Last Friday I joined Cycling Jordan for the very first time on a Mountainbike tour from Amman to Kafrein Dam. Little did I know what I signed up for and what we would encounter. For sure it was an adventure and it actually pushed me (and some others) to our limits. More on that later.
Cycling Jordan is a bike shop which sells and rents out bikes and bicycle equipment, offers maintenance and which organizes bike trips throughout Jordan. I decided to join one of their weekend trips near Amman with about 30 other cyclists.
We started our journey at Cycling Jordan’s Shop in Amman. We rode along the main street towards Khalda circle and then turned towards Fuheis and had our first steep climb. Unfortunately, this was only the first one of much steeper and longer ones to come. Luckily, for every climb we were rewarded with a nice downward ride afterwards. In Fuheis we saw some goats and had a first nice downhill ride.
From Fuheis we mad our way down and up a couple of times on a nice ride towards Iraq Alameer. Before we reached the ruins of the castle, we had some obstacles on our way. We had to cross some small water streams, some wood piles on the ground but later had awesome views on Kafrein Valley and saw a lots of green.
Approaching the Dead Sea
After visiting Qasr Abd at Iraq Al-Ameer, we had the first real extreme challenge ahead of us. I think most of us had to get off the bike at some point of the climb, although there seemed to be quiet a lot of well trained pros among us. Anyway, I wasn’t able to stay on the bike with these ascends. But hey, after up, comes down. Of course we always had the support car in our back, in case assistance was needed. We were provided with water all the way and was relying on my energy Muslibars from @zadbar, which were a tasty, healthy energy-rich snack in addition to some bananas. Thx to @zadbar!
After another break we were slowly approaching different terrain and the greens were getting less and less and surroundings were more desert like while we were leaving asphalt roads. Slowly beige colors were dominant. Terrain was rough but the views amazing and in the far distance I even spotted a camel before we were finally reaching Kafrein Dam.
After reaching the dam, our final destination, I was totally exhausted (due to my lack of training) but happy to have joined this ride with its diverse nature, great people and supporting team. Cycling Jordan provided safe equipment, a knowledgable support team, snacks and water in between, and a short stretching session in the end before returning on a the bus back to the shop in Amman. The people who participated were very friendly and it was a great outdoor experience away from the city. I can only recommend to join them on some of their weekend trips, so make sure to check out their FB page and website. Go and discover Jordan by bike.
Thank you very much to Cycling Jordan for inviting me to join this trip! And thanks to @zadbar for the energy bars.
Location: in Al Rawabi, behind Mecca Street, not too far from Hashem
For more info on Cycling Jordan see below:
Website
Facebook Page
Facebook Group
Instagram
More on Zadbar
Instagram
For more on hikes, tours and outdoor activities in Amman and Jordan see my category Traveling. A compiled a list of the The Best Places and Experiences in Jordan and When to go to start with. If you have been to the most popular places, have a look at what you can do in Northern Jordan.
