Wednesday, March 2
Anmod to Gadag – 180 K
This was the longest ride of the tour, but we are now on a plateau with the big hills behind us... at least for a few days. The morning air was cooler in our higher elevation – nice and refreshing! There were several of us who opted to ride the truck to the lunch location and begin riding from there - at the pace we are riding we would be riding into the night to complete the full distance so this gives us a head start on the ride.
We stopped for a train and waited alongside the road with people, bikes, motorcycles, busses, trucks and cows… maybe even a few pigs. J
Here’s the caboose… ok everyone, let’s see who can cross tracks first without killing someone!!! Haha!!! J
Just after the train crossing, we stopped for a Coke and this little boy who was with his sister was curious about us so I asked if I could take his picture… as you can see in the picture below, he was a little tentative of us “white girls.” I took another picture of several young men and they shook my hand in farewell after I showed them the picture on my camera. Just then I looked down and this same little boy was standing below me with his tiny hand out – he wanted to shake my hand too! It was the cutest and sweetest gesture EVER!!! He melted my heart! I shook his tiny hand and we both smiled a big smile then he ran off to his sister, looking over his shoulder as they walked away.
Every time I see one of the ladies carrying something on her head I wonder what it’s like, today I stopped in time to get a picture of these ladies walking at the back of a large group carrying their baskets on their heads. After I had tucked my camera back in my bike bag, I rode past them and wished I could’ve taken about a dozen more pictures from the side and front because this group of travelers had ALL their possessions with them. There was a sheep on the back of a donkey along with bundles and bags. There was a baby pony walking slowly behind it’s mother that was carrying baby rabbits that were tucked into a pouch. Even the very young children were strapped, sitting up on top of the donkeys… It was amazing!
I had to laugh when we arrived at one of our turns and found that the owner of this cow had taken down our flagging tape and put it on the cow’s horns…. That works too I guess! J
Because of the long riding day, there was a “refresh” stop at 140 kilometers… it’s a snack and water refill stop and while I was there, I heard a bird in the tree above me. It took me a few minutes to find it, actually there were two of them. Two little owls were looking down at me from above… very cute little guys too I might add. Here is one of them:
We were right next to a field of sunflowers just about ready to burst into bloom – only a few had begun to bloom:
How do you like the bike bling on this boy’s bike? The trucks, bikes and even cows are often decorated with tassles like these:
I had to stop for a picture of these guys tarping their load – I thought of my son Herb who often has to tarp his hay to protect it from the rain and snow. Hi Herb!!!
