Check out this video I came across over at Lonely Planet. It documents a mountain biker riding from Everest back to Kathmandu. It’s described as the “longest mountain bike descent in the World”. Of course, that also means it’s the longest ascent as well, so hopefully after all that climbing, you can coast all the way back to Kathmandu.
The video opens stating that the rider is at “North Base Camp – Mt. Everest, 8850m”, but of course anyone who knows anything about Everest will tell you that BC is located more around the 5030m range. 8850m is the summit, and I doubt he took his bike to the summit. The map they display later says the descent began more around the 5200m point.
All of that aside however, this looks like a fun ride. The scenery is beautiful, and the villages they pass along the way look inviting and exotic. The two riders cross over the border from Tibet into Nepal, and you can see an amazing change in the ecosystem. Tibet has the high plateau, but Nepal is more of a wet rain forest. Seems like this would be a great adventure with a couple of good friends to share the road with. Very cool!
Thanks for the link. Those guys must have had the munchies pretty bad when they finally arrived.