One thousand bikers expected for 3rd Annual Great Wall Bike Fest

The 3rd Annual Great Wall Bike Fest wheels into Laoshan, the Olympic mountain biking race park just outside the cap, later this month and Beijing's bicycle enthusiasts will be taking to the hills.

If last year's fest was, in the words of Dieter Braekeveld of Nordic Ways, the organizers of the event, "a chance to meet the stars," this year's is decidedly more plebeian. Sue Haywood may be a no-show, but there's a vamped up slate of events over two days including an 8K race on folding bikes, costume fun ride and a men's 12K elite mountain bike competition.
Gunn-Rita Dahle, the reigning world and Olympic mountain biking champion, cheerfully admits that the men's race is her favorite part of the festival. Dahle, making her second appearance at the festival (see Feature Page 14), says she always relishes the chance to "beat the guys."

She won't have much to worry about in the way of competition from the Chinese side. Despite recent movements in the Chinese biking community, race results have been spotty. The Chinese Cycling Association, for example, has sent a couple dozen rides overseas to compete. And just this year China's first professional cycling team, christened Marco Polo, was founded. But at the Tour of Qinghai Lake in July, the best the Chinese could muster was a 25th place finish by Ma Haijun of Team Merida. China national champion Li Fuyu didn't even crack the top 100.

China may be known as Bicycle Kingdom, but not on the tricky mountain passes where Dahle spends most of her professional life.

There's plenty of incentive on the Chinese side to ride hard as the top male and female finishers in the road and mountain bike races win paid trips courtesy of NordicWays to compete in the world's largest mountain bike competition in Norway and Sweden's famous amateur road race. Braekeveld also expects the competition in the university category to be particularly fierce with teams from 30 plus uni's from all over China representing.

Competition makes good copy, but the focus of this festival is more populist. According to organizers, it's geared toward pros and part-timers alike. Braekeveld expects more than 1000 participants, which would easily make it  the largest amateur cycling event in China. Families especially will find plenty to keep the kids busy with a costume fun ride and a kid's race on Saturday. For sheer novelty, the  President Bush 4K Mountain Bike Race on Sunday will follow the same route Bush pedaled during his state visit last November.

Biking as a community sport is not new to Beijing. It was the philosophy behind the Beijing MOB, according to Siegfried Verheijke, who founded Beijing's first mountain bike club in 2000. It reflects a larger trend in Beijing where the auto is slowly crowding out the bike as the favored means of commuting from place to place.

Yan Haoxue, boss of the Windspeed Bike Shop, agrees, remarking on the incredible increase in customer traffic. "Now," he says, "customers come in and they want something sporty, something they like, not just two wheels to get from home to the danwei."

Beijing bikers taking over the hills? Scary thought.

The Great Wall Bike Festival will be held on September 23 and 24 at Laoshan Park. Sign up by September 5 at www.greatwallbike.com.

Get to Laoshan:
Take the subway to Bajiaoyouleyuan, then walk 100 meters from the subway to the entrance to the park.