Last Day on Bikes

March 13 was our last day on our bicycles.

We had never planned to do our whole trip by bicycle, only the southern portion. The reasons were simple enough: the traffic is managable in the South of India; and the Himalayan regions of the north where we plan to visit are probably too steep for us to really get anywhere in reasonable time.

One could, for sure, do a cycle trip over all of India. But biking would have to be you main focus, not simply a means of getting around. For us, doing this trip by bicycle has always been about slowing the pace and taking our own roads. We love our access smaller village settings and out-of-the-way places. But to cycle in the North seems to beg far more focus on the cycles, the gear, one's fittness, or the elevation you can climb in a given day. We're in good fittness, but we're not maniacs.


Our last day was a gentle 85 km from the beaches of Kovalam to the extreme southern tip of India: Kanyakumari. The riding in coastal Kerala has been more relaxed and indeed better paved than some of the roads we encountered in Karnataka. Here is a video I took while riding behind Monica up a hill (link, 13.2 MB). It's a fairly average morning on the National Highway 47, with the usual mix of busses, auto-rickshaws, cars, and other bicycles. I tried to get some footage of the adjacent buildings as we go by, but it's rather shaky camerawork.

After a few days of separation from our bicycles, I have mixed feelings about the change. I are certainly relieved not to have all the associated gear and tools to lug around -- jumping on a train or bus is now quite simple. But I do miss the flexibility and I think I will also long for the strenuous exercise from time to time.