Bhubaneswar: The charm of last year Independence Day Ride from Bhubaneswar to Vizag has not faded its glory when BCAC planned for yet another adventure to the First Major Port of East-Coast of India Commissioned after Independence – The Paradeep Port. This port is declared as the 8th Major Port of India on 1966. This ride was planned for 2 days in order to spend one night at Paradeep in the historical Jawahar Guest House which is build around the Foundation Stone of Paradeep Port laid by the first Prime Minister of India in presence of the legend of Odisha Shri Biju Pattnaik.
As this was the ride dedicated to the 71st Independence Day of India, almost 20+ riders turned up for this event including Mr. Dhirendra Kar (NRI from the US, who has planned his travel especially for this ride). BCAC has planned this ride on 13th and 14th of August from Bhubaneswar to Paradeep and Return.
As planned riders assembled at 5:45AM at the Club House and by 6:00AM the ride commenced. As usual a few more riders joined us at Vani Vihar, Palasuni, Gopalpur and OMP Square. We rode through Club House, AG Square, Vani Vihar, Rasulgarh, Phulnakhara, Sikharpur, Nuabazar, CRRI, Kandarpur, Tirtol, Rahama, Kujanga, Bhutmundei to reach Jawahar Guest House at Paradeep. There are a number of riders who were making their debut Century Ride with this trip. We have planned our movements in such a way that we will support these new riders with techniques, hydration and mental booster in order to complete this ride with all of us. We took our first small coconut-water break at Kathjodi end of Cuttack from where we headed towards Kandarpur to have our breakfast. Then after we took break in every 20 odd Kms, for hydrating riders. We halted at a road-side restaurant near Bhutmandei to have a delicious and sumptuous lunch with Ride, Dal, Fries, Fish Masala, Chicken Masala and salad with papad.
The weather with shadows of clouds, greenery on the both sides of the road and beautiful blooming wild flowers made this one of the most enjoyable ride although a bit hot and humid. Surprising the temperature was cooler by almost five degrees as we neared Paradeep after Tirtol. To add the charm, we got drizzles which ultimately turned into heavy downfall as we enter Paradeep during the post-lunch session. We reached the confluence point of Mahanadi and Bay of Bengal by evening 4:30PM where we spend some memorable time on the beach enjoying the sun-set with some spicy jhal-mudi and ice-creams.
Evening was ultimate among all riders sitting together and enjoying the waves of the deep sea with hot pakoda, tea and snacks. We have a memorable time together at Jawahar Guest House among the family members of some of our riders and their kids. Evening ended with a mouth-watering dinner followed by specially prepared Rasagolla by the staff of the Guest House. We enjoyed a nice sleep with a comfortable stay at the Guest House calling the day off.
By early morning 5:00AM most of the riders left their beds and came to the sea-beach to enjoy the sun-rise and soothing breeze. By 6:00AM, we all assembled in front of the Guest House to commence the Day-2 ride back to Bhubaneswar. The weather was more pleasurable than the day before with cool winds and greenery all-around. We halted at Kujanga to have the breakfast after which we route back to Bhubaneswar with sufficient number of breaks for hydration.
Riders enjoyed one of the most memorable adventure with this ride and for some riders this ride was more special than others as they broke their mental barrier of not crossing over 100 Kms at a stretch. At least three riders, Srinivas, Kallol and Chinmay completed their maiden Century comfortably while Kallol and Srinivas completed the entire stretch of 251+ Kilometers consecutively within 30 Hours.
Paradeep is the 8th largest Port of India and the first major port of India commissioned after Independence. This is an artificial (man-made) port, which is strategically placed in between Kolkata and Vishakhapatnam ports in the East-coast. This port is serving the nation since 1966 till date.
We did this ride with 271 kms (additional 30 odd KMs within Paradeep) dedicate this 2-Days ride marking the 71st Independence Day Celebration.
Comments are closed.