Cycling in 4 states on single gear cycle 6: Kolhar- Vijaypura- Sindgi (101 kms)

✪ Starting ride in the background of “Kausalya Supraja Rama!...”
✪ Ride through hilly region with wind mills
✪ Crossing historic Vijaypura
✪ Aerobic ride (only nose breathing)
✪ Mental aspects of cycling
✪ Language barrier? Yes and no.
✪ Kalyana Karnataka region
✪ Completed 438 kms in 5 days

Morning of 28th September, fifth day of the expedition. Yesterday I had good rest in Kolhar and so feeling much fresh. What a wonderful morning it is- soothing and clear weather. As I woke up and got ready to depart, there is  that famous prayer- Kausalya Supraja Rama! Early morning prayers in South India are spectacular. I can still listen that Bhajanas in Tharangamwadi in January 2005 (during Tsunami relief work). This Kausalya Supraja prayer set the tone for the day! Just wonderful to listen it here in this village. Incidentally, my ring tone is also instrumental of this same prayer.

Today I will ride around 100 kms and cross Vijaypura. As discussed with people here, chose the highway over the short cut road. As it is 5th day, riding is so smooth and easy now. Only to save little energy, today I am riding with only nose breathing- it is called aerobic activity. It slightly reduces speed, I will ride slightly less than 20 km per hour. But it increases comfort level and also saves energy. I had not actually practiced this method in cycling, but I regularly do some such kind of running. It also keeps heart rate low. So here we go. Left at around 6.30 in the morning. As I am riding eastwards and slightly northwards, there is proper sunlight by 6.30. I had a quick breakfast of biscuits. What a great highway it is. Mostly empty lanes! Just feeling more and more gratitude that I am doing this, somehow life wished me do it. Pure bliss. There are small hills in the vicinity. All set for a romantic ride!

 

All boards are showing distance of Vijaypura! In history of Maharashtra, Vijaypura has a special place. Particularly so in history of Marathas. Various enemies of Marathas and feudal kings belonged to Vijaypura. Maharashtra border is also near by. I can see many vehicles with MH numbers. I took my regular tea- biscuits- chips break at around 30 kms. Now I will only eat these things. Eating biscuits and chips goes slightly against the rules of cycling. But I think this much deviation works well for me. Hilly region continued and I am now riding in the middle of many wind mills! I can also hear their loud sound. Some rail route is also going near this road. When the highway crossed the rail route, the road was below average for some distance. But it is smooth again. Vijaypura! I took the bypass towards east. Without much traffic, crossed Vijaypura. Had to ask for right road towards Sindagi. When I tell people that I am riding towards Sindgi, they get surprised! As Sindgi is still some 55 km distance away.  I also tried to see Gol Ghumat, but mostly I missed it. My friend had told me to watch it. But as distance was more today, I had to skip it.

The road after Vijaypura is good. It is going through some villages and plain terrain with farms. After some distance again the hilly region came, the short cut road also joined. What a day it has been for riding! Riding this much distance also needs mental readiness. Sometimes the distance and statistics can trouble you. Particularly so, when you are riding over 1400 kms distance in some 18 days. But I was fortunate, that these things did not trouble me at all. One day at a time and while riding, only 20 kms at a time! And I know that EVERYONE has such capacity. So there is no room for self- doubt or such things. This made me enjoy this a lot. And I know that every kilometer of this road, most likely I will not see again. So this is such a rare thing. Smoothly completed remaining distance. Tried to use only nose breathing and followed it for 90% time. And so when I completed the ride in just over 5 hours and reached Sindagi, I am not that tired.

There were not many interactions in Sindagi. Some Bharat Vikas Sangam karyakartas met me in the town chowk and welcomed me. They also had made my staying arrangements. But it was in one of their office room and  wash rooms were much away from the room. So politely I had to request for another place, considering requirement of my rest and early morning departure. It was not their mistake, they simply did not know what such cycling needs. But here was some language problem. The karyakarta was an advocate. But he did not know English or Hindi. So explaining my situation to him was very difficult. So I had to take help from senior person Shri. Marthand Shastriji, head of Bharat Vikas Academy, Kalburgi. He only had helped me for staying here. So then he informed those persons and I sort of shifted to another place and then finally could take rest.

So language barrier? Yes and no. Yes for such small things. But no as far as essence and spirit of this riding is concerned. It automatically breaks language barriers. In the evening I did had small interactions with people and karyakartas. I also walked in the town. Actually this region belonged to Kalyana Karnataka, that part of Karnataka which was in the erstwhile Bombay Province. It had close ties up with Mumbai and Maharashtra as many persons from here worked in Maharashtra and many persons from Maharashtra came here for trade. So Kannada from this region has some Marathi words! I also found Solapuri chatni in dishes here. And one thing, this is South India, but still there is so less rice in meals. Roti/ chapati are common here. May be as I go further in Telangana, this may change. Let’s see! This way the 5th day was completed. Today I rode for 101 kms and completed 438 kms in 5 days. Tomorrow will be a big day as I will meet many members of Bharat Vikas Sangam in Kalaburgi and it will also complete 1/3 journey of this expedition.

Next: Cycling in 4 states on single gear cycle 7: Sindagi- Gangapura- Kalburgi (90 kms)

(Thanks for reading! You can enjoy the photos on the blog link given above. You can also read about my experiences of trekking, cycling, running, meditation, sky watching etc. there. If you wish to get updates of such activities, you can contact me. Niranjan Welankar 09422108376)