The Wheels On The Bus Go Round & Round

The support vehicles were loaded with the bikes after an OK breakfast and we mounted up for a transport to the start of today's ride. I can see why. The traffic was manic, as usual, until we reached the dual carriageway anyway. It was just a compete jumble of buses, trucks, cars, bicycle rickshaws, tuktuks and small motorbikes (with up to 4 on board or a ladder or milk churn or hay bale or cooking pots) within which pedestrians casually walked around. Nobody ever seems to get hit; it just works and although it was rammed, there was never any gridlock! Once on to the dual carriageway it was a clear run with a concrete separation barrier and vehicles driving on the left .. mostly .. not always. No lane discipline, no sense of priority other than 'who dares wins', overtaking or undertaking, all is fine so long as you sound your horn.
We arrived at a shaded start point in a small habitation and the riders set off initially on level roads in hot sun. Then very shortly the gradient stepped up as the narrow, precipitously edged, reasonably well surfaced road rose steadily for about 24km at c.5% into the Western Ghats. It looked a fantastic road to cycle ... from the window of the bus! Anne assured me that it was, despite the several buses that came thundering down. We saw monkeys, heard haunting bird song and passed through the occasional tribal village (one with a knife maker forging blades by the roadside) and miles of light jungle. The temperature dropped with altitude and is now quite pleasant. No aircon needed. The 'hotel' is a beautiful, rustic, bungalow based establishment in a fantastic forest setting in the middle of the Ghats at 1300m (after today's start at 240m) . Anne, I'm happy to say, thoroughly enjoyed it and found the going quite fine. The heat was a challenge initially but the gradient was quite doable at a steady comfortable pace, especially as the temperature dropped as the climb progressed. I'm gutted I couldn't have done it too. The only problem for me now is that there is no wheelchair at this place and it's too far to walk to the bar and restaurant i.e. more than, say, 10m. I'm confined to barracks ☹️. But wait. I'm told the boys are going to wheel me up on the baggage cart! And so they did, lifting me to the table in my chair. A real Maharajah's entrance, to much applause. And a return carry in the chair after tea all the way to the chalet. What a team.
p.s. Anne cycled 21 miles from 230m to 1300m. (She told me to put that bit in)