Quad-Nandi-10-Sept-2011

I try to figure out the pros and cons of the adrenaline rush and the excitement of hill climbs as i pen this blog. I think i've mentioned in my earlier blogs that I wanna stay away a good 6 months or maybe even a year from Nandi after a personal best timing of 28:30(mins:secs). Little did I know that the bull will get me with such fury...!!! 

As usual the rant, euphemisms of How? what ? when and where? on Facebook, 3 warriors were at Nandi on 10Sept. Another day of personal bests. Opendro clocks 40 mins on foot from the base to the arch. This came as a surprise as many cyclists struggle to make it sub-45. Kiran finished strong in an hour. As I had forgotten my running shoes, I didn't fancy a run with the cleats. First attempt to climb was in a Fiat Linea and parked the car at the summit. A relaxed downhill ride for Opendro and Kiran but I timed my descent and reached at 9:16(mins:secs). Touched 57kph at some stretches..!! Also got to experiment with aerodynamics. Opendro is faster on 23c but I got down on the drops and swooped down to reduce the wind resistance and it certainly made a HUGE difference. I no time i was ahead Opendro on the descent. But the real timing was on the way up. So puris and some bread omlettes later we started of on the first attempt. I had to clock my best and give it the beans to clock the quickest and the result 26:50. Opendro also completed the climb on cycle with 27:59. Kiran relaxed in the support car while I could see the wicked smile on Opendro (One more troops.. as he's the Vice Captain of Cleated Warriors). I was ready for more so off we go and started back again. This time it was a slow and relaxed climb or should i put it a better averaged pace throughout the climb. We made it to the summit in 35mins. Kiran was wide awake and the tender coconut was no where to be seen so we left the Nandi exploration to the monkeys. Oh yeah there was a couple on a bike and a monkey saw them holding a frooti and the girl promply handed the juice over to the guy who then with hand gesture managed to stop the monkey in its tracks. The guy almost finished the juice and as it waited patiently. Never have I seen one so obedient. Anyway time for a third climb. At the base for a snap showing the third attempt. This time again a steady average but the last 2 kms fooled me with every curve and I look up each one expecting the arch only to realize it was just a few more bends away. Saw the tender coconut being transported which was a refresher to the mind. Finished the third attempt in 33:50 and we descended yet again for lunch and the last climb for the day. Downed a fried rice and took a nice relaxed hour. Soon we saw Team shift and they were to start their 5 laps. Samim is going to attempt Nandi sub 20 and in my head ( that was way off limits and not my turf) 24-25 seems a decent target to achieve considering the fitness levels. Moreover a lot of work needs to be done to shave the couple of minutes of time). Once a threshhold is reached it takes a lot of fine tuning and consistency to beat the current personal record. The surprising fact was we started 5:30 AM and were there whole day. Reached home at 7pm.
Some snaps from today's practice. Nandi-4climbs

Green Contribution :: Some gatorade/electral for the ecosystem !!

Kiran, his first attempt to complete the Nandi, running and for me it was just relaxed drive in Opendro's car.

 Confusion as to what numbers are covered ;-). Actually Opendro and I were on the third run while Kiran was on the second run. (excluding the run).

Opendro and I sharing the personal best.

Blr-Yercaud on the most efficient machine !!!

As saying goes, one gets to "See" and feel the world in a different outlook when traveling by bike. This trip certainly was filled some ups and downs like the rolling terrain to Salem. Looked like a busy weekend for the Cleated Warriors so none of them for company. Major Srinivas agreed give me company. My initial plans were to do Yercaud with another group of 3 agreed who had planned to start by thursday evening but went to pondicherry the same morning instead. Major agreed to leave on friday night and the first good news was we could pack the luggage and keep it in the Vivek's car (Vivek is a friend of Major). That was a big relief and we could rely on this car in case something were to go wrong. After all the preparations we synced up at silkboard and handed the bags over to Vivek and set off to Yercaud. Took it nice and easy till E-city phase 2 and then drafted a truck till Bommasandra flyover when the headlights on Major's bike took a fall. With the traffic maintaining good speeds and the headlight right in the middle of the highway we lost all hopes of retrieving it in one piece. But to our astonishment, a containter truck stopped right before the the flashlight and gurading it till Major could retrieve it. The chances of this happening was second to none. One of the most bike friendly truckers. We waved a joyous thank you to the Driver who acknowledged the same. Then we taped the headlight to the handlebar which will ensure double protection. As we crossed Bommasandra, rain gods started played tricks with us. It started to drizzle and we soon stopped and put on the rain jacket thinking there may be some downpour. 2-3 kms later we realize the drizzle was gone and we were soaked in sweat ;-). A small drizzle were happy tears from mother nature, "Welcome to TN cyclists !!". This was the first  ride with the new Ultrafire lights and boy o boy they were a delight. We tried to draft a trailer but he planned to stop after we managed to draft for a couple of kms to refuel. We then continued our journey and stopped for burger at Mc Dee's. Had a sip of coffee and soon we left for Krishnagiri. We covered the initial 68 kms in 2 hours, so a sub 3hr century looked promising. My rotten bit of luck played the spoilsport and at the top of the ghats where there is a downhill for 3 kms I encountered the first flat. Great not a problem, with all the tools required to fix a flat available we soon fixed it and "Click" that's the sound of my shoes cleated onto the pedals :-). Within 20 metres, Tussshhh... tick tick tick... "Click". Uncleated and checked rear tyre again. Damn.. what did I do wrong ? Had another spare tube which I managed to change it in 10 minutes. The tyre levers from icetoolz are hopeless but the rest of the options are awesome. With Major's help we managed to pump it up to 100 and managed to reach the base of the ghats and Tusshh..!!! Yet another one. I felt disappointed at the performance of my bike, but quickly consoled myself 2250 kms without a flat on this Kenda kontender and without tyre liners was quite good. This was bound to happen at some point. We frantically tried to reach Vivek and he was supposed to have started from Bangalore an hour after we started. But he wasn't responding to the calls to his mobile. Since the cars and trucks were reaching speeds of over 80as they exited the ghats, we had to move to a safe location. I walked with the bike for another 250 mts and found a gated farm with lights on. Major thought he could get some rest inside the compound as there was a park bench by the house. The canine truly was on high alert. So Major parked his bike by the gate and lied down outside the compound to relax while I began to fix the flat. Strange part, the suspect "punctured" tube held up well when pumped up off the rim. Installed the new hopelessly short valved Btwin tubes purchased from Decathlon and Major suggested that we should reduce the pressure. So 70-80 PSI was pumped for a 125 rated 26c tyre. I, quite literally was talking to my bike in my head, please don't do this not now not anymore. The sub-3hr century was already messed up and I didn't want to return without doing the Yercaud climb. Hoping the tyres won't give way we managed to get just about 15kms in 25 mins of riding and then tussh.. Luckily we spotted a shop with some nice place for resting and the tubelights on!! There also was a broom to tidy up the place before resting. What a nice gesture by the shop/building owner. Major soon was busy tidying up for a nice rest. He soon dozed off after trying to call for the "support" car. It was 4:35AM and my mechanic role kicked in instantly disassembled the rear wheel and removed the tyre off the rim. This time there was a puncture. The glueless patches worked their magic yet again. After fixing the tube it was time for a deep dive inspection of the rims and the tyre. The tyre showed a gaping hole ~ 2mm. At first I wondered if this was the cause of all the flats encountered !!  Taking my chance against the only spare tube that I had, I cut it open and made a patch about 3x2cm and wedged it between the damaged section of tyre and the tube. Still no word from Vivek and we already started planning our return trip either by a KPN volvo or a KSRTC. Major suggested that we could carry the bikes in passenger compartment in train. I was surprised and asked if it was allowed. If we ended up taking the train then we'd take the wheels off and carry the frame separately. Being a member of the "Cleated Warriors" I remember one of my friends maintaining a low pressure on a high pressure rated tyre. You must be thinking the difference must be in 10 or 20PSI but no. My friend rode 140PSI rated tyres on 60 or 80 PSI :-). I'm happy and suprised to announce that it worked wonders. After applying this DIY mini patch and the setting the pressure at 70 PSI I waited for Major to wake up. Till then I kept gazing at the passing buses and trucks and reminded me of my childhood days. Sitting on a park bench in Erode with my Grandfather and getting excited looking at the colourful buses. ( Back in those days I was bored looking at the all RED bangalore buses). Some of the best combinations were the ones with yellow roof and shiny silver like sheetmetal. Black with white stripes and white coloured rims were equally good :-). 

Soon it was daybreak and I could see the dark blue skies and the familiar sounds of rooster waking up the village by the highway. Major woke up in an hour and started feeling cold. So we set out soon to find a coffee stop just a mile ahead and had biscuits and hot coffee. In 20 mins we left for Dharmapuri. I thought the straight stretches of highway where one can see for about a km was before Dharmapuri but this was clarified once we crossed Dharmapuri. For about 6-7 kms it is a straight monotonous stretch where the visibility is at its best. We started maintaining a steady pace on gentle slopes 20-25kph. However the headwinds picked up and we were reduced to maintain 17kph. So what do we do to cover the distance ?? DRAFT. Yep.. we did draft a container truck for a few kms till gained speed and dropped us. I caught up with another truck but there was a delay in Major going full throttle to catch up. Soon the distance increased and I planned to back off. The decision was either both of us draft, else we'd stay close and ride together. The entry to thoppur ghats was promising and I suggested that we have tender coconuts at the ghats out of experience. I used to do regular trips to Trichy. This was really good and we had two each and started to descend. At the base of the ghat there is a hotel beside the petrol bunk BP where we stopped for to recharge. After a nice round of idlis and tea we started for Salem which was~40kms away. There is a gentle uphill after which we managed to catch a container truck registered RJ and we drafted all the way to Salem. 35kms of drafting at avg pace of 48kmph. Max speed touched was about 60kmph. Most of the times the truck was at a pace which we could maintian the draft.As soon as we entered Salem city all bikers and cars that whizzed past had their eyes on us wondering why are they doing what they are doing !!!


Soon we reached the Yercaud turnoff and about a 2-3 kms later guess who shows up? Vivek whom we had tried to reach throughout the night. After a quick chat we stopped at a known hotel for a lime juice and then it was 7 kms to base of Yercaud. Vivek, parked the car at the base and assembled his bike. We started the climb. Major had done this earlier so was aware of this route. He warned that there is only elevation ALL the time. I managed to divide the distance in such an manner that I compare it with the office commute(30 kms one way). The same tragic logic I applied for the 23kms of the climb. with 20 hairpin bends. Be not fooled gentlemen. There are more than that which are unmarked. Every corner would feel like a hairpin because of the elevation profile. Inspired by the lance armstrong's video of 2003 (Lance Armstrong Climbs Luz Ardiden 2003) he constantly is on the hood and off the saddle. That was more adrenaline I could muster to stay off the saddle. After every 50 mts of being off the saddle I would drop to the biggest chainring and ride at 8-9kmph. I aimed at a non-stop ride and the only time I stopped (3 secs) was when I fell but held on to the side cemented wall. I pedaled a little too much but wanted to fallback and maintain left side of the road and Major who was leading but the rear wheel of major was overlapping half of my front wheel so if i turn the handlebar I was sure Major also would bear the brunt of my action. So instead I turned slightly right while the bike was leaning left that imbalance prompted my fall (a controlled fall). No injuries but this was inevitable a cleated fall sooner or later. There was a bus full of schoolkids who were ahead (directly above me) on the parallel road, and a few kids screamed but later they'd stopped and we waved hi-byes and continued our quest of conquering the climber's haven. I've officially completed the formalities of being a cleated roadie scum. The 20 hairpin bends don't sound bad. But the continous elevation gain is certainly going to drive one nuts and the mind will eventually give way and force you to take a break. The last 4kms were the worst pounding which my body took. The heights of exhaustion were such that Major literally started grabbing plants and eating them !!! Initially i thought it was probably some medicine but later realized he ATE them !! There also was a group in an ikon who had stopped to enjoy the view and major did check if they had some for a quick bite and they were glad to give us some chips. We nibbled on them gingerly for 1 km and soon our water supplies were out and now with only 3 kms to yercaud the going got tougher. At the 2 km I almost gave up when Major also slowed down to 7-8kph and i tailed him real close and soon we saw the 20/20 hairpin bend. After this one gets to see the GRT trails resort and then it is straigh thru to the town/city/station. The yercaud lake looked beautiful. What was even more better was the last 5 kms there is a drastic weather change. The mist welcomed us and cooled our bodies. Gluteus Maximus was begging for mercy towards the last few kms!!  The only thought once at the top was to head to some hotel as we'd turned to gluttons !! Soon found out from a local that there was Saravana Bhavan nearby and we headed right to that place for lunch.Started with a curd rice and that wasn't enough Soon another curd rice and lemon rice followed. We sat outside and after this long relaxed wait Vivek soon joined us after half hour. This climb certainly is no childs play. Nandi is a cupcake now after conquering this climb. One has to have a disciplined approach to do the climb. Standing and pounding a lot only makes matters worse. Major and I initially did that mistake. We then pounded only at the hairpin bends and then switching to lower gear to maintain momentum. Since I wanted to attempt the climb non-stop I didn't use the camera. Moreover, considering my experience to photography (using mobile) on the move I couldn't even attempt to get the camera out due to the sheer amounts of concentration that is required. A watchful eye is required to understand if there is any vehicle approaching downhill and especially the moronic Motor-bikers who rip the roads. I know it is fun biking uphill/downhill but not the cost of other innocent lives..!! The downthill was constantly on the hood and the brakes. There are two nice spots for photography one is a tree/bamboo covered road and this 50-60 mts stretch is truly a wonderful place to relax and take snaps. There are a lot of monkeys around so be cautious. Maybe Major and I suffered the climbs because we rode all the way from Bangalore and that being a 10hrs on the saddle. Hope I get to take on this famed Nemesis again in a better shape the next time. I thank Vivek in being our support car and helping us get back home in comfort after such an ordeal. What next ??


As I pen down my travelogue by this blog I am looking at the pic below and thinking of ways to repair the same.

1. Carry something to munch on like nuts dates etc. 
2. Have enough water/gatorade/enerzal.
3. The tyres should be pumped up to the recommended pressure.
4.Exercise extreme caution while being overtaken or while overtaking (unlikely).


Stats :: Total odo read 248.5kms (ride from blr to yercaud climb and back downhill.
Fuel :: 4lts of water - 4 enerzal packs, 1Mcdees burger, 4 Tender coconuts, 3plate idlis, 2 Curd rice +1 lemon rice yumm.
Kalhatti calling.. :-) Enough words and let some of the meagre pics that I managed to capture tell the rest of story.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108786458769812949648/September32011Yercaud

First Cleated Ride - Headwinds from hell..!!

After a sync up on facebook there were four warriors that made it for this training ride. Vinay, Nalla, Opendro and I. The two unsure warriors were Kiran and Sudhir. As opendro and I waited as silkboard Nalla and Vinay soon joined and we left for A2B for fiesty oily vada - The high carb diet when cycling :-P . Managed to take the elevated tollway and it was a nice cool breezy ride. Managed to capture a video and soon we were off the tollway and on the NH-7. At this point you must be delighted yay they finally allow cyclists on tollway. Actually ..NO.  We did get talked about why we aren't allowed and after a pep talk with the tollbooth operators, left the tollbooth and sped towards Hosur. Quite a relaxed ride till then and then the adrenaline rush started to build up ever so gently. Being my first Cleat experience, I had to be wary and uncleat in a timely manner if there were to stop anytime. I tried to draft a truck at 46-50kmph for about half a km then fell back to catch up with my group. Just beyond hosur there was a downhill with quite a steep gradient and acheived the top speed of 76.5kmph. After about 3-4 kms a flat stretch and a Mahindra minivan at 70kph was to good to resist. I ended up drafting the minivan for almost 500mts at 70kph. Felt good and back to the CW clan as the roads got bumpy with potholes (not big but bad enough for roadbikes at that speed). Another downhill nearing A2B and I tried speed but only touched 60. I think the energy source was depleted and it was time to recharge the batteries.

Thanks to Nalla for sponsoring the breakfast at A2B. I was all for a pongal and vada then Opendro and Nalla talked me into having Idly vada AND pongal. Damn, my flat tummy now was gone and the "inflated tyre" revealed quite under the jersey. Moreso, Opendro helped me finish half pongal as the idly vada already was heavy. The tough part of this training ride was all for uphill. But this being my first cleated ride I wanted to enjoy every bit of it so any chance of uphill I stood up and pounded till the peak of every climb and switched to the low gears to relax till the others caught up. The power surge with cleats is very noticeable. The extra surge comes with the idle foot pulls the pedal up while the power is transferred on the power stroke (down stroke) by the other foot. Maybe pongal was weighing hard down on vada and not letting it release the instant energy. So at hosur each of us took gulped down 2 bottles of soft drinks (limca) and then topped up the water supplies. We stayed together till Bangalore tollbooth (attibele) after which Nalla and Vinay decided to proceed via Bagalur to Varthur. Meanwhile It was only Opendro and I till Jayadeva. We happened to relive the Brevet 600 moments. The last stretch or should I say the last 100 kms was a torture after the 500 kms. Krishnagiri to Bangalore was the toughest, yet we managed to fare better on the Brevet run compared to today's run. Thanks to Opendro for lending the Garmin forerunner to monitor my heart rate and calculate the other parameters like elevation gain loss speed etc. I still await feedback from the Cleated warriors manager ( Venkat) to understand the where there is room for improvement. More about this Garmin capture of the trip statistics here ::  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/110228044

More pics at  :: https://picasaweb.google.com/108786458769812949648/A2BTrainingRideAugust282011

My first BBCh RACE....Team Time Trial...!!

No heart rate monitor, No cleats, no experience in Time Trial, and just a couple of pace-line rides the week before is all it took to get to the podium finish.
Who >> The Cleated Warriors team.
When >> 21st August 2011 organized by BBCh.
Where >> Budigere to the NH 205 turnoff. ( commonly known in the bike world as Siva's Road)
Why >> Head goes where cycling is involved :-)

In my world of cycling, riding regularly the circuits of RT Nagar and hebbal two years ago, who knew I'd someday join a team and be racing with some pro teams...!! Facebook is a big boon for strategies and co-ordination at-least in the Cleated Warrior zone. Venkat and Opendro had made some serious planning on deciding how the paceline will be maintained. More than 50 comments on that thread alone. Looking great theoretically but how will they pan out in the real world on D-Day. This was the big question. Also how many riders would turn up for the race. Will we have excess or less members when it comes to the registering names on the BBCh records? With some intriguing questions on mind we patiently waited for the big day. I'm very glad that Opendro had the bike rack which was able to take 3 bikes.

 

Never knew Linea Boot space was large enough to accomodate a road bike :-)

Met Opendro at BTM and we left for the next warrior to be picked up, Anke Schuermann. But later got to know that she started for the the venue early and was not to be seen on the way to the start point. Met Venkat (CW leader), Major Srinivas, Sudhir and Deepak Rao whose comments I'd seen only on the Bikeszone forums. Got to see the full disc and also the 3 spoke TT rims on the Cervelo. Mean Machines. Droool.!!! Made it in time for a quick 12 km practice ride and deciding on strengths and weakness of each rider for a position in paceline. Max members were 6 of which only 3 had to cross the finish line. Now Venkat Nalla Sudhir and I had the chance of opting for the ITT ( Individual Time trial). The warrior to make it to ITT was Sudhir and he did try real hard but there were a few other strong riders. We were the penultimate team to start with 6 riders. Initial 5 kms was a steady tempo then we picked up pace and soon dropped 2 riders. A couple of more kms and we had another rider fallback. Shouted out only 3 riders in... Check..!!

 At the start line ... !!!

This was pretty much the trio which stuck together for almost 12 kms...!!

The train was lead by Venkat who pulled strong for almost 70% of the route. He was tailed closely by Opendro whom I was drafting just a couple of inches away. Overtook whenever there was a climb to help Venkat recover. Fell back to recover on flat stretches and downhill. Opendro did a wonderful Job of staying close as we did not have a leverage to lose a rider. The last sprint for 100 -150 mts was exciting and all that was on my mind was the 2009 sprint of  Mark Cavendish in Tour de France. Head down and the bike bobbing left and right with maximum force on pedals, felt great to finish first, followed by Opendro and a neat finish with Venkat crossing the finishline. My main objective this race was to ride a proper paceline with the team so podium finish or not, I was happy with the team performance. Mission Accomplished. But a podium finish was just as good as a cherry topping on an ice-cream. Finishing with the pro riders for a close second is indeed an incredulous acheivement by the CW team overall. I'm ecstatic and would treat myself 2 plates of spicy masala puri to celebrate .. YAY..!! Some victory snaps follow :-)

CAM - Bhagamandala Kasargod Jalsoor

Having only heard about the CAM rides and intimidated by signature of some members in Bikeszone forums, I thought I'd give it a try. I registered and soon my brother, inspired by the pics of last years CAM ride to Kasargod, said he'd give it a shot too. Voila, two seats booked two weeks prior to the ride. This was no race but to me it was more a mind over matter. A sound always heard in my mind " Do justice to your MTB u roadie scum"!! And so the Saga of the two day tour started. 6th of august approached real fast and I had redefined laziness by packing up just a couple of hours before the ride. I was to ride on my Trek 4300d and a rental bike for my brother. The plan was to load the bike on the canter (Tata 407) which would leave for Bhagamandala even before the bus starts. Reached the drop point exactly at 8:30pm on 6th and loaded the Trek on the canter . Ramesh (my brother) was so excited that he decided to create .. yeah you heard me right.. CREATE 3/4th from an old jeans lying around. He was ready with lycra and a dry fit tee but I convinced him that it was purely a roadie attire :-P. . Within an hour all the riders made it and managed to start by about 10pm. This trip was filled with a whole lot of "Firsts"


1. First long ride on the Trek 4300d.

2. First trip on the Brand New Ultra luxury bus.

3. First long tour on bike for my brother.

4. First ride in the rain with the new jacket from Decathlon. (Continuous drizzle or heavy rain). 

My brother and I had chaat for dinner. The bus stopped next at cafe Coorg which is just  before kushalnagar. Got down for a quick breather. The weather had gotten a lot colder compared to Bangalore. Reached Bhagamandala by 6 and we had about an hour to freshen up at Hotel Mayura Cauvery Yathri and ride to Kasargod. Unloaded the bikes from canter and they waited as the riders got ready. I was wondering, when was the last time that I never bothered about the rain or running helter-skelter for shelter. Probably that time would date back to the glorious school days. Things have changed a lot and the IT industry adding that extra few pounds to upset the BMI and a few inches to the waistline and make your friends say " You've changed a lot" or "You look different" when they literally mean you fat pig.


Plan was to have breakfast enroute but then it was decided against as it started to drizzle and soon it turned to heavy rain. Had two rounds of hot upma/uppit/kharabath and kesari bath. As soon as it stopped raining we headed towards panathoor. The ride map displayed some serious downhill for  DAY 1. Didn't have the need to pedal for almost 20 kms. No smooth tarmac this downhill. Mind at full alert to find out the smoothest path to glide over the potholed trail. One had to stay on the toes to maintain a low centre of gravity all the while until the beauty of waterfalls or cascades make you stop the bike though you may not intend to do so. Also got a chance to stop at a hydel powerstation. Just around the panathoor border my brother's bike ( Act 110) had a flat. Depressing, as we would lose time but good for my experience in fixing flats. Fixed the first flat in 20 mins and then realized that there was another flat. Disassembled the whole thing again and fixed the other one too. This held for about 5 or 6 kms and then the pressure dropped again. This was frustrating because I wasn't sure of the tube size and to wait for the canter truck to arrive and fix the flat would take longer. So called Vikrant (CAM Organizer)  and in about 20 mins he was there with a Btwin MTB. Quickly loaded the ACT 110s on the car and started off to the lunch point at Kanhagad. It kept raining intermittently. Vegetable pulao or peas pulao bundled with curd rice was really good combo. This is the point where quite a few riders boarded the canter as they didn't want to waste more time by riding and miss the beauty of the Bekal Fort. By this time Mohit and I were only riders and we took the climbs with finesse and I was delighted. Then we hit the West coast highway the NH-17 which was as rough as a teenagers face!! Then after some quick doses of sprint we hit the most horrible stretch for about 3-4 kms. I'd say that there wasn't any road, but the Trek made its own way thru the puddles, potholes, mounds of muck and gravel. There is a teeny bit in my brain which rumages about the investment incurred on a bike like this. And to this day I stand corrected - "Worth every PENNY". Mohit and I raced against the clock and reached the Bekal Fort entrance, believe it or not, at exactly 4:30pm. A sigh of relief when Kishan mentioned that it closes only by 5:30. Great, now we have an hour to relax and enjoy the view, which we did. A lot of snaps followed in the drizzle. 

Result - Water on the Nikon S220 screen and the next thing and the only thing I can see is solar eclipse instead of a photo preview on the lcd. Yaikes..!!! At about 6:30 a few riders wanted to complete the Day 1 riding so the ones who had headlight were the lead of the convoy and I stuck by Mohit whom I had to abandon after 20 minutes due to a fault with the vbrakes on his schwinn Searcher. But after about half hour he caught up and rode with us. Just about 2 kms from the Speedway Inn. there was this valley shaped highway which dipped at almost 15 degrees giving the advantageof speed to make the same 15-20 degree climb. The major problem was that the climb was littered with pebbles and it was hard for quite a few riders. Pradeep mashed thru on this Act 110 and so did my brother. I was off the saddle ever since the climb started and didn't stop till I completed the 200ft of climb which lasted for about 100-150 mts. An immense sense of acheivement. A mini celebration on my mind and a pat on my back. 2 more kms later we arrived at the Speedway INN where we parked the bikes in the basement. An hour to get fresh and head for dinner. With the tummies satisified with the South indian meal, and a deep slumber. 




Surprisingly my brother was awake the next morning, a lot earlier than I,  but was just sitting idle :-). He mentioned that Vikrant had called requesting that we be ready and present at the basement by 6:30am. We were one among the last bunch to make it and lo behold what do we outside.. any guesses ??




Rain.. rain and more rain. This time I tried some DIY stuff. Here's what I did ...try spotting. 

I had managed to find some loose plastic sheets at the ground floor of SpeedWay INN and my mind immediately went to work. Checked with the hotel receptionist for an insulation tape but got the transparent packing tape. Couldn't get better. 15 minutes of carving, cutting taping and the result is the above waterproof shoes. Mine weren't really shoes. It was more of a hybrid from sandals and sports shoes. Hmm..i know you're confused. Let me put it this way, my shoes (reebok's) can be compared to a convertible car. 


Using the copy of printed maps I managed to ask for directions time and again to ensure that we're on the right track. Had to head towards Mularia which was the breakfast point. Kharabath and kesari bath. In the Bengaluru terms it was Chow-Chow bath. My brother left early and I started about 20 mins later. Had some more sprint sessions after a relaxed ride for 8 kms or so. Caught up with my brother only to realize that he doesn't have the bag which had the essential toolkit and some spares. No way to return to find the bag so had to forget that it happened and just tried to enjoy the beauty around. The river flowing and following the course alongside the road on the right with only tall trees separating me from the banks. On the left were again tall trees and some stretches were simply breathtaking. At one point I had a glimpse of a black swift (car) which popped up around a curve and just 50mts behind was a stream of water and puddles on both sides. This driver drove right thru the centre line and made the most beautiful sight. Water splashing in both directions ever so perfect and that moment reminded me of a scene in the Pixar's movie CARS. Venkat has managed to capture half the beauty with the Swift driven by Vikrant but the one I saw had a beautiful backdrop. Just half the beauty captured  ::

Just one of those picturesque moments which could just be captured only in mind, which otherwise captured in pixels does no justice to the true beauty that lies within. I managed to reach Jalsoor by about noon and it still was drizzling. Slowly the rest of the riders and at last the second sweeper truck arrived. By the time the last few riders made it to the finish line it started pouring cats n dogs. Next stop was lunch at Suliya. Meals + an extra treat of ice-cream.
Once the batteries recharged, the conversations started and then some conflicts arose while deciding whether to play  Baasha (Tamil movie) or The flying scotsman or fast n furious 5 or Life cycles. Majority opted for the Life-cycles, unfortunately the dvd player didn't support divx/mkv. Baasha's intro song was played and a hullabaloo broke out which prompted the movie switch to "The Flying Scotsman". Quite an inspiring movie. Reached Bangalore at 10pm and then I rode home from silk board and my brother took a rickshaw. Would have to be better prepared for the next CAM ride or any such organized rides. All in all this is the best trip on the bike in my life yet. 




Been There Done That !! 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to RIDE before I sleep,
And miles to RIDE before I sleep


Day 1 - Route and Elevation - http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=wlcwyukypumsltrr
Day 2 - Route and Elevation - http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=skgmosytiqwrevtf
Link to the pics - My Photolog.

Brevet - 200 - A trainer for the next season of Brevets!!!

Tidi..didididididi titin... Tidi..didididididi titin....... tin tin tin ..ti-tin tin tiaon..!!!!! Wonder whats this.. wake up call on my nokia on 26th June. Same enthu and restlessness as earlier rides kept me awake till 1am and got a 3 hour sleep. After basic inspection took my rubie out. First stop CCD @ MG road. Quite a few cyclists had gathered. The brevet form filling session complete in 20 mins and then flag off....1... 2... 3... Go..!!! Here's something strange, although i was 'aware' of the route, I couldn't figure it out when i first went through the cue sheet. Then i just just realised this was the same way i took whenever i have ever been to mekhri circle on the way back home. So now fully confident i led the pack for some time and then Opendro's bottle fell just after Kendriya Vidyalaya. This was not good. Tried to stick the bottle holder frame to the plastic piece which held for about another km before the bottle fell down again but this time emptying itself. 50% of the battery juice now destroyed, I offered to provide backup as I was carrying ~4-5 packs of Gatorade refill packs. ~10 mins lost in trying to correct this Most of the riders had sped ahead now. But what the heck we were on our streamline beauties and could easily catch up with them. Full speed ahead captain...!!! The construction and waterlogging slowed us down greatly. After about 5 kms the roads opened up wide and traffic started reducing ever so gradually. We were clocking about an avg of 33kph and over took most of the riders. Best part we just stopped once on the way for a cake break. Thats when we met Vivek Kubaji for the first time. Two more riders passed us one on BMC and other on Flite 500. They were maintaining good speed. Overtook them a couple of times and finally reached Karadevanahalli toll booth for a long break ~30mins. Then Kiran Cleated Warrior joined us and we agreed to try a paceline on the return journey. This worked for about 10 kms after which Opendro and I maintained a steady average and then stopped for another short break. We had to as we skipped breakfast. Soon Vivek and Kiran joined us and we were off for the next stop at Kamat. A meals and a fried rice to recharge the batteries and then it was a non-stop ride to finish line. ( or was it ?) A funny incident. About 100 mts from kamat, Opendro realizes that he must've left his cell on the table and wanted to go back. He crossed the road with this bike only to return with a cheeky smile. It was with him but a different pocket than the usual. We maintained good speeds on climbs ~40kph and relaxed downhill only to take the next climb at a same speed. Reached the hessarghatta crossing and took left. It started drizzling and we reached a junction where it started raining "Heavily". Opendro took out his secret weapon. A rain jacket and he was safe. I didn't look up the weather report that day so no rain jacket in the backpack. Not worrying about the attire getting wet/dirty the hankey covering my face made the last half a km in a flooded road and heard the welcome cheer..!!! What a way to finish..!!! I did get to test the tight pants (lycra) from decathlon. I was very against buying these just because of the image portrayed to the onlookers. Now I don't care anymore as its my comfort and fitness that takes front seat rather than be consicous and end up with a saddlesore.. :-P All in all a good ride excellent weather to top up the fun. Eagerly await the next season's Brevet to become a super randonneur.

Fuel - Gatorade 4 packs, Britannia cakes (thanks to Opendro for stocking them), Fried Rice.
Time taken to complete the ride :: 9:30 hrs.

Galleria ::
https://picasaweb.google.com/110912564228631849317/Brevet200June262011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P0_M2dcDdM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAekXNfhkT4