Back to my childhood!

Stand and dance,
If its tiring uphill.
Duck and flow,
If its scary downhill.

Hop like a bunny,
Don't ever slow down!
Race with the engines,
And chase them down;

Shiny or windy,
Rainy or muddy,
Breathe the freedom;
Be a road or a trail.

Wheels on a skinny frame,
And pedals for an engine:
Its a reentry capsule
Back to my childhood.

The auto encounter

It was late in the evening during my commute back home. I approached the Sarjapur junction fly over, my usual sprint section. I was mentally getting prepared for the sprint up, when an autorikshaw closed upon me from the right side. Assuming that he wants to cut to the left to go underneath the fly over, I signalled him to stay behind me and kicked the sprint off. I was clocking my fastest climb over the flyover at about 45kmph. I was off the saddle, dancing on the pedals, with my heart beat audible to nearby vehicles. Soon the autorickshaw caught up with me, and slowed down parallel to me. The guy might have got offended when I asked him to stay behind! I prepared myself for a heated exchange, and looked up at the guy. The autowala was smiling at me with a thumbs up, appreciating my effort! I stand corrected now - not all autowalas of Bangalore are mean!

The Legendary 300

"No, this is not Sparta! This is Kolar!"

A report on my attempt at the 300km Kolar Gold Fields Brevet happened on 14th July 2012.

I was confident of the distance; the challenge would be the night ride. The brevet should be finished in 20 hours, which means that the latest time of finish is 2:00 AM. I had saved around 2 hours during the Sira 200km brevet, despite a haunting series of three punctures. If the monsoon of bad luck receeds a bit, I could finish around 11:00 PM. Then there wouldn't be a lot of night riding either.

The ride was flagged off at 6:00 AM from MG Road. We, four to five bikers with Mustafa in the lead role, ripped through the Old Madras road. All were riding road bike except me on my Schwinn hybrid. With some draft assistance I could keep up with the gang. We must have covered around 15 kms, and I found myself struggling to keep the pace. I slowed down and the gang disappeared on top of a fly over. It got increasingly difficult to pedal. It could be the slope of the fly over, I thought. The climb was through, and my head dropped down to relax. Not again! The rear tire was flat!

I cursed the bad luck, the bad tire, and the courier/customs fellows who were delaying the delivery of my new puncture resistant tires. I pulled over, turned the bike upside down, pulled the wheel off to swap the tube. All the riders who started after me passed by offering help, but it was not necessary. I installed the wheels back, and noticed the brake shoes were rubbing. It took more time to tune the brake. I must have lost twenty minutes.

I resumed the ride, now leaving more space on the left side of the road to avoid the layer of debris on the sides of the highway. I kept watching the rear tire; it seemed to be low on pressure. Filling up with the mini pump is tiresome; you always give up before a decent pressure level is reached. I reached the exit to Malur, where I saw Abhinandan having some snacks at a bakery.

Together we entered the more scenic state highway to Malur. The state highways typically are puncture free zones. The fear of punctures subsided and the enjoyment of the ride picked up. I stopped to pump in a bit more air. I lost Abhinandan by the time I am done. The late starter Vasu caught up with me and rode along with me for a while. He carried on with his amazing speed, and quickly disappeared from my radar.

Soon I reached Malur, and started looking for the Canara ATM which was the designated control. It got more troublesome as localites guided me to either a different ATM, or the Canara Bank. Finally I found the ATM. Vasu was standing outside, sipping a tea. The ATM was down! We went to a nearby ATM, and got slips. Then we headed together to Tekal. The roads were patchy, I could keep up with Vasu, who was struggling to avoid the potholes. The session was very entertaining with Vasu unbundling some of his Gyan. The bad road ended and Vasu went on full throttle. I attempted to draft him for a while, but could not keep up with the insane pace, even with the aerodynamic advantage. I asked him to carry on, and continued with my slower pace.

It was 9:30 AM when I reached Tekal, and I had to stop for breakfast. The only place I found was an ugly looking hotel with a bench and a desk. I asked for a plate idly, and I got a plate of five huge hot and fresh idlies and two vadas. As I feasted on that, many villagers kept shooting questions about the intentions of my ride. Some of them wanted to have a look at the cue sheet. I was a bit hesitant, since it was in English and won't make sense to them anyway. To my surprise, they started reading the cue sheet, and nodded in agreement with the directions and landmarks. Another man who was having breakfast, picked up a conversion with me. He knew all the south indian languages, and we had a nice casual talk in Malayalam. I also ordered a tea, altogether it costed just twenty rupees. I would get just two idlies at my office canteen with that money!!

Other than the very scenic roads and the awesome weather, the ride was event-less as I passed through the villages of Tekal, Bangarpet, Kotilingeshwara, Bethamangala, and Venkatagirikota. I stopped only for refilling my water bottles, eating bananas or asking directions. As the day got hotter, I started looking forward to the downslopes near Pernampattu.  I planned to reach the control at Pernampattu by 2:00 PM, and stop for having lunch here.

The road curved downwards through the green and calm reserve forest. I kept my head just a few centimeters above the handlebar, with an occasional watch on the speedometer. The slopes were tempting, but I did not dare to let the speed go above 50 kmph. Four back to back speed breakers at the end of a pretty steep downhill!! I managed to bring the speed down in time to 25-30 kmph. There was a crowd just after the speed breakers; I wondered what was happening as I passed by. Some of them waved indicating me to stop. I turned back, and went inside the crowd to see fellow riders Abhinandan and Vageesh. What happened? I enquired; and they pointed to Prashant who was sitting there with bruises all over him. He was supporting his left hand in an awkward position. He had noticed the speedbreakers in the last second, and the impact at nearly 60kmph made him lose his balance.

The helpful villagers phoned the nearby hospital, and got an ambulance. The also convinced the ambulance guy, who frowned at the bikes, to board atleast two of them. Abhinandan accompanied Prashanth inside the ambulance, while Vageesh and myself followed the ambulance on our bikes. The road bent down further, and it was effortless to follow the ambulance. Once the downhill was over, a lot of mashing followed to keep up with the ambulance. The hospital was in Pernampattu, very close to the second control. We unloaded the bikes, took Prashant to the hospital. Abhinandan and Vageesh helped with the hospital formalities; I headed to the ATM to take slips for us.

I went back to the hospital. All three were sitting outside, with Prashanth’s arm on a sling. There was no orthopedic, and we would find one in Ambur, a village near by. We were half-minded about whether all should go to Ambur in the bus. Not wanting to ditch the ride, me and Vageesh decided to ride our bikes to Ambur, and join Abhinandan who would come with Prashant in the bus. After a few kilometers of pedaling, I checked the cue sheet. It was a shocking realization that we were not supposed to go to Ambur, and take a deviation to Vaniyambadi instead. Abhinandan’s phone was not reachable, and we stood there for a while confused about what to do.

Finally we took a decision that Abhinandan would manage himself, and decided to finish the ride. We were about 2 hours behind the scheduled time, and about 150 kms to go. Vageesh had developed a knee pain, which was not letting him pick up good speed. We rode at a moderate speed till Vaniyambadi, where we stopped for a super delayed lunch at 6:00 PM. We managed to contact Abhinandan in between; there was no orthopedic in Ambur too, and they were planning to board a volvo to Bangalore. Abhinandan was confused whether to resume the ride. We planned to meet at Krishnagiri, if he decided to resume his ride.

The road to Krishnagiri was another National Highway, and it had a slight but constant upward inclination. With Vageesh’s knee pain worsening, we were doing very low speeds. It got darker, and we started thinking about the possible time we could finish the ride. My initial plan before the ride was to finish before it got too late. But now to finish the ride, I would have to ride till 4:00 AM. I was mentally not prepared to ride sleeplessly till so late. The yet to come steeper gradients after Krishnagiri was also scary. And when the thoughts of quitting occurred to me, the rain poured down, hammering the final nail on the coffin. At around 10:00 PM, and 90 odd kms to go, we decided to quit and took a shelter from rain. The rain subsided after a while, and we started to ride till Krishnagiri, from where we could catch a bus.

No, the bad luck did not stop there. A flat rear tire for Vageesh. He had forgotten the spanner to take out the wheel too. We thought we would pump it up and somehow ride it as fast as possible to take the bike till Krishnagiri before the air leaks off. As the pain in the knee was troubling him, we swapped the bikes. After pumping, I spun the pedals of his bike to 30kmph speeds through the drizzle. After a while of lonely riding, I waited for Vageesh on the road side. The tire was still holding the pressure. It must have been a real slow puncture! Vageesh was probably riding the low pressure for a long long distance, which explained why he was slow. The bad knee was not the villain after all. Had we caught it in time, we could have finished the ride! The realization just added to our frustration.

The buses were hesitant to offer a ride to the two frustrated, disappointed bikers. A Tamilnadu State bus decided to show some sympathy. The bikes were loaded; the bikers settled down near their bikes, to ease themselves into a sleepy ride. Home sweet home was a few kilometers away from where the bus dropped me. It was 2:00 AM. I pedaled though the dark, wet road, convincing myself - there is always a next time!

Miles to go before I sleep!

Never did I imagine I would attempt the 600km brevet. Even after finishing the 400km brevet with about an hour to spare! The 600km brevet is a 40 hours of endurance which takes you through the three states of Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh! How could I even think about that? 

Thats when I saw that my rear tire was torn. The cheap quality tire could not stand the 'abuse' of my 200km, 300km, 400km brevet attempts in previous weekends. I was forced to upgrade my tires! I have been having a saga of punctures lately. So, I decided to get new puncture resistant tires for both the wheels. While I am at it, I also opted for thinner 32c tires. Thinner and lighter tires meant that it would roll easily, ie with relatively less effort. And being a puncture resistant tire, the probability of getting a puncture in the first 1000km is near zero.

So, I have a bike the rolls better, and the final brevet of the season - the tristate 600km - coming up in the weekend. It was tempting. Finishing it would mean that I am just short of a 300km brevet to be a Super Randonneur! (I did not finish my 300km brevet attempt, due to complicated reasons!)

There were 12 brave hearts ready to roll at the start line at IISc. Three on hybrids and the rest all roadies. No mtb'er dared to attempt this time. We started the roll towards Santhanur. After the negotiation with the city roads and traffic, it was a steady downhill with gentle headwind. Many of us were together, rolling effortlessly assuming aerodynamic posture occasionally. None wanted a break, and we let the momentum continue till Kanakapura. 

It was about 9:30 AM, and hunger was calling! We stopped at a breakfast point. Gana and others wanted to continue as the first control at Santhanur was just 17 kms away. I believe in riding with fully loaded tummy, and hence asked others to go ahead, and ordered my plates of idly. Nirmal was confused a bit whether to have breakfast or not, but finally decided to join me. It was the 'decision of the ride'. Vijay also joined us and we three feasted on idlies and icecreams! This was probably the first time in my life I had icecream with breakfast! The villagers swarmed around our bikes; some of them wanted to know if it ran on solar energy!

Deepak, Nagraj and Nirmal at Santhanur

As I was riding lazily after the heavy breakfast, the supermen of the ride - Deepak and Nagraj (who had a half an hour late start) - caught up with us. Nirmal was quick in getting on to their wheels. I also pushed hard and caught up to their wheels. The monsters were pushing really hard against the headwinds! We drafted them easily, and before we realized, we reached the Santhanur control point. Such was the pull these amazing riders have given us, that we met with all the bikers who went ahead near Santhanur. 

Deepak and Nagraj stopped for breakfast; Myself and Nirmal turned back to continue the ride towards Harohalli, we were sure that the supermen would catch up with us again later. We could save the draft assistance for a tougher part! Since we were fully loaded, one by one we overtook the roadies who went ahead and probably still riding with empty stomach! 

The tail wind assisted us till Harohalli, but the day was getting hotter. It was around 12:00 PM as we reached Harohalli, with just a tender coconut break in between. The climbs to Jigani were waiting, so we decided to refuel. Full meals and Chithranna at Hotel Vasu was the preparation for the climbs. 

The non-stop stretch till Jigani was challenging, I was spinning the lowest gear in all the climbs. Nirmal was quick at the climbs, he probably believes in ending the suffering quickly. We decided to have ice creams to cool ourselves down, and stopped at a bakery. Filled tummies with icecreams and soft drinks, and bottles with water and gatorade and carried on towards Anekal.

The ride was getting easier, me and Nirmal kept pacing each other. We quickly passed Anekal, and then reached the control at Attibele. It was around 2:30 PM, we were much ahead of the control close time. Some cold ice cream shakes  went inside again, and we set off towards Shoolagiri. We glided gracefully through the sweet downslopes and reached Shoolagiri by 4:30 PM. It was nearly 200kms already and we had covered it in nine and a half hours! Took a refreshment break at a restaurant near the petrol pump and also had a masala dosa. 

Can you spot the rainbow??

The sky got cloudy. Reflective vests were on, and the tail lights started glowing. The sweet downslopes continued till Krishnagiri. And there was tail wind too. There was a small uphill section, were I was effortlessly cruising at 40 kmph, thanks to the tail wind! It started drizzling lightly. The drizzle casted a rainbow across the mountains in the horizon. It felt heavenly riding through the gentle drizzle, towards the mountains, into the rainbow. 

We reached the diversion at Krishnagiri. The back pack was loaded with a few biscuits, the bottles with gatorade, and we resumed the adventure towards Vellore. The slope remained easy; The wind remained favoring; Our pace remained amazing too. It grew darker. We were expecting the roadies to catch up any time since we have been riding through roadies paradise for more than 5 hours. But no signs of them.

We stopped at a restaurant at 7:00PM. The refuelling resumed with egg fried rice. I also had two cups of coffee to keep the sleep away. The ride got monotonous in the dark. We were slightly sleepy too. However the bikes were still rolling nicely. So we kept moving. A quick lassy break at another restaurant where we also packed a few sandwiches for the night. We crossed Vaniyambadi and Ambur. After half an hour sleep got to our heads and we stopped at the road side for a 15 mins power nap.

The sleep was indeed the remedy for the sleepiness. We were back on the saddle afresh. As we approached Vellore, we took the service lane. We should have remained on the main lane for a few more kilometers; instead we ended up at a railway crossing under the fly over. We snooped our bikes through the fencing to join the other side of the road. It was 12:30 AM when we reached the Vellore control. The distance covered was about 350 kms. We were a whopping five and a half hours ahead of the control close time. So, we decided to sleep for some time. We were supposed to turn back and ride till Pallikonda. I had spotted the HP petrol pump which Vasu had mentioned as having rest rooms and CCD about 20 kms before the control. We decided to ride till there, and then take rest. 

As we turned back on the highway, we came to know why we could save so much time. The tail wind had become a strong head wind now! We struggled to cover the 20kms to the petrol pump. It was a relief as we reached there around 2:00 AM. The CCD was open, but we decided to sleep first and then have food. We were about 50 kms away from the Palamner ghat road. We were advised to do the climb only in the day light, since it was an elephant corridor. That meant we had a lot of time! I set the alarm for 4:00 AM, and fell asleep outside the CCD. 

The CCD was closed by the time we woke up. We had no options other than to empty the biscuit packets, chikkis, and the sandwiches we had carried. We resumed the journey with half filled tummies. The head wind was still there! We rode till Pallikonda in pace line taking turns to lead the front. The milestones kept us informed about the distance remaining to the dreaded Palamner. At every mile stone, I kept telling to myself 'next x kms is going to be the toughest I faced ever'. 

Meanwhile the day broke, and that is when I realized we have been riding through the most beautiful road. The birds were chirping their morning songs, helping us take our mind off the dreaded climb. We had covered about 400 kms by then, like a Sehwag's innings. It was my fastest 100, fastest 200, fastest 300, and fastest 400, even with the 2 hours of sleep! We badly wanted to have heavy breakfast, but could not find a place so early in the morning. We bought some biscuits at a shop. The shop keeper informed us that another cyclist had gone ahead. Nirmal took a guess that it would be Sandeep, since he is the most likely guy to ride alone. 

By 6:30 AM, we hit the climbs. I was worried about climbing with empty stomach. After climbing for a few minutes, we stopped at the road side, and sat on a rock with biscuits. The forest looked very beautiful in that early morning weather. After a while we got back on the saddle, and resumed the climb. I just sat easy on the saddle and spun the cranks, never daring to stand up and mash. Soon we reached flatter territory. 

We expected steeper sections to come. We had a chat with the villagers about the road ahead. They told the climbs were over! We just couldn't believe it. Was this all the dreaded Palamner climb about?? Merrily we pedaled our way to Palamner village. We met Sandeep on the way, he was having his breakfast. He informed that the rest of the gang was behind us. He carried on as we stopped for idlies. 

We took the turn to Mulgabal, and there was the headwind again! It was gentle but constant ascent, backed up by the headwind! It felt much difficult than the Palamner climb. We took turns to hide behind the other. Soon we crossed Sandeep again, who rides an easy pace. We took another long break, refuelled with tender coconuts, as Sandeep crossed us again! The traffic was picking up; The trucks, irrespective of the directions in which they were going, forced us to get off the road frequently. 

About 11:30 AM we reached Mulgabal control, still 2 hours 15 minutes ahead of the schedule! We had all the time we wanted! We decided to take a food break here, and then ride non-stop till Srinivasapura, which is around 30 kms far. The restaurant provided items that I have never had before - Egg Paratha and Khuska. We also stopped at a near by cycle shop to oil Nirmal's chain, which has been squeaking from the start. 

We expected the ride to Srinivasapura to be an easier one, since there was no elevation gain in the route! To our disappointment, the headwind was strong. No matter which direction the road turned, the wind remained head wind! At some point I felt very drowsy, and Nirmal slowly shrunk to the size of a dot far away. Something woke me up, and I pedaled hard to catch up with him. I kept talking some nonsense to him to keep the sleep away. "The best thing that can happen to us now is - Deepak and Nagraj catch up with us, and then we draft them till the end." But it never seemed to happen.

The rest of the ride was through very scenic roads, but the nagging headwind made it feel as boring as the following paragraph.

Just 60 more kms to go!!

At Srinivasapura, a tummy load of Ice creams gave us the strength to face the headwinds and reach Chintamani. Some watermelons at Chintamani gave us the strength to face the headwinds and reach Sidlaghatta. Egg puffs and biscuits at Sidlaghatta gave us the strength to face the headwinds and reach Chikkaballapur! 

The bitch shared my biscuits with all the birds around!

Nirmal was struggling with a pain on the muscles near his knee, so I asked him to draft me. We reached the Chikkaballpur control with 2 hours to spare. We knew that the rest of the ride was going to be much easier, since it was through the smooth national highway. While we were having tender coconuts and tea on the roadside, a dog snatched the biscuit packet that I had! We decided to do the rest of the ride with minimal breaks. 

Nirmal was pushing hard despite his knee pain, he wanted to get through the suffering as quickly as possible. The fly overs on this road were ascending till the sky! We still managed a good speed in the high way. It grew darker, the traffic picked up too, making us eager to get done with the ride! I kept asking Nirmal, 'have we reached Hebbal?', and his answer always was 'long way to go'! 

We finally reached Hebbal, called up the organizers to inform about our arrival. Few more minutes of mad pedalling, and we reached IISc! It was 8:30 PM, we had finished the ride with 2.5 hours to spare. As the organizers came running to greet us, we came to know that we were the first to finish! A proud moment indeed for the two hybrid bikers!

Congratulations poured in. It was not time for me to relax yet! Home sweet home was still 20 kms away. The formalities were done, and I bid good bye to everybody. The thought that I had just finished 600 kms had given me a new shot of energy. An aggressive ride back home followed. Stopped at a KFC, packed a regular bucket of fried chicken (all for me) and reached home by 10:40 PM.

What a weekend it has been, with 37.5 hours on the saddle, and just 2 hours of sleep! I had literally gone miles before I could sleep!!

When the trails called..

The previous week's off-road race had turned my off-road enthusiasm on. A colleague of mine, Prathik indicated his interest to tag along with me for a medium distance ride. The stage was set for a ride through my favorite trail routes to Chikka Thirupathi! Girish was excited to join too. 

The last time I went exploring the route, I had spent hours in front of Google maps satellite view, zooming into the unmarked, unpaved roads, to come up with a route that avoids the tarred roads to the extent possible. I had prepared cue sheet, rough drawings of suspicious junctions, noted down names of the villages. This time, I was smart. I mean my phone was 'smart'. I loaded the map in the phone, and left the whole thing to the GPS gods. 

Picked Girish and Prathik along the way, and headed to Varthur via the beautiful road from Kadubeesanahalli, through which I had done my first cycle ride! We were already into the traffic free green zone. Soon we hit the trails. The initial part of the trails were very familiar to me as I had done the same route twice earlier. With the courage backed by the GPS I started venturing into unknown trails. There were junctions where we left the choice of left or right to the mental flip of a coin. Thats how we reached the ‘grand canyons‘. We rode down till the base and posed for some photographs. I managed to motivate the mtbers to pull of some stunts off a small bump, and meanwhile got motivated myself. While I was busy negotiating the bump, I saw that the bike was dragging me down heavily. It was the flat rear tire! The trail gods don't ever seem to forgive me for opting for a hybrid bike! Is it time to buy a mountain bike to please them? Fifteen minutes target was set to replace the tube, and the mission was accomplished perfectly within time! 

We carried on and caught up with the tarred roads. A number of banyan trees were cut down on the side of the road, a very sad sight to see. Many gated communities were popping up in the neighborhood; the beauty of these village roads would not last long! Again a trail on the left side, and just went for it without much cross checking in GPS. Though being a single track narrow trail, there were many people along the way, and few of them got shocked hearing the cycle bell! Probably they never expected a cycle in that wilderness. Just when we touched back the road again, there was another trail waiting for us. There were always a few dogs to make a fuss, whenever we by mistake stepped into some private enclosures. They made it a point to chase us out of their territory.

It was a pleasant surprise to see a volleyball court (with net) deep inside a trail route! It was like finding an ocean in between the journey to the center of the earth. Next visit will to these trails will be with a volley ball in the bag! There was a vast open space next to that, which probably can be used as a full scale football court. We all were hungry by that time, so decided to take rest and empty our stock! A few bananas and cream buns were all we had. I was so hungry that I did not want to throw away the piece of a banana which fell into the dirt. The journey continued through the fields, and soon we entered the 'elevated trail way'. It was a relatively wider untarred road elevated to a decent height, with some vegetable fields on either side. It was a thrilling experience riding through that. Imagine cruising at 120+ speeds on a motor bike on the elevated toll way to Electronic city and subtract all the pollution, noise, petrol/money wastage, risk of fatal accident from that. No, I don't think it can still be matched.

We reached Mugalur village, and Chikka Tirupathi was 5 kms ahead. It was all highway to Chikka Tirupathi, and there was no fun in the highway ride. Afterall route is more important than destination for we bikers! So we decided to turn back. We had yummy idly and chutney at the road side there and started the journey back through a different route. Instead of going through Sarjapur, we started exploring unknown trails again. However luck was not on our side, many trails met dead end and we had to fall back to tarred roads. However there was a long straight stretch of muddy road, which kept the thrills alive. 

It got a bit tiring, and with the plan of getting back home before lunch time, we dropped the idea of trail exploration. There on the ride got a bit bland, through tarred / semi tarred roads in the hot sun. There was a villager riding the green atlas cycle with his wife sitting behind him, who asked us whether we would be willing to swap bikes with him. I escaped from the scene shouting back at him that there was no carrier in my bike. A strong head wind picked up, and troubled us till we reached Gunjur. Parted with Prathik, and myself and Girish set off to Decathlon. 

View ChikkaThirupathi - Trail Ride in a larger map

The Manchanabele Adventure

Having heard about the beautiful roads around Savandurga from me repeatedly, JP grew desperate to take his bike there. He managed to free up the Saturday from his otherwise busy schedule. I was a bit hesitant to join, since I had to travel Saturday night. But I was sure I would miss the ride, so decided to join him.

JP was waiting for me at SilkBoard junction when I reached there by sharp 5:30 AM. Not even sun could be that punctual. Punctuality is one of the virtues that cycling has helped us pick up. Six months ago JP‘s idea about punctuality was ‘Better late than never‘. Now there he stood waiting for me, waiting to bark upon me, had I reached seconds later than the agreed time. Being a relatively slow commute medium, it is essential for a cyclist to be punctual. Also the commute time requirements are predictable with a cycle, since traffic and road conditions does not affect a cyclist much.

The tour started and a few minutes later was officialy flagged off by a crow pooping direcly on me. The crow was flying across the road and I was riding along the road at decent speed. What are the odds? But again my cycling experience had taught me.. “Shit happens. Just learn to deal with it.“ Only that this time it happened quite literally. I took a break, cleaned the shit off me and continued the ride.

Once we joined the Mysore road we started the search for a hotel to break our fast. We had tasty lemon rice and idly at a small not so fancy looking hotel, once again proving that there is no correlation between the looks of a hotel and the taste of the food that it provides.

The road was quiet and lovely after the deviation to the Big Banyan tree. The cloudy sky was a perfect backdrop for our ride. We both were enjoying the ride very much, and so decided not to take a break at the Big Banyan tree. We did a small off roading on the way to spice things up.

All of a sudden the beautiful Manchanabele lake appeared among the hilly landscapes. The only people we saw around were two photographers with big SLR cameras trying to capture the nature‘s beauty into their limited two dimensional pixel space. There were a couple of spots where we could get close to the lake. After spending a while we decided to head to Savandurga.

The mountain looked very near to the lake, and there should be a shorter way than the round about road! JP wanted to try out a trail route, so we went chasing one. A villager pointed us to a route which starts from a nearby village, but we just followed our hunch. There was a single track trail which led to the top of a hill. A few cows gave us company as we pushed our bikes up the hill. It was a nice ride on the top through the bushes and thorns. The journey came to a stop at a rocky cliff. The lake was beneath and there was no way ahead. The Savandurga smiled at us from the other side. JP again wanted to explore his luck, so we left our bikes there and walked parallel to the lake more into the wilderness in hope of finding a way across! I saw something that looked like a snake and that put the full stop to our exploratory enthusiasm. We headed back to Manchanabele.

Near the lake we met two village boys pushing their cycle. They stopped us and told that they had a flat tire. We inflated the tire and gave the boys a quick fix puncture sticker and moved on. We took a break as soon as we reached the road. While we were munching on the chikkis and chocolates three riders from IISC stopped by. After a small chat they went ahead towards the lake.

It was 11:00 in the morning, and we decided to move towards Savandurga via the road. Immediately after I got back on the saddle I heard a sound and looked back. JP was trying to get up from a fall. “Are you fine?“ I asked as I parked my bike and rushed towards him. “Yes, but my bike is not.“ The tire had flipped inside out for a quarter portion of the wheel, leaving the tube exposed. The tube was flat too. The tire was at a lower pressure and JP was trying to push through the ridge of the road. The low pressure probably caused a pinch flat and then the tire snapped. JP, who was very proud of the punctureless history of his Merida, had not carried any puncture kit as usual. Guess who went for the rescue??

The pinch flat was not so difficult to find out just by feeling the air leak. Half an hour it took to fix both the holes created by the pinch. We decided to stick with our plan to ride to Savandurga, despite me having to reach home back around 4pm. As we started to install the tire back, we noticed it had lost the pressure again. Another hole, this time we needed some water to the find the hole. Walked to a nearby house, and took help from the lady, who was initially hesitant, not knowing what we needed. She was very happy to help us after she understood that all we needed was a vessel with water and a place to sit. Another half an hour, the hole was found and fixed. 

We dropped the Savandurga plan, and started our journey back. We rode leisurely in the hot sun. After some time, we found a shop where we stopped to buy water, bananas etc. JP had lost pressure, yet again!! Another small hole, which we could not catch! This time we found a puncture shop near by, and sought 'professional' help. As we helped/observed the guy fixing the puncture, we also got some tips on puncture fixing. A great lesson for JP, to be prepared before each ride, and to expect the worst!! We did not waste any further time, had some lunch on the way back, and reached home. A hectic weekend was waiting for me!! 

200kms through the hilly west

The weather got hot early on this year. The afternoon sun had been almost unbearable since February. I had stopped venturing for long rides since my Nandi visit on March first week. But the desire to pedal for a long distance kept building up. Then came the summer showers. Georg's mail on 'new ride through the hilly west' followed. Georg had planned an amazing route which passes through TG-Halli-Magadi-Ramanagara-Kanva Dam-Mathikere-Magadi-Manchanbele for the Saturday. My new bike had not seen places other than Bangalore and Nandi hills. There was absolutely no reason to abstain!


So, I set out for the ride early morning 4:20. The start point was quite far where the Magadi road intersects the NICE road, a significant 27kms from my home. Girish joined me from Silkboard to join the fight against the ups and downs of the Ring Road. Post Banshankari it was nice downhill, and we reached the Mysore road intersection by 5:10. Haa, the ride starts at 6:15, and we have only around 11kms left. Could have slept a little more, we thought. But then started the non stop up-hill all the way till the Ring Road-Magadi Road intersection, and to add topping a steep climb at the Magadi road. It was 6:10 when we met Sohan who was waiting alone at the NICE road junction. More riders joined us soon. A Maruthi800 went past us with two bikes on top of it. It parked a little ahead of us. Georg came cruising right behind the car on a bike that looked very different. It had smaller tires, that gave the impression of a kid's bike. We assembled around him, as he ran around checking air pressures, helping people fill air in their tires, noting down phone numbers. Meanwhile a few more riders joined us, and we were a group of 18 riders.

Georg and Aditya enjoying the downhill

Thus started the cruise towards the TG Halli reservoir. The terrain was flat to begin with, and I paced myself behind Sohan, who was riding at a nice and easy pace in his MTB. Ashuthosh and Karthik were ahead of us, and they quickly disappeared from our radar. Village kids were waving at us all the way through. With many of us wearing the same fluorescent yellow btwin jersey, they must have thought it was a race. As the downhill started, I broke away from Sohan's pace line, to feel the thrill of the downhill. I kept waiting for others in between so that I don't miss the meeting point which was decided upon earlier. We reached TG Halli soon and waited for others to catch up. It was time for breakfast; I had a plate full of lemon rice with yummy chutney. The village tea shopwalas always judge my appetite quite well, they fill up the plates so full that any single grain of rice added further to the plate will simply roll down.


Ashuthosh and Karthik started ahead of us already, and I followed soon with Dephan. It was an uphill to begin with followed by a rather long downhill. The weather was equally enjoyable with the sun not showing up till late into the day. I was determined to do the longer option of Georg's plan, which would let me finish my first 200km ride! Soon I reached Magadi. Ashuthosh and Karthik were waiting along side Georg's support car. Chiddu was there with his kids, who were all excited to join us for the ride! With the slopes working in favor the rest of the gang also reached the meeting point soon.

Sohan escorting Vedant, as Chiddu followed them in the car

We were to take the Ramanagara highway which passes by Savandurga. The Savandurga standing out on the left side, the lush green terrain on either sides, the easy down slopes, and the clouds which kept the sun under cover, made this stretch very memorable. Everybody including the kids were out enjoying the ride; the support car was empty for the first (and only) time! We all had a break near the turn to the Savandurga temple, and recharged ourselves with tender coconuts, bananas and chikkis. The shortest option of Gerog's plan was to turn back to Bangalore via the Manchanbele lake, and this deviation came within a kilometer. But nobody wanted to quit so early. We all continued the ride towards Ramangara. This time I made sure to stick with the leaders of the pack, and paced myself behind Manush and Ashuthosh. The slopes were favoring, I could maintain 40+ speeds for an extended period of time without pedaling in the aerodynamic shade of Manush. As the slopes started alternating, Ashuthosh took lead and went ahead. Manush trailed behind. For quite a few distance I found myself riding alone, but soon found Ashuthosh waiting beneath a tree surrounded by a bunch of curious kids. We were near to Ramanagara. Manush joined us soon. Karthik, Georg and others followed. A group of 10 riders had taken a shortcut towards Kanva dam, and would wait for us there. The rest of us headed towards the Kamath restaurant on the Mysore road. I had my favourite Masala Dosa (two of them), while Georg was updating us with the fantastic results of the team KYNKYNY from the Tour of Friendship.

Near the Kanva Dam

The next destination was Kanva dam, which was just a few kilometers away. Georg led us to his favorite swimming spot near the dam. He did not waste anytime getting into the water and swimming towards the depth. The rest of us were hesitant. A few stayed back, but some others made up their mind to take the dip. Being a beginner in swimming, I kept asking Georg about the depth of water where he was standing/floating. I stayed in the region where it was less than 6 feet deep. Next time I visit the place, I should be ready to swim without worrying about depth!

Georg and his maps

The clouds were gone now! The peak sun time had keen killed off in water, now it was time to move on. The other group had reunited with us, but stayed back again for having their lunch. There were some confusions about the route, during which Ashuthosh's black berry and Georg's printed map were competing to guide us. After a few kilometers of confusion, Georg spread his map out on the ground, and studied the route. Clear instructions came out a couple of minutes later – take the deviation that leads straight to Mattikere 18 kilometers away, the next meeting point. The terrain is more of less up-hill with a total 150 meters altitude gain. This was going to be the most difficult section of the tour. It was time to reiterate Newton's third law of biking. Every downhill has an equal and opposite uphill. (or vice versa.) All the downhills we enjoyed till now came back together on us as uphills in the hot sun. I kept focusing only on the 5 meters of road in front of me. The landscape stopped fascinating me, all I bothered about was the kilometers left till the next meeting point. I was in between climbing a rather steep hill, when a villager tried to stop me. He wanted to know where I came from, and where I am heading to. But sir, I can answer that without stopping! I had to dodge him football style, to keep my momentum going. I managed to reach Mattikere without any breaks. Karthik, Ashuthosh, Sohan and others followed. I heard from them that the climb had been a killer, forcing 5 people to take the support car. Had there been more seats available, the toll would have increased! Georg was motivating people to ride till Magadi, from where we could hire some vehicle back to Bangalore.

Ok, who all wants to ride back to Bangalore?

It was again uphill till Magadi. Intensity of the sun had reduced, and the road was more smooth. By 6:00PM, the whole gang reached Magadi. Georg's original plan was to go to Manchanabele take a dip in the lake to cool down and then head back to Bangalore. But we already ran out of time! Ashuthosh, Karthik, Sohan, Gireesh and me were ready to pedal our way back to Bangalore. Others waited back to hire a vehicle. We waved bye to others and started the ride back. Again, the up hills! There was a small stretch of steep downhill, where I could touch 60kmph! My record speed! It did lift my spirits and kept me going. The day gave way to the night; the blinkers and the head lights were on. Georg, who must have started much after us from Magadi, caught up with us. He overtook us while exchanging a few words of motivation. The start point was still kilometers away. We came across the support cars, filled up our water stock and continued. Time was past 7:00, and it was tiring. I started feeling hungry. I wanted to stop and eat something badly, but where were the others?? After some more minutes of suffering, it was a great relief to see Ashuthosh and Sohan waiting at the road side. I parked my bike, and rushed to the nearby bakery. I ordered items I had never tasted in my life. All were tasty - I was hungry, indeed! Karthik had joined us meanwhile. Sohan, Karthik and Ashuthosh bid good bye to me, as I waited for Gireesh. He was taking a break little before us.


We were happy since we knew that the Ring road was downhill till Mysore road intersection. This time we took the service road, to avoid encounters with the fast night traffic. Unfortunately the service road was going up and down wherever the main road bypassed the intersections, thereby neutralizing the advantages of the overall altitude loss. After a while, we reached the Banashankari roads, which again was a never ending up hill. The only consolation was the hope that we would reach home in a few kilometres. Waved good bye to Gireesh and Silk Board, headed to an Andhra style restaurant to have unlimited meals. But I couldn’t exploit the ‘unlimitedness’ as expected! Disappointed, I returned back home by 10:30PM. Had a nice shower, and went to bed. The saddle was hard indeed!!


The cyclocomputer said -

199.3km – my longest ride (Ok, I cheated, it was not 200 afterall, but who cares??)

top speed of 60.4kmph - my personal best

average speed of 17kmph.

11hrs 30 minutes on the saddle.