World’s longest bike race gets underway on Sunday

by Kraig Becker on

As that little bike race in France comes to an end this weekend on the Champs Elysees, an ocean away, another one will begin, as the inaugural Vuelta Sudamericana gets underway from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The “expedition race”, as it is billed, is 134 days in length, making it the longest stage-race in the world.

The Vuelta is brought to us by the same deviously adventurous minds behind the Tour d’Afrique and the recently launched DreamTours, which lets you build your own cycling adventure. The organizers of the race have years of experience handling these types of events, and they allow the riders to focus on the journey while they take care of all the logistics.

While the race does run 134 days in length, only 110 of those are actual riding stages, with 23 rest days and 1 travel day built into the schedule as well. At the moment, 23 riders from all over the planet are set to embark on the ride, which begins on Sunday and will cover nearly 7500 miles, passing through Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru before ending in Quito, Ecuador four months from now. Along the the route they’ll peddle through steamy jungles, across arid deserts, and over mountain passes, climbing as high as 13,780 feet in the Andes.

The riders won’t be at a loss for interesting scenery either. Along the course they’ll pass by Iguazu Falls, Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America, the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth, Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable body of water in the world, and the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. All in all, a fairly great tour of the continent.

Of course, not all of us have four months to go cycling around South America, so the entire ride is also broken down into nine smaller sections allowing cyclists who can’t do the entire distance to join and leave at a variety of points along the way.

To learn more about the Vuelta Sudamericana, check out the official website, where you’ll find updates from the riders starting soon. There is also more info on the route, profiles of the riders, an F.A.Q. and a detailed look at the event. This seems like a great adventure for anyone who is into long distance cycling, and makes the Tour de France seem like a short ride in the countryside.

£100 million budget shortfall for UK’s greatest attractions

by Sean McLachlan on

Some of the United Kingdom’s most-visited sights may have to put off or cancel improvements after it has been revealed that they face a £100 million ($164 million) funding shortfall.

The Guardian newspaper reports the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport has promised far more than it can spend in fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11. Department officials failed to explain why they are so bad at math but claim they are looking into the problem. Well, I guess everything will be OK then.

This can’t be good news for the directors and staff at places like the British Museum or Tate Modern, which both planned large expansions, or Stonehenge, which was promised a visitor center, or the British Film Institute, which was supposed to get a whole new building complex. Some of the funding for these projects is coming from other sources, but the department’s portion is a vital part of the planning and now all of these projects will have to be reviewed.

Now that the Empire’s sun has permanently set, the UK needs to realize its two major sources of income are the financial services sector and tourism. Since the financial services people have shown their utter incompetence, the government should be managing its profitable tourist attractions a little more carefully.

Mongol Rally sends drivers on a 10,000 mile road trip

by Kraig Becker on

The sixth edition of the Mongol Rally got underway earlier this week when 400 teams, making a simultaneous start from the U.K., Spain, and Italy, set off on the ultimate road trip. Over the next month, their 10,000 mile journey will span two continents, pass over mountains, through deserts and jungles, and will only end once they reach the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.

But the Mongol Rally isn’t just any road race. There are some strict rules that the competitors must adhere to. For instance, this isn’t a rally for speed demons, as the largest engine allowed in the competition is a mere 1.2 liters in size. And since the race is used to raise money for a number of charities, the teams are required to raise at least £1000, which is roughly the equivalent of $1650.

Perhaps the most important rule however, is that the teams are completely on their own once the race is underway. That means they have no back-up, no support, and if they run into any kind of trouble, they’ll have to find their own way out. The race is completely self-supported, and all the participants will have to be quite resourceful to over come the inevitable ostacles that will arise on their way to Mongolia.

There was a new rule added to the rally this year which requires that all the cars that are used in the race must be less than ten years old. The reason for this, is that the vehicles are also donated to charity once they reach Mongolia, and the government there has stipulated this change in order to ensure the cars that arrive are of high quality and safer for the environment.

One of the more interesting aspects of the race is that there is no set route that the teams must follow on their journey to Ulaanbaatar. In fact, they are encouraged too “get out there into the world, get lost, stuck and in trouble”, as they make their way across Europe and Asia. The Mongol Rally website does offer some examples of past routes however, and you can see that teams have ranged as far north as the Arctic Circle and as far south as Afghanistan in their wanderings.

This looks like the ultimate driving adventure. Who wouldn’t want to load up a few friends, stock up on drinks and snacks and hit the road for a 10,000 mile drive?

Photo of the Day (7-22-09)

by Jamie Rhein on

This photo by JasonBechtel caught my attention for a couple of reasons.

  1. It’s not from where one might think. Jason was wandering in Santa Fe, New Mexico as part of a road trip when the Ganesh enticed him to stop at this store mostly filled with Buddha statues.
  2. Considering my own road trip included Santa Fe–I was there this past Saturday, I’m interested to see which images attracted another traveler’s gaze.
  3. This photo does attest to the fact that Santa Fe does have variety. It’s not all Mexican, Hispanic and Native American fare. Much of it, but not all.
  4. Plus, I like the textures and colors of both of these statues when paired together. Peaceful and happy.

If you have any images of your travels post them at Gadling’s Flickr photo pool for a chance for one to be chosen as Photo of the Day.

For Helsinki, Design Week 50% longer

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Seven days just won’t work for those crazy Finns. These design-savvy northern Europeans thus had to stretch its design celebration to 10 days. From September 4, 2009 to September 13, 2009, Helsinki will host the Fifth Helsinki Design Week: Do Touch! With workshops, seminars and shopping, you can turn this into a hands-on experience. Don’t worry, the usual exhibitions, fashion shows and studio visits (some spaces normally closed to the public) will be available, too.

The primary exhibition will be at the Cable Factory, featuring designs from the Netherlands. At the same space, The New Draw will introduce nine young Finnish architecture offices that are celebrating a book launch. The Design Market will be home to dozens of vendors selling fashion to furniture on September 5 and 6.

The Open Studios show, on September 9 and 10, sounds most interesting. Creators will open the back doors to their workspaces, offering a rare look at how something goes from idea to product. This is the type of opportunity available only during design week.

While you’re in Helsinki, check out the doughnuts at Snellman’s by the harbor. It’s worth the trip.