Former Tour de France rider Nathan Dahlberg has ridden bikes of all shapes and sizes all around the world but admits he will need to do some training to get used to the new ‘mountainbike’ he got last week.
The Nelson-based cyclist, who rode in the Tour de France in 1988 and 1989, is aiming to set a new world record by riding a bike on top of the 8051 metre Broad Peak in Pakistan next month. It would be impossible to carry a conventional bike up that high so Nathan asked his friend and cycling enthusiast Dean Rainbow to build a custom-made ‘mountainbike’ just for the expedition.
“We had eliminate anything that could fail in the low temperatures at that altitude,” Nathan says. “Its 20-below up there and things likes chains, brakes, derailleur’s would freeze solid up so we went for a Penny-Farthing design.
“I’ll be carrying it on the back of my pack and then riding it once we reach the top so it also had to be light and easy to carry. The handlebars come out and I’ll can take one of the pedals off so that it sits flat against the pack.”
Dean, who has built a number of bikes, says the four kilogram mountainbike “isn’t built for speed or comfort” with just a thin foam seat and small wheels. Although Nathan jokes that he could take off and hit some seriously high speeds riding down the 35 degree slopes on Broad Peak without brakes.
Nathan says he plans to take the bike for a test run carrying it up Mt Arthur and then riding it on the tops before he flies to Pakistan on July 9.
“I’ll be riding it in the snow and ice wearing climbing boots and crampons so I’ll need some practise. The hardest part could be finding a flat piece of ground on the mountain – it’s going to be very steep.”
Broad Peak is the 12th highest mountain in the world and if Nathan is successful he will break the present record of biking on the 7564m Muztaga Ata in China. He will attempt the record with Slovakian climber Zdeno Brnoliak, supported by a team of three other climbers.
Nathan says he selected Broad Peak because he has a long association with Pakistan and the ascent is not too technical.
“I’ve been to Pakistan nine times, most recently in 2014 when I cycled up the Karakorum Highway, stopping to hike and climb up over 5000m a number of times on the way. And the standard route up Broad Peak is not technically demanding although it is consistently very steep – most failures on the mountain are due to exhaustion and altitude.”
Nathan says they are planning to fly to ride to Askole which is the gateway to the Baltoro and Broad Peak in the Karakorums before starting the climb. He expects the expedition to take around three weeks. .
Nathan is being sponsored by Kathmandu and Absolute Wilderness.
