2 Days - 600kms.!!! I'm a randonneur....!!

There has been always a group to deny your capabilities and family turns out to be a part of the clan - constructive criticism. After a long hustle at home for a certificate of approval I finally clicked on "Register" for the gruelling Brevet 600K run on April 15th. After contemplating which bag to carry and what things to pack I was almost packed by night of 14th. Though I could've gotten a good 7 hours sleep, I managed to fall into slumber only by about 1AM. at 4 AM the alarm goes off and I wake up all excited. My first long ride on my road bike bought 2 weeks ago. With earphones plugged in and Maroon 5 - She will be loved playing I started my 600km journey that would put my body mind and soul to the ultimate test. The first one to reach CCD at MG road and I just waited for the rest of the Breveters to arrive. Next was Sreekandh from the organizing group met him and got the thought of being rejected for the ride.  With a heavy heart i waited. This is encouraged only for the members who have completed the other qualifiers liek 100'200/300 and 400. I probably was the first one in the group to attempt the straight away.at about 5:30 the other members attempting the brevet filled out the Brevet card and were almost ready, I went up to Rohan Kini to confirm my position in the ride and finally got the green signal. I also understood that there are many who try but fail to complete due to mechanical issues or physical fitness. The only long ride i've been is the blr-mys. After filling up the the Brevet card there was a "feasibility" check to verify that I had headlights + taillights safety vest. Since this is a self supported ride all the accessories had to be carried by the rider. After a pre-ride briefing, I set off with the second batch of guys about  6-8. headed towards domlur and then a right to the inner ring road. Just before sukh sagar I got my first shock, Saw a rider whose Trek road bike had a flat tyre. This gave me jitters but I was all the more excited after pedaling for a few more kms as it is a part of being a randonneur. I had only known "Break fix" in theory i guess it was time to gets a hands on experience.

Following is what the route planned with the Check points which were to be reached within a particular time frame.

 I did have company till electronic city then it was pedal to the metal and I headed straight to the first checkpoint. Almost all the riders did stop before Krishnagiri at some point for breakfast but I skipped and reached the 145th km for breakfast at Mufasaa's just after Vaniyambadi toll booth. Reached by about 10AM and relaxed for a while and collected the bill for proof of time @ first time station. Next stop it was the uturn point at 302.5th km at Suguvarchatram. But this time I got two friends for company, Opendro and Harisha. As we maintained a good pace of 25kmph, the chatting and long conversations kept mind off the tarmac and the dreaded slopes in the hot sun. Soon we reached Vellore and it started drizzling, It was a surprise drizzle. As the sun set for the day, the ride just got better. Switched on the taillamps and headlights (headlights were hardly of any use). Opendro had the best headlight Sunfire 900lumen with 18650 batteries.  The cool breeze did give me more energy and one more rider (Shreyas) joined us to we tried to maintain a paceline and it did work to some extent. A few kms before the Uturn  point we halted for dinner. We sat in AC refreshed ourselves and feasted on curd rice. Shreyas by this time had crashed on the sofa and the hotel was almost about to close. So woke up shreyas, back on saddle we left to visit the ATM (rendezvous point) where we were to swipe our card and get the receipt as proof. After taking the receipt we left the station and now headed back to time station 3 which was again 150 kms away ( Mufasaa). After we  travelled about 50 kms we reached vellore and decided to catch a nap for about 2 hours. Shresyas already fell back and he would complete the ride maybe later. His dreary eyes didn't feel confident enough to ride thru the night. Found a string of shops which were closed at Vellore. We locked the bikes and I managed sleep for 2 hours. I woke up and we left vellore at about 3AM. From here it was a nice power through session as Harisha led the convoy, Opendro and I would try to keep up as close as possible. The bad luck was Harisha encountered two flats. One flat on the way to the U-turn point and another flat on the way back to Mufasaa. I had two spare tubes and gave one to Harisha. Since Harisha was maintaining a slow pace Opendro and I sped ahead and there was a gap of a few kms. Then Harisha calls up Opendro to wait, so we took a short break. After regaining energy Harisha sped ahead and reached Mufasaa early. Opendro and I maintained constant pace and reached Mufasaa in the morning 8. Time to give enough time for the muscles to relax and regain the energy. Killer climbs await krishnagiri-hosur. Took the first climb pretty good in the second gear. Top speed acheived was 58.6kmph. Stopped at A2B for sambar rice. Then sambar power is what got me back to bangalore. By the time we reached the CCD @ MG road it was 6:30 in the evening. What a relief it was to look at the Coffee Day. Cheers and a hearty welcome by the Brevet organizing team was rejuvenating. Time to handover the Brevet card and the Time station receipts to the organizer to mark the sucessful completion of the ride.

Route Statistics :

Elevation Gain: 1,925 m
Elevation Loss: 1,928 m
Min Elevation: 60 m
Max Elevation: 930 m

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