On the 23rd of March 2012, we scanned through the dry, rocky, and jagged landscape of Shawka that greeted our eyes in the far reaches of Sharjah’s Kalba area, anxious to check out the Hot Six Endurance Challenge organized by the ‘hearts-and-lungs of steel’ mountain bikers from the Hot Cog MTB group.
Six hours worth of mountain-biking through a 10 km course of rough and rocky turns, swerves, sudden drops, steep uphill and downhill paths under the sweltering heat of the sun was one hell of a challenge by itself, but the Hot Cogs had revealed what the real challenge was; to do as many laps as you could around the track of hardcore difficulty within the six, excruciating hours.
As unfathomably difficult as it sounds, a bunch of bikers had done several laps through the insane course already! Our adventurous buddy Ian Ganderton, who was one of the 
organizers of the endurance challenge, told our team that there were riders who have legs of iron doing as much as eight laps, finishing each lap at an average of 40 minutes. On top of that, there was this rider named Sam who had to pedal his way through the rocky road towards the finish line and made 3/4 of a lap with a flat back tire!
In the end, the event saw a couple of spectacular efforts from several riders who had successfully gnarled and puffed their way through the sweet sight of the finish line.
Jaako Soivio rode like a hot-cog monster and eventually nailed the top spot after doing seven laps in 5:21:15, while rider Adam Davidson followed behind in second as he completed the same amount of laps 21:47 minutes later. Phillip Ramos came in third and tallied six laps in 5:49:00.
Meanwhile, Martin Harris and his riding partner Mike Duckworth won the team event after completing 8 laps of hard pedaling through the unforgiving terrain.
Our team was invited to give the course a go – but being unseasoned mountain bikers, we really felt the pinch of the rocky terrain. So be prepared when considering a visit to the Shawka biking course, as a good level of experience and fitness is required.
Adventure HQ, Ride Bike Shop, Micahs Bike Shop and Wolfi’s Bike Shop brought some great products and services to the event. The mountain biking community was in for a treat with a variety of bikes and biking equipment made available at the camping grounds, whereas clothing brands Endura and Buff sold their trademark apparels and accessories.
A hearty meal of roasted chicken, charbroiled sausages and slaw was served by one of the guys from Adventure HQ who was doing his own endurance stint on the BBQ, while the others had their own roasting fires going and prepared their feasts. Some of them bade goodbye and left the camp site at Shawka tired but happy, while others decided to stay behind and settle for the night in the comforts of a campfire and tents, along with stories and a stash of cold drinks, before leaving the next day.
