Paraplegic pedals up almost 1600 meters of gravel road | Ride MTB

Paraplegic pedals up almost 1600 meters of gravel road

Christian Bragg is paraplegic and builds sports equipment that enables people with disabilities to enjoy outdoor adventures. Recently, he once again wanted to find out what is possible and tackled a 1600-metre gravel road. With a hand-held e-mountain bike.

Christian Bagg has been paraplegic since a snowboarding accident. Since then, he has constructed wheelchairs, cross-country skis and various trikes to suit his height of 193 centimetres and his sporting ambitions.

"I was a mountain biker before the accident and I still am," says the Canadian. But the existing handbikes had their weaknesses, for example on traverses. Bagg became a designer and set up the company Bowhead Corp., which develops mountain bikes for people with disabilities.

Technical developments, not least in the field of e-bikes, are helping him to develop mountain bikes that even paraplegics can ride on long tours in almost any terrain. Bagg's bikes are suitable for single trails and can even ride 2-meter drops, provided the rider has the technique and upper body control to do so. It is certainly no coincidence that the paraplegic trials biker Martin Ashton rides a Bowhead bike.

Christian Bragg himself seeks out adventure, be it on long ski hikes, bikepacking on single trails or even in a cross-country bike race. Many of his customers ride a Bowhead bike, which is powered exclusively by an electric motor. He wanted to find out for himself what is possible with the e-hand mountain bike. His vehicle: a prototype called the Bowhead RX Adventure.

He chose a mountain that also inspires respect among mountain bikers who can move all extremities: Triune Mountain in British Columbia is 2627 meters high, the gradient starts at 1000 meters above sea level and is well over 10 percent steep on average. The way up is sometimes a well-surfaced sandy track, sometimes a rough gravel path. The video shows how Christian's arms and torso, the Bosch CX motor and the bike coped with the challenge. Bragg, who is in his mid-forties, is an inspiration for his thirst for adventure, his will and his inventive spirit. True to his motto: "Everyone belongs outside".


Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.