India - biking
 

I have spent much time researching ways to travel in India. My husband and I will be going there Dec 22-Jan 8 and I thought, since we are interested in being physical and hiking up north is not great this time of year, biking might be a good way to break up all the "touring".

I found a company called India on Bike. Has anyone used/heard of them? They are also travel agents and have come up with some ideas for the rest of our trip.

The biking will be in Rajastan Has anyone biked this area end of Dec/Jan? I'd love to hear your opinions on this. I have already heard that it's cold in the mornings and there is pollution to contend with. Is the pollution bad if you leave the cities?

Is Varanasi worth a detour as I'll be flying into and out of Delhi, hence will be there twice already. The rest of my trip is south- Agra, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and some off the beaten track areas in between on bike. Varanasi would be a bit out of the way. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks for your help.

I love to ride, but I am not sure India is the place to do it. There are rural roads outside of Udaipur and Jodhpur where it might make sense, but closer to Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur I would not due to the vast amount of vehicles, animals, carts and trucks on the roads. I think the weather would be fine, maybe a little chilly in the mornings. Pollution should not be a problem outside of Delhi. Varanasi is definitely worth a visit, especially if this will be your only trip to India (you only need a couple of nights), but not for biking...

Thanks Craig. Yes, the biking is outside of the cities between Jodhpur and Udaipur. I wouldn't even think about it near the cities. And thanks for your advice about Varanasi. Since I have the time for it, I too think it might be worthwhile even if it is out of the way.

The roads are in very poor shape in India and the drivers not the best. I would not chance biking and risk an accident, especially as the medical care in the rural areas may not be what you consider the best.

I would absolutely go to Varanasi and spend several days there. Definitely one of the major highlights of our trip to india.

My husband just commented that you can bike in India if you have a death wish! And this is coming from a man everyone laughed at who wanted to bike in siem reap.

I was so flabbergasted by the idea of biking in India I checked to see whether Backroads ran a bike tour there. They do have one, in the area you are talking about, but they are not exactly pushing it!

Certainly visit Varanasi. Stay on the river, not in the tourist ghetto, and visit Sarnath as well.

Biking is only a good idea with small organise trips. Don't think of biking on highways is dangerous. Biking alone on interior roads my not be a great idea. Try to find organised bike clubs.

I am assuming you mean cycling by biking and not motorcycling.

Yes, cycling by bike, not motorcycling. The bike trip is organized and it takes place on small rural roads away from all cities. Both Backroads and Butterfield and Robbins also run bike trips in India covering similar regions. As with all organized bike trips there is a back up van and a lead biker. i read some of the reviews of people who have taken the ones I am considering and in each case, the reviews were very positive. I also followed up with direct conversations with someone who went and she was extremely delighted with her experience - and she's a recreational biker - so much so that she has sent clients (she's a travel agent with a biking company) on these same trips. Still doing research - much thanks for all your comments. Definitely gives me pause.

Wow! except for one road thru hills (with monkeys) all the roads we were on were dangerous even in a car. Watch out for cows and herds of goats.

Well, we are recreational cyclists and just finished a week-long bicycle trip in Kerala. The heat was the real killer on the trip. We would have taken cold mornings any time rather than the heat.

I've visited the areas you are talking about cycling. I give this a real big "if". Even if you are away from the big cities, there are still smaller towns and villages to content with. And, they still have lots of traffic (I know because we just cycled through some of them on our primarily smaller, back road Kerala trip). Frankly, we were not all that intimidated by the traffic in the small towns, but this is definitely very, very, very different than cycling in a place like rural France or Germany (we've done both).

Roads in Rajasthan are much worse than in the south. They are frequently rough and uneven with all sorts of refuse on them so you will be looking not at the scenery but watching what you are riding over. Also, unless you are super fit and fine with hills, get an elevation chart of what you will be contending with. As I recall, the area you are talking about is hilly in places.

This was our third trip to India so we knew what we were getting into as far as how traffic operates in India. Loosely is how I'd describe it because drivers there do not follow the same rules of the road we do here. In India the pedestrian is the real bottom of the totem pole rather than having right-of-way as is the case here. Trucks and cars reign. Cyclists are about the same level as pedestrians (way below motorcycles).

Honestly, having done a cycle trip in India I don't think we'd do one again. We like to take cycling trips because it is a much more up-close and personal way to see an area than while just riding in a car. We didn't find ourselves stopping for all the kinds of photo ops and quick stops that we normally do on a European cycling trip.

In your shoes, I'd instead choose locales that offer good walking opportunities. And, I know there is horse back riding just outside of Udaipur. Look into that. I know some off-the-beaten path rural places in Rajasthan that are lovely to visit. I'd do those instead of a cycling trip in Rajasthan. And, yes, add Varanasi to your itinerary. It is worth about three nights.