Saddle Sore Ride -- Nandi Hills (140kms round trip)

One heck of a week it has been with all work. Couldn't manage to sleep last night as I had been thinking about nandi hills.. the route conditions.. whether my hawk could manage it and all the repair kits that were needed. Ajay and I were the riders. We agreed to meet at Krishna Rao park and headed towards KR Market Avenue road and straight to Windsor manor ...all the way till just a few kms beyond new airport to turn left to Nandi hills. In true 127 hours style Aron Ralston style I switched on music, headlight, tailight and a hankey to cover my nose and mouth.(air filter) The excellent roads were like a cherry to an ice-cream. Stopped on NH-4 to capture some pics. Hardly any stops were made till the base. I was quite confident that the climbs could be taken with stride... A huge blow to confidence when I made the first stop within 10 mins of start of ascent. Someone from Bikezone forums had completed the nandi ride from base to hilltop in under 30 mins..I wanted to finish by 40 but was able to manage by 1hr as I HAD to stop many times gasping for breath. The hairpin bends were full of scrapes on the tarmac indicating some serious stunts by bikers. When we neared the last hairpin bend I did manage to catch a glimpse of a watch tower/doom  which marked the entry to Nandi Hills. A couple of delicacies to the eye were 3 bullets modified as chopper with high profile wide slick tyres with loud exhausts. And 3 Intruders which had awesome exhausts cruising one after another. also saw 2 R1's with REPSOL decals. A foreigner joined the Nandi ride from the base of the hill. He unloaded a lovely bike the innova which looked like merida. And soon left us behind. While we were about 2 kms to the summit he was descending at quite a good speed. This sight just added more namak to thoughts.... I am already in a dilemma whether to opt for a BTsport 1 or Trek. The competition was beaten to the bushes by just looking at black beauty. Hmm couldn't tell you how much road bikes inspire me. There were a few more foreigners who were preparing for an offroad journey but I couldn't spot a trail. Maybe the local guide knows about it. An exhilaration ... celebration with two sweet tender coconuts and our batteries recharged we were ready to descend.. You might be wondering at this point. what ?? you guys didn't enter nandi hills or visit the view points inside?

NOPE .. Absolutely not. This was all a test of strength stamina and endurance. I'm quite happy with both our performances. Maybe if i had to leave head faster I'd have shaved off a few minutes from the 1 hour for the climb but I'd be twice as tired and dehydrated. Anyway,  we did start our journey by about 10AM and I had to be very careful as a few strings from the rear brake cable had cracked at the start of the journey. I totaly relied on the front brakes and the moment i see a curve ahead the braking started. But Ajay zoomed way ahead of me and reach a lot faster than I and waited at the base for a quick dose of refreshment. Thought about the return miles that lay ahead and we had to kill this thought as it was getting our morale down and making us think about our saddle sores. Solution :: Listen to music. This seemed to work great till we hit the NH-7 back again when the heat started to take a toll so the number of stops increased and so did the the tender coconuts..!! I saw a lady on a on a road bike which looked like a fomas road king but it wasn't. Damn.. didn't capture the name yet again. Anyway she just waved a quick hi and was on her way. As Ajay's beast ever so slowly ate up the miles I slowed down as much  as I could to match up. We were at the Nrupatunga circle by about 1:30. A quick round of thank you's  TA TA's we were parted ways and headed home for a much needed nap for the tired body and adrenaline pumped soul :-)

Odo meter :: 140 kms round trip from Jayanagar 5th block to Nandi hills summit.
Route Taken :: Jayanagar 5th Block >> Basavanagudi >> Avenue road/KR Market >> Windsor Manor >> Mekhri circle >> Yelahanka >> Devanahalli >> Nandi Hills.

Average Speed from Blr - Nandi Hills :: 22kmph
Average speed on return trip :: 20kmph (strong headwinds)
Total time taken 9 hours including all breaks.

Fastest ~58kmph by Ajay's Cannondale F9. ( My hawk @ 50kmph)
Cadence :: Some body help me with this !!!!

Fuel consumed ::
5 Tender coconuts
2 Munch bars
1 Center fresh bar.
~6 lts of water
2 plates of lemon rice
5 Idly ( The super soft idlis were simply superb)
About 5 PSI of air by Ajay's cannondale F9 and 10 PSI by my hawk

Jayanagar-Chikka Tirupati ....Half day warmer(11-Feb-2011)!!!!!!!

The cycle "Fever" had set in and hard to fathom the lengths one can go to fulfill desires. So is my case. After becoming a member at Bikeszone forum, I posted a request for a ride to chikka tirupati and the plan for 25th. No reply for a couple of days. Probably because I had planned the ride on a Friday morning. Anyway, I managed to tighten the nuts n bolts that were loose and checked air and also tested the new BTwin mini hand pump. With another 12 hours to spare I managed to get a PM from Ajay from Bikeszone forums that he'd give me company. Alrightie then, spoke to Ajay and we decided to start by 5:15 in the morning. Woke up by around 4:45 and finished the morning chores and was ready by 5:15. Met Ajay who was waiting at the 5th block bus stand. A quick round of intro and we kicked off the ride at 5:30. Quite a cold morning start and we cycled at a normal pace, chatting most of the way and were averaging about 28kmph as per the GPS on my nokia. As we reached Decathlon the cold air started hurting our fingers but the thin faint light gave us hope that dawn would break the night skies and we'd no longer need the torch that was being used as headlight. The first stop was at the deviation to the left at Sarjapur. A quick stop for banana's and a photoshoot session. After 10 mins we were off to the destination which was 11 kms away. The morning sun over the fields was really a treat for our eyes. Butter smooth roads to add to the beauty of the trip. Another half hour of riding got us to our destination. We relaxed for yet another 15 minutes and started the return leg. Stopped on the way @ Sarjapur for breakfast. 3 Idlis per plate for Rs.15. Weaving in and out of the Silkboard - Jayanagar traffic we reached by 10:00 AM. This I consider another prep ride for the big one ahead. Will be posting about that in the next travelogue. Until then ... ADIOS..!!!

Pre-requisites for the next trip ::

1. Headlight and taillights.
2. Proper high energy foods.
3. Lime juice (Salted).
4. Extra holder for water bottle instead of carrying it in the bag.


Total distance covered ::

Jayanagar - Chikka Tirupathi :: 37.3 kms
Round trip :: 74.6kms
Fuel consumed :: Bananas + Water + Idlis.

Hosur Hawked - My first Century Ride (04-Feb-2011) !!!

Start time :: 5:18 AM
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..