Ride of a Lifetime

Ride of a Lifetime is Bike Tour Asia's flagship expedition and the longest thing the company sells: ninety riding days, approximately 20,000 kilometres, and a route that leaves Chiang Mai and does not stop until the Adriatic. It should be understood as a trans Asian crossing that happens to begin in Thailand rather than as a Southeast Asia tour. The published country order is Thailand, Laos, China including Tibet, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan with a ferry crossing of the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, then Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia, with Italy, Austria and Germany also listed. The finish point is given as Piran in Slovenia. Named highlights, in the operator's own sequence, are the UNESCO towns of Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan, Lhasa and Everest Base Camp in Tibet, Issyk-Kul lake in Kyrgyzstan, the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, Samarkand and Bukhara in Uzbekistan, Merv in Turkmenistan, Baku in Azerbaijan, the Caucasus mountains of Georgia, and Cappadocia, the Mediterranean coast and Istanbul in Turkey, then Sofia and Bucharest. One section alone, from Lhasa to Dushanbe, is described as roughly 7,000 kilometres over thirty days. Bike Tour Asia does not publish a day by day itinerary for this expedition, and the day entries in this listing reflect that rather than filling the gap with invention. Prospective riders should ask the operator for the current stage plan. The company is direct about the difficulty. It calls the ride long, physically and psychologically demanding, warns that some sections are genuinely difficult, and notes altitudes above 4,000 metres and stretches of poor road with potholes, mud and landslides. A minimum of eight riders is needed to run it. Included are eighty nine nights, most with breakfast, in hotels and guesthouses, twenty dinners with drinks, guides and support vehicles throughout, a tour leader on his own motorcycle, a support vehicle with a driver who has basic mechanical skills, all motorcycle permits and registrations, the Caspian ferry crossing and the Aktau to Baku flight. Fuel, repairs, insurance, visas, entrance fees, flights and most lunches are not included. Machines offered are the BMW F900GS, BMW R1250 and R1300GS and Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro, and riders may bring their own vehicle.

Despite sitting in the Thailand listings, this Bike Tour Asia expedition is not a Southeast Asian loop. It starts at Chiang Mai and finishes ninety riding days and roughly 20,000 kilometres later at Piran on the Slovenian coast. The published country sequence runs Thailand, Laos, China and Tibet, then Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, including a ferry across the Caspian Sea, then Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey before Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia, with Italy, Austria and Germany also named. Landmarks along the way include Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan, Lhasa and Everest Base Camp, Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, the Pamir Highway, Samarkand and Bukhara, the ruins of Merv, Baku, the Caucasus, Cappadocia and Istanbul. The operator does not publish a day by day schedule for the route.