I turned all my focus to that project and started to jog and cycle, ensuring I improved my fitness levels than earlier set benchmarks. The trek went off fantastically and there strolling by the frozen Bramhatal lake, my dream of walking all along the coast of Indian Peninsula flashed back, even though I had not forgotten it. But it certainly had taken a back seat. Not anymore!
Felicitaion by Lions Club Kakinada
I started to flip the document with route plans and places I would want to stop by during the walk that I had been silently compiling. I realised 7,500 Kilometres was a long distance to cover on foot and especially in these trying times. After a little thought and it dawned upon me why not pedal along the entire coast. It is always better to realign plans than to abandon them totally!
Milind talking to school children in rural India
I was already riding my son’s MTB for my fitness regime for the trek. Why not continue and practice a little more for the ride? I would have loved to do that on the recumbent trike that I had bult myself, but considering that I would be riding off-road on several stretches, the trike would have been a bad choice. She was built primarily to ride on paved roads, and not off-road.
Media breifings at Chennai
Thus started the preparation to realign and remap routes for the bicycle to hug the coast for most of the journey keeping in mind to circumvent steep ascents at the cost of distance and time. But that was fine and at least I was getting closer to my dream.
Chennai Naval Veterans felicitating the team
Having my marine consultancy business to manage, I decided to break the 7,500 Km long journey into four stages. The first was from Mumbai to Goa, the second from Goa to Kanyakumari, the third from Kanyakumari to Kolkata and the fourth from Koteshwar to Mumbai. The islands would be reserved for some time later once I could complete these four stages.
At heritage site in Pondicherry
I had not done any long cycle rides earlier. The longest I had done were 40 Kms rides when I was in High School. I did some longer rides gradually increasing the distance and saddle time. I started to practice being on the saddle riding for hours, only to notice getting off the bicycle with a sore butt and stiff thighs making me uncomfortable for the rest of the day. There were instances
Overhaul time in Pondicherry
The team at Kochi
Naval veterans welcoming the team at
Kochi.jpg
At Lakhpat Fort along west coast of
Inida.jpg
Road side repairs a daily affair
The Report • June 2022 • Issue 100 | 87
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