1,000 km Cycling Through the Himalayas

At the end of August, an exciting expedition begins. After four years of training, four Swedish men will cycle 1,000 km through the Himalayas – from Lhasa in Tibet to Kathmandu in Nepal. The idea came about when John Ross decided he wanted to celebrate his 50th birthday in an unusual way. With their journey, they hope to prove that great adventures are within reach – even for a middle-aged, ordinary recreational athlete.

Cycling from Lhasa in Tibet, via Mount Everest, to Kathmandu in Nepal is no easy feat. The expedition’s greatest challenge lies not in the 1,000 km distance, but in the altitude. For most of the journey, participants will be at an average altitude of 4,000 meters, with oxygen levels at around 40 percent.

The project was started in 2007 by John Ross. He wanted to celebrate his 50th birthday in an unusual way. His friends thought “How hard can it be?” and began by each acquiring a bicycle. At that point there were nine of them – today, four years later, there are four.

Having essentially started from zero in terms of training, the group is now well prepared both physically and mentally. But the road has been long. Tests have been conducted at Bosön, and they have regularly met with a mental advisor to discuss team building and motivational psychology. The group is led by John Ross, 49, who works as a Project Manager at Ricoh Solution Sales. The other three are Staffan Gustafsson, 45, Mikael Näslund, 49, and Stefan Peterson, 47.

– Besides the trip being a great adventure for us, we’re convinced that our adventure can also inspire others. We therefore want to show and tell as many people as possible about what we’re doing. We feel there are many upsides to this kind of buddy project that collectively increase quality of life, says John Ross.

The group will ride mountain bikes since the terrain varies greatly on the Friendship Highway, the transport route that crosses Tibet. After about two weeks, they will face additional challenges as they approach Everest Base Camp (5,650 m above sea level). Just before Base Camp, the road climbs through nearly fifty hairpin turns on the way up over Pang La Pass. Once at camp, a celebration will be held for the half of the group turning 50 this year. The journey ends with the world’s longest downhill – 160 kilometers with an elevation drop of 4,400 meters.

Freelance journalist Emma V Larsson is joining the expedition to photograph and blog throughout the journey for Outside magazine. The trip can be followed at:

www.outsideonline.se and www.facebook.com

For more information see: www.lhasa-kathmandu2011.se