Satisfaction Guaranteed - Bliss in Hills

A few FAQ's to understand this blog better. 

What is a Brevet?
A brevet is a non-competitive cycle ride on a fixed route to be completed within a specified time. It is not a race.

Why 'Bliss in the hills' ? 'Inner Peace' .. 'Inner Peace'
I hope you can spot more reasons to the 'why' below:

Bliss at Kalpeta Control

River crossing Bliss just before Iritty

The Chikki Bliss

Training Plan:

Preparation for this Brevet started many months ago and I strongly relied on commute miles to work as a key training. Each day riding about 56kms rain/shine. One specific training was an over nighter at nandi with 4 repeats between 11pm to 4AM. But just a little over two weeks to the start, I caught pneumonia and in a pretty bad state. It was none other than Major Srinivas who put me on the expressway to recovery. So all my training plans down the drain and with some mild cough persistent a couplet of days before the start I wasn't so sure if I should even make it to the start point. This ride was supposed to have been attempted last year but had to cancel for an emergency. So not riding it this time would linger for many months until I attempted the same. So I managed to prep the bike a day in advance and it was almost ready for the road trip. A long brevet checklist was followed and I managed to pack most of the necessary stuff and the rest went into the backpack that was to be dropped with the support car and we'd get to see the same only at the halfway point at Kalpeta. Here's the Rubie all set to roll for over 1200kms. 

The start was delayed by 20 mins. Dodged crazy city traffic which is the norm. Once we hit Nelamangala we turned onto the Hassan highway. Menacing cloud cover as we head towards Hassan. But luckily no heavy rains and we did away with some super fine drizzle. A comfortable reach to Belur. Relished the packed/parceled fried rice from the earlier dinner stop to propel us to the next leg, Belur to Balupet. It was midnight when we were crossing the section Attempted to rest at a temple early hours of the morning but sleep wasn't a choice due to mosquitoes and tiny tree frogs. The roads were road bikeable with surprise patches appearing all of a sudden. Soon we reached the turnoff at sakhleshpur highway and we stopped for Tea and masala bun. The rest of the bunch feasted on boiled eggs either to recuperate for the climbs or prepare for the ones that lay ahead :). 

A rolling terrain via shanivarsanthe, sowmvarpet. Targets/milestones were set for every next town as per cue sheet so reaching the same was a priority made easier rather than look at the entire route or the distance. Breaking things down to smaller goals felt way better. We didn't spot any wildlife but many curious people as they see lycra clad, colorful riders wondering 'motorbikes struggle at places and these guys are on cycle'. The silence, low traffic, good tarmac turned out to be a very good combo for that 'Inner Peace' that I mentioned earlier and this was the start of project "Transformation Bliss". 

Sowmvarpet/shanivarsanthe road

Towards Madikeri beautiful Twisty roads

Opendro checking to see that the group is intact

We reached Virajpet by late afternoon and the idea was to head to Iritty and clear the downhill section and the next target was to clear the panamaram mananthavady and Kalpeta to rest. The night was dark with orchestra by crickets and it looked like it had just rained a short while ago as we were still riding on wet roads. Periya climb was a long and steady one. All the while we could hear what sounded like rapids beside the valley and the clouds had cleared so a view of stars boosted confidence that we could expect a rain free climb. Post the climb we stopped for the pics at the control. The Hotel Highway served meals and i was content with the same. However, the next section was to be the worst when we expected a fast descent. We struggled hard to figure a path to ride and utilize the downhill but my vision was distorted by intermittent fogging and the headlight from oncoming traffic only amplified the effect. Putta and I rode much slower compared to Opendro who just rode way faster and was more like on a second recce mission on bike. After this dreaded descent, we started riding towards Kalpeta. By Panamaram Putta started struggling due to some issue with food served at Periya. Opendro too seemed to have issues with bowel movement once at Kalpeta. I felt fine as my engine seemed to have just burnt any food ingested. The pace got way slower and Opendro and I had to take a quick call whether to slow down for Putta or ride like mad men to make it to control. We decided on latter as he could rest at Kalpeta. It sure felt bad to drop Putta at that time in that condition but reaching control was just too tight. The speeds at which Opendro pulled we made it to the control 2 mins to closing time. The sight of familiar faces was truly welcoming and they soon took our bikes so we could then get refreshed and catch up with some sleep. After a refreshing shower and change of clothes i just hit the bed for a 3hr sleep. Precious time and precious little sleep. By the time I woke up I got to know that  Putta had been rescued by organizers as they had to find him about 8kms away from Kalpeta in the dark. I managed to get more packs of Enerzal from Putta's stock and stuffed in the Decathlon's handlebar bag. Batteries replaced, we were now ready for the second half of the journey. We bid adieu to organizers and Putta. He was now to just get rest and take a bus back to Bangalore. 

The superb team of organizers. Kudos to you guys to make the stopover a luxury

We proceeded towards Peravoor and then turned towards Gudalur section. Here's where the scenery changed yet again. Beautiful misty mornings and winding roads through many plantations. We stopped to have tea and finish the cream buns purchased last night at Virajpet. The lady at the stall offered sweet appam. We gladly loaded our tummies for the long and arduous (so we thought) climb to ooty.The ride was beautiful and the roads were very good. Once we reached Gudalur we stopped for lunch at a hotel specializing in Parota. Hot and delicious, we also managed to pack a couple of them so we didn't have to stop enroute for another break till mettupalayam. Soon we were joined by Chidu, Deepak and Major. We bid adieu and started the climb at our own pace. My intention was to listen to music during the climb and mp3 player was sitting snug in the bag and remained there for good. Opendro and I had a chat for the entirety of the climb and before we knew it the climb was over. It passed through some beautiful eucalyptus forest. 

Gudalur to Ooty section

The Eucalyptus forest

Enroute Gudalur - Major and Opendro enjoying the twisty roads

Deepak and Chiddu mashing it to Gudalur

My tourer

Putta's Sidewinder

Deepak Mhasavade's fully equipped Tourer

We reached Ooty comfortably and now had the task of reaching Kotagiri. Many reviews from cyclists was that it was very steep. Nah. Not even close to what i had on mind. So that took another short while to clear and then it was mostly downhill to Kotagiri. Not as crowded as Ooty and lot of beautiful views all over. If you've been following my earlier blogs then you must be missing the climax. Yeah.. where is a flat  Mr.Flat Pandian :D. 10kms to Kotagiri the front tube decided it didn't like air anymore.  Time to remove the liners from the front one too. Inspected the tyre, put the new tube and pumped it up to bout 60PSI. then coasted all the way to the town where Opendro was waiting on me. Our next target was to finish the downhill stretch to Mettupalayam in daylight. So we quickly took snaps and headed to clear the stretch. The speed was way too good and the cornering was superb with 60PSI. More traction. We were only held up by other slower cars/bus. It was a fast downhill to the base of the clim and we stopped to finish the packed parota to propel us to the next control towards Avinashi. We took it at a brisk pace till Annur and stopped to have a lime soda. Suddenly, Opendro asked about control closing time and it was 8.36. and the watch revealed 8:02. So we had 20 kms to cover in 34mins. So we quickly gulped down the soda and it was back to time trial mode. Heads down and mash at a high cadence. The average would've certainly been >35kph on this flat highway with hardly any winds to disturb our momentum which sure was a saving grace. We did make it about 2 mins to control close. Only after we passed this point did we realize ther still was 20 mins added as a buffer. This was due to the roads switching to a non existent stte at Periya when compared to the recce that was done just weeks ago. We had Tea and continued our journey to Salem. We tried to rest at a couple of bus stops but due to mosquitoes we simply couldn't get any. So we decided to continue riding. The pace was increased and we tried to reach Yercaud base as early as possible so we get to climb in the pleasant morning weather. After having a couple of bananas we started the climb where we noticed a lot of people walking the initial 5-8kms . A steady pace was set and we continued riding. We managed to make it to the Yercaud control well within time. We stopped for breakfast at Hotel Shevaroy. I didn't fill up my tummy even though we'd been informed that it was all down hill till Kuppanur. But there was a nasty nasty surprise. There were some steep walls to climb before the actual downhill starts to Attur. Opendro mentioned that in a car one fails to realize the gradient and we were laughing at the thought of other rides who must have topped up their tanks to the brim considering the "downhill only" sections. Yet another fast and speedy downhill only to be slowed down by a 'Small bus' that wasn't really small. I had to stop to top up air in the front tyre as i felt them very low. While cornering i felt the tyre almost give way. Opendro did agree that it was less so we continued to the base where we had to change the tube due to a flat due to a stone hitting the tube due to super low pressure. Swapped the tube yet again and we continued. It was noon and I didn't want to ride anymore after looking at the road condition from Attur to Uthangarai. It was a sufferfest for the sore back, neck and wrists. After riding for about 5-6kms I had to stop for some cold drink and found Citra. Didn't know that this  was still in production. Refreshed and tired, we continued till uthangarai for lunch. We stooped once more for a power nap for 10 mins which worked wonders. We continued to Uthangarai where we stopped for lunch. Great meals at a small hotel was just needed to replenish and prepare us for the climb to Yelagiri. We started climbing late evening and soon we had drizzle and short bouts of rain as we headed to the summit that was 11kms ahead. The last climb of this journey and we were very excited. An undramatically slow climb but we managed to reach the top and while searching for ATM, we ended up running into Slush. This clogged up the brake pads, soiled the rims and the braking only worsened the situation. So Opendro ot a 20 ltr can to help clean the bike and also top up on supplies before we head down and continue riding to Vaniyambadi where we turn towards Krishnagiri. Enroute we stopped for a power nap of 15 mins  that turned out to be a powerful nap of 1.5hrs :). I simply followed Opendro until we could clear the nasty pothole ridden section. Oh, and did i mentioned that I veered off the road into the gravel due to hallucination? :) I regained control and we soon connected to the highway. We had T and i was now refreshed and took the lead for the next 50kms. This was by far the fastest leg of the journey as we were riding it like a time trial. High cadence workout and It worked perfect for both. 50kms covered in 1hr 40 mins that included 2 breaks of 15 mins. When i gestured Opendro to take over I thought he'd set a relaxed pace but that ws never to happen. He too mashed at nearly the same pace and i only just held on to his wheel and managed to rest on flyovers sections. Once at Krishnagiri we stopped for another dose of Tea and Opendro suggested that we take it slow so we reach just in time when there are volunteers and friends and family waiting at the end control. The only other stop was at coffee day for some Cafe Americano where Opendro had a powernap while i was chatting with some mobikers.

1200 kms in 90 hrs... did I just complete it? I had goose bumps we rolled into the end control. And the best part was that it was a comfortable finish and I relived my first Brevet memories with my brevet buddy Oepndro. I dedicate my finish to this Superhuman Samurai with a never say never attitude. 

My brevet buddy. What a superb ride it turned out to be !!

The finishers from Cleated warriors

End credits:

Major Srinivas -- This ride wouldn't even have seen the light of the day had it not been for your help in getting me recovered from pneumonia 2 weeks prior. 
Putta Narasimhaiah -- Thank you for the timely assistance and the training for BITH with hill repeats. One of the good times where I thoroughly enjoyed the training sessions despite breaking a lot of sweat.
Opendro -- You truly are an inspiration to many and to me this 1200 was more than double the fun and a great learning similar to our first Brevet 600 back in Apr 2011. 
Rajesh (My team manager) -- For approving leaves. Hadn't mentioned the reason behind the same but it sure will be a surprise one when he gets to read this blog :). Thank you Rajesh.
Shivraj (Wheelsports) -- Who toiled long hours on my bike to get it back to glory, the Flite 300 with 2300 groupset. Compact crank with a 11-32 casette. Pretty much the perfect one for this ride. 
Kiran (aka Tusker) -- There's a whole lot more to just this ride as the assistance I've been getting doesn't pertain to this ride or just this bike. 

Organizers --  Saying you've done a great job is an understatement. You were simply superb and the efforts taken to ensure riders are at ease and comfort I suppose is partly the reason for the renewed motivation and energy levels to ride the remaining miles. Kudos folks !! 


Elevation         13887 mts 

Event	Brevet of 1200km
Start	Bangalore, BTM Layout Pizza Hut
End	Bangalore, HDFC ATM, BTM layout
Location	Bangalore
Start Time	30 September 2015, 03:20PM
Time Limit	90 hours
Organizers	Bangalore Bikers Club (601002)

Fuel:                Fried rice, Parota, More fried rice, Bananas, Enerzal/Gatorade in
                       generous quantities, superb meals at Uthangarai and most of                            all, the motivation from fellow rider Opendro. 

The entire route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10555502 

Here is a one line synposis of the route

Bangalore — Ring road — Tumkur road – Nelamangala – Chennarayapatna bypass – Hassan – Belur – Belagodu – Balupet – Shanivarsanthe – Somwarpet – Madikeri – Murnad – Virajpet – Iritty – Peravoor – Periya – Thalapuzha – Mananthavadi – Panamaram – Kambalakkad – Kalpetta – Meppadi – Gudalur – Naduvattam – Pykara – Ooty – Doddabetta – Kotagiri – Metupalayam – Annur – Avinashi – Salem – Yercaud – Kuppanur – Harur – Uttangarai – tirupattur – Jolarpet – Yelagiri – Jolarpet – Tirupattur – Barghur – Krishnagiri – Hosur – Electronics city – Bangalore

Yelagiri yorker..!!

Start of an adventure/endurance rides. Ever since Major (Srinivas) got posted to the north, I wondered if I could ever get a 'brave-heart' companion. The initial idea was to ride till krishnagiri and back then it wavered between A2B/CCD and Krishnagiri. We all know how random the plans can get changed. As the hour approached only two contenders remained, Harsha (the Ironman) and I. Chickening out seems to be the trend and so did this trip see its fair share.

My goal was to head out for an endurance ride regardless anyone participating. Harsha, the strong rider that he is, agreed to give me company and decided to ride through the night. The 'drop pin' destination on the maps
shifted from Krishnagiri to Yelagiri. The general public goes T.G.I.F to me it was T.G.I.S (Thank God It's Saturday). Shift ended at 2pm and the idea was to meet at silk board by 10pm. Started to prepare the bike and post late lunch (at 4pm) hit the bed to catch some sleep. Started from home at about 9.40 and reached Silkboard as planned and Harsha was already waiting. A quick chat revealed that he ended up with stitches on his head a few days earlier due to a fall from the trainer. I doubted if this would hamper his performance but he went on to prove otherwise :-D. We started at a steady pace and reached Attibele in no time with my expert guidance on the road conditions as it is my regular training. The aero bars looked enticing and Harsha seemed a little uncomfortable using them as the tiniest adjustments to the elbow can have drastic effects on steering. After Attibele, it was time to look forward to the next milestone, CCD (Cafe Coffee Day) at shoolagiri. What followed next was a steady downhill and with CCD in sight, the speedometer showed spike in the speed. I had a cappuccino while Nagraj gorged on Cold coffee. This was a short break to help us decide on the breaks ahead.

YUMMY .. Coolant for tummy..!!

 

Bikes getting a short rest before the long night ride.

  

  From shoolagiri onwards we saw quite a few places where there was about half a km traffic pile up due to the roadworks. Was it a problem for us.... Absolutely not...!! Being on bikes we just zigzaged our way thru the trucks and buses and soon reached krishnagiri. Another confusion prevailed as to which direction was chennai highway. Harsha pulled out his phone to check on gmaps and indicated we had to continue straight but i was adamant and mentioned that it was to the left and yelagiri is on the Chennai highway. Since co-ordinates were accurate the orientation was where the confusion began. We turned left onto the Chennai highway. It was about 1am and Harsha wanted to top up on omelettes but decided against knowing that i'm a vegan so we with a meagre stock of figs and nutribars. 

The Lone (apart from photographer) Highway Rider..

  
About 20kms short of Yelagiri turnoff, we stopped at a small shop on the other side of the road and as soon as we entered two dogs went berserk. I managed to remove the helmet and called them as if they were pets and both quieted down. Tummy trouble for Harsha so off he went to shed some load before the climbs that lay ahead in the morning. We could've reached Yelagiri by about 4.30 had we continued in the same pace. Instead we started after nearly 40mins of break and stopped yet again for another dose of Tea and biscuits. We overshot the target and stopped at a junction then looking into the darkness something didn't feel right. More dogs..!! 3D surround sound with Dolby Effects..!! Checking the maps we found we overshot the turnoff by just ~2kms. About 8 kms away was another major turn that would lead us to the Salem-Tirupattur highway and we planned to take that road instead. We managed to cross this junction where there was a flyover being constructed and took a u-turn. It is very easy to miss this turn towards Salem-Thirupattur highway as it bears no resemblance to the color of the route marked on the map (like that of a main road) against the real deal. We were happy to see a 10std kid on a hero honda who's dad was a cop and had come to the chennai highway to see him off to Krishnagiri. Mighty glad that he accompanied us all the way to the salem-tirupattur highway. Harsha checked on the google maps just to be extra cautious. We thanked Prabhakar as we were at the base of Yelagiri. We reached in the best possible time to start the climb on a cool morning. The view of the towns below was fantastic and for the initial 3-4 kms taking it easy and continuing at a leisurely pace and at about 9th km I went full throttle as one of the cyclist who was returning mentioned that it was just another km to the summit. Maintained a higher cadence and reached the summit and was ready to capture pics of Harsha finishing who joined me shortly. Here he is in a grand finish.. Bragging rights granted.. Been there done that..!!

 At the summit .. huffing and puffing..!!

Great food but not so good/polite staff

 Photographer getting photographed ...

System in 'Standby mode'

Harsha remebering dialogue from English Vinglish ... I miss two things about India my mummy and Idly !!! 

Tasty puris with great sambar and aloo curry.

The most efficient machines on the planet that brought us to Yelagiri.

More of landscape capture from my X6.

Wallpaper material

Inner peace.... Inner peace... Inner..... 

Harsha finally getting a hang of the Aero bars..

We headed to the lake but managed to run into the security guard who asked us to leave the cycles outside and didn't agree to let us in with the cycles. A little to tired to try and convince him we managed to get a peek of the small lake from another route and it wouldn't have been any worthy to buy a ticket to check it out. Caught Hotel Surabhi in its morning yawn. The only item on the menu was plain dosa. I went for the ghee roast while Harsha lit up on the sound of Omelete. So omelet's and dosa's and you returned? Nope.. we wanted to wait for pongal and Puri to satisfy the carbs starved bodies :-D. Round 2, Puris and omelete. Round 3 coffee and we were finally full. Harsha did mention that this was the heaviest breakfast. I couldn't say that I had just enough to get back on saddle and coast downhill 12kms :-). We decided to stop every possible photogenic spot and clicked away to glory. After about half hour we decided it was time to hit the highway and soon we reached a junction just before Jolarpet town either to turn right to heads towards Nemily and then continue on the Chennai Bangalore highway or head straight into tirupattur and then on to bargur. The Bargur option seemed like a shortcut. This would've cut a km or two but was not worth it. The roads were a real mess and harsha tried hard to use the aero bars. Trying to find a smooth line on a road as broken and patchy as a teenagers freckled face made it no easy task. The return route was supposed to have been shorter and instead turned out to be 8km longer. In just over 2hrs we managed to reach the Chennai highway and a huge sigh of relief. An uneventful ride till krishnagiri and then we turned into Hosur road. It was about 10AM and we stopped below the flyover to get some rest. Harsha tried hard to brainwash me to hitchhike or take bus back to Bangalore or till Hosur at-least and then continue riding. However, I was wide awake and this wasn't helping him get me think alike. When a rider has rode for miles, rest/food stops become a priority and sleep being the topmost. Every minute of attempted nap proves to be such a relief. One of the best feelings is when you don't have to worry about a time station/control unlike a brevet and one could doze off. My hands on experiment with Harsha's bike had fruitful results with the aero bar tests. The aero bars were soothing for the back and the bike avg just shot up to some intriguing numbers. It was when i looked at my companion when i realized how much effort he had to put in while i was so relaxed. Thanks to Harsha for letting me try his bike. The fit seemed to be nearly perfect so the ride was super comfy. Harsha's bike was lighter in-spite of the aero bars. There goes another hole in the pocket with the next planned upgrade. Home ministry ain't gonna be happy with this decision. With enough rest at Krishnagiri, we started to gaze lazily at the climbs which lay ahead and 'sufferfest' truly was the only word right from the start of any climb from that point on. I hate to admit it but halfway through the climb i see some truck that is going at my pace 10kph :-D.. why not hitchhike..!! But the ride had to be finished with no form of motorized transport as we were 'ONLY' 80kms to Bangalore. Two bikes stopped Harsha for some reason and he didn't understand what they said and when they tried to stop me it looked like they wanted a test ride but i declined saying you need special shoes to ride such bike. Not sure how it got translated in their heads. They were making hand gestures that they are going to stop somewhere ahead and wait for us to pass by. Frustrated by this incident we saw those guys once more overtaking us about 10kms into the ride again and didn't see them anymore. Next stop CCD ofcourse ... again!! A couple of Mocachillos later Harsha managed a half hr sleep and we were off. 15-18kms into riding and another stop to drink the malt sold in pots which normally sell buttermilk. I didn't want to try that and was interested only in buttermilk which was out of stock unsurprisingly. We continued to climb then finally switching to a rolling terrain. From Hosur town it was a stupendous ride. You might expect the cloud cover or sudden burst from clouds or even taking a bus or a truck ... but no !! There was some VIP visit and the entire road was cleared of traffic. A smooth rolling all the way from Hosur till Attibele and only after we entered karnataka did we manage to see the convoy of pilot cars, SUV's jeeps and ambulances. Familiar territory, attibele to home. It was about 4pm when we were riding towards Chandapura and here's where there's a twist in the tale. Of the 3 lanes, the middle and the right were occupied by overtaking trucks and a private bus switched to the left most lane and honked continuously. I, knowing this was another crazed driver, moved to the extreme left (white line) and so did Harsha but the bus drive a lot closer than expected and this was downright scary. However, Harsha stood by the driver's side of the bus and warned him and then rode to the front of the bus. The driver then tries to scare Harsha by nearly running him over and finally managed to wedge him against the barricade(dividing the highway and service lane) leaving no room for him to move ahead. The bus then disappears into the service lane of Chandapura flyover. This was the limit and Harsha now determined to teach him a lesson rode hard to find a traffic police while I rode to the top of Chandapura flyover, I managed to see the bus and took a couple of pics. Had I rode back to catch a better picture of the bus/driver he would've fleed in hurry. He managed to overtake me at the end of the flyover and little did he know about the trouble he's going to get into. Harsha in the meanwhile managed to stop the bus in its tracks. Driver refuses to get down and only when he gets angry did the driver get down. Head right into Hebbagodi police station and another ordeal with the cops and driver. Short story - driver and the bus fleet owner have some political backing but our man Harsha is no less either. Finally they manage to let him off for a fine of INR.500. So it all boils down to life's worth - 500Rs. Initially the driver denies he was the one driving the bus and it could've been someone else. When he got to know about the photo evidence, that's it started to stink for him. Then the conductor gave in and said it was a honest mistake. How could a 'nearly run over' situation be an honest mistake when it was clearly intentional? This went on for about 3 hrs. After transferring pics to Harsha's mobile, I continued home as Harsha. It takes courage to even get to the cops or stop a bus. I admire Harsha's courage and standing his ground to make his point. What could've been a better solution to such an instance? Is it worth filing a case and running about the police station/court? Or was it an option to get the DL cancelled (temporarily if that option was even available)? I leave you thinking at this point and suggest you to feel free to post comments.... To any cyclist.. exercise caution on highways.. Better to be safe than sorry.. This doesn't mean you abandon the bike but just put more efforts on riding safe...

Trip Statistics:
Total Distance: 320kms
Elevation profile looks like below (Click for a bigger picture). 

Fuel: Coffee, Tea, biscuits, Figs, Puri, omelet's, Tender coconuts, Rice malt (roadside vendor from an earthen pot), Banana's, muskmelon double dose :-D, aerated drinks (unaccounted for).
Total riding time :: 20hrs (Avg 15kph)