Live and cycle in Goa, India for six months? July 2, 2009

Girl Gone Goa: Ulrike Bemvinda Rodrigues

Sure, read all about it on this blog.

I wrote over 60 stories on living in Goa as a single woman of Goan descent for this Girl Gone Goa site.

Read the lively and informative stories in any order, or start at the beginning.

Scan the popular stories sidebar for stories such as Goa Cycle Club’s First Ride, and my favourite,  It Runs in The Family.

I’m a freelance writer, so you’ll also find full-text newspaper and magazine articles that I wrote for publications including columns that appeared in Momentum Magazine; as well as a profile of Ulrike Rodrigues, an opinion piece on tourism and garbage , a discussion of NRI Commission’s “Know Goa” program, and an introduction to the Goa Cycle Club and cycling in Goa.

Enjoy, and feel free to Contact me if you have any questions, comments, or job offers so I can return to Goa!

How an average cyclist became an accidental activist July 1, 2009

[Published in the July/August 2009 issue of Momentum Magazine.]

Early days of the Goa Cycle Club

Here in Vancouver, Canada, I consider myself just another person in the city who rides a bike. I keep a pretty low profile compared to the cycling artists and advocates I admire. But something radical happened when I bought an Atlas bicycle, rode it, and wrote about riding it in Goa, India for six months. I became an accidental activist.

“Hi Ulrike,” wrote a reader in response to one of my Girl Gone Goa blog stories, “We’ve recently returned from the UK, to resettle here. I’ve brought back a bike, but as it needs some basic work, I’ve not begun pedalling here. Everyone here tells me I’d be crazy to try, so it’s good to hear of your experiences.”

“We” was Luis Dias and his wife Chryselle. They were Goan and keen to ride, though eight-month-pregnant Chyselle admitted she’d need to have the baby first. Luis and I headed to the Panjim ferry jetty and cycled and chatted along the Mandovi River. He said he was looking for a community project to dig his teeth into.