Over two days we saw as many vehicles as we count on fingers, no kidding! The route was through the lush green countryside of Kodava land. It rained on and off but when it rained it poured and it looked like those who cycled had the time of their lives.

I could talk more about how much I love monsoons but by now, you all probably know and it doesn't make sense to repeat the same old again. So, how did you enjoy this Monsoon Odyssey? My friends at TAG, (The Adventure Gypsies) have many more events planned for the monsoon, do join if you like getting off the beaten path.

Have you done any monsoon trips so far? Let me know in the comments.

More Monsoon Magic Here :-
Monsoons of Rajasthan - Photos of Desert in the Rains!
Monsoons of Kerala - The Offbeat side of Mystical Munnar
Monsoons of Sikkim - Photos of Nature Extraordinaire
Monsoons of Maharashtra - A Photo Essay of 1800+km Weekend Journey!
Monsoons of Karnataka - Photos of Cycling in the Rain, Madikeri

It probably isn’t going to be an adventure if this thought doesn’t come to your mind.

“Why the hell am I doing this?”

That's me riding on a trail through the grasslands atop Kodachadri. Image courtesy - Rajesh Nayak

Exactly this thought was going through my mind on that beautiful Saturday night. Even before we started assembling the bikes, people gathered around to tell us there’s no way we could cycle 8 kms uphill through the jeep track to reach the mountain top. We told them we’d get there somehow. It was 6.30 in the evening.

After few kilometers of rocky, slippery and uneven trail, the route evened up a bit.

9 of us together must've brought back kilograms of this red mud. Most of the route was covered in this soft red mud which made the trail very slippery.

That's part of the team making their way down the trail. Image courtesy - Rajesh Nayak

While I wasn't really comfortable on these trails, my friends were having the time of their life. Image courtesy - Rajesh Nayak

We came across this stream at the end of the trail where we had a lot of fun crossing the stream on our bikes.

I was afraid to try this out in the beginning but it looked like a lot of fun and the photos and videos of the stream crossing looked awesome too. So I had to try it and it wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be.

Since I bought the cycle last year, maybe even much before that, I had a dream. To ride in the rains. But never got around to doing so. When the opportunity came this year I wasn't about to let go of the chance to fulfill my dream and how!

Where the monsoon greenery is striking, on country roads. Empty trails, no traffic and pretty sights to behold!

Words will fall short to explain the joy of riding in the rain. Only those who have experienced it will know. I was adamant this time, not to take the easy way out, to shoot even when it rains and so I did. And that my  friends, is why I present to you a photo-essay on the awesome monsoon experience in 20 images.

Route followed -

Madikeri - Mandalpatti - Madikeri - Basavanahalli - Kushalnagar

It will be almost a year to the tragedy this July, the Himalayan Cycling trip tragedy. If not a tragedy I can only call it a farce. Now when I look back and think of the things that I did, I was wondering what the hell I was thinking anyway.

The power of a bored mind and a crazy idea is way too great than you and I can fathom. When I was done having all kinds of crazy adventures and the adrenaline wasn't rising high enough, I decided it was time to do something a notch above my usual crazy adventure scale. Out of all the things thrown at me through "The Wall" on facebook, I somehow managed to pickup cycling as my next adventure. Because a friend or two unwittingly posted a video or two on mountain biking, I assumed "The Universe" was telling me something, I was so glad I finally communicated with the Universe, under the guise of listening to my heart I was actually listening to Facebook! 

Well it could've been the funniest thing if not for the other things that went awry on the trip. Spirits were flying high, I put together an awesome team, printed T-shirts with a logo that I personally made, then we went shopping for the missing gear, learned how pack/unpack bikes, transport them and a lot of other things. Well it seems what I forgot in all this was that to bike in the Himalayas, you just don't need some branded imported bikes and stuff. You also need some stamina and strength. Before I fall flat on my nose, let me brag, even if it lasts just for a second.

I have taken pride in the fact that I have never ever entered a gym or went through any sort of physical training so far in my life. Only the treks that I have done are about as much training as I get. I am not even regular on those treks these days because I if I don't write on my blog or publish a photo, the world will end, no seriously! So I was so busy planning the routes, shopping, bragging everywhere of the Great Himalayan Cycling Trip, that I totally forgot to train for the trip, at all! Well this could've been the only funny thing, if not for the other things.

So when we assembled the bikes back and started cycling one evening, I felt the head wind to be far greater than expected, the weight of the backpack on the cycle to be pulling me back and the smallest gradient to be much more daunting. I thought I was just too tired today and I will get used to it. Either that or my body hadn’t acclimatized yet, we were cycling at an altitude of 3800meters directly. Next day when I was feeling terribly weak, the saner thing to do would’ve been to take a bus and go to the next camp, but no, I am the mighty Neelima, how can I give up already, so I went ahead cycling. Only to fall sick immediately, my body temperature was rising and my heart was beating so fast and loud it could be heard back in Bangalore. 

We took rest for a day alright then did some major offroading on a new route, which got me excited. I was still sick but was determined too, I fell, tumbled, got up, and went ahead for the next 12 kms. It was good fun. We continued the ride for another 40kms which was good fun too and I finished the day on the bike.

The next few days everything I did was just a trigger for something that could go horribly wrong. While still struggling with fever and a mild case of common cold, we sat one night to have chilled beer in the cold night. Only after I gulped down one entire bottle, the brilliant mind of mine shouted “Hey, shouldn’t you be having something warm for your cold?” But the damage was done already. Next day, the four of us were so hungover we couldn’t get out of the bed till evening! Days later when I was telling my story to a German, he stopped me and said “So you were planning on biking for two weeks in Himalayas and then summiting a 6000 meter peak and this is how you were keeping yourself fit?” Hmmm. Good question!

After advising everyone on the team a thousand times about the importance of taking care of your health in the Himalayas, to me it deemed fit to disregard my own advice. By now I was royally sick. Sick enough that I needed some support to walk long but I still managed. I hitchhiked my way to the subsequent camps while the boys rode and joined me every evening. 

Now it would’ve still been fine if I was continuing what I was doing, hitchhiking my way out of Spiti but how can the adventure end already. I had to make matters worse, so I took my cycle and headed towards Chandratal, on a trail that hasn’t been cleared yet, for yet another true off-roading experience. But my condition was so pathetic, every small stone that got under the tire was giving me a headache and if I fall, I’d fall straight into the valley, tumbling like Jill! So I thought devil may care, I’ll leave my cycle unattended here and walk to the lake. I walked 16kms and then I dropped dead the moment I saw a huge 2km climb to the lake. It was here that my condition took a turn for worse. Since I couldn’t move a group of bikers agreed to take me back to base camp the next day after an agonizing 24 hour wait. During which time I wondered if I should have made that call to home when I had the chance. Later I started coughing so bad I scared myself to death with thoughts of pulmonary edema! Thankfully a group who had been touring in Spiti through BNHS offered to take me back to Manali. 

Sitting alone in Manali, I was still coughing blood and the doctor’s medicines weren’t working either. It was only then that I decided that the adventure was over. I flew back home, rested, cried, recovered, screamed and then packed my bags again for another adventure with a week, which is why I call myself the wandering soul. ;) 

It may sound like it was a ruined trip but to tell you the truth, it wasn’t. Until about the last few days where I fell life threateningly sick, it was great fun all along, the views, the company and the experience. Without all the helpful folks in Spiti, BNHS people, the bikers and my dear friends, it could’ve been a real tragedy, but thanks to them, it is just a story now. 

I have learnt a thing or two about planning an expedition and preparing for it. Next time I will plan another crazy trip and this time I will finish it, or so we hope! And I write this because, this blog is not just about all the sugar coated sweet moments of travel. Half the times when I travel or go for an adventure, I keep thinking why did I ever get into this! I want you to know it is perfectly alright to doubt your sanity when crazy things are happening around you, but I also want to tell you that these crazy things is what makes for a great story years later! Imagine if someone wants to write a book about you, give him some material, won't you? 

I have been making the customary visit to my home(read Himalayas) every year and this year was no different. I had made grand plans of exploring Ladakh more or probably the North East. But since when have best laid plans gone as planned. A Mountain Bike had appeared out of the blues forcing me re-plan everything.

During my last visit to Spiti. I had seen quite a few foreigners cycling in the awesome valley and I was very tempted to do the same. Even more so after the Goa cycling expedition. But never did I imagine I would be actually doing that the very next year. 

I bought a brand new Mountain Bike convincing myself that I am going to put it to good use. And knowing me, if it hasn't blazed on the homeground, it hasn't been put to good use after all. We can't let that happen now can we? So here I am. Trying to cycle in the most awesome place - Surreal Spiti. Covering more than 500kilometers, including two awesome lakes and two high passes and lot of monasteries, golden mountains and blue skies, we set out to experience Himalayas in a new way. We will be cycling between 10000 to 15500 ft over a period of 10 days.

We designed a logo too. We got them printed on jerseys. While that is not the only thing I will be doing this July. I am not back until next month. Mobile connectivity is limited but I will try to post updates on facebook as and when I can. Do follow me to get regular updates on the team's antics and maybe an occasional photo!

You can follow me here - http://www.facebook.com/TravelWithNeelima

Well, see you next month because there is going to be dead silence here until then! :)

Reveling in yesterday’s glory wasn’t going to help me in any way. As we took the cycles out of YHAI campus, the road goes straight up. Damn those uphills already! I was told that even though the Gudalur route is going to be downhill for considerable part, it is not going to be as easy as a push of a pedal at the top and nonstop descent after that. The route would be scenic too I was told. But nothing gave me enough motivation. For that day, I hated ascents, even nominal ones.

Today the entire gang of 40 was back on bikes to enjoy the downhill ride. Rekha was cycling too and the photographer in me came out today. Me, Rekha, Nitin and Arvindh decided we would go slowly, very late taking as many photos as possible. Just outside of Ooty, we came across this awesomely beautiful dried up lake bed which now looked like grassland. Tall trees outlined the area and the sky was exceptionally blue, just the way I liked. With two photographers and willing people it was time for photoshoot.

We were trailing behind while Dipankar also joined us. The five of us now reached Kamraj Sagar Dam and it was time for more photos and offroading. Look what my bike can do! ;)

So far so good. The ride was interesting and then started more ascents. We crossed the Pykara Lake and went ahead to reach Pykara Boat house. The thing is the route is a continuous 10kms of delirious downhill ride. I was all too happy about the first major downhill ride. It was time to enjoy the benefits of yesterdays effort, is what I thought, which is why I refused to use the awesome hydraulic disc brakes on my bike, which is why I flew off the bike and fell on my head during my first high speed downhill crash! The curves were lovely and swaying left to right trying to maintain speed seemed fun but at one such devious curve, I knew there wasn’t enough room for me to take a turn at such speed, I tried to apply brakes but I was already at the point of no return. Fall I had to, the only question was where would I like to land. Once I decided the location, the only thing left for me to do was to apply the front brake which would surely throw me off the bike but at least I’d stop. It was time, I applied the brake and the next moment I was lying on the ground saying a million thanks to my awesome helmet, without which I would’ve sustained serious head injury.

I got up to find I was completely unharmed and so was the bike. The chain came off, I laughed to myself as I fixed it. I started riding again but now I was a changed person, I wasn’t the crazy speedmaniac I was a while ago. Instead I was a cautious person going at acceptable speeds with both the hands resting on the brakes. What this actually means is the ride got super boring after this. There were more downhills after this, there were mountains, tea plantations, clouds and more downhill. But too much of downhill can get seriously boring, especially if you are trying to control speed.

As we came down, the heat was soaring high. We reached Gudalur checkpost just before Masinagudi after some uphills. Like I said earlier, we were the last ones to come down while most of the team had already left for the 34 km ride to the Gundlupet pitstop where our vehicles were parked.  The afternoon heat was unbearable, even a nominal ascent was getting me super angry and at such a time I was all too confused if it actually makes sense to do the rest of the ride through that sparse forest in this heat. But I was also thinking if I’d finish the last stretch I would’ve finished the entire ride. While I was still in two minds, Dipankar comes to me and tells me to get into TT as it will get tougher from here and I am better off sitting in the TT.

And just like that, it was decided. I was going to do the rest of the ride on cycle.  Rajesh and Ashish were also coming along with me and the three of us decided we’ll complete the entire ride. So, now you know how to get things done from me. Ask me not to do it. ;)

The ride was long, the heat was on, there were uphills but of course nothing compared to Kalhatty. And for someone having done Kalhatty, everything else seems just fine. We finished the 34km ride in 90 minutes to reach the final pitstop.

That’s how the crazy ride ended. I managed a total of 170kms over a weekend which included one of the toughest climbs of South India. After this ride, the one thing I learnt was ain’t no mountain high enough! :)

Stay tuned for more biking stories and the wandering soul is hooked to the new muse.

Route map - http://bit.ly/m8XQv1