This past January I went on a short (slightly under 2 weeks) bike touring trip in Oman. I knew very little about Oman before this trip, but I had been wanting to go somewhere warm in January, and the weather in Oman then is really lovely (hot but not scorching, with cool nights that aren’t freezing). That, plus the challenges and uniqueness of the terrain (mountainous yet somehow tropical desert!), possibility of beer (I’m not a huge drinker but I do like to have a cold beer after a long day riding in the sun, and Saudi Arabia last year, where alcohol is illegal, was kind of sad in that way), and other people’s very positive trip reports online convinced me to book a ticket to Muscat. Besides Saudi Arabia I’ve also bike toured in Egypt, so it was kind of nice to do another country in that region and see what its differences were like. As a woman, I also read that in most of Oman it would be acceptable for me to wear shorts there, as long as I was on or near my bike, being visibly ‘sporty’. That was also a huge plus, because as much as I love the Middle East, every past bike trip I’ve done there I’ve worn long sleeves and pants, which was fine, but man, it’s nice to just not wear as many clothes when it’s sunny out (I kept a pair of knee/leg covers in my handlebar bag that I could throw on very quickly, if I felt like I should – men would not have this predicament). Oman is actually a very popular cycling destination and I ended up doing a difficult but well known gravel/road route through the Western Hajar Mountains, recommended to me by other cyclists, doing a roughly 600km loop starting and ending just outside of the capital. This route has been posted on here before, and covered a lot on the bikepacking.com website ([this](https://bikepacking.com/plan/bikepacking-the-western-hajar-oman/) link in particular).
In a lot of ways this was the most challenging trip I’ve ever done. Seemingly endless inclines, in gravel and dirt, often gradients of 10%, 15% but sometimes as much as 30%. Some roads were too steep or rocky for me to even ride down. I spent many, many hours dragging my bike, which I love but has 30 year old canti brakes and easily weighs 50 pounds, up and downhill. I thought I was in good shape – on previous tours 70-90 mile days (in 100-115 degree heat!) have been pretty normal and not especially challenging for me, and I am also a longtime daily runner/cyclist – but this was sort of a new level of grinding. Halfway through the trip I ended up catching a cold, as well as starting my period, which also made things extra spicy. Still, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Oman is absolutely stunning. The terrain there is absolutely beautiful. The food was excellent and cheap and I ate mountains and mountains of dosas, chapatis, lentils, and stewed curries and veggies, sometimes slaughtered and grown by the person cooking for me. Often I’d pull up to a hole in the wall Pakistani cafe, or a small local grocery store, or wherever, and be standing next to a dust-covered barefoot goat herder carrying a wooden staff, wearing a turban, and dressed in linen. Sometimes men would notice me from half a mile away, stop, and stare wordlessly at me as I rode by.
I was almost always the only woman in the spaces I occupied, but people were usually either kind or indifferent to me and I never felt unsafe. Besides the actual riding, this trip was easy. Oman was very clean, and it was refreshing to see less single-use plastic waste there (in most Middle Eastern or Asian countries I find this sort of horrific). While I did camp (in Oman it’s legal to camp nearly anywhere, camping is very popular, and no one bothers you), it was also easy to find hotels. There are ride-sharing apps and most places take credit cards. Bathrooms were clean, water was plentiful. In the cities there were many tourists – more than I’d ever seen in a Middle Eastern country (as usual, almost none were American). I hitchhiked whenever I didn’t (or just couldn’t) get on my bike; every single time I got a ride I was stopped and offered one before I could even ask. Sometimes cars would stop and they wouldn’t even ask, but tell me to throw my bike in the back of their truck and get in, because the terrain was so insane they couldn’t fathom why or how I’d want to ride it. Most of the time I said no, and soon I understood the Arabic words for, “You are crazy”, which is almost always what they would say before wishing me luck and driving away. Toward the end of the trip I started running out of time and energy and I started taking them up on those lifts, though.
Overall I had a great time although the next place I’m bike touring in is going to be much flatter! That, or I take one of my other road bikes that weighs less and has better brakes 😂
zuqvogel on
Wonderful pictures. Very impressive! I’m a little jealous 😊
Easy_Client_478 on
Amazing photos, nice story! Enjoy your ride!
smoothy1973 on
Looks amazing, can you share or recommend any .gpx links please?
7 Comments
Your bike is awesome. Your adventure is super rad. Keep pedaling!
What an adventure!!
TLDR: Oman is fantastic and the riding is sick. Highly recommend if you love gravel, mountains, Indian/Pakistani food, and physical suffering. No issues as a woman at all, although my risk tolerance is probably different from most people’s (I’ve ridden all over the world, but last trips in the Middle East have been in [Saudi Arabia](https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/comments/17yxypq/riding_in_saudi_arabia_last_month/) and [Egypt](https://www.reddit.com/r/xbiking/comments/qepmow/vintage_chrome_ross_mtb_i_converted_into_a/), which were both a lot of fun).
More photos here! – [album](https://imgur.com/a/sick-riding-oman-UUKtaVX)
This past January I went on a short (slightly under 2 weeks) bike touring trip in Oman. I knew very little about Oman before this trip, but I had been wanting to go somewhere warm in January, and the weather in Oman then is really lovely (hot but not scorching, with cool nights that aren’t freezing). That, plus the challenges and uniqueness of the terrain (mountainous yet somehow tropical desert!), possibility of beer (I’m not a huge drinker but I do like to have a cold beer after a long day riding in the sun, and Saudi Arabia last year, where alcohol is illegal, was kind of sad in that way), and other people’s very positive trip reports online convinced me to book a ticket to Muscat. Besides Saudi Arabia I’ve also bike toured in Egypt, so it was kind of nice to do another country in that region and see what its differences were like. As a woman, I also read that in most of Oman it would be acceptable for me to wear shorts there, as long as I was on or near my bike, being visibly ‘sporty’. That was also a huge plus, because as much as I love the Middle East, every past bike trip I’ve done there I’ve worn long sleeves and pants, which was fine, but man, it’s nice to just not wear as many clothes when it’s sunny out (I kept a pair of knee/leg covers in my handlebar bag that I could throw on very quickly, if I felt like I should – men would not have this predicament). Oman is actually a very popular cycling destination and I ended up doing a difficult but well known gravel/road route through the Western Hajar Mountains, recommended to me by other cyclists, doing a roughly 600km loop starting and ending just outside of the capital. This route has been posted on here before, and covered a lot on the bikepacking.com website ([this](https://bikepacking.com/plan/bikepacking-the-western-hajar-oman/) link in particular).
In a lot of ways this was the most challenging trip I’ve ever done. Seemingly endless inclines, in gravel and dirt, often gradients of 10%, 15% but sometimes as much as 30%. Some roads were too steep or rocky for me to even ride down. I spent many, many hours dragging my bike, which I love but has 30 year old canti brakes and easily weighs 50 pounds, up and downhill. I thought I was in good shape – on previous tours 70-90 mile days (in 100-115 degree heat!) have been pretty normal and not especially challenging for me, and I am also a longtime daily runner/cyclist – but this was sort of a new level of grinding. Halfway through the trip I ended up catching a cold, as well as starting my period, which also made things extra spicy. Still, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Oman is absolutely stunning. The terrain there is absolutely beautiful. The food was excellent and cheap and I ate mountains and mountains of dosas, chapatis, lentils, and stewed curries and veggies, sometimes slaughtered and grown by the person cooking for me. Often I’d pull up to a hole in the wall Pakistani cafe, or a small local grocery store, or wherever, and be standing next to a dust-covered barefoot goat herder carrying a wooden staff, wearing a turban, and dressed in linen. Sometimes men would notice me from half a mile away, stop, and stare wordlessly at me as I rode by.
I was almost always the only woman in the spaces I occupied, but people were usually either kind or indifferent to me and I never felt unsafe. Besides the actual riding, this trip was easy. Oman was very clean, and it was refreshing to see less single-use plastic waste there (in most Middle Eastern or Asian countries I find this sort of horrific). While I did camp (in Oman it’s legal to camp nearly anywhere, camping is very popular, and no one bothers you), it was also easy to find hotels. There are ride-sharing apps and most places take credit cards. Bathrooms were clean, water was plentiful. In the cities there were many tourists – more than I’d ever seen in a Middle Eastern country (as usual, almost none were American). I hitchhiked whenever I didn’t (or just couldn’t) get on my bike; every single time I got a ride I was stopped and offered one before I could even ask. Sometimes cars would stop and they wouldn’t even ask, but tell me to throw my bike in the back of their truck and get in, because the terrain was so insane they couldn’t fathom why or how I’d want to ride it. Most of the time I said no, and soon I understood the Arabic words for, “You are crazy”, which is almost always what they would say before wishing me luck and driving away. Toward the end of the trip I started running out of time and energy and I started taking them up on those lifts, though.
Overall I had a great time although the next place I’m bike touring in is going to be much flatter! That, or I take one of my other road bikes that weighs less and has better brakes 😂
Wonderful pictures. Very impressive! I’m a little jealous 😊
Amazing photos, nice story! Enjoy your ride!
Looks amazing, can you share or recommend any .gpx links please?
Looks badass!