Cycling excursions have lengthy loved cult standing amongst adventurous travellers throughout the globe. That is till the pandemic concurrently hit the accelerator on health and sustainability targets for everybody, particularly these with a extra wine-dine-shop-spa method to journey. Experiential, planet-friendly journey is not simply the flavour of the season, however reflective of our collective ethical guilt.
E-cycles have widened the taking part in area for a brand new technology of eco-conscious travellers. They are reasonably priced and low-maintenance with a decrease value per mile than guide cycles. More crucially, e-bicycles are newbie pleasant, permitting you to scale hilltops and canopy lengthy distances comparatively simply. These bikes minimise human effort by 70–80%, particularly in these variants with throttle-assist options that permit you to transfer ahead with out pedalling.
Across cities, islands, backwater and mountains, these e-cycling trails will ease you into extra intrepid, exploratory adventures.
Old buildings dealing with lake Pichola
| Photo Credit:
Sergio Capuzzimati
Old City Art path @ Udaipur
If you suppose e-cycles are redundant in easily-managed metropolis landscapes, guide a Strode Experiences tour in the Venice of the East. The three-hour Fusion Trail is a multiple-terrain affair that begins with a trip on the sun-dappled waters of Lake Pichola aboard Roopmati, a non-public, heritage boat named after the legendary poet-queen of Mandu.
You will then choose up your Strode e-cycles that boast of a proprietary on-bike pill which facilitates micro navigation and entry to music, native podcasts, and audio books.
Then, breeze by means of the historic Chandpol gate, head to Jagdish Mandir and discover Amar Kund, Ghanta Ghar and Gangaur ghat. Unsuitable for automobiles and tedious for walkers (particularly in Udaipur’s sultry summers) the maze of slender gullies in the Old City are completely tackled on the Strode e-bike, at the same time as its software program pinpoints native meals and purchasing joints for you.
The path winds up at Udai Kothi, a boutique resort over a frothy mug of the home-grown lager at Kalali, the resort’s personal brewery. Namit Jain, founder and CEO of Strode Experiences, who hails from Udaipur, recommends you customise your path — that may be taken year-round — by looking your on-bike pill to select from a slew of experiences for a deep immersion into the town’s inventive legacy.
While on the path, you’ll be able to select to attend a hand block printing workshop or a 20-minute rendezvous at Sikligar, the town’s solely surviving handcrafted sword maker’s workshop, the place you’ll be able to study in regards to the Zawar code on Damascus knives and take in talwar tales.
Upwards of ₹2,400 on strodeexperiences.com/
Cyclists on a tour by Offbeat Pedals
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Backwaters tour @ Kerala
Cycling on flat routes alongside paddy fields in blissful Kerala doesn’t appear notably taxing, however a tour prolonged over six days can do with some geared help, solely so you’ll be able to absolutely immerse into the countryside joys of God’s Own Country.
Kochi-based Offbeat Pedals affords a Kerala backwaters and fishermen villages’ tour — supreme between November and January — that’s excellent for rookies of any age or health stage. Perched on an e-cycle, you’ll be able to traverse from the seashores to the backwaters and misty tea hills to cardamom forests in a single day’s trip.
“The routes are flat and easy, and we ride along the backwaters, paddy fields and the coastal fishing villages and get to know village life up close,” says Sujith Sudhan, biking fanatic, retired sailor and co-founder, Offbeat Pedals.
Some of the highlights embrace biking to Champakulum in Kuttanad, a backwater hamlet well-known for its 427 AD Portuguese church and being the birthplace of the mom of all snake boat races, held yearly in June-July. You may even cycle shut to the seashores close to Trikunnapuzha and Varkala, stopping for toddy breaks, lunch, kayak excursions and canoe rides by means of fish and shrimp farms. Despite the idyllic in a single day house stays and relaxed tempo, this six-day tour sneakily accomplishes health targets.
₹1,30,000 for 2 on offbeatadventure.in/
Cyclists on a tour by Offbeat Pedals
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Palace of Fairies path @ Kashmir
If you’re in two minds about visiting Kashmir and including to the burden on its fragile eco-system (J&Ok noticed a post-pandemic surge with over 18 million vacationers in 2023), you might have considered trying to undertake an e-solution to the issue.
The State’s first and solely e-bike system, Curve Electric claims tohave contributed to the discount of 80 metric tons of carbon emissions. The 200-strong fleet is distributed throughout 15 strategic docking stations in Srinagar.
Co-founder Sheikh Yameen recommends you hire a pair and plan a two-day path with a pal to Dara Harwan and Pari Mahal. “The electric-assist feature is especially valuable for conquering steep inclines, making the overall experience less physically demanding,” he avers of the trails finest taken in spring (April, May) or autumn (October, November).
A snapshot from the Palace of Fairies path in Kashmir
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
On Day one, a picturesque trip to the hamlet of Dara Harwan on the outskirts of Srinagar, takes you biking alongside a fantastic river to the Dachigam National Park. On the second day, Pari Mahal (Palace of Fairies) a Mughal backyard beckons. With fascinating views of Dal Lake, this path combines historical past with ethereal pure magnificence.
₹900 per particular person for e-bike leases on curveelectric.com/
Divar Island treasure path @ Goa
If you day dream a couple of Goa trip removed from the seashores, get together spots and Instagrammable cafes, pencil this three-hour retro-style cycle treasure hunt — supreme throughout monsoon and winter — in your itinerary. Organised by BLive, pioneers of EV excursions in the sunshine State, it takes you biking throughout mangroves, church buildings, temples and off-the-radar historic websites.
On a guide cycle, you’ll work up a sweat wandering round a nice however unexciting panorama and likelihood upon a couple of interesting-looking websites. But the GPS system in your e-cycle leads to the true treasures on this three-village island.
“An e-bike ride saves up to 900gm of CO2,” says Samarth Kholkar, CEO, BLive, who co-founded the corporate with Sandeep Mukherjee in 2018. In Piedade, you’ll be able to hit the throttle of your e-cycle up a hillock to go to the spectacular, Baroque-style Church of Our Lady of Compassion. The bike GPOS system leads you to the ruins of an deserted 300-year previous fort in Naroa, a preferred Hindu pilgrimage website.
Divar additionally hosts a powerful group of birds together with Asian open-billed stork, purple heron, curler jay, shikra, and small blue kingfisher, so you might have considered trying to carry your binoculars.
BLive takes you biking throughout mangroves, church buildings, temples and off-the-radar historic websites
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Your e-cycle additionally leads you to the whereabouts of a conventional Goan poder (baker) in Divar the place you’ll be able to refill on native poie, crusty undo and doughnut-shaped kankon.
Upwards of ₹2,500 on excursions.blive.co.in/
Mega journey @ Meghalaya
An 11-day biking tour in the ethereal land of clouds will not be meant for lightweights. Bengaluru-based The Art of Bicycle Trips organises hardcore biking adventures world wide and their Enthralling Meghalaya tour is magical, however taxing.
Thankfully, they provide e-cycles which permit travellers with decrease health ranges to sort out the sluggish immersion right into a panorama of bamboo trails, virgin forests, tumbling waterfalls, living-root bridges throughout rivers and mysterious limestone caves. While sturdiness and pedal-assist options of the e-cycle enable you traverse unfamiliar terrain, a assist van is offered must you select to hop off for some time.
Tourists on a The Art of Bicycle Trip in Meghalaya
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Amongst the highlights on this journey is biking to the sting of a jaw-dropping cliff on the Laitlum Canyon, rolling into the grasslands of the tiny hamlet of Mawphanlur, chopping by means of a cover of thick forests in Mawkyrwat and steering away from India’s solely carnivorous pitcher plant species – the Nepenthes khasiana – crouching close to freshwater springs at Mawlyngbna.
Best opted for between April and June, you’ll finish on a excessive word on the Seven Sister falls in Cherrapunji and a 1 km ascent in Jowai to arrive at a Myndtu river, recognized domestically because the Khasi ‘guardian angel’.
Upwards of ₹99,000 on artofbicycletrips.com/
Published – March 03, 2025 05:41 pm IST
