So we asked ourselves – ‘What’s a good way to live the spirit of a green world through Cycling’? The best idea our club leader decided was to do a Cycling expedition, the route encompassing a Triangle, passing through the villages located in the green jungles of three states. The Green Triangle comprises of three places Bangalore, Mahe & Ooty. Our goal was not to just cycle to our destination, but GO THERE GREEN, cycling all the way, enjoying the green nature in the jungles of the three states.
Who we are:
‘Saahasa’ – Meaning ‘Adventure’ - That’s the name of our group. Our bold team leader is Mahesh Patil, our tenacious team members are:
Pooran Chandra (Alias PC-Photographer more-Cycling even more)
Abhiman (literally first)
Samsher, Srikanth, Balakrishna, & Prashanth (the rookies)
Raghavendra (Alias Rags-The OverTaker)
Satish & Sunil (Slow & steady; last here too).
A Trip with a Mission
The plan was to go to some of the best hill stations in South India.
In addition, not just cycle to our destination, but GO THERE GREEN, cycling all the way, enjoying the green nature, passing through the villages, interacting with local villagers, the true ‘HEROES’ making least impact to the environment, far away from the epicenters of environmental hazards, from the sources of global warming, WAN (Water, Air and Nature) pollutions. To save Forests, as they are heart and lungs of the world; they are its air conditioning too!
As an additional initiative we also planned to support ‘Save the Girl child’ campaign by distributing literatures across villages and town. The literatures was printed in three different local languages to ensure that all the villagers could read and understand our critical message about the incredible worth, value and diversity women provide in our country.
We desperately wanted the villagers to understand that the roles our women play in India has changed. There is an absolute need for all people of our country to be grateful for and to nurture little girls, allowing them to experience life by being cherished, allowed to be educated and be able to attain their dreams. The idea was to try to create more awareness against inhuman practices such as female foeticide, social discrimination against women and female illiteracy. Our team would like to thank Poorna Chandra Keelara who seized the task of writing and printing the literature, making sure we were all able to carry it in our relatively small backpacks.
Trip Planning
Who said we did? The logistics in entirety was planned, managed and executed by Shiva Kumar and Kumar.
From planning the accommodations to even the small details of helping us dispose a chocolate-wrapper, every miniscule detail was aptly planned and executed to perfection. The entire trip was self-sponsored, without any commercial promotions and sponsorships.
Our Route
It was only 10 km……..Yes only an average of 10 km an hour for 12 hours a day and 8 days in all. One need not be as good as me in math to tell it was around 950 km we did in all.
The Countryside Route Details
“There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.”
This is what we felt when we sailed through serene forest of Virajpet, Mahe, Nadapuram, Vythri and Gudular from where it took us to Ooty where humming of birds were crystal clear.
The ascents to Vythri & Ooty stretched and tested our mental and physical endurance at every hairpin bend. It was at these stretches we remembered what our beloved cycle partner Bala said….”CYCLING IS ALL ABOUT PHSYCOLOGY”. Raw Gravity tested our brakes while descending from Ooty to Madhumalai when we wondered gravity number was more than 9.8.
What did villagers say seeing us?
Some Comments by onlookers knowing about our trip:
‘You could have come by bus right?’
‘Didn’t you have money to come by bus?’
‘Have you taken any pledge / vow with God?’
‘See that bottle has petrol….. And this cycle runs on motor!’
‘Do you need a push…. Shall we push?’
Other VitalStats:
Distance: 950 KM
Bikes: Trek 3700
Average Daily Distance: 120 km per day
Our Cycling History:
2007 – Manali to Leh (Passing Rohtang, Baralacha-La, Nakeela, Lunchlung-La, TangLang-La) & Kurdung-La (Worlds Highest Motorable Road)
2008 - Shimla to Manali through Spiti Valley (Passing Kunzum-La and Rohtang Pass)
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