Author Archives: Jo Haines

Thunderstorms, a lost tent and our final pass – Tien Shan #5

By

The second thunderstorm of the afternoon is hot on our tail and I am keeping an eye out for somewhere to stop and pitch the tent before it is too late. My gaze drops and I am horrified to NOT see the tent strapped to my handlebars as it has been for the last 2 months – holy crap I have dropped the tent, I yell to Alan. An unimpressed silence as we both contemplate riding back through the storm looking for a dropped tent. In our favour is the fact that … Continued

Cool Son Kul – Tien Shan #4

By

As we pedalled past Ugut we reflected on the last time we were here after following a very muddy shortcut in the pouring rain with Katie, and the amazing hospitality of the two sisters who invited us in and fed us. This time we were dry and clean and had just 17km of repeat road before the turn off at Aktal and across the bridge over the Naryn river. This would lead us back into a forested mountain gorge and an amazing zigzag road up the southern route to the well known … Continued

Naryn to Baetov via Tash Rabat – Tien Shan #3

By

We finally tore ourselves away from Nomad Cafe after stalking the place for 2 days and headed off up the paved road that eventually led to China via Torugut pass. Refreshingly the road was not busy and from the pass there was a good view of the At-Bashy range of mountains, through which the Silk Road caravans passed to the 15th century caravanserai of Tash Rabat, where we were headed. We coasted downhill for 30kms to the drainage of the huge basin we were in, then started the very gradual climb up … Continued

The Tien Shan Traverse – part 2

By

Our tent was frosty white when the sun hit it before 6 in the morning. We were looking forward to a big downhill day but sad to be leaving the high country. Switchbacks dropped us quickly to the long Burkhan valley. We sped quickly along this beautiful valley thru grazing sheep and goats, cows, yaks and horses, never a fence to be seen. Our feet never had a chance to dry with the continual dousing in sidestreams. We met 3 Spanish cyclists we had met months back in Tajikistan. They had accessed … Continued

Following the Tien Shan Traverse – part 1

By

Last summer a small group of bikepackers put together a route that traversed a huge variety of Kyrgyzstan landscapes over 1000km from Lake IssyKul to Bishkek. We were planning to finish our 3 month ‘Stan bike oddesy by following this route they named The Tien Shan Traverse*. Having just completed the first third we can say that the last 6 days biking have been some of the best ever, phenomenal even… the photos below do not even do it justice From our homestay in Kyzyl Suu, it was 5km on the highway … Continued

4 passes to Issykul

By

Kyrgyz men drive like they are on a race track and they don’t leave a lot of room for cyclists. It was 60km uphill on a busy paved road from Naryn to our dirt road turnoff so we treated ourselves to a 40 min drive. It was worth avoiding and so much more pleasant to be spinning up a small quiet road after the drop off. There were permanent farm cottages in the lower section of the valley, abandoned temporarily for the summer jailoos, or higher grazing lands. The winter stockyards are … Continued

And then there were three

By

We ended up spending a few days longer in Osh than planned as tummies went on strike again. When we left we organised a taxi ride 200km east to avoid some hot, boring riding out of the Osh basin and to gain 2000m up to the top of a pass – lazy, I hear you say! For this leg to Naryn we were joined by Katie from Durango in the US, who we met in the arrivals area of Dushanbe airport on day 1. She is a super strong cyclist and was … Continued

Stuck in No Man’s Land

By

We are in a small cold corrugated shed that is the Tajikistan border immigration office. Looking out the small dirty window we watch the snow falling heavily and inside the immigration officer is clearly very uncomfortable with the fact that our printed evisa sheet of paper does not have a Dushanbe (Port of Entry) stamp. He keeps showing us his pile of tourist evisas that are all dutifully stamped and he cannot see how he can let us go. To his credit he is not asking for a bribe, he is just … Continued

Bound for the border

By

Despite the strong tail blowing us to Murghab, we were not quite so lucky heading away from Murghab. It was the first time I considered putting music on to deal with the long straights climbing ever so slightly and with the tedious head wind. Alan was struggling with the day until after a restful lunch by a clear creek. We were aiming for the last known water source about 20km before the highest pass of the trip, Akbitail Pass at 4600m. When the river we were following dried up we turned back … Continued

A kefir bomb and rejoining the Pamir highway

By

We met cyclists coming in the opposite direction with tales of the worst road ever. Some had pannier racks being held together by cable ties, one had major disintegration of his wheel and some opt for a taxi ride to avoid the terrors of the Wakhan road and Kargush pass. We were peddling along waiting for the road to deteriorate. We did have the advantage of fatter tyres, and we were not carrying the kitchen sink, and we have a high benchmark for what constitutes rough as we tend to seek out … Continued

The Wakhan Corridor

By

From Khorog we followed a route along the edge of the Wakhan corridor. The corridor is a thin strip of land belonging to Afghanistan which separates the former USSR ruled Tajikistan and the British Empire ruled Indian sub continent, specifically what is now Pakistan. The river forms the northern border of the Wakhan Corridor and the mighty Hindu Kush mountain range the southern border. At its skinniest the Wakhan Corridor is about 20km wide – end of today’s geography lesson! For the first 2 days we ascended slowly thru gorge country to … Continued

Maysara Pass, return to Khorogh along Pamir Highway

By

‘Hand on the heart Tajikistan’ sums up one of the lovely gestures we get as we ride along past people. The right hand is placed over the heart as a sign of respect. We experienced it early on from children and wondered if it was a ‘respect for elders’ gesture but no it works for anyone to anyone. I guess it is a stronger statement than a small nod of the head and it is easy to reciprocate while riding. Back to the Shakdara story… It was a cruisy ride back to … Continued

Breathtaking and breathless up the Shakdara Valley

By

We had our eye on a 5-6 day loop out of Khorogh that few cyclists do and would take us under the high peaks of Karl Marx (6700m) and Engels (6500m) and over a 4100m pass. A friend Pat Deavoll had climbed both peaks on a climbing trip in the area last year and recommended the trip up the valley as well. The Shakdara river flows into Khorogh so from the Pamir Lodge it wasn’t far to where we started peddling up alongside its continuous whitewater. There were many villages alongside the … Continued

To Khorogh and a pleasant break

By

We are so impressed with Tajikistan so far. It is a Muslim country but is very moderate. We have seen few mosques and the the president has banned the Call to Prayer perhaps in an effort to reduce fanatical muslimism. Women do not seem oppressed and not all wear head scarves. It is presently Ramadan but it does not seem to be strictly enforced. People are smiley and welcoming. The children rush out onto the road and with big grins want to score a hand slap from cyclists cruising by, rather than … Continued

Biking the closed northern route to Kalaikhumb

By

There are 2 routes to Khorog- the southern route is 100km longer and goes thru lower hotter countryside. The northern route is presently closed to cars because of 2 bridge washouts and goes through the mountains, but it was not guaranteed we could get through. We liked the sound of another closed road so we headed that way. As is our MO we were cycling out of Dushanbe before 6. The day got hotter and windier and we only made 50km before we gave in to the climatic conditions and found somewhere … Continued

First taste of Tajik peaks

By

17 hours on a plane was a record for both of us. That got us to Dubai and then we had 17 hours on the ground before our flight to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. It was near 40 degrees in Dubai and riding the air conditioned public transport helped kill some time. We were blown away by how built up the city is, tall towers all trying to outdo each other in height and architecture. The tallest building in the world is there, a spire reaching higher into the sky than … Continued

Riding the Stans..

By

We are off to pedal two of the ‘Stans in Central Asia, formerly USSR. We fly into the capital of Tajikistan and out of the capital of Kyrgyzstan 3 months later. Part of our route is along the border of Afghanistan, a mere river crossing away. We expect dry, desert conditions in Tajikistan, with high mountains,  high plateaus and passes over 4000 metres. In contrast Kyrgyzstan (the Switzerland of Central Asia) will be a lot greener whilst biking in the Tien Shan mountain range. In contrast to previous trips communication will be … Continued

A chocolate box finish

By

We were warned by those heading south that the views were going to be stunning on the last days of our trip – and they were right. Sadly many south bounders had to tolerate bad weather thru this northern section but in the style we were accustomed to, we had good weather and no rain while riding. From Elkford we had a long ride up the Elk valley – it was a roller coaster of a road adding extra climbing to an already uphill day. Our reward was a gorgeus lakeside camp at … Continued

Canada – big mountains, big mines and big tyres

By

From the Canadian border north there are two options – the alternate, lower route that goes thru Fernie or the main route that tackles 3 significant passes and traverses thru the Flathead mountains – said to have the highest concentration of grizzlies in North America. Many Dividers go for the Fernie alternate (for obvious reasons) but we had the time (and the bear spray) to take the longer route. A couple of miles after our passports were stamped we turned off the highway and started the 1500m steep climb up to Galton Pass – … Continued

Eureka – only 6 miles from Canada

By

Just before the town of Bigfork we were befriended by motorcyclist Steve, who lived up the road in Whitefish and offered us a spot on his back lawn to pitch a tent when we got there the next day. Whitefish is an old logging town turned ski resort/summer lake destination so it was nice to stay with a local. Ski instructor/assessor and ex-cycle tourer Steve was kind enough to get up early and cook us breakfast to see us on our way up and over our next high point, Red Meadow pass. … Continued

Beating the bears to the berries

By

We have been enjoying some lakeside camps – Coopers Lake, Lake Clearwater, Seeley Lake and Flathead lake and they have varied from no people, no lakeside houses, no motor boats to lotsa people, privatisation of the shoreline and motorboats. At Lake Clearwater I was introduced to huckleberries which is a major food source for the bears – the berries are similar looking to a small blueberry but with a much stronger flavor. We wonder why we bother hanging food when we are camped in close proximity to huckleberry patches, but we do … Continued

The kindness of strangers

By

After our holiday in Bozeman we were ready to spin the wheels again. With forecasted bad weather we had a big day to Park Lake. Starting on paved roads, gravel roads followed for the first climb of the day. Then down  into the old mining town of Basin for chicken and taco soup, followed by apple pie – doing it hard, I hear you say… We headed up our second climb with threatening skies and the road deteriorated to a fun track around Lava mountain with a few pushes and then a great 4 mile … Continued

You’ll have to wait for Whitefish

By

Between flat cell phones and a lack of libraries, I am a bit behind on the blog front. Rest assured we are still making progress north and have not been held up by beers bears tho the beers we had with a late lunch when we got to Seelly Lakes yesterday almost flattened us! We get to Whitefish in a couple of days so will get things updated there.  

Bears, bison and a break in Boseman

By

We embraced our time off in Bozeman and had a good break from biking enjoying dog walking, great eating, shopping for fat bikes for E & D to replace stolen bikes, catching up with Elissa and Grum and resting. As well we had a mini journey from Bozeman up to Paradise Valley where Ellen and Drew have a cabin and from there we visited Yellowstone NP for a day with Drew. In the height of the summer season you have to go up to the park early. Our first animal sighting was … Continued

Steep hills and good food in southern Montana

By

It is not all about food but we quite often plan our days to camp 15-20 miles out of a town then ride in for a big cooked breakfast at a small diner. At the rate we are travelling this happens every second of third day. From our lovely campsite near the historic town Banack we started biking at 6 and enjoyed a great b’fast near Polaris. Then it was up and over a pass and a beautiful forested downhill to the small town of Wise River. Within an hour we had … Continued

Brief interlude in Idaho

By

We enjoyed our ‘zero’ days in Jackson Hole. I am not sure I even left the house on our first day, but I clocked a few kms mountain biking with Pam on the second day, and we both enjoyed a raft down the class 3 Snake river with Mick in the afternoon. The days are warming up so it was a perfect activity. Next morning Mick kindly dropped us off back where we left the GDMBR and it felt a little like going back to work. The first 20 miles were on … Continued

Riding into our first National Park – the Grand Tetons

By

There is a perfectly good paved road from Pinedale to Jackson Hole – of course the GDMBR doesn’t take it – much nicer to take the circuitous route over Union and Togwatee Passes. Jackson Hole is a diversion from the route which we took in order to visit friends, and have the treat of 2 days in a row off. It is also a stunning ride from Moran Junction along the eastern side of the Grand Teton mountains. After doing chores in Pinedale, we had a short day with a tail wind … Continued

The racers and the sloths

By

It is fun to be heading thru the riders on the Tour Divide – the north to south race that follows the GDMBR. It puts us to shame as these super athletes at the front of the pack are riding 200 miles a day (sleeping 4) tho’ I know I’d rather be a sloth! We met Mike Hall, out in front by a country mile, at the Grubstake in Atlantic City. He got in just before the kitchen closed at 7, and then was heading out for another 90 miles to Warmsutter. Next day we … Continued

Wyomings Great Divide Basin

By

We have written off Taco Johns fast food, but were pleasantly surprised by the McDonalds breakfast – from our 5 am sampling! Sadly there was already wind out of the west when we struck our way SW then W into the Great Divide Basin. Heads down and grinding into it. After an early lunch we turned onto gravel and a NW road direction change saw us cruising till the road swung W again, then NW, then SW…We were surprised to cut out 65 miles by the time we camped that evening, tired … Continued

Blown into Wyoming

By

Steamboat was our last Coloradoan town. We were surprised to hit a lot of snow on the next pass we crossed given that it was not very high and the days were getting a lot warmer. We tried being smart by camping high but there was not a good enough freeze so we did a bit of pushing. In Steamboat we had reshoed our steeds with some fresh rubber and we were pleased we had done so in time for this pass. We also purchased a bear bell which dings cheerfully on … Continued

Diving in and out of the Colorado river

By

We left the hecticness of the Breckenridge/Frisco area on the lovely paved cycle trail that we had followed all the way between Breckenridge and Silverthorne. A cyclist caught us up and on chatting found he was married to a kiwi and had spent 3 winters working at Cardrona ski area (small world). We enjoyed a big breakfast at a Silverthorne diner before some highway down the valley and a turn off to a short steep climb over Ute Pass. On the other side we came across the ugly mining site of a … Continued

Breakfast in Breckonridge

By

The beauty of this ride is the ever changing terrain and circumstances. One morning we are eating breakfast in the comfort of our tent vestibule with not a soul for miles and 24 hours later we are enjoying eggs benedict and coffee at a cafe on the main street of the very upmarket town of Breckenridge.. It was hard to leave Salida and our great stay with Caitlyn and her dog Easton. I was looking smart (according to Alan) in my new outfit purchased at two of the many recycled clothing shops. Biking … Continued

Sliding into Salida

By

Refreshed after our stay with Enrique and Taco we left town early on a sunny morning, 3 days of food on board for the stretch to Salida. We planned a scenic day, visiting a natural rock arch then camping at Penitente Canyon, a reknowned rock climbing area. We loved the sandy, low key track that took us north to the Arch, before detouring into the Penitente area. We had most of the afternoon so we had time to explore the canyon and watch the climbers (that was us a lifetime ago). We had a good … Continued

Rocky Mountain high, Colorado

By

We made it to Horca (the town with no food for sale) just in time to miss a wee snow blizzard. There are more shops and restaurants closing down in the small towns we pass thru than are setting up. Luckily we had a nights more food so we could stay at the Ponderosa CG on the banks of the popular trout fishing river, the Conejos (or Rabbit river). We opted to camp as there was a warm guest lounge where Jack the owner said we could hang out. With no fuel … Continued

New Mexico makes it hard for us to leave

By

We left Cuba with full tums from the popular (and very good ) Mexican restaurant Bruno’s. Alan, Rob and I climbed out of town, initially on black top, then up lovely dirt roads, and for the first time, with running streams crossing our path. Rob was able to educate us on the local flora and fauna. We were biking through the upper elevation forests of the grand Ponderosa pine and the white barked Aspen groves. We camped early (it was meant to be a rest day after all) and after dinner enjoyed … Continued

Buttes, mesas, plugs and arroyos

By

We arrived in Grants just as the storm hit with rain and wind and hail further south, but soaking in the Travel Lodge hot pool we were oblivious to it! Grants is a former mining town – it was the centre of the uranium mining industry for a while and the famous Route 66 goes thru the main street. Now it is a service centre for the traffic off the huge interstate I40. We left the next afternoon, as the weather was clearing, with a big climb up and around Mt Taylor. … Continued

Packin’, pies and politics.. a day in Pie Town

By

In the 1920’s a man starts a general store on Route 60 – one of the first coast to coast US routes. His doughnuts were no good so he started making and selling pie. Business took off. When they tried to open a Post Office in town they applied for the name ‘Pie Town’, initially refused but then accepted. There are now 4 pie cafes in town – we were initially disappointed as we were hanging our for savoury pies but it didn’t take long to embrace the choices of pie: pecan, chocolate, … Continued

The Bike House (Silver City) to the Toaster House (Pie Town)

By

We enjoyed paved roads out of Silver City for the climb into the mountains. The Gila hot springs and Cliff Dwellings National Monument were far enough off route that we decided to hitch in. The RV driven by an Alaskan remote pilot and his wife let us take our bikes, which meant we could stay overnight at the hot springs. The historical Cliff dwellings were great to see and the hot springs campground by the river, under the cliffs were superb. There was a price to pay – a big climb back … Continued

First days on the road in New Mexico

By

The on-ramp of Interstate 10 has a bunch of signs, one of them (amazingly) aallowed us to ride on the shoulder of these 4 lane ‘motorways’. We had to get back east 20 miles to a little place called Separ and there was no alternative but to ride the interstate – a trifle intimidating but there is a healthy sized shoulder to ride on and Americans are some of the politest drivers around. We joined the large trucks and cars racing along, pushed by a healthy tail wind, so made fast time. At … Continued

Our new 11kg life

By

New trip and new bike setup. We have ditched the carriers and panniers and our home is strapped to the frame of our fat bikes – following the growing ‘bike packing’ scene. We have had an awesome summer of bike packing trips, our fat tyres inspiring us to explore the high open Central Otago tops as well as classic rides like the Old Ghost Rd, St James Cycleway and the Clutha Gold. Our shakedown trips have helped us sort gear carrying options and get fit for the long GDMBR journey from south … Continued

Eat, sleep, ride, the Great Divide

By

The Great Divide Route in the US is a 4300km route from the Mexican border to Banff in Canada. It crosses the Divide many times and has a height gain/loss of 60,000m. People race it in a record 14 days, we have the length of time our platinum card will give us free travel insurance..just under 3 months! Most people ride it north to south, but because of our timing we are starting in the south. Check out an interactive map of the route under the Maps -> Great Divide MBR menu … Continued

B is for bike

By

and ‘I’ is for impulse! This week Alan and I introduced a new steed to our stable.. It started with me wanting to replace my full suspension mountain bike, it ended with both of us purchasing fat bikes – hard to go past an almost half price deal.. I described fat bikes to my mum as looking like something a child would draw if they were told to draw a bike. So we are the proud owners of 2 Surly Pugsley’s – the fat sibling of my Surly Troll that I have been touring … Continued

Exploring the India Himalaya

By

Unexpectedly our trip this year ended up being in the Indian Himalaya, no complaints as we had both spent time in the Himalaya walking and skiing so time to spin the wheels there. Our plan is to fly into Delhi, get the train to Shimla and then bike up the Spiti valley crossing the Kunzum La into Ladahk, Leh and then a side trip to the Zanskar region on the northern side of the Himalaya. We will finish in Srinigar – note the posts below are in reverse order..

Ending our journey in the Vale of Kashmir

By

More 4 am wake up calls from the local mosques were a feature of our last days in the predominantly muslim state of Kashmir. From Kargil we had our last pass to cross into the Vale of Kashmir, the 3800m Zoji La and we had our first day of getting wet while biking – hmmm – we have been spoilt. We parked up in Drass for a day so we could get good weather over the pass. Drass has the dubious fame of being the second coldest inhabited town in the world when it hit minus 60 … Continued

Entering the fabled Zanskar

By

The huge peak of Kun dominates the down valley view from Rangdom but we missed the sunrise on it because of a veil of high cloud. The mornings fun was taking the shortcut to the Rangdom monastery 6km away across the river flats. We could ride most of the numerous river channel crossings even when they reached the bottom of our panniers. At this time of year the river is chocolate brown and runs high from snow melt, by the end of summer there would be substantially less water and by this … Continued

Have you one pen please?

By

We were warned, in black and white, how bad the road surface was on the route in from Kargil to Padum. At present it is the only way for people and supplies to get into the villages of the Suru and Zanskar valleys. it is a dead end road and the Zanskar valley inhabitants are cut off for 7 months of the year by snows on the 4400m Pensi La. It is 240km into Padum and 140 of them are rough and cobbly. I was excited to be going back to Padum … Continued

Following the Indus – knocking on the door to Pakistan

By

One day of eating, relaxing and clothes washing in Leh seemed enough and we made a late start down valley. There seemed less traffic on this road that links Leh to Srinigar – the final destination of our journey. As we were climbing up to a saddle a small van pulled up alongside and the occupants said ‘hello’. It turned out to be the two tour leaders of a cycle group we’d met in Keylong and they’d given us a spare tube. They were going to be staying at the Nimo, where we … Continued

Last high pass to Leh

By

From Pang we had a short day to the shrinking Tso Kar Lake. We were picturing camping by the blue waters but all we could see was salt plains in the distance. We did see a herd of wild donkeys instead as a small compensation. We treated ourselves to dinner at one of the luxury camps dining tents for a diet change from rice, dahl and subje. A large group of motorcyclists came in well after dark – cold, wet feet and feeling miserable because of altitude. Not happy campers. We were away early … Continued

North Into Ladakh

By

For 300km on the road to Leh (from Manali) there are no permanent settlements and the road is only open for about 5 months of the year because of winter snows. To accommodate the busy tourist traffic over the summer there are a number of parachute tent ‘cafes’ that are set up along the way providing food and tent accommodation for the huge number of motorcyclists, vehicle traffic and the small number of cyclists that need food and a bed. There are 4 high passes on the route, up to 5300m, and the road varies from … Continued

Raising the bar on cycle touring – Kunzum part 2

By

In Batal we woke to a grey and cold day, pleased that we had crossed the pass the day previous. Eggs and roti, chai and another chai were needed before we faced the day ahead. We had been warned! The first few km’s we bounced down the road alongside the Chandra river. We came to the first of several large areas of avalanche debris. The first was flat and a long way from the river so we pushed our bikes across, no problem. The sections of snow got progressively trickier in terms … Continued