The Himalayan High Life!

There are certainly some incredible places to ride your bike in Europe, but for the ultimate two-wheeled challenge, head further afield. If you are looking to push yourself to the limit, then where better than the world’s highest mountain range.

The Himalaya are simply unparalleled for sheer scale and mountain beauty, and of course for the length of its epic climbs. Whether you choose our Lhasa to Kathmandu Ride or the Manali to Leh Ride you’ll be rewarded with a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience. Find out more….

Both trips are exciting point-to-point expeditions through vast, remote landscapes. To simply travel through these lands is a memorable experience, but to do so on a bike is when the fun really begins!

Lhasa to Kathmandu Ride

This route takes you from Tibet’s spectacular and fascinating capital city across a high altitude desert, to Everest base camp and across five tough mountain passes over 5000m. The trip culminates with an epic three-day, 160km downhill that descends over 4600m back into Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. How many biking destinations in the world can offer that? Along the way we’ll visit the famous cultural highlights of the Potala Palace and Rongbuk Monastery and stay in some simple accommodation that gives a great insight into the traditional Tibetan way of life.

Trip Code: MCT

Duration: 22 days

Prices from £2499 including flights

Grade: C/D |

Manali to Leh Ride

Set in India’s western Himalaya, the riding starts in the foothills at Manali with its verdant forests. From here the route gets progressively harder and the elevations higher as we head north over numerous high altitude passes. Tackling the route in this direction offers the best opportunity to fully acclimatise en route and therefore cycle the whole route. The scenery becomes more and more remote until we reach Ladakh, an almost inaccessible region close to the borders of China and Tibet that is home to traditional Tibetan Buddhism. The high point of the trip (quite literally) is cycling over the Khardung La, which at 5602m is one of the highest motorable roads in the world. The air is thin here, but there will be no shortage in the sense of achievement!

Trip Code: MIH

Duration: 18 days

Prices from £1799 including flights

Grade: C/D |

These trips pose three main challenges; cycling at high altitude, the length of the climbs, and the cumulative effect of hard cycling. If you haven’t been to altitude before you may not know how your body will perform, but rest assured that we have designed both trips with plenty of time for acclimatisation. By the time you attempt the seriously high passes, your body should be coping well. On both trips we have 100% vehicle support. Obviously your intention will be to ride the entire route, but it is reassuring to know that the vehicles bring us plenty of flexibility with this. If at any time you don’t want to ride, then you don’t have to.

Getting as fit as you can before you go is advisable, as is building in plenty of climbing into your cycling routes. We have a wide range of ages and abilities on these trips, but everyone shares the passion to ride their bike higher than ever before! Why not get training and join us on the ultimate cycling trip next summer.