This Time, A New Kind Of Adventure!
Hey Gaurav, do you have any plans for December power-down breaks?
Oo yes, I may go for a bicycle tour, not so far, somewhere near around.
This was the conversation I remembered I had with one of my colleagues back in 2016.
Despite it being on my mind, I never tried bicycle touring before or did not have enough courage to do so.
Now after 6 years with a few outdoor experiences I finally decided to go on a new adventure of bicycle touring. As this was my first ever cycling trip so I chose a not-so-far place and decided to go to Neemrana, Rajasthan.
Why Neemrana?
To be very specific there were two reasons for which I chose Neemrana.
First, because of its heritage sites as I wanted to set a destination in my mind to stay motivated. If it would be some regular city then I may not be very much enthusiastic.
Second, It is 150 km away from my place, with plain terrain and an eight-lane highway, it was doable for me as a first experience.
Preparation & packing
Now when I’m mentally prepared and decided to give it a try so, it’s time for some essential shopping. I didn’t have anything required for bikepacking so few first things I needed are pannier bags and a rack to carry them.
Like every time, I visited the best place for all outdoor gears, Decathlon. There I tuned up my bicycle, bought the rack, pannier bags and a few other essentials like a puncture kit (touchwood which is still packed), tail light and a rain jacket.
Suggestion: Never compromise the quality with the price, if you are buying pannier bags then you must go for waterproof ones. Price is a bit high but you will find it worthy if you are not buying it for one time.
I bought these and found them very promising and reliable in my journey.
Now I was all set for the journey, with gears, but in my mind, I had many thoughts and feelings of uncertainty which I ignored and pushed myself and begin my journey.
On The Roads
Friday 29th July 2022
It was a cloudy day and the forecast was showing rain from the morning, but these weather predictions are always sceptical.
My actual plan was to leave early in the morning but after the weather forecast, I decided to wait for a while and started late at around 1 pm. As I crossed Mehrauli it started pouring heavily, so I had to wait until the rain stopped.
After an hour it slowed down, I put on my rain gears and decided to move ahead and started pedalling in the rain. At around 5:30 pm I reached Gurugram, and it was still raining.
I continued in the drizzling because Manesar was in my mind as a first day’s stop. I was just a few km away from the Manesar toll plaza and again it started pouring heavily. Along with many other commuters I waited at the toll plaza, while waiting there, I found a place for the night on google.
After around 1.5 hrs it slowed down and I quickly rushed as I was totally drenched and wanted to reach the room and change my clothes ASAP.
After check-in, I ordered Chai & a full plate of Veg Pakodas, a monsoon treat to myself.
Till the treat arrived I washed my rain jacket, t-shirt and shorts as they all were muddy. But luckily I had watertight pannier bags which kept all my belongings safe, not a single drop of water slipped inside.
Then, I enjoyed tea and fritters along with the book Dance Of Shiva which I was carrying on this journey, it is an excellent collection of devotion, history and myths by Preetha Rajesh Kannan.
Then at around 10:30 PM, I had dinner and called off the day.
Saturday 30th July 2022
With the sips of Tea, I started my morning at around 7 am. The sky was clear, with some clouds hiding the sun, it was a perfect day for outdoors.
I was carrying Dates with me so, after taking bath, I had a few of them and at around 10:30 am I started.
Neemrana was 75 km. I had plenty of time so I was enjoying the ride. The weather was cloudy which soothes me more. But this enjoyment didn’t last long because just after an hour it started drizzling. I put on my rain jacket and continued.
At around 12:30 pm I reached Dharuhera and decided to have lunch at Rao Dhaba. I ordered Dal, Chapatis and Lassi, with this heavy lunch I took my time and rested for a long 2 hrs.
After that, I started again pedalling to my destination with the views of Aravali hills. Now the Sun was on my head and sunrays were hitting me. So, I chose not to go from the flyovers instead I chose the service lanes.
Pedalling in the shadow of the flyovers helped me a lot otherwise I had to stop till evening shade, that was the first time I was experiencing Rajasthan’s heat but slowly by the side of the flyovers I continued and before 18 km from Neemrana, I stopped at a shop to refill my water bottles.
At around 6 pm I took a tea break from where Neemrana was just 13kms, I googled for a place and found the Hotel Tokas which was very near to the Neemrana Fort, where I had to go the next morning.
Along with the palace, a few other heritage sites were also there on my visit list.
At 8 pm I checked into the hotel and got freshened up for the dinner, I ordered a thali and it was out of my expectation with the variety they served in a single thali. After this fulfiling dinner, I had a good night’s sleep.
Sunday 31st July 2022
The next day I woke up at around 7:30 am. I just had to explore the Neemrana so I was not in any hurry, I ordered a tea which I enjoyed by reading the book then, later on, I freshened up and had sandwiches for breakfast.
At 11:30 am I headed out to explore Neemrana and the first place I visited was Neemrana Bawdi, a quiet place with very less people I just sat there under a Neem tree and enjoyed the peacefulness.
Then later on I went to the Neemrana Fort Palace. Neemrana Fort Palace is the jewel for which I was pedalling. The palace is there located on the top of the lush green Aravalli mountains.
But unfortunately, entry for general visit is till 2 pm only so I missed it and came back just with the out view only.
So, that was my first bicycle tour to Neemrana.
P.S. I hope you remember the story of the rabbit and the tortoise from our childhood… Yeah, I’m that rabbit who took time so lightly and forgot to visit the palace first instead I just relaxed for a long time at the Bawdi.
On this journey I also tried my hand on Youtube, so here is my 3 days trip in 13 minutes.