For the first time ever, an international bicycle tour and race, cycling through Bhutan’s pristine forests and mountains and mixed with sightseeing, culture, day hikes, meeting people, adventure, etc. is organized in this hidden Kingdom in the Himalayas. An experience of a lifetime and the perfect opportunity to visit Bhutan, indulge in your favorite activity and be part of the international Year of Mountain Biking in Bhutan.

The Event:
The event consists of 5 days of cultural sightseeing, then 6 days of cycling across Bhutan, followed by “The Fury Dragon Day”, and finally 2 more days of seeing the country. The tour starts in Bumthang, central Bhutan, and takes you to Punakha across two passes of 3400 m. The Fury Dragon Day is a 38.3km uphill race, starting at 1410m (4625 ft0 and ending at Dochula at 3150m (10330 ft). Racing 1700 m (5700 ft) uphill is going to be as breathtaking as the views. You may want extra oxygen and are welcome to take your own cylinder if you don’t mind lugging it uphill. Mind you, if you don’t like the idea of racing, you can take your own time, provided that you reach Dochula before dark. The last few days you can enjoy Bhutanese culture, buy presents for those you left behind, go bar-hopping in the capital Thimphu, or hit the disco if you still have energetic legs. Thimphu has some of the best bars in the country and the only disco in the kingdom. If you are worn out you can try sleeping , that is , if the 10,000 dogs in Thimphu let you. And finally the last evening and the same old question ’How do I pack all these things’. And also remember your bicycle when packing.

For those who have more energy than the programme requires, want to do some more off-road cycling or rather see more of the country from their bicycles than visiting another monastery, there is an alternative or additional programme. You can take part in the alternative programme for just one or all 11 of its days.

Awards:
This will be the first ever official bicycle race in Bhutan. Your times for the race will be recorded and the record will be there for others to break in the future or never to get reached again!

All participants will receive a Certificate of Participation. All finishers (completing all stages) will receive medals and a Certificate of Completion. The fastest 7 will be rewarded a permanent membership of The Bhutan Mountain Biking Club. The fastest 3 will also get prizes.

The Participants:
Cyclists will come from the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia. Anyone who owns two wheels on a frame and uses his/her calf pistons as engine can participate. You can also bring along family and friends and we have a separate itinerary set for them to also be part of the event.

You can also ask your local Travel Agent in Bhutan to sign you up just for the cycling portion. Your local agent can contact us.

Organizers:
The Bhutan Mountain Biking Club, the first and only club in Bhutan when it comes to cycling is the organizer and creator of this event in partnership with Yu-Druk Tours & Treks. The club was created in 2002 and was founded by Rinzin Ongdra Wangchuk. The reasons for its creation and existence will become clear to you once you meet its members. In 2003, the National Paper, Kuensel, published and article about the club since it thought that more Bhutanese should be made aware of its existence. This write up can be viewed at www.kuenselonline.com/article.php?sid=2967.
Also in 2003, two Australians wrote an article about Mountain Biking in Bhutan for the in-flight magazine of Druk Air.

Registration:
Registration for the event will commence from the 1st of September 2003 and will close by the 15th of September 2004. Participants and accompanying friends and family can contact Himalayan Mountain Bike (HMB) Kathmandu Nepal. See www.bikeasia.info or e-mail sales@bikeasia.info

A non-refundable US $ 110 will be required to be deposited as registration fee for participants only.
The maximum number of participants for the tour is set at 100. If this number of registered participants is reached, other interested candidates will be put on a waiting list and will be informed when openings become available.

By mail: Send your check or money order for US$110 [payable to Yu-Druk Tours & Trek.]

Nepal Co-ordinator
Himalayan Mountain Bikes P Ltd
Mr.Surendra Lama
POBox 12673
Kathmandu
Nepal
Ph: 00977 -1- 4700437

Flights
Druk-Air, the National airline, is the only airline operating flights in and out of Bhutan. Paro is the Kingdoms only airport and Druk-Air operates each week, 2 flights from Delhi and Kathmandu to Paro and 4 flights from Bangkok to Paro. You have the option of flying from/to Delhi, Kathmandu and Bangkok.
You will have to arrange your own flights from home to Bangkok, Delhi or Kathmandu and back. We will handle the Druk-Air roundtrip flights from these cities to Paro and back. Arrival and departure options are listed below with airfares:

Small changes in the schedules may occur, airfares may change, we will keep you informed or you can check the Druk-Air website www.drukair.com.bt

Arrival : Wednesday 6th, October 2004
Bangkok - Paro
Flight : KB 121 departure from Bangkok 06:50 hrs – arrival 10:10 hrs

Arrival : Thursday 7th, October 2004
Delhi and Kathmandu to Paro
Flight : KB 203 departure from Delhi 11:30 hrs, from Kathmandu 14:00 hrs? – arrival 15:05 hrs

Departure : Thursday 21st, October 2004
Paro to Bangkok
Flight : KB 126 departure 07:00 hrs - arrival 13:10 hrs
Paro to Kathmandu and Delhi
Flight : KB 202 departure 07:30 hrs - arrival Kathmandu 08:25 hrs, Delhi 10:30 hrs

Airfares: roundtrip

Bangkok-Paro-Bangkok : US $ 720
Kathmandu-Paro-Kathmandu : US $ 380
Delhi-Paro-Delhi : US $ 630

PSF & Airport Tax will be as follows:
Bangkok : : US $ 5 + THB 500 (1US $ = THB 41)
Kathmandu : US 5 + NER 600 ( 1US $ = NER 70)
Delhi : US 5 + INR 950 (1US $ = INR 46)
Paro : US 5 + BTN 300 (1US $ = BTN 46)

Event Itinerary :

Day 1 : Wed 6th Oct Bangkok to Paro by Druk-Air. Overnight Paro
Day 2 : Thur 7th Oct Kathmandu and Delhi to Paro. Overnight Paro
Day 3 : Fri 8th Oct To Thimphu (2hrs drive) and sightseeing. Overnight Thimphu
Day 4 : Sat 9th Oct Visit Weekend Market and then drive to Punakha (3hrs drive)
Day 5 : Sun 10th Oct Punakha/Wangdue to Bumthang. En route lunch in Trongsa. Driving time approx 7-8 hrs. Overnight Bumthang. Bicycles will be at respective hotels.
Day 6 : Mon 11th Oct Morning to prepare and set all the bicycles. Afternoon cycle around the valley.
Day 7 : Tue 12th Oct Sightseeing with respective buses and guides or cycle around the valley.
Day 8 to Day 14 : Bicycle ride through the Bhutan Himalayas
Day 15 : Wed 20th Oct : Morning Thimphu, Afternoon to Paro. Overnight Paro
Day 16 : Thur 21st Oct : Depart to Kathmandu or Delhi /KB 202 0730-1030
Day 16 : Depart to Bangkok / KB126 0700-1310

The graph at the end gives an impression of the profile of the whole tour.

Alternative/additional programme : Piet Van Dier Poel will be leader for the Alternative programme. He has run these trails several times. He is one of the founders of BMBC and source to many of the trail information.

EMAIL US AT sales@bikeasia.info for detail itinerary

Distance
The cycling event will be 7 days and covers a distance of 250 km including the 38 km of ‘The Fury Dragon Day’. The entire trip will be 15-16 days depending on where you fly in from and out to. If you elect to do all the alternative rides you are looking at some 800 km in total.

Cost
The cost for the event will be US Dollars 3300 per participant. US$ 1000 of this goes to the Government. It is used among others to educate children and provide free medical services to the Bhutanese people. (close to 80% of the population are farmers who otherwise could not afford access to these facilities)
Cost for non-participants but joining the tour will be US Dollars 3000.

What’s Included in the cost
The cost includes hotel accommodation, camp service, all meals, all transport, guide services, bicycle mechanic services, medical backup and traffic policing.
Water stops, snacks and hot drinks at passes are all included in the cost

What’s Not included in cost
It does not include airfares, visa fees of US Dollar 20, airport taxes, bicycle hire cost – that’s if you don’t bring your own and personal expense such as laundry, drinks and souvenirs.

Payment
Registartion fee of US$ 110 has to be paid immediately on reserving your space. The Druk-Air fare in full and US$ 500 deposit has to be made within 20 days of your registration.

The balance of the payment has to be made 60 days prior to start of the event.

Canceling/ Changing your trip
If you must cancel your trip the following cancellation fees will be charged:

30 days before the trip : Administration fee of $ 200 will be charged
0-30 days before the trip : 50% of Trip cost
No intimation of cancellation and No show : 100% of Trip Cost and Druk-Air fare

If you don’t want to cancel, you can decide to change to a tourist trip to be taken within a year from the day of intimation of postponement. For this there will not be no cancellation charges on Trip Cost

Cancellation of Druk-Air
Druk-Air has very strict cancellation charges due to limited seats and over booking.
60 days before the trip : US$ 25 charge
Less than 60 days : No refund.
Postponement of Ticket is allowed but subject to approval of the Druk-Air and travel date should be within one year from date of issue of ticket.

Insurance

• Disclaimer
  The organizers, The Bhutan Mountain Biking Club (BMBC) , Yu-Druk and its personnel can not be held responsible for or liable for bodily injury during rides and damage to property during rides.
• Bike rental and Shipment
  There are no bicycle rental shops in Bhutan, The Bhutan Mountain Biking Club is the only repair shop in the Country and has a few for rent. These will be kept as spare for the event and for participants whose cycles somehow don’t arrive for the event. Himalayan Mountain Bikes can also reserve bikes for the event with adequate security deposit being made.

You need to bring your own bicycle. You have to make your arrangements till Bangkok /Delhi or Kathmandu. From there you will need to check in your bicycle at the Druk-Air as your Check-In Baggage., if you check-in as cargo, it may be weeks before they arrive. We highly recommend bringing your own bicycle as the event is 7 days and you will definitely feel comfortable on your own bicycle.

The other alternative is you can rent one in Kathmandu or Bangkok. For this you will have to let us know in advance and we will have them arranged, in this case also you will have to pick up the cycle once in Bangkok or Kathmandu and then check-in as baggage. The rental charge is from US$ 15-25 per day depending on the make and model.

• Bhutan Mountain Biking Year: Tour Profile

The graph below shows the Tour Profile from Jakar to Thimphu, Stage 1 to Stage 7
The blue line shows the event ride and the pink is the alternative ride, mostly off road