The plan was yet again Nandi Hills! My new bike, new sporty red
btwin jersey, new head light, new rear blinkers all were waiting for
their first long ride!
Met JP by 5:20AM at Agara. We started with a record minimum delay of just 5 minutes. We pedalled at a rhythmic 21 kmph through the Ring Road and reached Hebbal before the sun. We had turned towards the airport road when we passed by another biker who also was heading towards Nandi hills. We were pedalling at a good pace and did not want to lose the rhythm͵ so waved at him and carried on. A gang of 15 bullets thundered past us. Probably to the same destination. We considered racing with them but then got concerned about the police with speed guns. ;-)
The day was supposed to get brighter, instead it got darker with the fog getting denser. At one fly over we chose to take the service road͵ and ended up no where. JP stuck to his ‘no step back‘ policy and ventured through the narrow trail which ran parallel with the rail. I followed him quietly͵ letting him savour the thrills of his mountain bike. After a couple of ‘sneaking through fence‘ s we were back on the highway again. We stopped for a quick photo session to flaunt our new jerseys and resumed the adventure.
A few motor bikers were taking a break on the road side. They might be very tired simply sitting on their bikes! We were just enjoying the refreshing ride having taken only 10 minutes of break altogether. We took the deviation from the NH towards the Nandi Hills. It was time for breakfast. Loaded our ‘fuel tanks‘ with a plate of lemon rice and a dosa. The biker whom we waved at earlier had caught up by this time. At the junction before Nandi base we met another biker - Hari Shankar - who was on his second ride to the Nandi Hills. He wanted to better his climb time of 46 minutes. He was quite surprised when I told him that we have ridden a total of 2000 kilometers on our bike in less than 4 months. He waited back for his friends to catch up as we carried on.
We started the climb without any further breaks or delays. I quickly ran out of gears to shift down. JP - who always doesn't give up so easily - was not willing to shift down to the lowest gear, and hence followed me slowly. I badly wanted to drink some water, but I did not want to stop either. After some circus on the moving bike, I managed open the bislery bottle to pour some cool water into my mouth. The not so encouraging board on the road side read - 'Nandi Hills - 6 km.' The new red jersey would have been very eye-catchy, not a single motor biker passed by without waving at me. The mile stones seemed light years apart, so I started looking at the curve numbers for motivation. Curve 20, 21, 22.. I wondered how many curves were left! Just when I thought I was not going to take any break, my legs just refused to move! It was at curve 31. A minute and a sip of water later, they were functional again. No, another quick break at curve 33. This curve was really steep! Got back on the saddle quickly, with a great relief that JP hadn't caught up with me yet! It was probably at this point the breakfast in my tummy got converted into glucose, and got absorbed into my blood. I started spinning the pedals madly, and the curve numbers shot up quickly. Around the board 'Nandi Hills - 1km', I noticed JP pedalling two hair-pin curves below. I waved at him and raced my way past the curve 40 to reach the Arch, the destination! The time was 10:00 AM and it took me 45 minutes for the climb including the breaks. JP followed four minutes later. He had pedalled without any break in the 2-1 gear combination with the fat tires! Hats off! Though not so good for his knees!
We decided to return back quickly without wasting time at the hills. A monkey started a fight with me for the chikki in my hand. How could I give up the key to our success to a silly monkey? I stashed the chikki into my bag, and smuggled it to a safer place so that I could savour it peacefully! A few minutes later we were recharged, and started off our journey back. The smooth downhill ride was the best 15 minutes of my 'pedalling' life! After we reached base, I felt it was worth climbing the hill once more to do the downhill again! I wanted to try out the famous Siva's road on the way back, but stuck to the routine NH7 instead due to time constraints. There is always a next time. In this case, I guess there would be many many next times.
The sun could not dry up our enthusiasm, we kept pedalling with minimal breaks. One of the motor-biker who waved at us during the climb, caught up with us. He was awed by our energy and enthusiasm, and was showering praises! Soon we reached Yelehanka, and stopped for the lunch break. We had a real heavy lunch. After 30 kilometers, and some route confusions, we were in Koramangala. JP headed to his home. I took an icecream break at the Natural, and had my favourite 'tender coconut' flavour. By 3:30PM, I was back in my bed for a deep sleep. It is always the best part!
Met JP by 5:20AM at Agara. We started with a record minimum delay of just 5 minutes. We pedalled at a rhythmic 21 kmph through the Ring Road and reached Hebbal before the sun. We had turned towards the airport road when we passed by another biker who also was heading towards Nandi hills. We were pedalling at a good pace and did not want to lose the rhythm͵ so waved at him and carried on. A gang of 15 bullets thundered past us. Probably to the same destination. We considered racing with them but then got concerned about the police with speed guns. ;-)
The day was supposed to get brighter, instead it got darker with the fog getting denser. At one fly over we chose to take the service road͵ and ended up no where. JP stuck to his ‘no step back‘ policy and ventured through the narrow trail which ran parallel with the rail. I followed him quietly͵ letting him savour the thrills of his mountain bike. After a couple of ‘sneaking through fence‘ s we were back on the highway again. We stopped for a quick photo session to flaunt our new jerseys and resumed the adventure.
A few motor bikers were taking a break on the road side. They might be very tired simply sitting on their bikes! We were just enjoying the refreshing ride having taken only 10 minutes of break altogether. We took the deviation from the NH towards the Nandi Hills. It was time for breakfast. Loaded our ‘fuel tanks‘ with a plate of lemon rice and a dosa. The biker whom we waved at earlier had caught up by this time. At the junction before Nandi base we met another biker - Hari Shankar - who was on his second ride to the Nandi Hills. He wanted to better his climb time of 46 minutes. He was quite surprised when I told him that we have ridden a total of 2000 kilometers on our bike in less than 4 months. He waited back for his friends to catch up as we carried on.
We started the climb without any further breaks or delays. I quickly ran out of gears to shift down. JP - who always doesn't give up so easily - was not willing to shift down to the lowest gear, and hence followed me slowly. I badly wanted to drink some water, but I did not want to stop either. After some circus on the moving bike, I managed open the bislery bottle to pour some cool water into my mouth. The not so encouraging board on the road side read - 'Nandi Hills - 6 km.' The new red jersey would have been very eye-catchy, not a single motor biker passed by without waving at me. The mile stones seemed light years apart, so I started looking at the curve numbers for motivation. Curve 20, 21, 22.. I wondered how many curves were left! Just when I thought I was not going to take any break, my legs just refused to move! It was at curve 31. A minute and a sip of water later, they were functional again. No, another quick break at curve 33. This curve was really steep! Got back on the saddle quickly, with a great relief that JP hadn't caught up with me yet! It was probably at this point the breakfast in my tummy got converted into glucose, and got absorbed into my blood. I started spinning the pedals madly, and the curve numbers shot up quickly. Around the board 'Nandi Hills - 1km', I noticed JP pedalling two hair-pin curves below. I waved at him and raced my way past the curve 40 to reach the Arch, the destination! The time was 10:00 AM and it took me 45 minutes for the climb including the breaks. JP followed four minutes later. He had pedalled without any break in the 2-1 gear combination with the fat tires! Hats off! Though not so good for his knees!
We decided to return back quickly without wasting time at the hills. A monkey started a fight with me for the chikki in my hand. How could I give up the key to our success to a silly monkey? I stashed the chikki into my bag, and smuggled it to a safer place so that I could savour it peacefully! A few minutes later we were recharged, and started off our journey back. The smooth downhill ride was the best 15 minutes of my 'pedalling' life! After we reached base, I felt it was worth climbing the hill once more to do the downhill again! I wanted to try out the famous Siva's road on the way back, but stuck to the routine NH7 instead due to time constraints. There is always a next time. In this case, I guess there would be many many next times.
The sun could not dry up our enthusiasm, we kept pedalling with minimal breaks. One of the motor-biker who waved at us during the climb, caught up with us. He was awed by our energy and enthusiasm, and was showering praises! Soon we reached Yelehanka, and stopped for the lunch break. We had a real heavy lunch. After 30 kilometers, and some route confusions, we were in Koramangala. JP headed to his home. I took an icecream break at the Natural, and had my favourite 'tender coconut' flavour. By 3:30PM, I was back in my bed for a deep sleep. It is always the best part!
