18/10/2019 0 Comments "Put your pride aside and push"We live in Brussels, so we were convinced that we knew a thing or two about bad roads. That was until we cycled through Tajikistan. Here is an overview of the surprising variety of sorts of bad road we've encountered on the Pamir Highway.
- Asphalt: the asphalt roads were built in Soviet times. There's parts of it left, but it hasn't been maintained and there are big potholes. So you have to keep an eye on the road at all times and never enjoy the surroundings too much. - Gravel: in a lot of places the road is broken up and all that is left is gravel. It's surprisingly easy to ride on until the layer of gravel gets too deep. When this happens you suddenly get stuck, so a certain level of attention is required at all times. - Rocks: in some places the gravel comes with a variety of small or even big rocks. Needless to say these are to be avoided. If you hit one, you risk an ugly fall or worse, you risk breaking your bike. You have to have your eye on each rock on your path. - Sand: You would not expect it but in the high mountains of the Pamir there's a lot of sand. This is not a problem as long as it's a thin layer. When the sand gets deeper you start skidding and you risk falling. Once you’ve lost your speed, it's hard to start again. So sand can result in having to push your bike. This is to avoid at all costs, so sand requires a high level of attention. - Washboards: This is the real enemy. The problem is that you don't see washboards coming until suddenly you're on one, which means your bike and you yourself are heavily shaken like you're riding a bull It's a mystery how they got there. We suspect it might be from the machine in the picture above. - Snow: This is surprisingly pleasant to bike on, most of all when it covers the enemy, washboards. Still it comes with it's own challenges. In the low temperatures of the mornings snow becomes icy and extremely slippery, in the high temperatures of the afternoon snow melts and together with the dust it forms mud. Both ice and mud block your brakes. Be on high alert all the time! The surprising thing about the Pamir Highway is not that it comes with this variety of "bad roads", but that these variations occur in rapid succession or often in combination with each other. Large sections of the Pamir have washboard in the middle of the road, gravel with big rocks next to it and deep sand on the sides. At times this simply makes biking impossible. A French guy who we met said it best: "you just have to put your pride aside and push".
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