Dublin to Sligo

There are few moments in life that I would cherish for the rest of my life. Especially when the cause of that moment is dedicated to my real life hero of my life, My Dad. Cycling , since my days I can remember is very close to my heart.  Never has any fall from a bike ever deterred from me from showing off by pulling off stunts on my bike in front of other kids. Most of my adult life even while I was working, I always used to ride a bike for the near by commute. All who knew me , knew I was more of a bicycle loving person. I have had three bicycles stolen from me in Dublin, but that never stopped me from going for another one.
Here's the story about an event that I took part in. An event to remember. A feat that defines me.A challenge that strengthened me. My very good friend, or more so a person who I would without an inkling of thought call my brother brought up this topic about an event . A cycling event. From west coast to east coast of this beautiful Emerald Island. More so this event was a Charity event to raise funds for Cancer research. How could I ever pass on this. The event and the cause both very I feel very connected to. I and Mihir signed up instantly, instinctively. Six weeks to go and first thing we had to do is train. Mihir had a race to go to and he was training at gym, but I was more of a runner and that's all i kept to. One thing was evident. I needed a bike, a road bike. What I had was a mountain bike and that was not suitable for any long distance cycling. My cycling mate and I spent three weekends cycling to nearby towns but that was no small distance by itself. Once to Bray, which was 40 kms, the next weekend a little further out to Grey stones which was 50 kms and the last one was to Wicklow which was 70 kms. All of this on a bike that I had borrowed from my good friend Shane. It was no racer but , it was a commuter bike with race profile tyres. It was much lighter than mine and did the job quite well. Mihir on the other hand went ahead and purchased a brand new high spec bike for a bag full of money. Our times were good enough. My running training did me good. It did look like I had enough cardio strength to cope with the endurance this challenge demanded.
Time had come to raise the funds. seven hundred euros had to be raised and Mihir and I thought a cake sale at work was an excellent idea. We also planned to sell Raffle tickets for four prizes. Each prize associated with the cycling theme. With support from our bosses and the best team admin ever we set up one on 6th of June. Posters were all put up and between few of us we had agreed to bake few cakes. My Mrs and I had very little experience in baking cakes. But what had to be done had to be done. So we set off on the 5th and to our surprise we pulled it off. Baked banana cake and a large chocolate chip cake.

Thursday morning as Catherine started to lay out the cakes in the coffee area, more and more cakes were brought out. Some of them, who we hardly spoke to took the time and effort to make and bring it home. I felt very humbled by their gesture. Before we knew it we had more than fifteen cakes for sale. People from all floors started to pour in and the Raffel tickets was selling even hotter than the cakes. Our team mates donated generously for our cause and by the end of the day we were more than delighted to count the last cent to reach a grand total of seven hundred Euros. We did not expect this to happen at all.But very glad that it did.
I bought padded cycling shorts and water bottle and cages for them, saddle bags for the bike. The bike was serviced and it was kitted out with the accessories all ready to go. The big day had arrived. Seventh of June on a fine Saturday morning is when it all starts.

Water bottles filled up, Tyre pressure double checked, Awakward shorts worn.saddle bags loaded, backpack packed with stuff I need for the weekend. I agreed to rendezvous with Mihir bhai at the city center at half eight. We had a long ten kilometer cycle to the hotel where the rest of the participants would meet up. We reached there, and to our surprise we were the only ones from Dublin.

The rest all were from Co.Sligo who traveled the previous night and stayed up in West county Hotel for a good night rest.  All of them were warm to welcome us, We were handed our jerseys to be worn on the second day. Everyone else had bikes that were proper race bikes. I was the only one with a a six year old bike which did have race profile tyres and that's about it. The straight handle bars did raise a few eyebrows which meant " are you really sure you want do cycle all the way to Sligo with that?" There is nothing that was going to deter me at that time, My only way was to go ahead. Mark , the main main who is an AIB man from Sligo greeted us and after a briefing to the team and a group snap we were set to go. First stop was at Maynooth.

Just Twenty five kilometers, but it was a challenging bit at that. It had the steepest inclines some with a gradient of 30 degrees for a good three hundred meters. Narrow by lanes which ran my the humble dodder did make for some memorable sceneries. I knew very well then, that this view is only going to get better as we go along. As we cycled up in twos we got just enough time to chat with fellow cyclists. We exchanged our interests and our passion for cycling. What we do for living and why take up this even was all a point of discussion that made the miles go by easy. After some tea and snacks we stared off again. The next stop thirty five kilometers ahead. The Knees had begun to complain but nothing can be larger than will power.

We had three support crew with us. One was a paramedic team, One a bike mechanic who carried tools and spares. The last an haulage van which carried out luggage and food. The last was our pace van . We had a mixed bag of experienced cyclists. Very few had done this before, but most of them new. Some have trained, some not so much , some not at all. The first fifty kilometers after the first stop let the cyclists loose. The experienced ones keep up in the lead while some were in the left behind. The Paramedic van and the Garry Cycles van(one of the sponsorers) always stayed behind the last of the cyclists. That made sure no one was left behind. That sense of assurance made anyone feel safe. Getting lost some where along the way can definitely add a lot to the mental pressure. Given that the road signs on this island is not that great, having anyone of the cyclists in visible distance was a great assurance. At one point we were very close to taking the wrong route. only with the corner of my eye did I see some a bright jersy go by and both the vans were behind me; Yes I was the last one. We course corrected and cycled along to catch up the group at the end of fifty kilometers. It was sandwich time. Tanked up next stop ninety kilometers ahead. As I cycled along my new cycling mates, the questions about my home country did come up. No one meant to offend me in anyone, but their questions very genuine. Questions about the rape crimes in India was the most prominent. Its kind of embarrassing having to answer ,but my only way I could respond was "In a land of more than a billion people the probability of having headcases like that are proportionally high". My brother was no where to been seen along the route.

He seemed to be stuck in a race mode. I let him be. I wanted to finish the event in a graceful manner that's all.  I did observe the fellow cyclists about the riding technique and realised that most of the stay in a slightly higher gear (easier) most of the time, this does mean more cadence but lesser power strokes. I was doing exactly the opposite, going as early as I can to lower gears . More power strokes lesser cadence. That was the reason I was lagging behind the group.  There was a Ninety kilometer stop at Longford. Energy was low, But we had further sixty kilometers to Rosscommon. The energy gels had to come out and I was hydrating myself more often on the move. The route was a mixed bag of motorway and side roads.

The earlier was the best sections since the tarmac was smooth and straight. All I had to do was lookup once and then keep the head down keeping an eye on the front wheel and the yellow markers. Make sure they are parallel and keep the cadence constant. That started to improve my pace timings. I stuck with few of them for a good bit of the final forty kilometers.

When Lorraine told me, "That yellow building is the hotel Badri" it was music to my ears.

I saw my team mates gathered in front of Hannon's. One hundred and fifty kilometers done and my legs were pushed to the limits. The previous highest ever was 70 kilometers in a single day and I have just doubled that!. It was eight hours since we started off and out of that we were moving for six hours. The bikes were taken care off by the staff and they did a fantastic job at that. Mihir and I shared a room and we quickly showered and changed. I felt like I just popped out of a bollywood song because I did not pack well enough for the evening. With a bright yellow shorts and bright green T shirt I managed to raise few eyebrows once again. Nothing was going to get in the way of me and the food I deserve. Tony and Margret joined us at our tables.

They were volunteering to be event coordinators and they did a fine job at that. Tony had the temperament of a teacher. It did not surprise at all when he told us that was retired primary school teacher. I was the only ever annoying vegetarian and the hotel chef manged to make one vegetarian pasta with chicken in it. That got sent back and then came good lasangne. This time it was vegetarian, vegetarian. The cheesecake topped it all in my belly. Few of them were up for a few drinks but I definitely was not.  Headed back to the room and even before I could complete the words "Good Night", I was out like a light bulb. I slept like a log straight through.

Day two : The legs were complaining. I had to be gentle to it. I remember talking to my own legs in the shower saying, "sixty more kilometers baby and we are done" . we all got a text message from Caroline that we depart at ten. I took a shower once again and stepped down for breakfast. Bags were packed, keys handed back and bikes out of the stable. Seeing everyone wear the same Jersey this morning made me feel special to be part of this gang of cyclists. My mission reinforced with a group snap. My trusted steed felt good.I checked for Tyre pressure and topped up the hydration system. The next thirty kilometers were inland narrow routes and they had good bends and not so steep inclines. Mark briefed us all that the pace van will stay at a constant 25 kmph. We were reminded that this was not a race but a journey together for a worthy cause. Since there was rains the previous night we were warned that the roads could be slippery and since its the rural back roads, manure on few stretches only made it worse. The next thirty kilometers were definitely the most enjoyable course. The views on the fields and the hills that lay beyond reminded me yet again that I am blessed to make this beautiful country as my second home. Hardly anyone to cheer us along the route but the heard of cows all seemed to notice us.

Guess they were surprised to see a bunch of similar clad cyclists. Each one of them, several tens of them at a time, lifted their large bulky heads out of the tall grass just to see us go by. It was beautiful. Not to mention the Irish cows are really pretty. I have a soft corner for them. The dogs too seem to loose they marbles when they saw us cycling in unison. The Curlew pass from Rosscommon was a test for many motorists. I would never forget the patience of these motorists who were stuck behind these cyclists for more than thirty kilometer on this single lane road. Not one did honk at us or try to rev hard while behind us. They were stuck in second gear and at times and when I made a pass at them to go ahead, all they did was shout words of encouragement with their thumbs up. It was remarkable display of  support from them all they way. We had a quick stop for some fruits and gels. Regrouped all cyclists once again.

As we approached Sligo, the welcome to Sligo sign was the biggest relief. I screamed with joy. Once again we were stopped and this time by the Garda. We were all being escorted into town! next twenty five kilometers we had a Garda car with flashing lights ahead of us and Garda motor bike close off the exits ahead of us. I was liking the special attention. Few cyclists pulled up by my side and said few kind words like " How did you make it this far with that thing", "good on you that you kept up with us at this pace on a bike like that", "You have done a fantastic job cycling that, if you had a bike like ours you would be flying " .

Those are exactly the kind of words that I needed at that point in time. I knew that I had dug in well into my reserves and my every single muscle in upper thigh had gone well past the moaning phase. They had given up on me listening to them and had decided to go Kamikaze. As we cycled into town, the sirens were switched on. WOW!, what a feeling of elation. The Sligo people started cheering for us. Many gathered and we stopped right outside the fancy glasshouse hotel . Press photographers clicked away our pictures and the sense of jubilation was overwhelming. I hugged my brother and congratulated all my fellow cyclists. We all had passed this two day endurance race where sixteen year old Patrick and few fifty plus year old cycled alike. The good spirit and camaraderie is what got us this far. A memorable finish. We had a train to catch  in an hour.

We were the first to grab the keys to a room. Mihir bhai and I showered and changed quickly and grabbed some food from the barbecue. Bid our farewells to all of them once again and made it to the train station. But this time while on the bike, not an inch of my rear end could slightly touch the saddle without those padded shorts. We had the tickets but had to buy space for the bike. Put our bikes to rest on the bike rack and set off to "home sweet home". Even before Mihir bhai finished his few sentences to me I was out like a light again.

My body demanded it. At the Connolly station Kate was there to greet us. A final picture with my brother who got me into doing this fantastic event. Reached back home by seven and cycled back home standing up. Every single living cell in my body aching, but isn't there a saying, "No Pain , No Gain".  What a Gain it was!, Coast to Coast on a bike  in ten hours,across a beautiful country like Ireland can only be once in a life time; or will it ?

Visit to Basel

Few Eyebrows raised when we mentioned that we are going to Basel in Switzerland. The immediate question was "why not Zurich?"  My Mrs and I thought why go to a bustling city every time. Why not go to a place where there is less of man made structures and more natural beauty to enjoy. Another reason being, Basel is a word that I come across in my line of work day in and day out. The Basel two and Basel three  are international banking regulations norms which is keeping professionals like us off the street. The committee which formulates these standards are based off this city.
Flights and accommodation all booked for a trip on a bank holiday weekend. We reached the city at midnight. I must admit that no matter how bold one tries to be, being in a new place for the first time does make one anxious.

We got off at the Basel central bus station and we did find plenty of people there. Some finishing late work, but many were youngsters being typical youngsters. Walking around with low waist jeans and boom box. Hair dyed pink and piercings every where. Smoking away something that stinks. Strangely we were actually experiencing a fact about this city in real. Switzerland is the country with the worlds least crime and in that; Basel the city has the least. No hassle what so ever. We took the tram as instructed and we got to the hotel.
Next morning started with a surprise. At the reception we were given a pass each and the lady said, "For the days you are here in Basel as a tourist, public transport of any kind is absolutely free". We could not believe our ears.  We took the tram straight to the central station , dived straight into the tourist office. Unlike the Holland pass which was more of a value for money pass for tourist, the Basel pass was not that attractive, but we went for it anyway. There was one spot that I had made a mental note off before I left to Basel. I enquired about the mode to get there. First stop "Reigoldswil" village. It was a good one hour bus journey from the city. As we traveled we noticed that the people are not obsessed with building huge houses or buildings, the nature is conserved in its purest forms. Even the houses looked minimal and well suited to the greenery all around. It was a post card picture every where around. We bought our tickets to get on to the cable car. A ten minute ride in that took us to an elevation of 1200 meters.

That ten minutes presented us with views that we will remember  a life time. Dangling several hundred meters with the valley below was spectacular. We assumed we are going straight to the peak of the mountains. But the assumptions generally don't turn real. There was a mountain on another mountain. The weather was spot on and the views fabulous. Hiking to the top could only mean better. On the downside in comparison to the massive upside of this mountain was that none of the sign boards there, was in English. Using the sixth sense of magnetic field orientation that all men claim to have I began to lead the way. We started hiking into the wooded area. Few other hikers accompanied us. The trails looked treacherous as we precariously made our way on the narrow edge of the mountain. Several hundred feet drop on both sides. We were able to catch some glimpses of the beautiful scenery on the other side of the mountain. As we reached the peak, the views were absolutely breathtaking. Pretty little houses dotted midst the smooth mountain curves which was completely carpeted with green.

Few glimpses of the Alps from there made it all worth it. A habit of mine is to pick up a rock from a place that I would love to remember the rest of my life. It has to be a place that has touched my heart and made me feel happy. I did pick one up. It was time to head back down, we could see the cable car station to get back down to the village, but we were lost up there. I don't mean in a emotional way, Quite literally did not know our way back down. Another hiker there seemed to be lost as well, He saw us wandering just like the way he did and knew we all were on the same boat. He was kind enough to offer us a lift back to Basel city. Georg was a German IT professional who spent most of this life in US. His English was as american as it could be. When we got to his car, was thankful that we were lost and ran into him. It was a Landrover that awaited us. What more can I ask for. He knew much about the Indian IT strength and we had discussions about the state of the EU post recession, while my wife comfortably slept in the backseat travelling at 160 kmph. The hike had worn us out equally, so we went back to the hotel to rest. Both of us had the same symptom of head ache and a slight temperature. Only did we realise later in the day after we recovered that we had sun stroke. The power of the sun, making its impact on us after continuous six hour exposure.
Day two started late. Nice and Relaxed charted our route to the Basel zoo.  As everything else in Basel, nothing is gigantic to stand out in terms of structure or building, same applies to the Zoo.

Just a small entrance, but as we made our way through we came to know it was vast. The subterranean  sea world alone took us an hour and a half to get by. From snakes larger than me to millions termites busy building a ten feet high mound, were all there. The elephant enclosure was under construction so we could not see much, but what we could see really up close was the Lions.

A lioness and her cubs stood mere feet away. We gained a new sense of respect for toughened ten inch glass. Few good clicks and we moved on to the tropical bird emporium. The large building was kept hot and humid for these tiny creatures. Small their stature might be , but each one tries to outdo the others in terms of noise.

Singing in competition.  The day ended with us just wandering about the city looking for good food.
Day three started relaxed since we had covered most of the sights we needed to visit. We had marked out a cathedral that we wanted to go to and got there. Few minutes too early. Once the door swung open we went in to be greeted by the organ music. It was loud and surreal. The music felt like it was emanating from the building rather that from one corner.

I had been to many cathedrals before and had seen this large three storied instrument before, but I had never seen one being played. All we had to do was look back and see this one man play an instrument seated in a high chair exercising all his limbs. Though he was of an average size the sheer size of the instrument dwarfed him. Engrossed in the music that reverberated through our body we spent half hour in there soaking up the magnificent architecture.

The one thing about cathedrals is , if we have been in one it feels like we have been in all, but to the eye that pays attention to detail there is lots to pick up.
Next stop, SBB (central station) We took the trams to Marketplatz and the word says it all. It was the main market area with loads of  options for all kinds of shopping. We did get inside an interesting old building, we still don't know its significance, but it did provide us some good clicks. My better half gets excited about the activity of shopping.

Walked into few stores and did come out with the same pace as we had walked into. Stellar prices! We found some that suited our budget and we shopped few items for family. The area was pock marked with shops for luxury watches. Each of the top brands had their own outlet. That speaks much for the fine watch making legacy that the swiss had. The prices of some of them ; to be disclosed on request only.

I will leave that to your imagination. A short walk from there, we were at the water sculpture park. mechanized contraptions powered but water pressure made for some interesting work of art. Pictures would not speak much hence took a short video. The free trams for us in Basel meant we could go anywhere , anytime , any number of time. So we identified an other land mark which was a park. St Alban park was a silent park with nothing much mentioned off it in the tourist guide. But we dared to explore and we found that it had a river running across it and there was an old fort wall . Not a soul around so we pretty much had the place to ourselves for posing and picture taking.

The day finally was drawing to a close and we had to head back to the airport. To round things up, Basel is fantastic city in terms of safety and convenience. One could walk out to any place at any time and not be worried. The fact that transport being made free to tourist was simply amazing. The local trams stood  out as a highlight. We only realised how good it was after we reached back home. They were extremely frequent, connected every part of the city, they were on time, all the time. They occupied the roads more that any other automobile; in fact the only traffic jam we saw once was that off the trams at a junction! Wish every city had such fine, zero pollution infrastructure. A city dweller never needs to think about individual transport.  That being said, this city is not much of a tourists' city. On weekends the entire city is shut down, that includes everything. One of the locals said, its a mandatory shut down for all so that people are forced to take a break from work and chores. That even means Department stores being closed! The city is not English friendly, One would not find a single sign or board in English. People do speak English but the native tounge or German is what would get you by more easily. Even the airport had a quirk of its own, because half of the airport is on to the french soil and the other half is Swiss. Upon arrival or departure we have to be careful which way we want into or out off! That all being said, The experience was unique and soothing. The memories full of a cool, calm place where the policy about living life is "Take it easy". As the giant steel bird lifted us into the air, the thought that crossed my mind was, If I am going to look for a job next, in Basel it must be. For all I have now, Is that Rock on my work Desk to give me some hope.