Adventurers Abdulla al-Hammadi and Pierre Daniel concluded their Cycling around Qatar ride Friday by reaching Aspire Zone after a 511-km trip that took them exactly three days and three hours to finish. They visited schools all around Qatar to raise awareness of road safety and promote active lifestyle.
The duo started their journey on Tuesday from Katara to reach Al Dhakira at the end of day one. They followed that with visits to Al Shamal and Dukhan during the following two days before heading to Salwa then Mesaieed which they reached in the late hours of Thursday. On Friday morning in Mesaieed, they met with riders from Qatar Cyclists who accompanied them during the final leg of the journey to Aspire Zone.
Al-Hammadi and Daniel focused on primary school students as they visited eight schools that included visits to Ahmad Mansour School in Westbay and Lycee Voltaire in Al Waab, one day before launching their challenge.
During their trip they visited Al Khor Independent School for boys, Al Shamal Independent School for boys, Al Shamal Independent School for girls, Dukhan Independent School for boys, Dukhan Independent School for girls and Dukhan English School. It total, they spoke to more than 700 children and are planning to visit more schools next week.
“We are really happy about what we achieved during this journey. The enthusiasm shown by the boys and girls during our visits gave us the needed energy to go on and complete this challenge. It was not an easy one, especially during the final stages, as we faced strong headwinds. But, we have reached our target while doing our best to raise the awareness of these future generations to issues like road safety and the health benefits of physical activity,” al-Hammadi said.
The 60-year-old Qatari adventurer had recorded many achievements in the past in the field of adventure and endurance sports. That includes a 4300-km cycling trip from the north of Japan to the south in 2017, which took him 27 days to complete. Even though Daniel recorded an unprecedented achievement earlier this year, when he made a 477-km solo trip around Qatar on foot, he still thinks that Cycling Around Qatar was a very special achievement for him.
“My run around Qatar was about going for the impossible and showing everyone that they can achieve anything they want as human beings, but this time I did it for the community, and I am happy that me and Abdulla achieved our goal,” Daniel said. Cycling Around Qatar was sponsored and supported by Katara, Aspire Zone, Qatar Cycling Federation, Qatar Cyclists, Rasen Sports, Q-soft, mbm transport and Silverfox communication.