tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79569265983523070262024-03-08T14:59:58.564+05:30VeloLifeAlways the highest possible gear that can be maintained effortlesslyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-12451663298195812812015-06-07T12:19:00.000+05:302015-07-04T18:13:59.347+05:30The Golden rules of an Amateur cycling Team<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
1. You should have at least 2 bikes. If NOT you should never blame the bike for skipping a ride.<br />
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2. Speed should be always higher than average speed. If NOT turn back home and try again.<br />
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3. Never wait > 5 min. If you reach late, chase, catch, do all the pulling and pay for breakfast.<br />
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4. If you are heavy, climb more. If you are skinny, increase your power. No technical loose talk.<br />
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5. Rest day is ONLY for bike not for the rider. Clean bikes, Shave legs - rest day.<br />
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6. Cross training is important but it's OK to ride easy for 2 days and ride hard for 4 days..<br />
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7. Any accessories/components for sale should be within the group first and then for others.<br />
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8. We really don't care when you sleep but when you set the alarm you should see "8 hours left"<br />
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9. 300 km/12 hours is a week's target. If you can't, then climb at least 2000 meters in a week.<br />
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10. Never give importance to Garmin, Strava, FB data and users. There is Nothing to prove.<br />
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11. Sleeping is always better than rest or recovery. It's free. Ride lots Sleep lots.<br />
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12. During the feed zone ( breakfast ) one guy must always have his eyes on all the bikes.<br />
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If all the above 12 rules are followed for every 12 months in an year, riders have earned their KIT. Remember it's not how good you look on a bike its all about how much you can hurt those who ride with you. Keep riding...Keep Suffering </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-7871971734580066682014-08-14T20:06:00.002+05:302014-08-14T21:22:36.005+05:30Suffering around Kere Thonnur - My 3rd Duathlon story.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A big thanks to the organizers and volunteers of Enduro team to manage the permissions, logistics, accommodation bookings, 150+ participants for triathlon/duathlon, pre race pasta, post race puliyogre etc. It was a wonderful event that i plan to keep coming back every year. For more details <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thonnur-Lake-Triathlon/258882474236941">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thonnur-Lake-Triathlon/258882474236941</a><br />
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I had already biked/run at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BangaloreAmateurRacing/photos/a.409077325858886.1073741835.388180401281912/409077382525547/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">BAR #1</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BangaloreAmateurRacing/photos/a.441964579236827.1073741836.388180401281912/441977025902249/?type=1&theater" target="_blank">BAR #2</a> and had won both of them. But unlike those here the cycling leg was a mass start. Not a flat course and hence no TT bar on my bike.<br />
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You decide well in advance why do you want to race. For Fun or to Win. If it is about winning,<br />
get ready to hurt yourself cause it's never easy to win any race unless your first name is Eddy and last name is Merckx. Just 40.6 km cycling with 363 mt elev gain and 10.6 km *trail* running.<br />
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The field had just 5 strong contenders. The rest were never a threat. One of them was a sponsored rider who is also a fast running Frisbee player. The other 3 were sub40 10 km runners and decent bikers. With hardly 10 runs in the last 6 months I less i talk about my running the better.<br />
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Marking guys and Watching out for any moves - is complicated for me. As the race started I just split the field. Break away. If you can't run like them at least bike fast is what I said to myself. The idea was to finish the cycling leg before the fast runners finish and start the running leg immediately without changing shoes as the transition time counts too. This is what i have done with my previous duathlons. I know it wouldn't have taken much time but every second counts.<br />
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The 1st 2 kms was getting down the hill on a narrow patchy road and go through a village that had<br />
several women washing clothes with street-dogs and hens watching them. SCARY. Adding to it we had excited riders who never had any sort of experience riding in a race or bunch.<br />
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Once I hit the highway I decided to time trial as hard as possible till i get the Belgian toothpaste. Solo breakaway. After 20 kms I did turn a few times to check if i was being chased. And yes I was being chased. KKR was trying to bridge the gap with 2 more riders behind him. Every turn same visual. Looked like nobody was helping him and he did all the work against the wind. Making other's suffer is a nice feeling.<br />
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After 25 kms, On a steep section with 2 or 3 hairpin bends I heard a gear click noise behind me.<br />
It was indeed KKR. Later we were joined by another rider who was more interested in wheel sucking than sharing the load. We spent the next few kms together but i did manage to drop the 3rd guy though he tried to stay on my wheel. By this time KKR had created a gap. The last 500 meter or so is a steep climb back to the hill top that had the start line. With people cheering on either side I hit the finish line few seconds behind him.<br />
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Got off the bike, walked on the mat with timing chip on my ankle I heard the expected beep sound.<br />
Put the bike aside removed shoes and immediately took out the helmet and started running. All this while KKR was on a chair changing into his running gear.<br />
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As expected KKR caught me and we ran till the U turn together. The volunteer's put a band around our wrist and we picked up water - all this without stopping. During return we saw 3 fast runners one behind the other - the usual questions. How far they are from us ? How many more mins ? Last 2 kms i did a fake surge just to check if he is keen to follow me. But KKR had his own plans and as usual he attacked during the last km and I didn't had the juice to close the gap. The hill top finish did hurt me more than the blisters on my feet. I finished 22 seconds behind KKR. I hugged him and I collapsed later.<br />
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The suffering ends after 2:06:35 seconds into the race.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-16740257062910329912014-08-01T21:43:00.002+05:302014-08-02T17:57:37.428+05:30My Touring bike ... Finally<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A dream bike exclusively for randonneuring and touring. Something made of good steel, that can take fat tires and also allows me to load it with fenders and racks. A Versatile bike that i can say it's my commuter, it's my tourer and if needed my cyclocross bike. BUT keeping the costs low by either buying used components or making the most of my unused spare items lying around.<br />
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Thanks to Sandeep I adopted his 4 year old Bianchi Volpe frameset that came with fork, new headset, seatpost, crank, crank arms and BB at an attractive price. Along with the baby I also got it 's toys like supernova dynohub powered light, VO spacers, Cantilever brake units.<br />
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I already had the following accessories some of them from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/happyearthindia" target="_blank">Happyearth</a><br />
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3 panaracer pasela tires ( 28 mm )<br />
Decent wheelset<br />
Racks ( VO pass hunter and Topeak rear )<br />
SP Dynohub<br />
Brooks B17 Saddle ( Narrow Black color )<br />
Scor Drop handlebar<br />
Retroshifters 9 speed ( Goats )<br />
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Thanks to Crankmeister Bicycle Works especially Riyaaz, Nikhil, and Pavan who built this bike exactly how I wanted it to be built. In fact Riyaaz is so fast that he built my bike and 2 more wheels for Surly Xcheck the same day. Initially I decided to go with 8 speed gear keeping in mind the low maintenance cost of chain and cassette. But I couldn't get good shifters as I didn't like the Sora button style shifter. I had tried to sell my Retroshifters earlier but since nobody brought it i used it for 3*9 setup.<br />
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New items that went onto to this bike includes<br />
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SRAM hub for rear wheel<br />
9 speed chain<br />
9 speed cassette<br />
LizardSkin bar tape that matches bianchi's popular celeste color<br />
Gear and Brake Cables<br />
30 degree 70 mm Giant stem ( Less aggressive More upright )<br />
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Thanks to KKR I got used fenders ( Planet bikes ).<br />
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I just rode the bike from the Store to Home ( 20km ). Today i installed the fenders myself. I wish to ride as many miles as possible on this beautiful bike. If you ever meet me during my ride you can drool over this beauty as close as possible. Till then eat more sleep more ride more ...</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-62220135603634131322014-07-07T18:37:00.002+05:302014-07-07T18:44:48.211+05:30B2B ride-Bangalore To Bhadra<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After successfully executing BMBT ( Blue Mountain Biking Tour ) Balu and Dr. Shankar came out<br />
with yet another endurance ride - B2B ride ( Bangalore to Bhadra ) - a 280 km single day ride from Bangalore to Bhadra reservoir. Ride till Bhadra Dam, Stay in the forest guesthouse, Boating and Safari the next morning and return by Car. As usual they kept things simple - Overall cost, Logistics, Pickup points, Luggage drop point and Recovery drinks :-)<br />
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Thanks to Wheel sports staff and Venkatesh Shivarama for supporting us from the beginning.<br />
Thanks to Mr. Badri for providing support vehicle and staff.<br />
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On 5th July 2014, 13 riders met at a point and started riding towards Tumkur road and then took the NH-48 road ( Mangalore ) . The ride on NH-48 was pleasant as the traffic was not as busy as our infamous SH-17. After riding together for 30+ Km I took off thinking that all of us will anyway meet at Mayura hotel for breakfast. I kept on pedaling and at around 100 Km I stopped for Idlis and Coffee.<br />
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I continued to ride and just before the Right turn to Arsikere, I had another break for Coffee and Biscuits. The road was smooth, quiet and rolling. A bit of drizzle now and then made me happy.</div>
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Arsikere, the town that i didn't explore is on my radar and shortly i might ride again - in touring mode. I have to see the Pond built by a Princess ( Arsikere - Arsi means Queen and Kere means Pond ). I also want to climb the 1300 steps of Malekal hill to see the standing Venkateshwara - The only place other than Tirupathi where the Lord stands. At Arsikere, I had some snacks and got to know that i have to cross Kadur, Birur and then reach TariKere. At this point I am moving from Hassan district to Chikmagalur district.The sun had came out and I was getting tired. I had jack fruits as i crossed the railway gate.</div>
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Once i reached Tarikere ( a town that is popular for large number of water tanks surrounding it )</div>
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I found that i didn't had water in my bottles. So it was time to refill water and eat some snacks.</div>
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I had completed 260 km so far in 11 hours. 20 km more to reach the Bhadra dam (Lakkavalli village).</div>
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In spite of the bad monsoon this time, As i entered Lakkavalli ( the site of DAM across Bhadra river )</div>
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I was bowled over by the lush green vegetation and the remote grand impressive hill ranges. </div>
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This Dam that is surrounded by western ghats serves irrigation, drinking water supply, power generation. For Tigers and Elephants, Get into Bhadra Wildlife at the backwaters of this dam..</div>
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Around 5:38 PM I reached the Forest Department Guest house where i took bath and stood in a borrowed towel waiting for my Bag that was coming in the support vehicle. The cool breeze from the surrounding lake was the best thing to happen after a long bicycle ride. </div>
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Finally my Shorts arrived, I mean the support vehicles and all riders arrived.</div>
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It was a pleasure to reunite with friends and all of them quickly freshened themselves. All of us were eager to enjoy recovery-drinks and hot and spicy dinner. Topic ranged from wildlife to the way cycling tours and races are conducted. The usual gosSIPs with SIPs of Kho-DAYs made our DAY. </div>
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Next day we headed towards the backwater for a boat ride.</div>
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It was a delight to watch hundreds of beautiful yellow billed Red Legged River terns screaming and flying so low to catch fishes. These birds breed only on rivers. </div>
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And finally we took the customary group photo and got back into our support vehicles heading towards Bangalore. Every rider was dropped back exactly where they wanted to get down and all of us reached home safely. I would like to thank everybody ( KP, Balu, Vinay, Sharath, Skandan, Diwakar, Satish and All the 4 awesome Doctors ) who made this scenic, memorable ride possible that will be forever etched in my memory. I hope all of you have cleaned your bikes and let's all meet for yet another awesome ride. Till then ..Keep riding.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-78881350167228655002013-02-14T14:49:00.001+05:302013-02-14T14:50:15.532+05:30Ma Kali aur Durga<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: blue;"><b><u>MakaliDurga - Come, Experience the stillness </u></b></span><br />
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A Saturday - On the railway track, Within the boulders that leads to an ancient temple in a ruined fort. This was our 1st family trek. Myself, Wife and our 7 year old daughter Chandana along with Ajay, Ashutosh, Santhosh, Anupama, Patrick - went for weekend trek organized by <a href="http://www.bangaloreascenders.org/" target="_blank">BASC.</a><br />
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Thanks to Santhosh/Patrick who sent emails, handled tickets, breakfast/lunch and other logistics.<br />
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<b>Sat 9th Feb 2013 7AM - KSRTC Bus Stand Platform 12 -</b><br />
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All of us met, introductions followed and we boarded a bus. The bus stops at a place near Doddaballapur where we had yummy south Indian breakfast and packed our lunch too.<br />
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We got down at the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghati_Subramanya" target="_blank">Ghati Subramanya</a> ( a well-known pilgrimage centre ) junction and walked towards a railway track. It was a delight to watch 2 trains over a short period of time pass by us so closely. We used the left side dirt road to reach the foothills of Makalidurga quickly. <br />
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Makalidurga is 60km away from Bangalore and 10+ km after Doddaballapur town. This mountain is filled with date plants, lemon grass and and cactus plants. The landscape is dotted with small, big, steep and slippery boulders.<br />
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Climbing Makalidurga under hot sun with limited hydration/nutrition will drain energy/dehydrate.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Lesson#1 : Reach early/start climbing with min 3 liters of water.</span><br />
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Not much shade, but will be able to find small canopy of thorn filled bushes here and there.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Lesson#2 : Caps/Pocket umbrella's and sun screen.</span><br />
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This granite hillock nestled amidst a chain of mountains is at 1350 mt and is next to railway station.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Lesson#3 : Alternate public transport if you don't prefer bus.</span><br />
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There are 2 huge lakes around this hillock each spreading more than 6km radius.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Lesson#4 : Carry spare clothes/towel if you like to swim.</span><br />
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Mind you, there are no shops or stores in and around the foothills.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Lesson#5 : Ensure to carry enough nutrition and hydration.</span><br />
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Also note that there are no clear cut paths or steps to reach the top.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Lesson#6 : No pain No gain.</span><br />
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Daughter started feeling the steepness of the indomitable boulders and at times i carried her on my back and jumped across the boulders. I was not worried about carrying extra weight or about the fatigue - I was more worried about spraining my ankles or twisting my feet.<br />
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After some time I gave her a snicker's chocolate and with some water as well as short breaks she managed to complete the climb. The Garmin GPS watch say's that the climb was around 3 km with an elevation gain of 320 meters.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Lesson#7 : Enjoy the Nature Feel the Wind Forget the numbers.</span><br />
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Once we reached the top we found a fort in ruins and a Shiva temple. After spending some time enjoying the wind blowing across the hills we took pictures of the sun burnt herbs/shrubs around the dilapidated fort. We had our lunch sitting in the shade of the deserted temple. Drinking water was wasted for washing hands and this proved to be fatal during the descent.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Lesson #8 : Carry hand sanitizers or wet tissues.</span><br />
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None of us threw plastic covers here and there. All the plastic covers were brought back.<br />
<span style="color: red;">Lesson#9 : Never carry food packets/anything in plastic covers</span><br />
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We underestimated the descent - I kept telling my daughter that it's easy to go down than climb up. But the slow and steady descent due to the uneven surface under the hot sun was too much for her. With absolutely no water and not keeping others in sight - it was a struggle for her till the end. Finally she managed to reach the base and by the time we were down - it was only me and her. Others got down before us and were taking rest in a temple below where an old man offered them drinking water. Patrick came back running with a bottle of water and my kid gulped it quickly.<br />
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At the temple, after some rest Santhosh, Anupama, Patrick and Ajay as well as Ashutosh decided to get into Gunjur Lake. Swimming is something that i am still learning, I stayed back to take care of my daughter. But i ended up taking a power nap as she was playing around the temple.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Lesson#10 : Learn to swim and don't miss open water opportunities</span><br />
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Around 5 pm, others returned and we all packed and took a detour to the main road. We stopped a moving bus to Bangalore and on the way expenses were settled. <i> </i><br />
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<i>Thus we ended a simple economical weekend trek where we experienced stillness and solitude by being one with the mighty nature than riding in car and mingling with unruly noisy crowd throwing plastic and tantrums everywhere...</i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-91591872948854943952012-12-24T15:15:00.000+05:302013-07-01T12:10:41.126+05:30BLUE MOUNTAN BICYCLE TOUR<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The <a href="http://sbkbalu.wix.com/cycling-tour" target="_blank">Blue Mountain Bicycle tour</a> ended on Saturday 22 Dec 2012. Around 10 riders rode through the scenic lush green tea estates in and around the misty mountains of western ghats.<br />
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The tour covered an approximate distance of 600 km in 8 days with a rest day in between.<br />
Each rider had the option of joining either Group A or Group B - based on the distance/elevation decided for that day. All riders had dedicated support crew/vehicles.<br />
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Special thanks to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wheelsportsin/107099686007884?fref=ts" target="_blank">Wheelsports </a>( <a href="http://www.facebook.com/venkatesh.shivarama?fref=ts" target="_blank">Mr.Venkatesh Sivarama</a> ) for supporting us in making this tour a grand success. On behalf of all the riders a heartfelt thanks to our support staff <a href="http://www.facebook.com/deepak.sondur.1?fref=ts" target="_blank">Deepak Sondur</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbsharath?fref=ts" target="_blank">Sharat Chandra</a> for helping us all along the tour by driving the cars with snacks,water & accessories. Also they took some <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152334994155057.938433.751740056&type=3" target="_blank">amazing snaps</a> of tour riders. <br />
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And finally a big thanks to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/jillako?fref=ts" target="_blank">Arvind Ganesh</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/venkat.murugesan?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank">Venkatesh Murugesan</a> for providing the <a href="http://www.seasucker.com/" target="_blank">Sea Sucker</a> and <a href="http://www.saris.com/" target="_blank">Saris</a> racks to carry our bikes. Thanks to Tour Director/Rider/Sprinter/Climber *whatever* :-) <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Balu.Blr?fref=ts" target="_blank">Balu</a> for all the planning and background work.<br />
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I need to mention that the Sea Sucker racks from <a href="http://www.facebook.com/happyearthindia?fref=ts" target="_blank">HappyEarth</a> proved to be the best equipment we carried for the tour. This simple to use and easy to handle bike racks use vacuum mounts ( cups ) and they hold very well to metal or glass surface. These racks works on any cars unlike brands which can either fit for Hatchback or Sedan or Jeeps. I would highly recommend these racks to anybody taking different cars for cycling trips.<br />
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<b>DAY #1 : Bangalore to Srirangapatna</b><br />
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0n 15th Dec 2012, 6 riders met at <a href="http://www.wheelsports.in/" target="_blank">WheelSports</a> and started the ride via the SH17 to Srirangapatna. I joined <a href="http://www.facebook.com/kansmax?fref=ts" target="_blank">Siddharth Kansal</a> who was riding strong at 35kph pace and it was looking like we were about to reach the destination in just 4+ hours. As this was a long tour we wanted to save our legs for the next few days and decided to take it easy atleast on the very first day. We took a 45 min break at Mandya waiting till all rider's gathered for juice/coffee. We stopped at Arpitha Farm house Srirangapatna. 2 more riders Sandeep and Hema along with our support staff Deepak and Sharath joined us at Arpritha Guest House by evening.<br />
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<b>DAY #2 : Srirangapatna to Masinagudi ( Bandipur climb )</b><br />
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Thanks to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/anilalur?fref=ts" target="_blank">Anil</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bharath.roshan.9?fref=ts" target="_blank">Bharat</a> ( SKCT rider ) for joining us on the 2nd day ride. We started riding from Srirangapatna towards Masinagudi. The rider's were riding at their own pace through Mysore and Nanjangud till all of us reached Gundlupet CCD. Siddharth and Bharat were looking very strong during the Bandipur climbs. At times they would do bunny hops and accelerate. Some of us chased them and finished the Bandipur climb quickly. Around evening Mark Anderson and Sudha arrived and we all had a good time eating our dinner around the campfire. The entire team stayed at Tamarind tree resort with nice cottages spread across the foothills of Nilgiris.<br />
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<b>DAY #3 : Masinagudi to Coonoor </b><br />
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While Group A riders did the Kalahatty a steep but short climb, Group B riders did the Gudalur which is less steeper but a longer climb. I was part of Group A climbing the famous kalahatty climb to reach Ooty. Even before we reach the 36 hairpin bends, there were few steep sections to be handled. Curve after curve it seemed a never ending climb. The numbers demotivate a first time climber as it takes several curves to just reach the next hairpin bend. The last few hairpin bends were quite lengthy and steeper. They say that a sub2 hour timing for kalahatty is pretty decent. All i had was 2 small bananas and 1 liter of Gatorade as we had decided earlier that the entire support system ( 2 cars/2 crew ) will be for Group B riders climbing Gudalur.<br />
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Siddharth finished first with a time of 1:18 min, Mark was next and I finished third with a time of 1:41 min. Minutes later Balu arrived. After sipping coffee and having some chickis all 4 of us started riding towards coonor. I need to mention here that <a href="http://www.facebook.com/vinaydev4u?fref=ts" target="_blank">Vinay</a> who joined us for the kalahatty climb completed the entire climb and ride to coonoor on his MTB.<br />
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We reached Coonor early. Mark Anderson treated us to an awesome lunch at 180Mciver, a 115 year old colonial hotel. Around evening the Group B riders and support staff arrived at Coonoor. <br />
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The entire team stayed at <a href="http://web.salvationarmy.org/ind/www_ind.nsf/vw-sublinks/80256E520050A2E280256CA60073B07D?openDocument" target="_blank">Salvation Army</a>, the best budget hotel that is not just affordable but also ideal for teetotalers. This hotel is a Non profit organization that is into charity. The food served particularly during dinner is heavy in terms of number of items and tasty.Before dinner some of us explored the town and also brought some home made chocolates for next day's ride.<br />
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Leaving Masinagudi, with all bags packed into Support Vehicles.<br />
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Group photo before we separated for Kalahatty and Gudalur climbs<br />
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Gudalur Climb pic#1<br />
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Gudalur Climb pic#2<br />
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Gudalur Climb pic#3<br />
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<b>DAY #4 : Coonoor to Mettupalyam Loop ( Mettupalyam Descent/Ascent )</b><br />
On Day4, Group A and Group B riders got seperated after the initial few kms. The Group B rider's went on to Kodanad view point via Kothagiri. The Group A rider's enjoyed a high speed descent of Mettupalyam and started to climb back to coonor. This was a true sufferfest as the legs were already tired from 3 days of riding and climbing. Once the climbs got over, the riders took a short break and moved towards Kothagiri for lunch. Post lunch it was a downhill ride towards Coonor. <br />
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As usual the Group B riders arrived by evening and i heard that they too had a nice ride. They got to see the awesome Kodanad view point and also had wonderful lunch at a tourist bunglow.<br />
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We visited Vinay's friend's shop ( Celebrations ) and brought chocolaes and tea powder. Post dinner, I took out the car to Ooty, to drop Vinay who had actually joined us only for 4 days. Sandeep, Deepak and My wife also joined me in bidding him farewell.<br />
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Group A riders climbing MettuPalyam ride pic#1<br />
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Group A riders climbing Mettupalyam ride pic#2<br />
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Sandeep didn't ride today and he was the additional crew<br />
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Group B rider's at Kodanad View point<br />
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Group B rider Shyam at Kodanad view point<br />
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Group B rider Uday riding towards Kodanad view point<br />
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Mark climbing from MettuPalyam towards Coonor<br />
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Myself and Balu grabbing water from support vehicle while climbing from Mettupalyam<br />
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Karate Kid Siddharth Kansal finished the Mettupalyam Climb first<br />
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MettuPalyam climb done and dusted by Group A riders<br />
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Myself riding back to Coonoor<br />
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<b>Day 5 : Rest day </b><br />
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Most of us woke up late. There were lot of monkeys around Salvation Army and we were watching and feeding them bananas. Pre Lunch the support crew went for a cycle ride and it was so nice to see Deepak Sondur and Sharath ride towards Ooty along with Shyam. Lunch was again a treat from Mark and this time it was at the Taj. We also spent quality time with Mark Anderson in a local GYM where he provided us tips/guidelines about strength training as part of cross training.<br />
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Our support crew member Deepak proved that he had the best cooking skills too.<br />
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Mark demonstrating the correct form of certain workouts at a local gym.<br />
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<b>Day 6 : Coonoor to Upper Bhavani ( Silent Valley climb )</b><br />
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Both the Group A and Group B riders started together as the route was same for both. Slowly the gap between each rider increased. This was the most scenic ride compared to other rides so far. Till Manjoor I was with other Group A riders ie Mark, Balu and Sid.Once the pace increased i couldn't close the gap. I got dropped and it was a solo ride. <br />
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The ride to silent valley was really SILENT.At times it was scary. I started hitting the bad roads and with absolute silence around even the crush of a dry twig made me alert. During the ride i turned to my left and i saw a sambhar standing and watching me. There was lot of shade in some sections of the road and those sections were really dark and scary. For some reason I was not comfortable riding alone. For a long time i didn't see anybody passing me from either side. I somehow felt i might be in a wrong route. To be on a safer side i turned back and rode few <b>km</b>. Once i passed the tea estate i spoke to few localites who said there was nothing to worry and that i was on the right track. I started to climb the hills again and this time when i hit the same section of bad road I was riding fast. I got to see 2 roads and i took the right one that goes to Upper Bhavani.<br />
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This road was full of small gravels and i was making a lot of noise going downhill and all of sudden i had a flat in my rear tire. I stopped and got down. Though i can manage to use a spare tube quickly I went back to road where the 2 roads originated. I removed my shoes and tried calling the support crew as i didn't wanted to be alone. There was no signal.While i was fixing my flat, fortunately Deepak arrived in his Bolero to help me. The flat was fixed in minutes and i was ready to ride.<br />
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I saw Mark riding back. Mark, Sid and Balu took the left road instead of right and had almost gone to Kerala:-) So they had to come back and take the right one to silent valley. Having to deal with bad roads towards silent valley again Mark lost interest and wanted to ride back to coonoor by noon. By this time Sandeep and Shyam also joined me and we rode till Upper Bhavani . All of us had lunch together that was brought by one of our support crew.<br />
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I was amazed by the lake, dam and the overall landscape and i felt blessed to be in front of this paradise. The mood swings due to bad patchy road and the flat tire vanished. Very soon the Group B riders and support crew too joined us for lunch and photo session.<br />
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I didn't wanted to return on bad roads again. And hence used the support car to reach a point beyond bad roads to start my ride. Once i got down from car, cursing myself for missing the return ride i was riding at high speed and with just 3km to coonor i got fooled by a signboard and went straight instead of taking a left. This was an amazing descent and Sid followed me blindly. It got dark before we even realized that we were on a wrong route ( Coimbotore ? ) but we didn't contact the support crew as we wanted to climb more and ride more :-) We reached the hotel back by 7:30 PM.<br />
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On the way to Upper Bhavani <br />
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Rear Tire Flat on the way to Upper Bhavai, Fixed but got lazy :-)<br />
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Woke up and I was ready to Climb<br />
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Look at the beatuful blue Upper Bhavani lake behind<br />
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GAS sucks SUPPORT rocks, Tshirts from KHS WheelSports<b>, </b>Sponsor.<br />
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<b>Day 7 : Coonoor to Mudumalai ( Ooty climb and Gudalur downhill )</b><br />
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This was our last day at Coonor and thus all the packing was supposed to be done before our ride. The climb to ooty was not as challenging as other climbs that we did so far.<br />
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REMO @ Salvation Army<br />
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Myself, Balu and Sid climbing ooty from Coonoor<br />
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Mark, Sudha and Shyam climbing ooty from Coonoor <br />
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Upon reaching OOTY, we met TFN Deepak Majipatil. It was so nice of him to get us tea and we spoke for some time. After that we started riding towards MuduMalai via Gudalur downhill. The ride was mostly downhill and it was FAST. Hema had reached OOTY by support car to avoid the climb and had started the ride 30 min before us.As usual i saw Mark and Sid zooming ahead. After some time I saw Sid picking up his bottle. Some more time I overtook Hema and then i saw Mark sitting beside the road who asked me to carry on. He had a flat and was not interested in fixing it or riding any further. It was a solo fast ride till MuduMalai. Once i reached Mudumalai i called Balu and got to know that i need to ride for 6 more km to reach Wilderness resort at Thorapally.<br />
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The stay at this resort will be remembered for a long time as this was the place where a wild elephant had come out of forest in the night to eat the grains in the paddy fields.We witnessed how the local folks burst crackers and shouted loudly to shoo away the elephant. Most of the folks had torches and we could see the Tusker clearly in the dark.Though the tusker had gone back to the jungle it had come again and this time it was so close to our resort that we all had to be extra cautious. True to it's name - wilderness resort was wild in nature with unpredictable tuskers around.<br />
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<b>Day8 : Mudumalai to Gundlupet ( Bangalore )</b><br />
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Mark and Sudha left the resort early morning in one of our support car with Sharath and Shyam. This being the last day of the tour and somehow not liking the idea of changing the cycling attire at Gundlupet coffee day, I decided that I will not ride my cycle. I had already clocked 575km so far and was overall happy about the entire tour. Only 3 rider's - Balu Sid and Uday decided to ride. All the 3 riders and the rest of us reached the Gundlupet coffee and had some snacks to reunite again for lunch at Kamat hotel on Nanjangud road. Vinay who had returned to Bangalore on the 4th day of the tour, had come to mysore and thus joined us at Kamat for lunch. I drove to Bangalore with Sandeep and Hema. Balu, Sid, Uday boarded Deepak's Bolero to reach Bangalore.<br />
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Overall it was a amazing team effort from the riders, volunteers and supporters in making the Blue Mountains Bicycling Tour a grand success.<br />
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1) After all these climbs i need to check if my nandi climb improves :-)<br />
2) My wife lost 3 kgs without doing major climbs :-)<br />
3) Met wonderful people and hope the new found friendship continues for a long time.<br />
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See you at the next edition :-) </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-5723870451189085692012-03-01T01:24:00.000+05:302012-12-27T13:10:18.965+05:30Longest cycle ride-600km/40 hrs-3 states/3680 mt climb<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There are lot of myths and misconceptions around long distance endurance rides especially brevet rides where the time taken to complete the ride and reaching the time stations on time matters a lot. While some think only bikers using road bike can pull it off, some think MTB rider's might find it very difficult. Some think a strategy is always needed to complete it. And some think maintaining just an AVG of 15kmph is enough to finish it. Some think riding a brevet ride itself is a fatuous decision.<br />
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I am not here to prove or disprove anything. As i have completed my 200,300,400 and 600km BRM rides I have to share something that i learnt it the hard way. <br />
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1) Please be familiar with exact route/elevation details and never depend on anybody.<br />
2) Always do the first few 100km or last few 100km of that route as part of your training.<br />
3) Never miss the 1st time station and be on time. This sets the pace and mood of the entire ride.<br />
4) Let go of your ego to help your knees. It's ok to sit/spin on uphills<br />
5) It's ok to get down and push the bike on bad roads. This is india and not france. <br />
6) Ride in a group. Never ride alone. There is a high chance that boredom makes you to quit.<br />
7) Take many short breaks and keep on moving than taking few big breaks.<br />
8) Don't carry too much but remember to have good headlights and spare tubes/batteries.<br />
9) Sleep well and hydrate well the previous day or night.<br />
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I want to share with you how i did my longest and toughest 600km ride/40 hrs.<br />
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<b>Initial hiccups and Panic moments : IISC gymkhana / Kanakpura road ( 11 km )</b><br />
I drove to the start point ( Indian Institute of Science Gymkhana Gate, Yeshwantpur ) just to be on time and to avoid riding back home after a 600km ride. After the initial formalities riders left quickly and i was still busy with something else. I somehow managed to quickly sprint behind them in the dark keeping a watch on their tail lamps. But all of sudden they took a right turn. Just for a moment i lost focus and i didn't see them making a U turn. I took a right and went straight. I was lost. I came back and IISC folks directed me towards Malleshwaram circle. I called few riders but it was obvious that they won't pick or can even hear their phones ring. I took sometime to reach Kanakpura road passing through Malleshwaram,Seshadripuram, Gandhinagar,Cottonpet,Gandhi Bazar and South End Road. I didn't know the route by heart. So hawkers and peddlers were my guides.<br />
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<b>Chasing and Catching others : Kanakapura / Sathnur / Back to Harohalli ( 100 km )</b><br />
Gradually i caught others one by one. Manjula Sridhar was kind enough to tell me to move on as she was not intending to complete the ride. She had travel plans for the next day. But we all know she will nail down the 600km ride one fine day. I kept on pushing and finally reached saathnur where Sandeep and Gokul ( Volunteers ) asked me to stop as it was the first control. The card got sealed at the 1st time station on time. I also met most of the riders who were either taking a break(sohan), fixing a flat(Aman Mohla) or riding back ( Chidu, Parameshwar raju ). While riding back i saw Vasu - a late starter but early finisher.During breakfast at Kankapura. Mustafa ( IISC rider ) too joined us<b>.</b><br />
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<b>Climbs with heat, dust and bad roads : Harohalli /Jigni / Anekal / Attibele ( 52 km )</b><br />
After reaching harohalli we took a right towards Jigni. By this time Mustafa was too tired and we had no idea if it was de-hydration or something else. He himself was not sure about what was happening. We requested him to move to nearby field and take some rest. Later we got to know he puked twice.The ride had already taken one of the riders down. And mind you he is a strong rider. The rest moved on.After some time we started to handle some steep climbs. We could see lorries struggling to climb making huge noise and generating lot of dust. <br />
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During the climbs it was a treat to watch the bannerghatta forest on either side. Soon after we were welcomed by bad roads with patches everywhere. All of us stopped at a bakery and had some soft drinks and sweets. We managed to reach the 2nd control ( ATM @ Attibele ) on time. There was some sort of pain in my right knee. I suspected that mashing the short steep climbs would have caused it. I could only manage to sit and spin but i was not able to stand and pedal. I still had 440 km more to to be covered.<br />
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<b>Downhills/Accidents: Hosur/Shoolagiri/Vaniyambadi/Ambur/Katpadi ( 187 km )</b><br />
This ride took it's 2nd victim and it was Nirmal ( IISC team ). All of us reached shoolagiri and took a break to wash our face.We had coffee. We called up hotel brindavan at Ambur to tell them about our arrival time so that food can be prepared early. With the kind of stupid headlights most of us have it's really dangerous to ride on highways with heavy vehicles like lorries and buses around us. Adding to it there was construction work happening all along the highway and the left side of the road had been dug out to bury us.<br />
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It was during this time that Vasu caught us. And this was expected out of roadie with shaved legs and cleats.When we were almost near Ambur, i saw that Nirmal was lying on the road and others were around him.Blood was oozing from the backside of both his elbows. It seems that to avoid something he had braked suddenly at high speed. Sohan did a great job of bringing a First Aid kit and he cleaned the wound.<br />
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Vasu and myself were trying to stop lorries/buses/cars and what not. All this time Nirmal was trying his level best to show that he is fine and he can still ride and complete the 600. Believe me, he would have done it as I was drafting him many times and i know what his AVG speed was. Finally Nirmal was forced to quit and thus he rode for few km and managed to get an auto so that he could reach Hotel Brindavan before us. The rest of us continued riding and reached the hotel in 45 mins and had our dinner. We tried to sleep for 15 mins. We called Vasu several times and we couldn't reach him - because he had lost his phone. Riders were snoring and i couldn't sleep. We had put newspapers on the floor and we didn't had anything to cover. <br />
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It was during this 15 minutes that i did some introspection. Why are we doing all this ? Working against the biological clock what are we trying to acheive or prove. Suddenely sohan shouts "Get up. We have to leave". Nirmal was forced to quit and we left him and moved on.<br />
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What a life ? Ride a cycle for 20 hours with a knee pain and after completing 300km you can't even sleep for 15 min. Arvind and Sohan seemed to be in a hurry. I started chasing them leaving Mohit, Aman and Ashutosh behind me. This was on NH 46 and i was shivering. The only way to keep myself warm was to pedal fast the next 40km. On top of it I was not able to stand up and pedal due to the stupid knee pain. In such cases a biker's abused bum complains a lot.<br />
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On the way i saw 3 bikes outside a hotel. I immediately knew it was Chidu, Vasu and Parameshwar.After 40km, while taking left towards katpadi we met all of them. All of us went to the 3rd control - SBI ATM and took our slips. I got all the riders coffee and tea and i felt happy that finally it was a group of 8 folks for the 2nd day ride. The joy of group riding was short lived. <br />
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<b>Flats and Frustration:Vellore/Pallikonda/Gudiyattam/Palamner/Mulbagal ( 115 km )</b><br />
Almost everybody took off and Parameshwar raju suddenely says he has a FLAT. This college going kid hasn't brought any pump or spare tubes. Vasu gave his spare tube and moved on. I got a call and my pump was the need of the hour. Overall there was a 25 min delay just to hand over my Topeak road morph pump.I felt very bad that i made Sohan also wait for me. We left Parameshwar raju fix his flat and moved on. After sometime I was feeling very sleepy and I was loosing balance. It was early morning and i really didn't wanted to die like a dog on a state highway. I declared that i wanted to take a nap - a 15 min POWER nap. Luckily Sohan, Arvind and Aman obliged. Maybe they also wanted to take a break. We parked the bikes beside the footpath and tried to close our eyes. As usual I couldn't sleep. I was just looking at the blue sky. I was so angry on myself that i got up after 10 min and poured whatever water i had on my face and started pedalling as fast as i can till i reached Gudiyattam. Aman was right behind me. I knew that once the sun is out i won't feel sleepy. <br />
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By this time we lost Sohan and Arvind. Inside Gudiyattam i had some bananas and started my ride towards Palamner - None of us expected that this stretch will have such steep bad surface climbs. After several km of uphills we end up at the base of a mountain :-( WTF which meant there were some more serious climbs to be done. And that too over bad surface. With my knee pain i just had to sit and spin. At one point of time i had to get down and push the bike. Though it was a great relief for my sore bums i felt i was wasting time and had to again start pushing. Climbing under hot sun with a knee pain is the worst thing that can happen to any biker. I kept on asking people to know when does the climbs end. At the end i found a bore well to wash my face & pour water on my head.<br />
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Inside palamner town Aman and Mohit were sleepily munching watermelons. I too had them.Then we started moving towards Mulbagal quickly. Though the road to mulbagal from palamner was good, it was uphill again. It was around this time i got a call from chidu to know where i was heading to. This was a 40km ride and we finished it off by 12:30 PM.Without any trees on either side to give us some shade this was a horrible ride. This was the time station that some of our friends failed to reach on time. And i feel that it was all because of Palamner climbs and nothing else. After taking the ATM slips we had sweet lime juice with lots of much needed sugar. We walked for few meters and found a hotel.We had curd rice and started looking at the cue sheet. Everybody were shocked because the next time station was Chikballapur which was 90 km away and we had only 4.5 hours to make it. After riding 460km without sleep, with a sore bum and a painful knee how can i do it ? This was really a challenge. I didn't know if i could do it or not. This was the point when most of us thought it's ALL OVER. A 600 km ride is a true sufferfest. Aman wanted to give up. Vasu started to move on. I followed him silently.And others followed me silently.<br />
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<b>Blistering pace : Srinivasapura/Chintamani/Sidlaghatta/Chikballapur 90m </b><br />
Initially we went slowly through a dirty filthy crowded place called - what else ? vegetable market.Once we were out of it all of us started to ride very fast. Each one of us were trying to take the lead.My knee pain too had subsided. And I made the most of it. We did 30km in just 1 hour. Again i poured water on my face and head from a nearby borewell. Within the next 2 hours we made another 40 km with a little break for soft drinks where we met Vasu. After this we were bit relaxed as we had already done 70km in 3 hr and we just had 20 more to be done in 1.5 hrs. We knew we could make it to the chikballapur time station by 6:36 PM. Infact we were there before the deadline. We collected the ATM slips and again had sweet lime and lemon juice. Vasu had left the ATM. <br />
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Having completed 550km so far and we had 50 more km to be done. I felt very relieved. Myself and Mohit took it very lightly and we didn't try to chase Aman and Parameshwar. We were thinking more about the 3 hrs left than the 50km to be covered. But we were proved wrong. There is no way a rider can become complacent especially during brevet rides especially after it gets dark.<br />
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<b>Avoiding An AntiClimax : Chikballapur/Devanahalli/BEL Circle/IISC ( 53km )</b><br />
From Nelamangala to Devanahalli we took a lot of time.How much ever we ride we felt like - There was just no end to it. After Devenahalli at one point of time mohit shouted "Hey I am dying man. I need water". I was fine but i couldn't see him struggle. It was already 9 PM. We stopped at a bakery and had some mineral water. And we still had some 15+ km to be done. I went mad. What if some mechanical failure or a flat happens ? What if there is a lot of traffic on airport road ? All that effort i put in for the last 39 hours would be in vain just because something happens at the last hour. This is not fair. But everything is fair in love/war-this is a brevet ride & not an weekend ice-cream ride. <br />
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I had promised my kid that i will get her another toy to play. All my running/cycling medals are just toys for her. Forget the medal. I wanted to complete the ride on time. I started riding very fast and mohit too was pushing very hard. We quickly reached the end of airport road and took a right towards BEL circle. I didn't even know the exact km to BEL circle. All i knew was that time is running out and i have to keep on pedalling in an aggressive position. No coasting just put it in high gear and maintain a good cadence. I was on my drops with both my knees banging my chest. Within few minutes I reached BEL circle and i took a left to NEW BEL road. I called Sreepathi just to let him know that i am somewhere close. <br />
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I entered the IISC gate before 10 PM. Manjula was there and she congratulated me. I was asked to sit.I really don't know who took my bike aside. I just wanted to eat something other than energy bars. I just wanted to sleep at my home and not anywhere else. I just wanted to see my daughter. I just controlled my emotions and spoke casually with others. <br />
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Like the 400km ride climax I was so fast during the last few km that Mohit lost me and went straight instead of taking a left turn.Folks asked me to call him and I spoke to him on phone and he too made it on time.Later we handed over our ATM slips, paid the money for the medal and went to pizza hut, freshened up, and had some pizzas.I left home trying to forget whatever had happened over the last 40 hours :-(</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-37417364645050819932012-02-14T14:30:00.001+05:302012-12-27T14:51:10.277+05:30Auroville, Autograph and Anuradha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://marathon.auroville.com/" target="_blank">Auroville marathon</a>- This was supposed to be a family run - My wife running her 10km and myself running a 21km. We had booked the train ticket, <a href="http://www.hotelsurguru.com/" target="_blank">hotel</a> and return <a href="http://www.sharmatransports.com/" target="_blank">bus ticket</a> well in advance.<br />
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Unfortunately my wife fell down during a cycle ride and her marathon participation was ruled out.<br />
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I discussed this with my cycling buddy shankar and he agreed to accompany me as he was running a 10km. Initially we had some apprehension about railway authorities not allowing shankar to travel with a ticket booked under a different name.<br />
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On Friday night we met at yeshwantpur railway station. Everything i heard about this train was <a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/5182/poor-response-bangalore-puducherry-garib.html" target="_blank">funny </a>to both of us. It's called garib rath - which means it is meant for poor but it was a complete AC train with nice comfortable seats and berths.This train has generated very poor response due to the route it takes or maybe due to very few travellers between pondy and bangalore.<br />
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Anyway the TTE was very nice to us. He asked shankar to take a ticket on the spot. Then it was the usual chat with fellow passengers. The discussion obviously was about running and cycling. Once they got bored of us and slept ( some were pretending to sleep to avoid us ) , myself and shankar continued talking about guitar and western music. This is what happens when 2 extroverts suffering from insomnia decide to travel in an empty train. Shankar also has a nice habit ( which proved fatal to me the next night ) of reading novels before he sleeps.So it was around 3 am that we decided to close our eyes and go to sleep.<br />
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The next morning i also met my friend and running buddy John leo who was in the next compartment. Fortunately john also had booked the same hotel. All 3 of us got down and started walking towards the hotel. On the way we had our breakfast too. I saw lot of people cycling on the streets of Pondycherry including ladies and most of those cycles were single speed-WOW.<br />
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Once we reached our hotel, we got freshned up and ordered lunch ( thali ). Post lunch we planned to visit Auroville to collect our BIB for the next day run. We got to know that the marathon organizers had arranged shuttle buses that picks people form different hotels and bring them to the venue.<br />
It was during this time i met Anuradha - mother of 2 kids who is passionate about running marathons across cities. She has run in Mangalore, Mysore, Bangalore etc. More about her later.<br />
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We reached the venue very late - thanks to the driver who was told to stop at every hotel and pick up other runners on the way. Once we collected our BIB we headed to a session that discussed about Auroville marathon and barefoot running session by Frederick and <a href="http://www.barefootted.com/index.php?q=/" target="_blank">Barefoot Ted</a><br />
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I am a barefoor runner too. Sometimes i run with minimalistic shoes and sometimes i go completely barefoot. I somehow got an Autograph at the back of my BIB.<br />
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People who are interested to know why we should run barefoot can read this book - <a href="http://www.chrismcdougall.com/" target="_blank">BORN TO RUN</a><br />
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Shankar collected his BIB and had left us to meet some of his friends. Lot of runners had pasta as their dinner @ Auroville. The shuttle bus returns back to pondycherry leaving the venue around 8 pm. This pissed me off as i wanted to hit the bed early. Somehow i reached the hotel around 9 pm and had curd rice with john. John's room mate was running a full marathon and hence the 1st bus was @ 2 am. Our plan was to take the bus and reach early. I called shankar.<br />
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Rajani : Hi shankar, where are you ?<br />
Shankar: Hi. I am waiting for my PIZZA<br />
Rajani : You left around 6 pm. I thought you would have finished your dinner by now.<br />
Shankar: No man. We were just chilling around.<br />
Rajani : Please come soon. I am about to sleep.<br />
Shankar: This place is just 2 km away and I will be there in 30 min.<br />
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Hoping that he doesn't go in search of ice cream after his dinner i tried to sleep.Normally before a lond distance cycle ride or a marathon i don't get sleep due to excitement. It was 10 pm and here i am still awake thinking that the previous night too i slept after 3 am.Somehow my eyes closed and i don't remember when i went into deep sleep. I had a dream that there was some noise. It was not a dream. It was dear shankar knocking the door. Shankar was busy finishing his restoom formalities and i was trying very hard covering myself under a blancket to close my eyes to get some sleep. The lights were still on. Shankar and Robert Ludlum were still romancing each other.<br />
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Rajani: I don't think i can get up early to catch the 2 am bus.<br />
Shankar:Let me check the bus details on my mobile. We have 4 buses overall.<br />
Rajani: Cool, i will take the 3 am or 3:40 am bus. I will change my alarm from 2 am to 3 am.<br />
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Thanks a ton to shankar he woke me up around 3:30 AM to tell me that i can still try to catch the 3:40 AM bus :-). He had slept with the novel on his face and the lights were still on. Looks like Robert Ludlum did a good lullaby job. Anyway if he had not woken me up i would have done my marathon in my dream. Somehow i quickly got ready in 30 min and went down hoping that i would get some help from somebody. Luckily i met a guy who was waiting for his friend and they offered me to help.They were full marathon runners and i thanked and wished them good luck.<br />
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Since i reached early ( around 4:30 am ) i could see the FULL marathon event. It began with a warmup session. I saw yogesh rao and sunil ( daily mile buddies ). I spoke to sunil for sometime and wished him good luck. It was very nice to see the full marathoners running in that dark night with torches in their hand. There were few cyclist with headlights and taillamps guiding them in the dark.<br />
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6:15 AM : HALF marathon starts. I saw Mayank Rungta and his friends. I also saw Anita bora . We handled the bag to the staff at the baggage counter. I had a nice warmup session running around with John. I was right behind the 1st row as i didn't wanted to run with many people around for the 1st few kms. Lap by lap I was passing through the amazing woods of auroville. At some point there was LIVE music to cheer the runners and ofcourse several aid stations where water, electral and snacks were provided to runners. I never stopped anywhere until i completed 12 kms. It was a continous run. After the 12th km i stopped for 5 seconds to take a cup of water. I might have stopped 2 more times to pick few more cups of water/electral. All the way i was monitoring my GPS watch that records the distance and time taken for each km. My average pace was around 5:30. I knew i would finish this half marathon within 2 hours but i wanted to finish it by 1 hour 45 min which seemed impossible at the pace i was running. Pondycherry being a coastal town and i being a bangalorean - the heat around 7am was not what i expected. But no excuses. A marathon has to be intense, challenging physically and mentally or else why would we travel so far to run. We could as well run in our neighbourhood without getting out of our comfort zone.<br />
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I was slow towards the end but i somehow wanted to reach the 20thkm asap. I have a habit of running the last km very fast - I think most of us do it though we don't know where we get that sudden energy - we just want to reduce the total time. I was like a kid who was coming out of his school. I just sprinted and finished my 1st 2012 half marathon within 2 hours. The official timer board displayed 1:58:29 and my GPS watch showed more or less the same. As with other marathons i have run, here too i found that it was not exactly 21.0975. Infact it was 21.54 as per my GPS watch. For details see here - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/149317894<br />
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Anyway why bother or rant as long as i am happy - Auroville says - Run for joy. And it is TRUE.<br />
Post run it was all about medal and pongal. I also collected a beautiful free marathon T shirt.<br />
As per this list http://marathon.auroville.com/index.php?option=com_raceresults&view=list&Itemid=38 i am @ the 43 rd position out of 515 folks who ran the half marathon ( 21.1 km ). <br />
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Thanks to the organizers who have done a fantastic job right from start, publishing every details like map or hotels on their website,arranging shuttle buses from pondy to Auroville and choosing a track which was predominantly dirt road. I hate running on asphalt or concrete.<br />
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Once the run was over i wanted to quickly come back to bangalore. shankar wanted to return by car with his friends. John wanted to wait for his friend who was running a FULL marathon. I decided to come back to the hotel and this was when i noticed Anuradha. She had come from mysore and thus she was more desperate than me to return home. We took the 1st bus back to hotel and we decided to quickly get refreshed and catch a Bangalore bus. After sometime Shankar returned and i informed him about my plan. We settled all the bills and myself and Anuradha caught an auto to bus stand. This guy charged 60rs for a distance less than 2 km. Anyway we are used to such bad experiences in bangalore. All i want to say is that there are bad auto guys everywhere and not just bangalore.<br />
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Also we met few more banglore runners at this dirty bus stand. It was a horrible 8+ hours of journey - rash driver honkering too much, bad roads, some water leakage problem leading to a hot engine.<br />
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<br />But thanks to Anuradha who was sitting beside me and chatting, the whole journey seemed to be fun. We spoke about running, biking, her kids, my kid,how to train, where to run in Mysore etc.<br />
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It's amazing and inspiring to meet such wonderful ladies - who inspite of managing everything - home, kids and job still find time and energy to travel so far and participate in marathons. Anuradha took 63 mins to complete her 10km and every runner out there should be proud of it. Normally It's not easy to run 10km in 1 hour. I have asked her to run uphills especially chamundi hills once a week so that normal flat roads becomes a heaven during a marathon. We got down at Laalbagh and took an auto to mysore road bus stand. I wished her a safe and happy journey and returned home in another auto.I had a heavy dinner and closed my eyes but could not sleep. I wanted to try shankar's technique but i had a boring novel and snoring kid beside me :-)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-5155845318504688592011-12-29T00:00:00.002+05:302014-07-08T13:40:55.081+05:30B2M - Bangalore to Mysore and back <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Back TO Back Century Rides - Bangalore-Mysore-Bangalore on SH17<br />
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Date : 29th and 30th OCT 2011<br />
Riders : Rajanikanth and Sohan.<br />
Cycles : Trek 3700 and Rock Rider 5.2<br />
Problems : Accidents,Flats,Rains and Hotel bookings.<br />
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<u><b>Day#1 Saturday 29th OCT 2011</b></u> - Riding to Mysore<br />
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As usual myself and sohan woke up late and left whitefield around 6:45 AM.<br />
Due to city traffic we reached <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidadi" target="_blank">BIDADI</a> around 8:45 AM and had idli/vada @Hotel Raghavendra Veg.<br />
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On the way to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramanagara" target="_blank">RAMANAGARA</a> I got a call from sohan that he met with an accident asking me to wait for him. Once we met i got to know that he wanted to avoid a speed braker and went to the left and while getting back to the road his tyre rubbed the gap and he fell to his right. His right shoulder and right leg had several bruises. His helmet had got crushed. We moved ahead and got some FIRST AID items from a nearby medical store.<br />
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On the way to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channapatna" target="_blank">CHANNAPATNA</a> - the land of toys, I again got a call from sohan and this time he had a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_tire" target="_blank">Flat</a> By the time i came back he had identified and removed that part of tube without removing the wheel. We fixed the flat quickly and we moved on.<br />
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On the way to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandya" target="_blank">MANDYA</a>, we had enquired about a decent hotel. I reached early and finished my lunch and was waiting for sohan. I ensured that my bike was parked in such a place that i could see it while having my lunch. Sohan joined and we left the hotel together after some time. From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandya" target="_blank">MANDYA</a> it was a rolling terrain with several ups that gave a nice workout to my legs. My next stop was at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srirangapatna" target="_blank">SRIRANGAPATNA</a>. Due to rain the socks had become wet and i was desperate to take them out and dry it while i wait for sohan.<br />
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Sohan joined and we took some more snaps. It was very funny to see sohan at his creative best.<br />
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Around 5:30 PM i was at the <a href="http://www.columbiaasia.com/mysore/" target="_blank">COLUMBIA ASIA HOSPITAL</a>. It was yet another 30 mins ride into the city and we checked a few places and finally settled at <a href="http://www.skgroupofhotels.com/SK%20Continental/Aboutus.html" target="_blank">SK Continental</a>.We went out and had dinner @ RR hotel. We returned back to our lodge and spoke for sometime before closing our eyes.<br />
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<b>Day#1 summary : </b><br />
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Overall i took 10 hr 39 mins for 175 kms including an approximate 3 hrs break for brakefast + lunch + Attending to sohan's accident + Fixing flat tyre + heavy rains in mandya + socks drying program.<br />
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<u><b>Day#2 Sunday 30th OCT 2011</b></u> - Riding back to bangalore<br />
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Our start was again delayed due to delay in hot water delivery, brakefast search and heated argument with a medical store owner as the crepe bandage he had given for sohan was damaged. Somehow we reached <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srirangapatna" target="_blank">SRIRANGAPATNA</a> quickly and took some snaps on the bridge overlooking the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaveri" target="_blank">KAVERI</a> river.<br />
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Now i had a flat. This one was a crazy one. Some stupid white color sharp plastic object had pierced my tire. I fixed it to find that i was not able to pump in air. I changed the tube. No use. I changed the pump. No use. I was not able to inflate the tube. <br />
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I had to walk for sometime to find a Local Bike Shop aka Puncture Shop. Even he couldn't inflate my tube. He suggested me to go to the other side of the road to get it inflated with the help of a Air Compressor. We suspected that it could be a valve problem and we wanted something that could fill air quickly. Somehow we got it resolved and while we were at it we had to answer expected questions from general public like how much is the bike ? where are we going ? where do we come from ? Is it a race ? Do we get money doing such things ? Blah Blah.<br />
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We decided that we won't take the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanakapura" target="_blank">KANAKAPURA</a> route. This was due to 3 reasons.<br />
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1) We had wasted 1 hour and we wanted to be on good roads after dark. <br />
2) Kanakapura route has few more kms than the SH17 route.<br />
3) My brother stays near Bangalore University. If it rains heavily i can stay there if i enter Bangalore.<br />
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I was pissed off and i started riding very fast from SRIRANGAPATNA and that was the last time i saw sohan. I reached MANDYA,MADDUR and CHANNAPATNA without any break. I had my lunch @<a href="http://www.kadambam.in/newbranch.html" target="_blank">KADAMBAM</a>. I called sohan. No reply. I carried on and had a 15 mins rain break@Ramanagara.<br />
I reached BIDADI,KENGERI and NAYANDALLI junction. The rain god smiled again. I had to take shelter for 20 mins in a deserted shed beside the blue hyundai showroom. I was alone. Yes the rains were with me. And the darkness too. <span class="st">It is not the <i>situation</i> that <i>makes</i> the <i>man</i>, but the <i>man</i> who <i>makes</i> the <i>situation. </i></span>I started again but I took another 30 mins break near mysore road to eat meat. I reached Home by 8 PM with muck and dirt on my body but a smile on face. <br />
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<b>Day#2 summary :</b><br />
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Overall i took me 11 hour and 45 min including the lunch and rain breaks and the riding time was 8 hours 30 min. For folks planning to ride on SH 17 i would recommend a road bike or hybrid bike as it assists the rider to ride fast ( to some extent ) and in turn save some time to reach early.<br />
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<b>Overall Ride Summary :</b><br />
<b>Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz i am sleeping. No i am dreaming. No i am planning my next big ride.</b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-78438121745299301712011-12-18T19:01:00.009+05:302013-01-15T12:05:18.837+05:30Sore Bums and Red Eyes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Cycling 365 days in an year is FUN. But trying to cycle 365 km in a day is definitely a Pain In the Ass. The bums become sore and eyes become red. I was not wearing the sunglasses after dark.<br />
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I had done my 200kms brevet ride during June 2011 and i had used my MTB. I wanted to do the same for the 300km brevet ride on 17th December 2011. I always believe that riding long distance using a heavy cycle with FAT tires will help anybody to improve his stamina and endurance levels. This 300 km ride involves getting into and out of 3 neighboring states ( Karnataka, AndraPradesh and Tamil Nadu ). Looking at the elevation profile overall there is about 1750m of climbing.<br />
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These pictures are credited to IISC Randonneurs - <u><b>https://sites.google.com/site/iiscrando</b></u><br />
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The climbs especially from Krishnagiri ( TN ) towards Bangalore ( KN ) were really challenging because this was at the end of the ride when the rider's are already tired. Adding to it this challenge has to be executed carefully because it would be dark and monster size lorries make scary noises riding beside riders. For a normal brevet rider on an MTB cycle ( AVG of 20kms ) it takes about 12 hours to complete the 200km stretch.This means the rider starts these climbs around 6pm.<br />
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I woke up @ 4AM. Got fresh and had hot idlis ( Thanks to my wife ). Left my home and reached the start point by 6AM . I met few more riders. This even is organized by <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/iiscrando/2011-2012-brevets." target="_blank">IISC folks.</a><br />
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After the regular formalities where the cycle is checked for FRONT headlight and REAR tail lamp the rider's get their cue sheet and a stamped yellow brevet card. The rider's are supposed to wear reflective jackets throughout the ride.<br />
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Brevet rides are still in it's infancy in India and due to less number of participants and volunteers, NOT all checkpoints will be manned. Instead the riders are supposed to collect ATM slips using their cards to prove their timings.<br />
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As soon as the ride started i found that the one of the rear brake pads stopped working and started playing seesaw. I had to fix it with a 5mm Allen Key. I moved on somehow managing to ride through the zero visibility foggy highway. The rear brake-pads started making squeaky noise whenever i used them. I was not in a mood to get down and fix it. I kept on riding. By 12 pm i had entered Andra Pradesh the neighboring state.I had completed Bangalore - Malur - Bangarpet - Bethamangala - VenkatagiriKota. Somehow I had covered the first 100kms within the first 6 hours of the ride. This included the tender coconut and banana breaks. I never stopped anywhere for breakfast as the hot idlis i had @home gave me enough energy to keep going.<br />
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It took me 75 minutes as i passed through some hilly areas with several small climbs to enter Tamil Nadu and i was at the Peranampattu town in Vellore district. While doing this I was stopped by several amused localities to know what is happening and why we are doing this. The problem is they never get to see branded cycles with flashing tail lights and confusing gadgets and phones mounted on the bikes.<br />
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It was HOT by this time and I collected the 2nd ATM slip. I just had 1 sweet-lime juice and i could see that folks were struggling to find a good/decent hotel to have lunch. I could see some frustrated riders. Next stop was Vaniyamabadi and on the way i had a Tea and Bun. On NH-46 while riding towards krishnagiri, I met Ganapathi Subramanian and Kiran Kumar as well as Chidamabaram Subramanian @ Mufasa's Hotel. It was around 5 pm and I had done 182kms by 11 hours. At Mufasa Hotel I had a bowl of curd rice with a plain omlette and a glass of butter milk.<br />
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After our late lunch Chidu took off quickly and I started riding with Gana and Kiran. Both of them are amazing long distance riders and fortunately they had decided that they would ride slow for sometime until the food settles down in their belly. I just had to trail them and sometimes i was asked to ride in between them in a straight line - Paceline. Riding with them helped me maintain a good pace.<br />
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From Vaniyambadi to Krishnagiri it is 55km and It was dark by the time we reached Krishnagiri. And I had almost covered 225kms. I had to do the last 90kms on a dark and dusty highway with huge lorries around. Usually brevet rides will be bit longer than the actual km. In this case instead of 300 it was around 315 km.<br />
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Anyway somehow i managed to ride along with roadies Gana and Kiran and managed to reach Hosur by 10 PM. There were some steep sections between krishnagiri and hosur. Sometimes i felt i should have brought my RoadBike as the fatty tyres on my MTB demanded more pedalling power. Thanks a ton to Gana and Kiran who frequently used to turn and see if i was behind them. Kiran offered me his Nutrition bars whenever we used to stop to sip water.<br />
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Around 11 PM i reached electronic city and it was 12 km to the finish point ( SILK Board junction ). I really don't know what happened to me. Maybe it was the joy of completing the longest ride in my cycling career. I was in Euphoria. I just started riding very fast. The empty flat road with street lights on everywhere was so different from the dark and dangerous noisy highways.<br />
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In few minutes i was @ the end point. I met the IISC riders and organizers and gave them my ATM slips and Brevet cards. I became a randonneur 6 months back when i did my 200km in 12 hours but finishing a 300km in 18 hours on a cold and chilly Sunday morning really made me humble.<br />
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Unfortunately my <a href="https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=349" target="_blank">Garmin Forerunner 305</a> GPS watch only works for 12 hours and in between for some 20+ km i forgot to switch it on. This is the partial data - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135054479<br />
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I plan to do the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/iiscrando/2011-2012-brevets/jan-2012-chellakere-400" target="_blank">Brevet 400km</a> in the month of Jan 2012. Till then Keep reading Keep riding.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-82797664564822286932011-11-28T21:18:00.003+05:302012-12-27T18:34:07.587+05:30Cam rides : Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<u style="color: red;"><b>CAM ride#2 : Sep 24 and 25th 2011 Sirsi – Lushington falls – Shivaganga falls - Siddapura</b></u><br />
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If you have not read please click here - <a href="http://rajanikanth77.blogspot.com/2011/11/cam-rides-part-1.html" target="_blank">PART1</a> <br />
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Unlike the <a href="http://rajanikanth77.blogspot.com/2011/11/cam-rides-part-1.html" target="_blank">previous ride</a> the journey was a long one as we were heading to Sirsi. This north Karnataka hill station is popular for a large number of waterfalls. We were put up at <a href="http://gtsirsi.com/images/hm1.jpg" target="_blank">Hotel Madhuvana</a>. Again for some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTB_Himachal" target="_blank">personal reasons</a> i wanted to use this ride as an oppurtunity to ride hard.<br />
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Highlights and pictures of Day#1 :<br />
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The plan was to start at Sirsi, go to Sonda and reach Shivganga falls - Quickly. Though I was the first to reach the falls, i didn't feel alone. There were lot of monkeys who greeted me and ran away. I shared my chocolates with the rider who finished second and took his dry fruits. After some time I had lunch that had come with the canter and waited for my wife. On the way back to hotel i decided to ride slow and stay with my wife for some time. It was during this time that we got down to a stream, spent some time in the water, took some snaps. After some time i started pushing myself and reached the hotel early. I had a good time talking to few others in the hotel while drinking tea. After some time my wife arrived. I was really happy to see her complete the day1 ride without getting swept by the support vehicle. Day1 ended with a quick bath and a quiet dinner.<br />
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Day#1 route map <br />
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Shivgange Falls<br />
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Lunch time<br />
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Manohar D.C from CAM team fixing a rider's flat <br />
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DeTour<br />
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That's me<br />
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Green Aisle<br />
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Bright Sunny Day<br />
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Cycle Engine<br />
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Pee Break<br />
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Green Frog<br />
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Highlights and Pictures of Day2 :<br />
Sirsi - Lushington Falls ( Unchalli falls ) - Siddapura<br />
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I started on time for the Day2 ride and i didn't stop for breakfast. Thanks to Mr.Vasu who offered me banana's i was able to ride hard. Both of us were together for sometime exchanging the lead position. After some time I started mashing on uphills. I desperately wanted to be the first rider to reach Lushington falls. A funny thing happened on the way. Since i was riding hard, i didn't had any other rider immediately behind me At one point i took a left and i think Mr.Vasu didn't take it. I was on the wrong route and i was going on and on and on. I couldn't find anybody. Finally i got a dead end. There was right and there was left too. I didn't know which way i should proceed further. Fortunately there was a board. But there was no reason why it was existing there. I couldn't read anything on that board. <br />
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Black Board with Black Letters<br />
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But fortunately i saw Mr.Vasu coming from the right side and i joined him to use the left road. After some time i got separated from him by riding hard and fast and reached the falls. I was at the gate and i didn't dare to go further. As i was tired i just sat on a concrete bench. <br />
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Road leading to Lushington falls<br />
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1st to reach :-)<br />
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Finally the Lushington falls, The roaring beauty<br />
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After some time as expected Mr.Vasu arrived. We both had tea and biscuits. After some time few more riders reached the falls. On our way back i saw my wife as well as other riders. I wished all of them and left for siddapura. I started riding hard and this was a rolling terrain. Out of my previous cam ride experience i knew that 2nd day ride should be quick else i will be picked up by the support vehicle. The hot sun was out and i could feel it. Adding to it the boredom. I was riding alone constantly under the fear that some animal might cross my path.<br />
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On the way to Siddapura <br />
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Finally i reached siddapura and i was happy that i finished first. After 30 minutes Mr.Vasu arrived. After few riders the bus arrived with the rest of riders. The canters arrived with cycles too. Only 4 out of the 30+ riders were able to complete the 2nd day's ride. As usual everybody had their lunch and boarded the bus. It was fun to watch the 1992 bollywood blockbuster cycle-drama movie - Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, staring Aamir khan. It was nice to see people shouting and cheering the protagonist during the climax. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-77512840409920750782011-11-28T19:01:00.004+05:302012-12-27T17:44:59.100+05:30CAM rides - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. – Ernest Hemingway<br />
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True Indeed. I felt it when I registered for a cross country cycling ride organized by a bunch of passionate bangalore based cyclists-The CAM group. <a href="http://www.cyclingandmore.com./" target="_blank">http://www.cyclingandmore.com.</a><br />
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They truly deserve a lot of appreciation. Right from the time we registered online everything was handled professionally. The Payment receipt, Pickup/Drop points and route details,briefing about the ride rules, the hotel bookings, food delivery, fixing flats and replacing worn out brake pads etc.<br />
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Just get into an ultra luxury bus that picks you on time and sign a indemnity bond to declare that you do understand the risks involved and you will not hold anybody reponsible for any untoward incidents that might happen during the ride. This is just a process. So don't bother too much.<br />
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CAM rides are FUN.I could see riders from different spheres of life.There will be people who don't even remember when was the last time they had cycled and then there are those who are regular riders. There will be couples (I call them Cycling Couples) and retired senior citizens.<br />
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CAM rides expand your friends circle allowing you to meet people whom you know but have never met. I am talking about our FACEBOOK and DAILYMILE buddies.<br />
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CAM rides are FLEXIBLE. Each rider has an option of choosing his category from several routes. Some are short and some are long. Riders ride at their own pace sometimes leading others and sometimes trailing others. Just a word of caution for those who think they can ride category#1 route. Never underestimate the ride going by the total distance. There will be tough climbs bigger and better than your weekend nandi hill climbs. Towards the end of the ride just be sure that you don't get sweeped by the support vehicle. Nobody is expected to ride after dark and the cam team does not want anybody getting lost or hurt in the dark. <br />
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CAM rides are DIFFERENT. Normally a rider looks ahead and rides. But most of us were looking left or right. Every now and then we would get down to capture those foggy hills,those pristine silent streams, those tall lush green trees under a big blue canopy with white cotton candies.<br />
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CAM ride is a CHALLENGE. Its a ride that you do without waiting for rains to subside, when the dew is on the grass, when there is fog in the air, when there is dirt and muck all over the place, when there are landslides waiting to embrace you. Get ready to get down and carry your bike to the other side of a stream. And all this when blood sucking land leeches attach to your feet anytime.<br />
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CAM ride is a SPIRITUAL experience. I have personally seen people completing their first day rides quickly to freshen up and drop into nearby temples/mutt to come back refreshed/rejuvenated.<br />
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CAM rides brings a CHANGE. Many people use a rented cycle as they don't own a one. But once the ride is over they say that most of them get one for themselves. I have personally seen 2 cases.<br />
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And CAM rides are for those who want to spend quality time with their family members by going out on a vacation and at the same time just want to burn some calories so that they can come back lean and mean. <br />
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<u style="color: red;"><b>CAM ride#1 : July 2nd 2011 - Makkandur-Mandalpatti base-Mandalpatti peak-Kalur-Madikeri</b></u><br />
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Regardless of the distance any journey will be a short one ( if you get sleep ) and sweet one ( if you get a good dream ). On a dark drizzling windy pre dawn we all landed at Makkandur a small village 5 kms away from Madikeri. Riders were shivering and rubbing their palms against each other while crickets were rubbing their wings and legs making that scary and strange noise from the bushes.<br />
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We walked a few meters and reached makkandur home stay that was surrounded by beautiful green hills.Rooms were alloted quickly and everybody got freshened up. The ride started around 8 AM.<br />
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Have a look at some pictures where i have tried to capture nature in all its glory during my ride.<br />
Day#1 ride map <br />
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Misty mountain on the way<br />
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Inviting stream and Wet Cottages<br />
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Pee Break<br />
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Green is the theme of the day<br />
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Landslides What next ?<br />
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Merida on Mountain<br />
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True Offroad<br />
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Foggy tree and a Calm Lake<br />
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On the way back found another stream<br />
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Riding from the base to the peak of Mandalpatti was the best part of our ride. Fortunately we didn't get the usual visibility problem while climbing though there was FOG at the peak. Its a 600 meter high point with steep hairpin bends. A rider can sit and spin using low gears or get up and mash to work against the force of gravity. But there are other better options. You can get down and push. Or you can give up.I saw all this happening around during my ride. Some riders failed unreasonably and some riders succeeded inexplicably. This experience makes all riders humble.<br />
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Once we came down we were served with lunch beside a tea stall at the base. It is the support vehicle (canter) that gets the lunch on all rides. During rainy season riders tend to apply too much of brakes during downhill riding to control their speed and thus the brake pads get worn out. Those tiny pads make some noise and that's when a rider realizes that it's high time it gets replaced else it is the rider who will be making a different noise later.<br />
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Post lunch the riders started again with a sense of accomplishment but their happiness was short lived. The real fun started now. The riders were expected to come back to makkandur home stay via kalur and madikeri. The kind of uphills they faced was too much. I saw few giving up and sitting on the road waiting for the support vehicle. It was getting DARK. And i was in no mood to get swept by the canter.<br />
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It was getting darker and my wife was riding at her own pace and i slowed down and waited for her. We reached madikeri and had to get into the canter along with our bikes. There were few more riders in it. I felt embarrassed. Once i reached the homestay i took bath and got ready for dinner. Post dinner I saw that some people preferred tents and some rooms. Mr.Vikrant was helping folks to setup the tents. What an amazing guy he was. Inspite of managing so many things with so many people around he was still as cool as an iceberg.<br />
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My day1 ride was more of taking snaps, riding casually with others and fixing flats. Day2 ride was the final ride and i had decided that i will ride hard no matter how the terrian is or how the weather is.<br />
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<u><b style="color: red;">Cam ride#1: Day#2 July 3rd 2011 - Makkandur - Madapur - Kushalnagar - BylaKuppe</b></u><br />
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The 2nd day ride was a short one in terms of distance. We had to reach BYLAKUPPE - A Tibetan refugee settlement. There are a number of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. This small town is famous for its Golden temple. For more info please refer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bylakuppe" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bylakuppe</a><br />
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<br />Remember CAM ride is NOT a RACE. But its a race against yourself. You can always use cam rides as an oppurtunity to improve your average speed, stamina or cadence. <br />
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The 2nd day ride had some nice uphills between makkandur and madapur. This was a non-stop ride for me and i enjoyed spinning uphills and coasting downhills. On the way i overtook a few riders who were leading everybody. I reached Bylakuppe and i had finished 2nd. Some of the riders were swept by the canter as it was getting late for lunch and departure. Note that the 2nd day ride has to get over soon by noon. Everybody had their lunch at a nearby hotel and got into the bus leaving behind nothing but pleasant memories. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1953113630"><br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://rajanikanth77.blogspot.com/2011/11/cam-rides-part-2.html" target="_blank">Cam ride #2 contd:</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-48460616296991835302011-10-21T20:33:00.002+05:302012-01-19T00:59:37.743+05:30The Crooked Cook and a Misbehaved Maid with a weird out Wife<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">When a man opens a car door for his wife, it's either a new car or a new wife.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When a man fires a cook for his wife, it's either a new cook or an angry wife.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This story is about cooks and maids. Till date we have changed 3 cooks and 6 maids. All of them have failed unreasonably and always their tenure ends with absurdity. Without sounding rude, i want to say that they don't live up to our simple expectations. Expecting a bit of ethics and punctuality is definitely not a bad idea.Unfortunately I have a busy workholic wife and fortunately a little kid . Being helpless i have to depend on cook and maid to run the show.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The 3 things that a person has to follow to make his wife's life easy are</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">1. Never ask her when she will come home.</div><div class="MsoNormal">2. Get a cook.</div><div class="MsoNormal">3. Get a maid.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Else you will be held responsible for their all their problems and not the stupid cortisol that gets secreted while they work like dogs in their offices. I didn't mean that they are dogs. They work like that but ya they do come home and bark on us. Anyway let’s talk about cooks and maids. Hence i have some liberal policies in place for them. I do respect them and infact help them whenever they approach me asking money in advance.No matter how much i pamper them and worship them to a ridiculous extent, they let my wife down leaving her emotionally disturbed.They didn't inform her about their leave plans, they didn't pick her calls. This happened several times. She had to cook on such occasions. While she was just emotionally disturbed, i was physically unnerved. I mean i had to wash the utensils till late night.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Indian women are smart. They plan well in advance. But when it comes to implementation they turn to fools. I mean their husbands. As usual it was left to me to handle the situation. She hires and I fire. I hate to do it. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am well known for giving lenience to cooks and maids. I am infamous for saying</div><div class="MsoNormal">"I think our maid is underpaid and overworked. We need to pay her some more".</div><div class="MsoNormal">"It's festival time. We need to pay them something extra".</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am also well known for sending out mails to our online apartment forum recommending them to others and inturn giving them references. So how can i hurt them? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In my house I'm the boss. My wife is just the decision maker --- Woody Allen</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally our cook was silently fried and politely fired. But i was quick to open my laptop, search my inbox and give him 2 or 3 references. Maid was just warned. Why? I can be on a diet but i don’t want to wash the utensils!!! </div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956926598352307026.post-64396970814646567162011-09-29T16:33:00.007+05:302012-12-28T13:33:19.300+05:30Accidents, Deaths and Wedding Anniversaries<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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September 11 2011, my 7th wedding anniversary. I call it the 9/11 wedding.<br />
The rest of the world calls it the 9/11 Catastrophe. They say that public memory is short but America's worst disaster is not something that can be easily forgotten or forgiven. The supreme powerfull Uncle SAM's belief in invulnerability was shattered when hijacker's slammed civilian aircraft's into the WTC. Rest is history.<br />
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But something else happened on 9/11 2011. I wish it would have never happened.<br />
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Basavaraj Biradar, a young and bright student pursuing his Masters in Bangalore, was also working as an intern in an MNC company. He met with a road accident. He was admitted to an hospital in unconscious state with serious head injuries. Neuro surgeons operated on his brain trying to repair the damaged tissues and blood flow. He was in COMA with a ventilator support for respiration.<br />
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He had a poor farmer father, the sole bread earner and two brothers who were still students.<br />
Nearly 5 lakh rupees were needed to carry forward the treatment. Contributions started pouring in.Within 2 days each and everybody with their prayers and contributions ensured that sufficient funds were collected. I always get deeply moved by such gesture of care and concern from so many people. Thanks and respect to all from the bottom of my heart.<br />
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His condition improved to some extent and he was in SEMI COMA. But due to heavy medication he was suffering with low blood pressure and kidney problems. There was hope that his heart condition will stabilize.Later he suffered multiple and severe heart attack and he was no more. May his soul rest in PEACE.<br />
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I really don't want to get into the intricacies of this 9/11 accident in Bangalore.<br />
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That was an ACCIDENT. It happens. Even now as i write this somebody is jumping a signal out there. Somebody would have had a head on collision while riding and talking on his cellphone. I know its bad.I am not and will never support rash rides. But some are not in their sense. Its their living. It's all about Targets and Deadlines.Even a pizza delivery boy has to meet a deadline. Adding to it we don't have lane discipline culture.<br />
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But what really worries me is about another ACCIDENT that happened @ puppalguda on ORR Hyderabad on the same day SEP 11 2011 .pic courtesy : INDIA TODAY <br />
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Former cricketer and Indian captian Azhar's son Ayaz skids off the road and bangs his head while riding a 1000 CC high end super powerfull sports bike. Neurological tests on Ayaz confirmed brain dysfunction and his chances of survival were slim. Though prayers and wishes for a miracle continued to pour in he died of hypoxic encephalopathy, a condition where oxygen supply to the brain is not sufficient. <br />
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To ensure a smooth funeral procession Traffic restrictions were placed on all roads leading to Mecca Masjid. The grieving family got so many visitors including the chief minister of AP.<br />
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I want to get into the intricacies of this INCIDENT which i don't want to call it as ACCIDENT.<br />
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Why there is no measure to stop overspeeding on ORR ?<br />
Why no regulations on the sale and licences of bikes that can go upto 300km/hour ?<br />
Why should such bikes be allowed in the city when our roads are not even good for 60 km/hr?<br />
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Even in bangalore, on our own NICE road i see that drag racers bring out their so called speed toys and race.Is this is the reason why cyclists are not allowed on NICE road ? Are such roads only for the so called elite class and their son's ? If the answer is Yes Then This is not an ACCIDENT. This is a ######. And we all know who is responsible for this.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17548086841025955837noreply@blogger.com