Bicycle Diaries – part I
Just had my first proper bike run to Agonda and back after dropping Egg off at school. Here are the vital statistics (if I’ve calibrated my watch properly): · Distance: 9.75 mi · Time: 31:22 · Av speed: 18.6 mph (suggests I haven’t got the calibration right, despite double checking in the tyre measurements just now….although it is true that I didn’t really need to touch the brakes at all between palolem and agonda) · Top speed: 31 mph · Av heart rate: 154 · Top heart rate: 174 · Kcal: 517 · Outside temperature: ~32 C · Body temperature: off the bloody Richter Whether it was the heat, or the dust, or a degraded level of fitness since arriving here, I had my first near-puking experience while riding. It was an interesting sensation, having dry heaves while being passed by busloads of waving locals and trying to stay astride my Thai clunker, (with its one functioning derailleur and a headset which is probably a touch loose, given a persistent knocking noise over the bigger bumps). However, it looks like the fastest bicycle in goa…which, admittedly, isn’t saying a whole hell of a lot… Here's the route.