Tony Woods, a local member of the CTC and regular on our Sunday rides, gave an illustrated talk on ‘Cycling through India – Tigers, Temples & Tea’ on Wednesday, 2 April. This talk was the first of an irregular series of talks and events planned by the Northampton CTC this year.

Tony’s journey covered about 850 miles by bike – and many more on bus and train – through central and southern India over Christmas and New Year 2001/02. He told a his audience who had packed into the Low Barn at the Hunsbury Hill Centre that the highlights, despite the fantastic wildlife, temples and art, were always the people. He described being challenged to a bike race by a couple of teenagers outside the town of Paithan in Maharashtra.

The lads didn’t speak much English but were fascinated by Tony’s geared bicycle – an ‘ATB’ (All terrain bike) purchased in Delhi for the princely sum of £35 complete with the magnificent total of 5 gears. They assumed, as did many in India, that gears meant faster rather than easier – hence the uneven race between two fit teenagers (admittedly on ancient bone-shakers) and a tubby, middle aged man at the end of a long day loaded with two panniers full of kit. Tony claimed to keep up with his challengers for at least the first few yards!!

To further cement their new friendship and to demonstrate the advantages of gears Tony swapped bikes for a few miles – leaving him riding “the absolute worst bike I have ever ridden”. An unforgettable day for Tony – and two lads from Paithan.

Obviously seeing a tiger in the wild had to be a highlight. Entering the park at dawn with a driver and two guides, Tony was taken to a quiet part of the park where they all waited for over two hours before, just as breakfast was being cleared away, the Park Ranger spotted their quarry. It took Tony a considerable time before he too located the magnificent tigress striding confidently across open grassland – seeing her first with powerful binoculars though her camouflage was good enough that she disappeared again when viewed through the naked eye.

Eventually the tigress stepped through the bushes onto the roadway perhaps 30 yards ahead of the jeep – totally assured and followed by two cubs. The cubs, about 5 months old were very different. One, probably a female, stayed with her mother almost the whole time while the other, almost certainly her brother, was up and down the banks checking out everything to see what mischief could be had.

They followed this delightful family group, never more than 50 yards, never less than about 20 yards distant, for at least 45 minutes before the tigress took her family away from the road and out of sight. Probably one of the longest, closest and best sightings of a tiger in the park that year.

Within minutes the jeep disturbed a leopard – which escaped up into the trees at lightning speed. While tiger sightings are relatively common, seeing a leopard is rare. Tony feels he was amazingly privileged to see both on one morning.

Tony described many other highlights – cave temples in Maharashtra, massive temples in Tamil Nadu and wonderful countryside in Kerala. But, throughout the trip it was his interaction with people that stood out as the highlights – interaction made much easier by cycling alone. Cycling is the ‘right speed’ to see India.

For more details see http://www.aww.users.gxn.net, which is Tony's photo album of the trip originally prepared for his family & friends.

For six weeks around Christmas 2001 I had the opportunity to tour central and southern India by bike. In this talk I will pick a few highlights of a memorable holiday and fascinating overall experience.

As the title suggests I will describe the moment when I first saw a tiger in the wild – and provide an idea of the fascination and variety of Indian wildlife. I will show you something of the culture of India – much of it bound up in the diversity of religions and the art of her temples; and of travelling through tea gardens, spice plantations and sugar cane fields. Most importantly, I will introduce you to just a few of the people that made the trip so fascinating and so rewarding – a guy in a bullock cart returning from market, guys who repaired my bike, women laying out a beautiful floral decoration and people who asked me to share a cup of chai (spiced tea) with them.

Cycling is the perfect way to see India. It is the right speed to see the country, you can interact with the people you pass yet you retain an independence not known to the usual backpackers who travel by train and bus, from city centre to city centre, never breaking free from the hassle of the beggars and charlatans that lay in wait for them.

I covered about 1250km (850 miles) on the bike and many more by bus, train and plane. In preparing this talk I have, of course, re-read my diaries. As well as the ‘good times’, they describe all the problems and pains of travelling – the days cycling with a sore bum, the time laid up with a pulled muscle – times of shear exhaustion. Strangely, none of those remained in my memory – I left India with only with memories of delight, enrichment and enjoyment. I hope I can share some of these with you.