CITY TO FOREST...ALL IN A DAY'S RIDE

POST #28

SIX LEGS OF OUR JOURNEY. We’ve pedaled 2,073 kilometers / 1,285 miles since December 30th. We’re closing in on two thirds of the journey behind us. If you break our 3,200 kilometer / 2,000 mile ride into six legs, they look like this:
Leg 1: Nagercoil to Bangalore - Dec 30-Jan 6
Leg 2: Bangalore to Hyderabad - Jan 8-13
Leg 3: Hyderabad to Umri - Jan 17-20
Leg 4: Umri to Nagpur - Jan 23-26
Leg 5: Nagpur to Sagar - Jan 27-31
Leg 6: Sagar to New Delhi - Feb 1-8
Photo: interested people gather around our bikes in front of a restaurant. We draw a crowd everywhere we go.

VILLAGE LIFE, URBAN SCENE. We’re now one day into the 5th leg of this journey from the southern tip of India to New Delhi. We started the morning with a team of fresh Indian riders from Maharashtra Village Ministries, riding thru the city of Nagpur (population approximately 2 million) before traffic became heavy. As interesting as passing village life is, a bike ride through an urban area is overwhelming. We’ve ridden through a thousand villages and only a handful of large cities, but because the city scene is so concentrated and intense, its impact lingers long on our senses. Photo: Bob repairs a man's flat tire. He rode off very happy!

BIG CLIMB, LONG RIDE. We continued north on NH 7 for 138 kilometers / 85.5 miles. This was 24 km / 15 mi further than we planned. But, after making the longest ascent of the tour (rising nearly 1,700 feet in a 10 km / 6.2 mi climb), the town we hoped to stay in overnight turned out to be a small village without lodging. Already tired from the tedious climb, our only recourse was to pedal another 24 km / 15 mi to a town called Seoni. We arrived safely, though weary. This was a tough first-day challenge for our now not-so-fresh Indian riders.

FORESTS AND HIGHER GROUND. We passed through much forest area today. Villages were fewer and further between, but the rolling forest areas were shady and full of wildlife. This woodland area, on the border between the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, transitions from lower to a significantly higher terrain. The vistas along our big climb were grand. After the ascent, we thought we would have the benefit of a long, fast downhill flight. But there was no descent; 24 km later, we‘re still on high ground.

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