ) Finn

Iles poses for a portrait during
the Red Bull Purest Line in
Quebec, Canada, in 2017. Finn
Iles © SCOTT SERFAS / RED BULL
CONTENT POOL Let's start with
something pretty obvious, okay?
Finn Iles has been one of the
highest hopes of mountain
biking since he first appeared in
the Crankworx Whistler 2015. He
is currently part of the factory
team and has experience in the
UCI World Cup. Now has arrived
the moment we were all waiting
for: his arrival at the elite to fight
with the greatest. Iles ravaged
during the U23 season last year
and won the title in the absence
of several races, although he had
fierce competition with several of
his teammates, especially with
the British Matt Walker. His lap
times would have placed him in
the twentieth position of the
absolute general, so the step is
not exactly small. Some of the
most important names, such as
Josh Bryceland, have taken
several years to compete with
the most experienced elite riders.
Iles finished his first World Cup
in elite category at 56th place
after a big fall in a rocky area.
But, whatever happens from
here, we are sure it will be very
exciting. 2. Joe Breeden, UK
(DHI) British mountain biking has
been very successful in recent
years. But, just as the experts
began to predict that the
country's golden years were
coming to an end, a new crop of
extremely fast superstars
appeared. Charlie Hatton will be
racing under the wings of the
Atherton brothers next year on
board Trek Factory DH, but it's
his very young former teammate,
Joe Breeden, for whom many
experts are really enthusiastic.
The 18-year-old Welsh ex-
football player played his first
season in the UCI World Cup last
season and impressed
throughout the tournament. He
was one of the under-23s on the
podium and was selected for the
team of Great Britain at the
World Championships, so he had
the opportunity to travel to
Cairns (Australia), where he won
the silver medal. He is currently
recovering after a hard fall while
training with his friends, and is
about to miss the start of the
2018 season. But we are looking
forward to seeing if he can
improve his marks at the
Lenzerheide World Cup
(Switzerland)

3. Kate Courtney, USA (XCO)

Kate Courtney in a profile picture
with Specialized equipment Kate
Courtney is part of the
Specialized Factory Team © JAN
KASL / RED BULL CONTENT
POOL Another cry of hope a little
more obvious than the previous
ones is that of the American Kate
Courtney. But he's only 21 years
old, so he deserves to be
included. Courtney debuted this
year in the elite category of the
Mercedes-Benz UCI Women's
World Cup in Stellenbosch,
South Africa. The graduation of
an under23 driver had not been
anticipated so much since Jenny
Rissveds upgraded. Courtney
won the U23 U23 World Cup title
last season and is injury-free and
ready to continue her jump to
the top. But, although cross-
country races are always full of
fascinating data, many times the
expected results are not fulfilled.
Nobody lowers the piston in the
elite category and it will be
interesting to see how Courtney
manages.
4. Vali Höl, Austria (DHI)
Valentina Höll poses in Finale
Ligure, Italy, on April 1, 2018.
Valentina Höll © PHILIP PLATZER
/ RED BULL CONTENT POOL Only
17 years old, Vali Höl is
considered by many to be the
next great power in women's
downhill races. At such a tender
age and with so much debate
about the current situation of
junior women's careers, at first
glance it may seem like a bold
affirmation, but it is perfectly
understood when you see it
compete. Höl always stayed in
the top five among the sub15
guys in the iXS races and has
already signed a six-year
contract with YT Industries, so it
is very clear that they see her as
a future talent. And another
person who fully trusts her is the
admired freerider Angie
Hohenwater, who happens to be
Höl's godmother. Without a
doubt, this girl is going to give
us great moments. Höl
competed for the first time at the
UCI Mercedes-Benz World Cup in
Croatia and won the junior
women's category for more than
12 seconds.
5. Martha Gill, UK (Enduro)
Enfrentarse a un campeonato
internacional de mountain bike
es un gran compromiso. Martha
Gill lo hizo en 2017 y se fue con
la corona de las Enduro World
Series Sub 21. Fue un año
espectacular, pues subió al podio
en casi todas las competiciones
en las que participó y ha seguido
progresando hasta convertirse en
una de las mejores ciclistas del
mundo.
Ahora está preparada para
afrontar una temporada aún más
dura, ya que es su debut en las
filas de la categoría élite de la
EWS y se las verá con algunas de
las grandes estrellas del deporte.
Pero, ahora que ha vuelto a
renovar con Marin Bikes, Gill
parece dispuesta a continuar su
marcha hacia lo más alto del
enduro. A falta de dos rondas se
encuentra en la 11ª posición en la
carrera por el título.

Fin