Back on the Bike

Our climb rising above the paddy fields

I had given up riding in India. In Australia I bike commuted to work and in Germany I rode regularly in the neighbouring forests a few time a week when there was no snow on the ground. In India, I started using my bike to ride to the gym of a morning, often riding to a spin class. That was good and it helped me to become comfortable with the traffic before I started driving. After I started driving I still used the bike because parking anywhere in Mumbai is a problem.  
















Then we changed apartments and my gyms were walking distance. The bike fell into disrepair on the balcony and, although I was still spinning and using Sufferfest videos for endurance training, the bike was forgotten.

A village just off the main road

Recently, I had the bike overhauled, and some of the people I run and climbed with reignited my interest in the bike as they had started riding to work or riding around Mumbai as part of ironman training.  Still, I had no interest in Mumbai traffic.

Paddy fields, pretty scenery and local traffic on the Bhiwandi-Parol Road

I scouted the map and found some areas out of Mumbai where you could get a decent work out without the traffic. The first location I had noted was Tungeshwar National Park, about 70 minutes drive in light traffic north east of Mumbai.

The flat sections on the bottom of the climb.

Thomas, David and myself set off in the car at 6 am on Sunday morning and we had unloaded the bike and were ready to go at 7.10am.  I had promised to be back for a yoga workshop so I was on the clock.  We set off in the rough and muddy streets of Gokul Nagar on the northern side of Bhiwandi and within a few hundred metres our legs were covered in mud and we prepared ourselves for a long and dirty day. On the outskirts of town the road improved and the mud disappeared and the riding became more enjoyable.

Kicking back a little

We cruised through low hills, rice paddies and farming villages; a million miles from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai.  It wasn't long before we hit our turn around point but I was having so much fun. I called Kate and cancelled on the yoga and we committed to continue to the small village of Parol on the Vajreshwari Road.




















On arriving a Parol we were lured on further. This time by the steep dirt road leading to Tungareshwar temple past Balyogi Shri Sadanand Maharaj Ashram. The track rose 600m over 7.4 km with and was mostly rock leading to some slightly technical sections.  The riding was great but the gradient picked up over the last two km and I had really stretch my time away from home. We reached a point where to continue we would have needed to shoulder the bikes so we turned around for an exhilarating but bone jarring descent.

On the small chain ring now

How many bikes can you fit in an Innova? (Answer - three)

Back on the main road we really tried to drill it for the trip home. A slight tailwind helped with speed but made the return stiflingly hot. We made it back to the car after five hours (including some breaks), 57 km and 2,200 feet of climbing.  A good ride and a great day out of Mumbai. We intend going back to climb to the temple from the western side and I will certainly be scouting out other rides in the near future.