Day 45 – Sheoganj to Jodhpur, Rajasthan (Kanyakumari to Leh Cycling)

Arriving in Jodhpur city

Jodhpur being just 150 km from where I was staying, I decided to reach there in one day only, without making any stop at Pali in between, as was decided earlier. I left my guest house at 6:35 a.m. and I broke my own past record in cycling today. But what’s more, another new experience got added in this expedition. In the starting of my this cycling expedition, I used to cover the first 50 km in 3 hours and used to plan my timings accordingly. But when I left for Jodhpur, I covered my first 50 kilometers in just 2 hours and 3 minutes, and cycled 71 kilometers in first 3 hours, my new best.

Arriving in Jodhpur city
Arriving in Jodhpur city

After having achieved this new timing, I decided to eat something as I was feeling too hungry. There were many dhabas on my way when I was not feeling like eating, but now that I wanted to eat something, there were none. There came a time when I was feeling that I would faint and I ate the powder from the  ORS packet that I had. I kept on cycling, hoping to arrive at a dhaba, which I did a little later. Was I thankful!

Iconic landmarks of Jodhpur, statue of Maharaja Jaswant Singhji II & Mehrangarh Fort
Iconic landmarks of Jodhpur: Statue of Maharaja Jaswant Singhji II & Mehrangarh Fort

It was then that it became really difficult for me to cycle as I guess I had food too late and was feeling weak in this Rajasthan’s heat. Hot wind was also blowing. Jodhpur was still 55 km away. I stopped for water somewhere and came across an old man. He started talking to me and took quite an interest in my stories. It was nice talking to him. He offered me a place to rest for a while but I thought of leaving. I was drinking water after every 5-10 minutes. I stopped by a dhaba for a cold drink and I saw people sleeping inside. I asked someone at the dhaba if I could sleep for some time and leave at 3 pm. He was okay with it. I parked my cycle in shade and slept off. I was feeling quite rejuvenated when I woke up after 02 hours and left for Jodhpur at 3:40 p.m. in the sun and heat.

View of Jodhpur city
View of Jodhpur city

I have a friend in Jodhpur who was waiting for me when I got there. I reached his home at 6 p.m. It was really a nice experience today of taking a two-hour nap in a dhaba and then continuing with my journey.