Angkor Wat Bike Race & Ride to Take Place 3 December 2011

Cyclists and adventure holiday seekers from all over the world are being invited to sign up to the Angkor Wat Bike Race & Ride presented by CIMB Bank.

The event, organised by Village Focus International, will take place on Saturday 3rd December, and allows travellers to experience Siem Reap's magical temple complex at a unique time when the Angkor roads are closed off to traffic.

The Bike Race & Ride encourages participants of all ages and fitness levels to cycle through the beautiful temples of the UNESCO World Heritage Angkor Wat temple complex to help raise funds for Village Focus International’s life changing work supporting vulnerable children and sex trafficked victims.

Since the event began in 2006, it has grown each year and raised a total of US$100,000 towards empowering young people and communities break out of poverty.

Rick Reece, Director at Village Focus International said, “the Angkor Wat Bike Race & Ride offers bikers from around the world to join in solidarity to ride on the Angkor roads (car free) through forest, rice fields and the magnificent ancient temple complex. We encourage friends and families to cycle together and unite for a special cause.”

Village Focus International and CIMB Bank are hoping to raise over US$50,000 (net proceeds) this year and beat previous participation figures.

Participants of the event can hire a bicycle through the online registration page. Village Focus International is working closely with a company called Travel Loops based in Siem Reap and GIANT one of the key event sponsors. The company aims to ensure all participants have the size of bicycle that they specified and provide pick up points for their rentals or if participants are arriving to Siem Reap late on the Friday evening prior to the event, the bikes can be delivered to hotels.

Although the roads around the temple complex are genuinely flat, the terrain of Cambodian roads are very different to that in the UK for example. Therefore the bicycle providers advise participants to use mountain bikes although for those few that do request road bikes - the company will meet their preferences.

During the event itself, there are maintenance staff from both Travel Loops & GIANT situated throughout the course to deal with any issues that may arise, and to provide back up bicycles if needed. This applies to both participants that have rented bicycles and those that have brought their own along with them.

The Angkor Wat Bike Race & Ride is entering its sixth year this year. Last year 400 participants took part and organisers are expecting 600 this year. In 2010 participants from over 25 different nationalities took part.

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