A notification popped up on Facebook mentioning about "The Epic SriLanka Bike Tour". For me this was the best way to put my life on hold and just disappear to a place where people don't know me, away from the busy schedule, away from the best buddies; to rejuvenate my thoughts, have a new start for the upcoming year and end 2017 year on a good note.
Bike touring is a spartan life with abundant freedom and I want to do it again, live every moment of it till it soaks in my soul. The experience of riding a multi-day bike tours brings in mixed feeling of riding slow, fast, giving all your energy, doing climbs (a lot of it), fear of being dropped from the group, trying to mix up with the other like-minded folks, getting tanned, riding alone, taking the suffering, and embracing the nature. It is difficult to put the emotions and feelings after riding this tour into words but I'll try to do it with this post. What happened while biking in SriLanka will always come up as a motivation for me and memories to cherish for the lifetime. I hope anyone reading this post will enjoy it.
Before flying, it was the feeling of intense trepidation as the tour approached. This tour had a total distance of 750 KM to be covered accompanied by some steep climbs, a foreign land to ride on with scorching sun on a few days and pouring rain on the rest. Touring never gets easier but my stamina always improves with each bike tour I ride. Pain and suffering on the tour are transient, the memories are perpetual. I travel by bicycle for everything other than arriving at the destination. I want to see the depth of serene nature which would unfold with each pedal stroke I make.
Day 0: Hyderabad to Colombo
On 15th of December, 2017, I found myself boarding a plane for a vacation. Oh, did I hear it right "vacation"? Yes, a vacation but a tough one. A vacation where I wanted to hear the birds chirping, trembling trees waiting for my bike to cross them, water puddles waiting to soak my shoes wet, rain shower trying to calm my mind, smiles of the strangers with whom I make eye contact while riding slow. Well, I got all of it in SriLanka, a country with rich culture, food cuisine, serene riding environment and strangers who helped at each stage.
On reaching the Hyderabad airport, I was dumbstruck to see the courtesy of the staff who opened a dedicated counter for the folks going on the bike tour to make it easy and quick to drop bike bags as the luggage. I think it was a wise decision to speed up the regular queue. I didn't want the hassle of carrying my own bike, so ActionLanka was supposed to arrange a bike on rent for me. I really enjoy the food I get on the rides but felt a little disappointed as I had to eat vegetarian food on SriLankan airways. We were picked up by Peter (from ActionLanka), a person 54-year-old but with the stamina of a youngster. It took us an hour to reach the hotel at Colombo from the airport. Colombo has the highest concentration of people, so traffic was a bit of a problem. Everyone was so excited that Peter had to do the tour briefing on the bus itself.
After reaching to the hotel, I stepped out with Joe to try out the local delicacies like Prawn curry and Nasi Goreng, followed by String Hoppers and Egg Appam along with other fellow riders. The food was delicious and all the LKR I converted at the airport was spent on the lunch.
Towards the evening, AK (our tour guide from ActionLanka) got the bike ("Specialized Diverge") I rented out. The bike looked promising, comfortable and much responsive than my bike "Specialized Roubaix" but it had thick tires which took some time to get used to. The team of ActionLanka is skilled and helped everyone assemble their bikes. Riding a new bike can sometimes take a toll for such long tours but Peter's personal bike which he gave to me for riding didn't disappoint me at any point in time. Bike for Joe was a bit of a problem due to size but the team was able to get a better bike for him which I'm sure he would have enjoyed riding through the tour.
I had a good time during my stay at Hotel Stewart (thanks to Anand who picked up such a nice hotel). In the night, I swung by Java coffee lounge for a nice Chicken Wrap as a dinner. Post dinner, everyone went for a stroll. SriLanka was already gearing up for the Christmas celebration with hotels decorated, live music playing and streets decorated with the lights. The locals were helpful from the time our gang landed in SriLanka. Joe was interested to go for a short ride to test his bike in the night itself. Well, everyone was too excited for the tour to begin.
SriLanka has a lot of Buddhist influence. On the way back to the hotel, Joe and I visited a souvenir shop and the souvenirs were mesmerizing. I had already made up my mind what to buy but I guess I was a bit late to make that choice as the store made an announcement for the close and we had to leave. Looking at the quality of the roads, it felt that roads of Colombo (similar to any posh area of Hyderabad) are deceptive and it can't be so clean, no litter, people obeying traffic rules. I was amazed to see that the car driver wouldn't move as we were trying to cross the road. I guess something which Indians can learn.
Most of the times, cyclist riding schedule is not well synced up with the hotels but our tour planner ActionLanka and TBA did a great job to have things organized early morning. It was raining cats and dogs in the night with dark clouds all over the place. But of course, with dark clouds, there is always a silver lining. The sun which will soon be out in the morning to kick start our tour.
The real adventure was just a day away. The next 10 days would be shambling meander across SriLanka.
Day 1: Colombo to Chilaw
78 KM ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/1315444035
This ride went in getting used to the rented bike. Before starting the ride, everyone was given the cue sheet to be followed and looks like I had more technical stuff to digest for understanding the cue sheet. For the first time, I came to know SO means straight on. Except for a few riders, I have never ridden with the others who came for the tour. So, this ride helped in understanding who can ride at my pace and make new friends. The route was picked by Krish from TBA who always likes the country roads rather than highways. The ride was along the coast and the scorching sun was out to increase the tanning for the riders. No matter which country I ride at, if it has dogs, they always bark at the cyclist. I don't know what fun they get doing that but looks like in SriLanka they enjoyed barking much more. I was a bit scared not to smash the bike into another rider due to dog chase.
On the way, we stopped at Negombo for coffee and tiramisu. Since no was interested in the milk portion of the tea/coffee (everyone likes black stuff), I just drank it like Punjabi's do :) A few miles were cutting through the fish market right next to the sea. Oh! the smell of the fish was charming. A bunch of riders riding slow got titled as photography group/team C. They were stopping a lot and to reduce heat, took a dip at a deserted beach. Beaches of SriLanka (similar to the roads) are very clean and litter free. Post the dip, Krish decided to ride without shoes and later the socks were seen on the pedals and Krish riding happily barefoot. We stopped at another place to refill water, enjoy the cold drink and some fried stuff to eat. The best part of bike tours is that you can eat the food of your choice as you will burn out the calories for the same on the ride. The last stretch was a gravel road and the Specialized Diverge was put to the real use. The bike responded well and helped in reducing the pain. Towards the last 3 KM, I saw Hemanth riding with one leg and pedal sticking on the cleat on his right leg. I wasn't sure what he was trying to achieve with that but later he mentioned that his cleat had some problem.
Soon we arrived at Carolina beach hotel and were served with the welcome drink. For me, that was the recovery from the ride. The ride was a bit slow per the standards of my regular riding during the preparation for the tour, still trying to figure out the root cause for it because with this pace, it was definitely going to hurt a lot in the upcoming days. When Dr. Pavan and Joe arrived, I had no doubts about the capabilities of their photography skills.
Day 2: Chilaw to Anuradhapura
139 KM ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/1316773242
Day 2 was the longest day of the tour accompanied by headwinds and blazing sun. The first 12 KM was the gravel road. The route was broken into a few sections with stops for water, breakfast, and lunch. All the riders got divided into teams based on the riding speed. Team A - speed guns, Team B - Trying to set the pace, Team C - Photography gang trying to enjoy the tour to the full extent. Our destination was Anuradhapura; is a beautiful place with Buddhist relics, a place where sampling from Bodhi tree was kept. Lucky enough to see the prayers from the Buddhism followers in the evening while exploring this UNESCO world heritage site after the ride was over. Some places were so peaceful that it just freshens up the mind.
By this day, our sleep schedule was set, lights off by 9:30 pm and wake up at 5 am. It feels very nice to get so many hours of sleep when your focus is just riding and nothing else.
Day 3: Anuradhapura to Rideegama
121 KM ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/1318204656
The scenic beauty played an important role to ease the pain which started to kick in on day 3. We stopped a lot to try papaya juice with the lemon smash, curd with treacle (treacle is the coconut honey made in SriLanka). I had composed an epic picture of me with mountains on the front and me riding towards it. Kshitij did an amazing job to capture it well. Around 100 KM mark, Kshitij and I stopped, sat on the road to relax under a tree shade. Soon Peter came to rescue and helped us get lunch on the way post which we headed to the hotel. The ride to the hotel was gravel/dirt road for ~ 2 KM with the dogs chasing us. Kshitij put the map of walking and we were taking left, right, U-turn for last KM to reach the hotel instead of a straight path.
Day 4: Rideegama to Kandy
46 KM ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/1319201447
This is the ride which introduced me to the climbing sections on the tour. Luckily it was a short ride but with a long climb towards the end. I had already made up my mind to go slow on the climb and best way to do that was to ride a few KM with Joe. When we started the ride in the morning, we had a water puddle and most of the riders got through it without getting wet but there are always a few :)
The ride to the base was easy and quick; without realizing, riders hit the base of the climb. As the climb started, kids in the area were shouting in Sinhalese (the language spoken in SriLanka) which looked like words of encouragement to me. The climb got over and riders waited at the Petrol bunk on top of the hill. I guess it won't be possible to wait at a Petrol station in India. People were relaxing, sleeping, chatting after the climb. No one wanted to ride more to the hotel. Some of the riders (Adhip, Gokul, and Pratibha) were so motivated that they went down the hill to climb it again. Hats off to them. After the climb, Hemath was found in praying position that mountain has been easy for him to get a ranking on the climb. Well, of course, he was doing stretching exercise :)
Joe and I stopped at a couple of places sharing the raisins, groundnuts Joe got along with a few energy bars. It really helped me on the climb. I was sweating so much that any place I took a break at got the water droplets. Joe stopped at a place checking out raw coffee beans and I was shouting, is it something to eat? So hungry all the time. For me riding on this climb was just to get fancy pictures without struggling much. Guess we hadn't done enough that we had to do another kicker climb to reach the hotel top as well.
Kandy looks touristy. I went out to explore the place, got some cycle printed t-shirts followed by the visit to Temple of Tooth Relic though was not motivated enough to go inside. I saw a lake near our hotel in Kandy and was amazed to see it so clean, hats off the Sri Lankans who are able to maintain such a beauty.
Day 5: Kandy to Nuwara Eliya
95 KM ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/1320631179
The hardest day of the tour and ahh, thinking about it while writing this post is enough to bring back the pain. This ride was full of rain, fog, mountains, greenery, and waterfalls. The most scenic but still hard day of the tour. The rain was pouring throughout the ride; towards the end, it became difficult to stop for a break due to shiver I was getting from the cold rainwater and sweat. My raincoat was my phone, wallet, and shoe cover. I didn't care much about Jersey getting wet and soggy.
I was riding alone for quite sometime when I saw Gokul and Kshitij coming. It was great catching up with Gokul on the ride. He helped me click pictures which I was unable to do due to wet hands. We stopped at a waterfall at which Kshitij took a dip and a bike wash. To reach to the lunch place, there was a 5 KM uphill and I was stopping too frequently. Gokul convinced me to keep riding and engaged me in a discussion so that I stop thinking about the pain riding uphill. We had lunch at a small place at 60 KM mark. Now the beast starts. I filled my tummy with as much food as I could eat but that didn't last even for a few KM on the climb. I was so slow in the cycle that I was able to make eye contacts with the people from the village and the smile they gave made me forget the pain for that moment. My toe fingers were numb by now, body soaked in rain and I was completely drenched in water even after wearing shoe cover (guess I didn't pay them enough as water seeped in from below).
I wanted to take pictures but was unable to operate the phone neither through fingerprint nor through the passcode. I stopped a person passing by to see if he can let me wipe my phone and hand with his shirt so that I can use my phone at least to know the distance and check the map for the hotel location. The person would be thinking, who is this fool with two wheels on a hill under the rain shower?
The tea plantation was beautiful and one of the scenic vistas of SriLanka. This day, I didn't want to be swept, it was a challenge that I wanted to finish the tour completely on two wheels. My body gave up on the salts, had to forcefully drink water. Pretty soon, I was out of energy bars and the energy from the lunch didn't last long enough but I still had 12 KM to reach to the hotel. The total climb (I call it a beast) was ~ 34 KM and an HC category climb. On the way to the hotel, there is a Pedro tea estate which was supposed to be worth a visit but with so much hardship, I gave it a pass. Though I was struggling hard to finish the ride, I still managed to enjoy a bit by embracing nature. Joe who was riding slowly was unable to finish the ride along with a bunch of other riders but he did get good memories by fixing flat of our support bus. Looks like even support needs support :)
Later, I got to know that he shared lunch with a farmer (jackfruit curry he ate looked delicious), clicked a lot of pictures along with Pavan. The hotel we stayed at had a wooden roof and was reminiscent of the colonial buildings.
Day 6: Nuwara Eliya to Ella
58 KM ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/1321632497
Each grueling climb delivers a matching descent that you may spend at your own leisure, whether you’re the type to blow it all in one go for a quick shot of adrenaline, or canter relaxedly down, savoring each tree and flower and blade of grass and friendly wave. Today was that day.
My neck was hurting due to the climb on the yesterday's ride. Gokul was very helpful in making me do some exercises to reduce the pain. He is a very helpful person who makes most of my touring enjoyable. Descents are lovely as long as you are careful with the brakes and timing.
In the initial part of the ride, we crossed a beautiful temple "Seetha Amman". Per our expert photographer "Dr. Pavan", beauty is an understatement for this ride. A few folks stopped to take pictures of a fruit similar to Lichi "Rambutan"; looked interesting. The ride ended at a place called Ella; a delight for backpackers. In the evening, we met a chap from Germany (I guess) who was also touring SriLanka on his bicycle. All the riders chilled at Chill Cafe where we had our sumptuous dinner meal.
Day 7: Ella to Udawalawe
103 KM ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/1322671459
Today was a lovely pace for a century ride. All credits to the tail winds. It was a relief from the suffering till date. Pace was so high that I missed the main entrance of the Udawalawe National Park. The ride had to be finished by 2 pm to accomplish our safari plan and it's so cool that I did it by 11:30 am. Tailwind on the road was a bliss. When we hit the road from Ella, we soon saw the majestic Ella Gap followed by Ravana falls. Though there were a lot of monkeys around the falls; it was the spot for taking pictures.
Despite the pain on the ride, when I saw the Udawalawe reservoir, the view made me forget all the pain I have been going through for last 6 days. It was an so nice to be around that reservoir for the photographs. There were two Elephants (a little sad that they have to be out in sun behind the electric fence), one was named "Rambo" I think. The weather has been glorious and the miles passed unnoticed as if it's you who is stationary and the world is rotating beneath your wheels. This is because my legs have hardened and learnt how to take all the pain without asking my mind to handle it. By hasty close of another day, I have ridden another century. Momentum won't let me stop.
We reached Udawalawe; the third biggest national park in SL. As planned, I was all set for the evening safari at the national park. This was my first experience of a Safari and I loved it. After a lot of nuisance created by the 6 of us in our Jeep, the forest officer came and sat with us. We took different route than the other folks to get better experience of spotting the creatures of the park. Joe was sharing his knowledge of safaris. I saw a lot of unique creatures like star turtle, elephant charging, a lot of birds, pelicans, monitor lizard, etc. It was a bliss to see the peacock with the feathers spread. But for our friends, Joe and Gokul, safari seemed so monotonous that they slept on the back seat snoring.
Day 8: Udawalawe to Mirissa
102 KM ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/1323754225
Dr. Pavan was complaining about the route that why is it undulating. It was very quick of AK (tour guide) to joke that riders should also have a flat stomach and not undulating. The route was full of continuous climbs every 2-3 KM.
Kshitij, Joe and me started riding a bit fast to end the ride at Mirissa. The way Joe cruises his bike through the city traffic is something to be learnt from. He is faster than me on such roads driving his bike like his Land Cruiser. By end of this ride, we reached the southernmost tip of SriLanka where we checked in at Handegadara Colonial Villa. This villa got destroyed by Tsunami disaster and was reconstructed. While other riders were busy packing bikes, I quickly jumped into the swimming pool without glasses and I hurt my hands by smashing into the boundary of the pool. Post ride, swimming pool is the best place for recovery especially if water is a bit cold. The ice-cream while chilling at the pool was like Wow feeling.
Mirissa to Galle (no cycling)
After ending the biking tour, all of us went to the celebration dinner at the Galle Fort but our bunch got a few minutes late and missed the sunset. We picked a different restaurant as the one booked didn't have enough space for all of us. A few vegan folks went to a different place leaving the hard-core non-vegetarians at Canon Bar & Grills where we were the only ones. The restaurant was exploited for the seafood by the bunch of hungry chaps after riding 750 km with a live Kitchen and the chef made it special. Chef had to literally tell that this food is for the outside folks and not us as we didn't see what was coming our way, we just ate what came out of the Kitchen. Post the drinks, the dance floor was all set by Pavan, Kshitij, and Joe. Later Hemanth joined them as well. A night to remember.
The team of ActionLanka was amazing and unique. I really loved the way Peter kicked off the tour, the directions were given by AK (our tour guide), water top up by Amitha and later joined by Prasad who was called by Peter as he was leaving. It was his first road bike tour and I would say life changing one for him. All credits to Dr. Pavan and his photo breaks.
Day 9: At Mirissa
After all the riding fun, it was time for Whale Watching. It was a marvelous experience for me and totally worth the ticket fee. I had a rare chance to see Orcas (killer whales) and Blue whales together in the ocean. The food served on the boat was amazing.
Post whale watching activity, we came back to the villa for lunch where fish, prawns, and crab were waiting for us. The lunch was mouth watering.
After the meal, I grabbed an hour of sleep post which we went out to explore Mirissa beach. We found the place at Zephyr shack; though sitting on the chair was also painful as the body was so used to the saddle. I waited for the sunset but again, missed it due to cloud cover.
Overall, SriLanka was a great host for me and food throughout my stay never disappointed me; not to forget various EGB drink stops. People here are very helpful especially when they see you struggling. Kids come out of the house to check out the riders in funny clothing. Even though I couldn't understand Sinhalese language which one of the kid was speaking, I offered him food to eat and the smile he gave explained all the feelings of his heart. I felt much better on this tour as my stamina has improved. I was able to manage it without any saddle sores and with a good pace. Throughout the tour, people were a fan of drinking black tea and coffee. It was a bit awkward for me to ask for milk and sugar among the other bunch of riders riding along.
The touring color and flavor were added by Dr. Pavan through his amazing phone and photography skills. It was an amazing getaway for me. You get to know more about people, learn things which they are good at and of course, I learned a lot more on how to live life and enjoy because you will cherish these moments throughout your lifetime. I will always look forward to such tours in future. During the 10 day expedition, I had a chance to experience many new things and never let the somewhat changeable weather let me down. Being invited by strangers on soaking wet days is what makes this country welcoming for me.
As it turns out, it was one hell of a trip with the taste of sweat, the pride of finishing the tour and the sheer determination, enthusiasm, and an open mind. My love for cycling has grown profoundly; including capabilities of myself and support from my fellow riders. Most of the tours, you get a lot of time alone to speak to yourself, enjoy the silence and being lost in the remote location where you just see the happy faces of strangers you don't know of.
Riding through SriLanka was an epic experience - an experience I'm sure will resonate with many who have cycled there.
