Bhutan – The Tour of the Dragon - 268 km MTB race
image courtesy of tourofthedragon.com
The Tour of the Dragon is an annual MTB race (held around September) in the exotic country of Bhutan in the Himalaya region. The 268mkm race starts in Bumthang, and finishes in the capital Thimphu.
The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is famous for trying to achieve ‘Gross National Happiness’, and if you ever have a chance to visit this country, I would fully recommend you to do so.
The Tour of the Dragon starts in Bumthang, central Bhutan (2610 m, 8560 ft), and takes you to Thimphu across 4 mountain passes. There are many numbers floating around in regard to the total elevation, but I think it is around 4,000 meters. Expect to do a lot of climbing on extremely long, gradual climbs, with amazing views, in a magic landscape.
I competed in the tour of the dragon in 2016, I did complete the race, but just outside the time limit. The road conditions were awful that year with rain and lots of mud, due to the many road constructions along the way. Check out my strava file: https://www.strava.com/activities/699584156/overview
As I had some issues with my Garmin, the elevation doesn't show correctly.
This is an image from the 2016 race:
The 2016 edition was won by the 24 hour world champion, Cory Wallace from Canada, and 2017 edition was won by local rider Sonam. Normally over half of the field don't make it to the finish (in time) in this extremely tough race.
For more information: http://www.tourofthedragon.com
My cycling posts:
5 Random Tips and Tricks for MTB riders (2)
5 Random Tips and Tricks for MTB riders (1)
What to carry on your bike
Plugging your tires
My bike, Salsa Cutthroat
My competitors
Fast after 50: book review