Ride has already reported on several occasions about the bike project Wheels4Nepal, which Manuel Scheidegger has been supporting for years. Thanks to the donations he has collected, an orphanage that takes in street children has mountain bikes that are used for daily rides. Now one can criticize that these children need other forms of support than riding a mountain bike. Of course, they also receive an education and opportunities to earn some money. However, the value of these children and young people being able to experience the joy of conquering a climb and rolling back down into the city should not be underestimated.
And that brings us to the latest fundraising campaign by former wheelie hour world record holder Manuel Scheidegger: he pedaled a short route, not even a kilometer long, up and back down 130 times. Uphill, always on the rear wheel. In the end, he had a good 9,000 meters of altitude on his counter, as well as 220 kilometers (up and down). The whole event took 21 hours, with just under 14 hours of pure riding time.
The fact that Scheidegger achieved this feat of strength is all the more astonishing as he overcame a serious illness last year. He also suffered a double disc hernia, which is why trial mountain biking and technically demanding bike laps are no longer possible for him. However, wheelies on the racing bike are still possible, even over 110 kilometers in one day if necessary.

Manuel Scheidegger: My back. The legs were in motion and well supplied with blood, the back was under static tension and had to hold its position. In between, a physiotherapist friend of mine released a trigger point. So I held out until the end. I would have chosen a longer ascent for a normal Everesting. It was an advantage that I could relax my back again after a few minutes, and I rode down on both bikes.

Did you ever have to put the front wheel down?

That happened about five times. Each time, I started riding again in a wheelie from the point where it was last in the air.

How much money did you raise with this campaign?

We don't have a special donation account just for this campaign. But we have raised a lot of awareness for the project. Anyone who visits the Wheels4Nepal website will quickly find the account details. It is important for us to reach people who are interested in the project in the long term and will hopefully donate again and again.

The project with the mountain bikes and the trips in Nepal has been running for several years. What other activities do you want to fund?

We want to set up a bike workshop in the city center of Pokhara where bikes can be repaired. On the one hand, this should make the project self-sustaining. On the other hand, the workshop will provide paid work for street children, some of whom are now teenagers.

How is the project doing at the moment?

It's going well, the bike rides are taking place every day. We have since had to replace the first bikes that we bought and handed over to the project. The strain caused by the humidity and the sandy tracks is enormous. It's great that other young people from the city also take part in the rides, which brings the street kids into contact with the local population. This is because the street kids generally receive no appreciation from the population. This is how mountain biking helps to build bridges.

You have been through a serious illness. What does it mean to you personally that you are able to perform like this again?

A year and a half ago, I was in hospital and it was unthinkable that I could do something like that. However, I came up with this idea during that time. Now when I was on the last laps and it became clear that I was going to make it, I was fighting back tears of joy.