The invitation was made and the challenge issued - is it possible to travel the Roof of the World by Bike Friday? The gathering of the Yvonne Bike Friday Club was made possible by a chance meeting in 2006 in Vietnam and an invitation from Yvonne (Alaska) to Yvonne (Australia) to join forces on the Roof of the World Tour through Bike Asia. At this point the challenge was on with a lot of intrepidation. The complication was that my Friday is a New World Tourer (NWT) which does not have suspension and it can not be retrofitted. Fitting a ThudBuster seat post and fat marathon tyres, double bike gloves and a lot of bump absorption by body made the whole ride possible (if not painful at times)
Thanks to the Team at Bike Asia for agreeing it could be done, for Jason from Grasshopper Adventures for convincing me it could be done and for Epic Cycles and Bike Friday for the parts to make it possible.
12 cyclists - 2 Bike Fridays, 2 fixed frames touring bikes ( no suspension ), the rest mountain bikes. 1,000 + km from Tibet to Kathmandu
2 tour leaders (Naomi and Jamie) 1 cycling guide (Chandra), 1 4WD and 1 truck and a terrific local crew who kept us fed and provided luggage support and backup service when needed.
Other startling and mind numbing statistics on distances, heights, mountain passes to follow but it was zero punctures to Freedom Friday, the Gnu had one, 8 miles from the start point and none to follow. Most bikes had brake burnout on the BIG down or the roadworks or both. Stay tuned for my new techniques for stopping when all else fails (day 23 and day24)...
For the entire story see my other blogsite http://freedomfridayontheroofoftheworld.blogspot.com/
