Oman Bike & Run - Interview with Gerard Fusil

Paul Pelletier / 06.09.2005

Between December 2 – 10 an international “Bike and Run” race will take place as part of the first “Oman Nature Adventure”. In the magnificent and little known Sultanate of Oman, competing teams of two athletes, equipped only with a mountain bike, will discover incredible courses every day and bivouac together every evening. This challenge’s pioneers will have to trek through five long stages plus an evening race, all organised by Gérard Fusil, creator of Raid Gauloises, Elf Authentique Aventure and Réunion d’Aventures.

Paul Pelletier asked Fusil about his new concept.

You’ve announced a rather unexpected large Bike and Run competition. We thought you’d never do anything other than Adventure Sport?

But it IS Adventure Sport! Competitors will go beyond the known paths into the heart of nature to discover virtually unblemished sites in the desert, mountains, wadis, oases, and along beautiful and wild sea coasts.

What’s new this time are teams made up of only two competitors, and mountain bikes as each team’s constant companions. For a week, they will live in the great outdoors, meeting up every evening at a collective bivouac.

To tell the truth, this is about opening adventure sport up to more people thanks to a simple, inexpensive concept that makes it easier for competitors to organise themselves and join in. Two friends who run, mountain bike, and would like to have a great time in an extraordinary country? They’re on their way.

The race course will be difficult, but it’s accessible to any reasonably athletic person. The winners will finish each stage a few hours before the others, that’s all. A bit like the Dakar race, where the first-placers finish in the early afternoon and the stragglers arrive later that night! You have to remember though that these stragglers live through some of the most beautiful experiences, but it’s the winners who live and breathe their passion.