The day at least started in sunshine as we first took a desert like track to link up with the bitumen near Debring .
A 15 km rides followed through magic valley scenery with nothing but an occasional yak herd or an occasional tea place for company. This was so looking like the Tibet I cycled in 2010 !
Now came the mother' of all challenges ! To tackle the Tanglangla Pass we had a 20 km climb mainly on off road surfaces gaining over 700 meters taking us literally to breathtaking heights at 5,328 meters nearly 200 meters higher than our campsite near the Everest base camp !
For self it was 3 hours of focus and pain - at times barely seeming to move as the affects of altitude became more pronounced ! The only difference with this pass ride was that you could actually see the finish line in the distance a huge motivator until you got swept down one of the roads side branches having to climb another 2-3 kms to get back !
With some back up from our support crew e.g. bananas, water & encouragement I was able to just keep the pedals moving finally reaching the highest point I have cycled to anywhere in the world after some 3 hours of arduous riding
The rest of our group although tired seemed to have had few problems so after a few celebration photo shots it was time to descend !
The descent was another story ranking highly as one of the most amazing downhill rides you are likely to do anywhere in the world !
The series of beautiful bitumen switchbacks took us down 1,200 meters of altitude as we pedalled downhill for nearly 30 kms !
The last few kms to our campsite at Numpste took us into an entirely different world, timeless rock formations, irrigated land near the river, stupas (religious monuments) at every turn and a land and people that bore much resemblance to Tibet !
Our campsite at 3,700 meters had finally taken us away from the rigours and cold of altitude and allowed us to settle back and have a few beers later on in the night celebrating with our support crew and those not making the journey into Leh !
Only 1 more cycling day to go !
Huge effort Mike , you look totally knackered in some of your earlier photos . Bet you're looking forward to a long HOT shower when you get back to base . Did you ever come up with a decent reason why you wanted to do this trip ?. The scenery looks magnificent , so like Tibet ,beautiful ,rugged ,treeless ,incredible .
ReplyDeleteAppears as though you have had a lot more trouble with the altitude , that would have been fun . Lucky you didn't experience the dreaded panic attacks . One day to go , enjoy .
H