Annapurna Circuit by Bike

Annapurna Circuit by bike…. it sounded a little mad. A trekking circuit at high altitude, higher than I had been before by a good 3000ft. It sounded a bit more than mad… it sounded a little CraZy. But CraZy is what I do and therefore it fit to a tee.

One Challenge At A Time was born out of a longing for true adventure and a curiosity… curiosity to find my breaking point, the point at which my body and/or my mind was irretrievably broken and cried enough. This search had taken me from the hills and dales of England and Wales through Route 66, New Zealand, Ecuador and The Tour Divide race and had landed me in the Himalayas, not yet broken.Through all these tests of legs and mental strength, I maintained the theory that you can keep going, if you choose to and that anyone could do what I do if they so choose. I work full time, I am not a sponsored athlete, I often go many months without going near my bike to train… in fact training is a bit
of a dirty word… anyone can Go With The CraZy. 

I have longed to see the Himalayas. I have read every book on the feats of mountaineers, their struggle against themselves and the mountains and in part I saw the Annapurna circuit as my chance to taste a small part of that struggle. I had sampled altitude in Ecuador but had not done it well.. gone straight up the day after landing to 11000ft with barely a breath in between… my legs stopped working! I hiked up above Quito to 14000ft and just remember that every step hurt a bit! I knew that the Annapurna Circuit would be a great deal of hike a bike… this I could face having spent many hours hauling my bike up and over in various countries, notably the 6 mile avelanche chute on the Tour Divide or the short very steep up, known as The Wall, on the same route. Both tested me and my strength to its limit, but did not break me. So the circuit sounded perfect!

The biking route for Annapurna Circuit essentially started in Besisahar and followed the jeep track to Manang, then switched to the trekking trail up and over the Thorung La pass… then ‘glorious downhill’ all the way to Tatopani. Up, Up, Up…. and more up. Steep and apparently rideable trails according to Bikepacking. Com… but with kit?? I was sceptical and prepared for spending a lot of time pushing my bike. In this I wasn’t disappointed.

With a bike and full kit… even bikepacking style.. I was carrying/cycling/pushing a load of about 23kg. And I had packed light. Not as light as I usually do because I had to have enough layers to deal with the anticipated freezing cold near the top of the circuit, over the pass.
To describe my experience is impossible in many ways. Just the ride from Kathmandu to Besisahar was incredibly difficult, over the foothills.. steep trails, unrideable in many places due to either the gradient or the technical nature of the trail. The warm up part was in many ways harder than the circuit itself.

Heat stroke wasn’t something I was prepared to deal with but I certainly had a touch of it after one particularly hot difficult day. From Besisahar, it became more predictable… again much hike a bike but with rideable bits… the altitude creeping up on you slowly and glimpses of the big ones, Manaslu and Annapurna, to bolster flailing spirits. The trail itself, technical and extremely difficult to ride when loaded with kit. Yet moments of sheer bliss and joy crept up on me, with a view that I had struggled to get to…having earnt it. Or the porters and guides saying they were proud of me, when they found out what I was doing as they passed me with their own loads.

The smell of pine pervading all it touched…
The Annapurna Circuit literally embedding itself in me as I struggled upwards…
The sight of Thorung Phedi after a particularly hard day and the choice to make it harder by crawling up the steepest trail to high camp to make the next day going over the pass slightly easier…
The tears that flowed when I saw the prayer flags at high camp fluttering just ahead of me…
And more tears when I stood with my bike at the top of the pass… triumphant and exhausted.
These are the big moments that will be remembered but actually the ride was more the sum of the little things..

The local people that helped me when my 12 speed chain broke, helped me get to Besisahar, order a chain from Pokhara and courier it up the pass, the conversations with people as I passed them in their daily lives, the villagers thrashing corn in the fields, the porters carrying their heavy loads on their head, the women washing their clothes in buckets of cold water from the outside tap, the frozen drop toilet at high camp, the generosity of the family who invited me to stay in their home, the gentleman who showed me his dogs puppies, the smiles of the young girls when I told them I wasn’t married, the disbelief on everyones faces when I told them I was going solo… so many small moments, usually involving the kindness of the local people and the smiles as I passed, waving with a namaste. These are the moments which have seared themselves on my soul.

Should you wish to embark on a similar journey, I would advise some experience of bikepacking in an easier place first… Nepal is not for the fainthearted… or the uninitiated…. you need to be familiar with your kit and used to travelling light.. Whilst the circuit provides accommodation and food, it makes up for this generosity with roads that are hard to travel for both you and your bike. But it rewards in equal measure… both with views to die for and a country that will leave you breathless both literally and metaphorically…

After the circuit, I took a little bit of Nepal with me and I will carry it close to my heart for the rest of my days.

If you are interested in the whole story of my journey, my daily blogs can be found at

https://1challengeatatime.blogspot.com/?m=1

The blogs and pictures can also be found on my FB page

wwww.facebook.com/OneChallengeAtATime

Fight the fear, Embrace the randomness but above all…
Go With The CraZy!