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!!