Fahrrad tour - Into the country side

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Date: Somewhere in July

Venue: 15kms away from Dortmund

The clock showed 8.14 am and we were so early out of the bed in spite of being a weekend, which normally doesn’t matter to me. We all decided to meet half-past eight at the Dorstfeld Süd Hbf. As anticipated, everyone arrived on time and as usual Suba joined us lately. Being the chief-architect we hoped that suba and palani did their research for the journey. The DB (Deutsche bahn) immer punctual, arrived sharply at 8.20; and as the train cruises in, Suba told us that he has forgotten to bring the plan for the journey (which he had printed last night and would be lying on his table untouched). The first hurdle in our journey, nevertheless we were still determined to go ahead and asked Suba to meet us later in a common point and Eshwar accompanies him.

At 11 am Suba arrived at the meeting point and we were busy making some paper work and finally we got our bikes (not the Yamaha 150 cc) but the self-powered 25 cc bicycle.

Yes, we were here for the first-of-its kind tour in our life - Die Fahrrad tour (the bicycle trip). After a primary hustle for few minutes we arrived at a conclusion on which track to go on and steer our bikes off the road.

It was a gorgeous sunny day and the weather being so pleasant that we couldn’t ask for more, which best matched our trip. After a long ride of around 2.5 Kms –our first pit-stop (I can sense people correcting it has to be 25 and not 2.5, actually not) we were so exhausted and hungry and to our rescue we found a breather—a beautiful lake Nice, long stretch of meadows on both sides of the roads made us to pull the brakes, and we spent some time here. The routes were exclusively chosen to enjoy the ambiance and the creation of the nature. Those images of nature were really bliss to watch, a treat to your eyes, and fits absolutely for your desktop wallpaper. Our feet took a walk into the heavenly grasses and that was without doubt a moment to cherish, it was a walk to freedom, a walk to remember, and I felt that could be the eternal happiness one can get, when you are so deeply fallen into the hearts of nature. It definitely brings vibrant beauty to ones heart and we felt it there.

We started to peddle our bikes and moved on in spite of being troubled by nature. Me and Eshwar were cycling in tandem thereby having a little chit chat. He is one of those few guys in our group who lays his hands in all the achievable things to get knowledge. I really enjoyed being with him, the most wannabe and motivated character with whom I share a good vibes. He suggested an idea to start a community which involves serving people for the betterment of there future. Eshwar and I were lagging behind without realizing that suba and palani left us and went ahead.

I never thought that this tour would be filled with fun and excitement all the way. Though we had the map in our hands, we had no trace where the path was leading us. After a long ride we came across a park where we had a glimpse of old people relaxing on the wooden benches and it tempted us to take short break. The chill breeze in the forest was one of the reason which was energizing us. The wilderness of the forest could be easily felt; tall woods standing all over and hardly any ray of the sun was penetrating into them. Chandru and Palani kept moving deep into the forest and decided to get more view of this scenic beauty.

Chandru in his puerile manner climbed a top a tree and posed for the camera and a few minutes later he spotted a deer somewhere deep inside the forest. Ram and Suba were already loaded with their weapons (Nikon Digi- SLR) to take a snap shot, within no time it escaped into the deep woods. We were so deeply immersed into the forest that we were not interested to find a quick way out.

As the journey went on we did not realize that it’s been an hour since we were there and yet no where close to the target. We packed up instantly and started moving and made it a point that the next pit-stop will be our destination point.

Finally, at half-past three we arrived at the destination, which included a museum and a nice landscape to shelter upon. Light drizzle made us to move quickly from there. Suba was dying with hunger and found a place to dine and we also joined him. After satisfying our appetite in the small imbiss we left straight away. The first clash-of-minds took place here as to which path to move on. I stayed back from this discussion as my map-skills were not sufficient to struggle with them. After a few kilometers ride, we stopped up at this juncture and we had no clue where to go further and as usual the dispute continued until we noticed that the clock showed quarter-past four. We made a judgment and quickened our pace more and more as the time sped by. On the way into the lonely streets, we met an old man with his bicycle, who helped us to find the right way and guided us till the Dortsfeld Hbf. We decided to end our cycle-trip there and took a short-cut (the DB) as were pretty sure that we won’t be able to reach on time if we go on with cycling this way.

At 6.10 pm we were back to square one, we returned our bikes and moved on to our homes. We were found in exaltation after the end of the tour. The contentment of the journey can never be told, it can only be felt. It was a beautiful and a exceptional experience that I will ever remember. A journey which taught me many things and I hope I have shared some with you.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
--Robert Frost