This is the first longest ride I took in the land of beauty. The plan was to go to Decathlon for some shopping, then go to Aasife briyani shop in Thampanoor, then go to Veli beach. I started from IIST back-gate at around 8:45 AM and reached Nedumangad for some small shopping by around 9:10 AM. Then the actual travel started.
I enjoyed the ride as the roads were uphill and downhill. On the way I met a fellow rider on the opposite lane, just waved my hand and he did the same. This is how the community grows. I reached Decathlon at around 10:10 AM and did the shopping there.
Came out of Decathlon by around 11:15 AM and started to go towards Aasife shop. The route was confusing at that time and when I started to understand the path, I sped up to reach the shop. There I had briyani and then stared to ride towards beach.
From Aasife shop, the beach was around 11 km. The route was new to me, and it took quite time to reach the beach by over 1 PM. The view was nice, but I think I reached a wrong spot, found very less people and no place to sit in shade. My friend told that there is a park in Veli where it would be nice, my next visit should be to that park.
While reaching the beach, my phone was about to die. I carried a powerbank but it was also on the verge of dying. I was able to charge my phone upto just 16 percent. The sun was a bit hot and I may be run out of phone charge when I reach the campus. I thought like my log will be lost if my phone went down.
So, I started my return journey within 30 minutes and reached the place called Kowdiar with the help of google maps. Since there, I know the route. So, I stopped google maps and other background services except Strava to preserve charge. I didn’t listen to music while riding this time too.
I went through the Karakulam bridge construction side instead of going by the diverted roads, which were quite climby. The route was with mud and dust, that engulved my wheels while riding , made me thinking like if I got a flat. However, the shortcut was good but left some dust on my Light Feathers.
I reached the campus by around 3 PM. It was a fun ride for me. Over 75 kilometers under 4 hours with elevation climb of over 600 meters. I could have ride with better power if the sun was not heavy on me. Below are the images and videos I took on this ride.
Below is the Strava embedding of this ride.
