Saturday, July 28, 2012

Idle Musings of a Super Randonneur...!!

Hello to one an all. If you've reached this blog in error and 'your-world' is fueled by petro/diesel heads, then the rest of this trip ain't for you. You might wanna click the 'x' button on the top right corner of this pagebefore you get a sneak-peek into the velo world. 

Statutory Warning :: There may be some velo-jargons in this blog which will be is bound to go over your head so just chill ;-)

Becoming a super randonneur was a persistent entry in the 'to-do-list' and the 8 month itch now satisfied with the latest attempt, the Tri-State 600 Brevet that was held on 28th July 2012. Work life had taken a toll the whole July and managing a meagre 3-4 hr sleep every day!! But should I do this... hmm... maybe not. 'Why the sufferfest?'.. that's what you're thinking but in my head 'Why not ride out than lazing in couch comfortably and watching movies'. Did I want to do this .. Heck yeah..!! Just as any other Brevet, I started out partially organized and never completely ready. Two weekends ago I attempted the Brevet 400 in Chennai (documented here). For those of who don't know what a Brevet is, is just a self supported ride to be completed in a specified time span. For the Brevet 600, 40 hours is the limit. The distance of a ride seems to be indirectly proportional to the number of participants. With about 12 riders registered, we were to start from IISc gymkhana gate. I did invite Pradeep Chandar from chennai whom I met while doing the 400 Brevet. Though I had registered, the final confirmation whether I was riding wasn't available until a day before the ride. Sunday is usually a work day and with that taken care by one of my colleague who agreed to cover on my behalf, I was relieved and confirmed my participation to Pradeep who then started the prep work for driving to Bangalore. A supporting velo family I should say as his parents also came along to offer moral support. Very thankful to Pradeep's father who offered to use the Innova to drive to start point rather than ride till there. My preparations only started at 10 at night and finished by midnight. I had 4 hrs of sleep at my disposal with which I was supposed to manage the rest of the 40hr ride. 

05:00hrs -- This time my funky alarm tone wasn't there as my mobile's (Nokia-X6) camera glass had broken and the headphone socket wasn't working. Thanks to Dhilip from my office who agreed to swap my phone with his 5800 Xpress which is not so different from the X6. Carried MP3 player wasn't at any point during the ride. Yet another reason to complete the 600 -- my Brevet ID number is B-600 :-).  I've got ready in no time and Pradeep soon was waiting. We quickly had curry noodles and protein substitute so we don't ride on empty stomach. Loaded bikes in the dikki of the innova and soon we left for start point. Looked like Pradeep and Driver had a mini tour of the nearly asleep namma-Bengaluru. Thanked the driver and he headed back to the hotel where his parents stayed. Meanwhile we prepped our bikes for the inspection. A must when any part of the ride occurs during the night are, headlight, a red taillight, a helmet and safety vest. We were waiting for Deepak, Rajanikant and Harsha who were traveling to the start point together in Deepak's car. With the bike inspection complete and the brevet card stamped we started to ride. Pradeep and I started with the group as I wasn't too sure of the route for the initial 10kms. In about half hour riding we reached the outskirts of Bangalore, Merida junction and continued to ride at a good pace and confident that Deepak would catch us enroute. Pradeep was happy with the long downhill stretches till the first Control at Sathanur. From Sathanur it was uphill for about 15-20kms till the turnoff to Harohalli-Jigani. As it had been raining intermittently over the last few weeks there was lush greenery all around and some lovely tarmac to complement our rides. Joshua, Vikram and I took the climbs at jigani to reach the hilltop where Deepak, Rajanikant and Harsha were waiting. We finished lunch in about half hour and then headed to Anekal and then to Attibele. This turned out to be a fast paced ride and pace lining worked its magic. After collecting the ATM slips in Attibele, we entered the highway NH-7. From here we had to be extra careful as we had exactly about 1ft shoulder from the passing trucks and buses but it wasn't as busy as I expected. The first stop was at CCD for some coffee and evening snack. A much deserved stop for refueling. This helped in surging through the evening atleast till before Vaniyambadi tollbooth. Then we ended up stopping at a restaurant or more of a dhaba for truckers. The amount of oil in rice (drippin) and the quantity (A heap on a plate) confirmed that it was designed for the hungry truckers :-P. After quite some struggle to finish the plate all of us started for vellore and the target to reach was about 3-4which we did make it on time. As per the velo-gurus prediction the going only would get slower from the halfway point onwards. Velo-Rajani wasn't spared by the wrath of Rajanikant jokes unleashed by Harsha. All had a lighter moment as we stopped for coffee and buns. Sleep deprivation is the single most bummer with such long rides and normally it's caffeine to the rescue. With two climbs on this route the organisers sure must've gotten a fair share of nasty blastings from riders while riding but there has always been a complementing second half as was experienced during the Brevet 300. The first 100km was a test of bones of both the rider and the bike. After the sufferfest one gets to ride through beautiful flat stretch lined with lush green trees. Sublime !!

However, the till Vellore, it was mostly downhill and then it was a steady climb all the way to Bangalore. Deepak started to ride slower and Harsha rode like a rocket with solid boosters strapped to his back. I was shuffling between the two maintaining visual contact and then decided to push Deepak and let him set the pace as I tailed him till Mulbagal. Quite a busy town where Deepak managed to drop his garmin which was promptly picked up by the Hawk-eyed Harsha :-). Deepak and Harsha stopped for Biryani and I just grabbed a bite of veg puffs and a litre of mango juice to propel me till chikaballapur or atleast I thought it would ...!!

Then the sleep deprivation took its toll on me. I was supposed to be the navigator and somehow missed a turn and we headed 4kms in the wrong direction and battled headwinds on the 4-lane highway. I was happy that we were on highway and disgusted at 2 reasons. Firstly the horrid headwinds and secondly Harsha was enlightened somehow and said this didn't look to be right. So we turned back and then found the correct turn towards chikaballapur. Never had I seen Deepak all charged up but also frustrated that we'd lost a precious half hour because of my folly. From this point on Deepak rode like a monster at speeds averaging 30kph on flats battling headwinds. Harsha was struggling with the btwin lycra and found it hard to stay on the saddle. I was able to keep up for about 15kms after which I dropped then Harsha too dropped but Deepak just kept at it. Truly admire his spirit and sheer explosion of energy. Biryani POWER!!!  Never were we so silent on the entire trip except on this stretch until we reached Chikaballapur. I thought the sufferfest was over but the worst was yet to come. The moment we entered the national highway the monster in all of us just woke up for one last endurance sprint and we pedaled real hard. The Average would've been easily over 35kph and some stretches seeing 45+. No-one cared to complain about to horrid traffic as we managed to be a part of the 'road rash' club :-). Soon we caught up with almost all riders. The first one we overtook was Sandeep who seemed calm and composed even after finishing 500+km. We on the other hand were weary tired and panting. Managed to get a breather till we crossed the Devanahalli toll booth and then it was full attack mode again. We overtook Rajanikant (no no not the actor but yet another accomplished rider who is riding this route the second time ... just for fun!!!), who tried to keep up with us and said we still have lots of time My mind went, Nay....!! I'd better keep the engine in full throttle. It was an undramatic ride till Hebbal when we hit traffic and slowed down to get on the ORR. From here the pace was reduced and we rode easily till BEL circle and turned left towards MS Ramaiah college and just about a half km ahead was the finish point. Seeing familiar faces is such a stress buster. Been there Done that !! The joy of achieving a goal is simply indescribable. Now that I'm a Super Randonneur, you might wonder what next? It will be touring mode for the rest of this year. Exploring new territory, meet new people, try different cuisine....With all these thoughts on mind and paper, I sit back at office desk and charting routes for the next adventure.  
Until then ADIOS..!! 

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Saturday, July 14, 2012

Vanakkam-Chennai-Velo-400 !!!

 
A brevet isn’t a child’s play. But it’s not unachievable either. Every Brevet ride demands care and attention to great detail if one doesn’t  want to quit due to the inherent Brevet feature known as ‘bonk’!! With quite a few chapters of experience from earlier rides and precious feedback from my team members CW (Cleated Warriors), it was time to put at-least some of that into action. There comes a time when the mind’s fuse just blows out and gives way for excuses. Suddenly the bar gets raised on one’s innovation levels. The excuses become abundant and one gets spoilt for choices. Sounds like mind over matter? With 14th of July looming around the corner I had to decide if I should travel to Chennai and ride it out in the ‘HOT’ city. After a failed attempt at 1k ride earlier in June, mentally I had decided not to quit at any point. As per the original plan Kiran and I were to attempt this 400. As he was suffering from IBTS, (Hamstring stiffness) it would take longer to recover and if this recurred during this ride then it would spell disaster as we have aimed at completing the Brevet series. Since I had a busy following two weekends, doing the 400 on 14 would give me time to recover as soon as possible and aim at finishing the 600 strong on the 28th. On Friday I decided to start by afternoon as my colleague was a native of Chennai and planned to stay overnight at his residence and start early morning. After a sumptuous dinner, Bhaskaran and I went for a stroll by the Marina Beach which was just a 2 minute walk from his house. This explains why he works from Chennai often. :-)

Bhaskar and his josh machine with a hint of the bike in rear seat !!

4:00 AM :: The usual siren on my X6 is good enough to wake up an entire dorm. Surprisingly, I managed to wake up just before the alarm rang and then managed to snooze it twice only to wake up Bhaskar. Time for morning chores and was ready in about 15 mins. Truly glad that Bhaskar agreed to drop me till the start point in his car else it would have been a 13 kms ride to the start which is no big deal but gives me the precious extra minutes of sleep. 

5:00 AM :: We overshot the target and take a u turn head back about 3-4 kms to take yet another u turn to come back to the BSA showroom which was the start point. With the bike assembled, it was then time to complete the formalities and get the bike inspected by an independent adjudicator or the RTO officer as I would like to call it. There seemed to be a generous number of participants. ~15. 

Sundar sir at Registration Counter @ BSA Showroom 
 

We started riding on the OMR road towards Kelambakkam where the first control (ATM) was located. I don’t know why but I could sense something was not right and this turned out to be that the receipts weren’t working. Took photos with atm as the background and took right to ride via vandalur zoo which then connects to the trichy highway NH45. The route for some part reminded of the Siva’s road mostly good tarmac and some green cover to keep the mind busy. I initially was riding with the BSA showroom owner. Then I switched to ride with the faster group (Partha, Neville, Pradeep) for a while till the first stop or control after which I was planning to ride easy.  At Chengalpet toll all riders re-grouped for a  tender coconut break.  That’s when we realized that Aditya’s bike had a flat. Soon we got a surprise visit by Premgi Amaren who is the comedian in movie Goa. Well known for his quote “EKSI (short hand on facebook), enna koduma sir idhu”. All riders were at ease as he too had stopped for a smoke and a tender coconut break. Most of the riders had a “brown stripe” on their backs as it had been drizzling ever since we started riding the NH-45.   Soon the drizzle stopped but the climate stayed fantabulous. Partha mentioned that he hasn’t rode in such an awesome weather in Chennai in a long time. Soon we stopped for breakfast and proceeded to catch up with folks ahead. Road-bikeable tarmac and some gentle headwinds and cloud cover to ensure a smooth ride. We were able to maintain a steady average of 28kph.  About 50kms before the u-turn point is when I met Pradeep Chander who was chugging along at a slightly higher average. Somehow caught up and the rest of the route till the U-Turn point was pacelining. Surprised at Sundar sir’s fitness levels. We reached Vedantha college where we found Partha and Aditya waiting to get the card stamped. They said they were waiting for about an hour and there was no sign of vehicle. The indica with organizers arrived after the 10 riders made it to the u-turn point. There were some heated arguments they left in a hurry. 

The pitstop at Vedanta college (U-Turn point).
  

All set to ride back..!!
 
 
Never dehydrate, a key factor on such rides..!!

Bandit Gana rides the highway.. :-)
 

While we topped up water and feasted on glucose drinks, bananas chikki’s, the cards were stamped and a short photo session later we started to finish point(start point).  This is my favourite part as the ultrafire’s worked their magic through the night. I was happy to be leading the paceline sometimes speeding and sometimes slowing down. Dropped the lead and had other riders set the pace and I’d follow along. This worked for about 50kms after which we stopped for dinner. Fried rice and curd for me. The complaining factor simply vanishes as one has food for thought more than food as fuel. We reached Acharapakam ATM control by about 10pm and relaxed there for about half hour.  There were a total of 4 riders , Sachin, Pradeep, Ramesh and I. After this break we were able to maintain a higher average ~30 for most of the trip till chengalpet tollbooth and then it was a non-stop ride till the kelambakkam turnoff.  This stretch of 15kms till kelambakkam was supposed to be tricky or dangerous bit. So we rode a lot slower and stopped enroute to ‘empty the tanks’. A few cops had to do their bit with how what and why’s which were answered by Pradeep and with both satisfied we  headed to the ATM control at the kelambakkam junction. Another round of pics to confirm our presence within the control open and close timigs we now were just about 15-20kms to the BSA showroom.  Reached about 4.5 hrs before the finish time and got the much deserved rest. I had a chance of taking the 6am bus to Bangalore but then found that the bus was cancelled as there were only 2 seats booked. So the only option ws to take the 10am or 2 pm bus and no other bus in evening had free seats left. Pradeep was kind enough to invite me to his house to freshen up and get some sleep before departing to bangalore. This was such a big relief. Respite from all the muddy spray from trucks, my legs were covered in a layer of fine sand as if I had just walked out of a beach. In less than half hour I was fast asleep only to be woken up by 11 for breakfast. I had booked the bus tickets for 2pm. This time the luggage ticket was only Rs.100. But from Bangalore it was 200. A sumptuous or should I call it a mammoth lunch settled in to my tummy. Pradeep’s mother had prepared lunch exactly to a cyclist’s nutrition needs. Never felt away from home as the taste of home food still lingers fresh.  The perfect amount of carbs, proteins and fibre content in lunch was enough to keep me happy till I reached home. With the bike loaded in the bus I was all set to return to Bangalore. The Volvo had a flat near the ksrtc authorized stop and the start was delayed by another half hour. It looked like the tyre was retreaded and here’s the damage. 

 The tooshh.. moment.....

How to load a bike in a volvo
  
The Chennai -Belgavi (Belgaum) Gold class volvo


Over the years I've come across a lot of encouraging and discouraging comments about cycling which almost every cyclist is prone to get a dosage. I maintain my firm belief, its the passion that binds man and machine and cycling is no different!!