Eastern Tibetan Plateau, Cycling across it.

Back in October I did one of the most amazing and hardest cycling trips I've ever done. I cycled across the eastern part of the Tibetan plateau from south to north. It was incredibly hard, very remote and cycling up and down from 3800mts (12500ft) to 4900mts (16000ft) every single day, sometimes from as low as 2800mts (9200ft)endless mountain passes, completely unpredictable weather, sun, cold, snow, blizzards, hailstorms, everything in one day. But on the other hand the most magnificent landscapes, the almost absolute sollitude, the plays of light and shadows simply magical and of course, the Tibetans, easily one of the most wonderful, lovely and hospitable people I've ever met.

I carried D700+14-24-24-70-70-300+50 1.4

This is a brief account of the journey in 15 photos. I'll later post the portraits of people. These are mostly panoramas, i took individual images of these but I also did panos of about 30MP to 40MP for large printing.

Hope you like them!

Grasslands





Logic of the bumps





Riding on the roof





Storm coming!





































before the storm





After the storm





Waiting for the snow to stop. My bike and my tent at 4300mts (14100ft)





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'there's more in each of us than we know'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasmarino/

Absolutely amazing trip and photos, shades of Alexandra David Kneel...Peter
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http://www.pbase.com/peter55/galleries

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely amazing and can imagine the physical torture you've beeing going through on such a trip. I'm not sure I'd taken such heavy equiepment on such a trip.

But your results are definetly worth it!!

regards
JoeM

very nice work
torsten
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http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php?action=file&userID=780170

Beautiful images and what looks like a beautiful place.
Look forward to seeing more
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badui bourizk
http://www.studio102.net
http://www.sicilians.com.au

Great work Nico. It also shows that you are a glutton for punishment! At first I thought you would be using a bicycle ( even more a glutton for punishemen!) But I realized you were using some kind of 500cc dirt bike?

thanks a lot guys! Cyclling in this areas is very very hard indeed but it totally pays off, because you get to know the world more intimately than with any other traveling medium other than maybe walking.

Weegee said:

Great work Nico. It also shows that you are a glutton for punishment! At first I thought you would be using a bicycle ( even more a glutton for punishemen!) But I realized you were using some kind of 500cc dirt bike?

Click to expand...

hehe thanks weegee! no, no 500cc dirt bike at all. Have a look at the last photo, that's my Merida MTB lying on the snow next to my tent. ) motorbikes are too complicated and dangerous and way to fast to enjoy the world

--
'there's more in each of us than we know'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasmarino/

Congratulations on all fronts
david

Absolutely Stunning shots! If I were you, these would be going on to a frame and onto my living room wall! Breathtaking shots!

Regads,
Ray

That's all I can say.
I've cycled from London to the mediterranean before but this is something else.

Back then I was on a single-speed and (apart from not really being back into digital photography at the time) I wuoldn't have carried all that gear!

Fantastic journey + beautiful photos.
Well done!

I'd love to do something like that sometime (although I still wouldn't have the courage to take all that gear with me)!

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Joe

Beautiful!

Beautiful work, beautiful country ... it certainly makes a difference when you can stop whenever you want to. I'm impressed by your persistence - it's tough doing anything physical up at 14,000 feet. Did you go past Nam Tso Lake? That's one area I particularly enjoyed.

How did you recharge your camera batteries? What did you use for storage?

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Roger

http://tinius-photo.com/Roger

Nico,

Your work is nothing short of breathtaking. It comes as no surprise to me that your photographs are on 1x.com either.

http://1x.com/?member=25276

I particularly love this quote:

"Life to me means traveling and learning, interrupted by necessary gaps called work-to-make-money. "

Thanks for letting us live your adventures vicariously through your photos. I'd love to see a follow up on how you post processed some of your landscapes.

I just read up on some of the Tibetan bike tours - East to West in 11 weeks!!! With nearly 50-60% of the travel above 4000m...Incredible. Also - have you considered ditching the 70-300 in favor of a 28-300?

Thanks for sharing.

ss

Absolutely amazing... looks like a very nice place to be.
Looking forward to seeing your portraits

BR
Morten

Amazing photos!

I especially like the colour. After looking at them, I feel calm and tranquil. Thank you for sharing these photos. They give me great joy. I wish I can have time to visit Tibet again, but probably not by bicycle.

David

Good time of year to go? How did you chose the route? Day to day survival, looks like you camped out a lot. How long did you go for? How was communication? How was the weight of the camera kit you brought with you?

Great photos..can't wait for the people photos.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/22388579@N08/

Amazing! Do they require any permit for tent-camping along the way in Tibet?

Fantastic photos and adventure. I so admire people like you for taking the risk and getting out into the world. Do you have a blog I could read about the trip?

WOW, and on a bicycle. Just amazing. You could write a book about this, and it would be a best seller with all the great pictures you took. Just beautiful. Dave
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Visit my gallery at http://www.poperotzy.smugmug.com