Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Tour d'Afrique AND The Orient Express!!

http://www.tourdafrique.com/


Have any of you ridden the Tour d'Afrique race/expedition: http://www.tourdafrique.com/indextour.htm Or are you thinking of it for 2007? I've had my eye on it for several years now ... sounds like a VERY challenging adventure, although I see you can pick and choose sections of the event to do, you don't have to do all 96 days of it! If you go for the whole thing, it's 12000 kms (7500 miles) long!!


And what about the Orient Express? http://www.tourdafrique.com/orient/index.htm
This is the first time I've seen this event and it looks very intriguing!! Like Tour d'Afrique riders can do sections of the route if they cannot afford the money or time for the whole route. The route is shorter than the Tour d'Afrique ... it's 4000 kms (2500 miles) long, and riders cover it in 57 days. The Orient Express also appears to be more of a tour than a race.

I see the registration for the Tour d'Afrique is now open ... but the one I think I'd be more interested in at this point in time would be the Orient Express ... or at least a part of it. I can't afford it right now, but perhaps as a graduation present for myself!! :D

I'd like to hear from anyone who has ridden either of these ... what did you think of them?

Hi Machka,
I was fortunate enough to work as a staff member on the Orient Express 2008 tour. It was my first time in Europe - so travelling all the way from Paris right across France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania to finish in Istanbul, Turkey two months later - was an experience of a lifetime. An especially noteworthy section of the tour was cycling along the Danube cycle path (from Donneuschingen all the way to Budapest) 1400 kms of amazing scenery, wine, beer, music, art, architecture, history... and then the very marked and fascinating differences that one experiences cycling through the ex communist countries... and then 'into the east' when everything changes again in Turkey. It's a smorgasbord...reward yourself! (Good luck with your studies and graduation) Theresa

Nice post Theresa. The Orient Express caught my eye (and imagination) as well. It travels through countries I'd really like to see and experience. It seems as though the tour operators keep a loose hand on things and that appeals to me as well. Not this year (lack of income and a still declining market), but I'm gunning for '10.

The Tour d'Afrique sounds like real challenge, but that would have to be a solo effort. Meaning I would not take my gal with me on something like that.

This seems really exciting, but work would kill me if I took months of vacation at a time.