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.

The priceless ten rupee!

This time we had planned for Savandurga. But everybody stepped back citing different reasons. The last man standing decided to head to Nandi hills instead.

Time was 5:30 AM, when I took the bike out after a fight with the early morning slumberness. It was a dark morning and none of the lights on the Ring Road were on. However, it was my daily commute route, so I did not face any difficulty. The sun came for my help as I entered into the unfamiliar territory. I had initially planned to take the Siva's road. But, I got confused at KR Puram about the deviation to take. So I headed straight to Hebbal to take the default route. Return journey could be via Siva‘s road.

Unusually this morning I was feeling a bit tired. I may have been thinking about turning back when an mtb'er (pronounced emptybeer - guy on a mountain bike) rolled onto the road out of nowhere. The sight of another biker lifted my spirits. I thought I will chase him for a while. Then suddenly to make things even more interesting a roadie (guy on a road bike) overtook me from behind. All the tiredness took the back seat as as I tried to keep the pace with him. We played catch up for a while, but after some time he never caught up. He must have taken some other route. By this time I was on the NH7 road to the airport. I had a couple of pit stops to have tea and to buy some chikki for recharging myself. My energy levels started rising with the sun and I could maintain a decent average speed of 21 kmph.

I had reached the deviation to the airport when I noticed that my front tire was flat! There was no bit of shade on the road side. So I sat there on the sunny road side and took out the puncture kit. Two bikers passed by and both of them offered to help. Bikers are good Samaritans too! I thanked them and waved them off. No help for fixing punctures! Two kids and their father approached me being curious about what I was doing. I entertained them with my cycling stories, while replacing the punctured tube with a spare one.


I had to make up for the time lost replacing the tube. So, I took minimal breaks till I reached Nandi base. By around 10:00 AM, I reached the base. My aim this time was to do the climb non stop! I filled in a little more air to the rear tire for better performance. Reset the cyclo-computer to measure the time and started the climb. It was tough! And it got tougher! I did not push hard, since I preferred a non-stop climb to a faster one. The curves 30 to 35 tested my will power, as they did the last time. But I was in no mood to give up this time! I summoned all the reserve energy to pedal past the curve 40 and zoomed past the arch. It took 48 minutes, slightly more than last time, but NON STOP! I will aim for a 43 minutes finish next time!

The downhill ride was very tempting. So I decided against spending time at the hill top. Quickly had some water and a few chocolates and started the free ride. All of a sudden the rear brake pads started making loud noise. I stopped the cycle and had a look. What the $#@!! The tire was torn at the side, and the tube popped out like a bubble. I kept the cool, since I knew this problem had a work around. From the numerous blogs and articles I read about biking, I knew that I can place a piece of rubber sheet between the tube and the tire covering the hole. But where to find a piece of rubber?? I looked around, all I could find was a cigarrete case, and a paper plate. I was about to settle with the cigarette case when a biker on his way to the top asked whether I needed any help. "Yes, Please! Tell me what to put between the tire and tube!" "Piece of old tube.." "No I don't have any!" "How about a ten rupee note?" YES!, I had read somewhere that currency notes are strong enough to sustain the high pressures, and they are flexible enough to fit nicely between the tire and the tube. I thanked the fellow and apologised for interrupting his climb; took out a ten rupee note and started the work. But this meant that I had to ride back with a lower pressure, which meant it was going to be tiresome!


The free ride was a thrilling experience once again! I had a late breakfast at the Nandi Base. The ten rupee was still holding its place! I had to skip the Siva's road again. If the ten rupee failed, I would have to catch a bus, and the regular airport road was best if I wanted a bus. I turned on the music, the rhythm helped me forget the tiredness and maintain the pace. The heat peaked, forcing frequent breaks. By the time I reached Yelahanka, I was very tried and stopped for lunch. I had enough reasons to have a triple sundae after the heavy chicken biriyani! Quite recovered after the lunch, I cruised my way to the city. Took the bike directly to the bike shop at Ulsoor, to replace the torn tire. Glad, the shop keeper did it for free, since the tear was mostly due to a manufacturing defect. The ten rupee held its place for nearly 70kms, in the hot sun, through the rough roads, salvaging the ride for me! It is still with me as a memorabilia!

Stats:
Total distance covered - 140kms
Nandi climb time - 48 mins.
Total riding time - no clue, as I reset the cyclo comp in between!

Nandi Hills Conquered!

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!

The story of my new bike!

After a week‘s break it was time to get back on the saddle for another long trip. This time our target was the Nandi Hills. We were very excited; a cycling trip to Nandi Hills was in the top of our wish list for a long time. We planned to start very early. Our enthusiasm and laziness negotiated to settle down eventually for a 5.15 am start from Agara.

I was greeted by a dark and foggy morning as I took my bike out. I reached Agara and met with two of the fellow riders. There were some delay with the other two, so we decided to ride till Sony World junction to meet them up. There were no street lights for our help, and the feeble light from my bike‘s head lamp dissolved into the darkness before it could reach the ground.

I felt a sudden jerk. The bike must have hit a gutter. The next moment I was flying over the handle bar. I was grounded with my gloved wrists taking almost all the impact. I tried to keep my head up, but my chin had to meet the tarmac. As my friends helped me up, I was uttering "This is my third fall!" I could deduce the depth of the cut in my chin from the expressions on my friends' faces. We went to a hospital nearby and got the wound stitched. I rode back home and my friends resumed their Nandi ride. The only thought I had during my ride back was about my three falls.

Seven weeks before...
I was on my way back to home after a dull Friday at work. I was riding on the relatively traffic free Haralur road. An excavator in front was forcing me to follow it slowly. I turned around to see if there was any scope of overtaking it. By the time I looked back, the excavator was dangerously close. Damn! It was braking too. There were no brake lights on the ugly behemoth which could have given me any clue earlier. I pulled both my brake levers hard. My rear wheel lifted off the ground͵ and before I could understand what was happening I was on the ground. I got a hairline crack near my right elbow and it put me out of action for three weeks.

My second fall was just a week after I started cycling again. I was in a hurry as I had started a little late for my daily office ride. My speed was near twenties as I came across a unpaved patch of the road. The cycle skid and I was flying over the handlebar again. This time the injuries were just superficial.

Why only me? That too three times. I remember from my lab sessions during school days͵ we had to get three sample readings to take any result as conclusive. Now that I had fallen three times, it is sufficient enough to tell me that something is wrong. I started drawing free body diagrams in my mind to analyse the mechanics of myself on my bike. My bike was medium sized frame which fits good for people upto 5'10" height. My height is just slightly less than 6'. And my limbs are disproportionately larger for a 6' guy owing to the good old routine volley ball sessions. So I had set the seat of my cycle at the highest position possible - which is a good 2 inches more than the maximum allowed limit. To ease the bend on my back, I had moved the saddle a bit forward too. But I could not raise the handlebar, and it remained in its low position. The saddle being 2 inches higher and closer to the handlebar, when I ride the bike my arms were making just a few degrees from the vertical on the handlebar. The basics of mechanics suggests that a vertical pinned support cannot counter horizontal forces. A significant forward jerk can destabilize me and throw me off the saddle.

Now I have a theory which explains all my falls, though I learned it the hard way. The solution is expensive though. I have to get a new cycle which fits my height better! And so did I!

A ride to the city of Palaces (and back)!

Note from Author:

Read 'bike' as 'cycle' if you can’t get adjusted with the term.


Prologue:

"Dude, lets go Nandi Hills..", I told. After all Nandi hills was their most dreamed destination ever since we started biking.

"But Mysore is awesome dude.." JP always wanted to skip the in-between steps.

"Mysore it is, then!". Thats how the 'cycling freaks' decided to go to Mysore over the weekend..

Another 'freak' had posted in internet about the same trip, and was waiting for company.That made us a three pack (JP, Karun and myself) for the Bangalore-Mysore-Bangalore ride over the weekend.

Day 1:

We met up at Silk board junction by 5:50 AM on Saturday and did not waste any further time. Headed towards the Kanakapura road, since the regular Mysore road would be crowded and hence not ideal for cyclists. The pedalling picked up, and by the time sunlight showed up we were outside the city limits. Looked back and found JP missing. He had stopped for buying water bottles. Pressure was low on his newly installed hybrid tires; we filled it up with my hand pump. We decided to have breakfast at Kanakapura and resumed the journey. The early morning weather, the favourable slopes and the beauty of the nature were encouraging; there was no looking back. I had covered 55km at average speed of 22.4kmph when the board 'Kanakapura' showed up. There was no Karun or JP behind. Karun soon caught up, but JP was still missing. Found a message from him that he was taking a small break. The low pressure in the tires and the suspension had been taking a toll on him. After he caught up, we rode to a nearby restaurant. The breakfast was yummy.. Of course we were hungry.

I swapped my hybrid bike with JP’s. “Dude, your bike sucks... energy!” I told JP. But I was charged up after a nice breakfast and a refreshing 55 kms ride, so decided to continue riding his bike till Malavalli. The landscapes tempted us to get out of the saddle and capture snaps, but we decided to keep the rhythm. But we kept taking snapshots of the milestones. By the time the sun managed to get under our skin, we had reached Malavalli, maintaining an average speed of 21 kmph. Being aware of the climbs waiting for us, and unaware of the side effects of a heavy meal, I finished the meal at the same pace we were riding.

We swapped the bikes back and started for the last 50 kms. The food in my tummy was having a hard time getting digested. The up slopes and the scorching sun added to the misery, forcing us to take frequent breaks. The scenery on the roadsides was lovely, but all we kept focussing on was the count down of the kilometres to Mysore. One motor biker caught up with Karun, and started pestering him with curious questions. He wanted to know why any sane guy would cycle to Mysore. 'Just for fun', 'For the sense of achievement' etc were not convincing answers. Shouldn't we be working instead of wasting time pedalling miles? The guy went away not being satisfied by the answers Karun threw at him. The road took us across the beautiful Cauvery river. The clam beauty boosted our morale. We just took one more break before reaching Mysore by 5:15 PM. We badly wanted a ‘Mysore 0km’ milestone to show off our achievement through a photograph. We could not find one, instead we headed towards the Mysore palace, and posed for some snaps. Karun said good bye and set off to his cousin’s place 8kms away, and we checked into a near by hotel.

The night we went to the Mysore Palace again. The history of the Palace was being narrated with background music. The Palace was lit up with dynamic colours changing with the music, creating a visual treat. Once the show was over, the decorative lights on the Palace were turned on. Marvellous! It was a well deserved prize for both of us for completing our longest ride. We went to a neighbouring restaurant. We stopped eating as soon as I realised that JP's attempt to empty the kitchen was inviting scornful looks. Went back to the hotel and fell into a deep sleep. It was a great day!

Day1 statistics:

146kms, 20.4kmph avg speed, 7 hours 15 minutes on the saddle.


Day 2:
It took me some time to muster enough will power to get out the bed and get ready for the second half! Karun joined us, and we went to a hotel near by for an unlimited buffet breakfast! A big batch of school kids had come for a Mysore tour, and were having breakfast in the same hotel. While being entertained by their childlike enthusiasm, we loaded our tummies to the maximum capacity.

We had a delayed start by 8:15 AM. The sun had come out. Our energy levels were down, thanks to the exhaustive ride previous day. Despite that we had non stop 25km stretch. Amazed with our performance, we planned the next break after 25 more kms in Malavalli. Things were going fine, but then I started finding it difficult to catch up with JP and Karun. After a couple of kilometres, I noticed my rear tire had lost the pressure. Texted JP and Karun to wait for me. Munching on the dry fruits, I examined the tire. Luckily, I could find the naughty glass piece. It was easy to replace the tube, only that it was time consuming. I got company of a few kids who were curious about my ride. After half an hour my bike was ready to roll again. JP and Karun were around 10 kms ahead and had reached Malavalli by then. It took half an hour more to catch up with them. We refilled our stocks of chocolates, chikkis, water, glucose and headed to a hotel for lunch. This time I was careful not to eat too much, but JP enjoyed the full meals.

More than 100 kilometers were still remaining. As we started feeling the resistance of the head wind, I started experimenting on the 'pelotonic' effect. I closely followed JP, to take advantage of his aerodynamic shield. Surprisingly, I could sense a significant difference in the ease of riding as a result of reduced aerodynamic drag. JP also was convinced, and we started riding professionally as a peloton. Even if you consider the aerodynamic advantage was negligible, the psychological advantage it gave us definitely was significant. JP was bit concerned about possible accidents when you blindly follow another, so he preferred riding in front mostly. But then he went and touched a car which was simply parked on the road side, while he was riding in the front! For a moment he must have dozed off! The car guy had bigger problems to deal with, so he forgave JP for his silliness. This was the most disciplined session of riding, where we covered almost 28 kms non-stop that too in the peak sun!

We recharged ourselves with chikkis and chocolates, as Karun entertained us with the story of him getting robbed on the roadside two days back. We got back on the saddles and started the ride again. JP was following me and he started finding it difficult to catch up. It should probably be the heavy lunch! Karun had been riding strong, well ahead of us. We had been apprehensive of including him in our plans considering that he was riding on a mountain bike (which has more rolling resistance and therefore not efficient for long rides). We thought he might slow us down. But it was us who always slowed him down! We messaged him that we are taking a break and took rest under a tree. After the break, we caught up with him; He was waiting for us alone near the base of a scenic mountain. All headed to Kanakapura, went to the same hotel where we had breakfast the previous day. We all had rava idly, the only item they had in stock. It was just the opposite of Lays.. No one could eat even one!

The sun had calmed down, and I started enjoying the ride again. The alternating slopes of the road added to the fun, a truck transporting villagers had nice time catching up with my speeds. The traffic also was picking up on the Kanakapura road, making us more vigilant. Since the roads were relatively free, motor bikes were racing at insane speeds. The count down had started already. We stopped for a tender coconut break when there was 42 kms more remaining to Bangalore. Thats when I noticed that I had lost my mobile. Either I had thrown it along with the rava idly, or I lost it during the cruise. Anyway, it was an old basic Nokia handset (that too which I borrowed from my brother in law.. ;) ) so I just ignored the loss. Our energy levels rose as the sun set. We did not think of anything else, Bangalore was approaching. It got darker, we turned on the blinkers and lights on the bikes, and instructed ourselves to keep track of the immediate following guy. It was uphill, but nobody wanted to take breaks. Few more minutes of mad pedalling and we reached the city! A bus full of school children were shouting at us, we took is as the standing ovation for our great achievement!

Told bye bye to each other, and headed home. The tiresome upslope on my regular commute route was a cake walk now. Reached home, made a few phone calls and went for a quick shower. As I stood under the shower, all covered with soap, I was counting the misfortunes of the day.. delayed start, puncture, mobile phone loss.. And then the shower stopped! As if the list was not big enough!!

Net ride statistics:

Total distance covered - 295 kms.
Riding time - 15 hours 45 minutes. (In two days, excluding breaks)
Average speed - 18.6 kmph.