First day on bikes -- a success

Here is a picture of Monica looking very pleased that we are now on bicycle. Our night train from Mumbai dropped us off in Kudal about four hours behind schedule, which meant that we missed the morning hours and started biking in the middle (hottest part) of the day. Better judgment would have had us sit out the heat in a food stall, but we were far too excited to be on the bikes. And besides, we also wanted to see the beach.

From Kudal it was a moderately hilly 22 km to the coastal town of Vengurla, where we happily ate the first real food of the day. The bikes were a big hit with the locals. Hoards of men and boys came out to stare and prod and sound the big horn I put on the front of my bike. Riding these roads by bicycle makes me feel like some sort of a goodwill ambasador: we have said "hello" and "how are you?" to hundreds of waving onlookers as we pass from village to village. I think that the beauty of travelling by bicycle is that you can really smile and pause for a moment, that people feel comfortable approaching you, and that you never get anywhere too fast.

The bikes work well enough, but they will definitely need some tweaks here and there. The bottom brakcets are loose, as is my headset; the brakes are wimpy and it is hard to shift into my lowest chainring. But for only 85 USD or so, they are more than I had expected. I think we will do alright (fingers crossed).

We continued south along the coast to enter the state of Goa. Very hilly! We are taking a rest day today, because 55 km was too much for the first day. We are enjoying our time relaxing at this beautiful beach town (Arambol) and drinking mango juice. I'll save my comments about the bizarre nature of the Goa beach scene for some later posting.