Venky's Monkey Musings and More..

The Lemond And The Roadie Route

2012-01-13T16:51:00.000+05:30

The Background To My Fixie Journey:

In 2010 when I was in Vermont I wanted to buy a road bike and was saving for it. I was looking at various bikes. I always had a fancy for classic steel road bikes and I was keeping an eye out on Craigslist. Apart from that my eyes were set on bikes that are supposed to be do-it-all bikes like Bianchi Volpe and Surly Cross Check. But by the time it was time for me to come back home, due to other financial commitments I ended up coming back with just one bike, the Bulldog, which I bought for all of $175 in May 2010.

After coming back home in Sept 2010, with other priorities in life taking lion’s share of the dough I didn’t have enough to spend on a good road bike. I was not sure what I wanted to buy too. All I was sure was that I didn’t want to buy just any bike that had gears like the first time I bought a bike(Hero Hawk). I decided to play the waiting game. I was enjoying riding the Bulldog anyway and it was serving me very well. Then the goal that I had at the back of the mind of trying TFN on my Bulldog also materialized with my registration for TFN being accepted. So, all my training was going to be on that bike. So to go with the ‘no-cash’ scenario, now there was ‘no-need’ of a road bike. At least not until after TFN.

You Need A Road Bike:

As my training progressed and my Nandi climb reports kept piling up, many of my good friends were concerned of the health of my knees in the long term. They were very rightly warning me about the possible negative impact of mashing up a hill on a big gear(42x15) that I have on my Bulldog. That got me thinking and I assured them that I don’t intend to climb with my fixed gear bike forever and that I’m going to buy a road bike soon. But I had no idea when I will buy one and what I wanted to buy.

Lucky Me:

Then one fine day I saw an for-sale ad on BikesZone of a beautiful bike, Siva’s Lemond. But the thought of buying it didn’t even cross my mind after looking at how much he spent on that bike. I just wished that the beautiful bike would find a good home. But after a few days when Siva quoted what looked like a super price for the bike, I jumped up and quickly responded to him saying that I will take it. But there was a caveat. I told him that I could not take it immediately as I didn’t have cash but I assured him that I will pay and pick it up for sure after TFN. That meant more than two months later. Any seller would not think twice before refusing such a stupid offer. But not him.

He agreed to keep the bike reserved for me. He was also kind enough to offer the bike immediately and asked me to pay him later. Another good friend offered to loan me the cash needed to buy that bike so that I can pick it up immediately and ride it in TFN. I’m only telling you this to show how lucky I’m to be surrounded by such fantastic friends. But I still wanted to go ahead with my initial goal of riding TFN on the Bulldog. By that time my training was going so well that the doubt of ‘can I do it’ was slowly being replaced by a belief that ‘I can do it’. But believing and doing are worlds apart. So I wanted to do it and see if I can. So, I thanked both of them for their help and told that I wanted to pick it up only after TFN.

So after a good TFN, I’ve finally picked up the Lemond on 5^th Jan. Siva was again kind enough to bring the bike to my home and hand it over to me. His love for the bike was pretty obvious when he told me that he is selling it to me on one condition that if I ever decide to sell, he should be given the first chance of refusal before I could sell it to anyone. I don’t think I will sell this anytime soon. What a beautiful bike it is! I just love it!

My dad's new ride! She's a beauty! Isn't she? :)

The Lemond's First Nandi:

After taking it for a small ride on Saturday to dial in the fit, I’ve joined Arvind, Ameet, Mohan, Ullas, Shankar and Sanjay for a ride to Nandi. As I was starting training from base again, the goal was to keep spinning and keep the cadence around 100 and stay on the small chain ring all the way. I was not sure if I could do that and still stay with the group. But fortunately the guys decided against hammering that day.

We formed a paceline and kept going at a steady pace and reached base. The previous best climb time for me on the Bulldog was 31:20. The Lemond, I think, is a better bike than the Bulldog. At around 9kilos, it is a lighter bike than Bulldog which weighs in at around 11kilos of which one kilo is the weight of my saddle bag itself. The Lemond also has much lighter wheels. So, it should climb much better than the Bulldog. So, I was somewhat confident of a sub 30 minute climb on it. Mohan sir was more optimistic and was saying that the time could be around 27minutes for me. I was not sure.

When the climb started Arvind was ahead of me and Shankar surged past me in the first 500m. I kept going stead and decided to take it by the feel of the legs and the HR. I never looked at the time and kept spinning. I slowly went past Shankar and was just keeping Arvind in sight. He was pacing himself beautifully and acted as a carrot for me. I went past him after 5km and kept going steadily. My nemesis, curve 33, is no longer a nemisis as I just shifted to a lower gear and kept going easily past it. It was just about keeping it steady after that and when I took the final curve and reached the arch to hit the lap button, I saw 27:02. Mohan, The Demon, was right after all.

With Lemond at Nandi arch with a PB of 27:02, more than 4 mins better than PB on the Bulldog(31:20)

I guess, it is not a bad start for the Lemond on its first attempt. :) The goal now is to try and reach sub25 by the end of the year.

Avg cadence was 104 till Nandi base and 97 for the entire ride. AvgHR for the climb: 175 and avg cadence was 67 for the climb. Oh yeah, I enjoyed coasting downhill on Nandi!

The Road(ie) Ahead:

Is this the beginning of a new chapter? Is BikeyVenky=FixieVenky=RoadieVenky? Only time will tell.

The Dream That Was TFN: The Tour And The People

2012-01-12T17:54:00.003+05:30

The Tour:
The Tour Of Niligiris. TFN. It is a name that is synonymous with not just one of the biggest cycling tours in India but also the most beautiful and one the most challenging tours in the land. I first heard of it around the same time that I started cycling, late 2008. Because the first tour was in Dec 2008. From that time, the thought of riding through the most scenic and challenging terrain of Nilgiris was something that excited me to no end.

I wanted to ride the tour someday. The stories of the subsequent tours only turned that 'want' into a 'need'. I've decided that I NEED to ride the tour at least once. And ride I did! What a tour it was! It has been a dream tour for me and truly a once in a lifetime experience. If there was only one life that was touched by the tour, it was mine, even before I actually rode the tour. Training for the tour has changed me and my cycling forever!

The goal of riding TFN on the Bulldog is what drove me through the most of last year. It was that goal that motivated me to get out and ride 5 days a week for 6 months. It was the same goal that made me ride at insane hours and rake up what looked like an insane number of miles. It was that goal that drove me to lose all those extra pounds I painstakingly accumulated with the help of the foodie me.

But all this did not tell me exactly how badly I wanted this. I only realized the extent to which my mind was taken over by the goal after breaking down and ending up in tears of joy after crossing the finish line on the Ooty climb. I don't remember ever becoming so emotional after a bike ride. I just loved it!

The Riders:
The riders came from across the country and from across the oceans. From the youngest to the oldest, from the most experienced to the most blue eyed newbie, everyone had a common thread to unite them. It was the passion for cycling, the love for a challenge, the will to push their limits and the love for the tour that brought them together.

Rishi goyal from Ahmedabad, the youngest rider at 14, was a surprisingly mature rider riding well within himself and at his own pace. The young at heart riders like Arun Takur, Arun D'silva etc., proved how age is just a number by riding through the challenging terrain. Aparjeet Nakai, the omnipresent savior, helping out station riders with logistics before the tour, was a calm inspiration on the tour as well.

The Hyderabad gang of Sreekanth Gupta, Kishore Samanuri, Raman Garimella, Ranjith Sajja, Maninder Singh and Gokul Krishna of TBA, rode well keeping the HCC flag flying on the tour. From Pune riders like Sumit Pal, Akshat Jain and Vikram Naik were going great guns. Guys like Narayanan and Akshay Jaitley flew in from Delhi while our very own Gaudzilla, aka Vandit Kalia landed straight from Andamans. His DiveIndia was also the prize sponsor for the Tour. Erik Yeh came in from Calcutta as did many other riders from different cities across the country. Mark Hemhauser flew in from Maryland, US just to be part of the tour. It was his second TFN. Richard Joyce flew in from UK to be part of the tour while his friend Mark Ellison made the tour a curtain opener to his 6 month long cycling tour across India.

Although out numbered on the tour, the women riders, Vicki Nicholson, Meera Velankar and Shruthi Saha ensured they were not out spirited by the way they rode. While the more athletic Vicki gave even the male competitors a run for their money finishing the tour first in the gender category and 7th overall, Meera and Shruthi who were also relatively new to the sport of cycling took on the challenging terrain and finished each day with their head held high.

The tour also brought out the die-hard spirit of riders like, Gaurav, Amrish and Sumit who were ill prepared for the tour because of their hectic work and travel schedules leading up to the tour. Despite the minimal preparation they not only showed up for the tour they love but also emerged stronger by the day as the tour progressed. Amrish who was the first guy to finish the Ooty climb in 2010 TFN refused to let bad form dictate terms on what he considers rightly is his terrain. He dug in deep and came up with a phenomenal performance on his favorite climb again finishing as the fastest Indian on the climb that day. It was a treat to watch him climb that day as he flew past me. Sumit Pal had an excellent tour finishing 6th overall while Gaurav and Amrish finished just outside the top 10 with 11th and 12th in men.

The Champion riders like Rajesh Nair, Mark Anderson and Jeff Schmidt gave the tour the competitive edge while many other riders like many of my rider friends from Bangalore made the tour so much more fun.

The Volunteers: The Engine Behind:
I'm short of words when it comes to describe the amazing job that the volunteers that formed the support crew did to make the tour such a memorable experience. If not for them the tour would have not been such a great tour. The willingness to help and enthusiasm of the guys has to be seen to be believed. The kind of work that goes on behind the scenes to make a tour like this happen is unbelievably huge and needs great planning, co-ordination and incredible patience.

The great team of volunteers at TFN'11 - Photo Courtesy Mr. Shailendra Goyal

Although only a few names come to mind, I remember everyone by face. Sridhar Pabbisetty and Deepak Majipatil from RACF, Tour Director Francis Santosh Lobo, Race Director Vasu Mishra and their army of men like Badrinath V Sastry, Parameshwar Raju, Abhilash Mohan, Karthik Sridhar, Adarsh Kasyap, Adarsh Shetkar, Shahzeb Rafi, Deep Sehmbi, Purushotham Raju, Rakesh Basavaiah and Praveen to name a few. Kiran Kumar Raju who was in-charge of marking the route each day did a fantastic job. Thank you guys for making each day of the tour such a great experience for us riders.

The medical support team of Physio Dhanajeyan of Spectrum Physio and team at Sita Bhateja Hospitals did an awesome job of taking care of the riders and their niggles and crash injuries. Dr. Arvind, who was himself riding on the tour, was a savior on two wheels tending to the crash victims. He even administered stitches to Vineeth with his cycling helmet on and the surgical gloves replacing his cycling gloves. How many tours claim to have a neurosurgeon on board?

There were a fleet of photographers who made us feel like we were riding a pro tour. The official photographers Chenthil Mohan, Aditya Phadye along with their support; Anand Cj and his team at Creative Chisel, all took on the challenging task of capturing the amazing beauty of the terrain and blending it with the spirit of tour. We've seen samples of the work of Chenthil and Aditya which was stupendous. We're eagerly waiting for all the photos and the video. Thank you for the great work guys!

The official blogger Prashanth Kota, Srinath Nelavai from LeapSky Wireless and Rishi's father Mr. Shailendra Goyal also wielded cameras to capture the beauty of Nilgiris and the riders in action. They did a fab job of it. Thank you guys.

Thank You All:

Although I could not thank him enough I have to try anyway. A special thanks to my friend who doesn't want to be named. Without his help, it would not have been possible for me to ride this tour at all. All of you have made this tour possible and made it one of the most memorable experiences for me. Thank you! Thank you!! And thank you!!!

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Here is the day to day account of Tour of Nilgiris(TFN'11):

Day 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Day 2: Mysore to Hassan
Day 3: Hassan to Madikere
Day 4: Madikere to Kannur
Day 5: Rest Day At Kannur
Day 6: Kannur to Sultanbhateri
Day 7: Sultanbhateri to Ooty
Day 8: Ooty - Kodanad

The Bulldog Goes To TFN: Day 8: Ooty - Kodanad

2011-12-25T15:32:00.007+05:30

After the Ooty climb CS was done, we had lunch and started to climb up the remaining 25km to Ooty to reach YMCA where we were put up. The initial kms of the climb was tough after a hard ride in the competitive section. But after a couple of downhill sections after Pykara, the legs came back and I finished strong climbing up the steep grades entering into Ooty.

Arvind, Gaurav and I went shopping in the streets of Ooty after which we joined the rest of the folks for dinner in Taj Savoi. Had a great time there before we got back to YMCA and spending a cold night wrapping ourselves in a million layers of clothing and blankets just to stay alive.

The champs of TFN'11, Vicki Nicholson and Rajesh Nair..

Next morning, the last day of the tour was from Ooty to Kodanad view point. After the Tour Director Francis Lobo delivered his ‘mostly rolling’ briefing for the last time, we started on our way out of Ooty. The first five km of the planned route was climbing followed by a downhill and rolling terrain to reach Kodanad.

After the initial 5km climb, we reached a small junction where the road forked out. One of those leads us on the planned route to Kodanad and the other road would lead us to Doddabetta which, at 2637m/8650 feet, is the 2nd highest point in India south of the Himalaya. A few riders like Hari, Vicki, Jeff, Shankar, MarkH and Mark Anderson decided they want to climb upto Doddabetta before heading towards Kodanad.

I was there on an earlier tour with family on a bus. But I wanted the Bulldog to have a shot at the steep climb because it might never make it this far again. The 3km climb from that point gains almost 200m in elevation. As I began to climb though, I had second thoughts about it as the road appeared completely broken and the rear tire seemed to be losing traction on the steep parts. I brushed those thoughts aside and continued climbing and as I approached the top, saw Amrish and Baba Velo also making their way up.

Top of Doddabetta just when we received the news of the accident...

At the top just as we were posing for a few shots, Raj received a call informing of a head-on collision of a rider, Chako Cherian, with a tempo traveler. Head-on collision with a moving vehicle on a downhill sounded dreadful. We were shocked and feared the worst. We began descending with a heavy heart praying that the guy be safe. As we descended Doddabetta, Sumit who was waiting for us at the base informed that Chako was safe. We all breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards the accident site.

It was just after a blind turn on a downhill and a volunteer (Badri) was signaling from that corner for us to slowdown. As we stopped near the ambulance, I saw a guy being attended to in it. We saw Chako’s carbon bike broken at the head tube lying on the roadside. But I saw Chako safe and smiling outside the ambulance. I was confused as to who was in the ambulance.

Apparently as Chako took that blind turn he headed straight into a tempo traveler which was directly in his path as it was trying to overtake a vehicle. His head hit the bonnet of the vehicle and made a huge dent in it and the helmet broke into pieces as did his bike. But the angel guardians that Chako employed must have been the best in the business. He escaped the accident without as much as a scratch. Oh, wait! He did have a small scratch on his left index finger.

Chako with his injury..

After the accident, another vehicle apparently wanted to catch the action and stopped on the road blocking the way. Maninder Singh, who was belting down the hill didn’t see that the road was blocked and ended up skidding after a sudden brake at that speed. Poor guy learnt the lesson about the importance of wearing a helmet by ending up with a couple of stitches above his right eyebrow. He also had a sprained left wrist. I’m sure he is a bit miffed his guardian angels who might in turn have been mad at him for not wearing a helmet. Glad that both the guys were doing fine, though.

After knowing that they were doing fine, we headed down the hill towards Kodanad. The route was simply the best of the tour so far. Each day has been better than the previous day in the tour and the last day was simply the best. The roads were the smoothest we had on the tour and the scenery was amazing. We stopped often and took lots of pictures. I kept clicking away using my phone camera whenever I can as I rode on too. As we got closer to the Kodanad viewpoint, the views became surreal. They have to be seen to be believed.

We packed our bikes into the truck at the end point, took one of the coldest bathes ever and had lunch in banana leaf. After the presentation ceremony, we winded up the tour in one of the most scenic of the locations and started to head home. I felt sad that the tour is over and also happy that I would be seeing my family after 8 days.

Even on the mostly downhill route for the day, the elevation gain was about 800m in 50km on the last day. We climbed nearly 9000m in 803kms on the tour over 7 days.

The Bulldog at Kodanad at the end of a successful TFN...

Why TFN On A Fixed Gear?
The idea of doing TFN on a fixed gear bike started as a vague thought after I successfully completed my first 100miler on this bike in Vermont last year. The idea of riding around 800 hilly kilometers on a fixed gear bike looked extremely challenging and almost impossible. Then when I went to Ooty with Vineeth and climbed it successfully, the thought didn't sound that impossible anymore. But the prospect of riding a fixed gear and not being able to coast down those hundreds of hills still looked immensely challenging.

Gradually that challenging idea has become a personal goal. That personal goal has motivated me to lose the extra weight I had on me because I knew that hauling any extra weight up any climb is going to be taxing. So, becoming as light as possible was one of critical success factors in this challenge. Training consistently and practicing climbs helped me lose those extra kilos and get as fit as I can to take on the challenge.

Thank you..

The Bulldog has served me well on the tour, during the 10000 kms of training for the tour and gave me many memorable rides over the last one and half years. Apart from my trusted work horse, the Bulldog, there were may people who helped me get here.

My wife who has not only put up with my madness and single minded eccentricity but also encouraged me in pursuing my goals.
My ride partners who have let a dumb fixed gear rider break into their roadie pacelines, putting up with his million photo shoots on the rides, slowing down for him at times, pushing him to do better at other times and helping him become a better rider with their words of wisdom.
For the organizing team at TFN for making it possible for me to ride the tour.

Here are the photos from day8: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/BulldogSTFNDay8OotyToKodanad#

Here is the ride log: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136251246

Read about the rest of the Bulldog's Tour of Nilgiris(TFN'11):

Day 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Day 2: Mysore to Hassan
Day 3: Hassan to Madikere
Day 4: Madikere To Kannur
Day 5: Rest Day At Kannur
Day 6: Kannur to Sultanbhateri
Day 7: Sultanbhateri to Ooty

The Bulldog Goes To TFN: Day 7: Sultanbhateri to Ooty

2011-12-24T18:23:00.003+05:30

The ride from Madikeri to Sultanbhateri on day 6 was the toughest ride of the tour so far. That was soon to be changed as we approached day 7. It is a 96km ride from Sultanbhateri to Ooty with a 40km climb. The total elevation gain is supposed to be more than 2000m and the competitive section for the day is a 21km climb from Gudalur to Ooty with a 1000m of elevation gain.

On our way to Ooty..

The 21km Ooty climb is also the last CS of the tour which would determine the winners and the standings in the General Classification. The climb is long enough for everyone to dread looking at the skinny climbers. The seconds and minutes of lead accumulated over the previous stages could very easily be wiped off on this behemoth of a climb. The danger of the GC standings being completely overhauled by the end of it was very real. The difference between a great climb, a good climb and an ordinary one could be tens of minutes. No one seemed to be certain what time would be good enough on the climb on the day.

After the penultimate CS of the tour on day 6, Mark Anderson had a lead of 1min 50secs over Baba Velo while there was nearly 7min difference between BabaVelo and Sumit Pal who was at third place. Shankar Jayaraman, MarkH, Akshay Jaitly, Hari Menon, Arvind, bikeyvenky(yours truly) and Jeff Schmidt made the rest of the top 10, in that order, in men with a minute or two difference between each other. Vicki was the undisputed leader in women and was also giving the top men a run for their money by being placed 7^th overall in GC.

Having looked at the previous couple of performances of Jeff on the climbs, everyone was silently certain of his jump into top 10 in GC. How big the jump would be was the only question that remained to be answered. Mark Anderson, who has bought the tour alive by giving Baba Velo a run for his money, has shown on the shorter 6km climbing CS of day6, that he is no walkover even on the climbs despite him being nearly 15kilos heavier than Baba Velo.

Rishi, who was not going to ride the day’s course on tour doctor’s advice, was given the privilege of leading the riders out of the hotel. After a few meters, he hopped on to one of the support vehicles and continued to cheer the riders on.

As we got out of Sultanbhateri and were riding a smooth and curvy downhill just a few kilometers before DeverShola, we noticed someone crashed. It was Raj. He was just being helped to get off the road and the Dogma was lying on the road. The cause of the crash was unmistakable to anyone who looked at the bike’s front wheel. The tubular tire on the front wheel just rolled off the rim when he was flying down the hill at around 60kmph. It sent him crashing on to the road and he hit his hip and shoulders where the bibs and jersey were torn apart.

At first, I thought that his tour was over. Even if he managed to get up and finish the ride, I was not sure if he has it in him to take on the big Mark on the long climb and put two minutes on him to win the tour. What a sad end to the exciting rivalry it would be! Or so I thought.

The savior of the men on the tour, Dr. Arvind who was riding behind us stopped and looked at the severity of the injuries and administered first aid before the ambulance arrived. Raj got up after being plastered on the left elbow and left calf, and asks if his bike is okay. The Dogma was in perfect condition but for a small scratch on the left brake lever and a scratch on the saddle. Vandit lent his carbon front wheel and Raj looked all set to go although no one including himself was sure if he the number of the bones inside his body has changed.

Baba Velo after being patched up.. The bandage on the leg was later replaced by a more aero plaster..

There was also another twist in the tale. As we were waiting for Raj to be attended to by the medical team, it was learnt that there was a bandh going on in Gudalur and other areas around over a water dispute between Tamilnadu and Kerala. Apparently, anybody who was crossing the border from Kerala into Tamilnadu was in trouble if it was understood that they were anyway related to the Malluland. We were not sure if the tour could proceed further safely without us being dragged into some political imbroglio and being mobbed. It was a real danger of the tour being ended right there.

Thankfully, the organizers and the support staff didn’t panic and worked with Tamilnadu police to counter the situation. The mallus among us were instructed to have a selective amnesia of their mother tongue if they were to stay alive. We had one Kerala registered vehicle being used by our support crew whose number plate was changed with the help of police who escorted us into Gudalur after a long wait.

With a couple of support crew vehicles and a police jeep escorting us, we slowly made our way towards Gudalur. We tried to warm up as much as possible in the mean time as we climbed up to and out of Gudalur towards the starting point of the CS.

One by one the guys lined up at the starting point of the final race on the Ooty climb. I ended up starting after almost all the guys were gone. I got to the starting line and the Bulldog jumped into action with a good sprint and settled into a rhythm. I was not sure how much to push and how to pace myself for the long haul on the climb but decided to take things as they come.

Kept going strong till 5km mark but I noticed that the heart rate was still not going up to what I wanted it to. Not sure if it was a sign of a tired body that is refusing to work with the mind or the nervous mind playing games with the body but I felt something was amiss. I tried getting off the saddle and accelerating a bit every now and then but it felt like I was hardly moving. Then I realized that I didn’t have anybody in sight in front of me to target and act as a carrot for me. In retrospect, I should have started in the middle of the bunch which would have helped me by providing me some carrots to aim for.

I began to feel lonely up there but ploughed through past the 10k mark. Each passing meter of the climb was a mental struggle as I was not sure if I was doing enough. The body seemed to be refusing to do anything more than it was already doing. The thoughts of taking a breather and starting again began to play with me. I fought those thoughts and refused to set the foot down even if it meant I had to crawl to the finish line. I kept telling myself that if it was tough for me it was going to be tough for everybody. That kept me going and it became my mantra in that meditation in pain.

Then I saw Naveen go flying past me and was glad to see someone on the climb. I tried to keep him in sight for as long as possible which was not for long before he disappeared. After a while Saru rode by and kept encouraging me. I tried to hang on to him for a km or two and that helped me get into some semblance of a rhythm. He slowly pulled ahead and disappeared.

After a while I heard the familiar ‘tik tik, tik tik’ a few meters behind me and I called out “Amrish!” That sound from the bottom bracket on his bike was his unmistakable identity on this tour. I tried to keep up with him for a while. He seemed to be getting into the groove as the tour proceeded and was in superb form on the climb that he conquered ahead of everyone on the tour last year. The smooth cadence and the rhythmic movement of the upper body were the trademarks of this stylish rider. He too slowly disappeared.

The appearances of these super riders helped my morale and I kept going. I slowly went past the ‘5km to go’ mark. Then Mohan sir made an appearance and I kept going trying to stay with him. I found the strength in his encouraging words and kept digging in. With in no time we went past the ‘3km to go’ and ‘1km to go’ and I sprinted to the finish line soon after Mohan.

As I went past the finish line and slowly turned back to reach support station the realization that I made it slowly dawned on me. This was what I was training for the last six months. Tears began to roll down my eyes and I broke down for a minute while I fought to keep my emotions in check. I didn’t realize till that moment how much this personal goal meant to me. At that moment, I silently thanked everyone who made it happen in various ways.

I wiped my eyes and drank some water. I was elated that I made it. It didn’t matter what was my timing and where I stood in GC. I was genuinely happy to have made it.

I quickly asked Baba Velo who was there about his time and his smile and thumbs up said it all. He apparently gained more than four minutes over Mark Anderson to win the title. Mark Anderson who gave it all through the first half of the climb apparently bonked halfway through the climb and ended up losing a lot of time. Jeff who had done exceedingly well on previous climbing stages had a great climb finishing just 15 seconds behind Rajesh on the day. He jumped 7 positions to end up on the podium in style finishing 3^rd overall in GC.

Mark Anderson and Rajesh Nair on the way to Ooty after the CS..

I managed to finish with 8^th best timing for the day and jumped one position up and finished 8^th in GC.

Here are the day 7 results:

Here are the final GC standings after day7:

Here are the photos from day7: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/BulldogSTFNDay7SultanbhateriToOoty

Here is the ride log: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135880751

Read about the rest of the Bulldog's Tour of Nilgiris(TFN'11):
Day 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Day 2: Mysore to Hassan
Day 3: Hassan to Madikere
Day 4: Madikere To Kannur
Day 5: Rest Day At Kannur
Day 6: Kannur to Sultanbhateri
Day 8: Ooty - Kodanad

The Bulldog Goes To TFN: Day 6: Kannur to Sultanbhateri

2011-12-24T11:13:00.005+05:30

Baba Velo has been warning us for a couple of months that the ride on day 6 from Kannur to Sultanbatheri is going to be the toughest ride of the tour. According to him it is tough not just because of the challenging terrain that offers nearly 2000m of climbing but more so because of the heat and humidity in which we have to scale those climbs. Many who rode on the day would agree.

It is a 130km ride with 13km climb of 800m 40km into the ride. The first 6km of that climb is the competitive section and most of the route before and after the climb is also an extremely rolling terrain. Add to this the prospect of the heat and humidity and you have torture on two wheels.

Although we were quite rested on day 5 and were quite fresh, we were a bit nervous thinking about the hard ride ahead, as we got out of the hotel in Kannur. Just 400m into the ride we heard the dreaded hiss and it was Vandit’s rear tire. We stopped and checked the tire to see a big glass shred embedded in the tire. The tire also needed booting probably due to day3 pinch flat that resulted in the crash. So, he decided to take a car ride to support station one during which he planned to change the tire. He would take a 5minute penalty for that but since he is out of top 10 after day3 crash, he doesn’t care about his GC standings anymore.

Mark Hemhauser navigating through bone shaker roads of Kerala..

The Kerala roads are so narrow that it makes me wonder how those humongous buses, whose drivers always seemed to be on dope, didn’t end up annihilating the entire Kerala population by now. They are not just narrow but on quite a few stretches on our route the road acted as a boneshaker.

We formed a single file paceline and kept rolling till SS1 which was 7km before the CS at the base of the climb. We tried to warm up on the 6-7km rolling terrain before the CS. But sprinting on those bad roads was nearly impossible. Although not properly warmed up, the adrenaline was there as we got to the base of the 6km climbing CS. We’ve decided on the order and got to the starting line one after the other. Gaurav and Ameet started before me followed by Amrish and Shankar.

As it was a shorter and steady climb of nearly 300m in 6km, the only strategy was to go all out and let the pain last for as little a time as possible. After I was flagged off, the Bulldog jumped into action with a sprint and settled into a rhythm. I kept pushing as much as I can and kept an eye on the HR. It jumped to 180s in no time and remained there. The loud panting and the thumping heart were the only things I could hear. I kept going not caring for the bad roads and the Bulldog kept jumping over the potholes as we charged ahead.

I went past a couple of riders and then saw Ameet ahead of me. I slowly managed to bridge the gap and went past him and then went past Balu. As I saw the marking of '1km to go' on the road, I was extremely happy that it is going to be over and kept going. As I approached the finish line I had a sprint against Siva who bet me by a second to the line. I crossed the finish line and it took more than a minute for the panting to stop. The avg HR for 18min 47secs was 182bpm. Never before did I push so hard. I was happy with the effort.

After the CS is done we took it easy for the rest of the 7km climb enjoying the amazing scenery. We rode another 74km with 1150m of elevation gain. The total elevation gain was nearly 1900m of which around 800m was on the main climb. The route was one of the most beautiful of rolling terrains that I ever rode on. It reminded me of Vermont. Towards the end there were quite a few small 10-15% walls on which we stood up and grinded our way up.

It was a good feeling to finish the challenging 129km course. It was not as hot and humid as we feared that it would be but was not as comfy as the earlier days. The youngest rider of the tour, Rishi(14yrs), who has been riding exceptionally well so far by pacing himself well, bonked on the ride and struggled to finish the ride. He finally finished around 7pm and rolled into the hotel to the cheers of all of us.

Rishi Goyel on the ride from Madikeri to Sultanbhateri..

He apparently didn’t eat the night before and didn’t plan the nutrition and hydration well enough on the ride. He was taken care of by the excellent medical team of the Sita Bhateja hospitals and is doing well. He was advised not to ride the even tougher Ooty stage on the next day as a precaution. This would be a learning for the young champ to the future on how to pace himself, how to take care of nutrition and hydration before and after the long rides. The indomitable spirit of this shy youngster is amazing and he did exceedingly well to ride so far. Three cheers to him and his father Mr. Shailender, who accompanied him on the tour to assist and encourage him. Good luck for the future Rishi.

I finished 4^th for the day after Mark Anderson, Baba Velo and Jeff Schmidt and still stayed on 9^th overall in GC. Baba Velo lost another 35 seconds on the climb to Mark and the overall deficit is now 1min 50sec. He needs to finish at least a couple of minutes ahead of Mark to win the title. Jeff who has been a dark horse on the rolling/flat races of the first two days has come out of the hiding and has been flying on the hills. He has moved up quite a few positions up to end up 11^th overall in GC after day 6. A very tough fight ahead as anything could happen on the 21km climbing CS with a 1000m elevation gain on cards as the final CS. Tremendous tension is building up among the riders who are anxiously preparing themselves for the mayhem ahead.

Here are the results of day6:

Here are the GC standings after day6:

Here are the photos of day6: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/BulldogSTFNDay6KannurToSultanbhateri#

Here is the ride log: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135880886

Read about the rest of the Bulldog's Tour of Nilgiris(TFN'11):

Day 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Day 2: Mysore to Hassan
Day 3: Hassan to Madikere
Day 4: Madikere To Kannur
Day 5: Rest Day At Kannur
Day 7: Sultanbhateri to Ooty
Day 8: Ooty - Kodanad

The Bulldog Goes To TFN: Day 5: Rest Day At Kannur

2011-12-23T05:18:00.002+05:30

Day 4 was a short but bone shaking entry into Kerala to reach Kannur. Day 5 was a much awaited rest day. The hotel in Kannur offered so many opportunities to have fun. It had six bars in the hotel along with a swimming pool on 5^th floor, a pool table, a table tennis table among other things. For those who wanted to get out and explore the old forts and beaches of Kannur turned out to be great avenues.

A couple enjoying the sea and the sunset..

A few of us went out and explored St. Angelo’s Fort by the sea which was built around the port where Vasco-de-gama landed. It was an nice experience exploring the nooks and corners of the 500 odd year old fort and wondering how it actually looked back in the day. Guys were taking turns creating an imagery of the Dutch soldiers would have lived in the tiny barracks and which of the structures would have been quarters for colonels etc.

The views of the sea from the back of the fort were simply amazing. It was also fun looking at a couple of newly wed Keralite couples running around the trees and putting on a performance for their wedding video. The embarrassing smile on the face of the bride and the groom whenever someone was passing by was something to watch.

After a bit of exploration of the fort we tried pickled mangoes and pineapples that were being sold in a small stall inside the fort’s garden. With a couple of important and tough days of riding ahead the guys were initially very hesitant to try them. But once we started eating we liked them so much that we ended up with a couple of repeats each.

The fort closes at 6pm and we walked out to the main road, took an auto and landed near the beach. A few of us just sat on the ultra soft sand taking in the amazing views of the sea in the twilight after sunset. A lot of guys went for a swim in the ocean and had a blast. The unbridled fun the guys were having playing throw ball or discus or just putting in a beach run after the swim was such a treat to watch.

We had a blast on the rest day. So did the support staff.

I have to put in a word here about the support staff/volunteers. Not a single day on TFN has passed by when I did not wonder what drives these guys. They are all volunteers and no one gets paid. Some of them I think are not even connected to cycling. But the kind of passion with which they go about ensuring that everything is running smoothly is unbelievable. For me, what they are doing to ensure the riders are able to have fun on the ride without worrying about anything else is much more of an achievement than scaling hundreds of mountains on a cycle.

Just a small example of how the guys go out of their way to help. After Vineeth’s crash, Dr. Arvind needed a medical item that helps in healing the skin wounds quicker and leaves no scars, to be used on Vineeth’s face. It needs to be used with in 72hrs of the injury for best results. It is a rare item and is not available outside of big cities. He made a couple of calls to find out where it was available in Bangalore and then approached the race director Vasu to see if someone is coming from Bangalore to get it. The next morning the item reached Kannur by overnight bus from Bangalore and Vineeth no longer had to go around with ghastly bandages on his face.

Kiran Kumar Raju, who is in charge of marking the route goes out at 3am and starts marking the route so that no one gets lost. He comes to us during dinner and takes feedback from many of us trying to find if we had any difficulty in following the route so that he can do better the next day. Numerous funny and encouraging lines and even a line to take to avoid potholes used to appear on the road to keep us on track and to keep our spirits up. He has done a fabulous job.

These are just a couple of examples out of hundreds of incidents everyday that the twenty odd volunteers humble us with. The Tour Director Francis Santosh Lobo goes around talking to people and taking feedback. Karthik, Badri, Promod, Adarsh, Praveen are a few names that come to mind among others. Thank you guys for the great work.

More photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/BulldogSTFNDay5RestDayAtKannur

Read about the rest of the Bulldog's Tour of Nilgiris(TFN'11):

Day 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Day 2: Mysore to Hassan
Day 3: Hassan to Madikere
Day 4: Madikere To Kannur
Day 6: Kannur to Sultanbhateri
Day 7: Sultanbhateri to Ooty
Day 8: Ooty - Kodanad

The Bulldog Goes To TFN: Day 4: Madikere To Kannur

2011-12-21T05:32:00.002+05:30

The day 3 from Hassan to Madikere was a long day and a great day. After a 180km ride with a 10km climbing CS, most of us surprisingly were feeling fresher than ever. We chilled out in the evening in the Madikere late into the night as day four is a shorter and easier ride of 64km towards Kannur. Due to the traffic and road conditions along with mad traffic on Kerala’s narrow roads, organizers decided to keep the ride short to 64km and then send the riders with a bus to Kannur where we’d chill out on day five which is a rest day.

A beautiful morning to ride..

The Solitaire Exotica resort, in which we were put up for the day, is located in a nice setting and is reasonably well maintained. But its kitchen is obviously not capable of delivering breakfast for the hundred odd people on time. The dinner of the night before was fine but they botched up with breakfast as enough was not served and what was provided is complained upon. Minor thing considering everything has been going on spot-on so far.

As it was a short ride, we started out late at 9am. We were briefed to be careful on the 15km downhill that follows after around 35kms of bad roads which is followed by more bad roads. As soon as we got out of the resort it was pretty clear that we were in MTB terrain. The roads were bad to non existent but the scenic beauty was amazing.

The beauty along the route..

The terrain was pretty rolling and the roads made life pretty difficult for quite a few road bikes on the descents. Gaurav’s rear wheel had a couple of spoke causalities around 20km into the ride. I’m sure the hybrid bikes and MTBs on the tour had a field day riding on those roads. Maninder surely loved it and was disappointed that there was no competitive section for the day and that he missed a golden opportunity to roast the roadies on those bad roads and down hills.

As there was no competitive section for the day and the ride itself was very short, we were having a pretty relaxed ride. We stopped anywhere we pleased either to capture the scenic beauty in our cameras or for having tea and some exotically named coke-a-cola imitation drinks. It was loads of fun.

Vandit, whose broken bike has not been fixed yet, decided to take a five minute penalty for the GC and ride in the support car. He was continuing his domestique duties for his master Jedi Cowzilla from his car by exchanging empty bottles of water with him and posing for cameras.

The Domestique and the master.. :)

After reaching and crossing the support station one the 15km downhill has started. The down hill section had better roads when compared to the earlier 35km but it was peppered with craters that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was also a very winding course and a bit of a technical descent with loose gravel and intermittent potholes. So, one couldn’t really go all out and had to be really careful.

6-7km into the downhill I saw a lot of riders stopping by the road side and stopped to figure out what happened. Vineeth who was apparently looking to overtake Siva on a curvy descent ended up taking a wrong line and headed into a rough patch on the road and washed out. He crashed pretty badly resulting in laceration on his face around his left eye and his right palm.

Dr. Arvind who was riding by stopped and took out his cycling gloves and wore his surgical gloves and with his cycling attire and helmet still on, sutured the wound on Vineeth’s face. He ended up with a few stitches around the left eye and a small cast for a broken finger on the right hand. He is doing better but will not be able to ride any further because the broken finger does not allow him to hold the handlebars and use the brakes.

It is bad luck for Vineeth who is a very strong and experienced rider. He has been riding at his own strong pace and was finishing the rides in the first group on all the days and is in 13^th position in GC without even riding the CS sections any differently than the rest of the ride. All it took was probably a bit of bad timing on a small section of a technical descent to ruin a perfect tour for him. When we took a look at his helmet that took a bashing in the crash we understand how important a role it played to save his head from any serious injury.

Another rider, Akshat from Pune who was on his hybrid bike, also crashed on the downhill. He had few abrasions and rode on after first aid. Lucky to have a neuro-surgeon(Arvind) riding on the tour and have the Sita Bateja ambulance support available to take care of the safety of the riders.

After the downhill completed and as we went further, the omnipresent Mohanlal, the narrow roads and the drunken buses having a ball on them were enough indications that we entered Kerala. We could feel the heat and humidity right away. Thankfully we didn’t have to ride much and reached the support station two which was also the end point.

From there we were to take a bus to Kannur. As the bus got full, and I didn’t want to wait for a second trip, I got into Siva’s support car and got to the hotel in Kannur. It is later learnt that the bus driver lived up to the reputation that Kerala drivers have and gave the guys a ride that they would never forget in a lifetime bringing them to hotel in record time.

We have a rest day at Kannur at day 5 to get ready for a sufferfest climbs of day six and seven.

Here are the photos from day4: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/BulldogSTFNDay4MadikereToKannur#

Here is the ride log: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135390109

Read about the rest of the Bulldog's Tour of Nilgiris(TFN'11):

Day 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Day 2: Mysore to Hassan
Day 3: Hassan to Madikere
Day 5: Rest Day At Kannur
Day 6: Kannur to Sultanbhateri
Day 7: Sultanbhateri to Ooty
Day 8: Ooty - Kodanad

Bulldog Goes To TFN: Day 3: Hassan to Madikere

2011-12-20T12:02:00.002+05:30

The day two has kicked up the excitement big time. The guys were getting into the groove enjoying the ride and racing in the competitive sections. The day three ride from Hassan to Madikere was going to be the longest ride of TFN this year. It is also touted as one of the toughest rides with a 10km climbing competitive section after riding 170km of rolling terrain. Everyone was nervous about the ride from day one and with good reason. This was going to be a long day.

The breakfast menu of bread, boiled eggs, broached eggs, chicken sausages, idli, vada, pongal, kesari bath, fruits, fruit juice etc., catered to most cultures and tastes while providing enough wattage for the ride ahead. The breakfast, lunch and dinner menus seemed pretty well thought out. They have been distinctive and I think they have been serving the nutritional needs of the riders, so far, while still catering to their taste buds. I loaded up on some much needed protein. I would need it.

Amrish, Shankar, Arvind, Raman, Mark and Ameet on the way to Madikere..

It was slightly cold as we started around 7:30am but as we got out of Hassan, the sun came out and turned it into a beautiful and warm morning. The plan was simple. Save the legs, if at all that is possible after riding 170km, for last 10km climb into Madikere. So there was hesitancy to spend time at the front in most of us. But the train has to move forward and we tried to share the load as much as possible with out taxing the top guys too much. We rode at a very easy pace and were going strong at SS2 which at 90km mark was exactly halfway to the end.

The plan was to get to SS3 at around 135km mark, which was also the lunch stop, reasonably early and rest there for a while before we get to the competitive section. That would mean that we won’t be climbing the competitive section in the hottest time of the day and we would give the legs time to recover and be ready for the mayhem ahead.

Baba Velo, Ravi Ranjan, MarkH, Rakesh, Vandit, Sumit, Maninder, Vijay, Vicki, Hari and I were riding together sharing the work. We got to the SS3 at around 1pm feeling reasonably fresh despite the long rolling terrain and headwinds.

We had pasta and bread for lunch and stretched out by the roadside and slept like babies under tree shade. After a while, the spectrum group of Arvind, Gaurav, Amrish, Ameet and Siva arrived and we waited for them to get their lunch and rest before we all start together. We spent almost 2hours at SS3 before moving ahead. It was a huge bunch of nearly twenty gently moving along towards SS4 where the CS starts.

Roadside resort.. Akshay in the tent while Ravi, Hari and Vicki made to with some blankets on the grass..

Just a few kms before the SS4, as we were going through some beautiful forests with excellent rolling terrain, Raj, Rakesh, Sumit, Mark and I charged ahead to warm-up on the inclines with some short hill sprints. As we got to the start of the CS, we were raring to go. We regrouped at the CS and decided on the order of people to start so that we can act as carrots to each other. That is becoming the theme since the races are individual time trails and this way each of us will have someone to chase and do better.

Ravi started before me and Rakesh, Mark and Sumit started after me followed by Raj. The countdown has started and I charged ahead and tried to settle into a rhythm. Baba Velo predicted a time of around 30mins for me before I started but I didn’t want to look at the time and put myself under pressure as I rode. So, I’ve decided to take it by how the legs respond and look at only the heart rate. It was difficult to gain momentum initially but as I settled into a rhythm the heart rate slowly ramped up and I kept going keeping it steady at around 170.

I was looking to go all out because the end of the CS is the end of the ride for the day. But at the same time I did not want to put too much strain on the legs in that adrenaline rush because we still have great bit of climbing to do on the tour.

As I kept going the breathing has turned into loud panting. I went past a couple of riders who have started before me but I could only get a glimpse of Ravi a couple of times riding ahead. He has started a minute before me and my target was to get as close to him as possible. But I could hardly see him more than couple of times with the course being so winding and as he was riding pretty hard himself. That target of getting close to him kept me distracted from the pain of the hard effort of the climb.

The climb looked to be a continuous 10km climb according to the elevation profile shown in the dockets. But it actually had quite a few flat/downhill stretches that gave respite to the legs. Even that helped to keep going with a few seconds of respite in between. The 2-3km of flat/downhill stretches in the 10km with 300m of elevation gain meant that it was not a steady 3% gradient and the climb got steeper at a few places.

Those downhill stretches in between were also very winding and technical. I just spun through them as hard as I could with out using brakes as I knew the climb would start again. As I was going through one such downhill stretch I saw Vandit stopping by the roadside getting off the bike to look towards his back wheel. I couldn’t make out what was wrong but I kept going.

As I approached the 8km mark, I heard the noise of some wheels approaching and before I could finish wondering who it was, I heard the sonic boom going past me. It was Baba Velo. I heard, “Keep going, Venky!” and he was gone disappearing into the next curve as if I was standing still. That egged me on further. When I saw some marking on the road saying 3km to go, I started thinking, “Oh Man! 3 more!?” But soon I saw '1km to go' written on the road and went all out with a mental sigh of relief that it is soon going to be over. The pain is going to end and I can breath normally again. I charged to the finish line and crossed it elated. I was happy with the effort and that it was over for the day.

The rest of the guys one by one sprinted to the finish line. Sumit who got there told us that Vandit crashed big time and his bike is broken. As we were all wondering what really happened, we saw someone who looked like Vandit sprinting to the finish line but he was on a much smaller Bianchi. Someone said, it’s not Vandit but the black and white Assos set was unmistakable. That person turned back and approached us and got of the bike limping and there was blood all over him. It was Vandit indeed. The bike was not his.

It was an incredible sight. He looked like a wounded warrior. Apparently on a fast downhill section when he was going full throttle, his rear tire hit a small stone got a pinch flat which sent the bike fishtailing for a few meters before crashing. He then got up and ignoring all the lacerations on his body changed the tube and tried to get on the bike and start riding. He then realized that the rear derailleur is broken. Narayan on his Bianchi Nirione 7, who was passing by stopped and apparently offered his bike so that Vandit could finish the ride. He got on to the bike and put all the adrenaline from the crash to propel the bike towards the finish line and sprinted past it. It was pure Jens Voigt stuff from him. Hats off!

Jens being treated by Dr. Arvind in the ambulence..

He has lost almost 15 mins due to the incident and ended up sliding to 16^th position in GC at the end of 3^rd day from 5^th position on day 2.

I was really happy with the way the climb went for me. I completed the 10.5k section with 300m climb in 28mins 47secs finishing 6^th overall for the day.

Mark Anderson finished 12 secs ahead of Baba Velo with a time of 25 mins 06 secs. Mark is still 1 min 19 secs ahead in GC after day3.

Here are the top 20 for day 3:

Here are the top 20 standings at the end of day 3:

Day 4 is an easy ride from Madikere to Kannur with no competitive section. Along with all the fun we are having on the tour, the competition is heating up and everyone is looking to do well in competitive sections. The top spot looks like its not going to be decided till Ooty. Fun, fun and more fun!! :)

Here are the photos from day 3: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/BulldogSTFNDay3HassanToMadikere#

Here is the ride log: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135390180

Read about the rest of the Tour of Nilgiris:

Day 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Day 2: Mysore to Hassan
Day 4: Madikere To Kannur
Day 5: Rest Day At Kannur
Day 6: Kannur to Sultanbhateri
Day 7: Sultanbhateri to Ooty
Day 8: Ooty - Kodanad

Bulldog Goes To TFN: Day 2: Mysore to Hassan

2011-12-17T22:40:00.003+05:30

So the day one was loads fun and a bit of pain (in terms of bad roads towards the end). At the end of the day when the results were announced the guys flocked the results sheet like a bunch of school kids looking up the results of their school final exams. The nervousness and the excitement were very apparent. It was fun to watch the roadie speak going around following the results. “The legs weren’t there today”, which probably meant, “But, I was still good enough to drop you”. “Hey, its okay you’ll do better tomorrow”, probably meant, “I will do even better and will still drop you tomorrow”.

Just before having breakfast, I’ve changed the tire on the Bulldog’s front wheel as well. So Gaurav(The Rocket) now has no spare tires as I usurped both his Rubino pros. Hopefully he won’t need any until supplies arrive in a couple of days at Ooty where a few friends are joining for a shorter ride. Now the Bulldog, as Arvind says, has got new set of paws. Nice red tires to go with the frame. It should become faster. Right? :)

Today being a relatively shorter ride (118km), we started around 8 am after the breakfast. As we navigated out of Mysore a strong bunch of guys formed the front bunch and began to pick up pace. I tired to stay with them for a while but hammering right from the start didn’t sound like a good idea and I decided to stop and wait for Baba Velo and group after around 20km. The group comprised of Raj, Rakesh, Sumit, Vandit, MarkH and Maninder. I joined them we rode at a very easy pace and stopped at support station one.

After quick refreshments there, we proceeded to the next support station which was also the start of the competitive section. We rode at an easy pace till around 8-10km before the time station and then Baba Velo, Rakesh, Sumit and MarkH took off for a mini TT style warm up for the actual Time Trial. By the time I got to the time station they were all pumped up and ready to start the race.

Based on Baba Velo's strategy, we’ve decided to start in the reverse order of yesterday’s timings so that when each of us start with a minute gap of each other we would act as a carrot for the guy at the back thus improving chances of everyone doing well. Rakesh started before Vandit and after that the planned start for Ameet and I got delayed. So after a bit of gap, Abhilesh started followed by Ameet and then I started. Gaurav started later followed by MarkH, Arvind, Shankar and Baba Velo (might not be that exact order, but you get the idea!).

The initial 3-4kms was really tough with strong headwinds and very rolling terrain. The legs seemed to be showing the effects of being in the front for too long before the CS section even though it was at a very easy pace. It took a while for me to find the rhythm and the legs to feel better. Then I slowly started seeing a guy at the front and the gap slowly reduced till I went past him. It was Abhilesh. Then I went past Balu and I could see Ameet a few hundred meters ahead. I kept going steadily and by the time we got to around 4km from the finish, I was with in 5 meters of Ameet. I thought of grabbing his wheel but then quickly remembered the ‘No drafting’ rule and moved away. He saw me and ramped up his effort and the gap increased again on a downhill just before the finish. The course was really tough with lots of headwinds and around 200m of elevation gain.

As I was sitting there cooling off, Gaurav arrived followed by Shankar, Mark and Baba Velo. You should see Raj at the finish. The effort he put in was clearly visible in the way he was panting. I think very few people put themselves through such immense pain voluntarily as competitive cyclists do. Whatever level of competition it may be. Raj looked totally spent coming in with a time of 38 mins 31 secs in some really tough conditions. After a few minutes Mark Anderson(yesterday’s winner/Blue jersey holder) came in with 38 mins 55 secs. He lost 24 seconds today but still remains the leader of the General Classification. Vicki again nailed it with a 43 min 23 secs finish.

After the competitive section was done, Baba Velo, Rakesh, Sumit, Vandit, Gaurav, Arvind, Shankar and I started riding at an easy pace towards Hassan. Vandit decided to take it even easier and we moved ahead after riding sometime with him. Towards the end it was Raj, Rakesh, Sumit, Ravi, Shankar and I who rode together to get to our hotel in Hassan.

Vandit, Rakesh and Ravi on the route to Hassan..

The route to Hassan had very good roads and excellent scenic beauty on both sides. The whole route is a very rolling terrain. There are quite a few deceptive climbs at 4-5% grades taking us into Hassan.

After reaching the hotel around 1 pm, we immediately raided the restaurant and I ate like I saw food for the first time in days. Some had milk shakes, some had recovery shakes while a few started their recovery with beers along with lunch.

Tomorrow is going to be a long and hard ride(Hassan-Madikere) with a CS on a climb after riding around 170 kms.

After finishing 14th on day 1, I did a little better by finishing 13th on day2:

And moved up 2 positions to end up 12th in GC at the end of day2:

Photos from day 2 here: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/TheBulldogGoesToTFNDay2MysoreToHassan

Ride stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/134876384

Read about the rest of the Tour of Nilgiris:
Day 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Day 3: Hassan to Madikere
Day 4: Madikere To Kannur
Day 5: Rest Day At Kannur
Day 6: Kannur to Sultanbhateri
Day 7: Sultanbhateri to Ooty
Day 8: Ooty - Kodanad

The Bulldog Goes To TFN: Day 1: Bangalore To Mysore

2011-12-16T22:37:00.003+05:30

At the flag-off at Manekshaw Parade Grounds..

Venue Maneksha Parade grounds, Bangalore. Time: 5:45am. Riders were making last minute adjustments to their bikes, pumping those tires up to a million psi or helping other riders with their stuff to calm their own nerves. Organizers and volunteers were going around trying to make sure everything is in order for the flag-off. Lots of army trucks have brought lots of army Jawans to encourage us. It was a festive atmosphere to say the least.

Breakfast was served to load enough carbs to last us for a while. The chief guests were done with their encouraging words and words of wisdom and the riders were lined up for the flag-off. It was a great feeling being escorted by an army jeep till the city outskirts cutting through the crazy morning traffic.

As we got on to the NICE road, a bunch of us had stopped to regroup with those we wanted to ride with while a few have gone ahead. Mark and I waited for Rajesh, Rakesh, Hari and Vicki to arrive and started. We started riding at an easy pace taking turns. Then a steady downhill has started which seemed to have lasted a long time. I slowly fell behind. That was when I was seeing speeds of 40-50kmph steadily and cadences of 120-148 rpm for around 4-5 mins. I saw those kind of numbers for the first time for that long. Only then could I keep the guys in sight and rejoin Vicki and Hari as the road flattened out.

Great views..

As we were taking a turn to get out of NICE road, we saw Baba Velo stopping to pickup some water/food from his support car. I thought he would quickly join us as we rode on. But as it turned out, Hari and Vicki were setting a crazy pace and we ended up going far ahead. Mark Hemhauser and Rakesh who went ahead stopped and were waiting for Raj and they joined us thinking that he must not be too far behind us. As it turned out Raj ended up riding all alone for almost 40km or so until we saw him when were waiting to fix Vandit’s broken pedal. Oh yeah, it was the first of the two broken pedals on today’s ride.

Vandit’s titanium spindled speedplay zero pedals apparently gave up on him as the spindle completely came off the pedal. Somebody should tell him that he should not unleash all of the Gaud’s power on the bike however high-end it is. :) As he changed the pedals to his spare pedals( yes, he carried spare pedals too!), the others rode on while Sumit, Mark and I waited.

Just as we were starting again, I observed that there was a slow leak on the Bulldog’s rear tire. I was really disappointed. I had a flat on yesterday’s ride with Baba Velo and he asked me if I was carrying any spare tires for TFN. I tried to get hold of a set but didn’t manage to. So I had no spare tires. These tires(Panaracer Paselas) had around 4000kms on them and I thought they should fare well. I didn’t want to waste the guys’ time by changing the tube etc. So, as Vandit suggested I just pumped it up and reached the next support station which was around 10km away.

That support station was also the start of the competitive section (CS). I asked around if anybody had a spare tire. Gaurav jumped up to help me and lent one of his spare tires. It was a 700x23c while mine was 700x28c Rubino Pro. I thanked him and my stars for surrounding me with such amazing and helpful friends. I changed the tire and tube(23c tube borrowed from Balu) with the help of Balu and Raman. Thank you guys.

I started out on the CS after the change of tire. The initial couple of kms the legs struggled to respond but the heart was working overtime. After a those initial kms however, I found my rhythm and focused on keeping the HR around 170(I’ve no idea what my LTHR is yet, but 170 is what I hit while climbing Nandi). The route was slightly rolling to begin with and then flattened out. I was happy to complete the 23km section in 40mins 33 secs finishing 14^th overall.

Mark Anderson won the CS with a timing of 33mins 56secs and won the blue jersey. Vicki Nicolson has won the women category with a timing of 38mins 20secs.

I saw Rakesh stranding on the roadside around 6km mark and asked what happened. It was the second pedal failure of the day. Tough luck to him since he is now out of contention for GC. But I'm sure he'll do well in day races with the new pedals that are on their way from Bangalore tomorrow.

After the CS, MarkH and I started riding with my Hyderbad friends Sreekanth, Ranjith and Kishore. We decided to take it easy to reach the support station 3. After around 10km from the SS, only Mark and Ranjith were behind me while Sreekanth and Kishore decided they want to take it even easier.

The Paleton..

At SS3, we had a veg roll for lunch and had fun chatting around for a while. Then I started riding with a Baba Velo, Arvind, Ameet, Hari, Vicki, MarkH, Amrish, Vandit and Sumit. There was around 50km to go to reach Mysore. Most of that 50km had roads that were bone shaking. The roads were really bad. No pacelining was possible although all of us stayed pretty close together. The scenery around was beautiful but there was no way we could take our eyes off the road in fear ending up drowning in the sea of potholes.

After a few kms of bouncing around on the road, it happened again. Man, now on the front tire! I’m going to change the front tire as well tomorrow. May be I’ve to free Gaurav from his second spare tire as well.

The rest of the guys moved on while Ameet and MarkH stayed back to help me change the tube. Three of us rode together till the final SS where Arun, Aparjeet and Siva joined us. Five of us rode together from then on. After a few kms of easy riding, Mark came to front and I was behind him. We look back after a while and no one was behind. Mark was riding strong and pulled me almost till Mysore.

Just as we got into Mysore we began to see lots of signs on the road giving us directions to reach our hotel. They were a big help although the signs were conspicuous with their absence at a couple of turns. Thankfully the rest of the signs which were plenty in number were good enough for us to make it to the end.

The volunteers did a great job with the markings on the road and the support they provided at the support stations. The kind of enthusiasm they show to help everyone is really heartening to see. The number of cameras and video cameras on most the route made us felt like we were riding in a pro-tour paleton. Right from the pre-tour briefing to flag-off to end of day one it was a very professional show by the organizers.

We have spent the evening having fun in the lobby of the hotel. A lot of the guys waited eagerly for the bar to open at 7 while a few of us were waiting eagerly for the dinner to be served. We got to eat after the day’s winners were enounced and the Blue jersey was worn by the day’s winners. Had loads of fun!! Looking forward to day two tomorrow.

Top 20 of day one's competitive section of 23km

Here are a few photos from day 1: On Picasa

Read about the rest of the Tour of Nilgiris:
Day 2: Mysore to Hassan
Day 3: Hassan to Madikere
Day 4: Madikere To Kannur
Day 5: Rest Day At Kannur
Day 6: Kannur to Sultanbhateri
Day 7: Sultanbhateri to Ooty
Day 8: Ooty - Kodanad

Bye To The Bull for 2011 - With Baba Velo & The Usual Suspects

2011-12-11T15:42:00.004+05:30

Baba Velo's prediction just before the climb started was that I would get a PB today. I was not sure of that considering hanging on to those wheels to get there was a lot of work. But then how could his prediction go wrong? The Bulldog managed a 31:20 a good 35 secs shaved off from its previous best effort. Thanks to Arvind for being the carrot this time.

Baba Velo, Ameet, Avind, Siva, Deepak, Mark H and Arvind.. On Siva's road just after Budigere after which the massacre started :)

There was a very good turnout at Siva's road by 6:30am. Baba Velo, Mark H, Deepak, Arvind, Ameet, Siva, Gaurav, VijayC and Chaitresh were there. Gaurav was riding after more than 6 weeks off the saddle and Siva was riding on antibiotics with a plastered jaw (His warrior avatar!).

It was to be the last big ride before the big tour. Nandi and back was the plan. I was sure it was going to be more painful than yesterday's ride and was mentally prepared to just try and hang in there.

We slowly warmed up and formed a paceline. It didn't take much time for the guys to warm up and the pace picked up. Rajesh, Arvind, Garav and Ameet took turns pulling with most of the work being done by Raj and Arvind. It was a massacre and people kept being dropped on the inclines. Gaps began to appear. Raj was trying to control the pace for the guys to get back on the train. That was not enough.

At the end of Siva's regrouping and waiting for Siva to arrive..

By this time, Arvind and Raj were taking turns to dish out the pain and we got to the end of Siva's road in no time. Stopped there for a while to regroup. It was a welcome breather. From there the pace was more sane as the guys decided to take it easy. It was only with that saner pace that could I dare to come in front of the group.

Baba Velo, Arvind, Deepak, Gaurav, Ameet, Mark and Chaitresh.. Sorry Siva you got dropped off the frame ;)

As we were approaching the base, Raj remarked that he had a feeling that I might get my PB today. I was not sure of that but as we got to the base, Raj and Arvind were together and I was behind them with Mark and Gaurav behind me. The rest of the guys were on their way as well. As we started climbing, Raj disappeared in no time. No big surprises there. Arvind was a few meters ahead of me and as it turned out he became my carrot. I could keep him in sight for the first 5km or so before he disappeared. Mark slowly caught up with me in the last km and went past me with ease. I slowly made my way up and hit the lap button to see 31:20 which is a good 35 secs cut from my previous effort.

But I was a bit disappointed as I was really hoping to see a 30:xx in there even if it meant 30:59. I guess the Bulldog will have to retire from Nandi climbs without ever touching the 30min mark. I'm not really complaining considering that it is about 14 mins shaved off my first attempt with a similar Avg HR of 173.

Hari and Vicki were already there at the top of Nandi and Hari was taking pictures as we were climbing. Baba Velo was chilling chatting with Arvind and Vicki and Mark. Gaurav apparently turned back from midway through the climb as he was not feeling well. Ameet sprinted up the last bend and finished strong followed by Deepak, Chaitresh and then Siva after a while. Arvind completed the climb with a 29:58, an awesome effort considering the amount of work he did on way to the base.

Baba Velo, Vicki, Hari, Arvind, Siva, Mark, Chaitresh, Ameet and Deepak.. At the top of Nandi.. What a ride it was!

It was a treat to watch all the guys at the top of Nandi. After a couple of quick snaps, we have decided to roll to the base for coffee before we start on the ride back. Saw Vijay climbing as we were descending. Met, Meera, Shruthi and Sameer at the base having coffee. We had ours and started on our way back.

We were slowly warming up again before Hari and Vicki decided that they had enough of warming up and decided to drop the hammer. Raj, Arvind and a couple of others were quick to respond to that while I struggled to bridge the gap. The guys lost a lot of us again on the golf club incline on Nandi road. It was again a struggle to bridge that gap. I worked with Mark and we barely managed to make it in a few seconds behind them when they stopped at Bellari road junction.

Everyone regrouped there while Hari and Vicki rode on towards their parking spot. The rest of us started riding back via Devanahalli on to Siva's road. Again the guys shared the work at the front with Raj doing a good share of the pulling. As we got to Budigere we had to stop for a minute to attend to Arvind's cramping legs.

With 10km left to the end of the ride, Raj slowly came charging forward and as we got onto the last incline 6km to the end, he charged ahead leaving everyone behind. Ameet and I followed him and I managed to somehow attach myself to the Dogma's wheel. I hanged onto my dear life as he was charging like crazy in some really strong headwinds. It was a treat to watch him ride like that. Thanks for the fantastic pull, Raj!

One by one the guys made it to the end point and I thanked them for the fantastic ride before heading homewards. It was one hell of a ride and what a way to finish the last big ride before TFN. It was a ride that I would cherish for a long time.

Thank you guys for the great ride. It was smokin...!! :D

Ride stats here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/133821137

Sufferfest Behind Baba Velo and Co

2011-12-10T13:09:00.000+05:30

It was drizzling when I woke up and was doubting if people would turn up for the planned ride. But Baba Velo(aka Raj/RNair) who is town for TFN, was willing to ride so, I didn't want to miss being there. I reached the Siva's road start and met Shankar and Akshay there while Raj and Mark just arrived. Vijay Cp who was planning a Nandi ride also started around the same time. The road was wet but there was no drizzle at all. We started at a sedate pace before the guys warmed up and began to rip it.

Birthday boy Shankar riding alongside Rajesh this morning just past Budigere where we were slowing down for Akshay and VijayCp to join.

I was behind Mark and was trying to hang on. Even before we got to Budigere, I lost his wheel and my heart rate was shooting up like crazy trying to bridge the gap. It was clear that I'm in for a bit of a sufferfest today and also understood that I will probably not see them again if I lost their wheels. I managed to bridge the gap just as we approached Budigere and by that time Akshay and Vijay were no where to be seen. Raj observed that they fell back and told us to slow down for them. They joined us a couple of km after Budigere but unfortunately fell back immediately on the first incline and never caught up again. I just hung in there behind the guys.

Mark on his Specialized Roubaix.. Great riding with him for the first time.. He is here for TFN.

We reached the Nandi turn-off and stopped for a brief moment to decide whether to turn back there or ahead. Since we had more time, Raj suggested to get to end of the Nandi road before turning back. Abhilesh who was on his way to Nandi rode with us for that stretch before we turned back. The actual fun began on the way back.

Baba Velo on his Pinarello Dogma 60.1 Awesome bike to go with awesome legs :)

Nandi in the foreground.. We went till the last turn towards Nandi and turned back..

Raj, Shankar and Mark were taking turns in dishing out some pain and I was just trying not to lose their wheels. As we got onto Siva's road I was seeing crazy speeds and it became difficult to hang on. I quickly got dropped and was struggling to keep them in sight. Raj saw that and slowed down the train a bit for me to board on. Just as I got on, on the incline Mark got dropped and Raj slowed down again until he joined us.

There you go, the Dogma at the end of our ride. Baba was smart in choosing his lines.. How else would this bike be so clean while the rest of us ended up with some really muddy bikes? :)

Just as we were reaching the last incline before Budigere, Raj took off and three of us got promptly left behind. I was really thankful that he took off like that at that point of time because, it was getting really hard to hang on. The last 12km or so, the three of us rode at a more sedate pace and reached the end where Raj was finishing his first chai.

Mark and Raj with Shankar behind them at the end of our ride today..

After saying goodbye to Raj and Mark, Shankar and I rode back home. It was a crawl of sorts with traffic on the way back to my home. All in all an amazing ride.

It was a pleasure riding behind the Dogma. What a beautiful bike! Amazing looker! Thanks a ton for the ride, guys! Happy birthday, Shankar!

Ride stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/133600165

Nandi In Rain Again - With Shankar

2011-11-26T11:20:00.002+05:30

This was on Nandi road. Where did Nandi go? :)

Woke up to the sound of rain. Last night's improper sleep meant the mind was ready to accept it as an excuse and was suggesting me to ditch the ride plans and stay cozy in the bed. The plan was to ride to Savanadurga with Vineet and Shankar. But since the route has some pretty bad sections, Vineet thought it was not a good idea to go that side in rain. I willingly agreed with him. We decided to call it off. But Shankar was keen to ride and suggested doing Nandi. I calmed my lazy mind and got ready and got out. And, I'm so glad I got out and rode, thanks to Shankar.

It was a constant drizzle and the roads were quite wet with overnight rains. As Shankar and I began to ride together on Siva's road, my lazy mind began to wake up and enjoy the ride in that twilight and drizzle. We've decided to take it easy as the roads were quite wet.

As we approached the Nandi turn-off, we heard my name being called out and stopped. It was Akash going back after his morning run on Nandi approach road. Incidentally, I first met Akash on a similar day a few months back on the same road. We chatted for a couple of minutes with Akash and proceeded to the base.

Akash and Shankar at Nandi road turn

After reaching the base, I wanted to see how far I could keep Shankar in sight on the climb. Was able to manage till 5km after which he took off. After I lost sight of him, the left cleat came off at my nemesis, curve 33, and I had to set my foot down before quickly starting again.

Shankar mid-way through the climb where it began to get foggy..

With the majority of the work done, it was just a matter of keeping the rhythm. I kept going with HR well over 170 now but well in control. As always, I took the wider line at the final curve and the arch came into view. Shankar was sitting there relaxing after a great effort. I reached the arch and hit the lap button to see 31:50. So, I guess I could say my PB is now at 31:55 after adding a few seconds for the brief stop at 5.7km.

Shankar at the top of Nandi.. Look how beautiful it was there that morning..

The Avg HR for the climb was 170 which was slightly higher than last week's 166 but slightly lower than 172 of my first Nandi climb. Many be I could have gone a little harder on the initial 5km along with Shankar because I was consistently seeing 165-167 during that section. May have saved a few more secs. Shankar had a PB of 30:20(10secs shaved off his previous). He could have easily gone sub 30 as I could see he didn't push much in the initial 5km.

The sight at top of Nandi was surreal with all the fog. Just after around 5 minutes there, we began to feel quite cold and decided to start back. We had to descend quite carefully keeping the wet roads and low visibility due to fog in mind.

The ride back from base was quite windy. The crosswinds and headwinds were quite a challenge. We tried pacelining but nothing seemed to help in those winds. At a few places the crosswinds were literally pushing us off the road. We crawled back home after yet another satisfying Nandi climb. Thanks Shankar for the company and for the ride.

Ride stats here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/130927448

Nandi PB - A Superb Ride with Mamils

2011-11-20T15:11:00.009+05:30

With the hands farthest on the Bulldog’s horns and body lowered to get more power out of the legs, I kept going. Legs felt good, the breathing was normal and the heart rate felt to be under control. As approached my nemesis, curve 33, and went past it, I was more comfortable and was confident of a sub 35 min climb. Curve after curve I kept going and I was feeling good. As I took the final turn at curve 40, reached the arch, hit the lap button and saw 32:49 on the screen. Felt elated.

We rode in a paceline this morning on our way to Nandi. Deepak doing his turn at the front followed by Arvind, Hari, Ameet and Vicki. Start of a super ride this morning!

It was a cold morning with temps around 12C at 6:30am. As I got on to Siva’s road, everyone was getting their bikes ready. Deepak, Ameet, Vicki and Hari were already there. Arvind just got there. Another couple of riders Sameer and Praveen(?) also parked their car there and started riding on their own.

Looking at who all turned up for the ride, I was sure that it was going to be a fast ride. I was not proved wrong. We started out on a paceline right away with Arvind doing the work at the front. Then the rest of us, apart from Vicki, took turns at the front and the train kept rolling smoothly. Vicki apparently was learning to ride in a paceline and rode very well tucked in the middle. We were averaging around 31.1kmph for 36km before we decided to take it a little easy for about 5km before the climb started.

Almost all of us started climbing at the same time and I was hoping we’d continue to paceline and they would somehow pull me up the climb. Alas, that was not going to be. Vickie and Hari rode on followed by Ameet and Arvind while I was riding along side Deepak.

My legs began to open up 1km into the climb and I slowly went past Deepak. I could see Ameet and Arvind ahead and kept going just keeping them in sight. The HR seemed to be in control and the legs were surprisingly fresh after a hard ride to the base. The carrots in front were having a good effect on me and I kept going at a comfortable pace. As I approached 4km, I went past Ameet and then approached Arvind. Arvind pulled over and stopped having decided to quit the climb due to a bit of pain in his quads. Vicki and Hari were in front and were no where in sight.

With the hands farthest on the Bulldog’s horns and body lowered to get more power out of the legs, I kept going. Legs felt good, the breathing was normal and the heart rate felt to be under control. As approached my nemesis curve 33 and went past it, I was more comfortable and was confident of a sub 35 min climb. Curve after curve I kept going and I was feeling good. As I took the final turn at curve 40, reached the arch, hit the lap button and saw 32:49 on the screen. Felt elated.

Top of Nandi with Vicki. Both of us had our PB for Nandi climb today. Vicki's is at 30:30 while the Bulldog's is at 32:49. Very happy as you can see. :)

The previous PB was 35:41 when I rode with Minkey.

Hari and Vicki who were relaxing there came to me and gave me a congratulatory hug when I told them that it was my PB. Hari had a great climb with a 29:40 and Vicki had a PB with an amazing 30:30 timing.

Ameet came in next with a climb time of 34:27 followed by Deepak with a wide smile at 37 mins. We all posed for some snaps together before heading back to the base where we joined Arvind for the ride back.

Hari, Vicki, Ameet and Deepak after the climb. Arvind did only half of the climb as he turned back with a niggle.

Hari was apparently channeling his nervous energy of a deadline at work to lead the ride back. But that energy was a bit too much to keep up for a few of us after a hard climb and gaps began to appear in the paceline. Vicki and Deepak managed to keep up with him and I was trying desperately to bridge the gap. Arvind and Ameet were somewhere behind taking it a bit easy.

I managed to bridge the gap just as they crossed the highway to get into Devanahalli. I rode with them till the end of Siva’s road where we decided to have some fresh coconut water while we wait for Arvind and Ameet to join us. They rolled in just a few seconds later and we started riding back after all of us had some fresh and natural electrolytes.

We all rode together for a while and just as we approached Budigere Vicki came to the front and started to ride strong. Deepak, Ameet and I rode behind her for a while. But after Budigere village, Vicki and Deepak managed to drop me and Ameet. Hari apparently took our request to stay at the back of the pack a little too seriously and was riding behind along with Arvind.

I started another chase to bridge the break away pack of Vicki and Deepak. May be I would have had a better chance of catching them if I had worked with Ameet instead of losing him to go and chase on my own. I managed to keep them in sight for a long time but the gap began to increase with 5km to the end and I lost sight of them after that.

It was an amazing ride from Vicki who managed to drop everyone of us but for Deepak. He glued himself to her wheel and stayed there till the end. Amazing how Deepak manages to stay with the lead rider/pack in almost every group ride and still says he is slow and pathetic etc. Kudos to both of them to have whipped up a ride like that at the end. I rolled in around a minute behind followed by Ameet and Hari. Arvind came in a little later having slowed down with a brake rub which he found only after getting home.

Thank you guys for an amazing ride that I would cherish for a long time.

Stats here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/129739540

My First Century Ride - A Relook - 3 Years Hence..

2011-10-24T16:33:00.002+05:30

Prologue:

It was Friday the 2nd Jan 2009. Combined with the hangover of the New Year celebrations of the previous day and the usual Friday blues (I bet who ever coined the phrase “Thank God It’s Friday!” was in similar mood), completed the work in office early and flew home on my Hawk by 6pm. It was time to play with my kid. He welcomes me with that gorgeous smile of his. I guess children instinctively know how to charm you.

There was a call from Krish that I could not take at around 7pm. I called him back before going to sleep around 9:30 pm. He was asking if I had any ride plans for this weekend. I had none and told him that I am game for one if he had any. He called me back around ten and confirmed the plan for ride on the next morning. We agreed to meet at Nizampet cross roads at 5:30am the next morning to ride towards Vikarabad. The plan is to complete minimum100 km overall and more if possible; what ever we can manage before 1 or 2pm. 2pm that was the deadline. The sanction from the home ministry only afforded that much time for the fun ride. :)

I went out at 10pm to Spencer’s across the road to buy some fuel for the ride. They were in the process of shutting down for the day. I sneaked in to buy some bananas, dates and a pack of brown bread. Set the alarm for 4:15am and hit the sack. Like a kid who tends to wake up early on a school holiday, I woke up around 4am well before the alarm.

Got freshened up and started filling up my back pack. A dozen bananas and the dates packet went in along with a couple of freshly made tomato carrot sandwiches. Put in a one liter water bottle on either side of the backpack and filled up one for the bottle holder on the bike. The water bottles and bananas made the backpack quite heavy. By the time I got the set up ready it was already 5:20am. The sandwiches ate away most of the time that I thought of using for a bit of warm up stretches (Suryanamaskara). So, I had to do away with the Suryanamaskara, put my shoes on and move on. I heeded Krish’s advice on beating the cold by wearing a jerkin and scarf.

The air pressure in my tires was low. I observed that even on my commute on Friday and but thought I would fill them up on Saturday. That was to be proved a mistake in retrospect. It was too late in the night to find any cycle shops open when we decided to ride and too early in the morning for them to open. I’ve to ride like that. I called Krish at 5:27am and informed that I am starting and will be there at the designated place in 10 minutes. As estimated, I reached there in ten minutes and by then I began to sweat. The scarf and the jerkin began to feel unnecessary already. I waited for Krish and he reached there after a couple of minutes. He arrived looking like a pro with the helmet, gloves, head light and tail lamp.

The ride:

We started out at 5:40am. The visibility was not that great on the JNTU-Hitech City route and the shadows from the trees/plants in the divider added to the confusion, making out any potholes impossible. So, I let Krish take the lead as his headlight would help a bit. By the time we crossed the Hitech railway station, I’ve decided to relegate my jerkin and scarf to the backpack as the sweat was getting very uncomfortable. Krish was kind enough to take the bananas into his backpack.

We rode via Botanical gardens to reach HCU. The visibility improved a lot as we rode through HCU and went past Gopannapalle. Nearly one and half hour into the ride we took our first break drinking some water and eating a banana each. There was a young couple jogging on that road who inquired if we were cycling to Sankarapalle and Krish replied that we may ride up to Vikarabad. The route was so beautiful and it was no wonder that the couple drove to Gandipet in their car from somewhere in the city and took to jogging in that route targeting around 10km. We thought that it would not be a bad idea to cycle up to this point, chain the cycle to some tree and start jogging. It would be an excellent route if we were to prepare for triathlon or 10k-half/full marathon. Even there is a king size swimming pool by the name Osmansagar to swim in although it is not entirely safe. :D

Krish took out his camera and we started out after clicking a few snaps. The road was in pretty good shape. After a few kilometers, Krish spotted a couple of peacocks at gate of what appeared to be a small farm house and stopped to photograph them. By the time we turned back and he took the camera out, they moved well into the trees and our first attempt at wildlife photography was a disaster. There were many fields on both sides of the road. The cotton balls here and there on the edges of the road suggested the main crop around these areas is Cotton although a bit of Sunflower is found in patches among others.

The weather was beautiful and the lack of much traffic movement on the road was encouraging to say the least. Ideal cycling conditions I would say. We took another break before Sankarapalle and it was time for some water, a couple of bananas and some dates each. As we rode past Sankarapalle, we looked for a cycle shop so that I can get some more pressure in my tires. It was around 9 and no luck yet. We turned towards Vikarabad but the prospects of reaching there looked bleak as the time to turn back drew nearer. We decided that we need to turn back around 9:45 or 10am to be able to be back home in time.

Around the time when Krish’s cyclo-comp was showing around 55km or so, there was a steep gradient that we had to deal with. I was so tired by that time that I thought I could hardly move any further let alone tackle steep climb. Krish was attacking it and I got down the bike and took a breather right in the middle of the climb. A minute and a breather later, I was standing up and attacking the climb. Once done though, I just prayed that there are no more such climbs on the route. Thankfully there were none so steep although the entire route was never flat.

As we rode on and as the sun began to shine gently, the view kept getting better. Krish decided that he has to give his wildlife photographic skills another chance. The result was a nicely panned shot of a woodpecker cutely perched on a road side rock and some other shots of a road side hut. All the intermittent stops were spoiling the rhythm but we could hardly give the beauty around a miss. The milestone on the road read ‘Vikarabad 15km’.

We rode another kilometer or so to reach Nawabpet. We found a cycle shop there and immediately stopped to fill my tires up. Although the tire pressure was not dangerously low, it was definitely low enough to bring in considerable rolling resistance. On a long trip for a first timer that meant a lot of tired muscles. After the tire pressure is increased, I can feel my Hawk moving much smoother. The cyclo-comp was reading 65 point something now and this was a good 5 km more than my previous best. It was already 9:45am. We decided we would turn back from here. That meant that we would complete 130km and I would be doing more than double my previous best.

The guys at the cycle shop were curious about our bikes and gears on them. When we told them that we were riding from Hyderabad and started at 5:30am their mouths were agape for a while. I am now getting used to these questions and the surprised reactions which I am sure are pretty common for many riders on the forum. We found a medical shop where we bought some ORS (he didn’t have Electral that Krish wanted to buy) and the guy was also kind enough to refill our bottles with fresh water. We sat there and ate half of the sandwich each. It was 10 am and time to head back home.

The weather surprisingly was still good. The sun was shining bright and there was a cool breeze going around. Around half an hour into the ride we stopped again and Krish got his lens out drawing attention of a couple of kids and a bullock cart driver. They interviewed him a little and they let him go only after he satisfied them with a couple of snaps along side the bullock cart.

We moved on and we came across a down hill stretch. That was an exhilarating ride down hill. We just flew down the hill. Excellent feeling that! Since my childhood, from time to time, I fly in my dreams. The feeling that I have when I am flying in my dreams was pretty much similar to what it felt like when I was racing down that hill. Yeeehaaaa!!! It was the same stretch that almost defeated me when I was climbing. I guess what goes up has to come down (Stock market!!??).

We rode through Sankarapalle and stopped at its outskirts around 11:15am. As I washed my face I was wondering if I was using the ORS mixed water bottle by mistake as the water was very salty. I double checked by pouring the water directly into mouth. It was fresh water alright. It was just my sweat as it is being washed that I tasted. Hehe.. But washing the face up helped a bit. Some dates and a gulp of water later we were on our way again.

Around 12:30pm we stopped for some tender coconut water just after ISB. By that time the reading was 103km and it was my first century. Time to celebrate!! Not just yet! Have to reach home first and then may be celebrate with a big lunch I thought. The kid there was already friends with Krish as he let him try his Firfox Target on one of his previous rides. He now wanted to try my bike but the height of the saddle and bike discouraged him from doing so. So, he tried Krish’s bike once again and was appreciative of its smooth gearing etc.

We made one last stop after a few kilometers again as Krish felt hungry. We stopped at a small kirana shop and had a couple of biscuits each and I finished the remaining sandwich. Krish made a call home as I rested my butt on the shop floor. It was 1pm nearly 7 and half hours into our ride. Some 20km more to reach home. I was going through the motions counting down every passing minute and every passing mile stone. I found myself pushing hard only to see my self in a high gear; I thought I was just tired. I changed into a lower gear and trailed Krish who pretty much lead all the way through.

We reached HCU at around 1:30pm and had to part ways from there. I decided to take the Lingampally-Chandanagar-Miyapur route while Krish wanted to go the same way we came that morning to avoid traffic. I pedaled silently (but the left pedal is still not silent. It wont stop creaking!!) and reached home at 2:05pm. Yeah!! Time to celebrate!!! I took a hot shower and ate the dal chaval heartily and sat contended sharing the experience with my mom and wife.

Here are the few snaps from my phone. Will share more when Krish uploads his photos.
https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/MyFirstCenturyTrip

Ride Stats:

Start Time: 5:27 am (5:40am for Krish)
End Time: 2:05 pm (2:20pm for Krish)
Distance: 130km (133km for Krish)
Riding time: 7hr:20min approx
Total Time: 8hr:40min approx
Max Speed: 45.5kmph
Avg Speed: 19 kmph approx

Post Ride Effects:

I have pain in the right knee. I think I’ve stressed the outer knee muscles(I think its called the Quadricep tendon) in the right leg out of shape or something. I thought that the pain is normal and would go away but it did not. I have managed the commute to work on Monday and Tuesday with some difficulty. I remember having pushed hard in the onwards journey due to less tire pressure and I’ve stood and attacked the climbs in parts of the ride. May be I pushed using the right leg more and did not balance the effort on both legs. I am just trying to figure it out.

It’s not serious but I did not expect it to last this long. Although I climbed the six floors to my office and 3 floors to my flat a couple of times yesterday like every day, I gave the stairs a miss after seeing that the pain did not go away even today. Let’s see how it fares. I am using more of my left leg and trying to rest the right one on my commutes. The pain is there only when I am using the stairs or pedaling. I can walk on flat surfaces with out any problem. I hope it settles down before 17th this month. I am planning to join a group of Hyd Cyclists on a cycling trip to Nagarjuna Sagar. It is around 250km to and fro over two days.

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The Present:
That was how my first century ride went nearly three years ago. There were many century rides that followed but this one is etched in the memory and is always special. The journey over the last three years has been a fruitful one.

Cycling has helped me see many places and helped me make many good friends. It has helped me in my continuing fight with weight. This year I've completed 10,000 km of cycling so far. Yesterday(Oct 23rd) marked 3rd anniversary of my cycling journey. Incidentally that was marked by my fastest 100km ride which I completed in 3hr 11mins 40secs.

I've never thought of any such milestones when I started three years back. All I wanted to do was combine exercise with my daily commute by doing it on a cycle. That was my plan to keep off the flab that I worked hard to lose. It not only helped me with that, but also helped me lose 10 more kilos recently. Thank god, cycling happened in my life! I wish that it would continue to get better like this in the years to come.

More in this 'Relook-3 Years Hence' series.
My first ride on my Hawk.
My first commute.
My first long ride.

My First Long Ride - Miyapur To Chilkur - A Relook - 3 Years Hence..

2011-10-24T15:37:00.002+05:30

Osmansagar..

I wanted to go for a long ride. I could not join Krish and Anil on their ride to Osmansagar the other week as the kid was not doing well. I had to miss a couple of rides that a few of the friends here were undertaking as well. So, I was itching for a long ride. A long ride for me is anything that took more than 2 hours/40km as it was the longest I rode previously. I did not call any of the friends to join me because I was unsure whether I would go or something will come up on that morning again. I thought I will go if on the morning I felt like going. But, where to go? Undecided, I slept on Saturday. Sunday morning, I woke up at 5:30 am and got freshened up and was on the bike at 6:15am. I was still undecided. Reached the main road and just turned left towards Lingampally. This side, I can go towards, BHEL, Patancheru or I can take left further and head towards Osmansagar and move further to Chilukur. So Chilukur it will be then.

The winter breeze was chilling and friendly. It felt fabulous forging ahead on the newly laid tarmac up until Lingampally. Then I had to take left and move towards Osmansagar. The road here is not that bad either. Everything was silent but for the constant creaking noise from my left pedal. I made steady progress. New residential villas and apartments coming up gorging up the paddy fields and surely this serene atmosphere will not remain so for long, I thought. Good that we are able to enjoy whatever serene beauty left now. Our kids have to look hard and far to find similar trails.

The sun was just waking up and but is still covered in white sheets of mist. I can see him reluctant to get out of those sheets. May be he wanted to doze off for some more time on this Sunday morning. ;) As I moved towards the villages the misty morning’s breathtaking beauty is begging to be captured and be shared with all who are enjoying the warmth of their beds still. Alas no camera to do that. Its time to buy one I told myself. The camera in my N72 would not do justice to this beauty.

I moved on and came across Wipro building in Gopannapalli and the SOS children village. I made steady progress, and reached Osmansagar/Gandipet in exactly an hour’s time. There were baboons crossing the road and playing on trees there. I just wished my Hawk and the bald stranger on it did not grab their attention making them grab some part of me. :D They must have seen stranger things though. ‘Cause they blissfully ignored me. One baboon was drinking some leftover Frooti very skillfully. This group obviously adapted itself very well to this tourist spot.

Here I stopped for a couple of minutes. I took a couple of sips from my water bottle while wondering where the other end of the lake was. It was covered with mist and looked like an ocean. The ‘sagar’ in its name ‘OsmanSagar’ felt apt at that point. It was a beautiful view. I started off again now towards Chilkur Balaji Temple. A group of teenagers were sitting there at Gandipet and one of the guys was showing the others my Hawk as I was riding off. As I drove off, I guess he could not get a satisfactory view and he started his bike and whizzed past me and stopped at some distance and was looking again. I smiled and waved to him and moved on.

The roads are quite and serene with lovely green vegetation on both sides. The creaking pedal was pestering for attention but I was adamant on enjoying the beauty around. But I am sure if some one was to accompany me on the ride the creaking noise would have drove them crazy. I had to get this fixed I thought.

I reached the Chilkur Balaji Temple by 7:45am. 90 minutes after I got on my bike. I did not go into the temple itself but stood outside for a while. Called my sister and told her where I was. The next question she asked was, ‘is it on your bicycle??!!’ She was unable to believe that I went all that distance on a bicycle. I thought I should show the ride reports of this forum. She may then say, ‘Is that all’?

I started back and stopped at Osmansagar again on my way back. I ate a couple of bananas and drank some water. I was good to go again. Was back on my bike and was on my way back. I stopped at Chandanagar and got the pedal fixed. I reached home around 10am contended and thought may be I am good to try 100 km next time. Let’s see. :D

Total time : approx 4hrs
Time on wheels : 3:0:0 approx
Distance : 60 km approx
Avg : 20.0 kmph approx

All the stats are approx because I don’t have a cyclocomp yet. I am planning to take this route again by motor bike when I take my mom to visit the temple. I will be able to give the exact distance after that trip.
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The Present:
That was how I documented my first 'long' ride. Although the definition of long ride has changed slightly since those days, I still continue to enjoy every ride as much as I did three years ago.

More in this 'Relook-3 Years Hence' series.
My first ride on my Hawk.
My first commute.
My first century ride.

My First Day To Office On My Hawk: A Relook - 3 Years Hence..

2011-10-24T15:00:00.002+05:30

I did it Guys!!

The day after I bought the bike which incidentally is today, I made my first commute to office on my Hawk.

Yesterday night I rode the bike for 20km from the place I bought it from (Koti) to the place I live (Miyapur). And today got down for my usual jog around my flats and a bit of badminton but my partner was still to wake up at 6AM. So, I took off on my bike towards BHEL on my Hawk and rode the bike for another 16km (to and fro approx).

I came back, got ready to go to office and the time has come for my first commute to office on a bicycle. Being Friday, it was casual wear day and I wore a jeans and T-shirt. Got my lunch packed and my back pack was ready to sit on my back and I was ready to sit on my Hawk.

I checked the air in tires and mounted my bike and I was off on my way to office. The ride was smooth. The bike seems to be taking the bumps in the road well. But there seems to be a slight problem with the rear tire that is resulting in a slight hiccup on every rotation. When I checked the tire, a particular portion of the tire is lower than the rest of the tire. May be the tire did not sit well into the rim. If that is the case, I guess deflating the tire and setting it right and inflating it again should do the trick. If it is a problem with the rim which I think is not the case, it has to be taken to the shop. I will do that in the evening.

I gears were working quite well. Using the low gears when climbing inclines and higher ones otherwise is working well and I got used to it already. The only problem I now see is the head ache of keeping the kids in the flats off the gear shifters when it is parked.

I sailed through my usual route to the office on my new vehicle and reached there in 25 minutes. On an earlier early morning test ride, it took me 30 minutes. It usually took me 20 minutes on my Honda Activa. So a 5 to 10 minutes difference in commute time is not much considering the benefits in terms of fitness and fuel savings that it offers me.

I showed got past the gate, entered the parking lot and reached the usual spot where I park my Activa. The security guard came running and said, “Sir, this is for two-wheelers only. You have to park it there.” Pointing towards the direction where a few cycles parked. I smiled at him cheekily and said, “This is a two-wheeler as well. Do you see more than two?” He smiled back at the joke. Happy that my joke was understood and taken in sporting spirit, I went and parked along with the cycles owned mostly by the support staff of the building.

My T-shirt was drenched on the back and for a decent portion on the front. I usually sweat profusely. So, I reminded myself to keep a formal shirt in the back pack and ride to office in a T-shirt from Monday.

A couple of my colleagues were very appreciative of the fact that I have actually gone ahead and done what they considered was just a good idea that I had. A friend said that more people would be inspired by you. I certainly hope so. :D

Happy riding,
Venky

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The Present:
That was how my commute by bicycle has started. Even to this day, I commute to office daily on a cycle. I ride slower so that I'm not covered in sweat by the end of it. I commute in formals. I use Velcro strips as trouser clips. Carry my lunch in a backpack. I wear a helmet and use toe clips and formal shoes.

After nearly 3 years of almost daily commutes I feel quite at ease with my bicycle commutes and actually don't like to take my motorbike out unless I need to take my family out. No I don't commute because I want to go green and save the planet. I do it because I thought it was a great way to stay fit by combining exercise with something that I will do daily anyway i.e., commute. Now, I continue to do it because, I love doing it and also get to save some fuel money in the process.

More in this 'Relook-3 Years Hence' series.
My first ride on my Hawk.
My first long ride.
My first century ride.

My First Ride on my new Hawk.. A Relook - 3 Years Hence

2011-10-24T12:07:00.020+05:30

It has been exactly 3 years since that fateful day when I bought a cycle, naively thinking that I would just use to commute to office. Little did I know, how things will change. I'm re-living the initial days by documenting here a few articles I wrote during my initial days of cycling. I've posted these first on Bikeszone.
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Hi All,

After much deliberation, I have managed to buy a bike last evening. Its a Hero Hawk NewAge 10 Speed. Got this after considering so many bikes, after 4 visits to bankstreet(almost all the shops on it), three more visits to BSA Go and a visit to Peddlar's Point(both on Rajbhavan road). Ahem.. I know.. I might have spent more money on petrol on these trips than for the bike itself. Naah.. may be not that much.

Anyway, I finally did it! I am now a biker that rides not just talks.

Here is why Hero Hawk multispeed for me. I wanted a bike with slim tires to begin with although I had doubts on how well they can fare on our roads. Then I had this fascination with bent handle bars. So that means a road bike. What choice do I have in road bikes? Well not much. BSA Mach, Atlas Concorde, Hero Hawk and Hero Thunder racer. I really liked Thunder racer but no one in Hyderabad seems to be stocking it. I really liked LA Navigator for its sleek tires alloy frame and all the features except that it does not have a handle bar that I wanted and its stretching my budget at the moment. Other imported bikes are also way over my current budget. So I thought may be later. So that leaves me with just three to choose from and only Hawk offered multi-speed. Although I had apprehensions about gears I decided to go with them after so many of you have positively said they are not much of a problem.

I brought it from Hero Cycles Shop (the first cycle shop on the left that we encounter after we take a turn from Abids towards Bankstreet). I really liked the experience of interacting with its owner Nitin saab, a middle aged man with a positive approach to life. I learnt that they have been in this business for almost 70 years now. Others quoted a good 1k above what he had quoted. He quoted low and said no bargains. Fair enough I thought.

The cycle was ready by 7:30 PM. I gave the keys of my Honda Activa to my friend Sagar who accompanied me on this trip that resulted in a purchase and I started to ride back home on my Hawk. Off I was in peak time traffic from the heart of the city to the suburban area of Miyapur where I live. The route I took was Koti-Abids-Panjagutta-Ameerpet-Erragadda-KPHB-Miyapur. Anybody living in Hyderbad Krish, Ravi, Murali et.al., can understand what I mean when I say peak time traffic on this route. Behemoth buses, Stray dog like autos, teen adrenaline powered moto-bikes, power steered cars are what we have for company on these roads. And lots of them. It does not take any mistake on your part for you to be laid low on these roads so you got to be extra cautious. This was the setting I chose for my first ride on any road bike. Nice choice. Isn't it?

Well, for the first few meters I was not in full control of the bike as I was not used to the bent handle(I now know the jargon, they are called drop bars). Then the Koti traffic forced me to get used to it real fast. The first traffic signal I encountered was at Mozamzahi market. The curious motorist who stopped next to me inquired about the bike, its cost, its gears, tires etc., and we ended up having a small chat on the benefits of cycling before the green signal set us moving on our paths and he sped away.

I tried staying to the far left side of the road most of the times and moved past Hyderabad Central when my phone rang. It was from a friend from this forum Ravi Kiran who wanted to update me on his visit to Peddlars point on Rajbhavan road. I stopped to the left and we chatted for a while and I told him that I have finally bought a Hawk and was on my ride home. He was pleasantly surprised and sounded happy for me. He wished me luck with my first ride and I was on my way again. I was feeling a bit thirsty and stopped near Ameerpet Charmas and had a couple of glasses of sugar cane juice and moved forward. Although the juice helped raising my energy levels it seems to have done little for my thirst so I stopped to pick up a water bottle at S.R. Nagar signals. Took a couple of gulps of water and moved forward.

The bike seemed to be taking the small bumps and undulations in the road quite well. This made me feel a bit relieved that my doubts about its ability to with stand our road conditions can be laid to rest for a while. I would learn more about its capabilities and limitations as I ride more though. But so far so good.

I surged past KPHB and JNTU when I thought I would try meeting Krish and may be pick up my copy of the book that Abhi couriered. He lives near by in Nizampet road and its on my way home. I stopped to the left and called Krish. Unfortunately he was in still in office and I updated him on my purchase and ride. He was happy that I would finally start riding and give him and others from Hyderbad some company. So with a meeting scheduled between us for Saturday, I moved forward. I was just about 4 km away from home now.

I reached home by 9:00PM and dismounted my hawk after abusing it for almost one and half hours on its very first day of existence. I finished off the rest of the water left in the bottle and was about to take the stairs when a couple of friends from my flats met. I showed them the bike and told them my idea of commuting and taking weekend trips and they were expressing doubts if it is a wise thing to do in Hyderabad traffic and pollution. He also thought a stationary exercise bike like the one in his home would have been a wiser choice. Well, that reminded me of the HSBC advertisement (the one that comments on the lines 'different people, different perceptions'). I just smiled and moved on.

It was a 20km (approximately) ride through lots of traffic and lots of pollution. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. At the end of it I badly needed a hot shower and I took it before eating sumptuously and hitting the sack very contended.

My post is longer than my ride. Isn't it? Well thanks for your patient reading.

Happy riding,
Venky
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The Present:
Yesterday(Oct 23rd) marked 3rd anniversary of my cycling journey. Incidentally that was marked by my fastest 100km ride which I completed in 3hr 11mins 40secs. Although it was a group ride with a bit of drafting, the Bulldog and I completely enjoyed it. Would be interesting to see when I can do a solo effort like that.

More in this 'A Relook: 3 Years Hence' series.
My first commute.
My first long ride.
My first century ride.

The Story Of My Best Friend - 2nd Innings

2011-10-10T17:30:00.003+05:30

Read about the 1st Innings here:

The Woes Continue..
After my initial fight with weight, bringing it down to 76kilos from 92kilos, I had started to think about the best way to keep it there. That is when buying a cycle and cycling to work came to my mind. After mulling over it for a while and after innumerable trips to various bike shops, I bought my first bicycle, a Hero Hawk. Initially, I cycled to work and slowly started long rides during weekends. Cycling helped me maintain the weight at 76 for the next two years. That journey is well documented here on my blog.

But after I came back to Hyderabad from VT, I was not active for a while. I blame it on the general laziness, changing of jobs and trying to sort out the left knee which I busted while running in VT. Also, I was being pampered by the family after almost an year of being away from them. As a result, the weight shot to 82-83 kilos.

In December 2010, with a new job, I landed in Bangalore weighing around 82kilos and being mostly unfit. The bronchitis attacks that were all too frequent in my past unfit life seemed to be sneaking in again. I began to panic and wanted to get back in shape. After taking a month or two to get settled in the new place in Bangalore, I started exploring the routes in Bangalore and began to ride with friends here. Although it was not as much as I would like, it did help me get the weight slowly down to 78 from 82 by June. But as they say, the losing the initial 5 kilos is always the easy part. The target of 72 kilos that I wanted to reach for a while, looked elusive.

I've always been a weekend warrior. I commute to office on my cycle almost everyday but used to get out for longer rides only on weekends. Although it helped me stay in decent shape and help me keep my weight more or less constant, while I kept doing that, it was not enough for that next step in weight loss that I wanted to take. It was simple. Commute(8km one way) was not enough of a workout and one or two days of workout per week in the form of weekend rides was not cutting it.

I wanted to see progress in terms of both my fitness and weight lost. I knew I can do it as I have done it in the past. I just had to go back to basics and make sure that I do some sort of workout everyday and watch what I put in my mouth. Knowing and doing are worlds apart.

A New Wind..
This new found determination coincided with my registration to take part in TFN being accepted. Now, I had no option but to get out on the road and ride. This acted as a big motivator for me to wake up every day and get out of the door.

Initially, it was tough. Dedicating a couple of hours on a weekday, with the prospect of getting out of the door well before dawn, sweating it out on the road, rushing back home, rushing to get ready for office and rushing out to office, seemed a BIG hassle. I never thought that I would do it. Looking back it was more of a mental block than practical issues, may be. Because, once you decide that you need to do something and start doing it, you'd always find a way around the issues that will crop up or those that you imagined would crop up.

I started with biking only on a couple of weekdays in addition to the weekends. Typically it was Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some days I had company and on other days it was a solo spin into the morning breeze. Some days were better than the others but I was determined not to miss any ride day. Rain or shine was the guiding principle. In the process I discovered that the Bulldog actually loves riding in rain.

In July, most of the riding was alone and mostly at my slow and steady pace. Once in a while, I rode in the company of some beginner friends. In August and September however, the rides with other more experienced biking friends began to happen with an occasional ride that redlined my heart rate. Riding with them has not only kept me from being bored but also helped improve my biking in many ways.

The Results..
As the rides became regular and as the miles kept piling on, I began to see improvement in my fitness. While previously, I had to move around gingerly with a sore body for the entire day after a long ride on a weekend, I now see no effects of it even as soon as an hour after the ride. I've observed that with improved fitness, I'm recovering quickly even from hard rides.

Monthly Mileage for the year so far..Source DailyMile

July mileage was 1329 km. Up from 522 in June. August a bit better at 1915 km while September continued the trend with 2022 km. In fact, the total mileage of the first six months was 3464 km while that of the past three months was 5266 km. 1802 km more than the first six months.

Quite predictably, as the miles began to pile up, I began to see improvement in my weight loss goals as well. Although I began tracking and logging weight from early February, I only got to see proper movement in the weight scale after I began to move. Since July.

Lost nearly 10 kilos since mid of June with only about 3 kilos of that being muscle mass and fat % coming down by about 6%.

Weight over time.. You could see that it started moving only after July when I started moving :)

Updating the post: Since many have asked how I got the fat% and other details, I thought it made sense to update it here. I bought a TANITA UM-073 Body Fat and Water Monitor in late Jan'11 to motivate myself to lose weight. Little did I remember that monitoring it alone does not help lose weight and that I have to do something about it. :)

What Next..?
I have surpassed my target of 72 kilos and I'm not complaining. I know I will not be able to keep up the mileage for long and I don't intend to do so as well. It will only be till December. But I also know that I will keep riding regularly and continue my Yoga and may be running to keep the weight from going back past my target(around 72kgs). The lesson that I need to remember is to keep doing some sort of workout every day and watch what I put in my mouth. I know I will be alright as long as I remember and follow it.

Thank you...!
I thank many of my ride partners who rode with me, slowed down for me at times, pushed me for better at other times, gave me useful tips, encouraged me, motivated me during these past three months and continue to do so. I also thank many who have offered me encouragement and guided me with the intent to see me do well.

Most importantly, I thank my dear wife who not only puts up with my craziness but also encourages me and takes care of me. And of course my trusted work horse, the Bulldog.

The weight saga continues... and like life, its a journey.

The Minkey Loop - Another PB Effort

2011-10-07T17:08:00.001+05:30

When Minkey complained of repeating Siva's road too many times, I promised to show him different and nicer routes before he goes back. So with only a couple of weekends left for both of us to ride together, we decided to use the Dussera holiday yesterday, to explore one of the routes I had in mind.

We have decided to start at our usual starting point of Siva's road. The plan is to start there and ride through KR Puram and get onto the ORR to reach Hebbal. From there take left on Bellari road to get on to Doddaballapur road then just as we are approaching Doddaballapur take right to get on to the road that takes us to Devanahalli. From Devanahalli and get on to the road towards Budigere which we call Siva's road. It is nearly a 100km loop(roughly 99.5 actually).

The Minkey Loop

Both of us were around 10 minutes late from our initial start time of 6:15 am at the start point so we were right on time for each other courtesy of some SMS sync up.

We started riding on Old Madras road and pretty soon we saw what the late start has done in terms of the traffic at KR Puram market. We had to crawl along for a couple of minutes till we crossed KR Puram. Then we got onto Outer Ring Road to reach Hebbal. The road conditions are less than ideal for this portion because of the road construction work on ORR. It pretty much the same till we take left on Bellari road to cross the rail track and get onto Doddballapur road.

Once the four lane road turns to double road with no divider, the route gets better. Yeah, that's right. There is nice tree cover on both sides of the road and ample shade. The road itself is pretty good too although narrow by four lane standards. Traffic is relatively sparse. We stopped for a quick nature call break as soon as we got on to that nicer portion of the road.

We were going at around 29 kmph till there. Just as we started riding again, Minkey happened to remark if I'm trying for another PB. That made us to increase the pace. We began to attack the inclines to maintain the momentum and it was super fun. We turned onto Devanahalli road and took a quick fuel break where Minkey took out his PBJ sandwich and I loaded up on some chikki.

Minkey, in deep thought as he munches on his sandwich at our only fuel stop..

We started again after our quick stop and proceeded towards Devanahalli. Both of us were on our fixed gear bikes and it was going to be the longest ride for Minkey on any bike. I noticed that Minkey was getting tired and was falling behind on the inclines. He was not used to doing such distances on this bike, so that was understandable although he is quite fit.

We crossed the Bellari road to get into Devanahalli and got onto Siva's road in no time. We were both on track for our PB centuries. Once we got onto Siva's road, Minkey told me not to slow down for him and see what would be the time for my 100km. Since it was familiar terrain for both of us, I marched ahead and reached crossed 100k(from home) just after crossing Budigere, in 3 hrs 21 mins. Then I waited for Minkey and he arrived a few minutes later having crossed the century mark in 3 hrs and 26mins. Incidentally that was my PB from last week. :)

Both of us were tired but were very satisfied with the efforts. We promised ourselves that the next time we ride this loop, we won't remind ourselves of PB timings etc and actually see and enjoy the route. From that point we rode at a slower recovery pace and stopped for coconut water near Siva's road start before parting ways for home.

Minkey here, the ride is for you and Alanis. The loop would here by called 'The Minkey Loop' by me. :)

Garmin link for the ride: http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=1555006

PB Century - One Hell of a Ride

2011-10-02T13:01:00.001+05:30

It was one hell of a ride to close a fantastic week of riding.

Siva, Deepak, Minkey and Ameet at the start of the ride on Siva's road!

The day started with a panic that I might miss the ride altogether. Woke up to a slow leak puncture on the Bulldog's rear tire. Didn't want to waste time trying to find the puncture and decided to get rid of the old tire and replaced it with a spare I had. Removed the wheel, changed the tire and tube in flat 15 mins and the bike was ready. Sent out a message to the guys that I'd be slightly delayed and they decided to wait up for me. Had to do a time trial of sorts to get there at 32 kmph for 9km.

Then, Deepak, Ameet, Siva, Gautam and I started riding together. Within no time Ameet and Deepak set a strong pace and marched ahead. Gautam, Siva and I started riding together at a decent clip. After Budigere Siva started to feel his muscles and slowed down on the inclines. We reached the end of Siva's road and turned back. Gautam and Siva decided to stop over at Budigere for idli. I rode back with them for around 7km turned back to join Major and Balu who were on their way to Nandi.

Balu was off the saddle for a while and has not been riding regularly. So he was struggling on the inclines and Major and I tried to keep pulling him. We got on to Nandi approach road and I tried to shield Balu from the headwinds and tried to pull him. We slowed down a bit in the process.

In the meantime Deepak and Ameet reached Nandi base and completed their breakfast too. Deepak called to know where I was and I asked them to start on their way back having decided to turn back with them. I wished Major and Balu a good ride and started riding with Deepak and Ameet.

Saying that started riding _with_ them is not quite accurate. They just took off on a downhill and built a gap of around 300mts or so immediately. I started to give chase and began to give it all to bridge that gap. It was not working although I managed to keep them in sight and not let that gap increase. I took more than half an hour of chase at 32 kmph to bridge that gap once we got on to Siva's road. It was a painful chase. I wondered what those two had for breakfast at Nandi base! They were blazing fast. But I really enjoyed the hard workout that I got chasing them.

There after we rode together and tried to challenge each other on inclines. Was great fun riding with them. Thank you guys for pushing me like that. That helped me get to my PB time for century(3 hrs 26 mins) bettering the previous 3 hrs 33 mins in August. I wish I could put in that sort of a ride on a solo non-stop ride someday without any carrots in front of me. :)

Stats:
Time for 100k: 3hrs 26mins @ 29.13 kmph
Total ride: 107.5 in 3hrs 43mins @ 28.91 kmph

Here is the link to the stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118456312

Nandi Darshan With Minkey Chief

2011-09-11T16:11:00.000+05:30

When Minkey Chief landed in Bangalore with his Alanis (IRO Mark V), it was time to introduce the Bulldog to the beautiful Alanis. So, I messaged Minkey(Gautam) yesterday asking if he was ready for the ride to The Bull that he wanted to do. "Confirmed", came the reply. We decided to meetup at 6am on Siva's road and ride.

When I got to Siva's road at 6am, he was already waiting there. This was the first time I got to meet this gentle giant, 'the chief of us simians' as our friend Ullas calls him. When I saw Alanis, his beautiful IRO Mark V fixed gear and single speed bike, I was bowled over. What a beautifully setup bike it is!

Minkey blazing the road with his beautiful bike, Alanis(fixed gear setup with 46x15) on Siva's road

As we began to ride on Siva's road it was abundantly clear what all the hill training in the couple of months preceding his India trip has done to the Chief, although it was only his second ride after landing here. He was ripping it on his 46x15 fixed gear setup as I struggled to keep up with him on my Bulldog.

As we rode on on the Nandi approach road..

From the start of Siva's road to the base was around 28.5 kmph which was very fast for me. At the base, Chief decided to flip the rear wheel to the freewheel side so that he could try the climb on a relatively forgiving gearing of 46x17. As we began to climb, I started a few seconds before him and began to ride.

I didn't want to and didn't have the energy to give a hard effort on the climb. So, I kept going at an effort that won't have me to blowing up midway through the climb. As I approached the steep section after 5km into the climb, I remembered how the teeth on the Bulldog's cog broke off as I stood up and pedaled there. I shook my head and continued climbing seated.

The first couple of bends of the steep section have always been a nemesis of sorts and how I did there usually determined if I could complete the climb non-stop. I fought off the mind's suggestions to give up at these points and continued ahead. Once I got over that it was just a matter of going steady from one curve to the other until I see the curve 40 and the arch itself. I was expecting a time of around 38min which is a bit more than my PB of 37:37. But I was pleasantly surprised when I hit the lap button and saw 35:41. Not a bad day at the office, I guess.

Satisfied, I waited at the arch for Gautam. I wanted to stay alert and capture the moments as he approached the arch and finished the climb. I kept looking down to see if he's around the corner. After waiting for more than twenty minutes I thought something was wrong and began to descend. Deepak was just finishing his climb and I followed him back up for a short while. Got to know from him that Gautam was making his way down. So, we both coasted down and met the Chief there.

Gautam and Deepak catching up at the base..

Apparently, Gautam climbed 5km and turned back saving the full Nandi darshan for another day. We had a nice time chatting there and while Gautam and Deepak ordered breakfast, I've decided to join the team spectrum guys Dr.Arvind, Rocket Gaurav and Ravi Ranjan on their last hill repeat drill. Rode with them for 3km and came down while they continued their 4km repeat. By the time I reached base, Deepak and Gautam were done with their breakfast and we began to ride back.

The two Docs, Rocket Gaurav, Ravi Ranjan and Mickey Chief at the base..

Deepak parted ways at the turn-off while the Chief and I went through Devanahalli and got on to Siva's road. We rode hard for a while and I was again struggling to keep the Chief in sight. After crossing Budigere thankfully he slowed down to chat with me as we rode on. It was nice catching up with the man who I consider my guru as I've taken a few tips from him in the past on how to improve my writing. He writes for a living and is excellent at it. I always love his articles.

We parted ways from Siva's road owing to ride together whenever we can before he goes back to his work and home in CA. It was a hard ride for me today but one which I immensely enjoyed.

Here are a few more photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/NandiDarshanWithMinkeyChief

Here is the link to Garmin activity: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113411514

The Bulldog Meets Nandi and Loses Teeth :)

2011-09-06T16:39:00.000+05:30

There was a sonic boom and a black and yellow blur went by. KYNKYNY-Wheelsports team colors vaguely registered in the mind as I was startled out of my climbing Zen. The guys must have been rolling down at more than 70kmph down the Nandi descent riding as a bunch. Amazing riders.

After I calmed myself from the sudden spike in heart rate watching them ride downhill like that, I was slowly making my way up Nandi and trying to keep Major in sight. We were late at the base by half an hour. So as we started to climb, lot of riders began to descend. Vicki was tucked in pro style and zoomed down followed by a few other riders like Dr. Arvind, Dr. Deepak, Dr. Shalini,(hmm.. too many doctors taking to cycling. eh? I wonder why!?) Saravanan, Shankar and Gaurav.

I kept a steady pace and went through the first 5km at a decent pace. As I approached the steeper section, Ameet Bhide and Priya were descending. Just then, I stood up on the pedal to get some momentum and I felt the crank slip under me and stopped after a couple of seconds. I thought the chain slipped but the bike seemed to move. So I started to push again and it slipped again. I thought the chain was slipping and falling back in place as the chain became quite loose. I didn't want to risk it and just turned back and started descending.

Baba Velo with his disciples at Nandi base ;)

At the base, a whole group of riders were huddled around Baba Velo (RNair) and were having a nice chat. I joined the happy lot and spend a few minutes chatting with them and Rajesh. What a guy! I found him to be always approachable and smiling. I have always been in awe with the way he rides, the kind of training he does and the way he shares whatever he's learning with other cyclists through various fora. He was in town for a recce of the route for TFN, the tour he co-founded with Ravi Ranjan, and spent a few days riding with friends here after the recce. It was a pleasure riding with(err..behind) him on a couple of rides and spending some time with him. Btw., the grapevine has it that TFN is going to kick some ass this year with a very challenging and probably the toughest course yet, this year. :)

Saru and Shankar listening to Baba Velo attentively. Deepak Majipatil, Priya and Ameet Bhide in the background at Nandi base..

At the base, when I was examining the chain tension wondering what might have caused those slipping moments, Hari Menon pointed out a few missing teeth on the cog. As I kept spinning the pedal with the Bulldog lying down and as the cog spun, we were surprised to see many broken teeth on the cog. Perplexed, I decided to head home with my ride partners for the day, Major and Balu with Hari joining us. We said our goodbyes to Baba Velo and the rest of the guys and started riding back.

Balu who was recovering from a knee injury was on his first long ride since March this year. He chose to ride on Bellari road on the way back while Major and I went through Devanahalli and Siva's road. It was a 140km ride for Balu and was one hell of a comeback ride. He ensured that he kept a high cadence right through as he didn't want to do the same mistake that put him off the bike wrecking his knee a few months back.

Major Srinivas did a 250km ride to Yercaud with Ganapathy and reached home 11pm on Saturday night. I had to pickup my jaw from the floor when I came to know that he was still keen to join us for the ride to Nandi at 6am on Sunday. He had the energy to push Balu and me hard on the way to Nandi and climb Nandi in decent time too. Feels great to be riding with such amazing riders.

My ride partners for the day. Major and Balu. Thanks a bunch for the great ride guys. :)

The cog held up pretty well on the ride back and I had no issues keeping a decent pace in the headwinds. Before everybody starts wondering how the hell did I manage to wreck the cog like that, here is my theory. The chain has had many miles on it over the last year and has stretched a bit. Over the last few months, I kept adjusting the chain tension every other week and at a few times ended up setting it a bit too tight. That must have been hard on the cog which has had an equally good number of miles on it, and the teeth finally broke off having had enough of my stupidity. The Bulldog needs a new drive train now and is currently doing fine running in the freewheel setup.

The worn-out cog.. Only three teeth remain. I think the chain stretched a long time back with many miles on it. I kept adjusting the tension(making it tighter) and kept riding it. It took its toll on the cog.

A few more photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/BulldogLosesTeethAtNandi

Dist: 129km
Time:5hrs15mins

The Bulldog's First Race

2011-08-22T10:54:00.224+05:30

The Race:
The count down for the flag-off started. The Bulldog was ready at the start line. '3-2-1-Go' came the shout from the volunteer at the start line. The Bulldog jumped into action. "Hey take it easy now. There is some 22km to go. We got to pace ourselves." I told it. It slowly settled into a rhythm and began to move swiftly.

The Bulldog set its eye on the rider in front of it(It was a staggered start with 30sec gap between the riders. The Bulldog started 10th). Ever so slightly it tried lifting the tempo trying to bridge the gap. "Buddy, its a race against ourselves. Not against anybody else. Go steady now." I chided it. It seemed to have relaxed into its own rhythm again and began to march ahead. It slowly crossed the rider in front and there seemed to be a spring in its step. I urged it to save energy for the return leg. As it made progress we went past another rider and then another.

The road was slightly undulating but appeared mostly downhill on the way out. But the headwinds were steady and seemed to be negating the slightly downward slope of the course. As we approached the halfway mark, around four or five riders have already turned and were on the return leg of the race. By the time the Bulldog made its way to the turn around point, there was a truck behind and we had to overshoot the U-turn to let the truck pass. The return leg had started and with it, for us, the real race.

The Bulldog progressed still with a spring in the step and now it could see a small yellow dot in the distance. The dot seemed to be climbing up and then disappeared into the horizon. As the Bulldog made its way up the little ascent in the road and started descending, it could again see the yellow dot far off. By now it seemed intent to catch that yellow target and ever so slightly lifted the tempo. It made steady progress bridging the gap by a few meters by every passing minute. Slowly it went past its target as it made it to the last ascent before three kilometers from the finish line.

The last three kilometers till we reached the finish line was a breeze with the slight downhill and a bit of tailwind. I decided to let the Bulldog do its thing and gave it all and within no time we went past the finish line glowing in the cheers of the friends. I got down and patted the Bulldog on a job well done.

As The Day Started...
As Sunday began, the plan was just to do an easy ride with a couple of friends who were new to cycling, before going to watch the BBCh Team Time Trails. While riding to get there, I tried interval efforts first time(30sec hard efforts followed by 1minute easy workouts). As my friends were understandably a bit slow with one of them riding an MTB, going ahead with 30 sec hard efforts and riding back towards them with easy efforts were a good way for me to get some good workout in while still giving them some company. The interval attempts seemed to have loosened the legs after the hard ride with Shankar Jayaraman from the day before.

We rode some 46km before getting to the starting point of the race. I met a lot of friends at the race. I had no intention of riding the race but just signed up for the individual Time Trail as I saw some of my friends do it just like that.

Someone said the best way to watch a bike race is to be riding it. I wanted to see if it is true and I have to say that I completely agree after my first participation in a race. It was a treat watching the Team Time Trail riders wizz past from the opposite direction. I think, I might sign up for more races like this just to get a chance to see the great riders in action from up close. It is really a treat to watch them giving it all and fly by in the race.

After saying my goodbyes to the friends there, I started riding back with Deepak and Kalkat. It was great riding with both of them after a long time. Deepak's Surly LHT looks amazingly good!

DocD still in his touring mode came for a morning ride like I did to see the races. Chatting up here with Dr.Arvind and Gaurav of Spectrum Racing!

The Result:
As I reached home and started freshening up, Akshay called and I heard, "Dude!!! Where are you?" "I'm home, man" "Dude!!! You came in second in ITT!!" "Hey, stop kidding, dude!" "No, seriously! What was your timing?" "I didn't check, yet." "Hey, check the timing and confirm" When I downloaded the Garmin activity onto my computer, the Garmin lap showed 44:24 for 22.1 kms. After confirming my bib number as well, Akshay confirmed that the Bulldog had the 2nd best time for the Individual Time Trail and asked me to pick up the medal from him.

With Dad's first medal from his first race! He coyly says that most of the main riders were busy riding the Team Time Trial and thanks his Bulldog for being the great bike it has been! :)

KYNKYNY Wheelsports guys won the first place in the Team Time Trail with Cleated Warriors coming in Second and Team Spectrum in the third place. Guys from Veloscope photography did a great job making us all feel like we were participating in TDF like event with their great coverage.

Individual Time Trial Results. Team Time Trial results in the Picasa Album link below.

It was a great ride for me and the Bulldog with a few first time experiences like trying intervals, participating in our first race and its first podium finish.

Here are a few more photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/102172342564541481938/BulldogSFirstRaceBBCh7TTTAndITT#

3 In 3:: The Hatrick 100k- Aug 15th Weekend

2011-08-16T20:59:00.000+05:30

One of Three: The Unfinished Business: Nandi Ride

The Way The Mind Plays:
"Dude you came here too fast. You've spent too much energy already. I'm sure you're not going to complete the climb. You are heavier by a plate of idli. You never tried climbing soon after eating. Don't push. You are going to burnout even before the steepest part starts. See, what did I tell you? You're tired already. You can not go on. See, the heart is pounding too hard. Right? Take it easy now. Stop. You can try later. The legs are not going to support you. Listen to me dammit! Stop! "

That was the internal dialog I failed to silence last Sunday when I was riding to Nandi and climbing it with Abhijit. Most days I manage to silence the inner bozo and get on with it. But not that day. I had to stop 25mins into the climb. Took a two minute breather and made it to the top where Abhijit was waiting having managed his personal best for the climb at 36mins and a few seconds. We had a great ride together heading home as well. But, the Bulldog was not happy with the way I did on the climb.

Taking Care Of Unfinished Business:
So, I wanted to start the long weekend with a Nandi ride to take care of the unfinished business from last week. A non-stop climb. Although I did it a couple of times in the past, the latest failure was fresh on my mind. I started a bit early and rode alone at a relaxed pace to reach the base by 7am. By that time Ameet Bhide was there with his better half, Priya and another couple from their community who are also going to participate in this year's TFN.

Ameet Bhide on the Nandi climb.. Wanted me to photoshop a smile on his face. I guess, that's not required :)

Ameet and I began the climb together at a relaxed pace chatting along and I took a few snaps as I climbed. The weather was beautiful and we could see the top of Nandi covered in mist. The only aim was to complete the climb non-stop so I was in no hurry and so was Ameet. As we approached the steep section of the last 2 kms however, Ameet slowly pulled ahead. I didn't try pushing to hang on to his wheel as I was not sure if I could.

I slowly pushed ahead one pedal stroke at a time. As I approached the point where I stopped the week before, I remembered very clearly the feeling I had when I gave up last time. I consciously shook it off by getting out of the saddle and charging ahead of that section. I slowly inched ahead one curve after the other and as I approached the last bend I could hardly see the arch with all the mist. Ameet and his friend Abhilesh were already there having completed the climb in 36 mins and a few seconds. I saw 37:37 when I hit the lap button on my Garmin. It is 12 seconds less than my previous PB and also at a lesser(by 4bpm) average heart rate. It was satisfying.

I think, climbing as with most things can be done better with a clear and uncluttered mind. If you think too much it can only hinder you. When you are in extreme pain, the mind, like a good steward that it is, will find excuses to get you out of that situation and try to preserve you.

When you are struggling uphill with your heart pounding as if there is no tomorrow, your lungs burning and your legs screaming in pain, a single negative thought, a single excuse that the mind gives you, is enough to make you quit. During such times, I try to remember a quote which is attributed to Lance Armstrong. But it doesn't matter who said it as much as what it says. "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever"

With the Bulldog at the top of Nandi..

Stats: 119 km in 5hrs 10 mins. Back home by 10:30 am.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106037893

Two of Three: Manchanabele-Savanadurga-Magadi Road Loop: An Amazing Route

After a satisfying Nandi ride on Saturday, I wanted to do another long ride on Sunday. The Savandurga road ride that I did a couple of months back with Vineeth came to mind. The beauty of that amazing rolling terrain made it my favorite road ride around Bangalore. I was itching to repeat it and pinged Vineeth. He was up for it and as I wanted to be back home by 11:30 am, we decided to start at his place at 5:30 am. That meant that I had to start at 4:30 am at mine.

The weather was brilliant. The road till I reach our starting point is about 20km is nothing great to write home about. Even the initial 5km or so is pretty ordinary. But once you get past the NICE road intersection on Magadi road, the actual beauty of the route starts. The road condition is very good. After around 15 kms from the NICE road intersection on Magadi road, you would need to take left to get on to a road that takes you to Manchanabele reservoir. As you approach the reservoir just as you dive into a downhill you would witness one of the amazing sights the route has to offer. The full view of the lake with the hills around it.

Vineeth on the ride.. The spectacular view of the Manchanabele reservoir in the background!

Then as you cross the reservoir and go through a couple of villages, you would see a board directing you to take right to get into Savanadurga state forest. The 8kms of the route via the forest is slightly rough at places but is in pretty decent shape road-bike friendly over all. After you get out of the road through the forest, you would enter a smooth Ramnagara-Magadi road that takes you to Magadi via Savanadurga. On this road you can either go directly towards Magadi or take a diversion to climb up the Savandurga hill and descend onto the Madgadi road directly.

The beauty of the route is that it is either going up or going down. It never seems to be completely flat for more than a few minutes. Get ready to fly down a few stretches and crawl your way up a few, throughout the ride. The ride through the forest with the buzzing symphony of the insect life and bird life in the trees is phenomenal along with some amazing views on offer on the route.

Spectacular view of the Savanadurga Monolith still shrouded with mist as we rode along the Ramanagara-Magadi road

Once you get on to the Magadi road you have excellent road conditions and you would enjoy the rolling terrain until you get back to the NICE road intersection. After that the traffic and the deteriorating road conditions will bring you back to the reality from the dream ride.

The guys at IISc Randonneurs recently rode a slight variation of the route we rode for what they called Savanadurga 100: The Monolith Populaire. Even a gpx file is available on their site for those who want to repeat this ride. I recommend this route for anyone who is looking to prepare for TFN. You will not be disappointed. I promise. Here is the gpx file from our ride.

The elevation profile of the route from gpsies..

Stats: 139km Start time: 4:40 am End time: 11:20 am

Three of Three: Doddaballapur-Devanahalli-Budigere 100k Loop: Course Complete

Clear skies lit splendidly by an almost full-moon, mesmerizing pre-dawn twilight with amazing symphony of the chirping birds, glorious Sun slowly making its way up trough the coconut trees and the lazy cow actively grazing on the mist bathed grass. When you get to experience all these in one ride, what else can you ask for?

The Sunrise on Doddaballapur-Devanahalli road.. The glare on my cell camera doesn't do justice..

That is precisely how I felt about the ride. A beautiful ride to close the long weekend.

After two long rides on Saturday and Sunday with some decent climbing, I wanted to see if the legs are good for another long one. I was surprised to see how fresh the body felt even by Sunday afternoon itself. So, I promised my wife that I will be back home by 8:30 am to help her with stuff as we were having visitors for lunch that day. I wanted to complete a 100 km loop before that which meant that I had to start at least 4 hours before. So, around 4:30 am again.

I ended up waking up earlier than my alarm again and started riding by 4:20 am. I made it to Hebbal and got on to the Doddaballapur road by around 5. Although I placed fresh batteries in the bike light, I found it to be not bright enough to show me potholes etc. So, I had to gingerly make my way through the unlit portions of the road. Thankfully the almost full-moon and the clear skies offered some help. It was blissful to keep looking up from time to time see the splendid moon lit sky.

Around 5:30 am slowly the twilight made its way and the symphony of the chirping birds began to play from the trees on both sides. As I turned on to Devanahalli road from Doddaballapur, a huge Orange Sun began to emerge out of coconut grooves. Oh what words can describe those feelings in such settings?

By 7am I entered Siva's road from Devanahalli side. There were many riders riding on that road. Spotted Siva riding with a friend of his, saw Opendro and Ganapathy of Cleated warriors team riding as well as Akshay and Rohan from Team BOTS among the folks that I could recognize. I guess they were practicing for the Team Time Trail BBCh race that's going to happen this Sunday.

I reached home by exactly 8:30 am.

Stats: 101km Start time: 4:20 am End time: 8:30 am
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106654023

It was the first time I did three back to back century rides. Granted that I didn't really push on any of the three days, but I am still pleasantly surprised by how quickly the body seemed to have recovered after all the three rides. I guess the regular riding over the last month or so did help.