How the 'world's toughest one-day bike race' could put Bhutan ahead
[ad_1] Image copyright Melyn McKay Image caption Bhutan's culture goes far beyond its mountains and valleys The reclusive kingdom of Bhutan has for years granted only limited access to tourists. But the country is now slowly attracting more visitors - and one way its doing so is through extreme sports, as filmmaker Alex Bescoby recounts. It was 2am on a chilly September morning in Bhutan, and a gruelling 268km (166 miles) slog lay ahead. Between me and the finish line in the capital, Thimphu, lay four mountain-passes each more than 10,000ft high (3,050m) and a feat of endurance that has taken world-class athletes more than 11 hours to complete. As the organisers of the Tour of the Dragon (TOD) point out, real dangers awaited. The TOD has been billed as the "toughest one-day bike race in the world". Bet...