I needed a bike carrier for my FJ and after looking at the locally available options I decided to order the Thule 970XT off Amazon. I didn’t want one of those flimsy bike carriers you strap onto the back of the car but instead wanted one that would fit into my FJ’s trailer hitch. I also didn’t want one that I’d have to bolt on and off since I knew it would be a hassle and I’d either end up leaving the carrier always on or not using it at all. After a bit of research I found the Thule 970XT.

There are a number of cool features in this Thule bike carrier. First because it’s mostly made of aluminum it’s pretty light weight and I can easily carry it with one hand. The second really cool feature is the fact you can fasten it and unfasten it to your car in under a minute and I’m not exaggerating here. Instead of using bolts to secure the bike carrier to the trailer hitch, the Thule 970XT uses an ingenious knob which you can tighten and loosen up to fasten into the hitch. This means I can leave the bike carrier in my trunk and hook it to my hitch only when I need to and very easily. It’s a really practical bike carrier to use and I don’t think there is any other one that can be hooked up to a car quicker than this.

There are other small cool features as well for example the knob that fastens the hitch to the trailer has a lock to prevent the carrier from being stolen. The bike carrier can also tilt down forward so you can open the trunk without removing the hitch and finally the bike carrier also comes with a locking cable so you can secure your bikes onto the carrier and not worry about anyone stealing them (easily).

I ordered the bike carrier from Amazon for around KD90 and had it shipped to my friends APO mailbox but, I just checked and Mr Babu are selling it for KD140 which is probably as much or less then what you would pay if you shipped it via Aramex. Here are some links:

Thule 970XT on Amazon
Thule 970XT on Mr Babu

The Gulf Cup starts on Saturday and local iPhone App developer Mobibus have released an App for the tournament.

Gulf Cup 21 mobile application allows you to stay up to date with the Gulf Cup Tournaments , News and Standings.You can check scores for live matches, latest results and upcoming matches. Also you can check all the Teams information (Squad , Ranking, Coach, … etc)

The App is free and if you’re interested you can download it from the Apple Store by searching for Gulf Cup 21 or by clicking [Here]

Thanks Musaed

It’s going to take place on January 26 and be a mixture of a trail run, off-road cycling and and an obstacle course. You can sign up individually or a team (max 3) but you should be part of a gym since this competition is going to be a challenge between local clubs. I’m signing up to this for sure since it sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. They told me there will be mud!

If you want to sign up you can call the following number: 65778598

I just took the running workshop at The 3 Club today and I thought it was very informative. The workshop was three hours long and combined theory and physical activity. If you’re a runner or interested in running then this is a workshop I highly recommend taking. There is only one more session left which is for this Friday so if you want to sign up visit this [Link]

Below is the workshop agenda to give you an idea of what it involves.

Manchester United are going to be holding their #IAMUNITED fans party in Kuwait on December 9th. The party will feature a live broadcast of the biggest game of the season between Manchester United and Manchester City.

Alghanim Automotive is giving away 10 tickets to five winners to attend the #IAMUNITED fan party. The five winners will be able to bring a friend along to watch the Manchester derby match at the Scientific Center with the presence of legendary goalkeeper and club ambassador Peter Schmeichel.

If you’re interested in winning tickets all you need to do is leave a comment below.

Rules: Only one entry per person and please make sure you use a working email since the winner will be contacted by email. If winner doesn’t respond another winner will be randomly chosen.

Update: The comments have now been closed.

Update2: The five winners according to Random.org are comments #79, #94, #7, #59 and #17. I drew one more as backup in case one of the first five don’t respond and that number is #89.

[YouTube]

Manchester United are going to be holding their #IAMUNITED fans party in Kuwait this coming December 9th. The party will feature a live broadcast of the biggest game of the season between Manchester United and Manchester City. This is a pretty big event since Kuwait has been chosen as only the 3rd venue for this party following the previous ones that were held in New York and Jakarta.

Supposedly ex Manchester United goalkeeper and captain Peter Schmeichel will be attending this event as well.

If you’re interested in tickets to the party they’re free and you could apply for them on the Manchester United website [Here]

Thanks MUSCKW

The 3 Club is holding a running workshop in December which will be led by an elite triathlon coach who will be visiting from Spain. I love running with The 3 Club so I really think this workshop is going to be great. If you’re interested to sign up or just need more details then follow this [Link]

I was wandering around Avenues Phase III today and noticed The North Face had opened up their first store in Kuwait (they’re on the second floor). It’s a good brand for anyone looking for outdoor and camping gear. Their tents aren’t very portable but their sleeping bags can be very compact and they’ve got a nice collection of soft and hard shell jackets as well as camping backpacks.

Kuwait Charity Run is a non-profit group founded to encourage community members, runners, and athletes to raise funds and donations for good causes and engage in outdoor sports activities.

I signed up for the 10KM run yesterday but they also have a longer 21KM run. It’s taking place on November 17th starting from the Scientific Center and ending at the Green Island (for the 10K run) or Kuwait Towers (for the 21K). If you haven’t signed up yet you can do so online from their website. It’s for a good cause and it should be a lot of fun. [Link]

Cheick Kongo, Cyrille Diabate, Greg Babene, Mishal Abul

Every now and then I like to highlight Kuwaiti talent and achievements and I believe that Mishal Abul fits the bill. He is a partner at Paradigm Sports Management, a US based company that manages Football, Baseball and MMA athletes. I met Mishal through my blog sometime back and since I’m a huge UFC fan I was shocked to find out he was managing UFC stars like Michael Bisping and Chris Lytle among others.

Mishal was always into combat sports, he wrestled in high school back in the US as well as college. He got into MMA in 1998 because of the UFC and because of his trainer John “The Machine” Lober who was a pioneer of the MMA scene with a background in Jeet Kun Do, Grappling and BJJ. Mishal is probably the first Kuwaiti to train in MMA.

Jake Shields, Mishal Abul, Tareq Azim

I asked him about MMA in the region and if the UFC is considering bring The Ultimate Fighter to the Middle East like how they did TUF Brazil and the upcoming TUF India. This is what he had to say:

MMA is still way too young for the entire Middle East to recognize it, understand it and accept it. Fighting from a professional position is already here with Karate, Boxing, Muay Thai now they need to learn MMA, the best form of martial arts. There are already some locals or in the region who have trained and are becoming teachers.

Sending TUF to the Middle East is in the plans but not right now that’s because the mentality of the population within the Middle East is not the same as elsewhere with a history of combat sports which usually belongs to other large countries where it would boom immediately like Brazil, Russia and parts of Asia. But, I do believe the Middle East as a whole has some huge potential of breeding the best MMA competitors in the world. Parts of the Middle East strongly train in Karate, some other parts in wrestling or even Judo. Countries like Iran who are naturally strong could develop some amazing wrestlers which is the best base to begin with to enter MMA.

As a UFC fan I think it’s very cool to have a Kuwaiti managing UFC fighters. If you want to find out more about Paradigm Sports Management you can visit their website [Here]