Biking in the Himalayas

The Indian Western Himalayas have many beautiful interior biking / cycling routes in both the lush green foothills of Himachal, Uttarakhand, J&K as well as the high altitude alpine desert of Ladakh & Zanskar. In this post we present an overview of a vast biking network showing both passes and in-between villages, a useful blueprint for you to plan your next Himalayan biking adventure.

Overview Map

Load below GPX files in nakarte.me to view a vast network of cycling / biking routes through Himachal, Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and Zanskar, Uttarakhand.

• Passes (blue)
• Villages (red)

Himachal

Click here for a detailed overview of geography, road network, altitude and cycle target points

Ladakh

Click here for a detailed overview of geography, road network, altitude and cycle target points

Uttarakhand

Click here for a detailed overview of geography, road network, altitude and cycle target points

Jammu & Kashmir

Click here for a detailed overview of geography, road network, altitude and cycle target points

Challenges

Cycling effort increases with (a combination) of below factors:

• Road gradient – cyclists are more sensitive to steeper sections vs hikers. A gradient from 10%+ quickly becomes difficult to peddle
• Road surface – cycling is fast on a smooth cycle lane or tar road while bad roads / gravel / mud sections make it much harder
• Elevation gain – climbing 1000m on a cycle a day can be effort intensive and slow
• Weather – cyclist is usually exposed to climate on open roads. Riding below an intense summer sun can be draining
• Wind – cycling in open plains with a strong headwind can be draining

Planning

Cycling effort significantly increases with steeper road gradient. An excellent tool to identify distance, elevation gain and gradient is brouter.de. At each section of the route it shows the approximate gradient (difficulty level):

Navigating

There are several useful ways to assess gradient while navigating in OSMAnd:

• Contours – contours allow you to understand the steepness of the terrain
• GPX gradient – an imported GPX can be colored as per slope (left below)
• Altitude terrain – terrain can be shown as per elevation spectrum (right below)

All these methods will help you understand the steepness of the terrain and route you are navigating.