BECOMING THE FIRST WOMAN TO MTB IN AFGHANISTAN

BECOMING THE FIRST WOMAN TO MTB IN AFGHANISTAN

"Just an hour or so before that fateful accident, was the highlight of my birthday. I became the first woman to mountain bike in Afghanistan. We saw some goat trails and a truck path across the river, we kept our eyes out for a bridge (few and far between) and directed our near sighted driver through the village to cross the river and give it a go. We pulled the car over and unloaded. Travis went up the road and perched himself up on a small hill. I assembled the bike and gave Hamid my camera so we could get some decent stills. Now the question – bike helmet over headscarf? No headscarf? How to do this with the least amount of offensiveness. It fit over the headscarf, which I pulls down and wrapped around my neck and tied behind my neck – checking the length of drape behind me so it didn’t kill me Isadora Duncan style by getting caught in the wheel behind me. All good. Glasses on. Bike gloves on. A healthy crowd of men that stopped work so they could better watch the proceedings with curiosity." Read the rest of Shannon's entry @: http://shannongalpin.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/birthday-wishes-in-afghanistan/ Shannon Galpin is the founder of non-profit Mountain2Mountain, an elite MTB racer, and a member of the GOALØ adventure team.

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