Afghanistan Today - Riding with the chain gang

Riding with the chain gang

Afghanistan is a landscape famous for its harsh and unforgiving roads, but that doesn't stop cyclists from Italy to Jalalabad from hopping onto the saddle. AT looks at the thrills and spills of a new generation of cycling devotees.

by Wafa Wafaurahman , Various Afghan provinces , 13.11.2012

Imported bike by imported bike, each pedal stroke at a time, cycling is catching on in Afghanistan. The Afghan Cycling Federation has a small core membership of under 100 men and women, but it's no sport for the faint hearted. The poor state of the roads means more punctures and frame damage, not to mention dust inhalation and close shaves on congested city routes. (Photo: Wafa Wafaurahman)

Races have been organised in the country since 1978 and one bike dealer even claims Pashtuns invented a wooden form of the modern 2-wheeler 150 years ago. Here, members of the Afghan Cycling Federation pass by the tomb of the late King Zahir Shah on Kabul's Nadir Khan hill.
(Photo: Wafa Wafaurahman)

With limited infrastructure, cyclists double up as mechanics. Spare parts are a constant problem, and must usually be sourced through the internet and ordered from abroad via Dubai.
(Photo: Wafa Wafaurahman)

Women and girls are showing increasing interest in the sport, but must be careful to observe norms of attire. Trousers and long-sleeved shirts are mandatory, as is generally a hijab-style head covering worn beneath cycling helmets.
(Photo: Wafa Wafaurahman)

Afghans aren't the only pedallers on the roads. In 2007, Italian cyclist Romulo Pizzica entered from Iran and traversed Afghanistan, despite the already deteriorating security situation in areas he passed through. 'It was the best and most welcoming place I've been to,' Pizzica told Afghanistan Today. Here the cyclist, second from right, is pictured with curious bystanders.
(Photo: Romulo Pizzica)

Start 'em young: A boy poses with the Italian's bike and trailer on a country road. But despite curiosity shown towards Pizzica by the local population, he says the biggest problem was not security but rather finding food and water.
(Photo: Romulo Pizzica)

Rob Lilwall, a British journalist, also cycled through Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush mountains in 2007, describing the experience as 'terrifying but wonderful.'
(Photo: Rob Lilwall)

Lilwall recalls the locals being somewhat bemused to see a westerner cycling through their country. While one ANP officer in Kabul raised his gun at the cyclist as he approached him to ask for directions, others, like the three policemen pictured, were mostly welcoming.
(Photo: Rob Lilwall)