The situation of mountain biking in Iran:

Iran is a country with various climates, especially mountainous terrains and benefits from a true 4 season weather, therefore people have the chance of following their sport of choice or tourism activities throughout the year and benefit from the natural attractions of various regions and locations.

Mountain bikes were introduced in Iran at 1991 and after a year, considerable achievements of obtaining the second world record in climbing to peak Damavand (5671 meters) and afterwards, climbing to hilltops in excess of 4000 meters high and identifying various parts of Iranian mountainous terrains. It should be noted that with the establishment of Asia’s largest cycling course in the city of Tehran, our biking sport is unrivaled and blooming.

Mountain bikes caught the eye of our road cyclists and mountain climbers from the very first beginning and each group took interest in them from their own point of view in utilizing this pollution free and environmental friendly device.

The two large mountain ranges of Alborz and Zagros host numerous locations and wonderful spots for cycling, which many of them are yet to be discovered. Moving southwards from the Alborz range, one reaches the desert parts but moving north, one would see lush forests and the Caspian sea. The interesting point is that with a 3 day excursion, groups could pass the heart of the desert and mountain ranges and reach forests and the sea, in other words, traveling through 3 climates, dry, mountainous and forests that provides the rare opportunity of visiting natural and historical locations as well as immigrating nocturnals.

Nowadays, there are lots of active mountain biking groups in most Iranian cities and on some occasions, groups are invited to form nationwide naturist excursions so all of them could see and witness the virgin mountainous locations and colorful folklore and traditions of rural Iran, all for the main purpose of developing nature cycling excursions and forming a sort of closeness and unity among professional groups.

Interested parties in Iran try their skills in competitions and maintain their state of readiness for international races and add to their professional experience. Since our cyclists have already brought a number of medals ands trophies from Asian games back home and this alone has caught the attention of authorities. We sincerely hope that having the talent and will and benefiting from the latest technology, our cyclists could be present in worldwide competitions as well.

Bicycle has been a favorite transportation apparatus from the old times in Iran and at this stage, four large factories and a number of foreign brand representatives, stream hundreds of thousands of bicycles each year to this market. However, since Tehran is located in a foothill, cycling is not that favorable and more used for fun but bicycles are widely popular in other parts of the country and we are witnessing formation of cycling lines in cities and growth of strong and uniform teams.

Although, will all the hard work done and progresses made, mountain biking is still quite far from the platform that should and is just. The world still is not aware of the pool of talent in Iran but we hope that this adventurous sport could develop and flourish among the pillars of society and also could serve the purpose of better introducing Iran to the outside world.

Gashta group was established inline with these goals at 2002, the international mountain year and as the first specialized Iranian group holding a permit from the mountain climbing federation of Iran and using official federation tutors and coaches, has done it’s best to publicize this wonderful sport, even by launching a professional mountain biking website and we are proud to announce that many people have became allies to this sport each year through our publicizing campaigns. This group enjoys a fruitful and constant relation with the mountain biking committee, subgroup of the mountain climbing federation and has managed to hold numerous training courses, nature excursions in forests and mountains and deserts for various levels which has lead to more appreciation of cycling among people inline with the goals and strategies of the mountain biking committee within the mountain climbing committee.

Goals of Gashta mountain biking club are:

1)      Motivation and publicizing and spreading the mountain biking culture by holding various tours and excursions

2)      Identifying natural and mountainous spots through tours and excursions

3)      Safekeeping our mountainous locations from an environmental point of view and all natural resources and publicizing environmentalism by providing suitable methods and models through training the basics and principles of that cultural tact

4)      Introduction and training on various parts of mountain bikes for interested parties

5)      Spotting fresh talent and providing them with the needed orientation

6)      Holding training classes

Members of this group have suitable knowledge on attractive mountain biking routs in Iran and are more than willing to introduce these routs and accompany interested groups all over Iran. Planning shall be made through full coordination with the related sports federation in order to minimize any mishap and cater for a safe and secure group cycling experience based on extensive programs and making the utmost use of time and various attractions of routes, all with the ultimate goal of witnessing more and more participation of interested ones and their other friends in Iran.

If you are interested, please feel free to take a peek at our “Tour Galleries” section in order to learn about our performed cycling tours and highlights of Iranian nature and attractions.