TRANS NEPAL
To be honest gravel biking wasn’t even on our radar a couple of years ago, but then our friends at SriLankan Airlines asked us to assist with their first ever gravel event in 2023 and from that moment we were hooked.
Since then, we’ve been out to Sri Lanka on numerous occasions scouting out new gravel routes for the ever-increasing number of cyclists visiting the island and judging by the feedback from Ride Sri Lanka ’24 we did a pretty good job.
REBRANDING
It wasn’t a difficult decision to rebrand from Mountain Biking Worldwide to Multi Terrain Biking to encompass the multitude of trails and surfaces available in our areas of expertise, namely Sri Lanka and Nepal.
NEPAL
Nepal is a cycling paradise, a country of high altitude mountains and tropical lowlands, criss-crossed with a network of tracks and trails suitable for every riding style (well maybe not roadies), and a culture and history as colourful as anywhere on earth.
Nepal is where it all started for us, with instigating Yak Attack the highest mountain bike race on earth and the country’s first international mountain biking event way back in 2007. Now 17 years later we’re about to launch the first ever gravel event in the Himalayan Kingdom and we’re as excited now as we were then.
TRANS NEPAL IS BORN
Devising a suitable route that ticks all the requisite boxes for a new event isn’t always straightforward, but the Trans Nepal route was a no brainer if we’re honest and we can’t believe it hasn’t been done sooner. Fortunately for Trans Nepal gravel, the powers that be have forged an off-road highway all the way through Upper Mustang and Upper Mustang happens to be one of the most stunning areas on earth. Think Tibet, think desert, think snow-capped mountains, think bone dry trails and Buddhists stupa’s then you’re part way there. Words can’t come close to describing the mystical enchantment of the entire area, you simply have to be there to experience it for yourself, you simply have to!
UPPER MUSTANG
And then there’s the riding, miles of pure unadulterated wilderness gravel, crossing high altitude mountain passes and through ancient villages with unobstructed 360˙ views of the moon like landscape stretching down towards lower altitudes.
THE DEEPEST VALLEY on EARTH – THE KALI GANDAKI
After Upper Mustang comes…… Lower Mustang and again fortune favours gravel riders. Only recently has this trail been treated to a manicure and now rather than being a mountain bikers dream descent (don’t worry Yak Attackers there are alternatives for you) it’s now prime gravel grinding territory. You’re now riding through the deepest valley on earth and the latter part of the Annapurna circuit, you’ll have dropped over 3500m in altitude over the previous 3 days of riding. Temperatures will have risen from a cool 0 – 5˙c to 20˙c+ and you’ll have swapped snow topped mountains for paddy fields and banana plants. To celebrate reaching the halfway point of Trans Nepal a well-earned soak in the natural hot springs awaits.
The thing with foothills, especially Himalayan foothills, is there are lots of them and they go up and down quite repeatedly. Unfortunately between you and the end of Trans Nepal there are foothills, Himalayan ones at that.
Having accrued 4000m of ascent over the first 3 days (you can finish here if you want) there’s a further 8500m in store for you over the next 3 days and 220km’s of undulating trails.
There is a prize however for all that climbing, a final day 60km descent to the finish line in Lumbini and gloating rights to having traversed the most mountainous country on earth from North to South by bike. Lumbini is known as the birthplace of Buddha and lies at only 100m above sea level the perfect venue to finish one of the world’s most adventurous gravel rides.
As we mentioned earlier we have been heavily involved with assisting SriLankan Airlines with their annual Ride Sri Lanka gravel event. This is a highly luxurious, highly subsidised ride across a tropical island.
Trans Nepal is not like Ride Sri Lanka! Apart from Pokhara and Lumbini, the accommodation and food will be basic, hot showers may not always be available, there won’t be cocktails or prawn vol au vents! Trans Nepal also doesn’t have a major (or minor) sponsor, so we can’t subsidise the entry fee. The permits to enter Upper Mustang alone are $500 per person.
Luxuries aside, what you do get is the experience of a team who have organised the highest mountain bike race on earth for the last 17 years and who are the number 1 choice of Sri Lanka’s national carrier to oversee their own cycling event plus a logistics team headed by Nepal’s former 5 times XC champion. Most importantly you’ll get the adventure of a lifetime in a country that every visitor falls in love with.
Trans Nepal isn’t a race, it’s a challenge to be undertaken at your own pace (within reason). Each 3 riders will have their own dedicated support jeep, there will be regular feed stations plus medical and mechanical support. We’ve taken care of all the logistics of getting to one of the remotest start lines ever and for getting back to Kathmandu for your flight home. All you have to do is turn up with your bike, some reasonably prepared cycling legs and a spirit of adventure.
TRANS NEPAL FACTS & FIGURES
- Dates – 8th to 18th February 2025
- Route – LoManthang to Lumbini
- Riding days – 6
- Distance – 400km
- Ascent – 12500m
- Descent 15500m.
- Limited to 30 entrants (due to accommodation restrictions)
More details can be found here – https://www.mtb-worldwide.com/transnepal
