Cycling John O'Groats-2
13/04/17
I sit on the tiny seat of the bus stand kinda thing and it's 12am. My bike rests against the wall. I fully wish to begin pedalling this moment but I can't get myself to undertake an undue misadventure on that off-road trail for whatever distance knowing that I get lost even in broad daylight and proper roads. Maintaining the tiny line between Adventure, Misadventure and mere stupidity I sit here reading 'This road I ride' by Juliana Buhring. I'm reading this for the second time, but there's a difference between both times. The first time I read it I was in my bed under the cozy blanket or on a comfy bean bag in uni. This time I'm reading her crazy adventurous circumnavigation around the world on her bike in 144 days whilst I sit under a mere shed, not sleeping because guarding my bike is more important than sleeping when it's gonna be pretty much the only constant companion. I think of naming my bike something cool but probably I'd come up with something as I ride along. Time flies as I finish reading the book and continue reading 'Hell on two wheels'. It's 3am and I'm thinking of waiting a couple more hours. I'm shivering, sneezing and freezing but I am probably having the best night out so far because I feel excitement more than fear and pure bliss of living in the moment more than anything. Actually I can't wait to head off after reading that book. Should I? Should I not? I decide to leave. Destination is Birmingham but I need to reach 13th evening and it's only 4am so yeah, I've got a lot of time. I head off in the direction towards the forest and take the off-road trail because, well, I'm hella stupid and I love doing things that might potentially get me to discover something I never have or probably something no one ever has? Forget about the rest, I am high on life right now after reading that book and listening to weird rock songs.
..
"As long as you're on saddle, you're safe" is pretty much of my motto currently. As I had expected this is some scary shit! One moment there's pin drop silence and another there's all kinds of sounds that could possibly be covered under onomatopoeia. I am now talking to myself. Trust me, I don't need any haters as long as I have google maps with me. The lady just assumes that I've got a mtb and sends me off-road. Well, not like I mind, this place sure is something I have never experienced before. Apparently trying to make a conversation with the google lady is of no good, you just sound crazy to yourself and to anyone around. I logically find my way out to a proper road and It's still pitch dark. Actually not dark dark, but the sky has really dark shade of blue, just the kind of blue I love.
..
It's the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen with tinges of pink,orange and red and what not in the sky. It's a shame that I can't stop for taking a pic of it because I'm on a really busy "A" road. The terrain is hilly and it just gets better and better with time. I love this kind of terrain, the challenges and goal setting and the achievement of earning that smooth downhill after hard climbing. This makes me giggle. Looking back after a while makes me realise how many hills I've crossed and it's just a great feeling.
..
I don't stop anywhere until I find a bike shop and a cafe and a co-op side to side. Bike shop because my front tyre is slightly deflated and needs to be pumped really hard and at least today I'm weaker than ever with anything as such. The cafeteria doesn't allow me to get my bike inside which is my priority more than coffee or cake or whatever. So I somehow get in there and keep close watch on my bike kept outside. I am sneezing endlessly and coughing when not sneezing. The lady is rude. She asks me to go outside because of that and passes some lame comment. This screws up with my already-messed-up head and I walk out of the cafeteria cancelling my cappuccino order. I walk inside co-op and grab a sandwich, croissant and mango smoothie. None of it manages to stay inside me for long. I cycle along a few more hills enjoying the process. And then take several detours to keep cycling on and off some or the other hill. This is the best I've felt ever. 130 miles. Countless hills. Who cares the time? I know I've been cycling since 4am.
..
Deciding to stay at Birmingham is probably the worst decision I've made concerned to this tour. Littered and weird and cycling routes full of people walking real slow or window shopping, low traffic discipline and rude people. It's strange how one day I meet somehow talking to me reallll sweet and another day really rude. Part of life, you see? One thing I know for sure, I'm never cycling to or getting here again unless really required.
I check 5 Indian restaurants and none of those is owned by an Indian. I go in one of them anyway and order Fried rice and mattar paneer. I'm considering to order more but I'm not sure what I have ordered is gonna stay inside for long, in the first place. When the dish does arrive, I finish it off in matter of a few minutes. It gets out of me just as quickly.
..
now that I'm here,I'm planning tomorrow's route hoping not to mess up with anything too obvious.
..
"As long as you're on saddle, you're safe" is pretty much of my motto currently. As I had expected this is some scary shit! One moment there's pin drop silence and another there's all kinds of sounds that could possibly be covered under onomatopoeia. I am now talking to myself. Trust me, I don't need any haters as long as I have google maps with me. The lady just assumes that I've got a mtb and sends me off-road. Well, not like I mind, this place sure is something I have never experienced before. Apparently trying to make a conversation with the google lady is of no good, you just sound crazy to yourself and to anyone around. I logically find my way out to a proper road and It's still pitch dark. Actually not dark dark, but the sky has really dark shade of blue, just the kind of blue I love.
..
It's the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen with tinges of pink,orange and red and what not in the sky. It's a shame that I can't stop for taking a pic of it because I'm on a really busy "A" road. The terrain is hilly and it just gets better and better with time. I love this kind of terrain, the challenges and goal setting and the achievement of earning that smooth downhill after hard climbing. This makes me giggle. Looking back after a while makes me realise how many hills I've crossed and it's just a great feeling.
..
I don't stop anywhere until I find a bike shop and a cafe and a co-op side to side. Bike shop because my front tyre is slightly deflated and needs to be pumped really hard and at least today I'm weaker than ever with anything as such. The cafeteria doesn't allow me to get my bike inside which is my priority more than coffee or cake or whatever. So I somehow get in there and keep close watch on my bike kept outside. I am sneezing endlessly and coughing when not sneezing. The lady is rude. She asks me to go outside because of that and passes some lame comment. This screws up with my already-messed-up head and I walk out of the cafeteria cancelling my cappuccino order. I walk inside co-op and grab a sandwich, croissant and mango smoothie. None of it manages to stay inside me for long. I cycle along a few more hills enjoying the process. And then take several detours to keep cycling on and off some or the other hill. This is the best I've felt ever. 130 miles. Countless hills. Who cares the time? I know I've been cycling since 4am.
..
Deciding to stay at Birmingham is probably the worst decision I've made concerned to this tour. Littered and weird and cycling routes full of people walking real slow or window shopping, low traffic discipline and rude people. It's strange how one day I meet somehow talking to me reallll sweet and another day really rude. Part of life, you see? One thing I know for sure, I'm never cycling to or getting here again unless really required.
I check 5 Indian restaurants and none of those is owned by an Indian. I go in one of them anyway and order Fried rice and mattar paneer. I'm considering to order more but I'm not sure what I have ordered is gonna stay inside for long, in the first place. When the dish does arrive, I finish it off in matter of a few minutes. It gets out of me just as quickly.
..
now that I'm here,I'm planning tomorrow's route hoping not to mess up with anything too obvious.
14/04/17
A bad day which made me doubt my decisions, and give up on my plans. Did I? Nope!!
I wake up to some annoying sounds in the dorm room. Mechanically getting ready for the day, still sleepy and obviously hungry because my lil tummy couldn't handle the dinner too. I have peanut butter and nutella on bread and because coffee is free of cost, 3 coffees for breakfast. Hoping to keep it in, I head off for my ride. I decide to take it easy because my health is pretty messed up. It takes me 2 hours to find my way out of Birmingham in spite of having google maps on. It just keeps me guiding where there are no roads. At a point, I realise that I've been circling the same route thrice and on my fourth loop. I'm frustrated because my breakfast in my belly doesn't make it any further and I need some food and motivation. Basically then I'm guided to NCR 5 which is an off-road ride. Pretty deep in the trail, maps stop directing me and now I have no network. I decide to find way back and there's a particular heavy uphill patch that I pushed and picked my bike up for while getting there, which I decide to ride down. Before I realise the stupidity of my idea I've clipped in. The next thing I remember about that is falling over the bars, and having things all over the place. I sit up and try laughing which is supposed to work everytime I crash. But basically I know it hurts and I find my way somehow to some weird road which I don't recognise. I'm completely clueless about wherever I am because my network won't work and so wouldn't my GPS. Perfect! It's raining crazy and I can't understand where the sun is so as to figure out the north. I head on whichever way I like and It ends up on a motorway. I take a U-turn and keep climbing several hills before getting some network on my phone. I am long long way from the original destination. Getting another crash a few more miles down the correct route, I decide to treat myself with a good Lunch and coffee and cake wherever I find. I am hungry and want to eat although I'm not sure how much I can keep in. I'm bruised and scraped and have got a part of my shorts and jersey torn. I tell myself that after I've reached I'll laugh at all this. I finally find a hotel which is closed and a guy outside there asks me where am I going and I tell him my plans and he's like, "There are easier ways to die, you know?" and I'm like," I'm touched by your encouraging words, Thanks!". alright then- no lunch, no toilet, lost route, crashes, continuous rain, headwind and only a tiny part of the route with a good scenic beauty. What a perfect day to ride! I am in a continuous dialogue with myself inside my head and I realise that I'm trying to talk with everything around. Well well well effects of not being able to keep food in!
I ride literally the whole day except for when I have crashed or when I've lost the route and trying to reroute, in fact, I even do that on the go. When I stop, It only makes me realise how hungry I am. I decide to eat a Bounty even if I throw up that too. Fortunately I don't. As I reach Meir Heath, I am welcomed into Stoke on Trent with a beautiful downhill which pretty much manages to bring a smile on my face, although 2 miles to reach I slip off the stoney thing in middle of the road, and have my third crash of the day. Finding my way to the booked hotel, I rush to reception. I am shivering due to cold ,drenched in the rain and blood and hungry enough to be feeling dizzy. It's a struggle standing there and that guy says he can't find my booking. I wanna give up. but then I dial dad's number whilst I wait for the guy to finish with other customers. After a lot of search, ringing customer care of Agoda and things going wrong, he gets me a single room. I thank him and ask if anything would be open for food. His no hits me right in my stomach which is grumbling now. I convince myself to pay whatever I need to at the hotel itself and get some dinner.
I think this day was pretty much of asking myself, "WHY" several times and out of all the mess I know one thing about myself now- those dialogues in the head aren't for nothing, they got me to keep going. Half the time I thought I'm so damn crazy that my mind works like this and I rely on imaginary conversations to get through literally any situation. The other half of the time I didn't care and could keep going still. Why, you ask? Because days like these exactly teach me the value of the good days or the days which are slightly less crazy than this one.
I wake up to some annoying sounds in the dorm room. Mechanically getting ready for the day, still sleepy and obviously hungry because my lil tummy couldn't handle the dinner too. I have peanut butter and nutella on bread and because coffee is free of cost, 3 coffees for breakfast. Hoping to keep it in, I head off for my ride. I decide to take it easy because my health is pretty messed up. It takes me 2 hours to find my way out of Birmingham in spite of having google maps on. It just keeps me guiding where there are no roads. At a point, I realise that I've been circling the same route thrice and on my fourth loop. I'm frustrated because my breakfast in my belly doesn't make it any further and I need some food and motivation. Basically then I'm guided to NCR 5 which is an off-road ride. Pretty deep in the trail, maps stop directing me and now I have no network. I decide to find way back and there's a particular heavy uphill patch that I pushed and picked my bike up for while getting there, which I decide to ride down. Before I realise the stupidity of my idea I've clipped in. The next thing I remember about that is falling over the bars, and having things all over the place. I sit up and try laughing which is supposed to work everytime I crash. But basically I know it hurts and I find my way somehow to some weird road which I don't recognise. I'm completely clueless about wherever I am because my network won't work and so wouldn't my GPS. Perfect! It's raining crazy and I can't understand where the sun is so as to figure out the north. I head on whichever way I like and It ends up on a motorway. I take a U-turn and keep climbing several hills before getting some network on my phone. I am long long way from the original destination. Getting another crash a few more miles down the correct route, I decide to treat myself with a good Lunch and coffee and cake wherever I find. I am hungry and want to eat although I'm not sure how much I can keep in. I'm bruised and scraped and have got a part of my shorts and jersey torn. I tell myself that after I've reached I'll laugh at all this. I finally find a hotel which is closed and a guy outside there asks me where am I going and I tell him my plans and he's like, "There are easier ways to die, you know?" and I'm like," I'm touched by your encouraging words, Thanks!". alright then- no lunch, no toilet, lost route, crashes, continuous rain, headwind and only a tiny part of the route with a good scenic beauty. What a perfect day to ride! I am in a continuous dialogue with myself inside my head and I realise that I'm trying to talk with everything around. Well well well effects of not being able to keep food in!
I ride literally the whole day except for when I have crashed or when I've lost the route and trying to reroute, in fact, I even do that on the go. When I stop, It only makes me realise how hungry I am. I decide to eat a Bounty even if I throw up that too. Fortunately I don't. As I reach Meir Heath, I am welcomed into Stoke on Trent with a beautiful downhill which pretty much manages to bring a smile on my face, although 2 miles to reach I slip off the stoney thing in middle of the road, and have my third crash of the day. Finding my way to the booked hotel, I rush to reception. I am shivering due to cold ,drenched in the rain and blood and hungry enough to be feeling dizzy. It's a struggle standing there and that guy says he can't find my booking. I wanna give up. but then I dial dad's number whilst I wait for the guy to finish with other customers. After a lot of search, ringing customer care of Agoda and things going wrong, he gets me a single room. I thank him and ask if anything would be open for food. His no hits me right in my stomach which is grumbling now. I convince myself to pay whatever I need to at the hotel itself and get some dinner.
I think this day was pretty much of asking myself, "WHY" several times and out of all the mess I know one thing about myself now- those dialogues in the head aren't for nothing, they got me to keep going. Half the time I thought I'm so damn crazy that my mind works like this and I rely on imaginary conversations to get through literally any situation. The other half of the time I didn't care and could keep going still. Why, you ask? Because days like these exactly teach me the value of the good days or the days which are slightly less crazy than this one.
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