Race Information

Presentation

Dear athlete, dear friends, we present The 2024 Mongolia Bike Challenge

The Mongolia Bike Challenge is, quite simply, an event like no other.

A race, a test, a journey, a romance, a family… it is all these things and more.

This is an event in which the participants are not known by their numbers, but by their names. An event where the line between rider and organiser fades away, surmounted by the edifying experience of being together in this vast, magical land.

This is a land in which there is a sense not of the individual experiencing what is before them, but of the individual being experienced.

A landscape that at first sight seems empty, slowly reveals itself to be full.

Full of beauty, wild horses, eagles, camels and yaks, full of endless rolling hills, sand dunes and mountains… and full of possibility.

Here you write your own script.

We share together, we laugh together, and sometimes we even shed a tear or two together. Everyone, to a person, leaves this land with memories that will last them a lifetime: memories of suffering, of beauty, of joy, and memories of just ‘being’… of being in these moments.

Born in the mind of Race Director, Willy Mulonia, the Mongolia Bike Challenge was envisioned as a true test of fortitude, spirit and togetherness. The motto of the race is Live the Legend - Be a Khan.

It was never designed to be easy, because nothing valuable ever comes easy. As cyclists we know that in our hearts. And so it is here in this ancient land that Willy’s philosophy of being became tangible - this is the MBC.

His desire was to share that feeling with as many people as he could, and that lies at the heart of the success of the race.

Often in our human endeavours we think of effectivity - rather than affectivity.

If we arrive at our goal and have only been effective, there is little meaning.

However, if we are affective - then we affect the people who accompany us on our journey. In this way we can reach people, we can touch them in some way, with positivity. And that, to Willy and to the staff of the MBC, means everything.

Within this idea, this desire to be affective, lives the spirit of this event.

This race runs through our veins, and yet to call it a race does not do it justice.

This is the Mongolia Bike Challenge…

We will be back in August 2024. Nothing could keep us away.

Make the 2024 Mongolia Bike Challenge your Mongolia Bike Challenge.

 

The Mongolia Bike Challenge 2024 is already here: August 9-18, 2024. 
You can follow the race on our web site or via social media checking the INSTAGRAM OFFICIAL PROFILE  to keep up to date. 

 

Willy Mulonia
(MBC founder & Race Director)

RACE INFORMATION PACKAGE

PLEASE DISCOVER MORE ABOUT THE MBC

WHAT TO EXPECT

It might feel, if you have never been to Mongolia, as though you are going to the ends of the earth - but you are not. Sure, it’s kind of far, but so too is New Zealand, or Patagonia, or Iceland, depending on where you live. Where you are actually going is to a land so natural and largely untouched that it feels like the world before we humans arrived. The sense of calm and of peace within the environment disarms you. In Mongolia, out on the steppe, climbing a mountain as yaks look on, or riding alongside packs of horses, you get the feeling that you are not experiencing this place - but rather it is experiencing you. It doesn’t matter if you are the first rider across the line, or the last, or somewhere in the middle, the shared experience of just ‘being’ in this space is what unites all MBC participants, and also the MBC staff, though we have been here many times - it never changes. So, expect the unexpected, and expect the unexpected to be rather wonderful.

YOU ARE ALL VIPS

After the 2023 edition of the Mongolia Bike Challenge, we were asked this question, or a very similar one, by several riders: ‘Why don’t you let people know how we will be taken care of when they are here? We didn’t know it would be like this.’

‘What do you mean?’, we wondered. Then we got it.

When you are here in Mongolia at the MBC, we strive to take care of you. Most of the MBC staff have been working at the event for years, and just as we fell in love with the country and the race ourselves, we want to provide you with an environment so that you can do the same. Unlike 10 years ago when we slept in small tents and ate ‘fresh sheep’ every day, we now stay in established yurt camps that provide good food, hot shower and comfortable beds. Yet, it’s within the mindset of the MBC staff that we really take care of each and every participant: you are not merely a dollar sign, not just a number, you are a person, and a very important one, each and every one of you. You are a cyclist, we are cyclists too, and, cheesy as it might sound, when you arrive in Mongolia, you become part of the MBC family.

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OUR WAY TO MARK THE ROUTE

OUR REFILLING STATIONS

Steppe Nomads Ger Camp

WHERE WE WILL SLEEP

WHAT ELSE AFTER THE MBC?

WHY 108

WHY 108?

We cap participants to the Mongolia Bike Challenge at 108.

Why? Good question…

Certain numbers in Mongolia are considered sacred. The number 2 for example represents the source of life. 3 is the symbol of the coordination of the 3 Beats: Past, Present and Future. 9 is a holy number, and finds expression in many facets of Mongolian life: nine wishes, nine treasures, the nine flags of Genghis Khan, and the ninety-nine heavens in shamanism.

However it is the number 108 that supersedes all others and is the most important in society, for it represents the Mongolian Kanjur, the Buddhist canonical text, written in108 volumes. This is the most important religious text in Mongolia and lies at the heart of the culture. In the Mongolian language ‘Kanjur’ means ‘Concise Orders’- the words of Lord Buddha in particular.

Event founder Willy Mulonia chose to use this number - 108 - to show his respect for the country that hosts this great race, and for the Mongolian people ands their deep and fascinating culture.

108.

If you get this number on your back, you’re going to have a good Mongolia Bike Challenge!

 

 

 

MBC TRAINING PLANS

We offer both bespoke, personalised training plans and also pre-written plans, to get you as ready as you can be to take on the Mongolia Bike Challenge. Our coaching service is provided by Crank Punk Coaching Systems (CPCS), headed by former professional Lee Rodgers, who has participated in the MBC several times as a rider and has been a staff member of the MBC since 2014.

A CPCS coaching plan will cover all aspects of the training you will need to successfully complete the event, and to enjoy too. On a personalised 1-2-1 plan, you will receive a weekly schedule of training, and also the benefit of Lee’s experience on a weekly online call, where he will guide you and ensure that your training, day to day, is optimal for you.

All MBC participants receive a discount for the CPCS coaching plans. Personalised plans are US$200 per month (normally $300), and pre-written plans are $60 per month.

Please email lee@crankpunk.com for details, or visit www.crankpunk.com.

 

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