Start point :: Jayanagar 5th block.
Finish Time :: 8:45
Breaks :: First at BETL lay-bye for a quick photoshoot. Next stop @ Bangalore Toll booth. Both for 5 mins each.
Hosur Hawked - My first Century Ride !!!
The Cycling Bug had bitten me hard... when I say hard real hard and this trip marks the first side effect :-P. I was surprised that my mother nodded along with my plan. As usual the thought of the long ride kept me awake late night and I finally dozed off after setting up everything necessary for the ride. A list of items i took include ::
1. Portable hand pump.
2. A quechcha torch.
3. Puncture repair kit.
4. Extra brake wire.
5. A multi-utility tool from btwin (with torx/allen key and regular bits).
6. Water bottle that came along with the hawk ( 1/2 ltr)
First aid kit ( A little turmeric powder + cotton).
All this in the goodie bag that I got from the cyclothon ride just over a week ago. Set the alarm for 4:00 so I could start by 4:30. Zzzzzz!!!!
Trrrring..!!! My alarm was sounding weird i woke up and then realised that it was my office cab waiting. Informed them it was my week off and looked at the time 3:45AM reset the alarm for 4:15 and due to my head succumbed to the forces of gravity. Alarm went off again and this time it 'was' the alarm tone and woke up, finished the morning chores or .. should i say Early morning chores and was ready by 5:15. Strapped on the new BTwin gloves (nice soft n comfy) and soon i hit the silk board junction. Then it was NH7 all the way. Started cruising on the BETL and just before the toll gate changed my cycle to the main stretch (didn't want to face any condescending questions early morning by the toll gate employees. A smooth ride till old chandapura. Time to reflect on my earlier regular trips to electronics city had made me strong and given enough strength to endure this ride. During the last E-city run I had pain in the right knee but no signs of pain during this trip. Spending some quality time on the bikezone forums did help me a lot. I raised the saddle height after which the ride became more of a pleasure. Got to understand what cadence is all about and better experience at shifting gears at the precise moment so you don't pedal slow stressing thigh and calf muscles or pedal fast n wasting precious energy. Touring is all about utilizing the energy to the optimum levels as distance to cover is more imporant than the time taken. Crossed the bangalore Toll Both after a 5 min break. Little did I realize that the water was Icy Cold.. The first sip and my mind opened up. It was all yellow rickshaw's and tamil hoardings which marked the "Welcome to Tamil Nadu". Plan was to have breakfast at the Hosur Bus Stand but once I reached I didn't feel hungry so I took a quick tour of the newly constructed bus stand (well maintained) and stopped for about 10 mins for another sip. Then off to Bangalore. There were some gradual steep stretches of gradient 5Degrees were to be taken in 3rd or 4th gear. Tried to draft one of the trucks but was able to do so only for about a km. I am not sure whether to call it successful or tiresome. Either I was trying a bit too hard to cope up with the truck getting tired a little to quickly or maybe i was a little too slow on the up slope. Took the BETL tollway again and this time it was mostly down slope to get me in top gear pretty quick. Reached home by 8:45. Marked the completion of the trip by a couple of snaps from my mobile. Enough of the text and let some pics do the talking..
Gr8 beginning. Wishing you all the best in future cycling ride.
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