Shimla to Leh

Here's a bit of an update on a trip I'm planning this September!

The Concept

I'm planning on doing a bit of cycling in India this fall - from Shimla on the south side of the Himalayas, across to Leh in Ladakh, on the north side of the Himalayas, essentially in the Indian part of geographic Tibet.

Why

Ever since I pulled out of the Bugaboos to Roger's Pass traverse trip, I've been looking for another trip to do. I tossed around possibilities of kayaking up the sunshine coast, and various hiking alternatives, before my mind migrated to India. I pulled out the trekking in India Lonely Planet guide and started thinking about doing some hiking over there.

But, the more I read, I slowly started learning about the trans-himalayan valley of Spiti (trans-himalayan essentially meaning in the middle of the Himalaya). Then, I learned that there is a road through there that hooks up with the Manali to Leh highway. Then I read that people have done cycle tours through there.

So, I thought it might be a fun idea to link up a bike route through Spiti with the Manali-Leh highway - a route of about 1000km across the Himalaya.

The Plan

Here's a google maps view of the route:


View Shimla to Leh Cycling Route in a larger map

I'll start by flying out from Vancouver to Delhi via Toronto & Brussels. One night in Delhi, then a 9 (or more) hour bus ride to Shimla.

From Shimla, I'll start to cycle. The route first heads east, following the Sutlej river, and slowly climbs in altitude until it crosses through into the Spiti valley. From there, the route continues through Buddhist villages and climbs up the Kunzum La at ~4500m, the first major pass on the route. It then descends down (what sounds like) a pretty rough road, eventually meeting the Manali-Leh highway. This first part should take around 10 days to 2 weeks.

Then, the fun starts on the Manali-Leh highway. There's 4 major passes to cross - the Baralacha La at 4918m, the Nakeela La at 4937m, Lachulung La at 5077m, and finally the Taglang La at 5300m. Pretty high cycling. The area between the Lachulung La and the Taglang La should be very cool - the terrain is actually geographically part of the massive Changtang - the high plateau of Tibet.

Finally, I'll end up in Leh - the capital city of the region.

As I mentioned, it's about 1000km, and I'll have 25 days of cycling. Hopefully I'll average ~50km/day with a rest day every 5 days.

When To Go?

Figuring out when to do this trip was a challenge! There's two opposing weather forces - the monsoon - lasting through to "the beginning of September", and the winter snows, which generally don't come until later in October, but have been known to come as early as early to mid-September.

After much consideration and consulatation on the Internet, I figured that it would likely be better to brave the rain rather than snow, so I'll start at the end of August and go 'til the end of September.

The Bike

I was expecting that I'd just take the same bike that I cycled the Karakoram Highway on back in 1998. Unfortunately, it was on extended loan to a friend, and it was stolen from him. So, I first had to find an appropriate bike!

For a trip like this, the ideal bike has:

• a steel frame (more resilient than aluminum);
• a rigid front fork (less maintenance than a shock);
• cable-actuated brakes (which I can fix on the road - unlike hydraulic brakes);
• decent components.

After a few weeks of lurking on Craigslist, I eventually found close-to the right bike - a Kona Hahanna. Then, after a fair amount of work, I replaced the drivetrain, replaced the wheels with wheels from Killaine's old bike (much stronger), replaced the stem to make it fit better, worked on the gearing, adjusted the brakes, put on my water bottle carriers and racks and, to top it all off, put on some new Schwalbe Marathon Tour Plus tires.

Alternative Plans

Travelling in India is never straightforward nor easy, and sticking to a pre-determined plan can be challenging! The weather could slow me down, or I might just find that my plan is overly-ambitious. I might decide to dawdle along the first half of the route slowly and enjoy the area, or it could be that I'll be delayed starting and might have to be happy just doing the Manali to Leh portion.

Or, I could have a catastrophic bike failure (or lose it!), and have to revert just to having a bus-borne holiday interspersed with some trekking. That's India!