Seeing my cycling gear for long distance riding people naturally assume that I am a pro cyclist. Great health and fast riding. It leaves me somewhat embarrassed too often. Because they naturally assume I ride really quick and am really fit. Only to realise that, well, slow and steady wins the race too. 😀

And there is a reason for this lack of fitness  – between my long distance rides, there is usually a huge gap. After my Jan 2019 trip to Thailand, I rode only now, Feb 2020. This gap has been unusually longer.

Something happened once I crossed over from Thailand to Cambodia. I am not entirely sure what. But internally something flipped. And I was having a really hard time riding. In fact, as per my initial plans I had already procured the visa for Vietnam. And was to ride through Cambodia into Vietnam.

I crossed into Cambodia at Koh Kong. From there took the bus to Phnom Penh. From Phnom Penh, I could have crossed over into Vietnam with two days of good riding. But I didn’t.

From Phnom Penh, after a few days of deliberation and mulling. I returned back home. And even once I returned home, I was in a very different state. It was really hard to describe.

The Thailand riding had become too intense. And then the crossover into Cambodia caused something. Not sure what.

Anyway,

the point of this blog was to note that I finally rode.

Not majorly “long distance”. But good enough.

From my house in Coimbatore to Isha Yoga Center for Mahashivratri. 30 odd kms.

The first ride was really tough cause physically I was not fit. Plus, I lost my way, twice!! (what’s with that). Got chased by a dog, and then escorted back by a couple on motorcycle because “lots of aggressive dogs ahead”. Anyway, finally, I made it to the ashram.

And then yesterday I rode back to my house. This ride was much better.

Let’s see how my riding journeys pan out hence forth.

But glad this riding block was tackled, at least to some extent.

Pilgrimage’s are a thing for me. Some of the most intense and transformatory experiences have been on a solo pilgrimage.

Earlier, in 2016, I rode from Chennai to Tiruvannamalai. That was another block-shattering experience.

For many years, people have been walking from far off places like Chennai, Bangalore, Trichy, Nagercoil to Isha Yoga Center for Mahashivratri. This year Sadhguru named this ‘Shiv Yatra‘ and asked us to come down by walk, cycle or bullock cart. No machines. 🙂