Day 19: Chirgaon to Kanpur
The Home Run…
I got lucky with a tailwind from start to end. Even with the accumulated exhaustion of the past few days, I still managed to ride strongly.
By then the aerobars had also become my friend and I could happily munch on biscuits while riding on the aerobars.
The previous few days had been endurance riding. The last day was an endurance race. I had roughly 200 km to ride and I was determined to sleep in my bed that night.
I made good time with minimal stops along the way. Constantly keeping an eye on the clock and my average speed.
The road was fantastic, except a short horrible stretch near Kalpi. It was also Gangetic plains flat. The land which was home to human civilisation for many millennia. In those 200 km, I just climbed 200 metres. You can’t get anything flatter than that!
Thanks to the pandemic the mood of the land was a bit off. Along the way highway cops stopped me and asked me where was I headed to. They were ecstatic on finding out that I had cycled alone all the way from Goa to Kanpur. They even offered me a lift in their jeep!
The last meal of the day was at noon for me. After that I didn’t feel the need to eat. I hit familiar terrain just before sundown and I knew nothing could go wrong after that.
I ran out of water with 40 km to go. I didn’t bother stopping. Water like most things at that point of time was irrelevant. Home, that’s all that mattered.
With 20 km to go, I was on my daily training route. I rode that stretch in the dark, knowing every bump, pothole and curve. Pushing as hard as I could on the pedals, my heart jumping with joy.
Exactly 200 km from my start point, I reached home. My longest ever ride till that date.
A mother’s intuition or telepathy I don’t know. But 30 seconds before I reached home, she walked out to the gate to look for me. And is by plan, there I was…
Finally, it was food, sweet food!
Check out the day’s ride on Strava…