Finishing a bike tour is always bittersweet. Thoughts begin to wander back to home, friends, family and work. But also to future adventures, and that little voice that asks, “what if you just kept going?”Our last two days of riding, from Galle on the southern coast, through Colombo and back to Negombo, were beautiful and remarkably easy, compared to riding through other major capital cities. 
After leaving Galle after daybreak, exiting the fort area and its massive ramparts, we followed the coast. The ocean and beach are such dominant features of daily life here, not only feeding the country, but serving as its front porch as well.

Midway through our ride, two local cyclists pulled up alongside us and within minutes had invited us one of their homes for tea. Jayalath, below between Allegra and me, is a retired Sri Lankan Army veteran, Buddhist, and avid cyclist who started racing in his early teens. His home was filled with cycling medals and photos, including a black and white portrait of him as a young champion. He graciously served us tea, bananas and mango in his beautiful home, which doubles as his wife’s medical clinic. We said goodbye and reflected up the camaraderie of cyclists and how bike touring has a remarkable ability to open doors.

Rolling into Colombo, we were surprised by the amount of construction, largely financed with money from China and the Gulf. But most amazing was the well preserved historic core of the city, with ornate and gracious buildings.

One last push into Negombo, through the bustling fish market, brought us back to our starting point, complete with celebratory passion fruit and avocado smoothies.

One final note: Along the way, we have shared the roads with inumerable tuk tuk and their generally very friendly drivers. A feature of tuk tuks we particularly enjoyed was the near universal use of bumperstickers, which tend towards the  (sometimes puzzlingly) philosophical. We share some of our favorites below.