Cycle Cuba Challenge 21 April – 03 May 2010

The Cycle Cuba Challenge is a fantastic way to experience Cuba and to raise money for the Music Fund for Cuba at the same time.

Monies raised will go towards the Miramar theatre restoration . As well as seeing this restoration work in progress, you will also deliver essential educational and musical equipment to a school for visually impaired children in Havana where you are guaranteed a rousing reception from the school salsa band.

Cycle Cuba Challenge runs 355 kilometres from San Antonio de los Baños to San Diego de los Baños in La Güira National Park. The route passes through the lush forests of Sierra del Rosario and Las Terrazas, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, through the tobacco fields of Pinar del Río following the Viñales Valley, with its soaring limestone mogotes, onto the Gulf of Mexico with it’s pristine white sandy beaches.

The route passes through dramatic scenery and along quiet rural roads with opportunities to experience vibrant Cuban culture at first hand. To celebrate a wonderful group achievement we have received a special invitation to participate in the May Day Rally in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución, with its iconic images of Che Guevara.

You can read reports from past participants on the 2008, 2009 and 2010 tours here.

What does the cost include

The tour costs include return flights with Virgin Atlantic from London Gatwick direct to Havana, UK Departure Tax, Cuban Tourist Card (visa), 11-night’s accommodation based on two people sharing twin rooms with en suite facilities, entrance to all visits and excursions (other than those marked as optional) and all meals listed in the itinerary. There are comprehensive back up and support services throughout the Challenge.

  • Dedicated support team including a cycle tour manager, a fully qualified mechanic and doctor, who work with the Cuban national cycle team, and an English speaking Havanatour guide.
  • 100% vehicle support, including front and rear support vehicles.
  • Transfers in air-conditioned coach.
  • Luggage and cycle spare parts carried on support vehicles.
  • 4L of bottled water per cyclist per cycling/hiking day.
  • Detailed route descriptions and daily briefing sessions.
  • Hotel accommodation based on two people sharing a twin room with en suite facilities. Hotels are equivalent to 2/3/4 star standard and all but 2 have swimming pools.
  • Single room supplements available
  • Full board, except 3 lunches & 3 evening meals. Pack lunch on cycle days.
  • Specialist visits to Teatro Miramar restoration project, a school for visually impaired children, a health care centre and a local community project.
  • Guided cultural and historical visits, including Santo Tomás caves, a hot sulphur bath, Che Guevara’s secret underground HQ during Cuban missile crisis, a walking tour of Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Museum of the Revolution.
  • Celebratory evening meal at a top Havana restaurant.
  • Special invitation to participate in the May Day Rally in Plaza de la Revolucións

Go on, grab the experience of a lifetime and register today. When you are cycling through a beautiful rural Cuban landscape by day and dancing to intoxicating salsa rhythms by night you won’t regret it. Cycle Cuba Challenge is a great way to be involved in Music Fund for Cuba’s exciting Teatro Miramar Project and deliver essential educational equipment direct to young Cuban school children.

Please contact Natasha on info@musicfundforcuba.org.uk or call 020 8800 01555 for more information.

CYCLE CUBA CHALLENGE 2010 ITINERARY 

21 April. Arrive Havana. Transfer to Hotel Nacional. Dinner.

22 April. Havana. Introductions to the Challenge Support Team and initial Briefing Meeting. Later, we take a fascinating walking tour of Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a wealth of impressively restored colonial buildings and intriguing historic sites. We will enjoy lunch at El Patio situated in the inspiring Plaza de la Catedral de San Cristóbal. Meal Plan: Breakfast and lunch.

23 April. San Antonio de los Baños to Soroa. 71km. The first day’s cycling includes some steep climbs along the Sierra del Rosario. The landscape is dotted with tall majestic royal palms and Tiñosas, turkey vultures, soaring overhead on the thermal currents. We pass through the lush forests of Las Terrazas, a UNESCO Bioshere Reserve. On arrival in Soroa, nicknamed the ‘rainbow of Cuba’ there is an optional visit to the famous orchid garden. Meal Plan: Breakfast, pack lunch and dinner.

24 April. Soroa to San Diego de los Baños. 61km. In the morning, on route over an undulating terrain, we will have the opportunity to visit a rural Policlínico, a local health care centre, and see first hand some of Cuba’s many achievements in health care. At the end of today’s cycle, we have the opportunity to revitalise tired muscles with an invigorating immersion in hot sulphurous waters from natural mineral springs at the local spa complex. Meal Plan: Breakfast, pack lunch and dinner.

25 April. San Diego de los Baños to Pinar del Río. 52km. Revitalised and ready to go, today’s route is undulating and continues along the old Carretera Central passing through several busy, bustling market towns of this rich agricultural region. We share the road with tractors, oxen and shy, smiling cowboys on a cattle drive. In the evening there is an optional visit to Casa de la Música, a traditional Cuban music venue, to listen to those intoxicating salsa rhythms and take our first tentative salsa steps. Meal Plan: Breakfast, pack lunch and dinner.

26 April. Pinar del Río to Viñales. 44km. Before remounting our bikes we visit a local cigar factory to watch the cigar rolling and packing process. Today’s route passes through a quintessential Cuban landscape with small bohíos (farmhouses) and guajiros (farmers) tending their fields with ox drawn plough. At El Moncada, we change our helmets for headlamps and explore Cuba’s largest cave system and visit nearby monument to Los Malagones, Cuba’s first revolutionary militia group who eliminated a counterrevolutionary band in 1959. Meal Plan: Breakfast, pack lunch and dinner.

27 April. Viñales to Cayo Jutías. 63km. The terrain is hilly as we climb through the Viñales Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, punctuated by soaring limestone mogotes rising up from the valley floor like massive haystacks. We pass distinctive tobacco fields with characteristic deep red earth and drying barns full of tobacco leaves. Crossing the causeway, over turquoise blue waters, we are rewarded with a dip in the crystal clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In the evening we have an invitation to attend an informal meeting with the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR) with local families, from grandparents to grandchildren. After welcoming speeches, we will have the opportunity to chat with local families and gain a valuable insight into present day Cuban society and add some new steps to our rapidly expanding repertoire. Meal Plan: Breakfast, pack lunch and dinner.

28 April. Viñales to San Diego de los Baños. 64km. The last day’s cycling follows a hilly terrain. Cycling along the single main streets of small villages, we pass Cuban grandparents sitting on the verandas of their wooden houses exchanging memories. Maize dries on the pavements in the hot sun. Passing through an area of sweet smelling coffee plantations we stop for lunch at Los Portales, the secret HQ of the legendary Che Guevara during the Cuban missile crisis. Keep a look out for the Tocororo, the national bird whose feathers reflect the colours of the Cuban flag, as we continue through La Güira National Park. After 355 exhilarating kilometres we reach the finish line back at San Diego de los Baños, a laid-back, tranquil old spa town. Meal Plan: Breakfast, pack lunch and dinner.

29 April. Havana. After breakfast we transfer back to Havana and visit the Teatro Miramar project, a community theatre restoration project being undertaken by Music Fund for Cuba. Lunch will be included at the famous Bodequita del Medio in Old Havana. Meal Plan: Breakfast and lunch.

30 April. Havana. We attend a donation presentation at the school for visually impaired young children where we have the opportunity to meet staff and students and see first hand how the educational equipment will be used. We are guaranteed a rousing reception and gifted musical performance from the school salsa band. In the afternoon, we visit the Museum of the Revolution, including the Granma yacht memorial. Meal Plan: Breakfast.

01 May. Havana. The group has a special invitation to participate in the May Day Rally, addressed by Raúl Castro and attended by over one million Cubans in Revolution Square, with its iconic images of Che Guevara. A truly inspiring and memorable event. We intend to parade our bikes through Plaza de la Revolución with our flags and banners flying high. That evening, we are rewarded with a glorious opportunity to celebrate a tremendous group achievement at our famous celebratory meal at one of the capital’s finest restaurants and an optional visit to a top salsa nightspot to relax and enjoy the rhythms of Havana, the salsa capital of the world. Meal Plan: Breakfast and dinner.

02 May. Havana. Free morning for further independent exploration of this fascinating capital city. Early afternoon transfer to the airport for the return flight, arriving London Gatwick the following day. Meal Plan: Breakfast.