Day 23 : 28 Jan 2014 : Goa to Karwar : 107 kms

The Panaji cycling club before we started cycling.. at YMCA

Panaji cycling club saying goodbye to us...

Cycling!!!

Beautiful sun...

Madgaon cycling club receiving us...

Sunset in Karwar..

It was a great start to the ride when the Panaji cycling group joined us to ride with us till Madgaon. After a round of pics with the team outside the YMCA building, we started cycling around 6.15 am. After one of the steep uphills that we encounter on the way, they left us to complete their ride at a faster pace. All of them are working and needed to get back. They cycle in the morning everyday.

As we crossed the bridge towards Madgaon, the Madgaon cycling group was waiting to escort us further. We stopped for breakfast at Madgaon and, once again, before we knew it, they had already paid our bill. We were very touched with the generosity that they all showed towards us. They said that they were very inspired with us and the truth is that we were inspired by seeing the group together. We were impressed with both the groups and the camaraderie that they all share with each other. We were thinking that we should also start cycling everyday with a group like these people do. Thanks guys for your support.

Of course, the uphills didn’t quite end today, but the route was nice. Rolling hills, winding roads, greenery all over. As we crossed over into Karnataka, it seemed to get greener. The approach into Karwar was so beautiful. Ocean on one side and beautiful hills on the other. We were hosted by Dr Kumud, her husband Mr Nayak and the Rotary. They have such a wonderful house and clinic building that we stayed at. Lovely North Karnataka food and sweets greeted us as we got there.

They had also arranged for the press to meet with us, which we did in the evening. It was a relaxed evening as there were no presentations planned. As we reached there only around 4pm, we had a late lunch and light dinner before retiring for the day.

Meet the team: Part 2

Smitha Srinivasan (Deputy Leader) – Bangalore
35 yrs
Being brought up by parents who are mountaineers, Smitha was literally brought up in the outdoors. She has been going on treks from long before she could walk on her own. Having a father who was in the Army gave enough opportunities for the whole family to travel to exotic locations and also go trekking. The love for the outdoors and physical sports was further enhanced when she became an athlete, representing her school and college in national level meets.

Smitha qualified herself as a mountaineer in 1999 and has three successful expeditions to her credit. Apart from climbing peaks, she has also trekked extensively in the Himalaya and has many high altitude treks to her credit

Apart from being an adventurer, Smitha is also a professional Kathak dancer and free lances as a corporate training facilitator.

Anita Vaidya – Surat
50 yrs
Anita is a senior mountaineer of India who has many expeditions to her credit. Very friendly and resourceful, she ensures that the work given to her is completed. So here is all that she has done: Para gliding, sailing, wind sailing, wind surfing, water skiing and scuba diving and sky diving.

Anita regularly conducts adventure programs for children, including special children and differently abled children. She could not cycle with us throughout, but was there with us till Mumbai.

 

Gauri Dhond – Nagpur
51 yrs
A Mathematics professor by profession, Gauri has been President of the Inner Wheel Club during2009. Gauri has also done a lot of trekking in the Himalaya and loves travelling, cycling, singing and making friends.

She is in charge of our accounts along with Krishna.


 
Maj Ashwini Maheshwari, VSM - Indian Army
35 yrs
Ashwini climbed Mt Everest in 2005 as a part of an expedition organised by the Indian Army. She is presently posted in Kolkata. She is a mother of 2 and has brought her younger kid (11 months old) on the cycling expedition with us.  

Roopa Sahi – Dehradun
26 yrs
One of the strongest members of our team, Roopa is a mountaineer with many expeditions to her credit. She has worked in Rishikesh as a Bungee jumping instructor for a few years as well. She freelances with companies conducting adventure camps especially for children. She also works as instructor on mountaineering courses conducted by leading mountaineering institutes in India. She is a graduate in commerce who loves the mountains.  

Shanti Rai – Sikkim
28 yrs
An MPhil in Botany, Shanti is definitely the quietest member of the team. Behind the quiet exterior is a person who cracks the best jokes, but covers her face after because she is so shy. The strongest member on the team who has never cycled before, but is still able to do so because of her determination and strong will.

Extremely helpful, it is a pleasure to have Shanti along on any expedition.  

 Bhagwati Joshi
40 yrs
A social worker and an adventurer. She is fitter than most people her age and a hardworker. A good asset to have on the team. She joined us in the last minute (the last member to join us) and it has been good to have her.


DSP Mamta Sodha
34 yrs
A Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mamta has summitted Mt Everest. Also, it was announced yesterday that she will be receiving the Padmashree. Great news for Indian mountaineering and a good recognition of the hard work that she has put in to get to where she is. Congrats Mamta!

Mamta could not be with us for the entire duration due to leave constraints. She cycled with us from Ahmedabad till Goa.

 

Chaula Jagirdar
56 yrs
Chaula is a senior mountaineer of India and at present, is the Principal of Swami Vivekananda School of Mountaineering at Mt Abu. The school was started by the Gujarat Government. If I start to list out her achievements, I will need all day and night and a lot more space. She is a high achiever and we all look up to her. A great person to have around, she is funny and lively and always has great insight into situations. We love having her with us.

 

 Nicoi Nabisee
13 yrs
At 13, Nicoi is the youngest member of the expedition. She is 9th Standard and is the daughter to Chaula Jagirdar and Kiran Chawda. She's taller and stronger than most members on the expedition. I guess it is in her genes from both parents.

Day 21, 22 : 26, 27 Jan 2014 : Kudal to Goa : 70 kms

 

Cycling on the shortcut... Beautiful views..

 

Hi everyone...

Happy Republic Day India!!! Sang the National Anthem first thing in the morning before starting our cycling :)

We decided to take a shortcut today. We heard that there was a shorter route that did not require us to go all the way to Savantwadi. Infact, the route was so new that it was not yet inaugurated and it would reduce the distance by almost 15 kms. For us that is a lot and we decided to take it. It is a lovely road, a wide, 4-land double road. The ups and downs however did not stop. They continued all the way to Panaji.

Again, we left when it for a little bright (around 7am). But today we had too many stops. The girls found a cashew selling store on the way where the cashews were very cheap. So everyone bought a whole lot of it. Had good breakfast along the way and got into Goa arond 1.30 pm. The early comers waited for the rest of the team to catch up so that we could all go to the YMCA together, where we were staying for the next 2 days.

As we were deciding where to go for lunch, we got a call from Govind, husband of leader Vasumathi, who decided to visit Goa to meet the team. He was staying with his school friend Fransisco and his wife Vrida and they invited the entire team to lunch at their house. They came over in two cars and brought the whole dirty lot to their lovely house for lunch, where Vrida had cooked a typical Goan meal for everyone. Most of them got to eat non-veg after a long time, and they were thrilled (the meals we eat otherwise if pure veg because of the cost factor as well as to ensure that noone falls sick on the way).

We got to back to the rooms after that and had a good bath and washed our clothes. They definitely needed a lot of cleaning...

Since we had a rest day, it was time to get some cycles worked on. Some of the gears were creating bit of a problem. Especially after the cycles had a truck ride on the day after Mumbai (where the cycles were serviced). A few girls hired a car to go around Goa and a few others took a bus ride. All in all, everyone’s enjoyed the stay here, thanks the Fransisco and Vrida.

The icing on the cake was the Fransisco and Vrida’s younger son, Sahil, is a football player who plays for the Indian team and they were playing the semi-finals against Macau at the Lucifonia Games, held once in 4 years. We got to watch the match live on TV and India won!!! Sahil scored the second goal and it was very exciting to watch. We wish him all the best in the years to come.

We will be having a small interaction with the team at YMCA as well as a cycling club here later this evening. Looking forward to that. Long day tomorrow.. 100 kms to Karvar. Cant wait... Just 2 more segments left to complete. 3 states done. We will enter our fourth tomorrow. Excitement!!

Day 20 : 25 Jan 2014 : Rajapur to Kudal : 90 kms

 

Deepak, our driver

 

 

Our breakfast place today. Had the best Poha here...

 

Cycling after breakfast...

Once again, we waited for daylight before we started cycling. The glare from oncoming traffic was making it impossible to see the road. So we had tea till it got a bit brighter.

The groups split up again. We’ve been doing this in the ghats so that the stronger cyclists can cycle at their own pace and not get too tired waiting for the slightly weaker ones. The truck is anyways there at the back supporting the entire team, so we were not worried. Each person was allotted a buddy (or they chose one) who cycled at more or less their speed. This was done to ensure that no one is left alone while cycling. There is safety in numbers after all.

The first group reached Kudal around 2 pm. It took a while for the rear party to catch up. We had lunch at a lovely little mess on the highway and then went to stay in the house of a person known to Deepa. It was a typical Konkan farm house and had a lovely feel to it. We loved staying there. They had dogs and cats walking around. Lots of harvested cauliflower, coconut and tomatoes piled up in the veranda. A lovely homely place.

We ate some typical Maharashtrian food that they cooked specially for us and it was very tasty. We slept on the floor all over the house.. even in the veranda :) All of us had a good sleep that night..

Day 19 : 24 Jan 2014 : Ratnagiri to Rajapur : 60 kms

(Dont have any interesting pics for today)

We’re getting tired of these uphills.. lol... But we have to get used to it. We will be encountering a lot of it this time. During our 2011 expedition on the west coast (Kolkata to Kanyakumari), we probably encountered mild uphills on 1-2 days... that is it!!! This is seeming never ending after just 3 days :)... Hopefully we will get over it soon :)

There is supposed to be a coastal (and shorter) route from Ratnagiri to Rajapur. But we chose to take the longer route on the highway because we were told the roads are much better. We got to the highway early, but decided to wait for it to get a bit brighter before we start. The previous day we had a bit of a scare when a truck overtaking another, came at us from the opposite side and almost ran over our leading group. In the darkness, we cant really blame anyone either. So we decided to start cycling when it gets a little brighter for the sake of safety, at least in the ghats, though it would mean that we have to cycle more in the heat, later in the day. Safety first!!

Rajapur was short enough so we reached there by about lunch time. Accommodation was not sponsored here so we were staying at a lodge. And as we headed towards the lodge, most of us were cursing lol... The road that led from the highway to the lodge was a steep downhill. This meant that first thing tomorrow morning, we have to cycle uphill!!! Or walk ;)

Had lunch and dinner at a small mess opposite the lodge. Rooms were dirty and the sheets were dirtier, but we’re mountaineers, right? We adjust anywhere :).. So we did. At Rs 100 a night, i don’t think we could have expected more anyways...

Day 18 : 23 Jan 2014 : Chiplun to Ratnagiri : 80 kms

 

Uphill or downhill?? We were ready to negotiate with anyone to get the uphills removed lol...

 

Shanti from Sikkim... Sweating for the first time in her life and not liking it... :)

And the ghats continue and continue... We’re getting better at cycling uphill. But the uphills are not getting any lesser. It is a gruelling task cycling uphill, but then the downhills make up for it and we speed through them...

We reached the turnoff to Ratnagiri at about 2 pm and we were exhausted by the time we got there. Ate at the first available restaurant and then loaded our cycles onto the truck. Ratnagiri was another 13 kms inside (away from the NH), so we decided to do that in the truck. We will come back again to the same place and begin cycling tomorrow.

Stayed at the house of a Naval officer in Ratnagiri who had kindly arranged it for us. Relaxed afternoon, no presentations or press conferences. Washed clothes and just relaxed.

Day 17 : 22 Jan 2014 : Mahad to Chiplun : 86 kms

 

Break time!!!

 

One of the never ending uphills...

 

Some of the beautiful scenery along the route

 

One of the milestones.. Close to our destination for the day...

The scenery just gets better and better and I think it will remain like this at least till we get to Goa. Today was the first day we encounted the ghats through the hills and while we are enjoying the scenery when we could, most times we are unable to lift our head up and look around thanks to the steep climbs :)...

The roads are amazing. It is still a single road, but the quality of the road is amazing. We’re surrounded by mango and cashew trees and the fragrance of fresh mango blossoms in the air. The weather when we start is very cool, but by about 11 am it starts to get unbearably hot. We have been continuing to cycle through the heat and stopping frequently for water and juice breaks along the way.

Today was a very long day with 2 steep ghat sections along the way. We were cycling for almost 11.5 hours today. Since it was the first time that we encountered such long uphills, it was pretty tough for most members. Some walked the uphills while a 1 or 2 sat in the truck till the ghats were over. Of course, the 11.5 hours included a breakfast and lunch break of almost an hour each, plus the juice breaks along the way (anything to redeem ourselves.. lol). But all in all, the girls are cycling very well, considering that most of the team are not cyclists and have definitely never cycled in the hills.

We’re staying at a girls hostel that is on the highway.. easier for tomorrow :)