6th Olympic Expedition – conditions of participation

BaltiCCycle (BC) is not a commercial tour, all organizers are volunteers, and the collected registration fee goes only to cover organizational expenses. Each route is different; therefore, it is impossible to work out all details in advance. Researching and checking all roads of long transcontinental BC – the 6^th Olympic “From Tokyo to Paris” is such one (02.23–04.14 & 05.06–07.27.2024) – is hardly possible because of time and economic reasons. By joining BC you become a part of the team, and we expect from you a goodwill and a right understanding of our principles and rules. Your assistance in organizing daily program and solving all difficulties is highly appreciated.

Notes. The ride will happen on the conditions we offer below if enough participants – at least 15 covering all parts of the route. We must know it in advance (for booking ferries, hostels, campings, car hire, etc.), therefore the deadline for registration is fixed at 23 December 2023, two months before the start day. On the occasion of Christmas, this period shall be extended to:
•             for Taiwan and Japan, until 31 December 2023,
•             for Réunion and Madagascar, until 15 March 2024,
•             for Corsica and mainland France, until 1 April 2024.
If we do not collect enough participants for some part of the route the current ride conditions for that part can be changed. We have already enough participants to organize the Taiwan section and not enough for the last 3 weeks in Japan, so we canceled this part. After registering you will be regularly informed by email about the registration progress.
The 6^th Olympic BC2024 “From Tokyo to Paris” 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 heat and humidity, winds and rough 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 not making problems for yourself and the group.
BC participants gather for the ride from different countries. We recommend bringing on your bike a national flag or another symbol so that local people can see us as an international-friendly cycling community. Our Olympic rides are organized under the honour patronage of the Polish Olympic Committee and we will carry it symbols, too.

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

• Usually the daily cycling distance does not exceed 80-90 km, in exceptional cases, it will overrun 100 km.
• The rest days are planned once a week or more often (even day by day) if there are famous sights on the route to visit.
• The route is going through different countries and climate zones. We will try to organize sleeping places in official campsites where they are available; when possible we will use wild camping. Many sleeping places are not arranged in advance, and starting in the morning you do not always know where you will sleep at night. The driver of our supported car will look for sleeping places and help us to find them by leaving marking signs.
• The day’s program will be explained during map meeting every morning; GPS tracks will be available for download in advance.
• From sleeping to sleeping place you can travel individually or in small groups. When according to the program some common event is planned we will cycle in one group wearing T-shirts and other BC symbols.
• Though we will have the support car, you should be ready to carry all your necessary stuff on the bike for a few days. It could happen that the car will be in service or we cannot use it because of another reason. The service of luggage transportation is limited to 25 kg.
• In case of a serious emergency, you can call the driver and ask to transport you to the nearest first aid or service centre. In case of injury, sickness, or other reason when the participant is not able to continue cycling for more than 2-3 days the organizers can offer to transport his bike but can’t undertake any obligations to provide a passenger seat in the car.
• When planning the route, we try to avoid roads with heavy traffic but not everywhere it is possible. You should be very careful when cycling on busy roads. The longer part of the route will go on paved roads but unpaved dirt roads will be available too – especially in Madagascar.

Membership fee. We fixed a variable membership fee, from 30 € to 23 € per diem, depending on the number of your participation days. In this way, we support those who are going for long distances. The participation fee for the first 30 days of travel is fixed at 30 € per diem, for 31-60 days 27 € per diem, and for the days from 61 to the end of travel 23 € 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 the intention to take part in the expedition to fill out the registration form as soon as possible.If the registration and the half of membership fee are not received until December 23, 2023, the whole fee increases by 10% automatically and all discounts are cancelled. On the occasion of Christmas, this period shall be extended to: for Taiwan and Japan, until 31 December 2023, for Réunion and Madagascar, until 15 March 2024, for Corsica and mainland France, until 1 April 2024. The second half of the participation fee must be paid 10 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 organizing the ride and will cycle for less than 5 days. They have to cover only the sleeping costs. The organizers would appreciate if local participants would purchase a package with ride symbols (T-shirts, flag, and sticker).

The membership fee includes:

• sleeping places for a tent under simple conditions (drinking water, waste baskets) in wild campsites or on private land as well as in fully equipped official campsites or hostels when outdoor camping is not available;
• car following the group with first-aid kit and basic bicycle repair instruments and tools; the possibility to call the car in case of emergency;
• transportation of 25 kg luggage;
• GPS tracks for downloading and list of recommended sights as well as a short description, daily consultation regarding the route and cultural program;
• T-shirts (for more than 20 days participation), flag and sticker with BC 2024 ride symbols;
• cozy surprises prepared by organizers or local authorities.

Discounts. The discounts are applicable only if the Registration Form and at least the half of membership fee is received not later than December 23, 2023. On the occasion of Christmas, this period shall be extended to: for Taiwan and Japan, until 31 December 2023, for Réunion and Madagascar, until 15 March 2024, for Corsica and mainland France, until 1 April 2024. Discounts don’t accumulate.

• 15% – for the first 60 days for students (until 26 years old), families (3 or more persons), and BC veterans who cycled more than 100 days in the previous BC tours. After 60 days of cycling the membership fee is reduced significantly, and after that no discounts are applicable. If a cyclist reaches 100 BC days during the first 60 days of the ride, the discount is counted for the remaining to 60 days.
• Participants who obtain potential sponsors or support organizers before or during an expedition in another way (preparing descriptions, finding sleeping places, medical care, bike service, etc.) will receive a privilege discount negotiated personally.

Emergency Fund. For a long-distance route in such remote countries, it is impossible to evaluate all expenses, therefore we created 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 € multiplied by the number of days you will take in the ride. The unused part of your deposit will be returned back in 60 days after the ride finishes.

Additional paid service (optional):

booked by registration;

• transportation of additional personal luggage (not exceeding 15 kg – 2 € per diem);
• T-shirt with the logo of the ride – additional or for participants cycling 20 or less days – 20 €;

booked during the ride:

• possibility to use transport of organizers for arrival/departure to/from the ride in a radius of 50 km (5 € per 10 km).

Arrival/Departure. Costs of the arrival/departure and transfers between different sections of the route 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, 5 € per 10 km). You should contact the ride organizers by phone or e-mail 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 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 your arrival.
Click here to find the rough recommendations on how to reach us on the route and obtain transfer tickets.

Visas. You have to check if you need visas at your country’s consulate. It is recommended to obtain all necessary visas individually; no group visas are available. If you need assistance we can help you after your registration.
The only country that requires visas is Madagascar. A tourist visa can be obtained at the airport. A visa for a stay of up to 15 days is issued free of charge, but you must pay a border control fee of 10 euros. A tourist visa for 1 month costs 35 euros, for 2 months – 40 euros. You can also obtain a visa at a Madagascar diplomatic mission, for example in Japan or Kenya.
Your passport should be valid for at least 1 year from the start of the ride. You can be asked to show your tickets and financial sources crossing the borders.

Ferries. We will use many ferries. The ticket prices are not included in the membership fee, and you have to pay for them separately during the ride. We will book tickets for the group in advance. There will be the following transfers:

• from Tokyo to Shikoku Island,
• among Setonaikai islands,
• from Corsica to Marseille.

Catering. It is highly recommended to bring along a gas stove for preparing meals 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 (the yellow booklet) with certifications of vaccination and the covid passport. The vaccination/medicine to be active must be taken a few weeks before your start. Consult with your local vaccination centre. There are some recommended, not obligatory vaccinations:

• hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, typhoid, rabies (all countries on the route);
• yellow fever (if traveling from a place where the virus can be transmitted), whooping cough (Madagascar, Réunion);
• Japanese encephalitis, whooping cough, tick-borne encephalitis (Taiwan, Japan).

Necessary equipment and documents:

• bicycle prepared for long travel (carriers with panniers or saddlebags, safe brakes, reflectors, and light); click here for the recommendations on how to prepare the bike;
• good bike wear for different weather conditions and sun protection creams;
• cyclist first-aid kit (some tools will be available in the support car);
• first-aid kit (more medicines in the support car);
• mosquito net and insect repellents;
• valid passport with necessary visas (at least 1 year ahead);
• INDIVIDUAL MEDICAL INSURANCE is obligatory, no group insurance is provided;
• camping gear (tent, sleeping bag, mat, gas stove, light, etc.);
• money for personal expenses i.e. bicycle repair, food, museums, ferries, and other expenses);
• mobile phone;
• GPS navigation device.

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

Luggage transport. We strongly recommend carrying all necessary personal stuff in the panniers on your bike. The service of luggage transportation by the support car is limited to 25 kg; it is included in the registration fee. You should be ready to carry all your stuff for a few days on the bike if it is necessary because of delayed car rental formalities or in case of emergency (car accident or some other unexpected circumstances). If you plan to transport luggage over 25 kg (altogether not more than 40 kg) in the support car you have to indicate when registering and pay in advance (2 € per diem). Neither organizers nor drivers are responsible for the safety of your luggage. You should insure your luggage against theft personally.

Resignation rules. The date of resignation is fixed when the resignation letter is received by organizers: before the ride by email bc2020@bicycl.lt or bc2024@bicycle.pl, during the ride, it should be delivered to the leaders of the 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:

• up to 60 days before the start – 100%;
• 10-60 days before the start – 70%;
• less than 10 days before the start – no money repaid, however, 70% are deposited in the participant’s account for the next year’s BC tour; if not used next year – they are lost on behalf of BC organization;
• after 20 or more days of cycling – 80% of unused money (for the first 20 days no refund);
• money is paid back under the above-mentioned circumstances within 60 days after the end of the expedition;
• money is not paid back for the excluded from the tour participants;
• if you decide to change the sleeping place provided by organizers to another, you will cover a cost for it yourself, the organizers don’t give money back if you don’t sleep with a group;
• if for some reason the participant separates from the group for one or more days (nights) no refund for this lost time is applicable.

Organizers: CROTOS – The Travellers’ Association: Sigitas Kučas, +37068659375, bc2020@bicycle.lt; +48 663 266 553, bc2024@bicycle.pl, Maryla Zielińska.

Honour Patronage: Polish Olympic Committee.