Tristate 216 km - Bicycle ride

Somewhere on the way

My short ride report on the recent 216 km bicycle ride dated 13/06/15. The itinerary being Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Kuppan-Vepanapalli-Berigai-Begalur-Sarjapur and finally back to Bangaluru. The route covered the three states Karnataka, Tamil Naidu and Andhra Pradesh.

Managing some 3.5 hours of sleep the previous night, I woke up early at 4:30 - 4:45 am in a frenzy. Gobbling up couple of rotis with tad of honey, I left the house. Started at 6:00 am from Pizza Hut at Silkboard with bunch of other co riders. Soon after crossing the electronic city 10 km away, all the co riders vanished, some behind, some ahead. Thereafter, I rode mostly alone in a solo mode for rest of the stretch, at my own pace.

Ride till Krishnagiri was frisky, smooth and effortless just like a bird's flight. Feeding on idlies vada pongal and hot crisp filter coffee at Saravna Bhavan at 72 km, pepped up, I was back on the pedals. Soon took the detour from the Bangalore - Chennai highway towards Kuppam. 

The weather was warm and humid. The road was now relatively free from traffic with an overall uphill gradient and a few nice climbs. The surreal and scenic landscapes of Kuppam were most delightful to watch with giant imposing boulders embedded perfectly on the hillocks surrounded by vivid vegetation. The birds chirping in the backdrop of lush green cover and the fragrance of clean pollution free countryside air was captivating. At times I found myself riding through a platoon of the colorful butterflies flying on the road everywhere. 

Soon after, I was on a scenic decent to Vepanapalli to join the highway to Begalur. Unable to find a decent place for lunch, I settled for half a dozen bananas and water and moved on. This section of the route till Begalur also had climbs but was equally nice in terms of good roads and less traffic.

Despite the exhaustion due to heat and climb in the middle of the day, resting and sleeping for a while under a shady tree on the roadside over a bed of wild grass with mild breeze gently sweeping my sweaty face and cooling me off was quiet soothing and liberating. There was whole new beautiful world of bugs and ants, twigs and leaves on the ground. While laying on the back and observing the vast expansive sky above the trees, I was engulfed in my solitude, a feeling of being free, a feeling of being strong yet tiny at the same time.

An ice-cream break at Begalur, water bottle refilled. Its always a pleasure to smile back and wave hands to local people, specifically the kids who come running behind to cheer up, shouting there hearts out in excitement on seeing some cyclist in strange attire. 

With the clouds filling up the skies and the sun playing hide seek, I picked up pace on relatively flat terrain to reach Sarjapur. Sarjapur to Bangalore had pathetic traffic which progressively increased into a disgusting smoke filled jam near Bangaluru city. Really wished our city was more serene calm and clean.

6:35 pm, reached home, then a blank. 1.5 hours later, I found myself lying stiff on the chair with feet on the tabletop :p. Had a hot shower, followed by a well deserved yummy dinner to satisfy my hunger pangs.

Had an amazing day :-)

The Map

Ride 2 Janapadaloka and back!!!

Pic from today morning's 122 km casual cycle ride to Janapada Loka n back. Had great fun :)

The weekend Nandi Expedition

One may call it, a wake up apathy syndrome or a selective hearing disorder or a alarm clock immunity, majority of us suffer or had suffered from it in some days of our life (not to mention, this disorder is a boon in disguise many times). When the most powerful and strategically complicated alarms fail in doing its job, thanks to a simple call from a friend at the nick of time, that saves your day. 

Last week, following a casual discussion with bunch of cycling enthusiast in office, a 150 km casual ride to nearby Nandi Hills was planned instantly for the weekend ie. 15th of March 2014. We all, a group of four, agreed to start quite early in the morning hours at about 3:30 am to avoid the midday baking under the hot sun. This being a casual trip, I was a bit too casual to the extent that I slept late at 1:30 am, the previous night. The plan to make this trip happen was still very well registered in my brain but my tired and sleep deprived mind had subconsciously made another easy and a convincing plan while trying to sleep i.e. to skip the entire trip and extend the sweet sleeping hours for the next whole day instead. Lazy me!!!

Well, my cell phone was ringing, in-spite of the fact that 5 loud alarms set on the phone lying on the extreme corner of the room had been already dismissed. With a squinty, blurry and suspicious vision, I looked at the time. It was 3:34 am. My friend and a office colleague Macks was calling me. In a half sleepy dreamy mode, I thought, "Oh! noooo ways ... I haven't even started the good part of the sleep yet ...". Covering my head and ears with blanket and couple of pillows, making a sound proof insulation, I was within no time back to that cozy peaceful dream world. 3:41 am another ring. This time picking up the call, I jumped off the bed instantly. Feeling a bit groggy, gulped down a glass of water, I was in minutes ready for the cycle expedition.

Bunch of street dogs had gathered outside the house all barking at me, well, who knows may be wishing me good luck. Without responding back to their good wishes, I quietly left home. Macks was there, waiting for me in the nearby lane. 4:15-4:30 am, we started to ride slowly on the silent empty roads towards Domlur. Met Punit and Vinesh near Domlur flyover. 

Now a group of four, we were on our way to capture the hills. The plan was to reach Devanahalli town via the Sivas road instead of the NH-7 express highway thus experiencing the early morning scenic sunrise on the village roads far away from the city and traffic. The fresh earthy fragrant air, wide open fields, dark sky lit by bright stars and a subtle red light of a breaking dawn at far horizon behind the coconut trees was breathtaking. Stopped just after the Budigere village for a pee break. Devanahalli crossed, we were soon ridding on the beautiful Nandi Durga road. 68 km feeling quite fresh, reached 'Nandi Beta' the base of the hill, met three other riders who were also doing the climb. Had a chit chat and a good breakfast of idli vada and tea, refilled the water bottles and started the outright vertical accent.

There is always something magical something thrilling about climbing. It makes one euphoric in spite of the hard work, the grueling torture and pain one goes through. This one we were attempting has around 500 m of elevation in 7.2 km, with the last 3 km of the climb being a bit steep with sharp hairpins. Pretty enough to burn one out. The hill with altitude of 4,851 ft (1,479 m) above sea level resembles a sleeping bull (Nandi) and requires a bull strength to climb literally. Out of the total seven cyclist, it was the first time experience for the three cyclist riding with me and all were able to nail it down. Celebrating our achievements, we rested for a while, just after the arched gateway to Nandidurga (Fort) at the top.

Going downhill was a sweet delightful rewarding treat but did not last long, we were all back to the base in few minutes. Had a second round of idli vada and badam milk breakfast at the base to refill our empty and hungry fuel tanks. A good chit chat with the co riders, all satisfied, but there was one more challenge left that is to go back home, facing the intense heat of the day. 

It was already 10:30 am hot and bright with no trace of clouds in the sky. We decided to take the express highway this time. I on my road bike was riding at a faster pace in order to reach home as early as possible. 11:30 am blazing bright, the highway was reflecting a lot of heat. No tree cover, the harsh sun and just 2 hrs of sleep the previous night was was making ride tough. It sucked up every bit of energy in me. I tried to focus, managed to ride nonstop in solo mode all the way to home. 1:10 pm, tired and exhausted, unlocked the door of the house, throwing the bike against the wall, crashed on bed and slept within seconds.

And yes, that certainly was, the best sleep I experienced in the recent times. Wondering, how come I forgot to even shut close the main door of the house before sleeping. Now i know why :P :)))

Punit, Mudit, Macks, Vinesh @ Nandi Hill top

Bamboo Bicycle Parking Stand - A DIY Project

Bamboo Bicycle Parking Stand - A DIY Project

"Let me leave the cycle here on the wall this time .. mmm .. " that is exactly what goes on in my mind every time i am trying to park the the bike at home. The fact that i have to bend down in an effort to put the bike on or off a conventional metal display stand that i have and that too after a long tiring bike ride is not cool. Leaning the bike against the wall in a casual but careless fashion is an obvious solution but then, you know that's too much of an lazy attitude, not to mention the marks you get on the wall and the bike. Lately, i have been thinking of better ways, something practical that is as easy as being lazy. Well this eventually stuck me.

I have been looking at it, it was a scrap abandoned piece of bamboo that has been lying and rotting in front of my house on the corner of the street from months, who knows maybe years. One day i bought it home, salvaging the dead unknown, giving it a chance to be alive again. After cleaning off the heaps of dirt, not surprised though, found 2 spiders and a lizard living in it. Carefully removed the little cute creatures and let them go back into the wild where they belong. 

With the new carpenter born in me, i decided to build. The objective was clear. A simple, yet effective design that is unique, ingenious, innovative, functional, aesthetically pleasing to my taste and most importantly that requires minimum or no tools to make. Yeah that's important, I am no carpenter here and i ain't got any tools except a kitchen knife, a pliers and a basic cutting blade.

Meticulously planned the shape on paper, started the work by cutting the bamboo in strips of desired length followed by hand sanding them for hours together, Then came the assembly part but wait! .. am i missing something here? does that require nails or the least a glue? I haven't got either. So what, there is always a way out. Thought of using a cotton chord alone to hold pieces together. Luckily i had that and it did seem to work. The structural design ensures a good stability anyways. Within no time the product was ready but there is a little more to it.

The polish. Now everything that i have used so far in the construction has been  the already available materials, i was in no mood to buy a polish from market. Did the research. Coconut oil from kitchen has more uses than what we know of. One such i have tried here, being a wood finisher or polish, and it does work, giving a deep mat finish with very subtle shine, bringing out the natural grain of wood at the same time.

With the junk bamboo and its rough edges, the cuts, the notches, the scratches, the chord joints, the coconut polish, all give this product a very raw, rusty organic feel, like some ancient furniture (ok better to say its a desi jugard :P)

Total cost of construction including the labour charges was Rs 0. Parking the bike is now as simple as gently sliding the tyre in its middle pocket. Its not bombproof but sturdy enough to hold the bike in place forever.

Few pic and the final product.

the design

work in progress

cute looking square lashed bamboo joints

the final product

testing with the bike parked in and its damn stable

love the raw style (total desi :P)

Finally

300+ km night-out bicycle ride

A short poem and a sketch capturing the spirit of sleepless, full night-out, bicycle ride experienced on a self supported, 310 km Bangalore - Hiriyur - Bangalore brevet ride, covered in almost 17 hours, with about 14 hours of riding. Adding the commute distances from the start/end point to home registered a total of 346 km on the day, my longest ever.

endless highway, complete pitch black
a dreaded deep stillness, so pervasive so expansive
this darkness a void, an indefinite pause in time
like everything else had stopped, only the pedals kept spinning

-mudit

The experience in short:

23rd June' 2012. Excitement filled my heart to fullest, when I left home around 9:00 PM, to witness the longest ride of my life. 10:00 PM, MG road, the moment began. An initial chocking traffic at MG road, then the long confusing flyovers of  Yeshwantpur Railway Station, finally into the butter smooth NH4, a roadies delight. An irresistible rush of adrenaline, low aero posture, hands on the drops and eyes fixed straight ahead, speeds scaled up like a bullet just fired from a gun. 55 km, a stop at half closed Kamat, near Dabaspet, water bottles refilled, moved on to Tumkur. Thereafter, except some lorries and a few cars, no street lights, no road side shops, no civilization to be seen. Dark endless, lifeless road lay ahead. Deadly, scary, exciting, interesting. Power lights installed on handlebars of the bike and the white strip on the edge of road to follow, being the saviour of the night. Soon, 107 km, a stretch break near Karajeevanhalli toll gate. Weather surprisingly pleasant, a gentle flowing breeze, pitch black darkness,  clear skies and a full array of stars, the little embedded diamonds, shining with radiant brilliance, it all seemed to be a different world, a world cut off from our world, a world of solitude, of true heavenly freedom.

4:30 AM, some stiffness in lower back, shoulders and neck, an urge to sleep, almost dozed off a couple of times while riding, still kept the momentum. Another water break. 5:30 AM, 162 km, Hiriyur, the turn about point, went looking for the control ATM. 6:15 AM, stopped at Idli point, to find no Idlis available, settled for a coffee, some biscuts, a good leg and back stretch, then started off, back to Bangalore at a lower pace. Little after Sira, a stop at Kamat, a good breakfast. The fatigue and soreness magically vanished, moved on. Sun showed up quite well, soon became hot, pace reduced, fatigue increased. Midday, a big lunch near Dobaspet. The heat of the day being quiet intense by now, ridding became difficult. Bums burning on the saddle, hands numb on the handlebars, back stiff, leg muscles tired. Last 30 km left, gathered some nerve, continued, slow and steady. Several streams of sweat pouring from face, last 10 km a struggle, reached CCD, Hesaraghatta, the end point, bicycle parked. Dumping myself on sofa, a big mug of grande cappuccino coffee in hand, some chit chat with other riders, the story got an happy end, and i felt awesome in return of the effort.

A couple of hours later, cycled back to home, and slept within minutes :)

Some Pics:

the route: point A to B to A

one hour before the ride

installing water bottles, air pump, tools, new tires, lights, food etc

The bike is all ready for the trip

midnight the reflector jacket is working

submitting the time stamps at the finish point CCD

the finishers

a sun burnt happy ending :)

The leaving note:

Thanks to IISC Randonneurs and all co riders. It was one of the best rides, the night ride part being the favorite :)

5000 km of cylcing

Today, an historic day, just crossed 5000 km mark on my bicycle. Almost 11 months of ridding. An incredible journey so far. The bicycle with all its gear being the most expensive product that i have ever purchased in my life, repeatedly stood the test of time to be one of the most value for the money stuff. Honestly speaking, i think, this simple efficient machine changed my lifestyle forever. 

Happy riding.

Some stats so far.

mileage covered 5002 km
time taken 11 months
time spent only pedaling 11 days 6 hrs 47 minutes
approximate calories burnt 266100 calories
no of wheel spins 2345054 revolutions
approximate fuel saved (if i had a car 15km/l, 69rs/l) 23000 rupees
no of flat tires 1 after 4766 km

the historic moment of crossing the 5000 km mark on bicycle

A failed attempt - with happy smile

This is a summary of my recent attempt at the 300km Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) Brevet ride dated December 17, 2011.

So here is my story. Being my first 300km+ bicycle ride, was excited about the event, the excitement doubled due to  none 100km+ rides done in past 3 months, was eagerly waiting for the day. The ride would take me across 3 states Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, where i had to cover a total of 315km in 20hrs. wow!

The previous night preparations included, procuring some high energy goodies at the grocery store, packs   of electrolytes from the medical store, some general gear check up, installing high power front lights and rear strobe (as a few hours towards the end had to done in the night), lubing chains, inflating tires and all that stuff followed by a hot shower and an sleepless night :P anyways, woke up early at 4:45am, slipped into the compression clothing, a reflector jacket on top, set myself on the saddle, to peddle 10km to the start point, the MG Road metro station, in a serene and quite early morning chill. Being the the first one to reach there, waited for bunch of co-riders and organizers to arrive, signed off waver form, got the brevet card stamped, received a cue sheet with a map and kicked off for the big ride sharp 6am.

The early morning darkness lifted off within minutes, was soon cruising through the dense misty fog all the way up to Hoskote where took a right turn towards Malur. Water droplets dripping off the helmet, wet hands engulfed in fog, ridding felt like a dream. Highways shrunk into narrower village roads. A tough time maneuvering through a numerous patchy stretches and a consistent wind resistance to slow me down. every small bump on the road faithfully transmitted all throughout the body. The fantastic weather being on my side helped to keep moving on. After a fresh hot idlis at Malur at 43km, refilled my water stock and headed toward the Tekal. Roads were decent with sudden broken tarmacs in between. Small towns of Bangarapet, Bethamangala, Venkatagirikota were soon crossed. The co-riders gave  a wonderful company. Stopped in between a couple of times, stretched, ate countless roadside bananas, had a hot refresher tea, while the local people and children gathered around to see, touch and inquire about the expensive looking bicycles with techno gadgetry and strange thin wheels. Told them about the trip and got big smiles back, soon moved on.

As the time passed off, eventually sun made its presence felt. A midday and i was riding into Andhra. Kind of felt exhausted with the rising mercury, but then a 20km decent from Vekatagirikota into the deep gorges of Peranampattu was the sweet desert. Crowded town of Peranampattu at 142km under 1:30pm blazing sun felt crazy hot. Unable to find a decent place to rest and feed myself a lunch, gulped 2 rounds of orange juice and started to Vaniyambadi at a little lower pace. The Peranampattu-Ambur stretch was a cool surprise, In spite of being hot, an awesome country side, roads lined up with luscious green trees with wide canopies, the coconut plantations, black grapes, sugarcane fields, plump tamarinds fallen from the trees,  the spectacular sight of small houses and village life by the road side was wonderful to watch.

The radiant sun slowly turned into pleasant yellow. After 180km of almost a non stop hard ridding, it felt nice to be on the smooth Bangalore-Chennai Highway. Felt hungry and exhausted.

Final Destination still 120km away, was going strong and confident but, unfortunately developed some weird knee pain, took the most needed rest and lunch at Cholas highway restaurant at 5:30pm, started again, pushing myself to another 40km upto Krishnagiri only to increase the pain to the point where pedaling further felt difficult and impossible. The long krishnagiri-hossur climbs waiting ahead felt like a monster. Had enough of strength and endurance to make it but the knees wouldn't just allow to move further, decided to drop off from ride, a wise decision indeed. Dark 7:00pm looking out for transport, found a mini truck at Krishnagiri, threw myself and the bike in. Although felt relieved but cant explain how bad it felt to drop off from the ride i was counting on from weeks. wanted so much to finish this ride. Safely back in Bangalore, a hot shower, followed by a dead sleep, the hard day came to an end and i became the 'Did Not Finish' (DNF) in the ride  :(

Nevertheless 220km is still a big number. Actually its not about the number but the journey and the experience and i am happy to have absorbed and grown on that :)

It was good overall experience with a lot of lessons to learn. 

1. Never mess up with the bike fit settings just before a big ride
2. Practice long rides more often. Long brevet rides aren't jokes. They aren't impossible either but they just need a different planning, preparation and strategy
3. Speed thrills but still avoid hitting those big gears on a long ride. Take it easy on knees
4. Loose weight. A reduction of mere 2kg makes hell lot of difference specifically on the climbs

A quick search on the net showed up ITB syndrome mixed with micro trauma due to overuse. A full recovery from the injury being crucial for speedy rehabilitation.

Its been more than couple of weeks now and things seems perfectly fine. Currently focusing on the overall fitness and the right cycling techniques, have already started doing short frequent low gear, high cadence rides. Luck next time.

Some Ride Statistics

Start time: 6am
Drop time: ~7pm 

Total time: ~13hrs
Total distance: 220km

Max Speed: 53.4kmph

avg speed: 21kmph


Elevation profile and the Map of the route

Google map - Kolar Gold Fields 300K BRM

On my first double century bicycle ride

Summary of Bangalore - Karadevanahalli Toll Gate (near Sira) Brevet 200k Sunday 26:06:2011

My Bike

bike: Trek 1.5 road bike, 2011
jersey no: B-721
wake up time: 04:02 am
start time: 06:00 am
finish time: 05:34 pm (01:56 hrs before the close time)
average speed: 24 kph
total trip distance: 242.63 km (200 km + home to start point + end point to home)
total riding time on bicycle (excluding rest and breaks): 10:05 hrs
weather: pleasant cloudy sunny rainy windy
nutrition: water, Gatorade, almonds n nuts, energy bars, banana, cold drinks, cookies, masala dosa, fried rice, tea, coffee
current status: going to fall dead asleep anytime now, with sore aching body, numb hands, tanned forearms legs and a very BIG SMILE on face

finally got the most awaited medal on
Dec 2011, came all the way from Paris.
I am so happy :)

at 200k finish point .. that's me in Blue!

A close up of the most awaited medal.
200km brevet June 26, 2011

Thanks to the Bangalore Brevets, BBCh and Randonneurs India, for organizing the event, 

I had a great time.


route link: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mbrxmenznnuqsykn

http://randonneursindia.blogspot.com/

http://www.bangalorebrevets.in/2011/june/sira-200/