A bunch of folks went for a beautiful ride in the morning dew and awakening sun. As usual, I am going to forget names - so amends in advance. Arun, Alex, Sunil, Rajesh, Valleri, Samik, Arvind, Sanjay, a couple of others yet unnamed, and todays intrepid navigator (Larrie) set out for another run at the eucalyptus. Our guest of honor could not make the ride; however, since he will be spending more of his time in India over the next six months, we will have other opportunities to introduce him to Bharat.
The ride started out coolish, and with recent rain several species of flying insects had hatched to feed the swallows over Varther Kere, and we were treated to an spectacular aerial showing backdropped by the rays of the rising sun. Also due to some recent rains, we ran into some mud today - sorry, Siva, you missed it. India red clay does take a while to get out of ones tires, and it wasn't until towards the end of the trip that my tires where soil free. Other obstacles to be endured on the ride were recent political activity has resulted in road maintenance and some rather jaw rattling rock filled roads; gladly, these sections of rocky road where fairly short. We did not have tea today - we need to get Sunil back into the habit of sniffing out tea stalls; although, he has gotten accustomed to omelets and toast. There was some pretty good brain storming working out a solution to cooking while riding, but I doubt that biker culinary technology will result in sated hunger any time soon.
Traveling as we do into Bharat is a lesson in the dichotomy between that which changes, and that which does not. Traditions do not change from week to week, but the forces of nature are ever changing. Having ridden the same track two weeks ago, and using the exact same GPS file, I still managed to miss a turn and ventured off into the unknown in search of the track. During those two weeks green elements, I hesitate to use the common term green shoots for this is India not America, were at work to hide and other wise obscure a critical missing piece of trail. But, we forged on, the faithful following the dogged, through the eucalyptus and persevered. The trail was found, and we were again off.
Alex took a spill attempting to navigate an eroded piece of a field, and trying to avoid damaging the crop that was planted in the field. Not sure of the persons name, but he was riding a spiffy Rock Rider, had what Arun classified as an Indian flat - a slow leak, which required a couple of stops to pump it back up. I suppose that is a clue when you remember the persons bike before you remember their name, eh? Also, Sanjay took a rather nasty tumble when a moment of exuberance was nullified by an overgrown ditch. No worries though, he bounced back and was soon ride ready.
And, for the second time since I joined this group, we ran into silk worms. A village gentleman was putting his critters into their racks to enjoy some of todays glorious sunshine. Arvind even took a worm home for his kids, and I rather think the critter enjoyed the ride and fresh air. Also, a rather pretty blue kingfisher was spotted to provide some color to the ride as we crossed the ridge of a sand mine full of monsoon.
The trip ended in a rather nasty traffic jam in Varthur as some motorist decided to do a U-turn in the middle of one of that villages many road constrictions during the Sunday bazaar, and I think today is some festival day, too - Varthur was very busy this morning. It took a few minutes to get sorted out, and several of our troop resulted to ninja two wheel style to navigate the mess and proceeded quickly home ahead of the bulk of the pack.
The stats, well, there are no stats as I forgot to turn on the GPS recorder. However, from the same ride two weeks ago, I can tell you that it is about 31 - 32 km, and we returned today about 9:30, which is about a 30 min improvement from two weeks ago. A single planned break was taken, and a couple of other breaks were afforded as fresh air was pumped into an unstable steed. Sanjay submitted a couple of pictures of the trip, and they are attached. Arun had a picture, but then he didn't; so, no pix from Arun. if anyone got pix of the silk worms, please forward to me.
