First week of cycling - part 3

Saturday 24 August - 75 km to Leh with three 400-metre climbs and a net altitude gain of about 400 metres, and of course the last part of the third climb, just before reaching the hotel, was the steepest.

The view at breakfast looking across the Indus River.

In my book, when you're at 11,000 feet, you should be flying, not driving

Ursula part way around the bend about three quarters of the way up the first climb

brick manufacturing near the top of the first climb

Magpie finding something to eat on the parched ground

Fifteen or twenty people working at the top of the pass - looked like they were placing
stones as markers, although there must have been more to it than that

A reminder to us manage our speed on the long descent

The Zanskar River (opposite) flows into the Indus (left-to-right)
and we start up the second climb of the day

Nearing the top... more road signs

 

And then the descent again to the Indus River. We get a bit of fairly level riding, then the final climb of the day. Leh is built up the hillside to the left in this photo, and it's another 400 metres of climbing to the hotel.

The ibex is on a statute part way up the hill, in the background is the Shanti Stupa. 

Finally at the Royal Ladakh Hotel for two rest days..

...with a view of the Tsemo Gompa monastery which is on a hilltop above the Old Leh Palace.

First week of cycling - part 2

Thursday 22 August - serious riding begins. Mulbekh to Lamayuru - 65 km comprising a 500 metre climb followed by 400 metre descent, then 700 metre climb to 4100 metres (13,500 feet), the highest point on the Srinagar-Leh highway, then a descent to 3500 metres, our sleeping altitude for the night. The first climb averaged about 4.5%; The second climb was longer but mostly not as steep at about 3.5%.

The scenery is as wonderful as the climbs are long and tough.

Ursula and Brigitte toughing out the first climb

Rae's borrowed bike

Finally we reach the high point of the day, the second pass at 13,500 feet... all that's left is nearly 15 km of descending at an average gradient of 4%

Destination tonight is Lamayuru

View from our hotel room window. The monastery is one of the oldest in the region.

Friday 23 August - 47 km, generally descending - but a couple of steep 150 metre climbs thrown in -  for the first 15 km for then generally climbing 200 metres to tonight's destination of Uletopko at a sleeping altitude of 3100 metres, around 10,000 feet.

both men and women work on the highways, here a female sweeping crew

This entire region is heavily militarized given the proximity of the border with Pakistan and of disputed territories controlled by China. 

Our destination tonight an 'eco lodge' at Uletopko. An apple tree and an apricot tree right outside our door. The apricots were ripe and delicious - all within easy reach. In fact we both ate too many resulting in a few desperate runs to the bathroom the next day.

And finally, for your amusement, some highway signs. The road between Srinagar and Leh is managed by the Border Roads Organisation, hence the term 'BRO' on the signs. 

  

First week of cycling - part 1

Tuesday 20 August - packed up and onto mini-buses and the lot of us are driven to the town of Mulbekh, almost 200 km in the direction of the Kashmir valley. Our accommodation was in permanent tents with electricity and en suite.

Wednesday 21 August - still a day to go before we start at day 5 of the originally planned itinerary, so this is a day for casual riding and seeing the local scene. We rode about 15 km down the valley in the  direction of Kargil. Kargil is only 2 km from the Pakistan border and although all is quiet there, the security situation was uncertain enough not to have started the ride from there.

Activity in the valley seems  pretty normal to us, grain being dried, packed into bags and weighed.

 

We left the highway for  3-4 km detour into a canyon along a rough dirt road... 

...part o the appeal being a hot spring at the end - not really hot and steaming - probably wonderfully hot when it's forty below here in the winter. We were all alone down there and Rae succeeded getting in a skinny dip and was all properly attired for biking again when two cars arrived (must be shaken to bits on that road) with some locals for their bath = pleasant young men whose first question was who told us about this place - looks like it is popular secret amongst the local population.

On the way back, Ursula found an edelweiss beside the stream, which, by the way, was not at all hot or warm - no way would we have sat long in that water.

Not long after getting back on the highway was when Rae's bike started having mechanical issues. First the bearings went on one of his pedals. Good that we are carrying spare pedals, albeit flat pedals, not with clips. Then while achieving at least 8 km/hr as we were climbing back up towards camp, suddenly a bang and Rae's rear seizes - the rim had failed and jammed in the brakes. Only 2 km to go, so disconnecting the brakes allowed us to ride back - it was all up hill so no worries about having to descend with only the front brakes. The bike is unrideable, but within half-an-hour, our wonderful bike mechanic rigged his bike for Rae, the aim being to get an new rim in Leh when we get there in three days time.

Tomorrow the serious biking starts.

Acclimatising in Leh

A bit of catchup - internet in Leh was too slow to get anything posted, then we moved down the valley back in the direction of Srinigar to start riding the bikes, but that put us close enough to Kashmir that all internet and email, including data on cell phones, was cut off.

August 12 - just after midnight the non-stop Air Canada flight to Delhi. Fourteen hours, then three hours to get bags through immigration and catch the Air India flight to Leh. Although all the bags are checked through to Leh, Air India insists that paying for the bikes in Canada doesn't mean that they've been paid for in India; it only gets them to Delhi. They have us over a barrel... either pay up or miss the flight to Leh. We paid and were the last people to board the flight.

Leh from the air as we arrived

 Arrived Leh on Tuesday the 13th and were happy to see the bike boxes arrive in good shape.

Flights arrive in the morning in Leh. The runway is oriented NE-SW. Landings are to the NE, up hill. Afternoon winds seem to get stronger from the southwest - presumably that's the reason for morning arrivals to avoid the tailwind for landing. Higher ground to the northeast precludes take-offs in that direction so take-offs are downhill to the SW. Field elevation is 3500 metres / 11,500 feet, so you can't expect airplanes to perform like they do at sea level.

We went straight to the hotel for a bit of breakfast and a bit of catching up on sleep before walking into the central part of town (about 20 minute walk). The TDA crew was already there and A few others of our group arrived that morning, most of them in other hotels from us. 

breakfast

One of two pedestrian-only streets in the central area.
The banner was for August 25th Independence Day celebrations. The region was only last week declared its own union territory, no longer part of Jammu and Kashmir

 

The following days we spent looking around with no particular urgency. 

Old Leh Palace

The Shanti Stupa built by Japan as a gift to the Ladakh buddhists

565 steps to the Stupa, Ursula counted them

Monastery on the other hill

Cows have free reign in the streets, not that there are that many of them - this one must be waiting for happy hour

Saturday was the appointed day for bike assembly with organizational meeting on the Sunday. We got on the bikes for a 60 km ride in the vicinity of Leh on Monday, then Tuesday got in vans to go back down the valley in the direction of Srinigar to the village of Mulbekh. Wednesday would be a free day in Mulbekh and then start the formal riding on what would have been riding day number five on Thursday August 22nd. More on that in the next post. We just want to get this up so you don't think we're missing in action. Further posts will be highly dependent on the internet service.