Arthur 6AM: how to ride in Sri Lanka and how the bike tour differs from the camp

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Useful from the issue

1. On the coast — only morning and evening

   In the heat, it's worth riding from dawn to ten or eleven in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening. In the mountains above 800 meters you can ride all day.

2. Take the highway

   Asphalt on the island is almost everywhere excellent, and on the highway you can go around the whole country. There is soil in the east, but there are wild animals there.

3. Avoid the southern route

   The big road along the south coast is the only really dangerous place because of aggressive buses. Turn half a kilometer to the side — and quiet roads begin.

4. Apply for a visa in advance

   The first month is free and is issued online by name and passport number. Then the visa can be extended monthly for about $ 50 for up to six months.

5. To elephants — only with an escort

   There is no communication in the national parks in the east, and elephants can be aggressive. Arthur advises to go there with an escort car.

6. Get ready for a set, not for kilometers

   For a multi-day tour of the mountains, it is more important to ride confidently in the ascents and calmly walk 70-80 km a day than to withstand long distances.

From fix to bike trips

Arthur always had a bicycle, but he rediscovered it in St. Petersburg, where he moved to study: a colleague at the store gave him a ride on a fix, and a week later Arthur bought his own. Then there were backpacking trips, and after six months on buses, he realized that he wanted to travel by bike with gears.

In 2021, a simple aluminum bicycle appeared, with which he came to Sri Lanka to try cycling. Then there was a year in Turkey with a carbon highway, a big roll—up, racing - that's where he met Ilya at a gravel race. The finale of the Turkish period was a two—month trip across the country to Tbilisi - with a car, tents and two bicycles.

Weather and relief of the island

On the coast during the day about 32 degrees, at night about 25, so it's better to ride in two windows: from dawn to ten or eleven in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening. In the mountains above 800-1000 meters it is cooler, you can ride there all day, and on the slopes early in the morning you even have to warm up.

The coverage is excellent almost everywhere, so Arthur advises taking a highway: you can see the whole island on it. There are dirt roads in the east, in the zone of savannas and national parks, but there are elephants and crocodiles. The elephant, according to him, accelerates to 40 km/ h, so next time he will go there only with an escort car.

Traffic without rules

The main issue of visitors is roads. The movement is left-sided, you can get used to it in a couple of days. According to Arthur, there are almost no traffic rules in the usual sense, but he considers Sri Lanka to be one of the safest countries for a cyclist: traffic is alive, everyone shows hand maneuvers, knows how to brake and constantly monitors the road. For all the time he has not had a single accident.

The only thing he advises to beware of is the so—called Crazy Bus on the highway along the south coast: huge buses there behave like kings of the road. It is enough to turn off the highway for half a kilometer — and quiet village paths begin.

Visas and local races

The first month of a visa is given to Russian citizens for free, it is better to issue it in advance online. Then the visa can be extended for a month for about $ 50 — now up to six months. Arthur himself works for a local company and lives on a work visa, which is renewed once a year.

He doesn't like local races yet. City starts take place without overlap, in the heat of the day, in circles in traffic: the pack rides calmly until someone screams and starts pulling. There is a separate category for old English and Indian bikes, and local riders ride mainly for prize money. The international ultra—race Across the Pearl island is more seriously arranged - about 600 km that need to be driven in a day, with escort vehicles. Arthur has only been watching her so far.

Bike tour against the camp

Arthur does not condemn the camps where everyone gathers to be photographed in the same uniform, but he does not understand: why go to another place to do the same as at home. For him, the bike should be in the first place.

The main difference between a bike tour and a camp is that there are no ring routes. There is one base in the camp and a new circle every day, but during the journey the road does not repeat even for a dozen kilometers, and every night the group lives in a new place. The participants of the last tour admitted that there was so much novelty that they wanted to stay somewhere for a couple of days.

How does his tour work

The tour lasts 12 days, of which nine are in the saddle: start in the mountains and a gradual descent to the ocean, where the group stays in one place for several days, surfs and practices yoga. The group is small — six to eight participants, with a team of about ten people. The cost is $1900: seven places to stay, transfers from the airport, baggage transportation to the finish, breakfasts, coffee and support with water, snacks, a mechanic and a car.

This is not a sports training camp, but preparation is needed: there are no days longer than a hundred kilometers, but there is a lot of recruitment, so the participant should calmly drive 70-80 km and be able to go to the mountains. The next arrivals are scheduled for the second half of February and the beginning of March. The idea of the tour finally took shape when Arthur's hand was operated on due to an old injury, and for almost a year he could not ride normally - work on the project, according to him, saved him then.

Timestamps

1. 00:00Acquaintance: Arthur and Sri Lanka
2. 00:41How the bike came into life
3. 03:23First touring and year in Turkey
4. 05:24Cycling tours in Turkey and Georgia
5. 08:07Touring with a laptop
6. 08:49Autumn weekend advertising TIPACYCLOCROSS
7. 10:51Weather and relief of Sri Lanka
8. 12:51Traffic and road rules
9. 17:40Visas
10. 20:23Local cycling races
11. 24:29Ultra race across the entire island
12. 26:34Highway or gravel, elephants
13. 28:35Camps for photos
14. 31:19How is a bike tour different from a camp
15. 33:20How does the tour work and how much does it cost
16. 39:35Suitable for whom and when to go
17. 42:57How did the idea of tours come about
18. 46:28Come to Sri Lanka

Mentioned in this episode

Race Across the Pearl · TIPACYCLOCROSS · Crazy Bus · Trek · Basso · Strava · Instagram