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Video: Cyclists summit Mt Kilimanjaro for World Bicycle Relief

Rebecca Rusch and Patrick Sweeney cycled, hiked and climbed up - and down - the 19,341ft mountain in six days

Two adventurers have successfully summited Kilimanjaro by bike, to raise money for World Bicycle Relief (WBR).

Over six days Rebecca Rusch and Patrick Sweeney hiked, cycled and climbed with their mountain bikes up - and back down - Kilimanjaro which, at 19,341ft is Africa’s highest peak.

The at times steep and rocky terrain provided challenges in terms of equipment and the technical riding ability of the pair, who were carrying 17kg, including their bikes.

"It was absolutely the hardest ride I’ve done in my life," said endurance athlete and volunteer firefighter Rebecca Rusch of her ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro last March.

Rusch also visited a village which had just received WBR bikes, to witness the life-changing impact of World Bicycle Relief’s work in rural Africa first hand.

She said: “The bicycle has taken me all around the world and it’s provided me with a ton of opportunity, in a totally different way than somebody getting to school or getting to work, but it really is a common vehicle between all of us.”

The pair weren’t the first to cycle Kilimanjaro – in 2013 American Doug Pitt and friends took on the challenge for Pitt's water charity.

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6 comments

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Paul_C | 7 years ago
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when did 'summit' become a verb?

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PennineRider replied to Paul_C | 7 years ago
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Paul_C wrote:

when did 'summit' become a verb?

 

You questioned​ this language usage, so, I'm going to bookmark this page, and google​ the answer, then maybe blog about it and email​ you an answer.

 

Or maybe I'll bike​ my way over to yours later and we can conference​ an answer, but I'll have to remember to Sky Plus​ the Giro highlights.

 1

 

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backflipbedlem | 7 years ago
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Nice! Inspiring!!

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JeevesBath | 7 years ago
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Rebecca Rusch is awesome, she crushes everything. Patrick also cycled to Everest base camp and is aiming to cycle (as far as possible) all the Seven Summits.

Having climbed Kili some years ago on foot, I can't imagine hauling a MTB on my back to the summit.

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SuperG | 7 years ago
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The first people to get to the summit of Kilimanjaro by bicycle were the Crane brothers, Nicholas and Richard, who managed the feat back in the early eighties.

Quote from Rebecca Rusch and Patrick Sweeney website

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dassie replied to SuperG | 7 years ago
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SuperG wrote:

The first people to get to the summit of Kilimanjaro by bicycle were the Crane brothers, Nicholas and Richard, who managed the feat back in the early eighties.

Quote from Rebecca Rusch and Patrick Sweeney website

I can  see my copy of the  Crane brothers 'Bicycles Up Kilimanjaro'  nestling in the book case at this very moment.  Actually a copy of another of their books 'Journey to the centre of the earth', is next to the computer!

Well done to Rebecca & Patrick...

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