The wrong tunnel

As I was preparing for the cycling today, the wheels were low on air. I tried my best to fully fill them but in vain. On my way, I found a place where they filled the air and took their service for good. I had plans to visit the toll today. but since I have smoothened my ride, I decided to pedal towards the famous tunnel, the Kuthiran hills. 

I had been to Pattikkad by cycle on the first day. But this time, things were slightly different. there were small road works happening and a few parts of the road were quite dusty and tiny sand granules flew along with the wind that actually got into my eyes. 

Dusty evening

Once I finished crossing Pattikkad town, I had to push another six kilometers to reach the tunnel. it was already getting late and darkness is casting above the sky. It was not so hard to reach the aqueduct. while I took a couple of photos near the aqueduct, I saw the queue of vehicles to cross the tunnel. there was heavy construction work happening near the tunnel. I somehow managed to move forwards taking the side of the parked heavy lorries that were plying towards the Palakkad side. 

One big aqueduct.

after some point, there was no road to take. around ninety percent of the path was soiled and its dusty granules contaminated the air. It looked as if I was going through a misty or foggy road. the visibility was so low that I couldn't see ahead of the road. luckily there were no vehicles behind me. after I crossed the construction part of the road, there was a steep climb towards the hills of Kuthiran. I had no other option but to get down the ride and push both of us up. 

around a quarter way up, I could see the mouth of the tunnel. out of two tunnels, only one of them was almost fully constructed and the two-sided traffic was congesting it from both sides. while I stood there watching it all happen from above the tunnel, thinking about how better my future could possibly be. I decided not to get into the tunnel as slow locomotion such as mine can introduce a much more worst scenario inside the tunnel. Thus I dropped the idea of going inside the tunnel and headed back home.

The view of the tunnel from above. The road on the left was how vehicles passed the hills till very recently.

it was around half an hour past six in the evening and I had to reach home for supper. there were little or no reflectors on the bicycle and on my body and I didn't have a headlight as well. it is actually tough to cycle like that but being a national highway, there was enough space to occupy my ride. it was safer.

sometime later, hunger struck me and my energy went low. I found a good calm place for myself to take a ten-minute rest and got myself off from the cycle. I opened my bag and took out the packet of peanuts and a bottle of water. it was nice to have a small pause. I felt relaxed. after I'm done with my pause, I resumed my journey home, it was getting late so I did not stop again for a break and went home slow and steady.  

Eating a packet of hot peanuts or a starry night.

I started my journey at four-thirty and reached back at eight-thirty. four-hour cycling helped me physically and mentally. 

My new ride !

For a couple of weeks, I've been thinking of buying a bicycle for myself. The fuel prices are going up. While I had to pay around 300 rupees per week on fuel for traveling in and around the city, it turned out to be a regretful roam. So bicycle is the mode of transport that I depend on for daily exploration. 

I travel around 20 to 50 kilometers every day for no reason. There were a lot of options on the internet for a bicycle. It was difficult for me to choose one. After researching quite a lot, my choices got narrowed to gearless or single-speed bicycles. Among the gearless cycle, I found the Hercules roadster series anthropometrically appropriate for my body structure. I bought one from this series on December 2 and rode home from the shop. At first, it was an easy task as the route was sloping down halfway. The other half was quite hard for me since there was a mild climb.

In the evening, I took my cycle out and pedaled it on the national highway 47 towards Palakkad side to know more about the ride. It was tough pushing the bicycle on upward slopes. At some points, I had to overtake slow vehicles cruising on the road and  I had to put extra effort to increase the speed. Around three hours later, I reached home tired and sweating. I covered 23 kilometers in one go.

I was physically tired but highly motivated. I was adding fat to my body since I was sitting simply at home with zero exercises. But now that I have discovered a way to burn extra fat from my body without going to the gym for free. and I believe this is the most comfortable way for me to do exercise.

I could barely sleep that night as both my Knees were in pain and I could neither bend it nor straighten it.