Jan. 4 : near Vangurla, India

Wednesday, January 4 :: Beach hut 20km South of Vangurla, India :: 152km today / 1702km total

The map suggested that today's ride would be a repeat of yesterday's torturous hills, so I left Rajapur mentally prepared to have my ass kicked again all day. The early 3km climb out of Rajapur reinforced this notion, as again I was forced to dig deep in the early morning hours. But after a difficult 30km the road stayed high, following the tops of the Ghats, never descending too deeply, and in turn never forcing me to climb for longer than about a kilometre. It was very, very hot, but I ignored the heat, thankful that the massive climbing seemed to be over.

The terrain on top of the Ghats was rolling, much like farmland Southern Ontario that I've spent many years cycling, terrain that I know how to ride quickly and efficiently. Thundering through the bottoms of descents, hammering the lower slopes of shorter climbs to build enough momentum to roll over the crests, often without having to stand and dance on the pedals... this was more like it! Now I could use the tailwind that blows down the Western side of India at this time of year; crouching down on the aerobars, flying. By 1 p.m. I blew past the 100km that I had previously set as a goal for the day, and for the first time since leaving Bombay I felt IN CONTROL of my destiny... the bike was working, I was flying, I could pick and choose where I would sleep that night. Things were beginning to look up.

I dropped out of the Ghats and met the Arabian sea at Vengurla, the most Southerly town of any size in Maharastra State. There was no accomodation there, but I was not worried since the road stayed coastal... coastal means beaches and accommodation. 20km along I stopped at a relatively deserted cluster of beach huts... that night I slept in a hut that was literally beachfront. Even though I was quite tired I hiked to the summit of the neighbouring volcanic headland for a spectacular view of the setting Sun over the Arabian Sea.