Video: The First Cyclist from Lesotho at the Olympic Games by edspratt

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atourgates (Jul 13, 2020 at 9:53)

Yeah Lesotho!

My parents spent a few years as medical volunteers in Lesotho in the late-70s, and my older brother was born there.

We are, super-duper "get-sunburns-on-a-cloudy-day" white people. So, one of my favorite things is now (or at least in the pre-COVID-now) is that whenever I cross an international border with my brother, and the guard asks us where we were born, and he has to answer "Mapoteng Lesotho".

You can invariably see the border-guard go through the thought process of "This guy is messing with me... does he want a probing... why would this guy mess with me... lemme check his passport ... oh, he's not messing with me."

It's been a decade or so since I've been back, but I really hope the Kingdom Enduro is still happening when Americans are allowed to travel places again. That'd be an absolute bucket-list race for me.

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f387d (Jul 14, 2020 at 12:28)

The Kingdom enduro is one hell of an Epic race. Check out Ride Rate Review on you tube.

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fristafrista (Jul 13, 2020 at 13:28)

give to this guys the bike that he deserve and the possibility to train like a pro! when i watch these kind of video i think about some mtb influencer without a racing brackground but with 11k bike and this man go the olimpics and snap the chain at the first lap, maybe because it was already done and he doesn't have the money to replace it instead of feed his family ! all the best of the best man! i will cheer for you at the next olimpics!

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marc-c (Jul 13, 2020 at 18:30)

I agree. These are the real stories. Brands need to pick up more rides like this. The idea that it isn’t about signing someone with a huge social media presence, but with the ability to inspire and mentor new people will only help the mountain bike community.

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bikegreece (Jul 13, 2020 at 8:38)

- Are you listening world???
- Sorry, busy debating on wheel sizes!!

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edgarstigas (Jul 13, 2020 at 9:34)

Cool!

A quick look at Lesotho's topography show that the country is just made out of mountains, and there's like 6 trails on Trailforks.

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Verbl-Kint (Jul 13, 2020 at 14:09)

Lesotho has great trails. They did the South African DH championship there last year.

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Mfro (Jul 13, 2020 at 18:24)

IIRC correctly, Rob Warner did a show with Minnaar in Lesotho. Warner was on Greg's old Orange.

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MrJimLahey (Jul 13, 2020 at 22:52)

It is also the only country in the world that is entirely surrounded by 1 other country, South Africa. This has nothing to do with mtb, but it's a great dinner party fact or conversation starter with the pretty lady standing at the bar.... OK that's not entirely true because the vatican city and San Marino are apparently also "sovereign states" surrounded entirely by 1 other country (Italy) but I've never really known what the deal is with those places. But as you can see it is still a rich topic of conversation.

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f387d (Jul 14, 2020 at 12:29)

@MrJimLahey: it has the highest low point (1600m) in the world.

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f387d (Jul 14, 2020 at 12:30)

Have you heard of the Kingdom Enduro? There are more than 6 trails, some of the toughest trails for MTB.

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edgarstigas (Jul 15, 2020 at 1:26)

@f387d: No I just read about it in the comments.

Sound cool!

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trelleder (Jul 13, 2020 at 9:44)

Awesome!

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befablogsen (Jul 13, 2020 at 23:42)

So great to see you up there! Good job!

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SimonD (Jul 14, 2020 at 5:17)

Very cool.