Modern cities and lonely desert areas with well-developed roads make the United Arab Emirates an extremely interesting one Cycling destination. However, heat and solar radiation - especially on the coast and in the summer months - can reach their limits. In the interior of the country, however, there is a drier and more pleasant climate, although the temperatures can rise extremely there too.
The Al-Qudra bike path
A highlight for all cyclists is certainly the approximately 85-kilometer-long Al-Qudra cycle path (also called Al Qudra cycle track or Al Qudra cycle lane), which can be explored as part of a sporty day tour. It is a modern two-lane cycle expressway that starts in Dubai and leads into the middle of the desert and is regularly cleared of sand with sweeping machines. Since the cycle path is mainly used for cycle races, which are rarely held, you have it practically to yourself. At the starting point of the route there are public, very clean and modern changing rooms with showers and lockers. There is a rest area with the possibility to stock up on (expensive) provisions and there is only a bike shop along the Al-Qudra cycle path here, which is why sufficient drinking water is to be carried
There are isolated shelters along the way, which are also suitable for a temporary overnight stay on the two existing benches if necessary.
Bike shops in Dubai
The most famous and sometimes best-stocked bike shops in Dubai, namely
, the
, the
,
and the
are all along Sheikh Zayed Road. The market is not designed for touring and touring bikes, which is why it is better to bring special spare parts from home. For example, the search for good 26-inch touring coats across the city was unsuccessful.
Especially Wolfi's Bike Shop is well known in the cycling scene. The operator comes from Germany. The only sports shop in the Dubai Mall has a very small and negligible bike department.
dress
In contrast to some other Islamic states, women can drive without a headgear and men in shorts, but because of the intense sunlight and possible sand gusts, thin long clothing, headgear, sunglasses and a cloth to cover the face are recommended.
If you navigate with your smartphone, you should be careful not to permanently expose it to direct sunlight. Sun and heat can quickly overload the device and damage the battery.
The easiest and most independent way to navigate, as everywhere in the world, is with the free maps from Openstreetmap (OSM). This can be downloaded completely free of charge before the trip, so no internet connection is required. With the app Oruxmaps and the additional tool BRouter You can even use it to calculate offline routes on your smartphone. Openstreetmap is created by volunteers in collaborative work. However, since there are numerous large construction projects in the United Arab Emirates, not everything is always up-to-date please so that this information is also available to other users in the future. This is relatively easy, for example, after a short familiarization with the app Vespucci.
Drinking water
In the UAE, tap water is suitable as drinking water, but of course, taps are often not available in the vast desert areas. It should therefore always be ensured that there is an adequate supply of drinking water.
Roads and traffic
Most of the country roads and highways have a hard shoulder on which you can ride a bicycle, separated from the already not very dense motorized traffic. Dubai is known as the car city. Nevertheless, there is a certain cycling infrastructure with well-developed cycle paths.
Catering
Outside the cities there are large areas of desert. Shops along the streets, including petrol stations, are rather rare there, which is why an appropriate supply should be carried with you.
Camping
Outside the cities, suitable campsites should usually be found off the road. To keep scorpions and the nocturnal large black beetles away, you should not do without the mosquito net when sleeping.
This article is based on this post of nicoleopter.blogspot.de and is available there under the Creative Commons License Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.