Armenia with Road Bike from One End to the Other

Members of ArmGeo club Felix Kocharyan and Gevorg Harutyunyan recently traveled all over Armenia with road bike. The trip took 5 days. They started it from the northern part of Armenia, which is Gogavan (Tashir) checkpoint and ended it in the southern part – Agarak (Meghri) checkpoint. In total, they covered 520 km and climbed 8100 meters. Felix and Gevorg passed through such cities as Tashir, Stepanavan, Vanadzor, Dilijan, Sevan, Martuni, Yeghegnadzor, Vayk, Goris, Kapan, Kajaran and Meghri.

Childhood dream

The author of this idea is Gevorg Harutyunyan who suggested Felix to join him. In a conversation with us, Gevorg said that he had this idea for a long time. “I can say that I had this on my mind since I was a kid. As I was riding a bicycle I was thinking how far and how long I can ride. As a kid, I imagined that distant place as the edge of Armenia. It was like a pipe dream for me. Then, when my physical and cycling abilities developed, I began to realize that this dream is quite possible. So, this year coronavirus gave the opportunity to return to my childhood dream. I spoke to Felix about it as he is also quite good at cycling and is well prepared. He liked the idea and we decided to give it a try. Anyway, we had nothing to lose”.

Felix says that he liked the idea a lot and after several days of planning they started their journey. He thinks that their 5-day bike trip was very successful.

“Everything went according to our plan. During the trip we had some difficulties concerning the relief of the country, but these difficulties were mostly physical and not psychological. When you are physically tired, you just have no idea how you are going to wake up in the morning and continue riding. The next day you wake up and the thought that you need to finish this journey gives you strength and energy. You ride for half an hour and your muscles get used to the load again”, says Felix.

Bike trips in Armenia

Gevorg also thinks that their bike trip went well. “I am emotionally full. Usually before doing something, you have a fear that maybe you can’t do it, or something won’t go well. But everything went great, almost perfect. We felt a little uncertain about the quality of the roads in Armenia, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that our roads are really good for bike trips. This means that Armenia can be a great cycling destination. We used to ride bikes only in Yerevan and near the city. But now we see that in other regions it is both beautiful and comfortable to ride bikes, too. Our drivers are quite tolerant and it was not very dangerous riding a bike on highways”.

Felix says they were riding road bikes, which are designed specifically for driving on asphalt. Everything was fine, as now most of the roads are in a good condition. However, Gevorg has an impression that the culture of cycling in Armenia is not so developed. “In recent years, we have seen great progress in cycling. More and more people are starting to ride bikes, but it mostly happens locally. However, I think that this is the first step. Over time, people will gain experience and will plan cycling trips to more difficult destinations”.

Interesting episodes

Talking about interesting episodes Felix remembered that on the first day in Tashir checkpoint they started to take photos and a woman approached them. “She asked “Guys, where are you going?”, and we answered that we are going to Meghri. The woman got confused and said, “No, you came to the wrong place”. We started laughing, but she didn’t understand why. Then we explained to her that we are planning to ride bikes from Tashir to Meghri”.

For Gevorg, an interesting episode was when they punctured the wheels of their bicycles at the same time. “It was very interesting that after five days we faced this problem at the same time. We had all the necessary tools to fix it, so the problem was solved in the process”.

Talking about the problems during the trip Gevorg said that the main difficulty was the terrain of Armenia, as there were many descents and ascents. “But it makes the trip even more attractive and interesting. Our friends helped us to solve many issues concerning finding hotels or moving our belongings from one place to another”.

Felix also said that they hadn’t planned where to stay, so they needed to find a place to spend the night every time they reached the new place. “Some days we had problems concerning hotels. For example, we couldn’t find a hotel in Kajaran. We had an accompanying car with us, so we put our bicycles in the car and drove to the city of Kapan to spend the night there. The next morning the car took us back to Kajaran and we continued our journey”.

Armenia from the North to the South

What did this trip give you? Felix and Gevorg answered this question differently. Felix replied: “Before that, I had never been to the northern part of Armenia. As a hiker and traveler, I was so happy to discover completely new places. The road from Stepanavan to Tashir was very beautiful. Besides, even the roads I traveled through by car seemed much more beautiful on a bicycle, as you are able to see and feel more. The southern part of Armenia is very beautiful. This time I saw the south of Armenia from a completely different side. It also gave us a new experience. I think we are the first Armenians who did this trip on this route”.

Gevorg mentioned that this trip first of all gave him confidence. “Secondly, this trip gave me great satisfaction. I can’t say exactly what this trip gave me, but I feel very content. When you have something on your mind for a long time and then you finally do it, you feel something close to happiness and emptiness at the same time”.

Gevorg says that he also has a goal to walk from one end of Armenia to the other, along mountains and gorges, and not along highways.

Both participants in this five-day adventure are happy that they overcame this challenge and traveled all over Armenia with a road bike, from the North to the South of the country.

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Hiking trips in Armenia