Bombay to Goa, on a bicycle

Once Shammi Sethi gets on his bike itrsquos tough to get him off The 43 yearold is passionate about cycling and is happiest when hersquos riding So when we got him onto his bike helmet on his head wearing his cycling shorts and made him pose for a photograph on a rainy Tuesday afternoon he threatened to ditch us and take off for a ride instead And this after he had just returned from a cycling trip to Goa that morning Shammi Sethi and Rachel Cumella cycled 160 km in a day and a half from Kankavli to Goa Pic Pradeep Dhivar ldquoI like to keep stretching my limits I love endurance rides Riding to Goa had always been a dreamrdquo explains the real estate consultant When no one replied to his Facebook post about undertaking the arduous trip midJune he decided to take off by himself Fortunately he found a fitting companion in 28 yearold Rachel Cumella who responded with an enthusiastic lsquoyesrsquo just last week In India to film cyclistadventurer Sean Conway as he cycled 18000 miles on his bicycle in 150 days to raise money for charity Cumella had been following Conway around in a car while he cycled across the country ldquoAll the while I wished I could hop onto a bicycle as wellrdquo she recalls When she met Sethi and his biker buddies she got to do just that ldquoShammi lent me an old bicycle another friend gave me his helmet yet another gave me a headlight for my bike And I bought thisrdquo she beams pointing to her cycle bell Most of their journey was an uphill ride says Rachel Cumella ldquoThere were so many beautiful places on the way we just had to stop and take picturesrdquo says Shammi Sethi Dying to visit Goa before she flew back home to London Cumella decided to join Sethi on his cycling trip He had to alter his plans a bit but the company was worth it ldquoShe was short on time so we decided to take the bus halfwayrdquo he explains If they were to ride all the way to Goa it would have left Cumella with no time to see the place itself Besides the point of their trip was to ride for leisure ldquoWe wanted to take our time We stopped every time we saw something beautiful we werenrsquot trying to break a recordrdquo smiles Sethi The journey begins The first 10 hours of their journey were spent in a Volvo bus their bikes stowed safely with their luggage They got off at Kankavli which is halfway to Goa and biked to Tarkali and then to the Sindhudurg fort After spending the night there they continued the journey to Goa The bags tied behind Sethirsquos bicycle had to be covered twice over to save them from the rain Pics courtesy Shammi Sethi ldquoThe most beautiful sight we saw on the way was that of paddy fields Therersquos nothing more beautiful than the lush green of the paddy fields dotted with the bright colours of womenrsquos saris while theyrsquore sowing seeds Against the backdrop of the brown hills and grey skies itrsquos phenomenalrdquo exclaims Cumella Most people would be put off by the thought of riding in the monsoon but not these two ldquoThe monsoon is the best time to riderdquo says Sethi ldquoItrsquos absolutely wonderful to feel the rain beating down on you while you ride And itrsquos not particularly unsaferdquo The duo was keen on interacting with the locals and made sure they stopped at a village before they reached Goa ldquoWhen we reached Chowke we were greeted very warmly They told me theyrsquod never had a foreigner visit their village beforerdquo says Cumella Sethi adds amused ldquoThe sarpanch even presented us with a flower eachrdquo They didnrsquot have the luxury of carrying any luggage They had two sets of clothes each tied at the back of Sethirsquos cycle ldquoHe was carrying all the weightrdquo says Cumella sheepishly ldquoBecause my bike didnrsquot have the provision for itrdquo They stopped wherever they could to grab a bite so carrying food wasnrsquot necessary either Sethi couldnrsquot afford any more extra weight it was hard enough as it wasrdquo he admits The ups and downs The cyclists had a mostly uphill stretch to ride Even so Mumbairsquos traffic was the biggest hurdle for Cumella ldquoStrangely enough the most difficult bit for me was just getting to Sion to catch the bus out of the city The only time I had an accident was right here in the city I fell off the bikerdquo she says examining her scraped knee ldquoI think itrsquos the traffic that stops people from cycling more oftenrdquo she adds as an afterthought Sethi never allows the traffic to bog him down however He rides his bicycle every day He is part of several groups on Facebook which organise group bicycle rides often One such group hersquos part of is the Everyday Short Rides These guys usually ride around Carter Road at nights He even organises the Independence Day rides on August 15 mdash where cyclists meet up at Prabhadevi head to Worli Sea Face and end the ride at Bandrau00a0ldquoIrsquove been riding to Ganeshpuri which is about 70 km away off and on My longest ride apart from this one was a 20hour ride to Pune and backrdquo he says On that ride he got no sleep made only one stop and lived on dates The idea of riding all the way to Goa stemmed from his desire to take on longer rides and to push himself ldquoI also want to promote cycling for tourism and for fitnessrdquo he reveals ldquoIn India people mainly cycle for livelihood like the dabbawalas dordquo Wanna go ldquoThis trip was only a reccerdquo says Sethi ldquoIrsquom definitely going to ride again If no one else wants to join me I will go alone This time I will cycle all the way to Goardquou00a0Teases Cumella ldquoHersquos a loner he loves to ride alonerdquo But Sethi insists hersquos happy to have company along the way ldquoBut itrsquos important to get along with your companion If I didnrsquot get along with her and if she wasnrsquot using my bikerdquo he says pointing at Cumella ldquoIrsquod have left her behind in some villagerdquo ldquoYou donrsquot need to be a pro If yoursquore a medium rider you will be able to do itrdquo he feels According to him a lsquomedium riderrsquo should be able to do 100 kms in a day ldquoIf you can do 100 you can do 200 kms in dayrdquo he says Cumella disagrees ldquoI ride a measly two hours a week I never thought I could cover such a distance And if I can do it others can toordquou00a0