Conditions of Participation

BaltiCCycle (BC) is not a commercial tour, all organizers are volunteers, and the registration fee collected goes only for covering organizational expenses. Each route is different, therefore it is impossible to work out all details in advance. Research and checking roads of such long transcontinental BC like 4th Olympic Expedition “From London to Rio de Janeiro” (2016.02.17-08.05) is hardly possible because of time and economic reasons. Joining BC you become a part of the team, and we expect from you a good will and a right understanding of our principles and rules. Your assistance in organizing daily program and solving all difficulties is highly appreciated.

Note. The ride will happen on the conditions we offer here if more than 10 participants register for the whole tour. We must know it in advance (for booking flights, boats, hostels, etc.), therefore the deadline of registration is fixed at the 17 November, 2015. People who want to join us for the shorter part, can register later. If we not collect enough participants the current ride conditions can be changed or ride cancelled. In that case you will receive all paid membership fee back. After registering you will be regularly informed by email about the registration progress.

The 4th Olympic Expedition “From London to Rio de Janeiro” is scheduled for participants having experience in long-distance travels and harsh cycling-camping conditions. To cycle the whole route is a big challenge. You should be prepared for adventures, extreme hot and humid weather conditions and unexpected obstacles on the road. The ride is open for everybody but before signing you should think about your mental and physical capability to complete it.

BC participants gather for the ride from different countries and continents. We recommend bringing on your bike a national flag or other symbol that local people could see us as international friendly cycling community.

 

Organizational rules. We try to keep our organizational principles similar to the previous BC tours.

 

Arrival/Departure. For the flight from London to Tobago we are trying to get a group ticket discount; if you are interested you should contact us as soon as possible.
Costs of the arrival/departure are not included in the participation fee. You can join and finish the ride at any point of the route, and you have to plan yourself how to do it. We can pick you up for the additional fee in the radius of 50 km (100 km both ways). You should contact the ride organizers by mobile phone or email at least two days before. Leaving from the intermediate points of the route should be not a problem: the public transport connecting villages with big cities is available almost everywhere on the route; many domestic airports have flights to big towns. Though the ride schedule is fixed but the real dates can be slightly shifted (plus/minus 2-3 days) because of bad weather conditions or other unexpected obstacles. Have it in your mind when planning arrival. Click – here – to find the rough recommendations how to reach us on the route.

 

Visas. You have to check if you need visas at your country’s consulates. It is recommended to obtain all necessary visas individually, no group visas available. If you need assistance we can help you after your registration. Your passport should be valid at least 1 year ahead from the start of ride. You can be asked to show your tickets and financial sources crossing the borders. More about visa issues read here.

 

Ferries. We will use a ferry service going between Tobago and Trinidad, will hire a boat to Venezuela, as well as crossing Amazon Delta, and many other rivers or lagoons on our route. The ticket prices are not included in the membership fee, and you have to pay for the tickets separately during the ride.

 

Catering. It is highly recommended to bring along a gas stove for preparing meal in the campsites. There will be wild parts of the route without restaurants and supermarkets. Entering unpopulated areas it will be a possibility to carry some reserve of products as well as drinkable water in our van. If no drinkable water at the campsite, the driver is responsible for carrying water.

 

Vaccination. You have to bring with you the International Certificate of Vaccination (yellow booklet) with certifications of vaccination. The vaccination/medicine to be active must be taken a few weeks before your start. Consult with your local vaccination centre.
Obligatory:
– yellow fever (all countries on the route);
– hepatitis B (in French Guyana).

Recommended:
– hepatitis A, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, typhoid (all countries on the route);
– hepatitis B (Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname);
– Japanese encephalitis (Venezuela).

Preventive healthcare:
– rabies (in all countries);
– malaria and dengue fever (everywhere, especially in south parts of Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, the Amazon basin region, more information – click here);
– leptospirosis (Guyana).

 

Necessary equipment and documents:

 

Children until 18. Children can take part in the ride only together with parents (one or both) or another adult who is authorized by notary to take care and is fully responsible for the juvenile.

 

Luggage transport. No luggage transport by the support car in Trinidad & Tobago. We strongly recommend to carry all necessary personal stuff in the panniers on your bike. The service of luggage transportation by the support car is limited to 25 kg in one standard bag you will receive; it is included in the registration fee. You should be ready to carry all your stuff a few days on the bike if it will be necessary because of delayed car formalities on the borders or in case of emergency (car accident or some other unexpected circumstances). If you plan to transport any additional bag in the support car you have to indicate when registering and pay in advance (2 € per diem). Neither organizers nor drivers are responsible for safety of your luggage. You should insure your luggage against theft personally.

 

Membership fee. We expect that the organisational costs in this part of the world (in particular buying a car in Venezuela, and its shipping across waters) will be higher by 10% than those of the 3rd Olympic Expedition in 2012. Therefore we have increased the average participation fee for the whole ride, and fixed it to 17.63 € per diem. The membership fee is progressive, depending on the number of your participation days. To promote long-term travels and support those who are going for long distance the participation fee for the first 30 days of travel is fixed to 25 € per diem, for 31-60 days 20 € per diem, and for the days from 61 to the end of travel 15 € per diem.
You have to indicate the number of days you plan to travel in the table of the Registration Form, and your membership fee for the whole tour will be counted automatically. To organize the whole event with fewer troubles we ask everybody who has intention to take part in the expedition to fill the registration form as soon as possible.
If the registration and the half of membership fee is not received until 3 months before your start, the whole fee increases by 10% automatically as well as all discounts cancelled. The second half of participation fee must be paid before your start date; otherwise it increases by 10% as well.
The membership fee will not be required from those local cyclists who help in organising the ride and will cycle less than 3 days. They have to cover only the sleeping costs. The organizers will appreciate if local participants will purchase a package with ride symbols (T-shirts, flag and sticker).

 

The membership fee includes:

 

Discounts. The discounts are applicable only if the Registration Form and at least the half of membership fee is received not later than 3 months in advance before your start date. Discounts don’t accumulate.

 

Emergency Fund. For a long distance route in such remote countries it is impossible to evaluate all expenses. Like in BC2008 – 2nd Olympic Expedition we create the Emergency Fund, which money will be used only in the case of force majeure (for example, car accident, robbery, etc.). Your deposit is 2 Euro multiplied by the number of days you will take in the ride. The unused part of your deposit will be returned back in 30 days after the ride finish.

 

Additional paid service (optional):

booked by registration;

 

booked during the ride:

 

Resignation rules. The date of resignation is fixed up when the resignation letter is received by organizers (before the ride by email bc2016@bicycl.lt or bc2016@bicycle.pl, during the ride it should be delivered to the leaders of expedition and confirmed by them). The date is important, because it determines the amount of refund. The membership fee for the travel days exceeding 60 days after resignation date are fully returned, and for the first 60 days are returned in the following manner:

 

Organizers:

 

Patronage. Polish Olympic Committee.