Tips for Cyclists Archives

10 Tips for Cycling South India

17 March 2011

Over 2.5 months, we cycled 2,400km in South India. Starting from Goa, we made our way south, via the hill stations of Ooty and Munnar, down to the tip of the subcontinent and back up again on the East side, finishing in Chennai. Although we had some trepedation about cycling in India, it’s actually a fantastic country for cycling. Here are our top 10 tips to enjoy your cycle tour in South India. || 1. Get off the main roads. Route choice is critical in India. Luckily India is so heavily populated that there are plenty of small,…

Cycle Touring Route Planning and Navigation

17 February 2011

Before we set off we wanted a cost effective, straightforward way of navigating. We knew that once we left Western Europe we were going to be limited to low resolution road maps, not ideal for finding those quiet country lanes and navigating our way through big cities. During our rides in the UK we started playing around with Garmin eTrex H. It’s a cheap unit (around £70 on eBay) with high sensitivity and a robust outer shell. Navigating is done by uploading your own “Tracks” then following what is effectively a marker on a line from Track start to Track…

Obtaining an Indian Visa in Dubai

20 December 2010

This post is for the benefit of other travellers who are considering their options about obtaining a visa for India. We have met several people in this situation, and as there doesn’t seem to be much information about this on the internet, we decided to post our experiences. This information is current as of December 2010 and obviously only reflects our own experiences. || When we planned our bike trip from London to Melbourne, we had hoped to get our Indian visa in Turkey, but this turned out not to be feasible. As of summer 2010, new regulations…

10 Tips for Cycling Iran

20 December 2010

We spent almost two months in Iran and covered 2,300km by bicycle in the country. We entered Iran from Turkey at Maku and passed through Tabriz, Esfahan and Shiraz before we left by ferry from Bandar Abbas. Here are our top 10 tips for cycling in Iran. 1. Organise your visa in advance. It is currently not possible to get a visa on arrival. Arrange your visa in advance, e.g. through www.iranianvisa.com or www.stantours.com, then pick it up from an Iranian embassy. If you are passing through Turkey, Istanbul is an easy place…

Bandar Abbas to Dubai by Ferry

19 December 2010

From Bandar Abbas, we were planning to take a ferry to Dubai. As well as the story of our crossing, this post also contains some practical information for other travellers wishing to do the same.|| We visited a travel agency in Bandar Abbas to buy our ferry tickets. There are a couple of agencies on the main street that sell these tickets – we used Bala Parvaz Travel Agency, which is opposite Ghods Hotel. At time of writing, the tickets cost US $100 each. We had to show our passports and make our payment in Iranian Rials.

10 Tips for Cycling Turkey

11 October 2010

We spent two months in Turkey and cycled 2,200km from the Greek border to the Iranian border, via Istanbul, Cappadocia and Erzurum. Here are our top 10 tips for cycling in Turkey. 1. Plan your route and buy a map before you enter. Good maps of Turkey can be very difficult to find in Turkey, so it’s best to buy one before you arrive. In terms of route planning, the main roads in the East of the country are generally not too busy and have a hard shoulder, but in the West of the country they can get very…

Cycling into Istanbul on the D020

22 August 2010

Just thought we would write a quick blog about our experiences for anyone intending to cycle into Istanbul from the west. We have read frequent accounts of bad experiences and many cyclists vowing never to do it again. Our experience was very positive and was actually a very memorable journey that we would be happy to do again.|| We wanted to cycle into Istanbul but we are not risk takers so we researched the quietest route possible even if it meant adding a few extra days onto our journey. For us the D100 was not an option…