Rebecca Rusch and Patrick Sweeney have recently mountain biked to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak (19,341 feet).
The feat of mountain biking up Kilimanjaro began in 1985 when Dick and Nick Crane became the first recorded people to reach the summit of Kili with bikes.
They carried them up themselves and later wrote a book about their experience called Bicycles Up Kilimanjaro.
Mountain Biking Kilimanjaro - Rebecca And PJ's Experiences
Rusch and Sweeney began their mountain biking Kilimanjaro expedition on the 21st February 2016 using the popular Marangu Route. After 4 days of mountain biking over tough terrain, the cyclists finally reached the summit of Kilimanjaro at 10:20 am local time on 24th of February 2016.
Rebecca is an extraordinary athlete who holds national and world titles in adventure racing, white-river rafting, orienteering, and cross-country skiing. But these accomplishments pale in significance against her mountain biking resume, which includes being the 4-time champion of the Leadville 100. Her amazing world-record titles in mountain biking have earned her the title: Queen of Pain!
Patrick describes himself as an ordinary TV host who does extraordinary adventures to inspire and entertain. That is certainly true: Patrick is the first person to mountain bike to Everest Base Camp, and has now done the same with an epic mountain biking Kilimanjaro adventure.
The idea to do a mountain bike Kilimanjaro expedition was borne out of the work that Rebecca has been doing with World Bicycle Relief since 2003. WBR works relentlessly to assist remote African communities by providing bicycles for personal transportation. Using the gift of bicycles, WBR’s unique charity model allows kids to attend school more regularly, entrepreneurs to run their businesses more effectively and health care professional attend to patients more readily.
Mountain Biking Kilimanjaro - Incredible Fundraising Opportunities
The cycling duo aimed to use the mountain biking Kilimanjaro challenge to fundraise $1 for every foot of elevation on Kilimanjaro – in total 19,341 feet. To date, they have raised over $11,000, equivalent to 76 bikes, which along with their amazing cycling feat is a huge accomplishment in their epic Mountain Biking Kilimanjaro project.
If you would like to donate to the mountain biking Kilimanjaro campaign, click here.
For now, though, we would like to pass on our huge congratulations to Rebecca and Patrick for their triumphant mountain biking Kilimanjaro adventure!
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Webmaster – Thanks for the support, but I’d like to clarify the facts: Dick and Nick Crane (cousins from the UK) were the first recorded trip to the summit of Kili with Bikes in 1985. They carried them up themselves as well, and later wrote a book about it. Later there were charity trips where people biked down, so Rebecca and I were clearly not the first ones to bike on Kili. I stated the same in my official video of the ride: http://www.outsideonline.com/2073181/unsupported-mountain-bike-ride-kilimanjaro
Hi Patrick, thanks for clarifying. We have updated the article.
Cheers!