Tour De Monsoon

• Tour De Monsoon


This monsoon I will be touring on my bicycle, starting from Kanyakumari and proceed along the west coast from 28th of May. I do not have a destination yet to end the tour but I have planned the tour for 10 days and planning to approximately cover 1000 Kms. I will be travelling to Nagercoil with my bicycle by Bangalore - Nagercoil Express on 27th May and reaching Nagercoil on 28th noon. I will have a small warm-up ride till Kanyakumari (20Kms) before I kick start the tour. I have reserved a normal sleeper class ticket as I want to keep this trip as economical as possible, not because I have a financial constraint, but I want to avoid Luxury as much as possible (I have given so much luxury to my body that my waist size has been increasing by multiples of 2 for the past 2 years). This would be a good 10 days test on my body to observe how much pain it can take. I have decided to completely rule out the consumption of bottled mineral water unless and until I come across a situation where I do not have any other choice, I will be drinking the water the locals drink, having the food the locals have. I will be staying in hostels, houses of worship, paddy fields or even a police station if I do not feel safe (I am carrying a sleeping mat).

Coming to the fun part, as most of the places I will be visiting has a strong history (were once ruled by the British, Portuguese ..etc), I will get to see a lot of temples, Palaces, forts, beaches, churches, Jew synagogue, Chinese fishing nets, ports.. etc. I will be staying in a house boat, will be camping wherever possible, cooking my own dinner (not a 7 course meal, I meant something like Maggie noodles) and many in store for me as surprise. I get to ride in between the rubber estates, paddy fields, and lanes passing along the sea and backwaters in the rain. This is all I know as of now.



• My Bike

It’s Rockrider 5.2 from Decathlon. I fitted a rare carriage to accommodate my backpack and sleeping bag. I have already fitted the head lamp, tail lamp and odometer. Other specifications remain the same that comes with this model. For more information about the bike you can visit the Decathlon web site.





• What will I carry

1. 3 pair of shorts and T Shirt, 1 Jeans, A pair of Gloves, my sun glass to ride in the hot sun and a water proof Jacket to ride in the rain.

2. Camera

3. Sleeping bag

4. 2 Water bottles (1Ltr)

5. Enough batteries to keep my headlamp and my tail lamp glowing for 10 days

6. 10 Packets of Electoral to overcome the loss due to dehydration.

7. 2 packets of lion dates as a quick energy booster (will keep replenishing if needed)

8. Mobile phone and charger, card reader and Pen drive.

9. IPod loaded with songs to its maximum capacity.

10. Toothbrush, paste and Soap

11. Johnson’s Baby Powder to avoid saddle sores

12. A book and pen.

13. Cable lock

14. Sunscreen and Vaseline

15. Repair tools (Spanner, Puncture kit, hand pump.. etc) and an extra tube.

16. Hard copy of the maps taken form Google Maps and the route plan.

17. Petrol and lighter for camping

18. Last but not the least “$#^^” Rs



• Why am I going on this tour?

“I am not doing this tour for any Social Cause!!”. So if you are looking for some kind of motivational story to work on a social issue like global warming, I am sorry to disappoint you. Then why am I going for this tour? To be honest I do not have a very clear answer, but I do have few unclear ones like,

1. I like to push my body to test its limit. For example I like feel the terrain in my muscles as I climb and when I am dripping wet after the climb I get a down hill as a gift. It’s a lovely experience and the smell of air I breathe is unexplainable!!

2. Admiring nature while cycling is all together a different experience (that too during the monsoon)! You are neither to fast to miss the beautiful view around nor too slow so that you loose out on time.

3. It’s a confidence booster!

4. It’s a thrilling experience to be left all alone just with a bicycle and 3 pair of cloths in an unknown place where you do not even understand their language.

5. Last, but not the least, who does not want to spend a long vacation in the Sun, Sand, and Sea.



• What to look for from this Blog

I will be blogging from my mobile (thanks to BlogSpot for mobile blogging option). I will post lot of stories about the places I travel, the kind of people I come across, and the challenges I face (especially with my cycle and language. I am learning few words in Malayalam like Buttermilk, Orange, tender coconut water.. etc as most of the days will be spent in Kerala). This is all I know as of now. I will be posting the updates, routes and pictures as and when they come.