Another Day, Another Bus Ride

It's Wednesday 12th and another chair-carry got me to breakfast this morning (bless 'em all) and then I managed to hobble painfully to the bus on my single crutch. The descent of the precipitous, cobbled, hair-pinned driveway was as scary in the bus as it was for the riders who had to walk it. The location here at Tranquil Nest is truly beautiful with constant jungle birdsong, and tree frogs calling. It was another tough ride today for the cyclists with plenty of short breaks on the narrow winding road as it progressed upwards through the Western Ghats. We saw typical sights of women carrying great bundles of firewood and water carriers (not at the same time!) on their heads, and men carrying huge bunches of bananas likewise, with enormous hooked blades hanging from their waists. Anne lost her Dog Dazer at one point but was relieved to find it had been picked up by a following rider, especially as Claire was actually chased by a dog later!  Finding a lunch stop was a challenge as there were so few areas where you could pull off. All were rubbish strewn, but many were discounted due to piles of human faeces! We eventually found a place and were almost immediately surrounded by a troop of monkeys which had to be kept at bay, especially when one tried to get into the bus!  After the picnic lunch we continued climbing quite steeply again until reaching the hill station town of Kodaikanal. A busy and chaotic metropolis, it assaulted the senses on all sides. We turned off and drove around its big lake to find the wonderful hotel that would be home for 2 nights. Good WiFi, lovely staff, amazing food, and we get a disabled room so all is good. We are at 2100m so it's like a warm summer's day in UK. In fact, it was quite chilly come evening. The wonderful nurse Erica (tandem stoker) came round and kindly poked, prodded and manipulated me before dinner and seemed reassured that there were no obvious indications of underlying tendon/ligament detachments, just a softness in the tissues in the injured side compared with the good side. This, and the fact it has not got any worse, is good news.  Time to celebrate with a trip to the restaurant for beer and a fab meal. 

And Anne says she rode all the 28miles quite comfortably. I should give her my Garmin to carry!

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)

For Me, The Ride Is Over

Up really early, bleary eyed, for a cuppa and issue of breakfast bag. I was wheeled out to the minibus and we all boarded for the hour long drive (nothing moves fast here) to the nearest station. Everyone transferred to the train to Madurai ... except me. I stayed on board for the 4 hour drive instead. Wise choice, as illustrated by the undignified pee-break en route. It's only 20m from the bus door, with 3 steps. I was supported on Jomy's shoulder (he's a strapping chap) but even so nearly blacked out, feeling sick, by the time I got there. Not good. I certainly wouldn't have managed the train. Anne reports that it was one of those 3-tier Indian sleepers (a la Michael Portillo's Great Indian Railway Journeys). Their journey was fine and quite an experience, but it was slow ... and delayed! I got to the JC Residence Hotel in Madurai first and was spoiled rotten by hotel staff, wheeled to the room, was made a cup of tea and collapsed on the bed.
Anne arrived about an hour and a half later, had lunch and brought mine to the room. She went off shopping and doing the temple visit. We now need to work out how to approach tomorrow. I'll be in the bus, obviously, so she'll be riding without my company, or the tools, medical kit, inner tubes, etc. Need to do some rearranging. A bar visit for the group finished the day followed by another fantastic meal.

It All Started So Well ...

A late and longer post for reasons that will become clear. A slightly later breakfast, yesterday, didn't give too much of a long lie as the bags needed to be packed and the bikes stowed in the support vehicles. We all set off on a road trip to  the Palace at Padmanabhapurum, India's answer to a National Trust property. A magnificent 16c building run by Kerala Tourist Board, despite being in Tamil Nadu. After a lunch of dosas at an adjacent local restaurant we mounted up and took off in searing heat (hotter than the first day). It was an easy ride south to the coast through busy and chaotic villages, then we paralleled the ocean east through rows of delightful, searingly brightly coloured homes with a welcome sea breeze. Everywhere we were hailed and waved at and cheered by groups of kids and adults alike. A minibus of primary school kids drove by deafening us with their screams of delight and there big smiles. Then we turned off onto the quietest, virtually traffic-free, country road of uncharacteristically velvet tarmac whilst the support crew deviated along the parallel main road. How much safer could it get after the mayhem of the previous day. We were waylaid by a rep from the Tamil Nadu tourist board making a video about the health and mental wellbeing advantages of cycling and "would we please do an interview". Everyone took one step back leaving me up front to wax lyrical about how good cycling was for folk. Then it all went horribly wrong ...

Spinning along at 15mph, the lady in front of me moved out to go round a fallen tree at the edge of the road ... that turned out to be 1/4 the way across the narrow single track road, so I did likewise, but not quickly enough. "Ah", thinks I, "I'm going to get raked by its wispy twigs". But no, because it was an obstruction, it had been trimmed of the flexible bits leaving branches as thick as you thumb. Pity it wasn't trimmed back past the edge of the road. Or moved completely like the blokes did afterwards. My RH bar end was snagged to a stop instantly twisting the bars to the right and high-siding me off the bike. I landed with full force on my left hip on the tarmac, swiftly followed by head and elbow. Brand new helmet performed brilliantly but will now need replacing. I was laid out in the road, trying not to black out and throw up, in absolute agony. Erica (nurse/midwife) was brilliant with me whilst we waited for the minibus to get to us. I was lifted aboard with a useless left leg and dislocated jaw. We arrived at the hotel and everyone was so helpful. Now I know how a wheelchair user feels. Senthil the guide was magnificent and he and driver, Jomy, researched local hospitals and drove Anne and I for an hour to find, at the second attempt, one that had an A&E doctor on duty (Sunday night). We are big fans of Ch4 '24 Hours in A&E' so knew what to expect. St George's this was not, but I really can't complain. I had the ministrations of a doctor, 2 nurses, radiologist, an examination, 2 pelvic X-rays and a painkiller injection in the bum for the princely sum of c£8.50, various medications for c£7.50, and a brand new crutch for c£7.50. Compare that with the cost of the 16.1/2 minute mobile phone call to our travel insurers at £33.00 !!!!!! Should have used Skype!  Anyway, the verdict was: no fractures, thank God!  Just soft tissue damage, although it's hard to believe when the pain score goes from zero lying down to 10+ as soon as I try and move. I can't put any weight on it at all. I'm crawling around the room on all fours; most undignified!  

So, back at the hotel around 10:30pm, we had a meal in the room that the hotel staff saved for us from tea time, then we had to pack everything for Monday morning's 04:30 wake-up call. A short nights sleep! The group were catching the 07:10 "express" to Madurai. 

First Day On The Bike

A great meal last night; an early night was followed with a fitful sleep despite the aircon keeping us cool. An early rise with a fantastic breakfast of fruit and local delicacies started the day. It was hot, need I say. The bikes were loaded into the back of the support van which was quite a challenge with one tandem, one semi-recumbent tandem, and 12 other bikes. I couldn't watch.  After an hour's ride in the mini-bus that felt like a cross between Whacky Races and Mad Max we arrived, reluctant to leave the airconned interior, at the Kappukadu Elephant Rehab Centre run by the Kerala Forest Department. No rides, no tricks, and no cream buns I'm happy to say, just a whole lot of elephants being wonderfully treated, washed and fed in an environment that provided entertainment for, but no interference from, visitors.

After a team safety talk, wisely heeded,  we mounted up in the steaming heat and cycled mostly downhill to a nearby dam for our first break. Roads were pretty quiet  and we weren't riding back along the road we drove out on, were we?  Well actually we did for a good part. Having reclassified the 328 near misses on the drive out as simply normal driving, we entered the chaos that is Indian traffic as a strung out peloton. It was a wild and exciting ride. If you could read the thought bubbles of the folk ahead they would run along the lines of "I wonder if that oncoming truck that is overtaking that tuktuk has seen the taxi that's overtaking the scooter that's overtaking me?"  Of course they always did. It was, in a strange way, quite exhilarating once you'd re-benchmarked your view of acceptable driving behaviours!  A fantastic lunch stop at a local restaurant with an aircon 'best' room

Interrupted progress and gave us an opportunity to cool down. Then it was onwards for the last few miles back to the hotel for the final night's stay here at Adimalathura, SE of Trivandrum. We arrived dripping with sweat and happy to get the acclimatisation ride done. Nobody died so it was judged a success. 

22.3 miles;10.7 mph  average speed; 294m ascent. 

We’ve Arrived; And So Have The Bikes

Well the lounge has a maximum stay of 5 hours, but we just kept smiling sweetly and eating all that was put out, and not draining their bar, so all was good. No one felt our collar and we just exited after nearly 10 hours when we were ready for a change of scene. 

We spotted the first of the Manchester contingent whilst at the departure gate and noted with alarm that the Heathrow flight was delayed thereby leaving them just 35 minutes from touch-down to gate closing ... and it's a real long walk from arrival to departure (with security again). They made it, just, but did the bikes??  

Amazingly they did!  Good Morning Trivandrum!  After the standard Indian  beurocracy  at arrivals, made even more complex with the current Coronavirus checks and paperwork, we were questioned, photographed, finger-printed and had our electronic visa printouts physically stamped, written up, and signed then checked 3 times before we were released into baggage reclaim. All items were present and correct (even a tandem). 

The support crew met us and we had a white knuckle ride to a rather charming Heritage Resort Hotel by the coast. For 4am it was all pretty busy. At 06:00 we hit the horizontal and remained comatose until 09:00 when the alarm cruelly dragged us (or rather me) reluctantly from the dreamless depths of slumber. I then did the same for Anne so that we could breakfast before it closed. Outside the heat and humidity hit us like a hot, wet blanket. Next, we created quite a sight that drew crowds of curious onlookers as we all proceeded to unpack and rebuild the bikes. The support crew and staff were endearingly over-helpful in getting the bikes out of the bags (no, please leave it, I know how I packed it and what bits I need; and I know which bits are hanging by a cable; and I know what order I want it; and don't throw the bubble wrap away; and now where's my tools?). All done with big smiles and good humour and plenty of questioning from watching kids. Eventually the chaotic stage was replaced with order, relief, and a squadron of carefully reconstructed bikes, clean, and in perfect working order. After short check rides round the hotel (boy am I glad we brought the fatter wheeled hard-tails), and with shirt clinging to me like a wet rag, I returned to our bungalow for a welcome cold shower then we all regrouped for a massive lunch. 

A descent to the adjacent beach walked off some calories (those that hadn't been sweated away), but I resisted a swim.  Anne paddled then went for a dip in the pool and tasked me with getting the oil that she'd picked up on the beach off her sandals ... and flip flops!!  Good job I brought some Swarfega!

Oh, and my cold seems to have fizzled out to nothing. Excellent! Or maybe that's famous last words?

Half Way There

We arrived Glasgow airport well early, as per usual. Journey time estimate was sandbagged to allow for problems en route which was a good idea as we ran into an accident and road closure before we'd even gone 2 miles!  The remaining drive was uneventful. We'd lost count of the number of times we'd repacked to keep within the weight limits so were a bit nervous as the 24.8kg bike bags went on the scales ...at just 23kg.  Bonus.  The carefully calibrated carry-ons weren't even weighed. Plenty of scope for shopping then!  Now relaxing in Dubai lounge with a loooong wait until our connection and a meet with the other riders flying in from Manchester and London. At least there's plenty of time for the bikes to make the transfer (unlike our return from Vienna after the Danube!). Only cloud on the horizon is that, having avoided almost all social contact for the preceding week to mitigate the risk of catching anything, we've been surrounded by coughers and sneezers on the flight. My nose is now starting to stream so I'm bracing myself for a cold to start the holiday with. Brilliant!