ABU DHABI // Cycling to work as a financial consultant in Dubai, John Francis isn’t just commuting, he’s training to become a semi-professional mountain biker.
With aspirations to compete in professional events, Mr Francis says his journey to and from work serves as a way to get in some exercise.
“Some people struggle to find time,” he said. “The difference for me is that on a daily basis I get exercise. Most people struggle to find time to do physical activity, but biking to work’s a lot like a little workout.”
At the same time, the Filipino says that the 20-kilometre journey to work gives him a chance to train for mountain biking.
He said that although riding on a flat ground is different from the challenges and physical strain of an uphill battle, the fact that he can ride a bike ever day as part of his routine keeps him sharp.
“The only reason I started was because I had too many knee problems and I was not finding a suitable activity,” says the 31-year-old. “It started off as an excuse to do some exercise, but now it’s a passion.”
The sport is so addictive to him that in August he participated in an intense professional training session to help him prepare for the big Hatta race. Since then he’s lost 10 kilos in weight and scored a top 20 place in the race.
But aside from just competing, he says that community keeps him passionate about the sport – an aspect that his fellow cyclist, Pete Aldwinckle, says is not found in any other form of cycling.
“It’s [routine cycling] singly the most boring thing in the world. I’ve done an overnight 170km ride, in the darkness it was boring,” says the Briton. “The difference with road cyclists is that they are very fitness-orientated, people go out they do their thing they go home. With mountain biking, there is a social element to it.”
He says the community aspect is built into the sport itself.
Mountain biking trails are almost always made to lead to a rest stop halfway through, where most groups will break for lunch, mingle and then ride back.
Most of the bike trails in the UAE are found in Hatta at the Mountain Bike Trail Centre, where 60 kilometres of trails were made as a community-driven initiative, supported by Dubai Municipality, last year and expanded upon since. “It’s world-class trails you find in the UAE,” says the mountain biker who has taken his sport all around Europe.
“Not only that, it’s probably the only place you can take a family to camp, with showers, toilets and shade.”
He says that the trails accommodate all skill levels, from easy trails for beginners getting their first taste to the trails worthy of the name “extreme”.
“It’s a great sport to get into and get good at, and it’s great for community building,” says the Englishman.
“But it’s rock and gravel and if you come off, its going to be painful, there are no soft landings.
“That’s the challenge.”
In fact, the terrain is so different that, Paul Conde, a veteran of the sport who started in 1991, says that the mountain biking scene in the UAE is entirely unique.
“I’ve biked all around the Philippines, Nepal, Jordan,” he says.
“You can say that the UAE is a completely different trail than other places.”
An architect by trade and an organiser of several mountain biking groups, Mr Conde says that despite the challenge, his goal is to get more people on bikes.
“That is our goal, the more people on the bikes the more we enjoy it and I want to spread the sport to other people,” he says.
nalwasmi@thenational.ae
