One of the Hawks will be graduating from high school soon and is considering a gap year before heading off to college. Since a bicycle touring adventure of some sort is being considered, we decided that a ride from New Delhi to Agra would be a nice way to test the feasibility and potential enjoyment factor of a longer bicycle adventure.

At about 8:20 am last Thursday we departed the Moti Bagh area of New Delhi and made our way to Rt. 19. After about 3 hours riding we stopped for lunch.

Neither of us had ridden more than 60 km in one shot before but the first days ride ended with a  total distance of 118 km. 

Nice weather and good spirits for the 97 km ride on the second day. At about an hour into the ride, one of the Hawks found a puppy stranded in the middle of a highway flyover. The puppy was put safely back near some people and given some crackers. We expect someone in the little town took the puppy in after witnessing it get saved by a young Hawk. Hawk contact is usually considered to be good luck in India.

Lunch on day 2 was quick. We found a spot off of the main road that allowed relative peace for some tuna fish and crackers.

The young Hawk decided he wanted to trek back through the same route and made it clear he didn’t want to wait for the old Hawk during his speed run back to Delhi.

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We took separate routes. My return trip was via the Yamuna Expressway and I beat the Young Hawk back by about 20 hours.

It was a great experience and I highly encourage anyone thinking of riding in India to give it a try. It can be exciting, the sights and smells are unique.

After completing 440Km in 4 days, the Young Hawk made it back to Delhi looking more like he was ready to begin an adventure than as if he had just completed one.