Total distance: 52km
Time taken for roundabout journey: 3 hours
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| Route Taken |
It was half past midnight on 12th october. My body was vehemently resisting the need to sleep. I was excited and anxious. 'Today is a big day for me', I thought as my mind and body felt a pang of adrenalin rush. But I had to pacify my anxiety and convince myself that everything is going to be alright. I rose, went online and checked the weather predictions. The rains in mumbai has been quite unpredictable this year. A mild sense of relief soothed my apprehensive mind when 'clear skies' showed up on the charts for saturday. I don't know much about cycling. But I knew that to play this sport well, three things have to magically align in your favour: Weather, your body-mind combo and your bike. I was fairly confident about the last two, but mother nature's unpredictability was a question mark.
That night, like other anxious nights before many other 'big days' in my life, I couldn't sleep with the tranquility of a baby.
Onward journey
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| The rides(from left: Trek Gary Fischer Marlil,Hawk New age and B-twin Rockrider) |
We started at 5.45am sharp from IIT campus. A 25kmph speed was decided to be maintained on a level road. Ease of maneuvering uphill depended largely on the gear ratios of the bikes used. Though not a high end one, my 'vamana' gear assembly did not really put me through a tough time on the onward journey. My first and second gears took command and soothed out the otherwise devilish inclines. We had to maneuver about 6 flyovers one way on the western express highway; some of them really testing my quadriceps and hamstrings. We stopped only once for water break near Thakur complex( approx 4 km from the national park). The city was slowly awakening to the humdrum of another Saturday. The express highways could barely boast of few multi axle cargo vehicles, milk vans and speeding private cars. The air was fresh and chilled. The 9 vented Prowell head gear let enough circulation to ensure that I stayed 'cool headed'.
Arrival
With the bikes and muscles coordinating for a amicable speed and our minds intensely focused on the destination, we reached the national park by 7.15am. Since visitors were allowed inside the park only after 7.30am, we decided to head for breakfast to Borivalli surburban railway canteen. After lots of struggle against an absent appetite, we managed to fill ourselves with pav bajji and some flavored milk. I observed that the more we stretch our bodies two things happen: loss of sleep and loss of appetite. I haven't gone into the scientific reason behind it, but I am convinced that fluid foods are the best during endurance challenges. We also decided to share few biscut packets, bananas, and apples once we reach Kanheri caves which is a 7 km ride from the entrance of the national park.
Back on our saddles, we slowly drifted through the picturesque landscape of the national park. Though roads demanded fully functional front and back suspensions in case we expected to return with intact and functional butts, the unhurried pace we maintained ensured comfort of maneuvering around deep pits. We unwinded for a short while near a small stream before doing the most difficult uphill I have come across recently: The final approach to Kanheri caves. Its a steep climb on a stretch of 100 meters. I was determined to complete the climb on the bike, whilst other riders gave up. My first gear, grinding its tooth did a great job in assisting me with the climb. My thighs, joined the revolt and pumped with their best efforts. As I swayed side by side, emptying out the last ounce of energy left in me, I smiled. It was a certain kind of 'high' for me. The smile acknowledged the fact that my body was giving up quicker than I counted it to. With a huge blow to my 'never say die' ego, I gave up hardly 10 meters to the end of the climb.
After we unpacked the remaining food supplies which included 2 bananas, 2 apples, 2 packs of biscuts, I opened a lassi packet to hydrate myself. Then the ambush happened...
A monkey, scavenging us for his opportunity to rob us of the food, came running towards us out of nowhere. Subodh, who was relishing one of the bananas was startled at the incoming danger. I, who was sitting behind Subodh, was completely confident that the monkey is simply going to circumvent us for his share. Just then, against all my calculations, the monkey, as if bestowed with supreme confidence, walked past Subodh( who was already about to give up his banana!) and in one quick motion, grabbed the banana lying besides me. I jumped out frightened that the monkey might attack me. Little did all this commotion disturb the 'Alpha male' who was victoriously chewing his breakfast! When we tried to scare him away, he growled showing his displeasure in being disturbed. For lack of better option, we admitted defeat and retreated with whatever remained of our resources.
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| 'The Alpha Male' |
Rest of the day, we sat under an old banyan tree, tired but inspired, discussing our lives and passions.
Departure
By 10am, we decided to commence our return journey. The worst aspect about cycling in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai is the heat, dust and traffic. The same roads I romanticized earlier that day has turned out to be a steaming vessel. On top of the ensuing dehydrating fight with the riding conditions, my fifth gear started 'slipping' on small uphills. ('Slipping' is a condition where the chain when under excessive tension tends to slip into the next larger diameter gear. Half way through the shifting process, the derailleur will force the chain back to the lower diameter gear because no change in the position of the derailleur has been performed through the shifter by the user.) Added to that, some wrong gear shifts on uphills gifted me two instances of chain unmounting from the chainrings. With various dimensions of problems surmounting, my focus shifted to getting back to the campus at the earliest. The mistake, which we later realized, was that in the hurry to get back, we payed little attention to staying hydrated and making up for all the ions we lost steaming on the roads. This dehydrated us further and the effects of which showed up hours after we completed the trip.By 11.30 am, we were back in the campus. Smiling, with victory music playing in our minds in loops, we pedaled the last 1.8 Km back to our hostels and lay there, rest of the day dreaming about adventures yet to come.
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| The riders( from left: Subodh, myself and Firdouse) |
Stay tuned for the updates on our next session: IIT-B - Colaba IIT-B (70 km) ride.
