Cycling across India

Hi there!

Two of us are planning a trip for next Feb/March. We are aiming to cycle across India in roughly 10 days for charity.

Our possible proposed route is from Mumbai to Chennai, possibly via Goa as I have heard that the coastal ride from Mumbai to Goa is nice.

Having not been to India before we would be EXTREMELY grateful for any tips that any of you have, re cycling, the route, accommodation etc...

looking forward to conversing with you!

Hi,

The coastal ride what you have chose is one of the best routes in India. However, reaching Mumbai to Chennai in 10 days would be a hard one to pull off.

I have been planing to do the Mumbai to Goa along the coasline. You can do the route through National Highaway which runs about 50-100 km inland and the distance is about 550 Km. The same route along the coastline is more scenic and devoid of traffic and it is around 590 Km.
There are accomodations available along the route, though it won't be star rated and at a few places you might have to seek shelter in temple or school. Quite a number of foreigners have done this route.

http://www.cyclingtosydney.com/index.html
http://katrinaaskaroff.blogspot.com/


You will need a good map (near to impossibility). For detailed route info (along the coast) pm me.

Best of Luck

Anindya

Thanks so much Anindya - top advice. will get searching for a map then.

still gonna go for the Mumbai - Chennai route I reckon. After all, it is a charity challenge not a holiday!

anyone else out there got any tips? what are a majority of the roads like? don't know whether to use mountain bike tyres or road tyres...

and accomodation. we don't want to rely on finding hostels etc all the way. how feasible is it to take a bivvy bag and just plonk ourselves down in a clearing each night?

[IM internal note] Hey folks, trust you've all been good. Sorry for long leave, looks like I'm finally (in the process of) getting my connectivity business sorted out again. Hope to not be back with a vengeance!...

Also sorry for delay on PM's -- IJ, 2Cents, all of you -- trust you haven't been out of my mind.

Just felt I had to intrude here, none too optimistic either, probably typical of a first new post of mine...

treehugga, you should be able to get a hold of decent (meaning large-scale) overall maps of India abroad, possibly even regional. Check local specialized travel bookstores.

My experience is you can usually pick up decent local (state) maps as you go, often in unexpected hole-in-the-wall bookstores. Just walk in and see what you can find. If they'll be detailed enough for your aims is certainly the question.

You'll find plenty of earlier threads on this site about bicycling in India, if you take into account that many of them will be about biking = motorcycling.

Camping... I wouldn't advise on it but people do it and survive or even have a good time or so I hear. There's threads on that too, a good one by M2 if I recall.

In general my concern is it's your first time in India and you want to bike that kind of distance in ten days?! All the best to you, but maybe you should check out the place by public transport first, then make up your mind. A first time in India doesn't go too easily on most people, especially not if you're pressed for time, let alone engaging in long-distance cycling. Have you looked at a map that shows the place on the same scale as your home country? A quick glance and estimate teaches that Mumbai-Chennai is probably 750-1000 kms. as the crow flies if not more (could well be 1500 -- sorry, lack of detailed atlas at present), in what probably won't be the easiest terrain for you -- geographically, traffic-wise, culturally, mentally etc. Add coastal trip and you can add Anindya's distance.

I don't know but you might want to reconsider or get prepared first.

Well, not to put you off or anything. Good luck no matter what you do, a search on this site might be instructive.

And eh cheers gang, I've missed ya

And ps really didn't mean to be off-putting. The bottom line is, UK just ain't India. Nor is most places elsewhere for that matter. A sense of scale (geographical, then cultural) would be your next step I believe.

Are you accustomed to extensive bicycling in non-Western countries? Anyway, maybe you want to let us know what this whole charity idea is all about, it sure sounds interesting & my curiosity has certainly been aroused, I assume I'm not the only one.

So true!

Guess that's why I left!

o wow....... just got me so exicted.......am up for a cycling tour this December in my vacation.......and am going to Go Go Goa!!!!! but I will be starting from down south of Maharashtra........still 2 months to go!!!!

ok coming to u....

Mountain Bike:
cons
1. They will be a lil slower than a road bike

pros
1. They will be sturdy on Indian roads that ain't good at all the places and of course u might just want to go a lil off track to check out something. These roads won't be that friendly on a road bike tyre
2. You might have to drag a trailer to ur cycle. So a mountain bike wud be ok for such things. of course one can manage a trailer behind a road bike (well thats what am going to do) but u know......umm well i have no good reason for that but it just doesn't look good......a trailer behind a road bike..it looks funny .....just kidding. Am going to do it because buying a mountain bike is not worth in India and what i have is an Indian make road bike that is as sturdy and, alas!! as heavy as a mountain bike in India
anyway...

of course u will do it but just reminding u to carry realible light indicators on both the sides. At times u may be cycling after the sunset on a highway.
For maps i guess u can easily find it on the net. maps.google.com wud suffice i guess...go for Hybrid view of it. Else u can get it in Mumbai when u land here. no worries with that.


and yea....about hostels and all...no worries at all... u better carry a small tent and a sleeping bag..thats it! and see that u put up ur tent near some restaurant or something you see on the roadside.....eating and morning processions can be done there while tent is for a cheapest and easily available sleeping place.


All the Best for your trip!!! Will be looking forward to see a nice blog about ur trip.

Enjoy Cycling!! Cycles Rock!!!

Cheers,
Amyl

o yeah!!! no no no.....10 days won't be sufficient for such a distance in India or anywhere else......its a freaking long distance for 10 days.....but i guess ur time flexible!!!

If wish to follow the NH (national Highway) all the way, then any decent map should do. With your time frame I don't think you should include Goa in the route. As per my estimate the distance comes out to be

Mumbai - Pune - Belgaum - Bangalore - Chennai is 1329 Km
Mumbai - Goa(Panji) - Bangalore - Chennai is 1516 Km

It is not impossible, if you can log 150 km plus each day. In the first route, the only hilly terrain is in between Mumbai to Pune. Once you climb over the western ghat and reach the plateau, the rest of the road is more or less leveled and reported to be in good condition.
On the other hand, the Mumbai-Goa road is hilly all along then you have cross Western Ghats to reach Bangalore.
If you are traveling on NH, then accommodation won't be of much concern; there will be roadside hotels (Motel??) along. And if worse comes to worse, then you can sleep in roadside eateries called Dhaba for free or incredible cheap rate. They are pretty frequent in the highways.
Light sleeping bag will come handy (+5 C) and you shouldn't bother with tent. With tent you will get unwanted crowd pulling factor, which I guess you would mind after a day of 150+ km.

About the choice of cycle, I agree with Amyl. Mountain bike is good.

When are you planning to do it? October to mid Nov will be very hot. After that the midday will be still hot and sunny but bearable (I Guess ) till Feb.

Best of Luck and let us know about your progress.

Anindya

Hi guys,

thanks so much for all your input - particularly Anindya for your calculations on the distances! We are trying to source a good map here with topographical info so we can work out which hills to avoid!

Out of interest, did you calculate those distances by using a map or Google earth etc?

We are planning this for Feb/March time when I gather the temp isn't too high and rain is unlikely, right?

And thanks to to the person who posted the advice about not doing this for the first india trip. I really take your point and agree with alot of what you have said - we wouldn't do this totally green - we have both travelled extensively before now, just not in India. I know India is unique, but we are relying on past experiences generally to see us through!

once again, thanks for your input - and keep it coming if anything crops up. I'll keep you updated.

Paul

read this thread with great interest.

fully agree w most of what's said.

1500 kms in 10 days is very much do-able, but u won b able to enjoy d sights! do factor in the fact that u'll b crossin the western ghats.

think d trailer is a bad idea. sleeepin bag is a good 1. n if not a tent, a mosquito net wud do. campin out in d open does involve risk, unless ur in a big group. it wud b best to sleep at a temple or at som1's verandah.

gud luk anyways. do keep me posted on ur plans... hu knos we may even run in2 each other on the road.

by the way, any1 kno of any cylcin nut from kerala or down south?

You got some good tips so far. Here is one. Actually, I read an account of a solo cyclist from the Netherlands many years ago in a newspaper. This guy actually spent nights at police stations on his route upon the invitation from the cops themselves. The cops were very generous and friendly according to him and even provided food and bed. So keep that option open. By the way, he was riding from Kolkata to Chennai.

Hi guys,

Thanks for your posts and tips. We have booked our flights for the end of Feb 07 so now we are committed!

We have slightly revised our route - we are going to do Goa - Chennai rather than Mumbai - Chennai now - it is slightly shorter and leaves some margin for problems such as sickness, bike failures etc!

Just got to get down to doing a bit of training on the bike around a wet and increasingly cold UK now!

Paul

That's a good point about the police stations, though in my experience the police in India can get just a little 'too' interested in your business, or the evening will dissolve into a long session of drinking local whisky, so keep that idea in reserve: it might be better to try for accomodation at the many temple resthouses, known as 'dharamsalas'. Just go into the temple, and ask if they have any accomodation for pilgrims and travellers. Make sure you have a sleeping mat, such as Thermarest: the ones for pilgrims are often just microns thick!

Generally you will find people eager to help - completely different from the UK, though it is important not to take advantage of people's hospitality, especially if they can't really afford to give the food they will insist on pressing on you. That's an embarassing moment, that you will have to work through yourself: you can't refuse the hospitality, though you will feel guilty accepting. Perhaps you can be armed with some gifts to pay people back in other ways, or offer to help, or make a donation to buy school books for their kids.

The standard of driving in India, which you have probably heard about already, is abominable! Unfortunately, there are no rules of the road, but instead the 'pecking order' of priority generally works on the basis that 'biggest goes first' and 'might is right'. Unfortunately, you are at the bottom of the list, so always give way, and respect all cows.

Dogs will be a problem, so make sure your pump is easy to grab to fend them off.

Theft is rare, but may happen from an 'opportunist', so lock panniers if possible, and don't tempt people by leaving things lying around, or easy to pocket from your bike.

Don't assume that specialist spares will be available, certainly not outside the big cities, so make sure you can fix specialist gear changers etc., and you have the bits you need. Bikes in India don't have gears at all. They are rugged but basic, and very hard work!

The BEST map for you is the Lonely Planet India and Bangladesh Road Atlas 2001:
SEE HERE. Unfortunately it is now out of print so you won't get it in a book shop, but try very hard to find one second hand, or on eBay, or in a library - it REALLY is superb.

Tim in England

Mark Twain always has such great pieces of quotes

Yes the Police wud be overly enthusiastic to help you...specially when u r a white. And since you are doing some charity kind of thing I wud not be surpised if at some village while corssing u will be invited by the head of the Village for a tea well quite a fantasy but very much possible in India.

And Tim has that very important point of fixing your bikes, specially gears...there is a dearth of good cycle mechanics here leaving certain cities and those are not in ur route. Take care of that without fail.