Cycling in 4 states on single gear cycle 13: Warangal to Bhupalpally (73 kms)

✪ Riding in remote Telangana
✪ Area of mines and forests
✪ Pristine nature!
✪ Bhupalpally- not far from Maharashtra and Chhattigarh border
✪ Completed 988 kms in 12 days
✪ Dussehara celebrations in Bhupalpally
✪ Beginning of most exciting phase of the expedition

Hello all. 12th day of the expedition, 5th October 2022. Today is Dusshera and I will reach Bhupalpally, my final halt in Telangana. It is a small district headquarter located near the borders of Maharashtra, Telangana and Chhattisgarh. On early morning of 5th October, my host for the last day Shri. Sudheerji rode with me till border of Warangal town. Such a senior person riding with me was an inspiration! Another cyclist from Warangal Bandi Venu ji could not come as he had gone for another ride, but he had told another cyclist to meet me. So I interacted with him also and rode with him for some distance. He then directed me way towards Parkal and left. Now this historic city Warangal is left behind and I am entering a remote but beautiful lush green landscape! The highway is still the same. But as Bhupalpally comes near, it may change. I will find out soon!

Cycling in 4 states on single gear cycle 12: Janagaon- Warangal (54 kms)

✪ Ecstatic climate for riding!
✪ Awareness while riding
✪ Historic city of Warangal
✪ Completed 915 kms in 11 days
✪ Context of the erstwhile Hyderabad State
✪ Interactions with activists in Warangal
✪ Visit to Mallikamba Institute of Mentally Handicapped and associated Disabilities, Warangal
✪ Need for awareness about issues related to special children
✪ Clouds of uncertainty hover in mind

Hello all. 11th day of the expedition, 4th October 2022. Today’s ride will be relatively very short. Only 54 kms/-! It is the half distance of what I had ridden in Karnataka in a single day. Since last two days, I am halting little ahead than what I had thought, so today's distance is less. But it is actually good. I will have more time for interactions in Warangal. Also I need to check up my cycle. So today I can do these things! But first thing is to ride till Warangal! Left Janagaon after excellent rest. Today the sky has many clouds and it can rain any time. Also, clouds are hovering in my mind about coming stages of this expedition. After Warangal, I will be reaching remote forest- rich part situated on the border of Telangana and Maharashtra.

(All articles with photos can be read here:  My experiences about trekking, cycling, running, meditation and sky watching etc. can be read on my blog.)

Cycling in 4 states on single gear cycle 11: Hyderabad- Janagaon (76 kms)

✪ Marching towards the unknown!
✪ Energy from the nature
✪ Exploring rural Telangana
✪ Interactions with kids
✪ Badukamma festival and Community bonding
✪ Festival food and caution
✪ Completed 861 kms in 10 days

Hello all. 10th day of the expedition, 3rd October. Yesterday had good sleep in Nerapalli. Left Nerapalli in the early morning with fond memories and interesting connections! Now onward I will not pass any major city except Warangal. And slowly slowly, day by day I will reach near the least known region- the tribal and remote part of Maharashtra. Now this expedition has taken a great momentum. Rotational of the earth is the same, but speed of the days is increased greatly. It is something like when a batting team is chasing 340 runs and once they cross the half way mark, say, 180 for 2, it becomes much easier. Whatever work we may be doing, it has a certain mental part in it. And any endurance or fitness event have an equal mental part.

Cycling in 4 states on single gear cycle 10: Sangareddy- Hyderabad (70 kms)

✪ Hyderabad ke logan
✪ No puncture- a wonder!
✪ Meeting with members of Vande Mataram Foundation
✪ Meeting with “Rajneesh” Ji
✪ Unprecedented connections- World is very small!
✪ Completed 785 kms in 9 days
✪ Difficult to hold mind in the present
✪ Half journey over, now tribal part calling

Hello all. Sharing joy and experience that I attained during this solo cycling expedition with you all through this blog. 9th day of the expedition, 2nd October. Today is Gandhi Jayanti as well as Sunday. After cycling across vast rural area with very few towns and hardly any cities, today I will reach to a significant Indian metro- Hyderabad! It is bound to be challenging- to see traffic jams, signals, waiting in traffic- after such a long highway ride! Today I will also complete half part and so now onward the end will be approaching. Faster and faster. Initially days are very slow, slowly day 1 of the expedition completes, then day 2 and so on. But now onward it will be psychologically so fast. Because, once I cross the half way mark, the mental work is as good as done. Mental monkeys are off the back (they were mostly off from day 1 actually). And I am short of words to say thank you to my cycle! What a great company it is giving me!

Solo cycling for mental health awareness

4 states, 1500 kms from Sindhudurg- Goa- Belgavi- Kalburgi- Hyderabad- Warangal- Gadchiroli- Nagpur in 20 days

Hello, namaste. Hope you are all fine. Mental health is very significant issue nowadays. Many times we see people committing suicide from very petty reasons (Actually, any so called severe reason should always be feeble to commit such a thing). After corona times and with economic slow down and all, mental health, stress management and positive mental health are key issues. So this issue is for all of us. Not only mental health sufferers, but all of us. From special people (such as people with autism, MR or Down’s syndrome) to even young students, everyone is important. This cycle expedition will raise this issue before the broader society. Awareness about mental sickness, mental problems and problems of differently abled needs to be there so that proper help can be given at the earliest possible time. This cycling expedition will create awareness about this by having dialogue with people in general- farmers, youth, students and all. Everyone is a party to this cause. Cyclist doing this expedition will also interact with social organizations, groups and people and also will understand local issues. He will use an ordinary- single- gear SLR cycle for this expedition. The message is that everybody can do such things with their resources, once they know how to tap their potential.

मानसिक आरोग्य जागरूकतेसाठी सायकलिंग

मानसिक भलायकेची जागृताय करपा खातीर सायकल चलोवप

ಮಾನಸಿಕ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಜಾಗೃತಿಗಾಗಿ ಸೈಕ್ಲಿಂಗ್
మానసిక ఆరోగ్య అవగాహన కోసం సైక్లింగ్


Why this route?

Because it is important to reach out to those who are not mainstream. Initially he thought to start with Mumbai based NGOs. But there is some awareness in cities in Maharashtra. So why not take the most remote/ backward region, And also the message is to look beyond our comfort zone, to go beyond our limitations and being sensitive towards unknown. So it will start in Kudal in Konkan and then from Goa it will continue via Karnataka, Telangana and again remote part of Maharashtra.

If you know any organization working in this route or if any of your friends are on this route-  Kudal- Goa- Belgavi- Bagalkote- Kolhar- Kalburgi- Hyderabad- Warangal- Gadchiroli- Nagpur, you can share this message with them. The schedule of this expedition is from 24th September to 14th October.

About the cyclist

Niranjan Welankar, 37 has completed several solo cycling expeditions including those in Ladakh and Spiti. Also he has cycled in Maharashtra for HIV and health awareness and also for promotion of Yoga and meditation. His blog- www.niranjan-vichar.blogspot.com 09422108376 niranjanwelankar@gmail.com