Have you tried a biking holiday yet? Don’t worry, you can also ride pillion

From the Alps to the Himalayas and the ghats of Tamil Nadu, biking holidays are on the rise as travellers discover the joys of pairing adrenaline with sightseeing

Michael Starr, a British national, turned 74 in the Himalayas. He wasn’t at a spa, yoga or meditation retreat. Instead, he was on a motorbike riding to the highest pass in Ladakh. In the absence of stores or bakeries at that altitude, his fellow bikers surprised him by holding up a birthday message written across a large white bed sheet.

For Atul Bharadwaj, who organised the tour, memorable moments like this are par for the course. Atul, who started AB Original Tours in 2009 in Solan (Himachal Pradesh), says, “Motorbike tours are on the bucket list of many travellers.” The pandemic has fuelled a definite rise in outdoor activities and fitness-oriented holidays — not surprisingly, operators like Atul are also seeing a spike in interest from both seasoned and amateur bikers.

“India has so much scope for motorcycle tours,” he says over a call from Solan, adding that he often gets contacted by young entrepreneurs who want to get into the business. He advises them to explore new routes. “There are so many options like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka,” he lists. In a bid to fulfil his own bucket list and seek new terrain, he rode through the whole country last year, covering 30 states in 108 days. “I saw such amazing roads in Chhattisgarh and Bihar, places I was originally biased against.”

Atul started his bike tours with itineraries to the Himalayas and Rajasthan, and now includes rides across Kerala, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Darjeeling in West Bengal. His company has completed more than a 100 tours. “Weather is a big factor when riding. We do not want to be in bad weather where it’s too hot or cold or raining. So I chose the best months for all these regions,” he explains.

He takes his travellers to Rajasthan in November-December, Kerala in December-January, Sikkim and Uttarakhand from April to October, and the Himalayas from July to September. Since his itineraries are long, often spanning 21 days, he gets a majority of foreign clientele who want that kind of time to explore a region apart from feeling the rush of adrenaline.

Budhi Singh who runs Motorcycle Expeditions out of Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), also gets most of his clients from overseas. In fact, his tours have been so popular with foreign riders that he has set up offices in Frankfurt, Ulaanbaatar and Perth. Post the lull of 2020, the tours are picking up again and “the Indian market is looking good now”, says Singh.

Motorcycle Expeditions’ itinerary also started out with Rajasthan and Ladakh and has, over the years, grown to include Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India, besides Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Laos, Mongolia, Thailand, Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland and Sri Lanka. The duration of trips start from seven days and go up to 14.