Manali - Leh Tour Update

For the last 2 months, I have been observing the weather at Manali & Leh (Himachal Pradesh & Ladakh) to decide the date for our departure. Unfortunately, even by today (mid June), it is still heavy snowing & raining in some area of which the reason why they still closing the road. In fact, 2 days ago there was a massive avalanche near Baralacha La.

Out target for the tour is on 3rd week of July and back to KL by early Aug so that we will have at least a week to rest before the month of Ramadan.

Preparation of cycling training and bicycle tour equipments are still on going. We have decided to expect the worst of the weather especially with the current climate change, so we will equipped ourself with winter gear to prepare for sub-zero weather especially at night and waterproof and light gear for chilling/ raining or hot cycling day at daytime. Still looking into the details of the routes, pit stops for food and water, especially the water points and camping sites. Hopefully by July, we'll be able to proceed with our dream rides on the highest motorable highway in the world.

Keep praying for a good weather.

Source: Photo from world66

New Touring Bike

Introducing the .. SILVER BULLET. My new steed for the Manali~Leh Tour. This is a steel bike with 26" wheel equipped with Shimano Deore/SLX parts, Surly fork, Avid brakes, Topeak accessories, and (of course) Brooks Flyer saddle.

Not in the picture are butterfly handlebar, kickstand & Schwalbe Marathon 26x2.0 tyres which I have already bought and not installed.

Most of the parts & accessories are bought online. Since I don't have most of the tools, I paid the local bicycle shop to fix the fork, crankset & derailleur. I would recommend anyone to customize their bike and take advantage of the online discounts especially from close out sales.


Since I'm going back to Malaysia next month for good. It will give me the opportunity to do lots of riding, to get familiar with the bike as well as to break-in the saddle soonest possible.

Manali-Leh-Khardung La Tour

For the last few weeks I have been busy gathering information about this famous route on the Himalaya. The best information I got if from Laura Sloane's Himalaya By Bike book that provides details of the route including its maps and profiles. The details in the book are so informative and updated. So I guess, I will be making only some copies to bring along on the tour to cut down the weight. ha ha..

The plan is to fly to Delhi, travel by bus to Manali, acclimatize, super slow ride to Leh for 6-7 days, ride up to Khardung La and back, and fly back to Delhi. I'm yet to study in details but hope that the whole trip/ tour can be done in 2 weeks' time. Preferably in July-August 2010 before the month of Ramadan.

So far 2 of my other buddies are keen to join me. But our main concern will be the AMS. We might have climbed few 7,000ft high mountains but we have never done any high altitude bike touring before. The Manali-Leh-Khardung La is climbing from 6,000ft to 18,000ft high over 500km of winding, narrow and some bad roads. But in July, I think the weather will be warmer and it is more suitable for us. From my past winter ride experience, I will definitely try to avoid the snow again!

It will be an unsupported bike tour on hardtail, will travel light with a bar bag & panniers.

We will sleeping in tent and accomodations available along the way as it's not expensive. The food is fine with us as we are used to eating north indian food- pakoras, chapati, chai, rice, dhal etc.

In the meantime, I will spend time getting more informations, studying the details and continue our training. So... Himalaya, Here We Come!

Source: photo from himalaya by bike, dirjournal.com & indiamike.com