Shunpiking to Sanity Tour: Day 8

Note: The last few days were written on the day of riding, but due to limited internet accessibility there are being posted over the next couple of days.

July 17, 2013

Mileage Day 8: 544
Total Mileage: 1,713

Back on the road again. However, this riding is not the kind that I enjoy. I, of course, ate up the miles today because it was ALL interstate. I rode from Morrisville, North Carolina all the way to Birmingham, Alabama.

Side note: Atlanta Traffic, you suck. Ten lanes, a bypass, and you still can't get your stuff together (edited for vulgarity). Come on. I almost developed as much anger for you as I have for Dallas Traffic and Houston Traffic (number 1 and 2 respectively on my s@*t list).

I was in South Carolina when I enjoyed my packed lunch. Auntie Dey was kind enough to pack me a lunch. It was the highlight of my day. This is true for two reasons: 1) I love Auntie Dey's cooking as much as Sharbari's and 2) I was on the interstate all day.

Whenever I eat a packed lunch of homemade Indian food (which doesn't happen often these days), I always think of Tiffins. The first time in India Sharbari explained to me (if any of this information is inaccurate it is not due to her) that in Mumbai all the men go to work and there lunch is brought to them by an intricate system. There is some cultural aspect to this about men wanting a hot meal that is cooked fresh and not heated with sound waves. Tiffin is a slang term for second breakfast, but in Mumbai it refers to a packed lunch. Everyday tiffin wallahs pick up the prepared meals from the persons home as prepared by mother or wife. There are a series of markings on the tiffin to denote where that owner is located in town. To blow your mind, Mumbai's metropolitan area has over 20 million people that covers about 1,651 square miles. Even if 50% of the population used it (trust me it is way more) that is over 10 million people that are being brought lunch every day without fail. I can't remember how accurate it is, but I want to say it is over 97% accurate. It could be more, and Google could tell me, but guessing is way better. There is a great episode of Top Gear (Series 17, Episode 7) where they attempt to carry tiffins to the correct location. I thought I had a picture of the tiffins from my travels, but this is a picture of a man moving cloth on top of a bicycle. I think Indians invited Tetris.

Tomorrow I will be meeting up with my friend, Eric and get back to Shunpiking.

Until I ramble on again . . .