It felt like we were comingsown out of the hills, riding fast on a smooth road through small towns going through their regular wake -up routines, but the GPS indicated we were not losing much altitude, so we must have been climbing as much as we were descending.
Lots of farming in the hills. Saw many inactive cattle -driven water wheels, and an active brick making operation.
Lunch at 10 by a field, then gradually busier roads into Udaipur.
Rode out of Jodhpur after 7, first day without a jacket. Rode 120 km on back country roads through flat desert scrub land with few villages.
We saw large and small deer-like animals as well as a mongoose. There were cattle along the road as well as goat Jefferson.
The shepherds carry long staffs with hooked knives on the end which they use to cut high branches, and feed them to the goats, so that many of the trees are pollarded.
Nice welcome in a little hotel called Fort Dhalmi which offers a peaceful oasis in the village.
Mostly desert before lunch, but then we started climbing and found the lunch truck in a forest by a stream surrounded by monkeys who were begging for scraps from passing vehicles.
After lunch we climbed into hill country, first through a quite barren territory, then farms and hill villages. The GPS users reported that we climbed nearly 1,000 meters, including 13% slopes.
Highlight of the ride was a water buffalo-driven water pump that worked by lifting a chain of buckets. When I stopped to take pictures, the pump operator came over to visit, and wanted to try out my bike, but then decided the seat was too high!
Kumbholgarh Castle Hotel was near km 100, perched on a hill in a steep valley, on a stretch of road with a number of hotels.
Toured the awesome Mehrangarh fort today. Remarkable combination of fort and palace. Very tastefully restored and managed. Staff were exceptional in dress and relating to visitors.
We set off early from Kherjaria fort, and rode through the village as people were getting milk, sweeping in front of their homes, and doing various other morning tasks.
The sun put on a beautiful show as it rose above clouds on the horizon.
Between 8 and 9, we encountered increasing numbers of kids going to school. January 26 is independence day, and we saw a number of school girls in striking outfits. I am amazed how the kids' clothes can be so clean when they live in such basic housing. Other mornings, we have seen men bathing at the village taps, demonstrating how people keep themselves clean, even on the coldest days.
Our route followed bigger roads through quite barren country, so we rode fast. There was not much traffic, but I was able to snap a picture of a couple of beautiful trucks at a truck stop.
We got to the hotel by noon, glad to find an oasis of green and quiet on the outskirts of the Johdpur.
<p>The temperature was 10 degrees as we left the hotel, the warmest by a long shot. A welcome change. <br>
Our group took a wrong turn leaving the village, but Baba caught up to us and brought us back to the correct road. The roads were mostly single track, about half smooth pavement and half very broken road. Lots of goat and sheep herding. <br>
There were fewer villages and less to see than previous days
Arrived at a lovely Khejarla fort hotel, very civilized restored fort in the midst of an average village. </p>
On arriving in Delhi, we studied the way taxi and tuk-tuk drivers drove through the chaotic traffic, and realized that, while everyone is vying for position, they are driving very skillfully to avoid hitting each other. There also seems to be an understanding that bigger, less maneouverable vehicles have more right of way than smaller vehicles -- like bicycles. This holds true on the country roads too, but it works well enough, provided the bicycle rider can get off the pavement on a single track road in a spot where there is a suitable shoulder.
Everybody uses their horn to announce their presence and to urge others to move out of their way. In the city, the noise can be deafening. Even in the country, the piercing timbre of the horns of nearby motorcycles is unpleasant.
On the other hand, all the motorcycles have very effective mufflers, so their motor is quiet as they go by. These bikes are clearly being used for practical transport, and are generally equipped with small 4-stroke engines, but often carry up to four people. A lot of the motorbikes are driven by young boys, but very few of them drive wrecklessly.
All in all, riding on rural roads feels quite safe. Town and city traffic is trickier because people use the road as they please; they can drive the wrong way on a four lane road, and they may cut on the wrong side of a round-about, so traffic patterns at intersections are very complicated.
Short ride today; 60 km to Pushkar through dry, scrubby land. Mostly grazing goats and lots of pollarded trees, where the branches had been dropped to feed the goats and then make fences. Some farming activity, and a few villages, but sparse.
Mostly single track back road, with few personal cars; mostly motor bikes, jeep-taxis, tractors pulling wagons, and the occasional bus. Very little traffic.
The highlight of the day came when I was riding alone and slowed down to watch dozens of women in their colourful saris working digging a ditch. They called out for me to take a picture, and as I did so, they all came close. When I showed them the pictures, others wanted their picture taken too. Good fun was had by all, and the men posed for pictures too.
It is common to see women working so well dressed at construction sites; often moving gravel in bowls balanced on their heads like a human conveyor belt.
Then we found a nice tuk tuk driver, and asked him to take us to the Amber fort. On the way, he stopped to fill up at a gas station next to a lake with a lovely palace in the middle.
The Amber fort is a huge complex of buildings, gardens and fortifications hillycountry. It was full of people, mostly Indians enjoying a day off. The visit centres around the old palace in the fort. The site is well run, with routes to follow, explanatory panels to read and a controlled amount of commercial activity. One tour offered is an elephant ride up or down the ascent to the fort. As we were leaving, the elephants were retiring for the day, so we enjoyed a close-up as they passed us on the descent.
We set off at sunrise after 7, in clear weather at 0 degrees, but the sun quickly warmed us up. We rode 10 km on the main road at a good pace, which) got the heart going. Not long after we turned off NH11, we were on small country roads in active farming country. Today was Saturday, and there were lots of people in the fields, mostly brightly dressed women, and there were lots of kids who would drop whatever they were doing to "hello" us.
We rode through the most prosperous farming to Date: tomatoes, eggplants, wheat, canola and rice. Several fields were irritated, and everything looked green.
It was a pleasant 90km ride on generally good roads. Lots of photo ops, including a farmer fertilizing his crop by hand from a bucket. It reminded me of Saskatchewan potash, but this fertilizer was white.
Shortly after 7, we started out in a cold (5 degree) fog, which lasted all morning. At the lunch stop, the sun broke through, and the afternoon was completely different; warm enough for shorts and short sleeves.
We rode on a series of back country roads which were very rough pavement, through many small villages. A close up view of rural life. The kids along the road, especially in the villages, would shout hello as loud as they could. Fun, but occasionally deafening.
The ride was 130 km, mostly flat, but one hill near the end in Kalakho.
Plan was to ride to the Taj, pose for a group photo, and then leave town in a convoy before the traffic built up. However, the fog was thick, so no Taj in the background, and a couple of hours of riding in cold fog (5 degrees) . Very Atmospheric conditions for the 60 k ride, supplemented by the smoke from all the fires by the side of the road. We were served lunch at the hotel in Bharatpur, and then we went to visit the bird sanctuary next door. Dave and Hendric and I rode our bikes 10k in and back out, seeing storks, deer, kingfisher, turtles, nd lots more. Lovely quiet sanctuary with lots of wildlife. Back to the hotel for briefing and dinner.
We have a couple of days in Agra before starting cycling. First we visited the Taj Mahal, which is extraordinarily beautiful. Then we assembled our bikes, and took them out for a test ride. After days of walking and riding in busses, tuk - tuks and taxis, it felt great to travel down the street among the traffic on the bike. Can't wait to get started on the tour.
When I met Dave Ford at the YMCA in New Delhi as planned, he had already connected with Rudolph, who is part of the cycling group. We toured around Delhi together, enjoying a variety of monuments, temples, museums and neighbourhoods. We were fascinated by the flow of the traffic as we travelled around Delhi; cars, tuktuks, motorcycles and assorted other vehicles jostled for position, coming very close to each other but somehow managing never to touch.
Arrived Tuesday night in time to wander down to a main street and find dinner. The street was full of life; shops were open, families walking around. There was even a small carnival happening in a square that had attracted a lot of families with small children. I enjoyed sitting outside by the sidewalk to eat dinner.
Wednesday morning it took me a while to get all my biking gear organized, so I left at 10. It also took me a while to get my bearings. Once I did get going in the right direction, I realized that the major thoroughfares cut right through town, and there are few places to cross them. This city feels like it has been put together by property developers and traffic engineers. It is not pedestrian friendly, and hopeless for cycling. When I was occasionally able to use a bike lane, they were full of obstacles. The rest of the time, I found myself constantly geting forced onto big roads.
However, I had a fascinating ride down the "Dubai Creek" on the way out, I watched people loading everything from bags to cars on old boats that didn't look too seaworthy. On the way back, I zig zagged through little lanes full of little stores. This is the old part of Dubai.
Riding South along the beach, I saw newer parts of the city. I met an Emirates pilot called Ian, who was out for a ride on his road bike. He expressed a lot of frustration with cycling conditions. He recommended aganst riding out to the Palm Jumeirah, and I found out why once I got close. There is a four lane expressway leading out to the subdivision, and while it is possible to go onto the island, access to each residential road is controlled with a gate manned by a guard. At a certain point, the big road goes through a tunnel, where bikes are not allowed, so I had to turn back.
On the way home, I dropped into Wolfi's bike shop, and when I met Wolfi, he was also very concerned about the difficulty of finding good bike routes.
Got home to the hotel at 5.
