Thanks for the write-up and photos, John! Epic.... -br
On Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 6:26:49 AM UTC-7, John Rinker wrote: > > “Begin by drinking garlic juice immediately!” This was the first piece of > advice my new friend Sharad offered as we sat sipping coffee at Himalayan > Java in Thamel. I was preparing to cycle the Annapurna circuit, and > according to Sharad this was a sure way to avoid altitude sickness. > Michelle is always super supportive of my tours, but I figured this might > need some discussion. Or at least a courteous warning. > > > “Don’t cycle near the edge. The dropping is very dangerous!” Even as new > friend, Sharad was already concerned with my safety. > > > “And watch out for bears throwing stones!” Up to this point altitude > sickness had been my biggest concern. “Bears throwing stones?” I was > puzzled. “Yes, purple bears!” Hmm. I made a mental note to avoid what must > be very potent hashish in the mountains. “Purple bears!?” I pressed. “I > mean deers!” Sharad clarified. “The purple deers are on the mountains above > you and will knock down stones.” And so altitude sickness remained my > greatest concern. > > > Riding a bicycle over a 5400 meter mountain pass (17,769 ft for those who > refuse to think metrically), or more likely pushing, carrying and dragging > it, was not something I’d ever really planned on doing- not a ‘bucket list’ > kind of thing for me. But I had just returned to Kathmandu from a wonderful > cycling adventure in New Zealand, and sitting around the apartment while > Michelle is working makes me stir-crazy. I went for a ride to Thamel, > ground-zero for trekkers in Kathmandu, and the bustle of excited travelers > preparing for their hikes in the Himalayas piqued my interest. I wondered > if anyone had ever cycled the Annapurna circuit. When I returned home, I > jumped on the interweb and discovered that people do it all the time. Woo > hoo! Within the week I had sound advice from Sharad, acquired my permits, > received blessings from Michelle, and was on a shuttle to Besishar, a town > about 140 km from Kathmandu and the traditional starting point of the > circuit. > > > On foot the circuit is about 210 km in length as most people end in > Nayapul and shuttle to Pokhara. By bicycle, the ride is about 320 km with > about 7800m (26,000ft) of climbing. The road/track is the roughest I've > ridden anywhere. Period. It is rocky, muddy, potholed and a literal pain in > the arse. All of this, however, is mitigated by the incredible scenery, the > sense of adventure, the fascinating Buddhist relics, and the wonderful > Nepali people. The trekkers path is much better than the track, but there > are long sections of stone steps that require carrying the bike. I opted > for a combination. Once past Manang it is all path until crossing over the > pass and dropping into Muktinath. With the exception of a few sets of > stairs here and there, I was able to ride the entire way to Thorong Phedi, > about 6km and about 900m below the pass. The combination of steep terrain > and snow on the ascent to the pass and snowmelt and mud on the descent make > the final 6km up and about 10km down the other side are hike-a-bike at this > time of year. > > > The night before I left High Camp to climb the last 600meters to the pass, > it snowed. As I set off in the early morning darkness under a crisp sky > speckled with stars, the moonlight shone off a fresh blanket of snow. > Thousands of individual snowflakes reflected the moon’s light and it was as > if stars themselves had fallen into the drifts. In the highest mountains > I’ve ever been, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect beginning to the day > ahead. > > > After about four and a half hours of carrying and rolling my Hunq, Sweet > As, over the fresh but trodden snow, I reached the pass. At 5416 meters it > is the highest elevation I've ever been. The air is truly rarified up > there, and looking down on some of the highest and largest mountains on the > planet was awe-inspiring, in the truest sense of the word. > > > Regarding the Riv, I'm not sure how many such bikes have been up there, > but it was, as you can imagine, in the eyes of many quite out of place. > 'That's not a real mountain bike!', exclaimed one German trekker. 'You're > going up there with THAT!?' was not an uncommon comment. But I think it was > the basket and the Albatross bars that really threw people for a loop. And > while many of the trekkers who pass me along the way as I plodded towards > the top were encouraging and truly delighted for me when I made it up to > the pass, I'm sure some were quite surprised that me and Sweet As made it. > As we all know, Rivs are amazing machines, highly capable to carrying us > and our gear to magnificent heights (and down again), and for my part I > never doubted the bike would make it. I did, however, wonder about myself > at times. > > > As many of the trekkers gathered at the famous Thorong La sign, prayer > flags snapping in the wind, to capture a photo, I climbed into the saddle > of Sweet As, shouted a congratulations to all, and rode off the pass under > clear blue skies on a packed snow trail...for about 700 meters. When the > snow got soft, the front wheel dug in, and Sweet As gave me a gentle remind > that it was time to walk for a spell. > > > As is my habit on such rides, I record the journey via Gaia GPS and add > photo waypoints along the way. For those interested in the route and a ton > of photos, here's a link the my Annapurna circuit tracks: > > > The Annapurna Cycle > <https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/folder/ea1c7999bd49d22e2a2a919097cd9ea9/?layer=GaiaTopoRasterFeet> > > > Cheers, John > > > > [image: Annapurna Cycle.png] > > > > > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
