UA Grad-to-be Scales African Mountain by Bicycle

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro on foot is difficult enough. Last March, UA senior and amateur MMA fighter Tate Nelson tried it the hard way – on a mountain bike.

Nelson, who’s graduating Saturday, May 6, with a degree in business marketing and a minor in journalism, ascended the African mountain on a bicycle along with his father, Rob Nelson, and competitive cyclist James Lawrence.

Lawrence set a record for completing 50 Iron Man challenges in 50 days in 50 states. A guide accompanied them. Nelson had plenty of experience riding mountain bikes, but he needed to train for such a high ascent.

“It was the first time I’ve even done mountain biking in a foreign place,” said Nelson, who’s from Laguna Beach, California. “My father pitched me the idea, and we got a team together, and I started training, which is hard in Alabama, because we don’t have hills.”

Their goal was to be the first team to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro, which rises about 16,000 feet from its base to its apex, without getting off their bikes. The summit is about 19,000 feet above sea level.

They were riding to raise money for an orphanage called Treasures of Africa in Moshi, Tanzania, as part of the Cycle Kili campaign. Once they got to Moshi – their starting point at the base of Kilimanjaro — and prepared to ascend, the team members had to use their skills to navigate dirt roads, footpaths and trails to get up the African mountain.

“We took a road up to the front gate,” he said. “That was about 22 miles. From there, we took a service road. It was a road, but was very steep – it wasn’t a real bike-able road. It was very difficult.

“That took us up from 4,000 feet to 12,300 feet. From there, we were taking hiking trails, which were like a dry creek bed that’s on a 20 percent grade. It was pretty much straight up and down.”

After the arduous task of ascending that high on the mountain, they encountered the bane of mountaineers – weather. Snow. Wind. The storm caused a rock slide, Nelson said, so they had to walk their bikes up part of the way.

“We go to 15,500 feet,” he said. “We got off the bike and slept a couple of hours. Then, when we got up, a storm hit. Our guide said we couldn’t make the actual biking part of the ascent, so we pushed the bikes up to a point on the ridge a couple of thousand feet.

“So, by 18,000 feet, we were able to ride the rest of the way up when it was safe, because the storm had passed.”

They didn’t set the record, but they did get to the top – a remarkable trek. Then it was all downhill – Nelson’s experience on mountain bikes helped him and his cohorts deal with some of the more dangerous twists and turns on the way back.

“It was quite a relief to get to the top, I can tell you that,” he said. “I’m more of a downhill biker. That’s where I’m strongest on the bike.”

In addition to his mountain-biking and hiking, Nelson fights in amateur mixed martial arts contests. He had been a tennis player, but after competing on the college level, he decided to trade the court for the ring.

“I started as a tennis player at Fresno City College, and, after a year, I told my father I was done with tennis,” Nelson said. “So, he said, ‘What about fighting?’ He said my grandfather had been a fighter in the Navy.

“My dad had a friend named Mark Munoz, who’s a retired MMA fighter. I went to his gym, and he said I could try a couple of classes. I got into it, and I immediately loved it. I picked it up pretty quickly, and when I came here to Tuscaloosa I got in a gym.”

After graduation, Nelson plans to pursue MMA – he may turn pro as he develops as a fighter. Nelson competes in Alabama at the 170-pound welterweight level.

“My base is Brazilian jujitsu,” he said. “I’m a purple belt. And I’m also using Muay Thai (kick boxing). You get to the point where nobody on the amateur level wants to fight you anymore, so you look to turn pro.”