Imagine biking along empty coastal roads, passing pristine beaches, cycling through magical forests, listening to birds and insects, feeling the morning air in your hair, sleep over in traditional villages…….. That is exploring Flores on a mountain bike, a great way to see this beautiful island close-up!
As to promote low-impact tourism I have been promoting the development of Flores Mountain Bike Trail. Anyone is welcome to add content to the website to share their experience about biking on Flores. This a short promotion video portraying Leonardus Nyoman who was the first to open a company for professional guided mountainbike tours on Flores.
You have to be fit and well prepared! Your journey will be challenging and wonderful too. If you would start from Labuan Bajo coastal area and make your way to the East the climb starts at the end of Labuan Bajo main road towards Ruteng. By car it takes approximately 17 hours to Larantuka in Flores Timur. I have never met a tourist who finished that whole track, I just met Ute and Eddie who covered a large part of the island by bike. This is the link to their Flores adventure.
Since 2013 Wayan Kertayasa has been organising Komodo Audax tours for skilled amateurs.
In 2016 the first Tour de Flores was organised. It was the largest sports event ever on Flores, spanning 8 districts and many international teams took part. You could feel the excitement in the air. Over the full length of Trans Flores Road all communities lined up along the track to watch this spectacle. It was a huge organisation, cleaning all road from mud and stones, international judges flown in, police escortes and an event in each district capital at the evening of an etappe finish. On 22 May I travelled to Ruteng to see the second-last finish and the next morning rushed back to Labuan Bajo to see the final outcome. Of course I brought the Dutch flag to cheer the participants from The Netherlands!
Tip: Garuda Indonesia allows free transport of sports equipment. Check Garuda Indonesia website for guidelines.
For the love of an island 