How to Mountain Bike Tour

Bikes

It all starts, naturally, with a mountain bike. Touring and cyclocross bikes work fine for rail-trail riding and less-rugged dirt roads, but if you anticipate getting into the rough stuff — rocks, washboard roads, trails — you’ll be less abused, i.e. happier, on a true mountain bike. In the same vein, a front shock (i.e. a suspension fork) is highly recommended on anything but the shortest road trips. Your hands, wrists, shoulders, neck, and spinal cord will thank you.

The big question for many is rear suspension, yay or nay? The answer: not necessary, but definitely more comfortable. Suspension technology has now evolved to the point where even less expensive bikes have dependable, efficient rear shocks. A fully suspended bike makes riding washboard roads (the ultimate nemesis of mountain bikers everywhere, rivaled on the Pure Evilness Scale only by deep sand) infinitely less dispiriting and also helps traction and control on rough climbs and descents. The downside is that, compared to bikes without rear suspension, they are heavier and have more complicated things that need maintenance and can break.

In general, if you know you’ll be encountering consistently rough surfaces, I’d recommend full-suspension if you have it or can afford it. It’s certainly not essential, just nice. For trips in less developed countries, stick with a hardtail, which has less stuff to break.

Another big choice is your frame material. There are no pat answers, but here are some guidelines. For riding in the U.S. and Canada, any frame of reasonable quality is fine (read: no Wal-Mart bikes). If you’re on a hardtail, then make it steel or titanium if you can. Aluminum is stiffer and transmits virtually all of the bumps and chatter directly to your body. For rides in less developed countries, there’s not much to debate: go steel. It’s tough, durable, and if broken it can be repaired by village welders everywhere.

29-inch wheels are increasingly popular on mountain bikes and their large, stable size makes them a great choice for dirt roads — think Great Divide Route — but for technical singletrack or rough riding with loaded panniers, the added strength and maneuverability of a 26-inch wheel is a better option.

Gear Carriers

There are three good options for carrying your stuff: panniers, trailer, or going ultralight. Trailers, specifically BOB trailers, have become the go-to choice for most mountain bikers and with good reason. They’re simple, strong, and relatively easy to use. They keep the weight off your bike, don’t require racks, and handle amazingly well, even on rough, rocky ground. Their narrow profile and single-wheel design works well on narrow trails. You can’t go wrong with a BOB trailer.

Some people, though, still prefer racks and panniers, and they certainly can work too. You’ll need extra-strong wheels if you use panniers for mountain biking, but it’s worth it for riders who prefer the feeling of having a more compact bike under them. It’s easier to transport your bike overseas and in foreign countries with panniers. Portaging across rivers, blowdown, and other unrideable stretches is also easier with panniers than a trailer. Many mountain bike frames (inexplicably) don’t come with rack-mounting eyelets, but Old Man Mountain makes excellent racks that can mount on virtually any mountain bike. Panniers work great for mellow dirt road riding, but for more rugged riding most people find that a BOB trailer is more durable and handles better.

A final option, and really the only choice for multi-day riding on technical singletrack, is to go ultralight. Utralight mountain bikers have no need for a trailer or panniers, both of which are too heavy and cumbersome for tough trail riding. They bring minimal gear, make it as light as possible, and aim for a base gear weight at or below 15 pounds. While it’s a new, evolving riding style, the most common technique is to strap a waterproof compression sack with sleeping bag, clothes, shelter, and some food to an Old Man Mountain rear rack, with any remaining gear carried in a backpack.

Going ultralight is an elegant, efficient, and flat-out fun way to ride — no matter what style of touring you choose. For veteran mountain bikers in particular it has opened up a new world of potential, the proverbial “next level” of backcountry velo-adventure, much like the mountain bike did for cycling as a whole almost three decades ago.

Important note: Some people — especially, for unknown reasons, in the United Kingdom — choose to mountain bike without trailers or racks but with whale-sized backpacks. While this may be possible, we and your important and delicate nether-regions advise against it.

Other Gear Considerations

Like full-suspension, disc brakes are nice but not necessary. They’re a poor choice for less developed countries, but are worth a look for domestic riding, especially for wet, steep, or technical riding. Stick with mechanical disc brakes, which are lighter and simpler than hydraulic ones.

If you ride a hardtail, consider a suspension seatpost. They can make a big difference over the course of a multi-day ride.

Leave the ultra-stiff cycling shoes at home and look for a pair that has some flex in the toe for greater comfort and ease of walking. A good mountain bike tour always has some walking.

If you know you’ll face monster climbs, make sure you’ve got low, low climbing gears. The added weight of your gear can make tough climbing a lot tougher. A 20- or 22-tooth small chainring can make everything better. Lastly, many mountain bikers wear baggy shorts, which, besides not mortifying the residents of rural towns, have other advantages over lycra — like cargo pockets (not to be underestimated for their usefulness), increased abrasion resistance in crashes, and the fact that they’re, well, not Lycra.

Skills You Need to Have

Mountain biking requires greater upper-body strength than road riding, as well as greater adventure cycling handling skills. That said, if you can ride a bike there’s no reason why you can’t head out on a nice, long dirt road tour and have a great time with undertaking weightlifting regimens or skills seminars.

Assuming you’re camping, you’ll want basic skills for that, which aren’t very complicated and can be found in other articles.

You will need map-reading skills for finding your way out there. Of course this is half the fun — finding your way through unfamiliar country.

By it’s nature, mountain bike touring does bring you farther away from civilization. That is perhaps its greatest appeal and it also means you’re reliant on yourself and your riding partners to get you out of any trouble. Bring a first-aid kit, choose your route carefully, and tell other people where you’re going.

Stuff to Bring

Besides the standard packing list recommendations you’ll find on Adventure Cycling’s website, the multi-day mountain bike rider will also want these things:

• extra cotter pins for your BOB trailer
• spare spokes
• extra derailleur hanger if your frame has replaceable ones
• a first-aid kit with extra supplies for abrasions and grit removal
• tire boot (in a pinch, dollar bills work too)

Saga Dawa Festival

The Saga Dawa Festival honors the life of Buddha. According to their tradition, when Buddha was dying, he instructed one of his followers not to honor him merely with flowers, incense and lights after he died but by striving to follow his teachings about living a noble life and being kind and compassionate. He urged people not to weep about his death but to remember that all compound objects like the human body must eventually disintegrate. In various Buddhist countries, people celebrate the holiday in different ways and on different days. In China, non-Tibetan Buddhists will celebrate the holiday on May 10. In Tibet, the people celebrate the festival on June 15and June 4, and the main activities involve going to temples, raising a tall prayer pole called the Tarboche Prayer Flagpole, and lighting a lot of butter lamps for the occasion.

Each year on this day near a place called Kailash Kora, the old prayer flagpole is taken down and the new one is put up. The prayer flagpole is a tall pole from which are hung hundreds if not thousands of multicolored prayer flags. Each prayer flag represents a prayer that someone wants fulfilled. The flags are let to fly in the air so as to increase the potential for answering. There is a tradition that if the pole is not set well upright, it means that Tibet is in trouble. So it is thought to be very important to set the pole up accurately, and only the best pole setter-upper is allowed to perform the duty. People are relieved and joyous if it is set up accurately. Adding to the spectacle of the Tibetans  worshiping, the scenery in the area is ruggedly beautiful with rocky cliffs and high snow-capped mountain peaks.

Along with remembering Buddha and his activities, the main point of the festival is to pray. It is said by many that the goal of the festival season is to pray for the long life of all the holy gurus of all traditions, for the survival and spreading of Buddha’s teachings in the minds of all sentient beings, and for world peace. Tibetan Buddhists go to monasteries and temples to pray during the Saga Dawa Festival. One place in Lhasa where crowds of Tibetans gather to pray is the Potala Palace. Hundreds of people lie down or stand to pray in front of it. People also go to a park near the Potala Palace that is called Dzongyab Lukhang Park for a large-scale outdoor picnic in the late afternoon.

In the temples, people will light more butter lamps. Butter lamps are simply clarified yak butter or vegetable oil in a bowl with a wick. The lamps produce a smokey light. In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a lot of lights together are conducive for meditation and focusing the mind. According to the Root Tantra of Chakrasamvara, "If you wish for sublime realization, offer hundreds of lights.” So on special holiday, people and monks at the temples light thousands of lamps. For many, the Saga Dawa Festival marks the beginning of a holy month.

History

The Saga Dawa Festival is an ancient festival that is celebrated by people in different countries in differing ways. Tibetan Buddhists try to do what the Buddha said and give alms and pray. It is thought that praying and alms giving and doing acts of benevolence during Saga Dawa and in the holy month after this multiplies the merited return to the giver far more than on regular days. During the month, many Tibetans also refrain from killing animals. Tibetans think of it as Buddha’s birthday, but they also celebrate his achieving of enlightenment and his death on the day.

Many Buddhists around the world call the day Vesakha or Vesak from the Sanskrit name Vaisakha. The First Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists resolved in 1950 to urge that the day of the full moon in the lunar month be a day to honor Buddha. Though the holiday is still celebrated on different days around the world, it is considered by many to be the most important Buddhist festival day.

Tibetan Minority

General Information

Tibetans mainly live in Tibet Autonomous Region in southeast China.

With a population of more than 5 million, Tibetan nationality mainly live in Tibet Autonomous Region in southeast China, and neighboring provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan. Tibetan people have their own spoken and written language. Tibetan language belongs to Cambodian branch, Sino-Tibetan language system.

Tibetan areas are rich in natural resources, and Tibetan people mainly live on farming and stock raising. Most Tibetans are devout Buddhists, and observe Tibetan Buddhism. Lamaseries spread all over Tibetan areas, and exhibit the rich culture and superb construction skill of Tibetans. The Potala Palace on Mt. Hongshan (Marpo Ri) in lhasa tibet, is the palace complex with the highest altitude in the world. It is well known for construction style, religion, frescos, sculpture art, and precious cultural relics.

History

In ancient times the ancestors of the present Tibetans lived along the Yaluzangbu (Brahmaputra) River. In the 6th century the chieftain of the Yarlung tribe conquered several nearby tribes to become king. He was known as Zanpu (king), and established the Po dynasty. In the early 7th century Songtsen Gampo (his grandson) unified the whole of Tibet and shifted the capital to Lhasa. This is known to Chinese history as the Tupo kingdom. In 641, Songtsen Gampo married Princess Wencheng, of the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD), and was granted the title of "the King of China's west". In 710, Xidezuzan (a king of Tibet) married Princess Jincheng of Tang Dynasty. The contacts between Tibet and central China had a strong influence on Tibetan society in the fields of politics, economics, and culture. In 1934 the Government of the Republic of China set up a resident agency to administer affairs in Tibet, and in 1965, Tibet Autonomous Region was established.

Eating Habits

Tsampa, yak butter tea and Tibetan barley wine are the staple food for Tibetan people. People also like dairy products and air-dried beef and mutton. Tibetans eat Tsampa in almost every meal. Tsampa is roasted barley flour mixed with yak butter tea or Tibetan barley wine. Tibetans usually mix the food with fingers of the right hand, and knead it into small lumps before eating.

Yak butter tea is made of boiled tea leaves, salt and yak butter. All are mixed together and vigorously churned in a wooden cylinder till well blended. Yak butter tea is warm and nutritious, and Tibetans drink it throughout the whole day. Tibetan barley wine is a very popular alcohol in among the tibet travel. This mild alcohol is brewed from locally-grown barley, and tastes sweet and sour.

Monlam Prayer Festival

The festival starts on the fourth day of the Tibetan calender and ends of the fifteenth day that is the day called the Butter Lamp Festival (Choe-nga Choepa) that is the greatest and last day of the Monlam Festival. So one long festival season that lasts for fifteen days starts on the 1st day of the Tibetan year that is the Tibetan New YearFestival called Losar and ends on the 15th day on the night of the full moon called the Butter Lamp Festival. During the Monlam Festival, Buddhists pray and commemorate the miracles Buddha did about 2,500 years ago in India. To see a spectacle, visit the temples and see the Buddhists worship during the Monlam Festival that starts on March 8.

The goal of the entire Monlam Festival season is to remember Buddha and his activities and to pray. So if you go to Tibet during that time, you can see Buddhists go to the monasteries and temples to pray during the Monlam season. It is said by many that the goal of the festival season is to pray for the long life of all the holy gurus of all traditions, for the survival and spreading of Buddha’s teachings in the minds of all sentient beings, and for world peace.

In the temples, people will light more butter lamps. Butter lamps are simply clarified yak butter or vegetable oil in a bowl with a wick. The lamps produce a smokey light. In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a lot of lights together are conducive for meditation and focusing the mind. According to the Root Tantra of Chakrasamvara, "If you wish for sublime realization, offer hundreds of lights.” So on special holidays, people and monks at the temples light thousands of lamps. On the last day of the Monlam festival called the Butter Lamp Festival, people put many more up and even put them on scaffolds that are several stories high.

During the festival, Tibetans listen to teachings and donate to the monasteries, monks and Buddhist nuns. They also engage in making merry. A good place to see this happen is on Barkhor Street in Lhasa where the traditional buildings still stand and where the most important Tibetan Buddhist temple called Jokhang Temple stands. During the Butter Lamp festival on the night of the full moon, Tibetans traditionally stay out and make merry and sing until dawn, and thousands of Butter Lamps burn filling the air with their smoke.

History

The festival was begun by Tsong Khapa who was the founder of the Geluk tradition of Tibetan Buddhism to which the Dalai Lama and the largest part of Tibetan Buddhists belong. Tsong Khapa also began the Butter Lamp Festival. Originally, thousands of monks from the main Gelugpa monastaries of this tradition of Drepung, Sera and Ganden gathered together for chanting prayers and performing religious rituals at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa that is considered the most sacred Tibetan Buddhist shrine. The Jokhang Temple was built in 647 by a famous and powerful emperor named Songtsen Gampo in 647. Songtsen Gampo led the first big Tibetan Empire. Now the Jokhang Temple is on Barkhor Street where you can see traditional Tibetan buildings and watch the ceremonies, rituals, and festivities of the Tibetan New Year holiday season.

Nowadays, the rituals and ceremonies are not as grand as those of pre-modern times. Far fewer monks gather at Jokhang Temple. Though there are still Butter Lamp butter sculptures and butter lamps, one of the high points of festival days for Tibetan Buddhist monks which was the examinations of monks and the questioning of the leading monk before the Dalai Lama doesn't happen now. The Dalai Lama lives in India where a Monlam Festival has started in the new Tibetan Buddhist temples there. The questioning before the Dalai Lama happens there. It used to be that the big butter sculptures were actually big sacrificial cakes that were publicly burned as sacrifice in Barkhor Square. But people still lie down and stand to pray before the Jokhang Temple and dance and sing on the last day of the festival in Barkhor street.

ENJOYING YOUR TOUR

Fitness

You don't have to worry too much about getting fit. This is particularly true for long tours, where you just ride yourself fit over the first two or three weeks. You may only do 50km a day for the first week, but this is no big deal. For shorter tours, it's a little more important to hit the ground running to make the most of your limited time.

Before you set off, just try your adventure cycling as much as you can. Start with small runs and gradually work your way up. If you can get to a stage were you are reasonably comfortable doing runs of 100km unloaded, you will have done really well.
Speaking from experience, if you want to avoid excitement, it's best if you don't spend the first day of your very first tour learning how to pedal a fully loaded bike. Before you set off, load your bike up and go away for a weekend as a shake down for the real thing. 

Take it easy

Take it easy on your tour - it's not a race. Some people consistently manage 100+km a day. For the rest of us 70-80km per day is a more manageable figure. In the mountains or on very rough tracks this may drop to as low as 30-40km per day. 

Don't be too reluctant to cheat. If it's taking longer than expected, or you are unwell, or you are just not enjoying the road.

Challenges

Listed below are some of the the main challenges you might have to face on tour, in rough order of increasing difficulty. While all of them can be tough, none of them are show stoppers. And in fact, these are things that will make your tour memorable - this is what adventuring is about: 

Hill and mountains

Big hills can be daunting, but they're not that difficult to cope with. It's just a question of settling down in a low gear and grinding up them (don't use too higher gear - it's best to keep your pedals spinning). And it's not the end of the world if you have to get off and push. It may take a couple of hours, or in the case of a 4.000m pass in the Himalayas, a couple of days, but you will reach the top eventually. Then you get to whizz down the otherside. And the saving grace is that you are usually in stunning surroundings. Above about 2,500m you can expect to feel the effects of altitude and above 4,000m it can be very debillitating. 

Deserts

The problem with deserts is more psychological than physical - long miles of nothing at all and always a nagging worry about whether you have enough water. The heat is more of a problem when you stop - on the bike you always ahve a bit of a breeze to cool you. Pretty grim during the day, deserts can be very peaceful and very beautiful early in the morning and late in the evening. 

Bad weather

Warm and wet is not much of a problem, you just wear shorts and a tee-shirt and dry out when the sun comes out. Cold and wet is a question of having the right gear - a good base layer, waterproof jacket and waterproof trousers. The main problem with a prolonged spell of wet weather is that after a couple of nights, all your camping gear gets wet and you really have to stay in hotels or guesthouses, which pushes up your costs. 

Washboard tracks

Washboard tracks (gravel tracks that have become heavily corrugated bythe passage of vehicles) are a pain in the bum, literally, and are very hard work on a bike. There's no particular strategy for dealing with them, you just have to try and find the best line (often this is to be found at the very edge of the track). It helps if you have nice wide tyres and front suspension. After a day on washboard, I'm about ready to kneel down and kiss the next bit of tarmac. 

Headwinds

A loaded bike is about as streamlined as a combine harvester, so headwinds are a real bette noir. Spending a day slogging into a strong headwind is mentally and physically debillitating. In fact, a really strong headwind is one of the few things that can stop you in your tracks on a bike. So, checking the prevailing wind direction when you are planning your road trips is quite important. 

Main Features of Tibet’s climate

Tibet is a high altitude plateau set amid tall mountain ranges. The mountain ranges catch the rainfall before it reaches the plateau, so most of Tibet, except for the southeast, is desert steppe, tundra, or permafrost. Most of Tibet experiences frost at least six months of the year, and the highest lakes have ice from October to March. The weather varies a lot from region to region.

· Strong sunshine

· Cold and dry

· Large day/night temperature difference

Tibet’s high altitude results in:

· Thin air

· Less oxygen content

· Lower boiling point

Lhasa (elevation 3,550 meters (11,600 ft)) is ideal for tourists to the region to acclimate in, because it is in a lower elevation valley in the warmer and wetter southeastern part of the region. The annual precipitation in Lhasa is relatively high for Tibet at 500 millimeters (20 inches), as the annual precipitation across the region averages around 200 millimeters (4 and 12 inches).

Tibet Weather and Tourism in the Four Seasons

Due to the high evaluation, Tibet has a quite different seasons from other places with a longer winter.

Spring (April–May)

The ice melts and the weather warms during spring, opening up blocked remote roads and making travel outside Lhasa more pleasant. Tibet reopens to tourism in early April (as it is usually closed to visitors in March for Tibetan New Year). Book a Tibet tour before the summer tourist crowds arrive.

Summer (June–August)

The weather is warm to cool and summer is the busiest travel season of the year in Tibet. There air has a higher oxygen content than in other season. Sometimes it will shower at night or for about an hour in the afternoon in mid July to late August, so rain is not a big issue even in the rainy season. Train tickets to Lhasa are difficult to get in summer.

· Things to do: Summer is the time to travel to the various attractions in the remoter regions, and enjoy the high altitude sites when the mountain passes are snow free. It is also the time to hike.

· Activities: Tibetans hold their outdoor market fairs and encampments, festivals, and sports contests when the grasslands are at their lushest. Festivals of note include the Ganden Thangka Festival, the Shoton Festival, and the Nagqu Horse Racing Festival.

Fall (September–October)

Also a busy travel season in Tibet, the weather is clear and cool in fall. It’s a good time to hike and trek in Tibet, and it’s also a good time to shoot photos of mountain peaks, due to less cloud.

Winter (November–March)

Tibet is usually closed to foreign travelers in February and March for 5 or 6 weeks. Tibet Entry Permits are normally not issued for February and March. Some roads are closed due to the heavy snow. Except for the coldness, it’s a good time to travel to lower altitude places like lhasa tibet, as hotels and travel agencies may offer discounts during winter, and tourists are far fewer than in summer and fall.

Best Times to Go

From May to October is the best time to tibet travel, when the weather is not very cold, averaging above 10°C. This is naturally the busiest travel time in Tibet, when people come for the warmer weather and higher oxygen content.

July and August is the rainy seasonin Tibet, though, apart from in the southeast, there is still not a lot of rain.

The best months for camping are May and September when it hardly rains at all.

If you plan to travel to Mt. Everest, travel in April, May, September, or October, when you are more likely to see the peak clearly. It is more likely to be hidden behind thick clouds the rest of the year.

Travelers who are interested in Tibetan festivals are recommended to visit Tibet in August when the Shoton Festival, Nagqu Horse Racing Festival, and Ganden Thangka Festival are held. But expect to see huge crowds during the festivals.

Late September to October is the best time to see autumnal colors in Tibet.

The Story of Losar

The word losar is a Tibetan word which means New Year. The word is composed of two characters: lo and sar. Lo means ‘year’ and sar means ‘new’.

The celebration of Losar can be traced back to the Tibetan pre-Buddhist period (127 BC – 629 AD). At that time Tibetans were followers of the Bon religion, and held a spiritual ceremony every winter. During the ceremonies, people burnt a large quantity of incense to appease local spirits, deities, and protectors. Later this religious festival developed into an annual Buddhist festival.

Tibetan New Year in Shigatse Area

Tibetan New Year, also known as Peasants Day for Tibetans, is the most ceremonious festival in Shigatse, and it falls on the1st of the twelfth monthaccording to the Tibetan calendar. Shigatse is a rich and fertile agricultural area, where the local people created their own calendar 100 years ago to better arrange agronomic activities.

Customs

It is a tradition for people living in Shigatse and Lhasa to keep their yards and kitchens clean and tidy during Tibetan New Year, when the locals put up New Year paintings on the doors to add luster to the festival.

The most unforgettable experience of Tibetan New Year in Shigatse Area is eating gutu, a kind of dough with white stones, capsicums, wool, or charcoal in it, which has a rich symbolic meaning. If a man eats a gutu with wool in it, he is considered to be kind-hearted; if he eats one with a capsicum in it, he is thought to be harsh-tempered; if he eats one with a charcoal in it, he is deemed to be vicious; and if he eats a dough with white stones, he is regarded as unpopular among the crowd, so he will be forced to drink wine as a punishment.

The dishes served during Tibetan New Year are traditionally dominated bymutton, including dried mutton, boiled mutton, and roast mutton. Great changes have taken place in Shigatse’s food habits, and the dishes are richerthan ever before.

A number of cultural entertainment performances take place in Shigatze during Tibetan New Year, including horse-racing,arrow-shooting, singing, and dancing.

Tibetan New Year in Kongbo Area

As the first festival throughout the year, Tibetan New Year is the most ceremonial festival in Kongbo Area of Shigatze Prefecture, central south Tibet, in the Yarlung Tsangpo River Valley. It is a festival for families to get together, and it’s celebrated just as the Han ethnic people celebrate their Spring Festival.

The Origins of Kongbo New Year

The legend goes that Kongbo Area faced war during the early period of 13th century. When Kongbo tribe leaders called on all their people to prepare for the war, they didn’t know when they could return home owing to the long distance from their hometown to the battlefield. So they decided to celebrate the New Year on 1st of the tenth Tibetan month in advance before they went for battle.

The Kongbo Tribe won the victory over their enemies eventually owing to their great tenacity, since when it’s become a tradition for them to celebrate the New Year on the 1st of the tenth month according to Tibet calendar.

The “Feeding the Dog” Custom

There is a unique custom in the Kongbo New Year celebrations. On the evening of the last day of the year, each Kongbo family will put foods prepared for the New Year into a wood plate, then put the wood plate in the middle of the yard and let the dog eat those foods.

It is believed among the Kongbo people that the food the dog eats will predictsomething in the following year. For example, if the dog eats the cuo (a kind of food made of roasted barley flour), people believe there will be a good harvest in the following year. If the dog eats cheese or butter, people think that livestock breeding will be good. If the dog eats dried peach, people think that all the family will have a lucky year.