In Kuala Lumpur, before the start of the second world war, a group of bored young accountants living at the Selangor Chambers in Kuala Lumpur needing a way to keep fit after a long days work, hit on the idea of running over a pre-laid paper chase round the rubber and palm oil plantations of Selangor.

The war came and put a stop to the activities for a time but from these humble beginnings have grown the Hash House Harriers with many hundreds of thousands of runners and thousands of chapters all over the world. For information on running hashes, check out our links to local running chapters.

Bike hashing was started in Singapore in 1989 by James Tay, Evan Jones and Victor Esbensen plus a few other running hasher's with worn out knees and nothing better to do on a Sunday morning than ride their bikes around town.

Evan "Barf Balls" Jones was the first Grand Master of the Bike Hash and Mike "Banjo" Bailey was the first On Sec. Evan has since retired from his post as GM but is still actively involved in biking in the Riau Islands and Batam. Mike was responsible for organising the hash mailing list and getting out those early news letters. We lost Victor in May 1995 to an unknown disease that he most likely caught while walking around bare foot in the tropical rainforest of Malaysia during a photo and camping expedition.

Bike Hashing soon caught on either as an export or independently started in other countries and in the region. Chapters now exist all over the world.

Bike hashing is essentially the same as a running hash but is conducted on bikes and we do not drink gallons of beer after our rides like on a runing hash. It is an ideal way for all levels of riders to ride at their own pace over a pre-laid tested trail that finishes back at the start point.

All riders can find their skill level and ride to their maximum ability or simply ride along at the back of the pack following them, knowing full well that the front riders will do all the work and eventually turn around and come back to meet them.

Bike hashing is probably the ultimate use that mountain bikers can be put to if one accepts that riding on a bike is hard work and most likely dangerous to boot. It will get you outdoors in all weather and can take you to places you never new existed.