May 09: Two wheels on my wagon!

A SEAFORD cycle shop is helping a Sussex adventurer take part in the world’s longest mountain bike race on a Marin.

The Mr Cycles store has provided travel writer Paul Howard with a rare 29 inch wheel bike that will carry him nearly 3,000 miles from the Canadian Rockies to the plains of Mexico in South America.

Paul, 36, from Hurstpierpoint, who is training on the South Downs for his mammoth venture in the saddle, will face bears and wolves in the forests of North America and then rattlesnakes and scorpions in the deserts of the south.

He said: “I’ve never been a mountain biker, so riding nearly 3,000 miles off road will be a real challenge, but the fantastic scenery of the Rockies and, hopefully, the sense of achievement at the finish should more than off set this. Hopefully it will make an entertaining story too.”

He will write the book - Two Wheels on My Wagon – on his return, which will follow his cycling books Riding High (about riding the Tour de France route) and Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape into print with Mainstream Publishing.

Rod Lambert, owner of Mr Cycles, said he chose the Marin Nail Trail, hard tail bike – that means it has only front suspension – after hearing what Paul’s route would be. The 29 inch wheel version is rare in the UK and Rod says it will do the job.

“I’ve given Paul some lessons in bicycle mechanics too and the bike should get him where he wants to go without too many dramas but I have told him that our van collect and repair’ service doesn’t stretch as far as he’s going!”

Paul has also been given camping equipment and advice from the Open Spaces shop in Brighton and will spend every night of his odyssey under canvas or the stars.

The Tour Divide is the longest mountain bike race in the world. It starts in Banff in Canada on June 12 and ends on the US/Mexico border a month later. It follows the continental divide down the Rockies and covers 2,780 miles through Alberta, British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico and almost all the route is off road.

By the time he has finished, Paul will have climbed in the saddle the equivalent height of riding up mount Everest seven times.

He said: “If the snow, bears and wolves of the northern half of the route donm’t get me then the rattlesnakes and scorpions of the New Mexico desert could provide a sting in the tail. I will be keeping a close eye on them!”

Pauls’ progress can be followed on a blog and with race information on www.tourdivide.org.