Just another page from cyclist's diary - After dark sufferfest !!!

As the whole world slips into a slumber I get a chance to enjoy the uncanny peace with no motorbikes or cars or auto-rickshaws which are bothersome otherwise. The plans are made all of a sudden and all I can do is nod in agreement whenever I get a chance to hop on the saddle. As it is customary for the Cleated WArriors to ride out every weekend for a workout, this time only two of us had the chance to ride together (Opendro and I). Why? We were starting our ride in the evening. With the ride pre-checks complete I then headed out to meet Opendro at Jayadeva and he was there on time and I had to take a detour to avoid a couple of signals and ended up riding an extra mile. I almost always love the night rides even inspite of the extra risk factor. The primary reason is that the elevations can't be seen so one just keeps pushing. There is so much difference when the same route is tried during daytime when one can see the undulating highway and it is certainly a mind over matter situation. In no time we were at silk board darting in and out of traffic like an excited squirrel seeing peanuts.


18:49 hrs - Start from silkboard and maintained a steady pace till bommanahalli from where we switched from service lane to the highway. As we neared the next signal at kudlu gate  the signal was still green but we could see people and two wheelers crossing ( just like it always has been and no respect for signals) we switched on the strobe on the ultrafire's. Magic Magic..!! Every one stopped on their tracks and only realized that the lights were of cyclists and not a silent ambulance. This repeated on the next couple of signals and finally we were out in the open as we neared the end of the E-city elevated tollway. We started riding at a steady pace of about 35-40kph and reached the Bangalore tollway. It was surprising how with the help of a companion you end up pushing harder. 


19:34 :: 45 mins to reach from Silkboard. I was happy with the time as I normally take about 5 mins longer. There are some nice downhills where one can maintain 45+ without drafting and increase the average. I didn't push too hard as we also had a return leg and I don't prefer taking the bus or any other means to get back to Bangalore. We took the Hosur flyover could see the bustling traffic beneath with the typical melodious horns from TN(tamil nadu) buses. The terrain was mostly downhill and we enjoyed maintaining decent speeds and after we had covered 55kms we could see McDonalds and I thought we had arrived but then we still had a few more kms to go and I saw a board that mentioned 27kms to Krishnagiri. As always, the comparison was the distance to my office which was just a km longer. I thought we are so close to Krishnagiri.


20:41:: We reached A2B and could see the KPN and sharma buses stop for dinner. Curious onlookers but luckily didn't have to put up with the questions (how what when where why). With opendro sponsoring the refreshments, I managed to refill the gatorade for the return trip. The start of return ride was slow but then we picked up pace and chatting most of the way back. The first mini milestone for us was Hosur and then Karnataka Tollbooth. Both were reached without much drama. As we stopped at the toolbooth for some pics and a break to keep the glutes happy, Opendro updated Facebook about the workout and we ended up laughing. The comments were most awaited since this was the first workout at dusk that extends thru midnight. After we crossed the KA toolbooth it was all familiar territory and at one point Opendro did wonder how many more kms to go before we see the E-city elevated expressway. I gave him the exact landmarks to look out for rather than the kms as it was a familiar territory for my practice runs.


23:30 :: Back to silkboard and headed towards Jayadeva. We bid adieu as we parted ways and I just had over a km to reach home and so did Opendro. All in all a good fun run. 


Meagre pics owing to poor light conditions ::

At A2B (Adyar Anand Bhavan)  the u-turn point !!

Pretty good for a camera phone at poor light conditions.

 A short break for the Glutes...

 

 Opendro busy updaing Facebook.

 

 At the KA tollbooth on the return trip

Brevet 300 - "Test" ride on Mars -- FREE!!!

To pen down the experience, mind had to be stable for thoughts to pour in. However the body and mind were in not happy to co-ordinate for the job. So here goes my experience the Brevet 300 eight days later.


The pre-tour excitement - This always looms hours or even days before the start. So much so that I was just back from a trip to Goa the day before (1400kms drive and 164kms of cycling). There was hardly any participation from Team Cleated Warriors. Kiran (tusker) was probably the only one who would have represented. Since I had returned to bangalore only a day in advance I gave it a shot and tried to contact the organizer to fancy my chances of riding, though the registrations had closed by 14th Dec 2011. I did the next best thing, put it up on Facebook. Kiran had registered but not confirmed his ride. Once my participation was confirmed, we then decided the spares to carry for the 20hour ride.

The Judgement Day - The start/control point was MG road Metro station. Opens at 6 and closes by 7am. I delayed my start as I was to wait for Kiran who was supposed to have been there by 6:30. Sometimes I'd be the late lateef delaying by 5-10 mins however Kiran beat me to that part by reaching the start point just 10 minutes before the close of the first control. Opendro was there to give us company till KR puram and from then on it was just Kiran and I the last two to leave the start point. I had read the draft and cuesheet once and didn't remember the  "road status update". It was almost a race against time to reach the next control which was at Malur. Since we started only by about 7 we had just 1 hr 50 minutes to reach the first control at Malur and get the receipt from the ATM. As soon as we turned off the NH-4 right towards Malur we entered an unknown territory and the mystery would only unfold after the first control. Road conditions were just like an SH should be. Headwinds soon proved to test our patience but braving the winds soon enough we were at the control where we overshot the target by about 100 mts. Traced back and got the receipt a good 20 mins ahead. What happened next could be quoted as "terrible surprise". We knew from the cue sheet handed to us at the start that some stretches were 'bad'. Soon we were in an MTB terrain.

Flashback >> Reminded me of the NH-7 (former number NH7 but now known as NH44 due to the new naming convention) 2 years ago when the stretch between dharmapuri all the way to trichy was battered. One had to be on this toes to take the smoothest line. I loved it in a way as my passion towards driving was at its peak. But it took its toll on the body and mind as one didn't have much of a relaxed drive. With the NH 44 now in place it reminded me of the movie CARS (route 66) where the NH bypasses towns and it becomes just another highway. Drive through the towns/villages, amongst the backdrop of paddy fields and mango plantations, all of these would be missed. As it is said "Kuch paane ke liye kuch khona padta hai". (Translated >> To gain something, something else has to be lost).

Fast forward >> Anyway back to the roadie world there aint' much of greenery to look around but an almost barren landscape and a constant struggle in the mind to find just that 2 Square cms of rubber to stay flat and not run over gravel also giving way to the speeding maniacal local 'private bus' drivers. Glad that there aren't any volvos plying this route else a cyclist would get a chance to draft even if he didn't intend to do so and get severely 'dust tanned' ;-). Kiran and I maintained a steady pace of just over 20kph. Expectations were high as the eye kept a lookout for a smooth patch but the never ending battered roads continued for about 70kms. Usually I capture pics without informing or requesting for a pose, so it looks natural. However,with this trip the photograpic section of my brain was reserved to cater to the getting the bike through the bad roads. About 20 kms before venkatagiri kota, here on mentioned as v.kota there were almost a 7in layer of hay/some dried crop for vehicles to run over which was ok for us cyclists as there was just enough space to squeeze by. However looked like some KSRTC Sarige buses  6 of them, didn't show any signs of slowing down and just sped past at ~80 and the tiny particles were stirred up looking like a mini tornado. Thanks to Decathlon's Btwin goggles eyes  stayed safe bu the rest of the body was covered in the hay dust. A few kilometers before V.kota, a few local school boys joined us and mentioned that the roads from v.kota are good. They had the usual set of questions,

Raceaa ??
Yellinda ?? (Where from??)
Yellige?? (Where to??)

These boys kept us company till a km before v.kota and then took the interior roads via the paddy/millet fields. I was skeptical about the 'good' roads from v.kota as the boys talked about earlier. Soon we cross the town and the roads got a lot more smoother and definitely roadbikeable. All that 70km sufferfest paid off as we took the uphills and soon enough the ghats. Complete downhill and whattay fun!! Got some time to cover miles on the makhkhan road without pedaling. As the greadient got sharper we hit the hairpin bends and found someone with a fomas who was busy fixing a flat.

 

 

Spent a good 20 minutes by lending the topeak pump and we parted ways. Kiran's idea to finish by 12 looked doable. We reached pernampattu and took receipts again and started for Vaniyambadi. This turned out to be the best stretch on the route so far. Both sides lined with coconut trees. There was no speeding as I wanted this to be a relaxed ride. We reached vaniyambadi and soon joined the Blr-Chennai NH48. Next stop Tollbooth which was 6 kms from the turnoff.

Mufasa's diner at vaniyambadi tollbooth >> Thought of ordering a parota but then settled for curd rice which was very good. Then a butter milk that served like a coolant. More cyclists poured in as we were prepared to start for Krishnagiri. I for one, like to set short term milestones which keeps me motivated rather than drooling over the total kms to cover. There's a small party that kicks off in my head with every milestone reached. Met Chidu who was in top gear and raced ahead to reach by about 10. Speed wasn't my concern and soon for the trip to bangalore we had Rajanikanth puttabudhdhi for company who was on his TREK with a fascinating color. Here's his bike. 

The Fancy Trek 3700

It looked like bike straight out of a paintbook from a 5 yr old which begged to differ. A salute to the guys who attempt the Brevet on an MTB. We had a nice chatty ride till krishnagiri (50kms). Having company certainly helps as most of the miles just vanishes with the pep talk. Stopped at Vasavi bhavan at krishnagiri and had a mango drink. Kiran initially had trouble with the dealextreme lights which got fixed and we maintained 15kph at the ascent by Shoolagiri. Overtaking trucks at that speed was fun. All three of us stopped at the Bangalore toll plaza for a coffee/tea break and it did prove to be a refresher. Buns n Tea provided the energy required to propel us to the finish line. It was a sleazy and uneventful ride all the way to silkboard from there. Every Brevet that I've participated, at some point in the journey, this question surfaces Why am I doing this ?? Riding a motorbike within a city for about 60 km in itself was a big deal and now on a bicycle I cover hundreds. The most simplest answer  ....

I'm free when I'm on my roadbike...!!!

 

Vasavi Bhavan @ Krishnagiri...