Cycling in Northwest Caucasus
There are many opportunities for cycling in the Northwest Caucasus, but the challenge is to find the ideal route with little or no traffic and the perfect distance between accommodations. The mountains here create a perfect backdrop, and the altitudes are high enough to not be hot in the summer, but not too high to make it hard to breathe. With moderate rainfall and humidity, cycling here is a truly enjoyable adventure.
Trails
There are no designated bike trails, but some of the hiking trails are wide enough for bikes, especially at higher elevations.
Structure
There are all kinds of climates, from subtropical to subarctic. The vast majority of the terrain is covered by forests, followed by alpine fields and glaciers.
Good to Know
Some of the best biking routes are along uninhabited villages, but they are rarely looped, so you will have to ride the same routes back.
Distance: Depending on the exact location, you can reach the area within 1 hour drive from Kutaisi.
Best time for Cycling: Compared to the Northeast Caucasus, the cycling routes are at lower altitude, so you can enjoy cycling from May to November..
Red Line: Cross-country cycling
Blue Line: Mountain Biking
Upper Svaneti
Although Upper Svaneti has excellent hiking trails, biking can be a bit challenging as most of the roads are heavily used by cars. Your best bet would be to use abandoned Soviet-built country roads and hiking trails.
If you decide to bike up to Koruldi lakes, better to avoid sunny/dry weather, as you will be pedaling in the dust of tourist-filled 4wd vehicles. Slightly rainy weather will be a great deterrent of those vehicles, but you might be also slipping down that gravel road.
There are two great one-way bike routes from Ughviri Pass, one to the Tetnuldi resort cross-country trail and the other to the Hatsvali resort mountain bike trail. From Hatsvali you can descend to Mestia through Heshkili instead of the main road.
One of the toughest biking routes, in terms of fitness, is through the Latpari Pass. With 1,000m uphill and 1,800m downhill, this old gravel road takes you from Upper Svaneti to Lower Svaneti. Rarely used by vehicles. In case of bad weather, it is better to avoid this high pass and take the Zagaro pass.
Lower Svaneti
If you decide to ride your bike from Upper Svaneti to Lower Svaneti, you will have to cross the Zagaro Pass or the more difficult Latpari Pass. Once you are in Lower Svaneti, there will be far fewer tourists around, and fewer vehicles on the country roads, so you can enjoy strolling through the villages.
Keep in mind that the road from Mele to Lentekhi is mostly asphalt and not that much fun. If you decide to take the rural gravel roads, you can ride from Lentekhi to Lamushkalshi and ride back the same way. But if you decide to go for some mountain biking, there are no options except to take a hiking route from Shkhedi village to Keli pass. From Keli pass you can go down to Racha region.
Racha-Lechkhumi
Depending on which parts of this region you visit, there are either the hot summer months area and the cooler (in terms of temperature) one. For the most scenic walks without much traffic, the villages of Chiora, Ghebi, Tevresho and Gona are your best bet.
Low altitude areas start from Ambrolauri, follow the road to Uravi village and then mountain bike your way to Tskhalmatchari mountain shoulder where you can find some shepherd’s huts. This is rarely visited by foreigners or local tourists, but the views are absolutely breathtaking.
Samegrelo
Big part of Samegrelo are flatlands near the Black Sea shores, though Northern parts of the region are covered by massive Caucasus mountains. Keep in mind that lower areas get really hot and humid during the summer.
Two biking routes that we’ve tried, are the gravel road leading to Lebarde resort, which is not really a “resort” in terms of infrastructure, but beautiful scenery with almost no tourists. This trip can be done within a day.
The second option is to cycle up to the Askhi Massif, which can take 2-3 days. There are several gravel roads and trails around, so you can make a loop instead of coming back the same way. As a bonus, you can visit some remarkable waterfalls, canyons and caves in the foothills, such as Kinchkha and Oniore.