Statue of Unity cycle ride
Mumbai to Kevadia , Gujarat. 2nd to 6th June 2022
Hi All
Im happy to announce that I reached the Statue of Unity , in Kevaria Gujarat on the 6th of June 2022 at around 5:20 pm, riding a total distance of 510kms from Chembur in 5 days.
I took a mixed bag route – the coastal , the rural and the mountains , avoiding the main highway most of the time.
I stopped wherever and whenever I wanted and took time to breathe and feel the place.
Im glad that I was cycling on the World bicycling day ( 3rd June ) and also on the World Environment day ( 5th June) . I threw around 5000 seeds along the route , on 5th June the world environment day.
I had a basic single gear BSA SLR hybrid cycle on which I had attached the pannier bags on both sides. There was a custom made handle bar bag where I kept chocolates and my mobile phone.
The route was not very tough but the heat made it harder.
My daily cycling schedule was like below :
4:30 am : wake up
6:00 am : start riding
8:00 am : breakfast
12:30 pm: lunch
1:30 pm : rest
3:00 pm : start cycling
6:30 pm stop cycling
there was a mandatory rest period from 12:30 pm to 3 pm cause of the excessive heat , sometimes it was 41deg Celsius.
Stayed in small lodges and hotels most of the time.
The best part of the ride was crossing the rural route, where the smell of food cooking on wood made my ride more interesting. The people in the small hamlets on the way waved me luck and some even offered tea. Most of them shouted “AAO JO” meaning , come again .
The rural route goes quite interior , thereby increasing the number of days of mine. Both sides of the road were covered with sugarcane fields and at times with Mango and Neem trees.
my riding stats were as follows :
Average riding speed : 16 to 18km per hour with 15kg luggage in the pannier bags
Gears : Zero
Elevation gain : no idea
Total kms : 510 kms
Punctures : Zero
Sugarcane juice : 57 glasses in 5 days
Buttermilk : 20 glasses in 5 days
Water : daily 10 litres
Tea : 12 cups in 5 days
Lubed the chain once since it had become dry and lubed the freewheel.
I rested under Jamun, Mango and Neem trees and drank water from hand water pumps.
The toughest part was crossing the 22 kms ghat section on the last day to reach Kevadia. With experience of riding on the Goa coastal route and the other ghats in Maharashtra , I crossed it smilingly.
Reaching Kevadia was exciting and then finally seeing the worlds tallest statue gave me goose bumps …
I stayed in a nice hotel in Kevadia , but that took gave me goose bumps, so next day I shifted to a homestay near Kevadia and made myself comfortable.
One whole day I was flirting on the roads of Kevadia on my cycle , and I was the only insane person on a cycle that day , with 41 deg cel heat on your head.
I circumbulated the whole of Kevadia and went inside the Statue of Unity – of Sardar Vallabhai Patel – the tallest statue in the world . The lift took me to the chest level.
The security guards and the police thought I had lost it to come alone from Mumbai , so they offered me a cup of tea and I sat with them for few minutes chatting and sharing my experience.
Next day , I made a friend , who took me on his motorcycle to see the real rural village of Kevadia, which was interesting .
The day ended very fast.
I gifted my cycle to this friend of mine and waved goodbye.
I got sun burnt at various places, but then that’s what differentiates Men from boys.
The differential is all that matters 
special thanks to
– #CYCLOP india for the pannier bags
– Goodluck Cycle Mart , Chembur – Patel uncle & Hitesh for servicing my cycle
– Shruti Nathani & the kids for helping me out at Daman
and various other people whom I met during my journey.
#lifeawayfromlife #cycleforyouth #longdistancecycling
