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Sales of different kinds of bicycles and accessories have been going up in Qatar, particularly during this winter, sports shop employees have told Gulf Times. |
The manager of a leading sports shop who refused to be named cited the increasing number of bike enthusiasts in the country as one of the reasons. The “perfect weather for biking” also contributed to the rise in the number of buyers, he disclosed.
He said many residents bought bicycles such as BMX, mountain and racer bikes from October to December last year. Cyclists who regularly join competitions have also upgraded their bikes while others have bought new parts to change the worn-out ones.
The manager also noted that the increasing number of bicycle events and series of races organised by Qatar Chain Reaction (QCR) has attracted many people to the sport. “You will observe that a lot of female expatriates join these competitions and that is good for us, too,” he added. “Biking is now becoming a popular recreation and sport in the country.”
Arnaiz Canlas, president of Padyak-Qatar, echoed the statements of the manager, saying most of the races held in Lusail, Dukhan and Duhail were well-attended. “The number of participants in each event has been increasing from 50 to more than 100 and that is already a good number,” he said. Although a majority of bikers are Filipinos, a number of Europeans also join most of the competitions. These include individual time trials, mountain trails and regular races with specific categories.
QCR founder Farhan al-Sayed said the Qatar national team led by its coaches has graced their first bike race this year.
Meanwhile, a supervisor of a sports shop said he sold about 40 bicycles per week from October to December last year. However, this figure was slightly lower than the figure during the same period in 2012.
“Maybe because a lot of people already own a bike and they just upgraded it this season,” he said, admitting that sales this month had slightly declined.
Besides adults and female bikers, many parents have also bought small bicycles for their children who love to ride in some of the parks in the country.
Before the winter ends, he is expecting sales to go up again even at their branch in another mall as several competitions are scheduled to be held starting February and March.
With the 2016 UCI Road World Championships to be held in Qatar, he said the number of bikers is also expected to grow. “Biking is an exciting and interesting sport for everyone,” he said.