J Peter “The Bear” Thoeming tackles Oman on a Yamaha Ténéré 700
My tour buddy was looking good as he powered uphill into the tricky left-hander out of this tiny village high in the Al Hajar mountains in Oman. Standing up on his bike he turned into the corner and backed off the throttle just a little. The rear tyre slipped sideways, he stuck out his foot and fell over. No harm done, except that he was now coated in clinging dust like a piece of hake going into the deep fryer.
It’s not a good idea for me to stand up on a bike because my knees are likely to buckle at the worst possible moment. So I sat on my Ténéré 700 as I followed my buddy into the corner, kept the throttle on and powered out comfortably. Until I hit a large stone under the dust. The bike kicked sideways but my instincts served me well and I just hit the throttle a bit more – safe, and phew!
Someone even congratulated me because I’d looked so relaxed as I took the corner.
It’s not hard getting to Oman. Dubai is a standard stop for anyone flying from Australia to Europe or North Africa, fourteen and a half hours from Sydney aboard an A380. Then you catch up with your Edelweiss Bike Tour “Adventure Dubai & Oman” like I did and you’re on your way.
Angela, the guide, and I both rode Ténéré 700s, while the seven other riders were on bigger bikes. I’m glad I chose the lighter Yamaha; on the straight highways of the United Arab Emirates and Oman it might have lacked a little power, but it never fell behind and made up for it with its handling and useful torque on the dirt. The suspension coped well with the innumerable bumps that the authorities use here to keep road speeds down.
There were a lot of sealed, twisting mountain roads along with straight ones, and many highly enjoyable stretches of spectacular gravel and dirt. There are power lines all over the landscape here, and they all need maintenance tracks – which make brilliant off-roading for bikes. Tackling gravel is potentially a problem for tour operators because the likelihood of crashing is rather higher, as is that of serious injury. Your guide needs to be aware of difficult stretches and coax riders through them, as Angela did.
It was definitely the riding that made this tour. Overnighting in a desert camp was fun, as was staying in some five-star hotels with spectacular views. But the riding – on those immaculate sealed mountain roads and moderately demanding power line trails – was really special.