Day 7 - TOAST ON THE COAST

Tuned with our half-awake mode from 4AM, today combined with the anxiety of last day/completion we were all set for the finish line. We clicked some pics, seeing our pics we realize how tired we were even after our refresh, all of us look so worn out.

We packed our bags and were ready to roll-on, but breakfast was not yet ready. Govindarajulu and Padhu left early with the plan of breakfast en route, Padhu didn’t want to be exhausted riding under the scorching sun. I also preferred this option as even though it was the last day, never knew what surprise/challenge awaits us. GMC had tuned me that every day will have a different challenge, so didn’t want to take it easy but be ready. Jabeen suggested to complete the breakfast as anyways we will have to spend the time en-route, moreover the homestay food was good and so agreed. Until then we had bread/Jam & in no time idlis & crispy hot vadas were ready. Anju helped the cooks & us to be in serving. We completed our warm-up by 6:30AM and but started post breakfast at 7:30AM.

SV suggested we ride & stay together. After the first 15kms Malnad flat there was a steep descend (570m descend within 2 or 3 KMs) on a highway road, lot of traffic & hairpin bends. Santosh had warned us to be careful as there is lot of highway traffic. Jabeen and Tabu are so set and contended in their racing mode that they were not ready for any stay together rides.

I made sure that I descended safely, irrespective of flying HIGH feelings. It was quite tricky with very sharp hairpin bends, was wondering how SV will manage. She updated that she had lowered her seat height so that she doesn’t see or feels the height but is close to the ground. Since we left at 7.30am, Santosh targeted 1.30pm, I calculated my target as 2.30pm (10km per hour). Lunch was planned at Malpe resort, destination itself and so have to reach there for food. Jabeen & Tabu were ahead, few times I did cross them & they zoomed again.  I took some nice short videos riding enroute, didn’t want to miss capturing moments.

SV caught up from her descend lag & we both took a short break, had our packed bread & jam. This was the good thing when you have fellow rider, if not for SV I wouldn’t have had it – eat before you are hungry. SV suggested to listen to songs!!  I suggested her to use my headphones, but she said let’s use the speaker. So, we both rode with melodious Illayaraja tunes, refueling in the breakstations. It was rolling ride, much easier than Bangalore flats. Feeling of reaching home motivated all of us, we will miss the hot breakfast being served though (we will have to prepare at home). Sunil was happy that we have at least one thing for thanking GMC. 

Jabeen & Tabu the racing sisters were in no mood to wait, they were flying ahead. Rohit who joined us at one point said, “last stretch mam”, I replied “Rohit be it last or not, we will complete it and anyways I don’t trust you with KMs 😊”. We joined highway, rode few KMs, in scorching sun & reached Malpe city. Took deviations and the road seemed to go on & on. Finally, there we entered the finish line overlooking the Malpe beach at 12.30 noon, much ahead of Santosh’s prediction too. Racing sisters had reached half an hour earlier, we did it!!!

Little in my mind the regret of Day2 was there but it was a great feeling. Santosh checked on us, on our emotions. In the felicitation function, through the short interview of other riders we came to know that even expert riders (Yuvraj) had practiced for 6 months. He mentioned that his friends had told him about GMC, he knew the difficulty level & that is when I turned back and saw SV, in fact we all three were seeing her. I was determined to literally give her pillow bumps at least !! She had told us without practice we can do it with practice we can enjoy and do, whereas with practice we stretched and completed. Our famous doctor Prabhu mentioned that whenever he struggled he used to see us & think “Even the ladies are doing, so I should too”. No offence here, but we have to agree that in general men have more physical strength than women.  But we have strong will-power, we are psychologically stronger than them. That is the main (and only reason) on how 3 amateur cyclists with 3 months of practice & no proper MTB bi-cycles completed GMC!!

Reflecting back, we were not aware of this level of challenge, it was good that SV didn’t detail us about the difficulty knowing our levels & knowing GMC. If she had, probably we never would have registered, at least not this year, ignorance is BLISS!!  After all you don’t learn everything before going to school, you do learn there, you don’t practice how to live a life, you face it head on & live it. GMC is one such experience, you learn a lot not just cycling techniques but also life.

I came across JFK’s quote on the moon mission “We choose to go to the moon GMC in this decade year and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone”. Somehow this correlates to our GMC trip very much, hence replaced moon with GMC 😊, the achievement can in no way be compared but the idea/ambition, accepting a tough challenge somehow connects.

My husband motivated and supported me for GMC with words “Don’t think about it too much. It is once in a lifetime experience”.  Now I conclude GMC with a note “It definitely is, but shouldn’t be the only one, rather is the start of a new phase”. Most importantly if a non-athletic, person like me can start from scratch do it then I bet all can! Be there, be ready for surprises, new learnings and life changing experiences.

Glimpses of the tour are uploaded at https://photos.app.goo.gl/5xpVgFKqKZgYG9DG6