2. Cycling Expedition to Shatrunjay (Mumbai to Palitana)

 

When the rubber meets the tar

Day 0 and before

With Legs moving along the pedal

and Hands behind the handlebar,

excited to narrate the excursion,

where Bicycle rubber meets the tar!

It all begins with a thought. The brain may not approve it at the first instance, but if the heart does, it can be achieved, definitely!

On the 1^st of July 2021, I purchased a bicycle – a single-speed hybrid with dual disc brakes. This must be easily the 7^th bike in my life. My cousin, Parag, has always been kind to help me procure the best bikes. I can somewhat say that I hadn’t utilized the earlier ones to their (and my) full potential. I have no regrets, nonetheless, as it was always good fun to ride occasionally.

While I would enjoy running, it was a little boring for me to run amid rains. Hence, I thought of placing hands and legs on the bicycle. Without holding any serious thought, I would do nearly 8-10 kms a day, 3 times a week. A couple of friends did comment that I should start with only 4-5 kms. Well, I don’t know but it wasn’t taxing due to my running regime, maybe. The rest of the days, I would do strengthening workouts, the way I did during the running days. Once a week, I would run too, on the not-so-wet mornings.

Cutting to the chase, one morning I met Harsh, who was riding his MTB. He is an avid cyclist who has done a few long-distance tours (600-2200 kms) on his bicycle. He asked me if I was keen on contemplating a cycling adventure during December 2021. I was absolutely clueless, yet I gathered some courage and asked him – Where are you planning to?

He replied with a thought and a question – Goa, maybe! Or do you have any other place on your mind?

I countered – You’ve already done Goa. Anything else that comes to your mind?

He said – If you are willing to, we can do Palitana (a town at the foothills of Shatrunjay – one of the most pious mountains as per Jainism, around 650 kms from Mumbai).

Palitana has always been very close to my heart, and without a moment of hesitation, I said Yes. I am still unsure, what made me affirm as clearly, I had no confidence at all.

Man of few words Harsh said – Ok, let’s start our practice.

Although I had many questions, I kept it to myself thinking that those will be answered as and when the wheel of time progresses.

I just happened to continue regular cycling and occasionally used to meet Harsh. Ironically, we didn’t speak about the December plan until the last week of September. One day, Harsh posted his December leave dates and we had a dialogue.

Things seem to be shaping up. The idea was to leave Mumbai on the 4^th of December and reach Palitana by the 9^th day of December. After staying there for 3 days, the plan was to return by train with the bikes loaded on the luggage compartment.

Until now, I was doing regular practice but hadn’t made any training plan that would help to ride for 650 kms over a period of 6 constant days. Harsh and I worked out on a plan and came up with the following:

2 or 3 Oct – 22 kms

9 or 10 Oct – 28 kms

16 or 17 Oct – 35 kms

23 or 24 Oct – 43 kms

30 or 31 Oct – 54 kms

6 or 7 Nov – 67 kms

13 or 14 Nov – 84 kms

20 or 21 Nov – 105 kms

27 or 28 Nov – 130 kms

The above dates were for the weekend practice rides. Besides that, we planned to follow weekday rides as well as strengthening exercises maintaining individual discipline.

It was all going smooth and after initial 2 weekends (achieving 28 km target), it made me feel a little confident.

Next on the cards was to book the tickets for the return journey. We did that during mid-October.

A few days later, Harsh told me that his uncle, who is a specialist medical practitioner, wants to join us. He added that Kaka (Harsh would call him Kaka) is 66, a passionate cyclist and stays at Hubballi, a heritage city in the state of Karnataka.

Yes, age is just a number but hearing 66 didn’t cease to amaze me. Moreover, I bowed down when I heard he will be travelling to Mumbai by train and the next morning start riding with us. That was incredible, too!

Harsh and I kept talking and meeting. We continued to keep up with the momentum. Until the 67 km regime happened, all went well. While I was preparing myself for the 84 km ride, I happened to fall a bit sick on a weekday. Thankfully, I got recovered in a couple of days but due to subtle weakness, did only 30 kms during the 13-14 Nov weekend.

The confidence had tumbled a little due to the break in the regime but Harsh told me that let’s clock 120 kms on 20^th. This will help us revitalize.

I checked with a few of my friends if they were interested to join for 120 kms. Amit nodded and we planned to go to a close friend Sanjay’s farmhouse at Badlapur, which is 60 kms from where I stay. I have been to his farm numerous times, but it was a maiden attempt on the bicycle. With my previous experiences in a motored vehicle, I didn’t experience much of inclines, except for the flyovers. So, we thought we shall avoid flyovers and ride flat.

However, my assumption was incorrect to a larger extent. On the straight roads also, we encountered many inclines but thankfully they were complemented by declines as well; and hence, the momentum was on. We started at about 6.45 am and with a few long and short breaks, we reached there around 10.30 am. We rested for an hour and resumed our journey back home.

It was quite taxing while returning. We had umpteen hydration breaks thereby managing ourselves to reach home by 4 pm. Despite panting to the core, I had an inner satisfaction of completing my first century ride.

On the other Kaka (I also had fondly started calling him Kaka) was on with this regular practice. He was quite an inspiration for me. We would regularly post our respective rides on the instant messenger group. Between the three of us, we also did a lot of fun chat on the group. I was the one asking maximum and silliest queries to them and with a lot of patience, both would mentor me meticulously.

The weekend of 27-28 November was the last one before our scheduled expedition. Harsh suggested to do a ride with luggage attached to the bike. His idea was to get a feel of riding a loaded bike.

On 27^th November, I loaded a pair of panniers, got decked up with the suit & accessories and initiated the Mumbai mega loop ride that covered Ghatkopar – Thane – Ghodbunder road – Fountain hotel – Dahisar Toll – Western Express Highway – Mahim – Gateway of India – Dadar – Ghatkopar.

Both the rides (20^th and 27^th) infused a great amount of self-assurance. However, one portion of the mind kept mentioning that it is no big deal to do century ride for a day but think about doing it for 6 days at a stretch. I didn’t ignore what it said but skipped bothering myself much.

Kaka arrived from Hubballi to Mumbai on 3^rd December morning. The plan was that I shall meet him on the next day (4^th December) at 5 am at the place where he was put up and post that, both of us will ride together till the Eastern Express highway corner (east side of Ghatkopar bus depot, where the road merges into the highway) and meet Harsh.

Day 1

Kaka and I greeted each other (we were seeing each other for the first time) and quickly began our journey.

At the north-bound corner of the ever-soothing Eastern express highway, my dear friend Dhimant bhai (affectionately, we call him DC) was awaiting our arrival. Very sweetly, he had not only come to see us off but carried chocolates for us.  Also, he wished us with prayers and tikka (a mark on forehead denoting prayer and considered as a good omen). While we 3 of us were talking, Harsh made his appearance. Neena, his wife, had also come to see us off. Neena also got us sweets.

Meanwhile, a couple of cyclists from GCC (the elite Ghatkopar Cyclists club) passed by. They saw us with panniers and asked us, where are we heading to.

After spending some time with our well-wishers, we bid adieu to all and flew off. Nearly 10 kms from where we started, we met Harsh’s elder sister Meghana who had got us fantastic coffee that actually gave a kick.

Soon, we moved on and decided to be in sync. Even during the wee hours, Ghodbunder road has a moderate movement of vehicles. We cruised through and after crossing a series of inclines, regrouped at hotel Fountain, a popular milestone before the T-junction that opens one of its arms towards the gateway to Mumbai and merges into the national highway (NH-48) on the right. NH-48 is a part of the Golden quadrilateral.

While we were having a brief chat, one guy approached us from inside the gate of the hotel and asked us – Where are you going? Upon hearing the destination, he smiled broadly and told us that he keeps traveling to the same town often as his relatives stay there. He wished us and departed.

All of us were feeling hungry and we chose to halt for breakfast at Lodha Dhaam, a Jain temple located on NH-48, nearly 7 kms from hotel Fountain. After soothing prayers at the temple and delicious breakfast, it was time to move on. As we were donning our gloves, helmet and other accessories, some people came towards us and asked the same question that we had encountered few kms ago. Upon hearing our response, a series of questions were bombarded. Everyone seemed to be so amazed. One person from the crowd also insisted on taking a selfie. I felt like a celeb.

Nearly 20 minutes on the highway and we experienced first puncture in the group. It took us nearly 25 minutes to fix Kaka’s bike and in no time, we regained the momentum.

We took a quick break after riding an hour or so. The sun had started dancing on our heads already, but we chose to ride for an hour more as we weren’t hungry. At nearly 90 kms on our trip meter, we halted for lunch. It took quite some time for lunch to arrive, but we had no complaints. As it is, we were cooling down. Post lunch, we rested for about 45 minutes.

Somewhere around 3.15 pm, we resumed our journey and reached Charoti toll by 4.15 pm. Immediately after the toll, I saw an ice-cream parlor on the left and my mouth started watering. I signaled the boys to stop. We had our coffees and ice-creams.

Before resuming our journey, we did a rough calculation in anticipation. We had covered about 110 kms by now and were on good speed. We had a couple of hours before it would get too dark. Hence, we thought that covering another 40 kms would be doable since it was a flat road, and the sun had also chosen to rest in the clouds.

Too much of planning at times doesn’t help. It took hardly few meters to realize that the rear wheel of my bike had turned flat. An investment of 45 minutes faltered our plans. After riding 19 more kms, it was about dark. We stationed ourselves outside a restaurant thinking what to do next.

Since we all were hungry too, we thought of postponing any kind of thoughts. We said to each other that let’s eat first and then think about the next steps. We had a leisurely meal and after that, we checked out the maps.

There was no way we could reach Bhilad (the original plan of riding 150 km on Day 1). Bhilad was nearly 21 kms away but before that there was another place (named Talasari) to our rescue. It was about 11 kms away. It was 7.30 pm already and ideally, we didn’t want to ride in dark. However, we had to stay somewhere overnight, and the closest decent place was Talasari. Slowly and carefully, we started riding and at half the regular speed we entered the gates of Talasari Jain temple at about 8.30 pm.

The manager was very kind to offer us a room for one night. We changed and slept.

Day 2

Next morning, he returned us our full deposit and appreciated us for taking this big step of cycling all the way. We didn’t want to stay for free, so we insisted on him to take the rental. He refused so we requested to accept it in some form of donation towards the temple related expenses.

Soon as we came out of the premises, all we could see was only fog around us. We had no choice but to wait. After about 45 minutes, the fog had more or less settled down. We were already 10 kms behind last night and now this incurred another 15 kms of delay.

We entered Bhilad Jain temple at 8am. After offering prayers, we marched towards the breakfast area. At the table, we exchanged few sentences with a father and son, who were driving towards Kutch. They wished us well.

The mind does its job so methodically. It started calculating the time and kilometers for the Day 2 ride. It was 8.45 am and before we could think any further, another flat tire made us fall flat on our faces. Kaka was feeling the pinch, but we asked him to sit back, relax and enjoy.

This one was a bit notorious, somehow. We resumed our journey at 10 am. As per the pre-decided plan, we were supposed to cover 60 kms on the current day by now but we were at Zero, or maybe consider 10 just to pacify ourselves. Well, it didn’t matter much though. First, we had no choice and second but important, we were enjoying each other’s company. Third, we had a buffer day. Yay!

Harsh had asked one of his friends to meet at Valsad. He had requested for some stuff related to valve as we were suspecting some challenge with that. Harsh’s friend recommended to have lunch at one famous restaurant on the highway. We met him there at around 12.30pm.

The recommendation was quite worth. The lunch was pleasurable. After savoring the pause, we resumed at nearly 3pm. The heat was no less but since we had invested a good amount of the earlier portion of the day, we wanted to cover up as much as we can. The re-scheduled thought was to ride 37 kms to reach Alipore before 6 pm and stay night at the guest house in the campus of the Jain temple.

On our way, we took a good amount of hydration pauses. Compared to Day 1, we were slow on our wheels on the current day. Also, for me Day 1 was more of settling down and focusing on the ride pattern. Day 2 initiated self-talk while riding. Despite all of us riding together and regrouping at regular intervals thereby chit-chatting, the feeling of solitude had started sinking in. The experience of being with self on a not-so-busy highway was relaxing and unwavering.

At one point, we were feeling thirsty and wanted to drink something that was different than water. We stopped by a small stall and asked the man if he can make us some lemon juice. It was quite an average roadside stall but that was the only choice in the vicinity. He was selling some food, but we assumed that he would be having what we asked for. Without a moment of hesitation, he rushed backwards. We observed that he entered a dwelling. It was his house.

He came back after few minutes with 3 large glasses of lemon juice. We quenched our thirst and offered him money. To our surprise, he refused. Upon asking the reason, he said – Sir, I don’t sell lemon juice but since you guys asked for it, I thought you guys must be thirsty, so I went to my house and made it for you guys.

I was zapped at this amazing gesture. Trying to come back to normalcy, I requested him to take it as we had asked for it assuming he is selling it. He was firm about not accepting any money. He kept saying that how can he take money for something he is not selling. After a lot of back and forth, he asked us to hand it over to his kids as a gift.

I kept wondering for a long time about his absolute richness. I felt so happy thinking that such wealthy people do exist on this planet.

At about 5.40 pm, we reached Alipore. We clocked 87 kms on Day 2.

Fresh bath, washing gears, dinner and ice-cream – These 4 items were done and dusted before we hit the bed. Besides, we also had a soothing 3 km walk as the restaurant was nearly 1.5 kms from our transitory abode. Even the current house that I sleep in is temporary. The difference might be a few thousand nights of stay, albeit.

The alarm was kind enough to wake us up from our sound sleep.

Day 3

The morning was clear. We offered prayers and marched towards the highway.

Harsh is a Spanish language expert and before we start or resume our rides, he would voice out with full energy – Vamos! It means – Let’s go.

We re-assembled on the highway and thereafter, placing our feet on the pedal, we initiated our cyclic motion. There was no fixed plan for breakfast halt today. We thought of stopping by at any good restaurant after riding about 30 kms. At about 20 odd kms, since the bellies started making sounds, we stopped by and grabbed a quick tea and Gujarati brekkie.

Despite sky being clear and the sun shining brightly, the weather was quite supporting. We moved swiftly. On our way, we had coconut water and bananas. This helps us maintain the thrust.

While riding on the service road, we saw few cyclists wearing uniforms. We went ahead of them. I was following Harsh and Kaka. One of those guys came close to me and I smiled. Further, I asked him about this school. We exchanged few sentences. He mentioned that he wanted to become a medical practitioner. I felt proud about him and wished him the best for his career and life.

At around 11.30 am, we stopped by Kamrej. On the opposite side of the highway, a beautiful temple was seen. We parked our bikes and crossed the highway on foot. Post our worship, we came out and sipped in a cooler. After an hour of relaxing ride, we reached a fantastic looking restaurant. It was nearly 1 pm and we gestured each other (for something obvious at that hour). All of us nodded in agreement.

We ordered half the items on the menu (Exaggeration yea, but we were super hungry). By this time, we had clocked about 68 kms. We consumed a luxurious meal and thereafter, were looking for a place to relax. The lawn behind the restaurant was easy to locate. I settled down on a swing for some time while Harsh and Kaka opted for a nap.

The idea was to cover another 35 odd kilometers and enter Bharuch city by 6.30 pm. After entering Bharuch, the plan was to stay at the guest house of a historical Jain temple. The temple was roughly 5 kms inside the city. We resumed the second half of our journey by 3.30 pm.

An hour or so was a little taxing due to the roasting heat. Adequate hydration did help. The best part was yet to arrive. Harsh was ahead of us and after a while, he pulled off on the highway. He showed us an alternate route on the map. Until now we were on NH-48. Now, as per the suggested navigation, we had to make a diversion on our left and merge into NH-64. This route was supposed to penetrate through Ankleshwar city, get us on the Golden bridge and then take us to Bharuch city.

Kaka and I thought for a while if it will be a wise call to get into the hustle bustle of city or to stay on NH-48 and enter Bharuch from Narmada Chowkdi. However, since the maps showed both time and distance less, we opted for NH-64.

For initial few kilometers, the 2-lane road appeared quite busy with a lot of vehicles moving around, and we started doubting our choice, but after that it was all cool.

Before anyone wonders, what was the best part, let me take you to the Golden bridge. This 140-year-old and about 1.5 km long bridge connects two sister cities – Ankleshwar and Bharuch. Both the cities are located on the banks of extremely pious Narmada river.

The experience of riding on this heritage bridge was beyond mesmerizing. For those 6-7 minutes, my heart was completely absorbed with the thoughts about the holy Narmada (also known as Reva), the parikrama and the stories around it. After crossing the bridge, the road ahead was extremely peaceful for some time. Due to this, the I could soak in for a longer duration. What an impactful experience it was!

A huge crowd welcomed us as we entered the Bharuch city. No-no, they weren’t waiting for us. They were busy with their hustling, which probably would be a daily affair for them. Sailing through the small lanes amid the noisy market area was quite different to eyes and ears.

On the previous day, my mobile had gotten conked off, so I thought of getting that fixed as well. I handed over the phone at the repair shop. He told me that it will be done in an hour. Meanwhile, I had already requested Harsh and Kaka to reach the temple and complete the check-in formalities.

Just a couple of kilometers before our destination, the front wheel of my bike gave up. Upon asking, a kind person told me that the shop was very close to the temple site. When I reached, the person responsible for executing the repairs wasn’t around. He was expected to be back in few minutes, so I chose to reach temple thereby thinking of coming back after checking in and getting refreshed.

It was nearly 7.30 pm. We were craving for a leisurely dinner and were hopeful of finding a good restaurant as Bharuch is relatively a big city. Before that, Kaka and Harsh got their stuff arranged and I got the bike fixed.

At around 8.15 pm, as we were getting ready, the mobile repair guy called on Harsh’s phone and informed that my cell phone was sorted.

While those 2 boys headed towards the restaurant, I made a detour to grab the hand phone and reached the pre-determined place.  Post yummy dinner, we settled for a flavorsome paan.

We set the alarm for the next day and dozed off. We were so sleepy that we didn’t even think of patting our backs for the 110 km accomplishment for the day.

Day 4

As it happens with almost all the cities, the difference between the last night and early morning was immense. We rode through the quiet roads for nearly 8 kms before we hit back to our old companion NH-48.

The highway welcomed us with a cool breeze. After riding about 14 kms on NH-48, we paused for breakfast. I was hungry but not as much, so had tea, a couple of biscuits and a piece of Idli (rice cake). Harsh and Kaka also had lesser than usual.

We rode at a stretch for next 20 kms until we hit a huge snack store just before the Karjan toll plaza. We sipped in a cold drink and rested for few minutes. Kaka sweetly gifted us chocolates. I quickly unwrapped and relished it. After riding another about 6 kms, it was time to say Good-bye to NH-48 for the rest of the trip. I conveyed to the magnificent highway that although you won’t miss us, but we will, for sure.

After about another 5 kms, we reached a beautiful Jain temple located in a small village Anastu. It was nearly 11.15 am and we had covered nearly 52 kms from the source. Technically, we are halfway considering the target for the current day. Since it was too early for lunch, we moved on. On our way, we purchased Guavas from a sweet little girl selling the fruit. She was amazed to see us on bicycle and asked where we have come from.

The road was now a narrow one. Single lane both side with no divider. Now, we used to keep over-taking each other and changing the sequence. It was fun to overtake Kaka as when anyone of us would pass him, he would yell with joy – Oy Oy Oy!

Although the national highway had its own charm, this one was pretty soothing too. The locale was green and vehicle movement was very sparse. In about 45 minutes, we reached a very small village named Sarasvani. We enquired about lunch but there was hardly any place to eat except for one small outlet that served a couple of fried snack items. Converting the snack into lunch was the only choice for us.

Besides, the stitches on my footwear had come out. I placed the pair aside and asked at a shop, if there was a cobbler around. The response came in form of a smile and I could gauge the outcome. In less than a minute, a guy wearing a school uniform (who was at a shop when I was enquiring) came and started applying an adhesive on the footwear. Before I could react, he offered a broad smile and said, it’s nearly fixed but if you want to get it properly done, you will find a cobbler much ahead once you reach the junction. With a lot of surprise in my mind, I expressed my gratitude and offered him money. He refused. I insisted but he didn’t budge. He said, I have just used a droplet and it’s absolutely ok. I felt so lucky to find another affluent being. It was extremely stimulating.

After fueling in, we started checking out if there was a place to rest. I could see one house and requested the owner if we can borrow the wooden bed (Khatiya / Chaarpai) that was lying outside. The lady affirmed and we asked Kaka to rest there. On the backside, we found a temple that was closed but had a clean area outside it. Harsh and I lied down.

Another 40 kms of ride was to be executed for the day. Before resuming our ride, we thought of confirming the route with the villagers. We did trust the maps, but on the smaller routes, it was always safe to check with villagers mainly due to unanticipated road closures, diversions, etc. We were fed with a detailed route information that was difficult to grasp at one go. However, after a couple of repetitions, we could gauge that we got to pass through Sadhi, Ranu, Mahuvad, Kinklod & Bhadran to reach our night out destination, Borsad.

At the junction near Mahuvad, I could see the cobbler sitting and immediately I remembered what that boy had mentioned. I stopped by and after showing the footwear, asked the cobbler if he has time to stitch it. At the same instance, he started working on it and handed over the footwear in a couple of minutes. Upon asking the charges, he smiled and said – There are no charges to be taken for such small work. I was speechless. I couldn’t digest a thing and for a moment, I was dubious whether I was dreaming or was it real. After insisting a lot, he accepted money, but he was surely unwilling to. He did that only to make me feel good. We resumed, but my mind was full of thoughts about these super rich people.

Meanwhile, my friend Kirtan and I were communicating with each other. Kirtan is a very dear friend, who stays at Vadodara. As per our original plan, we were supposed to stay at Anastu (about 35 kms from Vadodara) and Kirtan was planning to visit us. Now, since the plan of staying night had shifted to Borsad, it was a longer route for him. However, he sweetly offered to meet up. I had informed him that we will let him know our whereabouts and sync up on the time we were scheduled to reach Borsad.

He had reached before us and with open arms, he warmly welcomed us. It was so good to see him. Harsh and Kirtan were college buddies so they also knew each other well. We introduced him to Kaka. 4 of us earned good times together. Before that, we checked in at the Sun temple and washed up. The authorities were generous enough to offer us a decent room for our night stay.

Kirtan drove us to a very good restaurant in the vicinity, where we had a gala dinner. On our return, we had ice-cream together. After exchanging hugs, Kirtan started his journey back home and we entered the habitat that was limited to one night.

Day 5

We checked out early morning and handed over the room keys at the gate. Around a corner, we found a tea vendor. The road ahead was fantastic.

Riding almost non-stop for an hour helped us reached ManiLakshmi tirth, a huge Jain temple that was open to public around 5 years ago. The temple is an architectural marvel. We went inside and prayed for some time. After that, we were all set to hog on. The kitchen offered mouth-watering varieties. By 9 am we were out of the temple and back on our respective saddles.

Few years ago, it was a single lane road. It had completely transformed now. 3-lanes on each side with a series of flyovers, but hardly any vehicles around. The ride was a good fun. Three of us were riding at some distance but we could see each other.

I happened to encounter a milkman who was riding his bicycle. I could have gone faster but stayed parallel to him with an intent of initiating a dialogue. I enquired about his and family’s health amid the pandemic wave. He looked up and quoted – Everything is very good with the grace of the supreme lord. I asked him about his business to which he said – Every morning, I deliver milk in a few nearby villages and now, I am heading home. God arranges enough for us to survive happily.

With a feeling of respect for him, I told him that I am happy about this brief meet. Further I waved bye-bye and sailed ahead.

From Manilakshmi, the ride to Vataman was about 38 kms. We had factored in 3 hours to reach including the breaks, since it was a bright sunny day. The plan was to have lunch at Vataman and rest for a while. On our way, we found a garage that was shut but we couldn’t miss noticing a couple of benches that were lying under a shade. It was a good opportunity to lie down and stretch. Needless to mention, we grabbed it. We were fortunate that on day 2 and 3 also we had found a couple of similar opportunities – One was at a bus stop and the other was a few tables laid beneath a shed that must have been built for a small gathering.

I observed that after we left NH-48, we kept taking frequent breaks and chatting even more. This was so cherishing.

10 minutes to noon and we entered a Jain temple that was situated near the Vataman crossroads, popularly known as Vataman Chowkdi. From Vataman, we had another 41 kms of drive pending for the day so we thought of booking a room for a couple of hours.

After consuming simple but healthy lunch, we entered our room and peacefully slept for about 90 minutes. This was the best afternoon siesta in last 5 days.

It was about 3 pm when we grabbed our handlebars and started pedaling. Although, the Sun was shining and the temperatures weren’t low, we did enjoy cruising because the single lane road was extremely beautiful with lush green fields on both the ends. The sky appeared to be low and flat. We could witness the horizon on either side.

Even though the ride was going smooth, I kept taking good number of pauses to absorb the landscape. While driving car or riding a motorbike in the past, I must have passed by similar geographies a lot of times but seldom must have pulled off and taken a pause to celebrate the nature.

20 odd kms before we enter Dholera, which was our scheduled night halt, the signboards welcoming us to the smart city were seen. We were transforming from the lap of the nature to the smart structure.

At around 5.50 pm, we reached Dholera. The temple site was inside the old part of the village. We met an office bearer at the temple office and requested him for a room. He enquired as per formalities and then asked about our cycling trip. He was happily surprised. He instructed his staff to navigate us to the room. It looked like a new building. Rooms were nice and neatly maintained.

We did our routine stuff and relaxed for a bit. Post that, we walked down the road that we had came in from and searched for a place to eat. Since the items on the menu were limited, we didn’t have the problem of plenty. We had a decent dinner, reached the stay and hit the bed.

By now, we had cycled 550 kms on our journey and the forthcoming day was supposed to be the last leg of the stunning expedition.

Day 6

The temperature this morning was a bit low compared to the other mornings. We had to take the Bhavnagar – Pipali highway and the first prominent milestone was Nari chowkdi. We kind of planned to have lunch over there. The highway was quite deserted. From the map, we could assume that we won’t be getting a lavish breakfast today.

We had a basic morning meal at an average (best amongst the few we saw enroute) eatery. Dry-fruits and home-made energy packed sweets came to our rescue. During the initial phase, the speed was a bit slower than other days. However, we gradually caught up and targeted to reach Nari chowkdi by 12.30 pm. On the way, we passed through Sanes. Harsh and Kaka were ahead of me. I could see a Jain temple that was under construction. I paid a brief visit and resumed.

As per our anticipation, we reached Nari chowkdi on time but couldn’t locate a good restaurant. Upon asking someone, we got to know that Vartej has decent places to eat. The map showed 4 kms and we resumed pedaling.

Since we were quite hungry, we simply focused on eating without even analyzing the taste. Post lunch, we had an engaging chat with the manager. He was mentioning about operating a restaurant in Mumbai and the challenges he faced with his experience.

On one side of the restaurant, few beds under the shade of the neem tree were arranged. We didn’t have to apply our brains to seize this opportunity.

The next and the last milestone for the day was Songadh, about 20 kms from where we had lunch. We calculated the time and started accordingly. At 3 pm, we reached. Songadh has a huge campus that hosts few temples. After paying visit, we continued the voyage.

We were 26 kms away from our final destination. We assumed that we should be easily reaching by 5 pm. Well, we had considered the rosy picture which was not the fact. The road was relatively rough compared to what we had experienced until now. Besides, there were quite a few steep and not-very-steep inclines. At 5.15 pm, we were yet 10 kms away.

Somewhere around 5.40 pm, we entered the gates of the Palitana town. We wanted to reach the base of the Shatrunjay hills before it gets dark. We increased our momentum. While we passed through the market area in the town, we could hear a lot of human voices that were collectively creating a buzz.

Our eyes sparkled, our brain was at a standstill and our hearts skipped a beat as we terminated at the base camp. Our feet had turned into pillars and our eyes couldn’t get off the majestic hill. We were speechless for few moments thereby savoring the most beautiful pause of my life.

The travel might have ended but the journey had begun.

Epilogue

The above description was pre-dominantly about the experiences during the cycling expedition. So, now I shall be rushing through the remainder. We had another 4 nights and 3 days to go.

On Day 7, we climbed the hill through the popular path and worshipped at few temples including the main temple. Shatrunjay is of extremely significant importance as per Jainism. One may want to read more details over the web.

On Day 8, we ascended through an alternate path. This path branches out after covering nearly 75% on the popular path.

On Day 9, we packed our bags and booked a 3-wheeler who agreed to drop us along with our bikes at Bhavnagar railway station. We reached Bhavnagar at about 1 pm. After completing the formalities regarding packing the bikes and placing it on the luggage compartment, we reached a very popular restaurant for lunch. The quality and taste of food surpassed our expectations. We returned to the railway station at about 4 pm. The train was scheduled to arrive at 5.45 pm.

Day 10: At 9am, we greeted Mumbai, alighted ourselves and the bikes, came out of the terminus and rode to our respective homes.

Gratitude

Before signing off, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude towards all the names that are mentioned on the blog above, the ones not cited but were a part of the journey and the supreme power and the entire ecosystem that always keeps ensuring we sail through the thick and the thin.

:-)