Tales of
India & More
Join me as I embark on an adventure several years in the making...
The Plan
Late November 2019
I was in a pub in Argentina, sharing a table with a few guys from the UK while the Argentine national football team played on TV in the background. Over beers we planned a river rafting trip for December 2020, to begin outside Bariloche, Argentina on the Manso river and to end at Puerto Montt, Chile and the Pacific ocean.
During our conversation one of the group introduced me to the idea of doing the Rickshaw Run in India, thinking I would be a good fit for it. I agreed wholeheartedly and began to look into how to participate.
Little did we know that in a few months our plans would be spoiled for the next couple years.
The stars finally aligned and late last year I was able to secure a spot for the "All India" version of the Rickshaw Run this September.
I was willing to go it alone but knew having a capable (and tolerant) teammate would improve the situation considerably. I reached out to my good friend Mike and he agreed to join me.
Beginning 9 September, Mike and I will spend two weeks driving an auto-rickshaw literally across India.
The Run
The Rickshaw Run is a rally format, with groups of participants comprising various teams driving their assigned auto-rickshaws from start to finish over public roadways within a prescribed two week period, but without a prescribed route. There is an official start day, time, and location, and an official finish day, time, and location with nothing other than roadway and random chaos in between. The in-between is up to each team to manage, including daily destinations, routes, lodging, and breakdowns (mechanical, physical, and emotional).
Prior to the start I'll be providing information about the race, our preparation for it, and our plans, though to quote the great philosopher Anonymous, "A plan is a list of things that probably won't happen once you begin."
The Rickshaw
For those who don't know what an auto rickshaw is, behold the global standard of safety and efficiency that is the Bajaj.
Our specific rickshaw is well-equipped with a 2-stroke, air cooled, fuel-oil mix engine. For those with a mechanical fetish it is a 145cc engine that generates a withering 7 horsepower at 5000rpm and sucks fuel from a large-capacity 8 litre (2.1 US gal.) tank. Rickshaws have a high center of gravity for Le Mans-quality cornering and are open-sided so that you can be thrown clear of the wreckage during a collision; a poor man's ejector seat, if you will.
We have the added bonus of being able to design a custom paint scheme and have it ready for us upon check-in. We've come up with a design that will be themed with our team name, with a hidden-in-plain-sight dig at ourselves. It has been submitted and will be revealed in a future post after we check in and are introduced to our machine.
(Image courtesy of ExportersIndia.com)
The Route
Right now you might be asking your computer screen, "You guys are driving your rickshaw from where to where?"
We're starting in the south of India in the west coast town of Kochi, at a place called Fort Kochi. We will then travel at least 1,622 miles (2610 km) north to Jaisalmer, nicknamed "The Golden City", located in the Indian state of Rajasthan approximately 80 miles from Pakistan.
According to my GPS map route planner that trip should take 43 hours to drive. On main highways, in a car, driving at posted speeds. Our estimates have us arriving in Jaisalmer in 12 days if we never break down, get diverted or lost, or roll into a ditch. So we figure the full 14 days will be necessary to finish.
We've planned a route with goals for daily destinations but have built in a Plan B for most legs of the trip along with a healthy c'est la vie attitude. C'est la merde if things get really epic.
There will be times where we will have to figure things out as they happen, but that type of unknown is built into the rally and is what makes it so fun.
We will reveal our anticipated daily routes as the race progresses, so stay tuned.
(Modified map courtesy of Map my India)
you can follow along on the India & More page where I'll post photos and occasional anecdotes as the trip progresses.
I will try to post frequently but probably not every single day.
If you have Facebook click the blue button to follow along with Mike