Barshi to Beed, Maharashtra

It was 7:30am and the rain had calmed down a bit. I decided to start from Barshi towards Beed, without waiting anymore for the rain to stop. Soon I was riding in heavy rain. I decided not to get off the bicycle this time and enjoy the ride in rain. I should say, riding in the rain was awesome.

Till 2:00pm, I had a job in hand i.e. tackle the pothole while riding in rain. By far, this was the most adventurous ride in my trip till now.

Jerky ride through the potholes, along with the lubrication provide by the rain, had made the rear rack strap slide down and it was now resting on the disc brake unit. Once the rain stopped I had to re-adjust the rear rack, for the second time in this trip.

20km away from Beed, I got my first excitement of a downhill ride on a bicycle. With speed more than 50kmph , I was learning how to tackle the turns in a downhill.

The downhill came to an end and I was greeted by two guys named Vijay and Amol on a motorbike. They had come to visit a waterfall over there. Being youngsters, they were very much thrilled after hearing about my trip.

Few kms later, I entered Beed town, took the road towards Aurangabad and stopped in front of the Bus station to find a lodge for night stay.Couple of guys on scooter stopped near me, asking to take a picture along with them.

Ahead I met a group of police guys. They helped me in locating the lodge and wished me good luck for my trip. Soon an auto-rickshaw driver gave me 50 rupees, asking me to keep it for "Chai-paani"(for tea/water). I denied to accept the money, but the people nearby said to take it. I guess they were thinking that I was a pilgrim and helping me is a good deed. 

Before sleep, I went to the hotel below the lodge to get some water. Had a chat with the middle-aged hotel manager, who was settling the account for the day. He asked me where I was from and why in Beed. I said about my journey and soon he shared his bike ride to north India during his youth. He offered me a tea and we spoke for some more time.

Riding through the villages today, one particular thing that struck my mind was the number of Swami ashrams on the way. Seems like villagers are very much affectionate to Swami ji's.

Solapur to Barshi, Maharashtra

As usual, I started early to escape the traffic in the town. People were moving to their offices for their daily job. On the way, a fellow cyclist rode with me to show the road towards Barshi from Solapur town.

Moving ahead, I met Mr. Boghle, a police inspector. He was incharge of the checkpost from Solapur to Barshi. We spoke as he rode his motorbike, keeping in pace with my bicycle. He asked me to stop at the check post ahead, for a cup of tea. Mr. Boghle who started speaking to me in Marathi and then in Hindi, was now deliberately speaking in english after knowing my education background. He offered me tea and also entered my name in the check post register just to commemorate that a "Traveller on bicycle" had passed through his check post.

I started from checkpost thanking Mr. Boghle for the tea. Further, I was stopped by a bunch of police guys. They asked me where I was going and wished me good luck.

Around 5 km from the checkpost, couple of local guys on motorbike slowed down by seeing me. Hearing my story, they invited me for breakfast at a dhaba in a vilage named Gunvanchi, few kms away. I was about to reach the Dhaba and I saw them waving at me. Mr. Chandrakant Rauth, as he introduced himself, asked me what I want for beakfast and said that the Dhaba belongs to his brother-in-law. As I waited for the breakfast, Mr. Rauth said "It's amazing to meet peope on road whom you might meet only once in a lifetime".

Cycling ahead through the villages, many motorbike guys rode along with me asking me similar set of questions which I was getting used to now, like, "Where I am from?" "Price of the bicycle?" "Where I was going?" "Why cycling alone?" "Where I sleep during night?" "Where I will have my food?"

Road towards Barshi had many potholes, but the views were excellent. As I was cycling through the villages, I could see farmers enagaged in agricultural activities, with their farms having vegetable, banana and sugarcane cultivation. One farmer invited me for lunch at his farm.

I reached Barshi by 4:00pm and stopped near the town entry, seeking help to find an accomodation. The people near by gathered and asked me about the bicycle trip. They helped me in locating a budget lodge for the night stay.

Normally I keep to myself, but now I was feeling great while getting attention from people. Altogether I felt that people in Maharashtra were more curious and welcoming. I enjoyed their hospitality.

During night, it rained in Barshi. It was "Angry rain" and poured so heavily for hours that the town was almost flooded. I could get the smell of sewage as it rained all night.

---
"When it rained, the towns smelled like sewage and villages like cow dung."

Bijapur, Karnataka to Solapur, Maharashtra

It was a late start from Bijapur. Not much of views in the beginning and the road was busy with trucks.

Couple of motorbike guys stopped me and few others passing by joined in, wondering what was happening. Again, it was a story telling session for me. By seeing the bicycle, they were asking about its different components. Some of them were very eager to play with the cycle gear, wondering what would happen. Some said I could have rode on motorbike, instead of a bicycle. I just smiled back.

An old farmer on the road side smiled at me and asked if I was coming from outer space. Seemed like, with a bicycle helmet and a raincoat on, I resembled an astronaut.

Clouds were just hanging around in the sky. It was getting hot and I wished for a rain, but it didn't happen.

Entered Solapur town by evening. Stopped to have coconut water. A young boy was selling the coconut. He couldn't believe that I was cycling from Bangalore. I was very tired and my bums and back were in lot of pain. Asked direction towards the Railway station, to find a cheap accommodation for night stay.

Solapur is pretty much a developed town. I was cycling towards the railway station and was stopped by few auto-rickshaw drivers. After having a chat with them, they directed me to the best place for the night stay within my budget.

It was time for another heavy dinner and I refueled myself with a  delicious thali along with few vada pav and bananas.

Prior to the sleep, I was getting a burning sensation on the top of my palm; seemed like it was heavily sunburned from past few days of riding under the sun. A hand glove could have helped to avert the sunburn, but I didn't buy one, thinking that it's of no use.So another piece of lesson learned on importance of hand glove.

Today was also the end of Karnataka ride and beginning of Maharashtra.

Anand Restaurant(Badami) to Bijapur, Karnataka

Had a disturbed sleep previous night with mosquitoes all over me. Woke up early and made my bicycle ready for the ride. All the restaurant workers were sleeping. Saw one lady in there and I asked her to say my "goodbye" to all those helpful guys.

Cycling began and I was feeling good, despite a bad sleep. The feel good factor didn't last long as I was cycling through the village with dogs chasing me now and then. Three times I cycled fast and one time I shouted at the dogs, getting fed up of them chasing me. Anyways, I escaped from being bitten by some mighty village dogs.

The roads towards Bijapur had plenty of downhills, which I enjoyed very much. I was around 70km away from Bijapur and the roads were just awesome. It was a "Wow" moment for me; beautiful sky and light green landscape with new plants just sprouting up after the rain.

I had parked the bicycle under a tree, having some bread and jam, while watching farmers working in the fields using traditional methods. As soon as I started from there, I rode the bicycle into a sharp wooden chip; got the 3rd puncture of the trip. A farmer passing by the road, asked "what happened and where I was going". He told me that there is bicycle shop 2km away, in case I needed help to fix puncture.

Heavy winds started to flow and I thought it may rain. Fixed the puncture quickly and started riding again.

Throughout my ride, I saw farmers working very hard from dawn to dusk. I wondered how much they would earn for their hard work. They are our food producers and it seems that we never think about them.

Today was also marked by a long bridge crossing, around 4.5km over river Krishna.

Met many local motorbike guys on the road all asking question like Where am I from? Where to? and What is the cost of the bicycle? . For cost of bicycle I gave them different answers like 5000/10000/30000/40000 ruppees. All the people I met today were asking the price of bicycle; hearing them, I thought how the paper money is ruling our lives. So for a change, now I started answering the price question saying: "I don't know the actual price, my friend has gifted me this bicycle for the journey."

On the ouskirts of Bijapur, two guys on  motorbike caught up and rode with me till Bijapur town. We had a nice chat and they told me to visit different places in Bijapur.

Hubli to somewhere near Badami, Karnataka

Got my bicycle serviced. The shop guys were thrilled to hear about my trip. They introduced me to some customers who came in to purchase bicycle. All wished me good luck and took a picture of me with the bicycle.

Started off from Hubli at about 11:00am. I could hear the bicycle tires making a buzzing sound, while  cycling  fast. I thought may be it will go away after sometime, but that didn't happen.  I had already cycled 12 km towards Badami and now decided to return back to Hubli to check if something was wrong with the bicycle tires. Reached the bike shop once again. The mechanic guy was waiting for me, since they forgot to fix back the front mudguard on the bicycle.He said there was no problem with tires and the sound is due to  tire taken out from the rim to fix the puncture, and will be ok after riding for a while. I took his words and started to Badami again.

Badami was about 100+ km. It was late start and I had already lost time by riding from/ back to Hubli. It was already 2:30pm and I knew Badami is out of reach for the day. Never mind, I kept riding and thought would stay in my tent during night.

It was getting dark and I was searching for a place to pitch the tent. Rain started once again and now I was in trouble being caught up in rain and not having a place to stay for the night. I stopped cycling and was pushing my cycle thinking that If I don't find a place to sleep, I will have to keep on pushing cycle until I was too tired to fall asleep somewhere on the road.

There were no lights on the road. Suddenly, in the dark, I saw a place which seemed like a garden to me initially. I went inside and was very happy to see a human face. I asked him if there is any restaurant near by . He said that this place is a Dhaba and will open shortly. I was instantly happy. My next question to the same guy "Bhai Saheb, can I pitch the tent in your garden and sleep for the night.". He said that he was a worker in Dhaba and I have to wait for the owner to get permission. Meantime, he suggested me that there was a bus stop, a few km away, where I can sleep.

I was waiting for the restaurant to be open. Few workers started coming in and were wondering what I was doing with a bicycle there. They could speak Hindi, so I was relieved. I said my story and they were pretty amazed. Now, I was the hot topic in their restaurant. I waited for Daal and Roti for about an hour and there it comes; it was soo tasty.

A kind guy named Mamath said that I could sleep in his house, but its bit far from restaurant and he will finish his work only by 2:00am. 2:00am until sleep, was beyond my limits as I was very tired and wanted to sleep soon. I thought of going to the bus stop and sleeping there. Mamath said that's risky and spoke to his manager. Met Sadiq, who was the relative of the restaurant owner, we spoke about my trip and he said that I can sleep inside the restaurant.

A teacher turned police guy, friend of Sadiq, came to me by hearing the story from others and asked me whether I was not afraid of riding bicycle that long, all alone. I said "Yes I'm, but have to fight with my fears to achieve my dream". He wished me good luck.

I parked my bicycle outside, locking it up with an iron pole. Took the sleeping mat and headed towards the workers room where guys having morning shift in the restaurant were already asleep. I went into sleep, thinking about how kind the villagers were to me, offering me a space to sleep without knowing me or expecting anything from me.

Haveri to Hubli, Karnataka

Yet another cloudy and beautiful morning. I started from Haveri by 6:00am. A farmer in the field asked me where I was going and I said this way straight.

It was a fine ride with good roads and scattered clouds. By noon it started to rain again and I was riding in the rain once more, getting all wet with nature and enjoying the beautiful farms beside the road.

On a uphill ride, I found some pieces of beer bottle glasses shattered on the road , just after riding my bicycle through it. And there it comes, got the first puncture on rear tire. I never repaired a puncture before, but had learned it by watching few YouTube videos. So this was going to be my first hands-on, fixing a puncture.

On the roadside, there was a bus stop and I took my bicycle into it since it was drizzling. Turned the bicycle upside down, removed the wheels, took out the tube and fixed the puncture. Some curios villagers approached me thinking what I was doing asked me something in Kannada. I couldn't understand what they asked, but taking the situation into account, I said to them "Tire..puncture.." by showing tire and the glass piece that I had taken out from tire. Watching me fix the puncture, they all were commenting something about the bicycle that I couldn't understand because it was all Kannada.

After the puncture was fixed, I continued my ride. Now, the air was leaking slowly from the front tire, but riding was manageable. Next stop is at Hubli and I knew Hubli had a bike shop, where I can service the bicycle and check the puncture too.

There was a police check post on the way and vehicles were lined up. Couple of police guys saw me and asked where I was going. Hearing about my trip,police guys were simply thrilled. Said bye to them  and I moved on. After a while, a truck came from behind, honking at me and stopped in front.  They truck guy gave me few oranges and said that the oranges were from the police guys, whom I met few minutes back. I thanked them and rode ahead.

Approaching Hubli, the rain got heavy. The trucks going beside me were splashing water on me and the bicycle. I decided to stop and take a break since I couldn't ride anymore due to poor visibility and rain hitting all over my face.

Reached Hubli by evening and asked for the bike shop address. One youngster was able to help me out in locating the bike shop. While entering the bike shop, the shop guys were all surprised to see me all wet, with  a bicycle and a luggage on the rear rack. I said to them that I was coming from Bangalore on bicycle and they were all surprised to hear that. Gave the bicycle for service and took out my mobile phone from raincoat pocket to note down their number. Oops...my phone was dead. I could see the water bubbles inside phone's touch screen. Seemed like the rain had flooded my pocket with the phone inside.I knew that's the end of my beloved phone. RIP my phone; you are a going to be a memento of my journey.

Took a room near Hubli railway station with the help of bike shop guys and had a good night sleep.

Chitradurga to Haveri , Karnataka

It was raining for last two days in Chitradurga and I was in lodge room all time. Finally, the rain took a pause one fine morning and I was back on the road. The lodge guys had allowed me to park the bicycle in their store room; however security of bike was always a concern for me. Bicycle seemed ok, when I took it out of store room, but when I started riding the gear sounded like it was getting stuck. Seems like someone played with the gears while bike was parked in store room. So, a lesson learned; next time try to keep bike along with me if I stayed in a hotel/lodge or better take room in a lodge if they allow bicycle to be kept in the room itself.

It was raining lightly all the day and wow... I was riding in the rain. Pitching a tent in rain didn't seem good idea for me and I continued riding towards Haveri, a small town, thinking that I could find a lodge there, to stay for the night.I reached Haveri by 9:00pm. The night ride was bit of a adventure; I didn't have the front lights on the bicycle and was riding on the National highway with the help of headlight beams from fellow trucks and cars.

I had taken only minimal things for the tour and my bike accessories included only a multitool and puncture kit. I didn't have even the spare tubes since they were unavailable and also thought travelling minimally will add to my adventure and also help me cycle better with only less load to carry.

Finally, found a lodge in Haveri (guess that was the only one). The hotel rooms were unclean, but had no other choice since it was raining. Only positive about hotel was they allowed me to keep my bicycle inside the room.