WoW - Women on Wheels

Today was not just another "Sunday", it was a "Wow" (Women on Wheels) Sunday. On the eve of International Women Day, Hyderabad Bicycling Club organized a ride to encourage women into cycling and inculcate this activity in their healthier lifestyle. 

As rightly said by Susan B. Anthony, US women's rights activist - “The bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world”. The world is slowly seeing a chink of hope in cycling era to see women not just participating but competing.

It took me an eternity but I cajoled my best friend "Hardeep" to partake in this event. First time of everything is exciting, so was this. I wanted this to be enthralling for her as this was her first official event participation. I had the same thoughts running through my mind as if it was going to be my first ride. As I pulled her into cycling, it was my job to get her out of her perpetual darkness of skipping these events for more than a year.

The ride distance was 30 k.m. which may sound like a big number to a neophyte but to make this event imperishable for her, I thought it would be best to take care of all minute details for her ride. She got her bike serviced, bought a bunch of cycling accessories to make her ride comfortable. I promised her that I will take care of the nutrition during the ride so that she stays hydrated (I hope she liked the eatables debouching from my jersey pocket) and of course, later doesn't complain about dehydration 😉. Emboldened by my words before starting the ride, during the ride, and at the stop we took, she did put a great effort to ride the longest distance she has ridden so far. You should have seen the grin on her face when she finished the ride, it was adorable (you can still see it in the picture on the right). I am really happy that I got another cyclist to the cycling community. 

This is the event which I believe have added another dimension to my friendship with Hardeep. I became cognizant of the fact that speed and distance covered on such events don't matter much but what did matter is the profundity of our friendship. 

A tour of the old city and the street food carts

A foodie's bicycle ride to the old city of Hyderabad always intrigues me. We embarked towards Charminar at 6 a.m. in the morning from “The Bike Affair” (TBA). The foodie rides are sporadic, so the riders prefer not to miss them, even if they have to get up early in the morning over a weekend.

It was nice and balmy when we started our ride. My mind had started dreaming and imagining a voracious group of cyclists with flaunting jerseys and twinkling lights, standing agape at “Govind ki Bandi” - a popular street food cart serving delicious south Indian snacks (butter idly, dosa, and masala vada). A myriad of tea cups filled to the brim with “Irani Chai”, served with “Osmania biscuits” at “Nimrah Hotel”. These cookies are so soft and tender that it melts in your mouth within seconds, pacifying your taste buds.

All the food joints are in close proximity to Charminar - a monument and mosque located in Hyderabad, India. This particular ride is so famous in Hyderabad that TBA doesn’t need to tout to decoy the riders to join. Moreover, this is an aberration for riders from their routine training rides that they do, giving a nice view of the monument soaring in the center of a crowded place.

I have heard a lot that the food you eat on the ride is earned, and is priceless. To earn an extra plate on reaching Charminar, I and Parmender took a detour (we were faster than our group, and were pushing hard on the pedals), and went for climbing the monster - the “Whisper Valley” hill. This hill, with an average gradient of 6% scares people even on motorbikes, but it was a refresher for me since I had stopped taking this route after doing “The Tour of Nilgiris”. We pedaled for around 29 k.m. to reach the old city. I could see people staring at us (It’s an aberration for them to see so many cyclists on a single day). The thing I abhor most about visiting the old city is that the attitude of most of the people is gibberish. They will try to speed their bikes/cars on seeing the cyclists, and then suddenly stop in front of you, pass comments and abuse you.

“Govind ki Bandi” is one of those places where you have to wait for a long time before your order is put up on the hot flat iron plate for preparation, and served to you. To avoid the rush, I and Parmender took the turn immediately towards the cart rather than visiting Charminar first (of course we couldn’t get our picture clicked with Charminar, and bicycle but I was more interested in the food). Unlike other carts in a milieu, Govind (owner of the cart) takes care of the hygiene in the food he serves by using some of the fine quality ingredients for the preparation. Also, he is putting meticulous effort by serving the food on a banana leaf, and not using plastic cover for the take-away’s.

There you go, the “dosa” batter was spread on the iron plate, a quarter butter slice (that’s a lot for one dosa) was squeezed on the top with a couple of tomatoes, spices, and a special item that looked like a paste of onions mixed with a lot of Indian spices. Within minutes, the mouth watering, enthralling “dosa” was waiting for the riders debilitated by hunger. By the time our group reached this place, we were eagerly waiting for the butter fried “Idly”. I saw the melancholy faces of the tired riders turned into the smiling one’s after seeing the dripping butter (Their stomach’s will not remain empty for long, as the “masala vada’s” were also on it’s way). Stupefied by the taste of “dosa”, “idly” and “masala vada”, now it was the time to head to Nimrah Hotel where the “Irani Chai” with the “Osmania Biscuits” awaited us. I am not a big fan of tea, but the taste of the “Irani Chai” left me stunned. It’s an irony that the taste of street food is much better than a sumptuous feast at any hotel.

It was time to head back, with Sun God shining bright, more weight to carry (hope you counted what all we ate), and heavy traffic which barely seemed to move. Lucky enough to be able to briskly pass through the traffic hurdles by transgressing traffic signals and squeezing between cars (advantages of being a cyclist!), I and Parmender pushed hard, got separated from the group to reach home early, and not get tanned by sunlight.

I look forward to more of these rides with TBA.

** Photos by Dharma Teja

Tour of Nilgiris - India's toughest cycling tour

After so much of decision making, training and going for late registration after seeing my co-riders register, I finally headed on the tour believed to be India's toughest cycling tour - Tour of Nilgiris.

Before the tour began, we had a pre tour briefing at Shangri La Hotel, Bengaluru. It was mixed feelings of adventure, excitement and fear of not being able to complete it. They claimed that it is mostly downhill, but everyone knew the reality on the way. I did a lot of cycling accessories shopping with Gautham (my training partner who called me each morning to ride and I did come most of the times :P)

Every time I asked him if he had booked the ticket,  his reply would be that he was waiting for Gokul. I was almost certain that he would ditch before the tour but luckily he came and rode. All my rides with him and Gokul helped me a lot in TFN. Riding on such tours is enthralling and you tend to do it over and over again. Here is my reminiscence, saga of the whole tour, things I did, places I rode, and the experiences I had. I will take you through the journey which I experienced over 8 days at one of the best cycling tours - TFN (Tour of Nilgiris).

Day 1: BreakAway - Bangalore to Mysore
176KM | 1210M+ | 1378M-
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/451035294

The only route of the whole tour which was flat and didn't have climbs. The day started with flag off from Shangri La with discussion with my friend Krish that we will ride the tour together (and we did for the first day, later Krish was nowhere to be seen). We rode from the hotel, where we were staying a night before, till Shangri La. The best part of the ride was the nice breakfast, which I couldn't eat due to excitement of the ride. We went for geotagging of bikes and I got to know that my bike doesn't deserve a tag (may be they would have thought that I knew all routes or I would not get lost). All the thoughts rushing through my mind at that time were thrown into turmoil.

I had discussions with other fellow riders and finally the picture clicks began. Time came to start the ride – the only day when I was in the first row during flag off. We were led to NICE road to Kannapura by the volunteers. TFN is the only time when cyclists are allowed on the NICE road in Bangalore. The air was warm and balmy, the highway was parched without any tree cover but all that doesn’t matter when you are high on energy.  The ride had just begun and we had the first crash, where a person riding in my close proximity hit a bus. Damn….That was scary and demotivated us a bit. He was attended by volunteers soon and we started again. It was too hot that day but I kept pacing. We reached the support stations and were introduced to Sukeli (a snack made from Banana, our savior for the rest of the tour). I kept moving with Krish and finally the first CS began. I put in decent effort (but most of my energy was spent in the initial 100 k.m. before the CS). Post CS I was hungry and somehow reached the support station before lunch time. I didn't realize that we had to wait for lunch and saw Gautham talking about Mutton Biryani, and I started. I didn't hear the latter part that the food joint for biryani was 23 k.m. away. Thinking about food, I didn't refill my water bottle and was soon out of water. Somehow, I managed to eat the dry honey-oatmeal bar and rode on a bad patch of road for 5-6 k.m. to reach the lunch place. Krish stayed with me for the entire 23 k.m. and we finally had a nice lunch. It was the hottest ride of the tour. Post lunch, we took rest and rushed to the hotel.

I noticed that riders started cleaning their bikes immediately after the ride was over. You know how lazy I was on the tour that I didn't clean my bike during the whole tour. I was keen in the next few days to go where the scenery would be beautiful -- we would be riding through forest area, country roads -- and much more fun awaiting us.

The bums were already sore but wait, it's just 176 k.m. we have ridden so far. The pain, fatigue is not additive for each day of ride but gets multiplied increasing the intensity of it..

Post dinner, results of CS were announced, a roster of names with ranking was put up on the wall, and riders were looking at it as if exam results were out. They were more interested in the ranking of other riders (usual story of all exams). By this time, I knew I was just gonna enjoy the tour and won’t pace on the CS segments.

Day 2: To coffee country - Mysore to Madikeri

120KM | 1453M+ | 1213M-

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/452113743

Krish’s responsibility was to wake up first and get ready for the ride without rousing me and Raushan. This was a relatively easy day, and it started showing what to expect over the next few days towards the last k.m. which had climbs. Coorg is a beautiful place, and on the bike you get to enjoy every bit of nature which can never happen in a car. We started seeing lots of coffee plantations on the way, and few school kids cheering for us and offering us food. All such activities makes riding fun and you forget all the pain you experience on the ride.

This day I started stopping every 20 k.m. for coconut water on the road-side in the forest stretch. There wasn't a lot I observed on the road except orange peels, and it looked as if people only ate oranges in Madikeri. It got hot when we were about to finish the ride. Best part of TFN routes is that there is always a downhill to reach the hotel, but that may be for only a couple of kilometres.

Day 3: Roller Coaster - Madikeri to Sultan Bathery

147 KM | 1964M+ | 2069M-

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/452113802

That scenic view in the morning full of fog, mountains, greenery. I thought that it would be great to ride today (pain was already playing its role) but this turned out to be the most irritating ride of the whole tour where you can't maintain the rhythm in the ride. That's why it is named "Roller Coaster".

The ride started this time with initial few k.m. with Gokul but he pushed the pace later. I kept riding at my steady pace, enjoying the ups and downs. The whole route was full of tree plantations and you can see a lot of tea/coffee estates. This ride was the entry to "God's own country - Kerala".  Best part of this ride was the smooth roads and less traffic. We crossed the wildlife sanctuary "Tholpetty" where we got to try unniappams with a cup of hot black tea.

Day 4: Sultan Bathery to Ooty
103KM | 2788M+ | 1230M-
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/453089348

Finally the day why riders come to TFN was here "The Monster Kalahatti".

Volunteers had rightly said "Will there be pain? is not the question. How will you take the suffering? is the question". This is the toughest ride of the whole tour and riders mostly come to experience pain on this day. To encourage riders, the ride was relatively short (only 103 k.m.), that too with optional sweep section of 10 k.m. after finishing Kalahatti, but was it that easy? On this very day, cyclists would be found soaring in the mountains leading to Doddabeta (small town near Ooty) which was our destination.

One of the best things that volunteers did was to ask riders if we wanted warm clothing which we could pick up from the support station after climbing the hill. They knew it was going to be cold up there, which is what makes TFN unique and one of the best tours in India. Before climbing, we rode through Mudhumalai wildlife sanctuary. Ride of around 18 k.m. was a group ride, where riders in groups of 10-15 were escorted by vehicles through the forest. I hope I don't need to explain the reason (WILDLIFE), and yes I saw few wild elephants and deer on the way. We were instructed not to stop in the jungle. Lucky enough my pump collided with the tyre and I had to stop to fix it. Thanks to Arul who stopped to give me company. When the ride through the forest was about to end, the climbs started. This is to show what to expect from Kalahatti. At one point, I felt that the road was neither going down nor the base of the climb was approaching, where there was food at the support station. I stopped to take rest for a few mins and immediately the forest patrolling car came and told me to continue riding as I can't stop even though the forest was almost over. After a lot of struggle, I reached the place where the monster was waiting for us. I had my lunch, relaxed for a long time before starting, and kept enough time so that in case I ended up walking, I shouldn't be swept.

Kalhatti - insane climb with 36 hairpin  curves (you can see the  image on the right), avg. gradient of ~ 10%, and up to 15% in a few sections, making it nearly impossible for a rider to keep up on his bike. I started the climb with easy pace, and just after 2 hairpin curves I couldn't ride. I started walking along with Venky and Army Brigadier and I could hear a timid voice from my heart “C’mon you can ride that up, it is just a matter of 12 more kilometers”.. I had walked just a few meters when I saw Anand shouting from behind to get on the bike. I just ignored him and soon Gaurav crossed us, putting all his energy and motivating us to ride. Though the climb was getting tough with each step, it couldn’t stop the smiles on the riders’ bleak faces. I stopped and lowered my saddle height a bit so that I would be able to ride easily in case I had to stop, as I was on cleats and was finding it difficult to put my feet down on the incline. After seeing both of them, I got on to the saddle and rode a decent distance. I was pushing my limits and trying not to stop. My eyes were continuously monitoring the cyclocomputer, and the distance was not at all moving. My walking and riding speed was almost the same, but I was happier riding, as I had to spend more energy walking up. Hairpin curves kept reducing, and I stopped at a lot of them to take pictures (of course rest) and enjoy nature and the view of Ooty. I was appreciating the markers of TFN who spent time thinking what to write after every few meters to encourage riders, and they knew what most riders would be doing at that distance. Words of each marker slogan were gleaming in the sunlight. I was offered water by volunteers on the way up, a life saver for me, as I have finished my bottles in the initial 4 k.m.

Finally came the "Hail Hitler", the toughest section of the whole climb, where even motorized vehicles find it difficult to drive. The section looks like a real monster with a never ending climb (though it was only for 1 k.m. I think). The moment I took the turn, my bicycle just stopped and was not moving. I thought of walking up that stretch but that in itself was very tough. I was unable to even pull myself up on that section. I spurned any form of  help and I did not want to get swept either. Hats off to my fellow riders who rode on that section. And finally after all that struggle, I was so happy to see the board saying 1/36 hairpin curve, and I rushed towards the end point. I loved the way they wrote 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 metre left, and you did it. I just gave my bicycle to the volunteers after the climb, ate food, and headed to the hotel in Ooty.

Day 6: Gravity Sucks - Ooty to Palakkad
157KM | 1075M+ | 3417M-
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/453850599

For those of you who are thinking if I don't know counting or I missed mentioning about a day - Day 5 was a rest day for riders at Ooty and we just enjoyed the weather. I am very fond of chocolates, and reached a chocolate factory ambling to get some. I never thought that the hotel window would be opened by a monkey who would take away my chocolates, energy bars, and enerzal :(

Anyway, after the photoshoot on the rest day, we woke up and came to the flag off point for today's ride. Our tour director Badri starts the day by saying "Focus your mind on the road otherwise your brain will be". Theoretically, this is the easiest ride, if you see the elevation drop, but prevention is better than cure. Whatever we rode uphill will help us now as it's mostly downhill. With that long distance and downhill descent, you hardly get a chance to pedal. The pain in the palms because of braking continuously was excruciating due to steep descent.. For me, this was one of the best rides because of 154 KM downhill, and you can actually look around and click pictures, as climbing is mainly focused on riding and pain. We travelled from Kerala to Tamil Nadu, and now we were heading back to Kerala. Divya gave a jersey and asked us to stop near Coimbatore for a short campaign/awareness regarding cancer. I was either very slow or too fast that this time I missed the place and couldn't join the group. The people waiting for us tried calling me but I guess that was too late and I didn't want to stop with that speed. I carried on and reached before my Hyderabad gang.

One thing which I still recollect is the expression on Venkat's face to go to the bar and have Beer after the ride. Interestingly, I managed with a glass of water, soft drink or juice most of the times :)

Day 7: Breathtaking and breathless - Palakkad to Valparai
108KM | 2169M+ | 1170M-
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/454898306

Tour was towards the ending stage but wait, who said that climbs are over. We got another 30 k.m. of climbing today on Valparai ghat area with 40 hairpins this time. But the numbers started with 1 this time :P

I would say this climb was much more easier than Kalahatti, since this was more gradual and not brutal as the earlier one. Best part was that you can ride on it and don't have to walk. Most of the riders took this one easy. Before the climb started, I got a bottle of honey, took bananas, and mixed it. My god, that was an amazing food combo before the climb and helped a lot. I started with Raushan, who for the first time during the tour, rode with me for few k.m. and again got back. He was rarely seen on the ride, and we could meet him after the ride ended but the discussions over dinner were quite good. Valparai climbs provide you a stunning view of aliyar dam with a lot of monkeys on the way. You can see in the photo how beautiful the road is (though it's going up and up, but with each curve it adds to the serenity of the hill and dam). We stopped at a local place for food, and that was finger licking. What a fish curry that guy served us, I just forgot all my pain and kept eating. I was lucky enough to grab the last piece of fish curry, after which only curry was left for other riders.

I stopped at a lot of places on the way to enjoy the ride in the lush green tea and coffee estates and breathtaking vistas, and got a chance to speak to local people, telling them about my tour, and the discussions carried on for quite some time.

I moved ahead and finished the ride. Gautam went to stay in another hotel, and we took his room as Raushan and I were given 6 sharing room today, which was the only part I didn't like, but thanks to Gautam who saved us.

Day 8: Mostly Downhill - Valparai to Pollachi
74KM | 980M+ | 1866M-
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/454898223

And finally the last day of the tour "Mostly Downhill". Look at the smile on my face (in the image on the left). That's what I aim for whenever I go on such tours. So the downhill started and we were given the same set of instructions of being cautious during the descent. But people were happy to end the tour, and a lot of them crashed resulting in injuries and broken bones. I hope they recover fast and get back to riding, especially my friend Krish.

This ride was a cake-walk where, for the first time, I drafted behind Lord Venky for the last 10 k.m. He is such a strong rider and I found it quite difficult to continue chasing him. Sorry Gokul that I ditched you on the way :P

We concluded the tour at Pollachi (Tamil Nadu). Yeah I rode that many miles which my cateye shows in the image. Wonderful experience so far, and loved the resort with a nice river on the side and food being served to hungry riders. We met riders for the last time, as some were leaving from Pollachi itself. We socialized a bit and started packing our bicycles.

Only event in India for cycling where I saw international riders as well.

Champions Dinner/Cool-off party
Post tour we had a party in Bangalore where we got to meet the riders in the actual clothing and how they look in real life since on tour you recognize the riders either by helmet or by jersey.

And here, I got the title of a successful TFN finisher. I hope to do this tour again with more stamina and have a decent ranking in the race segment, apart from enjoying the tour. The experience of the last 8 days was a composite reminiscence of what each rider had gone through - pain, smile, endurance, appreciating nature - and I attribute this success to the team behind Tour of Nilgiris.

Biking @ Gotham City - New York

I never imagined that the dream would come true to bike in country outside India. On my first trip to New York I had in mind to bike here but was not able get motivated and dream didn't convert to reality. I went back to Hyderabad with little addition on weight and found hard to get back to my routine of biking. 

Pretty soon I got a call again to work for few months in New York. This time I was not sure either that what will happen to biking again. On first day itself I saw notice of "TD Five Boro Bike Tour" to explore NYC on bike including all 5 boro's (Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island) but here came the tragic thing, it was on the date when I was flying back. Lucky enough that my trip got delayed and I was encouraged by my manager in NY to participate in the ride.

At last I went to bike shop and got the awesome machine "Specialized Roubaix SL4 Sport" road bike. A light weight carbon bike which took 4 days to come and waiting for that duration was not at all easy. I use to call up the bike shop each day (sometimes even twice/thrice a day) to know the status. Finally I got a call that bike is built and ready for pickup. I had lot of things to be resolved post I checked in to the shop:

1. Find out if hotel will allow me to keep my bike in my hotel room (Well thats where I keep my bikes in India :D )
2. Look for various bike rides in New York (It is not that easy as we have in India)
3. Learn bike rules (This scares me even now as bike can also get you a ticket if you don't follow rules)
4. Make your mind understand that left is right and right is left (Hope you get what I mean)
5. Get the fear of speeding cars hitting you out of mind since you ride in middle in some lanes and that can be dangerous if you are shaken by high speed car passing by you.
6. Figure out if airlines allow carrying bike and traveling with bike needs some research.

I kept resolving the above things one after the other but is was a good experience. First ride was bit difficult since all routes in Manhattan are one way and for a person like me who keeps forgetting the path it was even more difficult. Slowly I started going out on my bike and ride few miles, explore the beautiful city and places which you can't do on car/foot. 

Best route for me was Hudson river greenway which involved riding in lane dedicated to cyclists with river on a side, cool breeze blowing, entering into basketball city area, watching out all sorts of bikes I can imagine that exists in world. One key difference from riding in India - people will say sorry if they forgot to yield way to cyclists while in India they will scream at you if you didn't stop. Rides increased day by day helping me eat all junk food without worrying about weight gain. I started riding on Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Queens, Brooklyn, etc areas. post my office hours. It was interesting to train in cold weather which lasted for few days and finally spring was in. Best weather I would say to bike anywhere. 

My longest ride was exploring 5 boro's of New York City from where this all started where I added few miles to ride to/from start point. Overall it was experience of the lifetime to ride in Gotham City.

Its time to head back now to Hyderabad. Getting bike boxed for traveling is challenge in itself.

Few rides which are still not checked:

• Nyack/Piermont
• Bear Mountain
• Rosevelt Island
• Staten Island loop
• Westchester

Hopefully I will come back again and finish of my pending list :)

Kerala Monsoon Bike Ride

Pretty much bored from riding in Hyderabad, it was the time now to explore new areas and top of the list was Kerala. Just because of monsoon season, smooth roads, lot of hills, beaches. Ride was planned to cover 350 k.m. in 4 days with a hill summit, riding through amazing country roads with a heavy load on bike pannier.

Day 1: Trivandrum to Ponmudi

This was the toughest riding day and to spice it up, flight was delayed making me spent a sleepless night. Ponmudi hill has climb of ~ 1000 m stretched over 15 k.m. It is not only difficult but dangerous to climb that hill due to 22 hairpin curves, weather changing from sunny day to fog, mist and heavy rainfall. This hill completely changed the way I use to cycle. From power to high cadence, from very high gears to 1-1 gear combination which helped me in climbing the hill.

I had lot of fear associated with this hill summit, fear of falling from hill, fear of not able to ride, fear of struggling to reach hill top, fear of taking lot of time than other riders and being left alone.

Riding on hairpin curves became tougher and tougher. Front tire started lifting up because of heavy weight in pannier bag and steep inclination on hairpin curve. I had to apply my body weight to put the tire stick to road surface.

5 k.m. before the Ponmudi resort, I was out of water, it was raining heavily, rain water tasted salty because of sweat mixed with it, rain coat not able to help in protecting from rains. After struggling, walking for few km's riding on lowest possible gear combination, hearing few comments from people passing by, people recoding videos and clicking pics of my riding and finally it was the time to say that you did something great today. It was the time to see the happiness which I got after climbing that hill with just pedaling hard and harder with each stroke. Another thing which could have been risky would be dogs barking on the hill but even dogs in Kerala in pretty decent in treating bike riders.

Day 2: Ponmudi to Kulashekaram
Kulashekaram is a town in Tamil Nadu, we had to cross borders from Kerala to Tamil Nadu and that to on cycle. It sounded pretty exciting to me. Moving to different state without paying tax was definitely an added advantage with bicycle.

Best part of this day's ride began right from k.m. zero, it was downhill for next 15 k.m. but whats spiced up was 1000 m elevation difference. It took us 2 hours to climb this hill a night before and now it was the turn to enjoy and give rest to legs. We were strictly advised by one of the riders who stay in TVM not to look back while riding downhill. The hill was so steep that without brakes you will be thrown out of the hill in no time. We rode down very safely and stopping after every few k.m. to capture moments of the scenic beauty which you can't see sitting inside a car.

After riding down, we reached and stayed for sometime at chittar dam. Dried up clothes which got wet due to monsoon. It was fun doing that.

Day 3: Kulashekaram to Kovalam

Most tiring day of the whole tour. All riders were too tired but a unplanned jungle ride came to me as a surprise and to add to it, I later got to know that it also had a climb of 900 m and I was left mouth open on seeing that never ending climb.

We took permission to enter the forest, riding on slightly bumpy roads but an amazing scenery and canopy of trees. Weather changed after every km from sunny day to heavy rainfall every time we switched on western ghats. We stopped at every damm place just to get some good clicks as you don't find such beautiful places while you look it from tourist's perspective.

On climbing the hill, we stopped for a good local lunch served on banana leaf with awesome fish fry (just 10 bucks per piece). I learnt how to eat fish with one hand at this place. Food was amazing and tasted really good. Over here they serve thick brown rice which helped us a lot on the ride with carbohydrates we needed at that time.

The place was so nice that we were already running late of our schedule and had to rush and ride fast to reach Kovalam.

Day 4: Kovalam to Varkala

Easiest ride of all days with mostly downhill highway and thanks to Kerala's extremely smooth roads with no pot holes making us ride without pressing brakes or slowing down unnecessarily.

Finally on reaching Varkala well before the committed time, we had lunch and then with our bikes crashed in the beach to get tanning, lot of water, sand, and awesome climate and weather at Varkala. And it was time to celebrate for riding ~ 300 km over 4 days with lot (I really mean a lot) of climbs.

Last but not the least we recollected all memories and flew back to Hyderabad.

Foodie ride in Bangalore

I started with my first ride outside Hyderabad at one of the finest place to ride bicycle none other than Bangalore. Weather conditions, less steep climbs, more cyclists on road make Bangalore more lucrative for people who love biking.

I didn't had much time, so went for a short MTB ride (my first MTB ride) ~ 18 k.m. That day I realized riding MTB is much harder than riding Hybrid but all thanks to roads in Bangalore for make my riding experience great. I could see lot more people riding cycles in comparison to Hyderabad. 

And as usual, ride is incomplete without food. Stopped at one of the dosa giants for my favorite breakfast Kesari Bhath and Idly. I simply love the sweet halwa in breakfast that too when I eat after riding and burning calories.

First crash on bike

I use to hear riding bicycle in rainy season is risky and I experienced it today. I went to take my bike from the shop where I had given it for service. It rained heavily before that, roads were wet but I thought it is hardly ~2.5 k.m. from my home and I will ride back home.

First time I didn't wear gloves and helmet that too on wet road. On reaching home safely, I wanted to ride around the compound of my society for sometime. I was riding at ~ 20 k.m.p.h and sudden crash happened while taking turn on totally wet area. Those few seconds was a total blackout, I don't even remember how it all happened, who lifted me up and again my bike is ready for repair :(

Hurting my hands and legs badly, I could have saved my hands if I was wearing gloves, now finding it even difficult to walk. Hope I will recover soon :)