I came across this: https://www.raid-orion.fr when I was trying to research some stuff for a magazine article.

It's a 'posh' French organised bike tour from Paris (as you'd expect) to Samarkand (Uzbekistan, to save you looking it up) that seems to have been running for a few years now (not 2020, obviously) and they say they're going again this year in August. These Rally-Raids do seem to have some history - the first one I can find was run in 1972 (on the coat tails of a car one in '71) although they may go back beyond that.

The 'posh' bit above is down to the 4* / 5* hotels they use + the organisation to make it run smoothly and it reflects in the cost - €8700, but as an alternative to spending the kids inheritance on a cruise it looks to me like a much better thing to do.

So, finally, my question. Anyone have any experience of these trips and care to comment. Or comment anyway even if you haven't been. The articles I found on the 1975 version - Raid Shah Abbas - made it sound like something you'd do if the Paris - Dakar wasn't tough enough, but that was probably 'journalist as hero hyperbolic excess' - or was it?

I won't be signing up for it this year as I have my own travel plans well advanced (+ it's fully booked) but my wife thought it sounded interesting and she's the one with the money