MTB Egypt Rider of the Month: March 2014

Name: Tarek El-Gammal.

Age: The big Four O

Where are you from?: I am half Egyptian half Japanese but born and brought up in Egypt.

What do you do for a living? I am in charge of Finance at an Egyptian Cement Company.

When and why did you start cycling? I started off as a kid riding my bike in the streets of Cairo and in Germany where I used to spend my summer vacation but all of this stopped at the age of 15 until my friend Karim Azmi told me about this group back in 2011 and helped me buy my first mountain bike and I have been hooked ever since.

Road, off-road, or both? Definitely off-road.

Tell us about your bike(s)!: I started off with a Bianchi Kuma which was a hardtail. It served me well for a couple of years and that is when I decided to upgrade and go for a full suspension. I went all out and got the S-Works Enduro which I am very happy with. It took some time to adjust to the 1×11 but it is definitely worthwhile.

Favorite ride(s) (road or off-road): I like any ride that has several riders of a similar level but I particularly like the Quarry, Extended Long Loop, The Flume, and the Return from the North Ridge.

Do you practice other sports?: I go to the gym two or three times a week to do a mix of weights and cardio.

Tell us about your cycling-related injuries/accidents: Thank god nothing major till now but I guess the most serious one was when I slipped on sharp rocks walking down a steep trail in Wadi Hof (yes walking not ridinig ;)) and had very deep cuts in my arms and legs that took around a month to heal.

Anything else you want to tell us about yourself? I would love to go ride in the Alps one day with MTB Egypt but need to train hard for that first ?.