Critical Mass #3 Bangladesh

So the critical mass in Bangladesh is three months old today. I missed the first two so I made a point to make this one. I am not sure about an actual count but there were over 200 riders! Bangladesh keeps surprising me with how progressive certain aspects are and how unbelievable backwards other parts are. I never would have thought that there would be a critical mas here and would have laughed if you told me there were more riders than I ever saw a the critical mass in San Luis Obispo.

I took the cargo bike and was going to take Lola but was glad that I did not! We rode a little over 12 miles and the entire ordeal took about 3 hours. There was lots of energy in the air and the number of cultures represented was pretty impressive. But I have to take my hat off to the number of Bangladeshi riders out there.

The Cargo bike was a hit and I became a shuttle for a couple of young kids that had run out of steam. The streets were lined with people pointing and clapping and cheering. There were riders blocking traffic and press photographers on motorcycles, guys with megaphones and all kinds of bikes. Here are some pics from the day.

The first riders trickle in...

 The big group amasses

Bike Parking

Couldn't resist...

I am thinking about importing a limited run of these. The demand would be epic...

Some live dancing and drumming. All part of the package.

Ken testing out the trail-a-bike during the mass photo.

I just rode single track!

So Bangladesh just moved up on my list and I owe it all to my newest aquaintence, Ken. My principal's wife Sara sent me "biker guy" Ken's email and sent Ken my email. Within hours Ken had emailed me letting me know that he would be out of town for a bit but when he got back he would contact me about a ride. He also mentioned a 15 day bike trek he would be taking to Nepal in April. All I could think was, "Seriously? 15 days in Nepal for the sole purpose of riding. This guy is legit!"

So Ken made it back and we set up a "Mountain Bike" ride which I was thinking would be lame dirt roads but that I was hoping would be more. We met at 7:00 am with 4 other riders and started the mad dash to get out of Dhaka. After about 5 miles of road riding Ken just hangs a left onto a trail I never would have seen. For the next 50 Km Ken led us on a dizzying maze of interconnected trails and paths in the delta areas outside of Dhaka. When I got home we had riden 70 Km, my legs were sore, and I was beat! I had ridden hills, hucked my bike off of 6 foot drops, crossed levy trails that were 6-12 inches wide, ridden through bamboo forests, seen ferrets, walked over bamboo bridges, had some close calls, and laughed like a kid again. One of the guys on the ride, Satish, took some pics and here they are:

TRAILS IN BANGLADESH!

And they were fun too. All the excitement of Mt. biking with a people factor. Kids would run out from their homes to yell greetings and wave. Some would just laugh! It was like a mountain bike race with people on the course cheering us on. Most of the trails were walking paths for people getting between villages, getting to the fields or from animals being led out to pasture. We were never far from civilizations but I felt like i was in nature. Cool sights fun riding and cool people.

Oh yeah, and it turns out I did not have the first Santa Cruz bike in Bangladesh... Yep, Ken has a SC Nomad... Bro-mance? I hope I don't come on too strong and scare Ken away! At least our bikes are different colors. Anyway, Thank you Ken for showing me some dirt, I needed it.

Ride Number 2

This weekend is Eid (the end of Ramadan) and so a lot of the people in Dhaka go out to their villages and celebrate with family. It has a similar feel to Christmas in that there is an overwhelming sense of happiness and family love. All the stores close, people are dressed up in their finest and the streets are quiet. Really. All construction has stopped and traffic is down to about an 1/8th of what it was. So I, being the heathen that I am, think nothing of religion during religious holidays and decide that this will be a perfect day to ride my bike! I found a route on MapMyRide.com and spent all day yesterday trying to figure out how to get the course on my GPS unit... Wasted time. I got it on there but it turned out to be useless as far as giving directions so I had to go off memory of the map. Surprisingly I did not get lost! Here is a map of the ride from my GPS:

This was a great day in the saddle. Amazing scenery. I was on this one lane road that weaves through the river delta areas and all these small villages. People all taking it easy because of the Eid holiday. The random English greetings were thrown my way included "Hi" "Hello" "Howareyou" and my favorite, "Thank You" People would just shout thank you as I road by. I like to think that they were just thanking me for being so inspirational... nothing to do with the fact that they have no idea what thank you means. Here are a few pics of the day:

The local way of running pipelines

The barge that pumps the water:

Finally a decent picture of the local fishing nets:

These saw mills are all over. Pretty cool.

Boats docked right next to the road:

The colorful boats:

First Bike Ride!

So I finally got my act together and threw my leg over my bike for a real ride. My goal: get out of Dhaka and into the country. I did take some pics but they are crap quality because of the camera, an old point and shoot that I can throw in my pocket on rides. Distance: about 30 miles (supposed to be 25 but I may have ridden a few extra miles because of the lack of road signs... yes I got lost!).

Fun harbor area.

Fishing in the ruins.

Fun truck mural. This truck was just parked on the side of the road with no one in it.

Front of the truck and a good shot of one of my buddies. This guy was walking along the road and stopped about a foot from me, put his arms behind his back and gave me a thorough looking over. I still have not stayed in one place long enough to satisfy any of these "buddy's" curiosity. I think they would stare at me all day. Of course I am used to that. Especially while wearing spandex but usually its the ladies and not the guys...

Ther were so many opportunities for the randomness picture. What I mean is a picture showing something so random that I really cannot explain it. Half finished bridges that are decades old with no destination on the other side and no road going to it. Half finished, multi-storied hotels in the middle of a shanty town. Cows put out to pasture in the middle of the road... and this pic. There are stacks of new bricks that are being broken up to make a road bed. But there is nothing here. I'm all for planning ahead but it seems like they might focus on more pressing matters. Like drinking water, sewage treatment, garbage management, etc.

Well yeah, the locals that cannot even afford food need to be able to shoot too. (As a side note: there was no one actually shooting here)

The local saw mill. The operator promptly shut down and started waving and if I did not pack up and start to leave I am sure he would have walked over to check me out.

Cool shot of the local boats with the city in the background. Best part: I did not even mean, or know that I was taking a pic of that bird until after I got home.

Lots to see here. Click on this pic and zoom in. In the center of the pic there are a couple of jugs stacked on top of each other. That is a gas station and the jugs are filled with diesel. The three guys walking towards me were not "Buddies" and walked by without stopping in the most serious of manners.

Took me a while to figure out what these are. They are restaurants. You show up purchase food/beverages and head out to your own private cabin/table. The best one was two independent restaurants right next to each other. One, had all of their cabins made of Coke signs and the other was all Pepsi signs.

There was sooooo much more that I could not get pics of and so much more to the story of getting home. I ended up having to ask directions about 4 times, each with its own funny little moments. Once, it got serious and three armed guards stopped me to ask for ID. Turns out I was about to enter a military zone... oops. I played dumb and lost (I really was) and they softened up and gave me some directions.  I am surprised by the number of people that speak English here, even out in the sticks. They are also very patient and almost forceful with desire to help. I stopped twice in the city to ask about directions and was swarmed with "buddies" they all ask questions about my bike and where I am going, one guy told me his name and offered his hand. I told him mine, I'll never see him again but it felt right. One kid about 14 admired my disc brakes and started talking to his friend about them. Once while stopped at an intersection a crossing pedestrian reached out and put his hand on my bars as one would use a hand railing... Personal space is pretty much non existent here. On another occasion while stopped for directions a rickshaw riding by in the road just stopped right next to me. He had a customer on back who threw up no objection. If I took one thing away from today it is that I really love the innocent curiosity here.