Bicycle travel, how safe/ practical is it?

machadinha

Haha my eye had fallen on that Neomadd. Sort of sums it up neatly doesn't it.

Easy it won't be I'm sure; a story it certainly would.

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kaushiks

Traceyam, You have been to India and to Delhi, according to your profile. Didn't you find women in Delhi had enough freedom to atleast cycle on the road. You must have made some opinions about Delhi. It will be good to know what you thought.

machadinha

Aye and to dwell again:

In most countries India included I believe picking up a stone will work wonders on wild dogs as they'll know what it means. They're vicious beasts though, no kidding, be sure what you're up against.

Of course caution and common sense would be in order, that's something else than to say it's not doable though. Example and concerning the real trouble you might run into apart from outright nasty situations: Imagine you being let into a villager's dwellings. You don't speak the same language. They will be forever apologizing about their humble abode and perhaps that there's a really nice guesthouse further down the road. They'll spare the food out of their mouths to feed you. You are not supposed to turn this down as it would be rude. No matter how many guidebooks you read telling you not to drink local water or eat local food that's been left to go cold etc., nor your scruples about their going without food. You may find yourself wondering would they rather see me go this paid guesthouse or what. Probably upon deciding to leave and not be a burden on them anymore, only then will you find they'll go to great lengths to see you safely to the next civilized junction and that you could probably have stayed there forever if you had wanted to. Offers of money will be politely waved off or even taken into offense, try to make a gift of rice or flour or something else useful or special if you can. I'm talking about rural village life way off the beaten track here, although you may find it on the outskirts of major towns even, it's mostly a matter of where you care to look.

Cheers & good luck & an open mind by all means.

crvlvr

Kaushik,

Although women do have the freedom to cycle if they so wish to, I must admit that there are very few women cyclists in India. Agreed, traceyam's friend's experience, if true, could have been an isolated incident. But one should not rule out the possibility that it could happen. May be she was on the wrong road, in the wrong neighborhood, at the wrong time and the men were drunk etc etc.. you see what i mean? I don't think she was trying to put down the whole of India be relating her friend's experience.

Yes, IMHO the media in the US is a bunch of crap, especially when they report on events in foreign countries. But there are a fair amount of reasonably well informed people in the US especially on Indiamike.com

xealot

machadinha and neomadd .... your are my shining angels

I know this is going to be a big challenge but I beleive the more you work for something the more you get out it... might not sound like everyones attitude towards their holidays but i'm strange :-}

Thanks for the cautions, I am really starting to beleive this is something I can do... but with that comes the acceptance that not every moment of my trip is going to be blissful so I really appreciate knowing what i"m going to facing (should i bring a whopping stick for the dogs?) whether it be rabid dogs, children with stones, riding in the rain, or coming down with a tummy bug in some remote village.

Here are some more detailed ideas about how I will go about this ... incase anyone would like to comment.

I will buy a bike in India, not a mountain bike but some sort of hybrid bmx thingo as I won't be going hard to begin with (and I hear that real mountain bikes can be hard to get repaired as they aren't common??). I will bring a few pairs of bike shorts and sports tops with me but will be covering up with loose pants and long sleeved shirts (any specific ideas very welcome as I would like to be able to find traditional Indian style of clothing that would be appropriate). Itinary is still a vague haze of ideas but as I have friends to stay with in Chennai i think i wil start with the south coast and see how I handle that. Then assuming it all went ok move onto some more challenging areas, upgrading the bike if necessary.

Mountaingirl: thanks for the alternative route suggestions i'll start checking out the logistics of it.


And i promise that if this plan comes to fruition you will all be assaulted with the details upon my return! ... like Machadinha said, it should make a good story.
I love Indiamike!

xealot

If I gift the family with food stuffs and presents will they gladly accept a large enough present to justify the entire cost to them of me residing with them or would overly generous gifts be seen as offensive? Any other tips on cultural sensitivity would be greatly appreciated (or links to other forums where it has been discussed). I will spend about a week with the Indian relatives of a friend of mine from Australia beofre i do anything else in India so hopefully this will assist me with developing a demeanour that is appropriate and some cultral awareness but understandabley i'm sure it won't prepare me for the remote areas.

Thanks again

xealot

neomadd: i will definetely be making my way to the north and Kathmandu is certainly an option and so thanks for the bike shop tip, i'm sure that i'll want something a little more advanced if go biking in the hills etc

machadinha

Hi Xealot,

About the bike, think not twice but thrice about it. I hail from Amsterdam and we're used to bicycling under mad conditions. An Indian pushbike would fit our purposes just fine. For cross-country travel though even over moderate distances something more advanced would really be in order I think.

The dogs: don't make more of it then necessary but if you run into them they are a pest yes. JD (I am not her agent) has stories on her riding with a club in hand yes, difficult to manage while steering along a bumpy road apparently. These dogs are hungry and hunt in packs, watch any documentary on wolves then think "starved" and think again. In that sense even the old pick-up-the-stone trick might not get you very far. Actually hurt them I probably couldn't although if you're attacked... I've had the stones in hand and ready to use them in other countries. (One final note: where I grew up the dogs were more about making a show of attacking your vehicle than actually attacking it, that is to say it's a wild show but not quite as dangerous as it seems. That said, this was in cars though, not on bikes.)

Dress: you'll probably look silly or at least curious on a bike no matter what you wear. JD has some pictures of her on a bike in the Indian desert in shorts and a sleeveless shirt and apparently she survived. (For the desert, the Bedouins and Tuareg and similar nomad peoples like to wrap themselves up firmly against the heat, after so many thousands of years in the climate they should know don't you think. Rajasthan's camel herders are not much different in that respect.) Riding a bike in a salwar kameez probably won't earn you much less attention but this or similar local attire is often adviced for pedestrian female travellers. It will attract less attention and is more comfortable. The bottom line is loose-fitting clothes that cover most of your body and will let the air circulate easily, good for coolness and modesty and to not accentuate your curves.

About what to present as a gift, lest I be mistaken not every villager living a simple life in your eyes is necessarily poor in their own eyes. So yes this requires tact. My story was mostly meant to illustrate how it can be incredibly hard to determine what your position is, esp. if you can't understand your hosts. For the gifts and esp. if you're a woman, it shouldn't be hard for you to accompany the mistress of the house to the market and discreetly offer to pay for what she's buying. She'll get a fair price that you can't and you'll have helped out a little, the gesture will be appreciated. For well-off people a gift of chocolates or flowers will always be appreciated. For the poor I reckon a sack of grain is generic enough to be easily accepted, just try to handle the matter in an off-hand manner. Perhaps throwing a dinner for your hosts and their neighbors one evening might be an idea, you'd have a fun time cooking it together with the ladies I'm sure and they'd be delighted at everything you don't know about their cuisine. Anyway this can be a way to provide them with some ingredients that last them a while longer without seeming pushy.

machadinha

Just came across these guys on TT forum, they're planning to bicycle from The Netherlands to Nepal if not further, site has an English section too: http://www.wereldtrappers.nl/

xealot

machadinha... thanks again. I've buried myself under bicycling links over the last few days. Once I get my plans more in place and especially once I've done my trip (assuming it happens and it all works out of the best ) i'll hopefully; with the help of everyone else of course; turn this into a really informative thread (not to say it isn't already )... cause i'm sure gonna be puttin in a lot of research over the next few months!

Any biking enthusiasts have reccomoendations for carrying gear ... eg packing lists and techniques i would be sooo happy to hear form you.

Smiles for everyone

Georgie

rab

I read page one of the thread then skipped to page four and in that time it looks like you are going to do the bike trip.

It may be too late and your mind is made up, but my only advice would be don't. The journey would be good, the experience would be amazing, but there is one sure thing that makes your trip very unwise - and that is "road safety".

There is no way on earth I would cycle on any road in India. It would be too dangerous for me to comtemplate.

Good luck though

Rab

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xealot

Hi Rab...

Your commments on roads are well and truly noted, if possible i would like to travel on the lesser beaten path.. quieter roads between smaller towns and villages rather than highways connecting common towns. I'm thinking for this I would probably require a guide (any tips? i'm starting in Tamil Nadu and then Kerala)

neomadd, you continue to surprise me. I've been trawling the internet for bicycle India links yet i still get the better ones from you (and other people on IM)


Can anyone reccomend any reasonably flat areas of India?... I might end up purchasing a mountain bike and spending time in the hills (it would be an absolute dream) but incase I can't afford to get one, or can't be bothered or whatever can anyone reccomend areas where moderate lengths of cycling could be done each day on an Indian bike?

Thanks again everyone.

machadinha

Hi again Xealot, I should better do a bike trip myself next time the way this is going!

I'm starting to wonder if you shouldn't have been better advised to get more experience first and/or to team up with someone... Anyway, it won't be so easy to distinguish between the highways and minor roads as in your homeland maybe... Major roads will sometimes be hard to avoid and minor ones will not always be so minor. This could be an argument to go check out the situation first for yourself, without the bike I mean.

A good general map for India is Bartholomew's. For your trip something more local might be in order which may or may not be available at a good store in your own country and/or in some shops in the major cities of your destination area.

As with roads I'm not sure if the country can be divided so easily into flat vs. non-flat areas... Tamil Nadu for instance is generally flattish but it has its hills and mountains... Kerala you might find more hilly unless where it's flat or mountaineous...

Mrs. Dew has her bike specs up at http://www.josiedew.co.uk/faq.htm , that's just her taste of course. The Dutch couple I mentioned have got their travel gear up (with interesting different tastes between the two of them) but not in English so far apparently, maybe they'll get around to it later.

Finally I'm including a site in my sig from now on that I picked up on this forum and that I found very worthwhile. It's not got much specifics on bicycle travel but you'll find some general advice under travel-->driving and other useful tips (the motorcycle chapters might give you some idea too).

Good luck again, you've got a while in getting prepared still right.

xealot

I'll be going in October at the very earliest .. so yeah stacks of time to plan. I'm not taking this lightly. One of the reasons I've settled on definetely not bringing a bike with me is so that if i get there and decide i'm just not up to it then I've lost nothing... just a bunch of time planning that I'm sure will be useful to someone else eventually. Indax looks like a great site.

jens

We rented bikes quite a few times on a recent trip to India and loved it. It MP we queried a few people about bike trips and they thought it would be fine (we're a boy and girl). Not that these are experts, but they didn't fall off their bikes (they were riding, we walking) at the notion of a woman on a bike. Though come to think of it women were more often perched on the backs of bikes rather then pedaling. If I were to do it I would consider biking in certain areas and taking the train across others. Many times I thought of how nice it would be to just jump on a bike and get to the next town. I wouldn't sleep in a tent, I would sleep in hotels (did you ask this?) I forgot it was so many pages ago. I think having been to India first would help but maybe not. I think doing it alone might be rough, but that's what I think about India in general (at least in the remote areas). I'm not sure if I would take a touring or mountain bike. Maybe a combination. Have fun and if you go, do get back and let us know how it went!