Thursday, February 17
Songadh to Saputara – 120 K
Total ascent today: 2206 vertical feet
The terrain is getting mountainous and more scenic as we cross the Arawli Mountains. Climbing the hills proved to be a challenge to many in the group but I never heard a word of complaint. I didn’t ride my bike the full day today but that was my plan – tomorrow I will. My hat is off to anyone who made it to the summit under their own power today. When real bikers tell you it’s a BIG climb day, they aren’t kidding! J
We started our climb day, leaving our tent camp around 7:30 am. Early on it was still flat and we stopped to take pictures of the ladies working on the road. We’ve seen this site so many times as we’ve ridden through India – these beautifully dressed women in their brightly colored saris working on the road construction projects in their area. Here the ladies were using metal pans to transport the gravel from the rock piles and spread it evenly on the roadside in preparation for paving. The ladies carry the rock-filled pans on their heads but then they seem to carry EVERYTHING on their heads – water pots, huge bundles of harvested grain or mustard, wood, sacks filled with all kinds of things in all sizes from big to small. Sometimes they use a small ring on the top of their head to assist them in balancing the pots but not always. Here are the ladies stopping their work for a few pictures. The sun was in my lense and the picture is too bright but I think you can still see them ok.
Not far after greeting the ladies alongside the road, we started coming upon big trucks carrying huge loads of bamboo .Not only was the truck bed full but then they extend the sides of the truck with bamboo poles and fill the top. Every 5 minutes or so a new truck would meet us on the road - coming towards us. When they pass us (slowly) they are only a few feet away from us on our bikes. It’s kinda scary being under the overhang on these overloaded trucks as they passed. Here’s one that we decided to wait for – we didn’t want to have to deal with it on the bridge. The first of the mountains we were about to climb are in the background (they are the little ones).
When we arrived at lunch, there were several boys hanging out and interacting with the cyclists. I enjoyed seeing their “toys” that they brought to show us. One boy brought his little pet monkey who knew exactly what to do with the banana we handed him.
The toys these boys had were very inventive… and primitive. This one resembles a cart that you might see on the road. It has a bamboo handle with wheels attached at the bottom. The young boy pushes it around and of course the trailer follows.
Here is the full sized TRUCK version of the same thing:
They also have a great time with a simple rubber tire. They roll them down the street, across a dirt road or field with a stick, running as fast as they can. They are happy and playful with these toys. These boys are dressed in their school clothes.
We waited for one of the tour vehicles to pick us up and once the car arrived, 4 of us piled inside. Candie found a roll of the marking tape on the floor. SCORE!!! She was now the all-powerful one! This is the tape that the tour leader puts out for the riders at important intersections and turns off of the main roads. It marks the direction we need to take. One piece of tape hanging from a pole at an intersection could get EVERYONE going in the wrong direction – now that’s POWER!!! J. Boy could we mess with the riders now!!! Haha!!
