Bumpy Trail Bicyclists: Himalayan Biking

day 4: mukteswar-ramgarh-bhowali-bhimtal-kathgodam (apr 25)

today we go down on the exhilarating 60km descent from mukteswar to bhowali to bhimtal to kathgodam... with a lot of climbs thrown in, of course...

starting the run from mukteshwar to bhateliya. joydeep dutta, binoy and amit.

schoolkids headed for school near bhateliya.

jd's air pressure is low at bhowali; while pumping up from tube pump, the valve base quits. we don't have a spare tube so everything is thrown into crisis. eventually, the driver manoj suggests we use fevikwik (superglue) which is available everywhere in minitubes for rs 5 or so. we are sceptical, but there is nothing else to be done, so we try it. it works! in the end, jd uses the fevikwik tube holds up for over a month

puncture-fix with feviqwik. at a bhowali garage, our driver manoj fixes joydeep's broken valve with feviqwik. we were deeply sceptic, but it held!

joydeep and amit, after bhimtal. women w-leaf-bundles fodder.

binay going down to kathgodam. i ran into two punctures on the downhill stretches (most probably the braking heat).

kathgodam : end of trip

the salaam-ing langur of kathgodam: we met this langur at the end of our l-o-o-ong downhill from mukteswar to bhowali to bhimtal to kathgodam. he was sitting by the roadside near ranibagh (just outside kathgodam). from time to time he would salute us with one hand or the other...

on the platform at kathgodam (after lunch at the railway canteen) ; end-of-trip amit loading bikes onto car ;

distance for the day : 66km; total distance for the trip: 190km.

map for day 4 ride: mukteshwar - bhimtal - kathgodam (in green)

* [ day 1: bhimtal-naukuchiyatal-bhowali ]
* [ day 2: bhimtal-nainital-sat-tal-bhimtal ]
* [ day 3: bhimtal-mukteswar ]
* [ tour homepage ]

[bumpy trails bicyclists homepage]

amitabha mukerjee for the bumpy trail bicyclists. sep 2011. feedback: mukerjee [at] gmail