1000KM ride - I got butterflies in my stomach

Does anyone think a truck parked by roadside pose a big problem, that too on a bright day. I was terrified seeing them and cursing them.

Prologue:

Previously I attempted 1000KM ride on 23^rd Jan 2014 that ended in a disaster. On 23^rd Jan 2014, I got up from bed with fever and diarrhea. I had taken some pills for diarrhea and looked things are under control. The ride started at 4pm. I rode almost 60kms when I felt cramps in my stomach and I threw up once or twice. I was frequently sipping water not to get dehydrated along with Gatorade. However I could not last long. Vomitted heavily. The nausea followed with it did not allow me to eat. I slept for 2 hours in the cold. I had to call it off when I reached Sira, when the time was running against me. From this experience I learnt one lesson – Never start a long distance ride when you are sick.

Two days before the start of this brevet, Anup had asked me what was my plan, as we have 75hours to complete 1000KM. I told him that my target is Hubli, 600KM control point which one we supposed to complete in 40Hrs and we will have 35hrs to complete next 400KM where we can relax and ride.

This time around, I did not set too much expectation. As training, I did 200KMs rides in April, May and June. That had kept me fit and helped me to fix all the issues with the bicycle.

From MG Road (0KM) to Chitrdurga control (203KM) (control close time 5:32AM, 20^th June 2014) – Surged Ahead

The ride was planned to start at 4PM on Jun 19^th 2014

I had lunch at 1PM and started from home at 2PM. I rode leisurely. I reached Manipal Center at 3PM. I had one more round of curd rice and coffee at Adigas before heading to start point. I reached Prestige Meridian at MG Road at around 3:10PM which is the start point. Anil Kadsur was already reached. Next Manjula Sridhar reached followed by  other riders Sundar Rajan, Karthik Padmanabhan, Kaviarasu, Anup, Rejin, Sohan, Ganapathy, Silvester, Suman, Chiddu, Arvind Ganesh, Yuvaraj, Ratnaveer, Kiran Kumar N, Ashok T, Opendro, Rajanikanth & Dipankar reached.  Last year’s strong rider Karthikeyan was missing. Karthikeyan, Ashok, Sohan & Karthik P had already completed the 1000KM rides in their previous attempts. Dipankar is a triathlete, who has completed many Ironman events. Though only 16 people were riding this brevet, there were many other riders who came to see us off. It was heartwarming. As soon as Chiddu came, he distributed the Brevet Card and Cuesheets. Anil did a bike check, Manjula stamped the brevet cards & Chiddu signed these cards in quick time. We were all set.

The environment was festive. Smiles all around. Many participants hid their anxiety behind a wide smile including me. The distance was intimidating. I have got butterflies in my stomach in that cool weather too.

The sky was covered with clouds. There was no sign of rain. Just one or 2 drops of rain was felt. Anil Kadsur said every 1000KM rides started with rain and today is an exception.

Sharp 4PM we started the ride. We had to ride from Prestige Meridian towards Chinnaswamy stadium, GPO, Hotel Chalukya, The traffic was navigable. I overtook the group where SundarRajan, Ashok, Yuva, Karthik and Kavi were riding. I could cut through the traffic easily, reached Mekhri Circle, where Silvester who came to see us off stopped and started clicking the snaps. From Mekhri circle we turned left towards Tumkur road. There was a big traffic built up at Mathikere junction and I had to wait 3 to 4 minutes to cross it.

At Goragontepalya signal, Kaviarasu and Kirankumar N crossed the signal and went ahead while Ratnaveer and I got the red signal. While waiting for the Traffic signal to turn green, I asked Rantnaveer about his plan for dinner. He said he was planning to stop at Kamath, Sira. Since I had not planned, I told I too will search somewhere near Sira.

I breezed ahead of Ratnaveer on the elevated flyover and kicked up the pace. On the way I overtook Kiran Kumar and Kavi as well. Around 35KM to 40KM, I overtook Sohan and Ganapathy too. Sohan is like a mentor. He gives a lot of good advices which helped me. I told Sohan that we can meet at some control point while overtaking them. After some distance I found Dipankar and Rajani riding together. I guessed they had stopped to buy water. I went ahead of them, where I joined Anup. Anup is a fast rider. We rode together for about 10 to 15 kms. Then Dipankar and Rajani overtook us. I asked Anup to follow them and I became a solo rider. I rode almost 65 to 70 km and Crossed Tumkur at around 7:30 to 7:45PM. I decided to have dinner at Sira. However on the way I found VRL restaurant at 8:15PM, stopped for dinner and had two plates of Roti curry and tea. 15 minutes later group of riders consisting of Ashok, Sundar Rajan, Kavi, Karthik and Yuva reached VRL. I did not wait for them and took off. After riding 10 to 15kms, I met Anup on the way. He joined me. He said he missed Dipankar and Rajani who went for the dinner at Sira.

The night was cool with pleasant breeze and light traffic. There was not much wind as expected. The roads were laid fresh and smooth. Hiriyur to Chitradurga has lot of climbs, however we cruised smoothly till the first control in Chitradurga and reached around 2:30 AM, which was 3 hours before the control close time.

We decided to go to Bus Stop where small shops are open all through the night. Here we had cream bun, Dil pasand, and cold badam milk. I bought two liter of water as well. The TC tried to shoo us away and asked us to park our bicycles outside the Bus Stop. We managed to ignore him and got on with our job.

Now Karthikeyan too reached. He said he started bit late.

From Chitradurga control (203KM) to Hubli control (410KM) (Control close time 7:20PM, 20^th June 2014) – Fought with wall of wind

Anup and I left Karthikeyan behind and started our ride at 2:55AM. I hastened our ride by warning Anup about the section with heavy winds where we can ride on an average of about 10km per hour. We targeted to reach next control around 5PM. Contrary to the expectation, there were still climbs ahead while riding out of Chitradurga. We both reached near Davangere around 6:30AM. When hunger set in I started drooling for Davanagere Benne Masale dosa and asked Anup to stop wherever we find an eatout. Unfortunately the highway bypasses the town and we stopped at a place to take some rest. Anup offered glucose. We both had glucose and water. I lied down there for 5 to 10 minutes though the grass was wet. Suddenly we saw group of villagers gathered around our bicycles. We decided to leave quickly and rode off. We reached Harihara bypass around 7:00AM. Some villager guided us to an eatout, where we had Idly sambar and tea.

7:40AM (20^th June 2014), we came out and started our ride, where we met Karthikeyan. We asked him whether he had his breakfast, & he said he will have it at Adigas. He looked very tired and was not able to push much harder.

Anup and myself took off again from here. Now the breeze turned into wind. We reached Ranebennur.

The wind was very strong from here onwards. I was afraid that I will fly off along with my bike. It was a cross wind, hitting us from left to right. I was struggling to control my bike and stick to the third lane, though the winds were pushing me to second lane, where trucks zoom.

This is the first time I was riding in such a strong wind, I did not know what was in store for me. I saw a truck parked beside the road. I was relieved that I will be protected by the wind for a while. To my horror, while I was passing by the truck, my bike veered towards truck, I just avoided colliding with it. It was like a magnet effect. It repeated again when I crossed the next truck. So, I decided to ride on the second lane (out of 3 lanes) whenever I saw a parked truck to avoid colliding. Luckily the traffic was very thin, and I could ride on second lane whenever I wanted.

Now my pace had decreased so much so that, I had doubts creeping in my mind if I can make it to next control? I had covered approximately 20km in 2 hours and had to cover 100kms more. Anup was doing much better. He was riding fast for 15 minutes, stopping and waiting for me. He did this for several times. During this period it started drizzling. I did not bother too much as I did not carry any rain gear.

In the meantime we had seen Rajani taking rest at a toll gate and he said he did not get any sleep.

At around 11:30AM, we were again overtaken by Rajani.  Now I told Anup, if you stay with me, we both will have to quit. You go ahead & ride with Rajani. Within no time both of them disappeared.

Around 12PM, I saw them at a small shop which also served tea. I too stopped and had tea, also bought water bottle. I poured some water on me from the jug to cool down.

Anup and Rajani went ahead. As the time passed I rode slowly. My hopes were disappearing fast; I thought to search for lunch. At 1PM I stopped at a small eat out to have lunch. He had only puffed rice and guided me to a dhaba that is one km ahead. I reached slowly to the Dhaba. Ordered Jeera rice. While eating, found Karthikeyan passing through and called him. He too had Jeera rice. He said the wind intensity reduces after Bankapur toll gate and the ride will be smooth from thereafter. This information gave me some hope. I left him there and continued.

While riding ahead at around 2PM it rained heavily for 10 minutes. The wind was so strong, at one place my goggles flew off. I had to run and pick it up from the first lane. I would have lost it, had any vehicle passed at that time.

Around 3PM, it rained heavily again for more than 15 minutes. I was completely drenched. Though I enjoyed the rain thoroughly, I was worried about the sogginess and chafing. I did not carry any extra pair of cloths, to keep me light during the ride.

Even after lunch I could not pick up the pace. Even on downhill hitting 16 to 17KM was an achievement due to winds. Then I saw a Café coffee day board which said it is 6km ahead. Meantime sleep started setting in. After a km or two, I stopped near a bridge and lied down for ten minutes. Initially I thought to skip the coffee day. While riding further I was so tired and I entered coffee day as soon as I found it at around 3:30PM. I washed my face, had a cappuccino and left. Now I started riding little faster and crossed the Bankapur toll gate.  The wind intensity continued to be the same. I rode further 10KM down and the wind had almost turned out to be a breeze. Now I was able to generate good pace. In the meantime, I saw Karthikeyan was sleeping in a sitting position under a streetlight pole.

It started drizzling. I smiled myself thinking of Karthikeyan running for cover when it pours. Within two minutes it rained and in no time Karthikeyan caught me. From there onwards we both rode together till Hubli. We reached Hubli control point at 5:45PM. We got our ATM slips

As this control is next to Bus stop, there are several eateries here. We decided to eat before we leave Hubli and had poori bhaji and coffee, while Karthikeyan had dosa too.

From Hubli control (410KM) to Belgaum control (507KM) (Control close time 1:48AM, 21st June 2014) – Kept up the pace

We left Hubli around 6:15PM with additional one hour in hand. The road that joins from Hubli city center to the Bypass road is completely broken. Riding on it is a pain and you risk getting the flats. We rode slowly on this stretch. Karthikeyan told me if we ride at this pace we may not reach Belgaum. However I did not increase the pace. He repeated it 5 to 6 times. I just smiled. We reached bypass around 7PM. This road is very smooth. We immediately picked up the pace. After half an hour of ride Karthikeyan announced that we have hit the right pace. I was happy. However the challenge was that the road was too much rolling (It is like climb a hill—get down-climb another hill and repeat) and felt some climbs were lasting for almost a kilometer.

We reached the Dharwad toll gate around 7:45PM to 8PM. From here onwards the concrete road starts. These roads are pain for the bum with too much of vibrations. I asked Karthikeyan how far these concrete roads are laid. He broke my heart saying that it is till Belgaum.

We rode fast and furious for 41km and stopped for coffee. Karthik ordered egg burji too. As I do not eat egg I was thinking what to eat. However time was running out and we had to cover 56km more. We had to reach next control by 1:40AM. I told Karthikeyan that I will go ahead, as there are multiple climbs ahead and I left quickly leaving him behind. I rode fast and took break every 30 minutes. Finally I reached the mega climb. Initially it did not look like a big climb, however as I climbed it, I felt it is never getting over. After climbing almost 75% of this climb, I stopped. I felt so weak. As I tried to continue from here, I toppled to my right side. I had locked my shoes on right pedal (cleats), so could not pull out my leg, as the bike was lying on my right leg. Immediately I put my left leg on the other side and lifted the bike, while my right leg was still locked. One truck was slowly climbing the hill & was approaching from behind. I just concentrated to guide him to middle lane. Once he moved to the middle lane, I unlocked the shoes, moved aside to the shoulder of the road and started the ride again.

I rode till the end of the climb and stopped again to eat snickers and drink water. As I was about to leave Karthikeyan reached. He asked me to stop. He was exhausted. I offered him some snickers and biscuits. Later we rode together till the control point. We reached the control point by 1:10AM. Now Karthikeyan wanted to sleep and enquired with Sankam residency for the place. As we wanted to sleep just for 10 to 15minutes we did not get into the lodge. We slept inside Sankam building compound near security post. We asked those guys to wake us up in 10 minutes. They had kept the burning coal in a pan out there to warm up and chase away the mosquitoes. It felt nice to sit around it as it was cold out there. I just lied down for 10 minutes. I did not get any sleep due to biting mosquitoes. The security informed us that few other riders have arrived. I went out and found someone going to the control (ATM) to get the slip. I waited there till those guys returned. Now it was clear that Karthik P and Kavi also made it to the control. We thought now that at least 7 people can finish the ride. When Karthikeyan and I reached the junction, we found Karthik P and Kavi had stopped to get water and they told us that the mini canteen is available. The auto was acting as a mini canteen. We had paav bhaji here and filled our water bottles and left. Here Karthikeyan told us that Anup and Rajani had quit at Belgaum. I was surprised. Kavi and Kathik P told us that Ashok had also quit due to light issue and Sohan had got cramps.

From Belgaum control (507 KM) to Hubli control (604KM) (Control close time 8:21AM, 21st June 2014) – Pleasant moonlight ride

Now we are returning back from Belgaum to Bangalore. We rode at comfortable pace. We stopped at the end of big downhill (this was a big climb while going). We slept here on the ramp of the road.  I had just got the sleep, when Karthik P who reached woke me up and asked me to keep my legs out of shoulder of the road. However now I got up and we started to ride again. Suddenly my light flew off while hitting a bump. I stopped and picked up the light and cells. Fixed it and continued again. Five more minutes of ride, the head portion of the light flew again, while the body of the light was still fixed on the handlebar. Karthikeyan and Kavi helped me to pick up the pieces. Now I realized the lock of the light has chipped away and the light is not holding it properly. I put this light inside the bag and used the backup light. I rode with backup light. The backup light does not have the focus and it is just good enough for riding at 15 to 20km speed. We rode comfortably. The sky was clear and moon was out. Around 4:45am I saw a board which said 5KMs to Kittur, suddenly I realized that we are lagging behind. We had covered only 41kms and yet to cover 56KM in 3 hours. I told this to Karthikeyan and I accelerated. I rode as fast I could. But the backup light was not sufficient, so I thought of a plan and started to ride on the second lane just next to the white line that is fitted with illuminators. Now I concentrated watching this line and rode at around 30km speed, I could hold on.  I was afraid of the rolling terrain near Hubli where I need to spend a lot of time to climb them. I rode nonstop and reached near the toll gate where we had to take a deviation to enter Hubli around 7:35AM. Now I had time of almost 45minutes to cover next 6 to 8KMs over the broken road. I covered almost 4 kms on this broken road, when Karthikeyan overtook me. Within a km, Karthik P and Kavi also overtook me. I rode carefully inside the city to avoid any unexpected incidents and reached the control at 8AM. Karthikeyan, KarthikP and Kavi had already got their slips. Karthik P bought some soan papdi. while Karthikeyan got dry fruit laddus. Those felt heavenly. We sat there for around 30 to 40 minutes.

I was worried about riding the following night with backup light. I had 2 options, buy more cells (AAA) for the backup light or fix the primary light. I thought second option is the best one and decided to search for the stationary shop where I can buy the sellotape. To my surprise the shop got opened in the same building. I bought fat sellotape and fixed the head of the light to its body and put the tape around it.

We found a Darshini in the same building where we had idly vada and left the place around 9AM (21^st June 2014)

From Hubli control (604 KM) to Chitradurga control (812 KM) (Control close time 2:33AM, 22nd June 2014) – Icing on the cake

Now we had almost 34 hours to cover 400KMs. We rode leisurely searching for the Kamath hotel. Karthikeyan told it is available at 10KMs from the city. Though we rode 15kms, we did not find it. We were sleepy and tired a lot. Later one guy told us to ride four more kms to reach Kamath Yathri Nivas. We reached there at 10:30AM.

We dumped our bikes there. I had a lemon soda with sweet and salt which was refreshing and went out to sleep. I slept under a tree for an hour. I told our guys that I will be leaving by 11:30AM as I cannot ride in the cross winds as it needs much of my efforts. However when I got up it was 11:30AM, I had poori bhaji and coffee. I topped it with sugar cane juice. I left the place alone at 12:15PM

Now the sun was out. It was burning out there. I was also feeling sleepy. Good thing was that the tail wind was pushing the bicycle. I could ride at 40kms speed for a while. Now I was little confident of riding through the cross winds (which was acting as a tail wind now), found a nice set of trees adjacent to the road. I stopped at around 12:45PM and slept under thick shadows of the trees. Kept alarm for 15minutes, when I got up it was 1:45PM. The alarm never rang. However I was super happy with the sleep I got here. It was an intense sleep. I got up and started immediately.

Now the kilometers were flying due to the tail wind. Though it drizzled a little in between, I was not wet completely.

I stopped around 4:30PM at a dhaba and ordered Bhendi masala and rotis. Noticed Karthikeyan and Kavi crossing, called them. They too joined for the lunch. Karthik P too joined us after five to ten minutes. We had coffee after the lunch.

Now Karthik P offered Johnson baby powder to apply to any of the affected areas. I used it to the legs and some hurt places. We relaxed here. I was there till 5:45PM. I started ahead of them as I was worried to ride in the night with broken light.

At 7PM I stopped at a place took ten minutes of rest and continued. Unfortunately the road ahead was newly laid without any white lines and wet due to rain.  It made the visibility poor and the bright light of trucks from opposite side made riding very difficult.

Every half an hour my light was switching off and the head part was getting detached. I kept fixing it and rode. Meanwhile I started getting the hallucinations. Small trees looked like elephants, roads looked curving. It was increasingly difficult to decide where to ride. I stopped at a dhaba for a tea at 10PM to shake off my sleep and rode further and reached a toll gate at 11:25PM. I had dinner at a dhabha few meters before the toll gate. I started again from here at 11:45PM.

When I was almost 15KMs from Chitradurga control, Karthik P overtook me. He told Karthikeyan and Kavi are ahead of us. By now it was 1AM (22^nd June 2014). Karthik told it will take 40 minutes to cover next 13 kms. Near Chitradurga the headwinds made its appearance again. Though it was downhill, we were unable to accelerate. We stopped at a junction which appeared to the exit to the town. However I told Karthik P that it appears to be different exit as it doesn’t have the arch. We continued further and within two minutes we found the correct exit with arch. Karthik P rode fast and disappeared. However I was vary of humps and potholes, rode slowly inside the city. I reached the control at 1:55AM. I got the slip from the ATM.

I found Karthikeyan, Kavi and KarthikP were relaxing next to ATM on the opposite side. I too joined them. I removed the shoes, sox, gloves etc. I had deep impression under my feet due to sogginess and it was paining like hell. I got the Johnson baby powder from Karthik and applied liberally on my legs and under feet to dry them off. We tried to sleep next to ATM. However I did not get sleep and was shivering. Even at that night lot of buses were plying. The breeze and wind generated by them bringing the chillness and the burning of fat from body due to so much riding made the chilling even worse.

From Chitrdurga control (804KM) to CCD, Hesaraghatta (control close time 7:00PM, 22nd June 2014) – Fly with winds

At 2:45AM, while both Karthik’s were sleeping, I told Kavi that I will search for another place to sleep, as I was wasting time here trying to get sleep. I got up and continued. After riding five minutes down the road, I found a place, which was covered from three sides and a road hump in front of it. I decided it is the best place to sleep. I slept there for an hour. I got up by 3:40AM and rode off. As I crossed the underpass, I found a tea shop and had two cups of tea to warm up my body. I slowly joined the main road and started riding briskly. I found two guys waving from opposite side and guessed they are on 400KM ride. After a while I was joined by Rishav, We chatted and rode till the toll booth which is almost 25km from Chitradurga. Rishav was riding 600KMs. We stopped for coffee at the toll gate. I asked Rishav to go ahead as he had to enter Hiriyur for the control, while I did not had anymore controls except the last one. As I was about to leave, Sanjay and Anantha reached there. They too were doing 600KM ride. We left the place immediately, while Sanjay and Anantha rode ahead, I rode comfortably. I stopped just five kms before Hiriyur around 5:30AM and had one packet of biscuits as a preparation for the Sira climbs. Now I thanked god as I need not ride further in the dark and the light survived from 11PM to 5:30AM without creating any troubles. I rode ahead and at 6:10AM again I met Anantha and Sanjay who came out from Hiriyur and joined the highway. At 6:15Am I stopped at a place and had a powernap for 15minutes. From there onwards I rode continuously till Kamath at Sira. Though Sira has long climbs, I did not feel it this time, as I had already experienced much tougher climbs and winds. At 8:30am I was at Kamath. Sanjay and Anantha were having their breakfast. Rishav and Venkat left early as they had some targets to complete. I had Idly, vada and coffee there. I filled my water bottles. I met Sandeep when I came out. He was doing 400KMs. Spoke to him and left the place. There were a lot of small climbs from Sira to Tumkur. This can be done easily if the weather is cloudy. Unfortunately, the sun was blazing . While climbing the one big incline, a group of bullet riders (more than 25) went past. The thumps of those bullets filled the air for a while. These thumps increased the adrenaline & helped us to divert the concentration from the incline and I reached the top of the climb easily.

Unfortunately the hallucinations were back again. I also rode in trance state for long suddenly to realize where am I?. In such state too I maintained the bike on just out of the whiteline of the shoulder. I tried to sing or talk aloud myself to keep awake. I started to search for a place with shade.

When it was just five kms to Tumkur, I found a place where truck was stopped under the tree. I stopped here and took 10 minutes powernap. I bought a water bottle and continued. I rode 10 to 15 minutes and found Anantha lying on the side of the road. I stopped there and had tender coconut with him. We rode together for a while and Anantha went ahead. It was sunny and I was drained, and feeling sleepy. I stopped at two to three kms before the toll gate and had two cups of ice creams. This was preparation for the climbs ahead.

Meanwhile Puneeth Rao joined me in the ride. While we were talking, Ashok rode with bunch of riders. I was so exhausted that I barely noticed who were with him. They flew off happily. Even Puneeth joined them.

Later I rode down further & crossed the toll gate. After a while I found coffee day which was opposite side and stopped at around 1:15PM.  I crossed the rode to go to coffee day. I washed face and had cappuccino under the cool AC. I relaxed for 15 to 20 minutes. While I crossed the road again, I found Mohan, who was riding for 300KM. I took off quickly and climbed the big flyover. Two lanes on the flyover were blocked for almost 50 meters at the top of it and only one lane was available for the traffic. I had to ride very hard on that single lane to give way to the speeding vehicle.

The strange behavior I noticed in Tumkur’s youth is that they consider us aliens and they get the happiness in screaming whenever they see us. Some folks even try the bike stunts in front of us to impress us. Also they ride so close to us and if we lose concentration, we will definitely fall. As I had several such experiences, I rode coolly. Those guys completely get it wrong whom they are impressing J

The jackfruits sellers tempt me a lot here. The jenu halasu (Honey Jackfruit) is mouth watering and were lined up for sales. As I did not want to alter the equations, I just dropped the idea of eating them and told myself that I will return here to pickup few jack fruits later.

I accelerated from there, now the tail wind assisting me, I was almost flying. I stopped near the toll gate before Nelamangala at around 2:40PM. From here I flew off again. Usually visible climbs were nowhere to be seen. I reached the final control at 3:26PM.  When I got the ATM slip, I found Mohan too searching for the ATM. I trudged slowly from there to the CCD which was further one km down and where we had to submit our cards. A lot of riders were there at CCD. Chiddu was sitting inside. I submitted the brevet card with all ATM slips and relaxed. While I waited for Karthikeyan, Karthik P and Kavi, I had cucumber lemon juice which was awesome. I had some mosambi juice with salt to replenish the salts. Around 5:30, Karthikeyan, KarhikP and Kavi too arrived. The environment was electric. Many riders from different places were too taken part in this master brevet. I met people whose names I heard through cycling groups. Meantime Chiddu announced that Dipankar will be reaching in ten minutes. He had completed the 1000km ride in 54hours. I decided to have some bite and had a masala dosa in a nearby eatout. Dipankar had reached while I was back. I met him too. Around 6:30PM -6:45PM, I decided to leave the place. I did not want to ride with the broken light in Bangalore traffic and hence put my bicycle in an auto and reached home by 7:30PM.

Though my body was tired, mind was very happy with the accomplishment. I had hot water bath to heal the pain. Wife had prepared hot rice & awesome rasam which felt heavenly after three days of uncontrolled eating. I ate curds too before resting for the day.

Luckily except little energy loss, little numbness in palms and uncomfortable to sit, I was perfectly alright and I could go to office from next day onwards as usual.

It was very well organized event by Chiddu and volunteers. The support we got from our biker friends was awesome.

Last but not least, my plan worked perfectly. I did not rest for two nights, except for small powernaps. The better control over sleep helped me here. I relaxed only after I completed 600KMs. Though it is hard to break partnership while riding together, I took decision twice to break it, which turned out to be right decision at right time. That helped me to reach the control on time. I do not have the pace like other riders and I cannot accelerate for long distances. I just keep the steady pace and ride long. There are many strong riders who are capable of doing these distances with proper planning. Hope we will see many more finishers in coming days.

Cycling - Tristate 600KM - Feb 22nd & 23rd

When the Tristate 600KM brevet registrations announced by IISc Randonneurs, I did it immediately. The registration is online and brilliant brains of Bangalore Brevets team made it easy.

The details can be found here:
https://sites.google.com/site/iiscrando/2014-season/feb-2014-tristate-600-brm

After riding many brevets, now riding it becomes a casual affair. I did not bother too much to prepare anything till Friday evening. However basic checks are must and did it. Adjusted the air pressure of the tires, recharged the cells, and fixed the handle bar bag & saddle bag. Ensured that the bike is in good condition. 

Wanted to catch up good amount of sleep, went to bed early. Unfortunately when I got a break in my sleep, it was 2am, and didn’t get sleep anymore, rolled over till 4am. Got up at 4am, had oats, coffee & banana. Watched some TV serial to kill the time.

Started from home around 6am, rode leisurely to the start point which is just 6km from my home. 

Vijay was there at start point with 2 other riders. Slowly other riders started pouring in. Got the brevet card and cuesheet, had a look at the control points. Suddenly noticed a change in the control point. When asked, Vijay told us that the Mulbagal route is too dangerous due to heavy traffic and it has been changed through Punganur.  

Kalpesh gave us the waiver form and started shouting - "First control is Photo Control". Checked the cuesheet for any other changes. Started the ride at sharp 7am. All riders started off briskly, however I was riding watchfully as I have still not got used to riding with cleats within city area. Arun from Cochin was following me as he wasn’t much familiar with Bangalore roads. I guided him till Merida circle from where I accelerated. 

Rode nonstop till Kanakapura, that is 62km where I stopped for breakfast at Udupi Sagar. The guy on the counter was very courteous and quickly served idly vada sambar & coffee. Took off from there with renewed energy, overtook 4 to 5 riders including Yuvaraj & Silvester. Jetriders group (Ashok, Sohan, Sunil, Vignesh, Sourav, Abhilash, Rafi) were nowhere in the scene. While I was about to reach Sathanur, they were returning. Reached first control Sathanur at around 10:25AM. Took the snaps. Meanwhile Yuvaraj and Silvester reached. I asked them to help each other, had tender coconut and returned. Found jetriders having breakfast at Kanakapur. Sunil called me. I continued without stopping as I wanted to finish the Jigani climb as early as possible. It is also true that I cannot match their pace. 

Reached Harohalli. While buying bananas, jetriders overtook me and vanished. This time sun was blazing during the Harohalli - Jigani climb. I took it easy. After few climbs found Abhilash & Rafi taking rest in a small shop. Abhilash called me & I too stopped to buy cold water. Then Sohan joined us. I left them behind and continued, telling them that they can catch me anytime.  

Meanwhile my bike started giving trouble. All the way from Kanakapura till Jigani climb, the chain was slipping frequently. I was worried if I can finish this ride.

This is when it happened. I pedaled hard on a flat surface to cover next steep climb as much as possible.. The speed dropped drastically while climbing; as usual I shifted to the lower gear. However the chain did not shift and I was unable to pedal. Since I was cleated, I thought I may fall. Somehow I managed to keep the bike in motion by resorting to half pedaling. In the process I could uncleat and miraculously escaped from the imminent fall.

Crossed the Jigani area and entered Anekal road, found a Darshini and had lunch. Found Sohan vanishing within seconds. The lunch was not good, could eat only half. I reached Attibele control point around 4:15PM. I had cups of icecream to cool down.  Next stretch is Athibele to Krishnagiri, one that I love the most, due to downhill. Hit the highway very hard. Now I was feeling sleepy. Though I had decided next stop is Vaniyambadi, I started searching for tea shop. 

Stopped at a tea shop. The shop owner was not very responsive; he was dealing with another customer and not even bothered to prepare the tea, even after asking him several times. I was not interested to argue and immediately took off without having tea. 

Entered Krishnagiri around 7:15PM, found Saravan Bhavan, had idly and tea. Tea was fantastic. Left Krishnagiri around 7:30 to 7:45PM towards Vaniyambadi. Somewhere in between Abhilash and Rafi overtook me. I told Abhilash that I will be stopping at Mufasa's for dinner. He too was planning the same. I told them to ride ahead. Pedaled as hard as possible, still could not match them. Reached Vaniyambadi toll gate at 10PM and went straight to Mufasas. All jetriders had finished their dinner and about to leave. Sohan adviced me what to eat - rice, sambar, paratha, curd and kulfi. Abhilash & Rafi were having their dinner. Finished dinner & topped it with an awesome tea. Dinner was very good. Filled my bottles here. Abhilash and Rafi went ahead. Left the place at 11PM. 

As I over ate, I started riding with comfortable pace and did not want to rush. Got into rhythm after few kilometers. The night was cool and calm. The half moon was out now and was pale. After riding some 20 more kms, I found that I was unable to shift the front gears. I thought I was riding on the 2nd gear and rode almost 10kms and stopped at a petrol bunk with bright sodium light. Found that I was riding with 1-7 combination’ almost cross chaining. Rotated the pedals by keeping the bicycle on its stand & adjusted the derailleur, which  fixed the issue.  I never faced the problem again. Next I stopped at Pallikonda toll gate and found the cue sheet is missing. Meanwhile Abhilash and Rafi too reached. From there I rode with them till the next control. When we reached Katpadi control around 3AM, all those jet riders were returning.  

We quickly got the ATM slips and tried to catch them up. Suddenly Abhilash and Rafi disappeared and I rode alone. I decided to take a break at CCD (Cafe Coffee Day) near Pallikonda toll gate. On the way I saw Abhilash, Rafi and other 2 riders checking something. As I was riding on the service road, I waved at them and continued. Then from nowhere Ashok appeared and disappeared, while passing he said he will be there at CCD. I reached CCD around 3:45AM, tried to find out best place to sleep. Slouched on a chair. Felt uncomfortable. Told Ashok that I will take 10 minutes powernap on the parapet outside. Stretched and slept flat on my back. When I got up it was 4:35AM. It was really a powerful nap, which helped me throughout next day. Went inside and ordered for spinach/corn sandwich and cappuccino. The sandwich wasn't great. Enjoyed the coffee. By this time Ashok, Sohan, Sunil & Rafi were awake and ordered some food.

At 5AM, I told Ashok that I am going ahead & started my ride alone expecting others would overtake me anytime. Reached Gudiyattam and at the fork found the road was dug up towards Palamner. I had to walk with my bike for 100 meters. From there rode non-stop 20km. While riding on this stretch I saw a lazy dog on the road, thought he is harmless. I crossed him and rode around 50 meters, suddenly I saw him chasing me silently and he was very close. I got a shock of my life and accelerated till he gave up.  Finally I stopped at a small shop at the start point of Palamner climb. As I was dozing there, I saw Ashok, Vignesh, Sourav, Abhilash & Rafi crossing in a blink of eye. I did not have time to call them. Within a minute Sohan and Sunil reached and joined me for the breakfast. Sohan told us that it is his regular breakfast point whenever he does the tristate brevet. 

I happily paid the bill for all 3 of us. It was just Rs. 36 :-). Sohan told, they have increased the price :-) Meanwhile I took the snap of the cuesheet from Sunil for safer side.

From here onwards I decided to tag along with Sohan & Sunil. Luckily they were riding at a casual pace. It was an awesome experience to ride the Palamner climb. We had completed the climb before the sun was up. The road was smooth and very nice to ride. Here we saw monkeys everywhere, they were harmless, but not afraid. On the way we saw Abhilash & Rafi taking rest. After the climb we glided till Palamner juction. Here we met Ashok, Sourav and Vignesh again. We turned towards Punganur road and stopped  for watermelon break. Shared a mouthwatering sweet watermelon here. This time Ashok, Sourav and Vignesh were gone and we never saw them again. 

The road towards Punganur still had small climbs, but the most troubling part was that the road was very rough. The vibrations from the uneven road was directly passed to the saddle which made sitting on the saddle unbearable. Till then I was riding without any issues, suddenly found the riding is really painful. However I ensured not to lose Sohan and Sunil from my site and always followed them. This road has a lot of trees which was providing the shade on and off that helped us. We reached Punganur around 11:15AM, took the snaps as the ATM did not have the slips. Came out of the town and had Miranda.  Sunil offered us the salted peenuts. Those were yummy and helped from additional Gatorade consumption.

We continued from here, the next target was Srinivaspur, 45KMs away. The sun was out with full strength now and draining us physically and mentally. As we entered from Andhra to Karnataka, found the roads are in bad shape. We stopped at a shop near the border and had cake & buttermilk. The bad stretch of roads is about a km or two. Rode 10 more kms and reached Punganoor cross, where we had tender coconut. We reached Srinivaspur between 1:30 to 1:45PM. The roads were blocked to welcome CM. We had to walk our bike on the wrong side of the road and then rode till market junction. Cops stopped us from going further. We took left and found a small eatery. We had lunch there. 

When we started again the time was around 3PM, the barricades have been taken off, and the roads were clear. Heard the slogan shouting at the nearby venue. We came out of Srinivaspur easily and reached Chintamani around 4PM. Though this place is small, it is too crowded, We crawled & weaved between people and vehicle and stopped for icecream. Here people drive everywhere, crazy. True to its name, one should be chintamani(worried man) here. Relieved to come out from Chintamani. Yeah..No more Chinta..

Riding towards Sidlaghatta was awesome, able to generate good pace. However the evening sun was directly hitting the eyes. I started feeling sleepy due to direct sunlight. I told Sohan that I need a tea at Sidlaghatta which was 14kms away. I planned to stop and wash my face, but I didn't. I did not want to miss the ride with Sohan and Sunil. Once I knew the reason for the sleep, I adjusted my riding posture and helmet (that is without visor) to block sunlight and managed to ride comfortably.  
 We reached Sidlaghatta around 5PM. We wanted to have a quick tea. The fellow took 15 minutes to prepare the colored water. 

Riding towards Chikkaballapur is little risky as a lot of heavy vehicles runs on this 2 lane road. We managed to cover the distance quickly and stopped near wonderful marigold field to take some snaps. The sun was just vanishing, the evening looked beautiful. Started again and reached Chikkaballapur control around 6:10PM. While Sohan and Sunil were talking on the phone I crossed the road to come back to Bangalore, as I take a lot of time due to cleats. 

Riding from Chikkaballapur to Bangalore is different experience. Here the tall and long flyovers act as the climbs. When you are tired riding after 550kms, you feel difficult to ride on them. However group energy always motivates you. With Sohan and Sunil in company I did not feel much of these flyovers. I was tired after riding 20kms. When Sunil told "Let us go to McDonalds", I agreed immediately and  was happy. It is on the other side, took some risk to cross the road. Had aloo tikki, while Sunil and Sohan had coke. Sohan and Sunil crossed the road quickly and vanished. I struggled with cleats, but accelerated once I crossed the road. I rode very hard to catch them, but I could see them a km ahead.  I decided to ride on the service road at the last stretch of airport road, but this was a bad idea. Struggled to ride in between the crazy traffic near Columbia Asia hospital. 

Under the Bhadrappa layout flyover (near Big Bazzar Hebbal), one drunkard jumped to the road, he just brushed me, I swerved and luckily avoided the fall,. While I gave all my energy to ride hard, he gave it to his throat. From there onwards I rode carefully on the half dug new BEL road and reached the control point by 9:13PM. I am not sure what would have my ride time, had I rode alone. Certainly the group energy has helped me a lot. Thanks Sohan and Sunil for your wonderful company. By this ride I have completed my SR (Super Randonneur) for this season. But this is not the end, rides will continue. 

At the end of the ride I lost one and half kgs of weight and increased my appetite. Calorie worries still continues but other way around.