Want more adventure in your life? Hear real adventure travel stories and practical insights from people who explore the world in bold and meaningful ways by bike, on foot, and close to home.
Seek Travel Ride is an adventure travel podcast for anyone curious about travel and looking to bring more adventure into their everyday.
Host Bella Molloy chats with adventurers and everyday people about bicycle touring, cycle touring, bikepacking, long-distance cycling, and other human-powered adventures. You’ll also hear slow travel, cultural discovery and micro-adventure stories that show adventure can happen anywhere.
Expect travel stories, helpful advice and practical tips you can use to shape your own adventures, whether you’re dreaming of world travel, planning your first bike travel journey, or starting small with something close to home.
Remember it doesn't need to be epic to be an Adventure!
Cycling in the High Mountains of Tajikistan: Mathias - One Day of Your Trip
•Mathias•Season 2
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
0:00
|
16:13
Ever wanted to go cycling over the high mountains of Tajikistan on the way to the Pamir Highway? Well in today's episode Mathias let's us know all about one day from his trip with his wife Arev, where they were cycling one of the high mountain passes in Tajikistan. See the visuals behind this day via their YouTube video. You can also listen to their previous episode on the podcast here.
Hello everyone, it's Bella Malloy here, host of Seek Travel Ride. Welcome to our first midweek mini episode of 2025. In these episodes, I feature what it was like for you, one of our listeners, during one day of your bike adventure. Now I love keeping you inspired with these stories, and if you want to stay even more connected, why not sign up for my podcast newsletter? It's where I share all the behind the scenes updates, four seat travel ride, our community news, as well as a sneak peek at who I've got lined up for the show in our upcoming guests. I'd love for you to be part of it, and I'm about to send the first edition of 2025 out in the next few days. So if you want to see what's in there, you can sign up through the link in the show notes and let me help keep your adventure wonderlust stoked, and let's roll on together for the year. Now, in this episode, I am featuring Matthias, who I have actually featured before, along with his wife Arev for a full feature episode. This was way, way back in 2023, and at that stage he and Arev were just partway through their World Tour journey. I spoke with them when they were in Armenia, and since then they've actually made it all the way over to South Korea. But Matthias is going to be sharing one day from his trip, and you'll agree with me when you hear him talk that it was a pretty monumental one as well as being very, very challenging. He and Arev were crossing a very high mountain pass in Tajikistan in the Pamers. Without any further ado, let's listen to Matthias share one day of his trip.
SPEAKER_00
Hey Bella, thanks for having me. This time I want to tell you about 24 hours of our amazing world bike tour when I thought my wife was trying to get me killed. It is a story that serves as an example for the importance of good communication. So we had made it to Tajikistan in Central Asia. On our way to the capital Dushambe, the starting point of the legendary Palmir Highway, we had to cross another big mountain range first. There's this 5km long narrow black pipe with the reassuring nickname Tunnel of Death. It is infamous for its non-existent ventilation, poor lighting, occasional flooding, and rockfall, and thus a pretty bad road surface. The reasonable choice is hitching through it on the back of a lorry. We did not do that. To avoid dangerous tunnels, we cycle the old road whenever feasible. Usually this adds some hundred meters of climb and an hour or two. Not such a big deal. However, that is Tajikistan, a country that pretty much consists of very high and steep mountains only. Checking the map, we had to zoom in quite a bit, but there was an old pass road. That's not very good. We were looking at a 60km detour with about 2,000 meters of elevation gain, so we needed better intel. Our asked some old villagers that spoke Russian, and according to them, it should be possible. Very difficult, they said, but possible. Apparently the road had been closed for nearly two decades. Anyways, we looked at it as a great chance to gain some high altitude experience ahead of the Palmir Highway. So to minimize the risk of getting altitude sickness, the German Alpine Association recommends a slow and gradual ascent to allow for acclimatization. By increasing the sleeping altitude by no more than 300 to 500 meters per day, once you're above 2500 meters, the body has a much easier time to adapt to the lower oxygen levels at that altitudes. The road had already been shockingly bad since the turn off to the tunnel, so we didn't get as far as we had hoped for the result. And the next morning it was already around 10 a.m. when we passed the last village with people living there, also called Anzor. From there was another 18 kilometers to the pass at 3,372 meters. We had managed elevation gains like that before, but that was on paved roads and at low altitudes. Now, about 80% of the time, the former asphalt surface was completely washed out. Instead, we had this gravel or bumpy granite with lots of loose, sharp-ecked rocks and debris. That was quite difficult to go up that mountain with that little traction. And it quickly dawned on me that we likely wouldn't make it over the past and especially not down to 2500 meters before sunset, which yeah, I didn't like that. When I told my wife she brushed me off, and yeah, that kind of upset me, and I immediately barked back at her that she didn't acknowledge my concern made me kind of angry. So I guess it's like she has that special mixture of ambition, tenacity, and naivety a little bit, and sometimes also a remarkably poor sense of time management. In the past, these qualities of my wife have more often than not led to us rising above ourselves, which is great, of course. However, trying to reason with her when she's this can do mode can be a little bit frustrating. And I knew that, of course, but I get easily triggered if someone does not respond to my reasoning. I guess most people don't like being barked at, but well, oh boy. She really hates it. And I knew that as well, of course. But when I realized my mistake, that was too late for that day. And I guess we've both been a bit on the edge after some challenging weeks and days ahead of that very day. So imagine a frosty atmosphere as we're continuing to struggle up towards this mountain pass. And during that day, I suggested several times camping, but to no avail. So when we passed 2500 meters, it was really obvious that we could reach the pass around sunset, but only if we continued pushing really hard the whole day. And I told her again how stupid it was to keep going, but she insisted on sticking with the initial plan. That is 2700 meters. By that point, we were mostly dragging or pushing our bicycles up the slope. Loaded there about 50 kilograms each, like with water and food, I guess, and yeah, with a loose and bumpy ground. Every muscle is burning. We are both over our physical limit. I mean, I know I certainly was. Uh I struggle much more in the mountains usually than she does. How could she possibly so stubborn? Like I was really, really. I don't know. Like I didn't get it. And maybe around 2800 meters when I suggested camping again for the tenth time or so. The view, of course, it was incredible, and we had enough food and water, and there was a flat surface, but no apparently now she was afraid of some shepherd dogs that we saw a little lower than us in the valley. The last people we actually saw. She didn't want to camp. Then it's like 3100 meters. We stop a lot to catch a breath. I'm sweating even though I'm cold. The wind is really fierce now. I'm screaming actually, and my body is in pain, and I'm so furious. But in a way, the anger also keeps me going. The shadows are getting long fast. It's late in the day at 3,200 meters. We cross like a small glacier, and then very soon the sun will get behind the 4,000 meter high peak to the west of us. Yeah, basically getting dark as well. So we really can't stop now. And as it turns out, the villagers had not ruled out the possibility of dangerous wildlife like wolves and bears. But as I don't speak Russian at all, that was news to me. I didn't know that, right? She didn't tell me, she forgot to translate that bit, and well, so when I finally understood why she really didn't want to stop, it was way too late. So eventually we made it to the top at 3372 meters, and unfortunately I did not get to enjoy that really, really epic view. Because pretty much immediately my body started revolting. Like it was time to pay the price. Started with shaking chills, and then soon it was followed by really explosive diarrhea, high fever, muscle cramps, and yeah, then also the symptoms of some altitude sickness kicked in. So I I had a crushing headache, nausea, I was dizzy, I was super fatigued and very short of breath. So that was quite difficult. Like even going to the outhouse 50 meters away was a big, big challenge. And had we both had enough patience and strength to communicate clearly and especially also non-violently, also a lot of suffering. Especially, I guess I could have done a lot better if we had ascended slower with a little bit of an extra day. And I had been afraid of having to descend and fading daylight, and now my state was even worse than I had expected it. If you want to know what happened next, uh check out our YouTube channel, Amazing World Baikur. Our second episode from Tajikistan tells the whole story and continues with a big surprise.
SPEAKER_01
Wow, Matthias, what a monumental day. And listeners, he has left us there with a nice little hook. And I can tell you that just a couple of days ago, I actually watched this whole day play out on their YouTube channel, which I have provided a link to in the show notes. It really takes me to what he was feeling in this moment, as well as Arev as well. And yeah, there are some amazing dreamy views up there in the high mountains in Tajikistan, but oh my goodness, this was a day of physical suffering for sure. Check the link in the show notes out and watch it for yourself. Thank you so much, Matthias, for sharing this day of your trip as well. Now, as you know, I have recently been sharing little messages from other previous guests to let me know what they believe the best thing about taking a bike adventure is. This week I'm continuing to do so, and I have adventurer Jude Crywold. Let's listen to what Jude has to say.
SPEAKER_02
The best thing about taking a bike adventure is the freedom. The freedom to go wherever you want, at whatever pace you want, make your own mistakes and get yourself out of them.
SPEAKER_01
I love your answer there, Jude. All about the freedom. And I mean, freedom is often the word that people use to describe what it was like when they first learnt to ride a bike. And I think it's really apt that you use that word to describe what it's like to take a bike adventure. Now, listeners, with the start of a new year, it's often where we start thinking about taking bike adventures. And so I posed the question on my Instagram page asking you, the followers there, what bike adventure plans you've got for 2025. And I got swamped with responses. I'm sharing them on our Instagram account in our stories, just a few each day, and I wanted to share a few here with you as well. Just so you can get an idea of where the Seek Travel Ride listening community is planning to go. Uh, here's one from the account The Cyclists of Oz. They're planning on cycling in Thailand and Japan. What an awesome place to go. User I come back home has said going from Auckland, New Zealand to Nantes in France. That's a huge adventure. Here's another one, fastwon't last.cc. They say we're going to keep it going on the TransMexico for the next few months on our way to Patagonia. Massive. Recrab 82 says Super Randonur, 24-hour mountain bike race, half Iron Man relay, and riding from Scotland to Germany. Well, that's a pretty cool list of goals there for 2025. A few different events there from half Iron Man to Audaxing, as well as a bike tour. It's sort of ticking every single box. Occasional underscore bikepacker, who is actually a previous guest, Jacob Ashton. He says, bike pack racing. Wow, Jacob, I'm keen to see where these races are going to be taking you. And then I've got Rebecca underscore GRB. She says, I'm going from Austria to Central Asia and further, also based on all the inspiration coming from your podcast. Well, thank you very much, Rebecca. And listeners, I've reached out to Rebecca and I'm going to be doing something a little bit special with her story, and that I'm going to be looking to get some audio updates from before she set out on her journey and then while she's away on her trip. So keep a special eye out for that to come. Now, if you're wondering what sort of bikepacking adventure to take for 2025, be sure to consider the lightweight bikepacking tour that I am running at the end of June, June 28th to July 4th, starting and finishing in the French city of Toulouse. Going to be taking a small group of people on a guided tour through the foothills of the Pyrenees, and I've provided a link in the show notes. Now, as always, if you are enjoying the podcast that I've been putting together for you here on Seek Travel Ride, and you want to support me and the show, you can also do so by clicking our link to buy me a coffee. Each bit of virtual caffeine goes a long way to helping me stay energized so I can interview guests, edit the audio, and then post the episodes for you to listen to. I've added a link in the show notes. Click the link, buy me a coffee, and more importantly, let me know where are you planning to go for your 2025 bike adventure. Until the next episode, I'm Bella Malloy. Thanks for listening.
