Tour of Karamoja and Paul Sherwen Classic Bike Race are two Ugandan bike events in memory of the late Paul Sherwen. The Tour of Karamoja is an annual mountain-gravel bike event, co-founded by Paul Sherwen and taking place in his beloved Karamojaland located in Northeastern of Uganda. The Paul Sherwen Classic Bike Race is founded by the Ugandan cyclist Ismael
Paul Sherwen and East-Africa
Paul went to school in Kenya and grew up in Uganda, he moved there when he was 6, his father worked in Uganda and Paul would go to Karamoja, the Northeastern part of the country, on Safari. Paul loved the people, the culture and the landscapes and aimed at doing so-called Paul Sherwen Classic Safari’s through this area in the future.
Bicycles for Humanity
Paul’s good friend Pat Montani was founder of the global Bicycles for Humanity movement that brought mobility to Africa through bringing used bicycles to hard to reach communities. Paul convinced Pat to setup a new bicycle chapter in Karamoja and this lead to a partnership with Kara-Tunga’s co-founder Florence Naduk and her Matany Girl’s Vocational Girls school that was under construction by then.
Florence, Pat and Paul became good friends over the years and by 2015 Florence’s son Theo Vos travelled to Karamojaland to discover his roots that ended up in the founding of the social enterprise Kara-Tunga in 2016.
Paul Sherwen Classic Bike Race
Race Director, former Uganda national cyclist, Ismael Ssebayigga, founded the first cycling race of its kind in Uganda to honour his late friend Paul, whom he met years ago when Paul facilitated the donation of bikes to the national team.
The first edition took place in the hills of Kabale district over a distance of 140Km in Southern Uganda and the race organisers aim at organising more bike events in the future.
Paul Sherwen and Tour of Karamoja
Without much preparations Paul’s friend Pat Montani and Theo Vos of Kara-Tunga decided to press the button and in 3 weeks before the event took place they announced the first of its kind Tour of Karamoja 2017.
Tour of Karamoja 2017
While Paul was commentating the Spanish Grand Tour La Vuelta Ciclista a España and Pat was in Canada, Theo and Mama Florence organised the event, laid out the trails and community where the event would sleepover for a night. This was a leap of faith for all of us and it was the start of a collaboration that all of us confidently believed in. 25 people believed in our crazy idea and joined the event that took place along the border of Kenya and Uganda over the lush foothills of Mount Moroto and the colourful people of the Karamojong and Turkana tribes.
Tour of Karamoja 2018
The second Tour of Karamoja was an enormous step forward. Paul visited a couple of times between his commitments for the Tour de France and Tour of California to find a location using his remarkable inner compass, feeling for the bush and loads of experience in logistics and events like the 10to4 Mt Kenya event.
When Paul was in commentating for the Tour of California, a team came over to Mt Moroto to develop the trail network and camp site for the 2nd Tour of Karamoja. The tour took place over 2 days and draw 50 people and was thereby the largest mountain bike event in Uganda.
Tour of Karamoja 2019
The full tour was postponed due to the sudden passing of Paul Sherwen. But a small team of friends got together and cycled from Uganda’s capital city Kampala to Mount Moroto to pay our respects.
Tour of Karamoja 2020
The global pandemic made us almost cancel the third Tour of Karamoja, but the spirit of Paul gave the Uganda team strength to push harder than before and organise an event where Paul would be proud of. The team set out a 5 stage bike event of 450Km traversing the full length of the Karamoja sub-region of Uganda.
The Warrior Nomad Trail is developed to inspire tourists to travel beyond the usual wildlife attractions in East Africa. The Trail Pass is a personal souvenir with key travel information, tips on things to do and a document to capture memorable moments on your adventure.
Kara-Tunga gave a Digital Marketing Workshop to 25 Ugandan Tourism Startups as part of their Tourism Entrepreneurs Training facilitated by the Karamoja Tourism Academy and utilising the UKARIMU Academy curriculum.
Trail mapping on Mount Moroto – One of our goals is preservation of cultural heritage through tourism and therefore we are working hand in hand with the elders as gatekeepers and the youth to document, manage and share.
Watch the award winning documentary “Ateker” about reuniting people across borders in South Sudan, Karamoja Uganda, Turkana Kenya and Ethiopia. The documentary makers aim at fostering peace, preserving our cultural heritage and promoting cross-border tourism.
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Tour of Karamoja, Paul Sherwen Classic Bike Race
Tour of Karamoja and Paul Sherwen Classic Bike Race are two Ugandan bike events in memory of the late Paul Sherwen. The Tour of Karamoja is an annual mountain-gravel bike event, co-founded by Paul Sherwen and taking place in his beloved Karamojaland located in Northeastern of Uganda. The Paul Sherwen Classic Bike Race is founded by the Ugandan cyclist Ismael
Paul Sherwen and East-Africa
Paul went to school in Kenya and grew up in Uganda, he moved there when he was 6, his father worked in Uganda and Paul would go to Karamoja, the Northeastern part of the country, on Safari. Paul loved the people, the culture and the landscapes and aimed at doing so-called Paul Sherwen Classic Safari’s through this area in the future.
Bicycles for Humanity
Paul’s good friend Pat Montani was founder of the global Bicycles for Humanity movement that brought mobility to Africa through bringing used bicycles to hard to reach communities. Paul convinced Pat to setup a new bicycle chapter in Karamoja and this lead to a partnership with Kara-Tunga’s co-founder Florence Naduk and her Matany Girl’s Vocational Girls school that was under construction by then.
Florence, Pat and Paul became good friends over the years and by 2015 Florence’s son Theo Vos travelled to Karamojaland to discover his roots that ended up in the founding of the social enterprise Kara-Tunga in 2016.
Paul Sherwen Classic Bike Race
Race Director, former Uganda national cyclist, Ismael Ssebayigga, founded the first cycling race of its kind in Uganda to honour his late friend Paul, whom he met years ago when Paul facilitated the donation of bikes to the national team.
The first edition took place in the hills of Kabale district over a distance of 140Km in Southern Uganda and the race organisers aim at organising more bike events in the future.
Paul Sherwen and Tour of Karamoja
Without much preparations Paul’s friend Pat Montani and Theo Vos of Kara-Tunga decided to press the button and in 3 weeks before the event took place they announced the first of its kind Tour of Karamoja 2017.
Tour of Karamoja 2017
While Paul was commentating the Spanish Grand Tour La Vuelta Ciclista a España and Pat was in Canada, Theo and Mama Florence organised the event, laid out the trails and community where the event would sleepover for a night. This was a leap of faith for all of us and it was the start of a collaboration that all of us confidently believed in. 25 people believed in our crazy idea and joined the event that took place along the border of Kenya and Uganda over the lush foothills of Mount Moroto and the colourful people of the Karamojong and Turkana tribes.
Tour of Karamoja 2018
The second Tour of Karamoja was an enormous step forward. Paul visited a couple of times between his commitments for the Tour de France and Tour of California to find a location using his remarkable inner compass, feeling for the bush and loads of experience in logistics and events like the 10to4 Mt Kenya event.
When Paul was in commentating for the Tour of California, a team came over to Mt Moroto to develop the trail network and camp site for the 2nd Tour of Karamoja. The tour took place over 2 days and draw 50 people and was thereby the largest mountain bike event in Uganda.
Tour of Karamoja 2019
The full tour was postponed due to the sudden passing of Paul Sherwen. But a small team of friends got together and cycled from Uganda’s capital city Kampala to Mount Moroto to pay our respects.
Tour of Karamoja 2020
The global pandemic made us almost cancel the third Tour of Karamoja, but the spirit of Paul gave the Uganda team strength to push harder than before and organise an event where Paul would be proud of. The team set out a 5 stage bike event of 450Km traversing the full length of the Karamoja sub-region of Uganda.
The Tour of Karamoja continues…
Tour of Karamoja 2021-2022
Sign up for the next edition: 23 to 30 October 2021 at www.tourofkaramoja.com
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Kara-Tunga gave a Digital Marketing Workshop to 25 Ugandan Tourism Startups as part of their Tourism Entrepreneurs Training facilitated by the Karamoja Tourism Academy and utilising the UKARIMU Academy curriculum.
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Trail mapping on Mount Moroto – One of our goals is preservation of cultural heritage through tourism and therefore we are working hand in hand with the elders as gatekeepers and the youth to document, manage and share.
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