Cross Egypt Challenge

Cross Egypt Challenge

Category	Cross-Country Rally
Country	Egypt (2011–present)
Inaugural season	2011
Official website	www.crossegyptchallenge.com

Cross Egypt Challenge (or simply CEC) is an annual cross-country endurance motorcycle and scooter rally conducted throughout the most difficult and challenging roads and tracks of Egypt. The rally is open to amateur and professional riders from around the globe.

The distance of the rally ranges between 2500 and 3000 km but with a different route every year. Participants usually ride from 200 to 500 km per day.

History

Cross Egypt Challenge started in the year 2011^[1] when one night in Alexandria, Ahmad Elzoghby, Founder of the Cross Egypt Challenge, was enjoying a normal evening with his cousins when one of them suggested they should take a trip to Sharm El Sheikh – on their scooters. The rest is history.

The idea of traveling to another city by scooter intrigued Elzoghby. Few days later, at another get together with his cousins, he proposed a daring idea. “I thought if we could go to Sharm Elsheikh, we could go anywhere else, scooter rallies are organised all over the world, but nothing like this had ever been done in Egypt. And there is no reason why we should not have an event like that here; we have the space, a beautiful country and great places to visit.”

The declining tourist numbers after the revolution worried Elzoghby and the Cross Egypt Challenge seemed a good idea to generate international media interest. “After the revolution, the global media focussed mainly on the problems Egypt was having, creating the impression that Egypt had stopped being safe,” he explained. “Yes, we are facing big challenges but for the most part Egypt is a safe place to be. I wanted to show the world that it is possible to travel across the country on a scooter and arrive safely.”

The international media loved the idea, and stories were carried by the likes of BBC,^[2] National Geographic and Discovery Channel.^[3] After the success of the challenge in its first year back in 2011, Elzoghby and his team decided that they would turn the Cross Egypt Challenge into an annual event.

2011 Edition

The first season of Cross Egypt challenge took place between October 14 and 22, 2015, and was a 9 days ride from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the North of Egypt to the temple of Abu Simbel, on the southern borders of Egypt with a total distance of about 1700 km. 15 riders from 3 different countries took place in the 2011 season in which 14 were able to complete the challenge successfully.

The challenge began at the site of the modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the ancient city of Alexandria, passed by the Great Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, and crossed the Nile River and the Suez Canal on the way to the eastern Egyptian border at Taba. The riders head south to the cities of Neuwebaa and Dahab before reaching the world famous resort city of Sharm El Sheikh. They then took a ferry across the Gulf of Suez to Hurghada and continued their journey to the legendary city of Luxor; the world largest open-air museum, where they rode down the avenue of the sphinxes to reach the magnificent temple of Karnak. The team continued to Aswan and further south to end the journey in front of the most famous temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel, on the shores of Lake Nasser.

2012 Edition

The 2012 season of Cross Egypt Challenge began on October 12, 2012 and lasted for 8 days. The season witnessed a 2400 km route starting from Egypt's capital and the home of the famous Tahrir Square, Cairo then head toward the coastal city of Alexandria before going west to the city of Marsa Matrouh. From Marsa Matrouh, the riders rode south and explored the most fascinating oases of the Egyptian Sahara; Siwa, Bahareya, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga before arriving to the final destination, Luxor, the world's largest open-air museum.

The 2012 season had 25 riders 10 different countries. 24 in which were able to complete the challenge successfully.

2013 Edition

The 2013 season started on November 8, 2013 and lasted for 9 days. The total distance of the 2013 route was 2400 km and started from the Mediterranean city of Alexandria; passed by Egypt's capital, Cairo, made stops at the Western Desert Oases of Bahareya, Farafra, Dakhla, and Kharga, then head east towards Luxor, Hurghada, and Sokhna before ending the journey in Cairo at the foot of the Great Pyramids of Giza.

44 riders from 11 different countries took place in the 2013 season of Cross Egypt Challenge.

2014 Edition

The fourth season of Cross Egypt Challenge started on November 14, 2014 and lasted for 9 days. The 2014’s 3000 km route started from the Mediterranean city of Alexandria; passed by Egypt's capital, Cairo, made stops at Ain Sokhna, El Gouna, Marsa Alam before crossing the Egyptian Eastern Desert towards Luxor and Aswan, then made went deep south to Abu Simbel at the southern borders of Egypt before heading north by the Nile Valley towards Assiout and then ending the journey in Cairo under the Great Pyramids of Giza.

52 riders from 11 different countries took place in the 4th season of Cross Egypt Challenge, 48 of which were able to complete the challenge successfully.

2015 Edition

The 2015 and fifth anniversary season of Cross Egypt Challenge will start on October 23, 2015 and will last for 9 days. The 2,725 km route this year will begin from the Mediterranean's largest coastal city, Alexandria then pass through the Capital - Cairo - en route to the Red Sea's resort Sokhna before going South to visit the amazing resort cities of Sahl Hashish and Marsa Alam on the Red Sea shore. The challenge will then head west to the Nile valley to visit the ancient city of Luxor, the world's largest open-air museum city, and the capital of Ancient Egypt where the participants will spend two days in celebration for the rally's 5th anniversary.

From Luxor the riders will head North-west to explore some of the most fascinating oasis of the Egyptian Sahara (desert). A total number of 3 oases will be explored en route before the final leg of the 2015 season of Cross Egypt Challenge takes place between Bahareya Oasis and Cairo to end the new season at the most sacred place in Egypt, under the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Cross Egypt Challenge is considered the only organized cross-country rally of its kind in the entire region and combines the best of adventure travel and extreme sport. Each season of the endurance rally introduces a new route throughout the most famous spots of Egypt. Tens of adventure riders fly to Egypt yearly to take part of the famous challenge.

List of participants

2011 participants

^[4]

Name	Country	Classification	CEC Number
Ahmad Elzoghby	Egypt	Scooter	10
Mohamed Elsherbiny	Egypt	Scooter	1
Osama Kamal	Egypt	Scooter	12
Mahmoud Faisal	Egypt	Scooter	13
Mona Elmadany	Egypt	Scooter	15
Hussein Elsherbiny	Egypt	Scooter	16
Andrado Romero	Mexico	Scooter	2
Bassem Samuel	Egypt	Scooter	3
Ashok Singh	United States	Scooter	4
Ghada Elshafie	Egypt	Scooter	5
Sarah Tabana	Egypt	Scooter	6
Ahmed Elsherbiny	Egypt	Scooter	7
Karim Hallabo	Egypt	Scooter	8
Charles Reaume	United States	Scooter	9
Wael Sam	Egypt	Scooter	11

2012 participants

Name	Country	Classification	CEC Number
Ahmad Elzoghby	Egypt	Scooter	10
Mohamed Elsherbiny	Egypt	Scooter	1
Aaser Ahmed	Egypt	Scooter	6
Dewane Vanleuven	United States	Scooter
Dimitrios Gkiokezas	Greece	Scooter
Emmanuel Shekoni	Nigeria	Scooter
Ibrahim Elashmawy	Egypt	Scooter
Gunner Skrydstrup	Denmark	Scooter
Jonathan Smith	Canada	Scooter
Kenneth Wilson	United States	Scooter
Khaled Eldarwish	Egypt	Scooter
Maged Mansi	Egypt	Scooter
Mahmoud El Sheikh	Egypt	Scooter
Michael Bobadilla	United States	Scooter
Mohamed Bin Abdullah	Singapore	Scooter
Owen Lewis	United Kingdom	Scooter
Pablo Veitch	Argentina	Scooter
Ramy Amer	Egypt	Scooter
Ramses Slim	Egypt	Scooter
Simon Haisz	Canada	Scooter
Steven Burbidge	United Kingdom	Scooter
Tarek Safwat	Egypt	Scooter	8
Thomas Schneider	Germany	Scooter
Timothy Shear	United States	Scooter
Wallace Quan	Canada	Scooter

2013 participants

Name	Country	Classification	CEC Number
Ahmed Abouelkheir	Egypt	Scooter	2
George Berenbrok	United States	Scooter	3
Alejandro Gonzales	Mexico	Scooter	4
Barb Piatkowski	Canada	Scooter	5
Aaser Ahmed	Egypt	Scooter	6
Peeter Cooper	New Zealand	Scooter	7
Tarek Safwat	Egypt	Scooter	8
Dimitris Giokizas	Greece	Scooter	9
Jose Augusto Pedroso	Brazil	Scooter	11
Maged Mansi	Egypt	Scooter	12
Jacqui Bowring	Australia	Scooter	13
Khaled Eldarwish	Egypt	Scooter	14
Ramses Slim	Egypt	Scooter	15
Stephen Liard	Canada	Scooter	16
Mario Mantovani	Brazil	Scooter	17
Khaled Badawy	Egypt	Scooter	18
Jesus Hugo Estrada	Mexico	Scooter	19
Karim Yehia	Egypt	Scooter	20
Maxine Featherstonhaugh	Canada	Scooter	21
Ibrahim Elashmawy	Egypt	Scooter	22
Iain Brown	Australia	Scooter	23
Steven Burbidge	United Kingdom	Scooter	24
Ahmed Johnson	South Africa	Scooter	25
Julian Kamaludin	Brunei	Scooter	26
Alejandro Urbina	Mexico	Scooter	27
Anthony Paterno	Brazil	Scooter	28
Alfred Zdrazil	United States	Scooter	29
Wael Esmael	Egypt	Scooter	30
Dorothy Lenehan	United States	Scooter	31
Anthony Tessier	United Kingdom	Scooter	32
Christopher Hunn	Australia	Scooter	33
Hesham Kamal	Egypt	Scooter	34
James Balz	United States	Scooter	35
Mary Couse	United States	Scooter	36
Mohamed Ellithy	Egypt	Scooter	37
Raul Gonzales	Mexico	Scooter	38
Tamer Walash	Egypt	Scooter	39
Natalie Knowlton	United States	Scooter	40
Pierre Du Plessis	South Africa	Scooter	41
Sherif Badr	Egypt	Scooter	42
Rubens Filho	Brazil	Scooter	43
Steven Longfield	Canada	Scooter	44
Stuart Dowell	United Kingdom	Scooter	45
Walid Hammad	Egypt	Scooter	46

2014 participants

Name	Country	Classification	CEC Number
Hussein Elsherbiny	Egypt	Motorcycle	1
Ahmed Abou El Kheir	Egypt	Scooter	2
Ahmed Soliman	Egypt	Scooter	3
Abdelrahman Kassem	Egypt	Scooter	4
Alejandro Chacón	United States	Scooter	5
Aaser Ahmed	Egypt	Scooter	6
Barb Piatkowski	Canada	Scooter	7
Tarek Safwat	Egypt	Scooter	8
Becky Burbidge	United Kingdom	Scooter	9
Botti Giannantonio	Italy	Motorcycle	11
Carla Godenzi	Peru	Scooter	12
Carlos Sanchez	Peru	Scooter	13
Khaled Eldarwish	Egypt	Scooter	14
David Marshall	Australia	Scooter	15
David Procter	Canada	Motorcycle	16
David Batty	Australia	Scooter	17
Denise Chew	United States	Scooter	18
Doug Marshall	Australia	Scooter	19
Drew Garcia	United States	Scooter	20
Edward Perry	United States	Scooter	21
Wilmer Mozo	Peru	Scooter	22
Ihab Saleh	Egypt	Scooter	23
Steven Burbidge	United Kingdom	Scooter	24
Mahmoud Rashed	Egypt	Scooter	25
Jacinta Ryan	Australia	Scooter	26
Jazmin Martin	Mexico	Scooter	27
João Martins	Portugal	Scooter	28
John Philips	United Kingdom	Scooter	29
Wael Ismail	Egypt	Scooter	30
Kenneth Wilson	United States	Scooter	31
Jorge Riega	Peru	Scooter	32
Jorge Vargas	Peru	Scooter	33
Kim Hennick	Canada	Scooter	34
Loay Samy	Egypt	Motorcycle	35
Vivek Prasannan	India	Motorcycle	36
Mary Sist	Canada	Scooter	37
Maxine Featherstonhaugh	Canada	Scooter	38
Michelle Garcia	United States	Scooter	39
Mohamed Hussein	Egypt	Scooter	40
Mohamed El Sheikh	Egypt	Scooter	41
Nela Rimmerova	Czech Republic	Scooter	42
Nelson Alvarado	Peru	Scooter	43
Omar Ghaly	Egypt	Motorcycle	44
Omar Mansour	Egypt	Motorcycle	45
Ramy Harfoush	Egypt	Scooter	46
Sherif Badr	Egypt	Scooter	48
Steve Bonham	Canada	Scooter	49
Marwan El Rouby	Egypt	Scooter	50
Willem Van Kesteren	Australia	Scooter	51
William Ryan	Australia	Scooter	52
William Sahlman	Australia	Scooter	53

Television coverage

• October 2011: Aljazeera Documentary Channel ^[5] produced a full-length documentary about the first season of Cross Egypt Challenge. However, due to production issues at the channel, the movie was aired in June 2014. The film crew followed the riders of the first season as they travelled through Egypt on their scooters and documented their journey from day to day and from town to town. Link to the full movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHEljtydvpE
• September 2011: National Geographic radio ^[6] conducted a radio interview with Ahmad Elzoghby of Cross Egypt Challenge to speak about the initiative and what their plans for the future are. Link to the full episode: http://radio.nationalgeographic.com/radio/ng-weekend-archives/1139/
• November 2014: Egyptian TV station CBC broadcast a short documentary about the 2014 season of Cross Egypt Challenge^[7] Link to the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RonYqHddY3w
• December 2014: Interview with Ahmad Elzoghby, founder of Cross Egypt Challenge to speak about the recently finished 2014 season of Cross Egypt Challenge on Sabah ON morning show^[8] on Egyptian TV station OnTV. Link to the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDG50FrJmdw
• February 2015: Famous Egyptian sport program "Doos Banzeen" on Mehwar Channel^[9] dedicated an episode about the 2014 season of Cross Egypt Challenge. Link to the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYAgaDirv0o

References

External links

• Website www.crossegyptchallenge.com
• Facebook www.facebook.com/crossegyptchallenge
• Twitter www.twitter.com/crossegypt
• YouTube www.youtube.com/crossegyptchallenge
• Instagram www.instagram.com/crossegyptchallenge