The Golden rules of an Amateur cycling Team

1. You should have at least 2 bikes. If NOT you should never blame the bike for skipping a ride.

2. Speed should be always higher than average speed. If NOT turn back home and try again.

3. Never wait > 5 min. If you reach late, chase, catch, do all the pulling and pay for breakfast.

4. If you are heavy, climb more. If you are skinny, increase your power. No technical loose talk.

5. Rest day is ONLY for bike not for the rider. Clean bikes, Shave legs - rest day.

6. Cross training is important but it's OK to ride easy for 2 days and ride hard for 4 days..

7. Any accessories/components for sale should be within the group first and then for others.

8. We really don't care when you sleep but when you set the alarm you should see "8 hours left"

9. 300 km/12 hours is a week's target. If you can't, then climb at least 2000 meters in a week.

10. Never give importance to Garmin, Strava, FB data and users. There is Nothing to prove.

11. Sleeping is always better than rest or recovery. It's free. Ride lots Sleep lots.

12. During the feed zone ( breakfast  ) one guy must always have his eyes on all the bikes.

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

Suffering around Kere Thonnur - My 3rd Duathlon story.

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 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thonnur-Lake-Triathlon/258882474236941

I had already biked/run at BAR #1 and BAR #2 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.

You decide well in advance why do you want to race. For Fun or to Win. If it is about winning,
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.

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.

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.

The 1st 2 kms was getting down the hill on a narrow patchy road and go through a village that had
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.

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.

After 25 kms, On a steep section with 2 or 3 hairpin bends I heard a gear click noise behind me.
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.

Got off the bike, walked on the mat with timing chip on my ankle I heard the expected beep sound.
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.

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.

The suffering ends after 2:06:35 seconds into the race.

My Touring bike ... Finally

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.

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.

I already had the following accessories some of them from Happyearth

3 panaracer pasela tires ( 28 mm )
Decent wheelset
Racks ( VO pass hunter and Topeak rear )
SP Dynohub
Brooks B17 Saddle ( Narrow Black color )
Scor Drop handlebar
Retroshifters 9 speed ( Goats )

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.

New items that went onto to this bike includes

SRAM hub for rear wheel
9 speed chain
9 speed cassette
LizardSkin bar tape that matches bianchi's popular celeste color
Gear and Brake Cables
30 degree 70 mm Giant stem ( Less aggressive More upright )

Thanks to KKR I got used fenders ( Planet bikes ).

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 ...

B2B ride-Bangalore To Bhadra

After successfully executing BMBT ( Blue Mountain Biking Tour ) Balu and Dr. Shankar came out
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 :-)

Thanks to Wheel sports staff and Venkatesh Shivarama for supporting us from the beginning.
Thanks to Mr. Badri for providing support vehicle and staff.

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.

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.

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.

Once i reached Tarikere ( a town that is popular for large number of water tanks surrounding it )

I found that i didn't had water in my bottles. So it was time to refill water and eat some snacks.

I had completed 260 km so far in 11 hours. 20 km more to reach the Bhadra dam (Lakkavalli village).

In spite of the bad monsoon this time, As i entered Lakkavalli ( the site of DAM across Bhadra river )

I was bowled over by the lush green vegetation and the remote grand impressive hill ranges. 

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..

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. 

Finally my Shorts arrived, I mean the support vehicles and all riders arrived.

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. 

Next day we headed towards the backwater for a boat ride.

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. 

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.

Ma Kali aur Durga

MakaliDurga - Come, Experience the stillness

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 BASC.

Thanks to Santhosh/Patrick who sent emails, handled tickets, breakfast/lunch and other logistics.

Sat 9th Feb 2013 7AM - KSRTC Bus Stand Platform 12 -

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.

We got down at the famous Ghati Subramanya ( 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.

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.

Climbing Makalidurga under hot sun with limited hydration/nutrition will drain energy/dehydrate.
Lesson#1 : Reach early/start climbing with min 3 liters of water.

Not much shade, but will be able to find small canopy of thorn filled bushes here and there.
Lesson#2 : Caps/Pocket umbrella's and sun screen.

This granite hillock nestled amidst a chain of mountains is at 1350 mt and is next to railway station.
Lesson#3 : Alternate public transport if you don't prefer bus.

There are 2 huge lakes around this hillock each spreading more than 6km radius.
Lesson#4 : Carry spare clothes/towel if you like to swim.

Mind you, there are no shops or stores in and around the foothills.
Lesson#5 :  Ensure to carry enough nutrition and hydration.

Also note that there are no clear cut paths or steps to reach the top.
Lesson#6 : No pain No gain.

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.

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.

Lesson#7 : Enjoy the Nature Feel the Wind Forget the numbers.

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.

Lesson #8 :  Carry hand sanitizers or wet tissues.

 

None of us threw plastic covers here and there. All the plastic covers were brought back.
Lesson#9 : Never carry food packets/anything in plastic covers

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.

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.

Lesson#10 : Learn to swim and don't miss open water opportunities

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.  

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...

BLUE MOUNTAN BICYCLE TOUR

The Blue Mountain Bicycle tour 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.

The tour covered an approximate distance of 600 km in 8 days with a rest day in between.
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.

Special thanks to Wheelsports  ( Mr.Venkatesh Sivarama ) for supporting us in making this tour a grand success. On behalf of all the riders a heartfelt thanks to our support staff Deepak Sondur and Sharat Chandra for helping us all along the tour by driving the cars with snacks,water & accessories. Also they took some amazing snaps of tour riders.

And finally a big thanks to Arvind Ganesh and Venkatesh Murugesan for providing the Sea Sucker and Saris racks to carry our bikes. Thanks to Tour Director/Rider/Sprinter/Climber *whatever* :-) Balu for all the planning and background work.

I need to mention that the Sea Sucker racks from HappyEarth 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.

DAY #1 :  Bangalore to Srirangapatna

0n 15th Dec 2012, 6 riders met at WheelSports and started the ride via the SH17 to Srirangapatna. I joined Siddharth Kansal 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.

DAY #2 :  Srirangapatna to Masinagudi ( Bandipur climb )

Thanks to Anil and Bharat ( 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.

DAY #3 : Masinagudi to Coonoor 

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.

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 Vinay who joined us for the kalahatty climb completed the entire climb and ride to coonoor on his MTB.

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.

The entire team stayed at Salvation Army, 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.

 Leaving Masinagudi, with all bags packed into Support Vehicles.

Group photo before we separated for Kalahatty and Gudalur climbs

Gudalur Climb pic#1

Gudalur Climb pic#2

Gudalur Climb pic#3

DAY #4 : Coonoor to Mettupalyam Loop ( Mettupalyam Descent/Ascent )
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.

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.

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.

Group A riders climbing MettuPalyam ride pic#1

Group A riders climbing Mettupalyam ride pic#2

Sandeep didn't ride today and he was the additional crew

Group B rider's at Kodanad View point

Group B rider Shyam at Kodanad view point

Group B rider Uday riding towards Kodanad view point

Mark climbing from MettuPalyam towards Coonor

 Myself and Balu grabbing water from support vehicle while climbing from Mettupalyam

Karate Kid Siddharth Kansal finished the Mettupalyam Climb first

MettuPalyam climb done and dusted by Group A riders

Myself riding back to Coonoor

Day 5 :  Rest day 

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.

Our support crew member Deepak proved that he had the best cooking skills too.

 Mark demonstrating the correct form of certain workouts at a local gym.

Day 6 :  Coonoor to Upper Bhavani ( Silent Valley climb )

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.

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 km. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On the way to Upper Bhavani

Rear Tire Flat on the way to Upper Bhavai, Fixed but got lazy :-)

Woke up and I was ready to Climb

Look at the beatuful blue Upper Bhavani lake behind

  GAS sucks SUPPORT rocks, Tshirts from KHS WheelSports, Sponsor.

 Day 7 : Coonoor to Mudumalai ( Ooty climb and Gudalur downhill )

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.

REMO @ Salvation Army

 Myself, Balu and Sid climbing ooty from Coonoor

 Mark, Sudha and Shyam climbing ooty from Coonoor

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.

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.

Day8  : Mudumalai to Gundlupet ( Bangalore )

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.

 

Overall it was a amazing team effort from the riders, volunteers and supporters in making the Blue Mountains Bicycling Tour a grand success.

1) After all these climbs i need to check if my nandi climb improves :-)
2) My wife lost 3 kgs without doing major climbs :-)
3) Met wonderful people and hope the new found friendship continues for a long time.

See you at the next edition :-)