Introduction: Embarking on a cycling touring adventure is a dream for many riders, but the vast landscapes and long distances can be intimidating. Fear not, for there’s a powerful approach that can turn your grand cycling tour aspirations into an achievable reality — the art of scaling down. In this blog, we’ll delve into the world of cycling touring and explore how embracing a half-size version of your touring goals can make the journey not only more realistic but also more enjoyable.
The Grand Vision of Cycling Touring: Cycling touring often conjures images of epic cross-country rides, traversing mountains, and conquering vast distances. While these aspirations are undeniably inspiring, they can also be overwhelming at first glance. Picture your original touring goal side by side with a half-size version — the full cross-country adventure and its more manageable counterpart. Which feels more realistic? The answer might just reshape your touring strategy.
Realism on Two Wheels: As you visualize your original and half-size touring goals, ask yourself which is the better, more realistic option. Scaling down doesn’t mean compromising the essence of your dream; it’s about making it attainable. Consider the half-size version as a gateway to a broader adventure. Maybe your initial plan was to cross an entire continent, but starting with a cross-country journey in your home country might be a more feasible and equally rewarding alternative.
Breaking Down the Distance: If the idea of a cross-country tour still feels like an insurmountable task, don’t hesitate to shrink it further. Break down the distance into segments, each representing a day or a week of riding. Suddenly, the once-intimidating goal becomes a series of achievable milestones. This approach not only eases the mental burden but also allows you to savor each leg of the journey.
One-Tenth the Size, Ten Times the Achievability: Scaling down your cycling touring goal to one-fourth or even one-tenth of the original size may seem counterintuitive, but it sets the stage for success. Imagine planning a tour that covers just a fraction of your initial vision. Once you start pedaling and conquering each mini-adventure, the momentum builds. The beauty of cycling touring lies in the ability to adapt and extend your journey as you go, making it a truly dynamic experience.
Embrace the Touring Journey: Cycling touring is not just about the destination; it’s about the journey. By scaling down your goals, you’re not just making them more achievable — you’re enhancing the joy of exploration. Celebrate the local wonders, the unexpected detours, and the connections made along the way. Each scaled-down goal becomes a unique chapter in your touring story, creating a narrative that’s as diverse as the landscapes you traverse.
Conclusion: As you dream of epic cycling touring adventures, remember the wisdom of scaling down your goals. Whether it’s a cross-country odyssey or a local exploration, the key is to make your dream ride more realistic and enjoyable. Embrace the journey, conquer the scaled-down goals, and let the road unfold before you — after all, in cycling touring, the beauty lies in the cyclical rhythm of the pedal strokes and the ever-expanding horizons.
Funny stories on my bicycle tour
In the year 2019 , when I was riding in Malaysia…In southern part of Malaysia while I was cycling by a national forest through the rolling road, it was obvious that I wanted to click some pics of the nice monkeys resting at the side of the roads. The pic was appealing as there were their small babies . But I did not know that they would going to made my day scary. As I started my camera out and paused for the click, the way their mother chased me at least for 100meters, I felt like I was chased by any tiger. It was really scary .
Bicycle touring guide in single page
Topics to be considered for a memorable bike packing trip
- Motivation
- Research
- Preparation
- Packing
- Safety
- Food
- Camping
- People Connect
- On Ride
- How to document your journey
Motivation
- Why bicycle touring
- How to make your next big trip(below #3 to #5 points)
- How to push any hurdle on the tour
- How to overcome fear of uncertainty -Take Police help – Just give some time -Hang out with locals -Talk with people for your mind refreshment
- Initial 3-4 days are hardest. Takes time to accustomed
Research:
- Why initial research about the tip is so important
- What you need to research(Below points)
- Weather -How to deal with heat/cold conditions -wind
- Best time:When is the to tour that location
- Place :Attractive places -on your tour -campsite
- Map
- Altitude
- Road:Condition -mtb tyre -hybrid tyre
- Your now Action :Start your research of your exciting place
Preparation:
- Why preparation can make your tour smoother
- What people miss in their preparation
- How to do preparation(Below points)
- Pre ride: 3-4 80-100 km ride in past 3 weeks
- Pre load test with bikepack
- Bikefit -Hybrid-mtb-roadbike
- Bike repairing basic skill
Planning
- Map : Terrain -Good road- off road -hill -flat -rolling Distance-Total -Point to point distance -attractive place
- Money :Food -daily -breakfast -lunch -dinner – fruits -hydration -other Emergency ,Bike maintenance, Extra
World map looks overwhelmed, then how to plan for a cycling tour
When you want to plan for a multiday self supported tour, by looking at the map , it’s obvious to be overwhelmed as you might me finding from where to start.
Let me help you on planning a multi day cycling trip , which may need to cross international border crossing.
Please consider these points while planning your cycling trip.
- Choose some scenic routes or places that you admire to visit on a bicycle.
- How much time do you keep to complete the tour.
- How much distance you want to cover (You may want to consider if you start from your home and back if a round trip from your home)
- Research/ look for some attracting points on your route , while visiting those , your overall trip experiences becomes more interesting.
- Draw you own map in pen and paper and put the distances between each other interesting points .By doing this you will end up completing the whole route and you will get much more clear picture about the overall tour.
- Now , research about different rules and regulations of that particular country keeping safety in mind. If you want to opt for camping on your won, read out different blog, how other previous bikepacker have managed to stay and arranged for food.
- Now, see how to get a visa and on an single entry how many days can you stay in that country, You need to plan to complete your tour in that country within that time period.
- Calculate different cost for your tour ( Visa + flight costs if any + food + emergency fund+ insurance cost etc)
Once you create a blueprint including all above points , you can get a clear picture of your entire trip. And looking at the best time to visit those places and based on your leave, kame a move to start your dream cycling tour.
Continue reading: How I cycled around Malaysia covering 1700kms without statying any hotel.
A cycling trip to the largest river island Majuli
Do you really want to visit Majuli ?
Have you ever imagined how a piece of land make you feel as a different world surrounded by a river. Yes, that’s true. A river island declared as a district , the largest river island named Majuli is located in mighty river the Brahmaputra in Assam.
Don’t you want to experience this unique piece of land completely untouched by modernization, separated from mainland of Assam with its natural surroundings , cycling in Majuli.
Highlight-Worthy Gatherings
Craft extraordinary gatherings filled with productive workshops and memorable experiences.
Empowering you to fully immerse in the significant moments of noteworthy occasions while capturing them, ensuring reminiscing opportunities!
Let’s find the best way to explore
To explore this natural environment , pleasing your eyes deeply with the paddy fields , the small small huts of the villagers, fragrance of seasonal flowers can only be experienced by cycling . Away from the mainland of Assam, Majuli has almost no traffic. Few cycle rental shops are the evidence of its popularity of cycling in Majuli to explore this largest river island.
So , let’s start
There was a time , when I was dreaming about to witness this naturally rich piece of land away from urbanization .And I found it can’t be better explored better than cycling in Majuli.
These points will motivate you to visit this largest river island:
Naturally Untouched:
Amaze with the broad flat paddy fields at its river bank .I imagine how beautiful will it be when covered with the green paddy.
Tribal architecture of home:
Have you noticed the unique architecture of the bamboo huts of the Mising tribe. Completely made up of wood and bamboo , these home tells us how these people are living amidst nature , conserving their traditional style out of modernization. You can also see their handmade weaving machine in most of their home.
A tribal culture in Assam:
Mising culture is one of the unique tribal culture . It’s so nice to see the Mising ladies with their traditional dress with their lovely simles on face . And yes, these traditional dresses are absolutely handmade. Don’t forget to enjoy their Mising dance if you get a chance .
Famous Mask art:
Won’t you be surprised to see the creation of those mask created uniquely with bamboo sticks, cow dung, clay and cloth. Don’t miss to see this world famous mask creation in Samaguri satra. They are not only used in local drama but also exported to abroad. And I was very blessed to see such a mask creation by one of the professional mask artist at Samaguri .
Living with an active lifestyle:
Have you observed how fit their physical appearance are. Do you think it’s god gifted or a way of living . Their active village lifestyle is the answer. Away from modern physical luxury, working on the field for their bread and butter,cutting woods for their cooking and building their home and house holds , walking or cycling as a mode of transport are keeping these people very active.
River crossing by boat:
Experience the joy of crossing this mighty river Brahmaputra by machine boat. You should be excited to cross such a broad and strong river by boat.It can’t be a better way to observe this island from is surrounding water, and that’s only possible when you cross by a boat. Even these boats can carry your cars , bikes along with other passengers.
Local food:
Let’s have a taste of local delicacies from the kitchen of the local villager. A special kind of rice Beer (apong) with pork is a must if you consider food in this largest river island . This river island is self sophisticated to produce home grown rice and vegetables and it’s taste will let you know how organic those food are.
Satra:
The trip to Majuli will be incomplete without a visit to the world famous Satra . These Hindu worshiping places since the era of Ahom kingdom are not only contributing to conserve our Assamese traditional culture of worshiping but also attracts many tourists across the globe. The pleasant surrounding with the greenery and the old temple with the residential homes of their devotee gives a unique feeling in the satras .
Lovely poeple:
Majuli is known for their lovely people and their hospitality.Its not unusual to see the villagers waving hands while you are on road. Don’t be surprise if they offer you a visit to their home. Will you get these kind of hospitality anywhere in the globe usually. Even though a 3 start hotel is un-imaginable at that island , but their hospitality and their traditional home will make you forget about those modern architecture and luxury.
Today I am going to show how to go for a bicycling trip to Majuli.
Reach Nimatighat :Starting from Jorhat town , it will be around 17 kms to reach Nimatighat ferry port. Enjoy the Nimati ghat road from the town crossing the Assamese villages , paddy fields and temples (naamghar) which leads to Nimati ghat ferry port. I am sure that shades of the trees and the riverside breeze will make you feel for a pleasant ride.
At Nimatighat: Admire the magnificent island from the mainland of Assam . The breeze at the riverside and the broad spread of white sands (only seen at winter) in few middle part of the river will excite you to visit Majuli. Take a breath and take some beautiful clicks of the broad landscape of water and sands.
There are few food stalls and public transport you can see at Nimatighat.
There are scheduled boats to cross the river which may take around an hour.
Don’t be surprised to see how they load the cars and motorcycle on the boat.Enjoy the process of loading these vehicles on boat.The cars are usually carried in the open space of the boat and the motor cycles are on the roof of the boat.
You can carry your bicycles on the roof of the boat itself with the support of the boat crews.
Lets board on the boat and be ready to get some nice clicks of the mighty river .
From the river on the boat you can observe how the flood and riverbank erosion is contributing to extinction of the great river island. It’a very sad to listen those talks about the erosion of the island from the local villagers of Majuli.
Reach at Kamalabari Ghat : Don’t you fell like a different world altogether once you land that other part of the river. Don’t miss to enjoy the trial from the ferry port till you hit the main road. You may need to go few hundred meters to reach the main road from the ghat. But feel the experience of cycling on the sandy earth from the port to the main road.
Soon you will feel that pleasure of cycling in Majuli on such a traffic free road surrounded by paddy filed and Mising villages. Apart from the few small localities , hardly you can see any modern architecture there and enjoy this environment from hustle and bustle of your city life.
Defiantly our visit and cycling in Majuli will enrich your experiences in much deeper way . So, don’t miss this unique world of human civilization and plan for your next cycling trip in Majuli.
Kaas Pathar
Kaas Pathar , magnifying spread of the flowers ,a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site.
The spread is so wide at Kaas plateau that it’s looks like a colorful carpet on the valley of Satara.The heights of the flower are hardly 2 feet.Due to the climatic conditions you can even see some small insectivorous plants ,but very hard to notice, so you can get help of any guide available there.
When to visit: It’s based on the rainy season,Once the monsoon ends it stays further 2 weeks. You can plan just after the rainy season is over ,around mid of August till September end. The unique part is that in the same place you can find different flower plants that stays around 2 weeks.Then new plants appears and that cycles continues.
The journey:
Satara is a beautiful hilly district in Maharashtra in the Sahyadri range .The region is fully covered by lush greenery and waterfalls in the monsoon .So,let’s plan to witness the unique biodiversity of this region at Kaas Pathar .
At a distance of 27 KMs from the heart of town Satara , you can plan by public buses travelling to and fro from Satara city bus stand at an interval of time which takes an hour to reach the valley of flower, KaasPathar. Leave earliest by 5.30 from the Satara bus stand to capture some scenic clicks of the hills.
The climbs of the mountains while leaving from the town itself will mesmerize you with the greenery and the smoothly flowing waterfalls through your way.The rocks by the road and the water streams flowing through it will make your journey more memorable.
Feel the glance of a bit of town while going upwards through the gradual inclined road.
Take a breath and enjoy the beauty of the lakes that comes along the way surrounding the Satara hills.
Appearance of color of the hills also get changes on the reflection of the sun light.
On the way you can find few hill side resorts as well .
Arrival to Satara:
If you are planning to travel from Mumbai or Pune,my recommendation is to travel by train as you can experience some of the beautiful train routes in India through the Sahyadri mountain region where you will cross many tunnels.See the countryside of Maharashtra with the farmland of sugarcane.Ultimately travelling by train through the curvy rails surrounded by hills and the water streams is fun and unique.
How to plan for the trip:
Block your time of minimum of 5-6 hours to cover the broad valley of Kaas. Carry some food and water bottle as you have to walk few kms to cover the valley of flower .And also keep a buffer of 1-2 hours to observe the hill side views and the lakes on your way back from Kaas.
At Kaas pathar:
It’s a long walk trail through different entrances to different zones of Kaas Pathar based on the variety of flowers.Try avoiding slippers as some of the part where the terrain is on flat stones and the most of the roads are of gravels and might be sleepary during rainy days.
The grounded flowers are so widely spread at Kaas pathar that you will be lost by looking at its beauty.
Kaas lake is at one side of Kaas Pather that you can view from the plateau .
If you have some buffer time and left with some energy, go few distance ahead on the other of the pathar and get a glance of the huge windmills and the wall like rocky hills .
I was pleased to talk with few local guys explaining how blissful they are residing such an environmentally fresh and pure bio-diversified area .They also talked about the availability of wild animals those generally come out at night at that region of valley.
Being an unique place for research and botanical adventurist at Kaas , you can also meet lots of enthusiastic researchers and volunteers there .
Being an responsible visitor:
Keep this incredible Kaas with its virgin form without disturbing it’s natural habitat by littering of plastics ,or any kind of chemical usages around this region.
Witness the best of rolling road in Konkan, the short climbs and the beaches on the saddle-Cycling from Pune to Ratnagiri
To witness the best of rolling road in Konkan, the short climbs and the beaches by your road I started my day around 8 am leaving from Satara with some beautiful sunrise view on the way behind some hills raising through the morning fog.Straight rays of raising sun was clearly visible behind the clouds from distance .
Th road goes around the hills , few wind mills were visible from the road on the distance hills. Mostly it was downhill from Satara.the fog was covering the base of the hills like a dense bedsheet.
Theflat road goes along the sugarcane firms.TillSatara it was a six lane, then continued with 4 lane concrete road.It connects from Satara to Kholapur.The road connects with kale-Pachwad road, where we need to continue with the state highway .Most part of the road is covered with trees both the ways.
You can see the sugarcane firms in the villages by the road.I came across many tractors carrying sugarcane to the factories.
On the way you can see some wind mills lining at the top of the hills.You can even see from very near in few part of the road.The road was bit small elevated and have to ascend few climbs till Malkapur.The rolling road and the climbs made me to take a rest under a banyan tree for few minutes after my lunch at Malkapur town.
After few Kms from Malkapur you can fly with the downhill of Amba ghat . I clicked some beautiful views of the ghat with clear visibility of the road going around the ghat.You can see some shops roadside selling Konkani products .I had a Kokum-soda water to make myself cool and it was healthy also instead of drinking some coke.
After the ghat , it started with the beautiful Kokan villages with dense forests around and these rolling road.Ienyoyed the sun set on the road itself. Before reaching to Ratnagiri you have to climb many smaller ghat .It was already dark before I reach.
After around 2 hours of riding at dark I finally reached Ratnarigi town.After having dinner at a hotel I headed to a Malvar beach which was 3 Kms from the town and I pitched my tend on the beach itself over water.
The light house was just on the other end of the beach,and I was enjoying the rotation of the lights .
Few tourists from Mumbai was keen to interact with me about my solo trip as it looks to be strange from them to ride such a long distance solo. A health freak senior man even advise me some of the heath tips to keep my energy maintained throughout day just by taking 2 spoon of honey at the empty stomach in the morning. I was excited when they even captured some clicks with me with my bike.
A mesmerizing landscape of cloud , hills and the splendourous water falls – a trip to Shillong
Shillong the Scotland of East is the capital city of the Maghalaya , situated at an altitude of 1500m above sea level.How exciting the place will be where the misty cloud suddenly passes through you letting you feel a chilly sensation .
After All we are all set for the much awaited ride to have that experience. Though the distance is just a 100Mkms from Guwahati , still changes in biodiversity can be observed once entered in Meghalaya . As part of stored energy we carried few packets of mixed fruit jam and soach, and resins .Resins are proved to be good energy banks to maintain salt in the body. Just after having our a tiny breakfast with few bread and eggs ,we started our journey from Guwahati .
That was end of December and the morning was of foggy. As we move slowly towards Burapahar (at Assam-Meghalaya border), we got the feel of Climbing at the first instance which was a considerable gradual climb to test our energy level at Burapahar hill.
Then the road was almost flat till we continued through another long uphill of around 7kms , giving a good sign of Shillong hilly terrain . Indeed needs a recovery after the constant climb. Never forget to fill you energy with few pieces fresh juicy pinepples from the roadside stalls, which made our teeth sour for the whole day.
Continued our paddling through a rolling road and mid intensity climbs till we reached Umium lake ,Barapani which is a adventure spot for river rafting. A nice landscape of hill, water, ground and the sky at the same place. Time for us to re-energize for lunch before the long climb to Shillong.
From Barapani it is all gradual slow climbs, which starts giving the feel of Shillong atmosphere. The road snakes through the rocks with the pine trees and the chilled air of this hilly region. Enjoyed the last stretch of the pleasant ride of around 15 kms through the shades of the green hills with the hairpin bands.
Managed to reach the city before dark. Could not miss visiting Shillong Police Bazar, where the street always be like a fair with lots of shops .We were lucky enough to have a glance the Shillong Salt lake as part of New year and Christmas calibration. And certainly the time for celebration for a successful ride to the Scotland of East India.
Highlights:
Nearest Railway Station :Guwahati Railway Station
Nearest Airport :Guwahati Airport
Best Season / Time :November to Feb
Don’t miss to see the crystal clear water of Dawki in your Meghalaya trip
Fig: Shillong to Dawki and back route with the elevation map
No trip can be considered as completed in Meghalaya without enjoying the route from Shillong to Dawki. A river of crystal clear water at Indo-Bangladesh border .
With that spirit to see the clear water of the river , I started the most exciting day of the trip as soon after the sun rise.Taking the previous day’s remaining pieces of smoked pork as breakfast, whose fats oils became like grease in the freezing cold of Shillong. Tried to gear up the pace of my solo ride as fast as possible followed by a warm up walk accompanied by my friend. Throughout the whole ride , I was only imagining the breathtaking view of the crystal clear water of Dawki river. Even though the destination was a much lower altitude, but ride started with a lengthy climb of around 4 kms .The view started to be more stunning .
Wow!!! hills hills and everywhere the green hills.
The climb was enough to make my body warmed up ,defeating the morning cold. As proceeded further after passing through a village at end of the climb, mesmerizing view of the giant hills started attracting the eyes.
Stunning view of morning sun rays penetrating through the clouds and shining some portion of hill was mesmerizing. Hills were also preparing to clear their foggy cover with the morning sun.
For few Kilometers of road, one side of the road was a steep slide of the hill, while the other side was the wetly hills with dense forest standing like a wall . Some time when u passes through between the hills with dense trees, body starts shivers with the morning cold breeze.
I did not want to miss the opportunity to have a breakfast with the local Khasi people, with a bowel of rice and few pork pices, that seemed to be their traditional way of food habit.
Apart from a couple of steep killer climbs, the almost whole route can be travelled without pedallng. This was the most luxurious part of the whole journey, as you get a chance to utilize your top most speed gear ratios of your bike. Same time it was realized the challenge of the return journey ;).
Without spending much time for photography, I tried to reach the bottom of the hills as fast as possible considering the duration of return time through the up hills. Within 3 hours I could able to reach Pongtung from where Dawki was around 25KM with continuous downhill.
This junction was the diversion for Mawlynnong , the Asia’s cleanest village and the double decker living root bridge;and towards Dawki which was my destination.
After crossing few Km , the water land of Bangladesh can be viewed from some part of the route. We could feel the mixture of low altitude climate and the hills .Trees were also looked like similar that grown in plane land. Sweet fragrances of flowers were floating in the air, so refreshing it was!! It made me feel like I was living in my own village itself. Temperature also gradually started increasing with the decrease of altitude.Last around 6KM was steep downhill till the Dawki river. With the sudden change in temperature, body also got pumped up.
It was so amazing to see the green crystal clear water , the surface of the river and the nice pebbles can be viewed very clearly .This was my motivation to ride till Dawki !! Many boats were there for the tourist attraction. There is the Indo-Bangladesh open boarder monitored by Indian BSF and Navy forces. Spending not much time in the river, within a hour I finished re fuelling with a stomach full of rice plate before heading back towards Shilling before noon .
The real game started.If you were looking for a ride to challenge your endurance level with low intensity gradual climb,look no further than the route from Dawki to Shillong of around 80kms. Aaah…!! I prepared mentally for the never ending gradual climbs .
Due to the steep climb in the broken tarmac road and the raising temperature at noon, body started releasing fuels after few kms at the starting itself. Indeed a break was needed after a couple of Kms .Kept some bananas and oranges as reserved energy as there happened to be less frequent fuel stations for the legs in the coming miles.
Never ending continues elevations were exhausting where your body was driven by the mind only. Here you may need some stretching as well, to make your constantly used muscles relaxed.
A few packets of jams and soch packets.Route passes through the green desert having hardly any populated area. Desperately waiting for a shop for a cup of coffee. Apart from the few private tourists vehicles, road was also almost silent. Had a break with some snacks after struggling around 45kms .Through out the ride,the packets were keeping my energy level running.
Ohh..another 45km to go!! from Tambill town to Shillong . Tried to keep my pace increased once started the rolling road and climate also becoming moderate as I moved towards higher elevation. Sun was also gradually sliding from top of head. Never know when to get another chance to ride in such a winter afternoon under clear sky of Meghalaya. Started to capture some memories in some view points of the hills in each ride break.
Energy got some boost as distance coming nearer to the end of the trip.Last 25kms was more of rolling and some downhill, that I started enjoying again. By the time , it was about to getting dark,but comfortably managed to reach Shillong before dark where I ended my trip.
What a self satisfactory accomplishment by ending the tour of such a naturally virgin portion of the earth , the whole memory of the trip is captured in my vain.
Highlights:
Nearest Railway Station :Guwahati Railway Station
Nearest Airport :Guwahati Airport
Best Season / Time :November to Feb