Mountain Bike Rally

About this event

Mountain Bike Rally is an endurance ride on mountain bikes from Punalur toward Thenmala, on the ghat highway into the eastern hills of Kollam. It is a bicycle rally. It is not a hike, and it is not a motor rally. Cars and motorcycles are traffic on the same road. They are not the event.

The towns are on the order of 20 kilometres apart. That is the gap between Punalur and Thenmala, which is why both ends are named. It is not a measured race distance. A rally can stay on the highway, leave it, add loops, or stop short of Thenmala. Riders who simply follow the road are in ordinary traffic, not on a closed course. You share the ghat with buses and lorries. Descents are fast. Rain and mist are common on that road. Lights, brakes, and water are the rider's own.

An endurance rally is a timed ride or a mass start. The organisers will say which. Riders use their own mountain bikes. No hire cycles and no support van are included. A flat tyre is your repair. Punalur is the start town. The railway station is in town, under a kilometre from the centre. The town hall and the 1877 Kallada bridge are landmarks, not the banner, unless the organiser puts the start there. Ask for the exact point. A crowd at the station is not the start.

Thenmala is the ecotourism town at the other end. A dam ticket, a boat, or a park entry is not part of the rally. Finishing near Thenmala, if the route goes that far, does not admit you to a zone.

November is the month for the ride. One morning inside November is the rally, when someone calls it. The month is not a daily departure. No entry fee is stated here. If there is a fee, a number, or a map, the organiser has it.

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is about 83 kilometres from Punalur. Buses use the Punalur bus stand. Rooms named for Punalur are A One Hotel, Hotel Panacea Ventures, and Shaji Hotel. A room is not a ride entry.

Twenty kilometres is the gap between Punalur and Thenmala, not a certified course. The organiser may send you along the highway, off it, or only part of the way. You are in traffic the whole time, on your own mountain bike, with your own water and your own repair kit. November is the month to ask for a map. Without the map, a ride toward the ghats is a private ride, not the rally. The start is a marked point in Punalur. The station, the town hall, and the bridge are easy places to gather, and they are wrong unless the banner is there. A finish near Thenmala does not include a dam ticket, a boat, or a park entry. Sleep in town if you need to, at A One Hotel, Hotel Panacea Ventures, or Shaji Hotel, and still ask whether an entry fee exists before you roll.

An endurance rally is either timed or a mass start. The organiser says which. Hire cycles are not part of it, and neither is a van to collect a rider who stops. Thenmala at the far end is the ecotourism town. Finishing there, if the route goes that far, is the end of a bicycle ride. It is not admission to a zone. Spikes of rain on the ghat are normal in the hills. Lights still matter if you are out late.

Ask for the morning, the map, the exact start in Punalur, and whether an entry fee exists. Without the map, do not set off down the ghat and call it the rally.

🚆 Railway: Punalur Railway Station is under 1 km from Punalur.

✈️ Airport: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is approximately 83 km from Punalur.

🚌 Bus: Punalur bus stand.

🏨 Stay: A One Hotel, Hotel Panacea Ventures and Shaji Hotel are nearby stay options.

✅ Notes: Punalur town, measured from the railway station area. A separate bus-stand pin was not used. Dates in this sheet are the listing window (11/1/2026 to 11/30/2026), not a confirmed daily show.