Brice,

There are two routes to take here and both have pro's and con's: Privateer or Factory Sponsored.

To me, what you're saying is have a bunch of people get together with their own bikes and race as an international team. This way would be awesome because it would be like a phenomenonal 2 week group ride.

The other way would be to do it with factory sponsorships, which can be inquired about, but this places other limitations on the group like number of bikes available. Registration for those commercially sponsored is almost 1/4 the cost of private registration and probably easier to get support.

In 2006 I rode around most of the Taklamakan desert and through the center. Most of the route was well paved unless I felt like having fun. Nevertheless, that environment is rough on machines from all the sand and dust and will require some parts and maintenance as much of the terrain would be full of sharp rocks and sand.

This is what most of it should look like. It's like playing a long game of dodge the dust-devils! OH YEAH!


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Ride these bikes hard in bad terrain and you're looking at more than a couple oil changes and a set of new tires. None of these are really very expensive but ALL KINDS of unexpected details will appear when really under way. Or maybe it could be done both ways?

Either way, it would be something worth looking into and an unforgettable time of our lives.

CC