Lepakshi 400 BRM

Lepakshi 400 BRM

Lepakshi 400 BRM would be one of my longest continuous cycle ride. Having done 200 BRM and 300 BRM comfortably in the past few weeks did give me confidence that this distance is not impossible to achieve. Its suggested that you take enough rest and sleep well before the ride so that the body will be in a condition to buffer the stress but for me, unfortunately had a sleepless night. Now that is definitely against the prescription. The ride starts at 6:00 AM and will continue throught the night till the next morning 9:00 AM. The Brevet rules give you 27 hours to complete the 400 Kms. Ensured to verify my usual checklist of things to carry such as Lights, Cash, Spare Tubes, Puncture kit, Reflector vests etc. We started off at 6:00 AM and Raj was with me. He had finished the 200 BRM but had skipped the 300 BRM. Started off in a breeze and since there was no early morning traffic. Was pushing to cover a lot of distance before the sun starts sapping our energy. Since I would have woken up early for these rides, my stomach usually starts growling for food within the first 50 kms of ride start. We had planned for breakfast at Pavithra tatte idly, which is like 60 Kms from start point on Tumkur Road. But since its a popular place, there was too much crowd. In addition all my cycling BRM partners were also there. The service was slow and due to this spent a lot of time over here. Even after all this, had to miss vada and coffee. Overall Unsatisfied breakfast. Lost the early advantage and buffer that we had created from our start. But BRM's are not a race and the idea is to endure the whole journey within the set time limits. If you have participated in Bangalore Randonneurs organized rides before, you know that you will get elevation and rolling hills challenge. This was in no way different. The Devarayana durga climb that was thrown in is a high incline climb. Gradients are around 12% and the climb is relentless. This is a 3km straight uphill. No hair pin bends to give you respite. Some of the seasoned riders say that the climb is not a challenge. The challenge is to do this climb in one shot without stopping. Of course, in my case its still a long way to go to complete this in one shot. The only down hill segments had stiff headwinds. Lost all down hill advantages. The lunch point was somewhere at 145 Km from start and was keeping a keen eye on the cycle odometer. I observed sudden speed spikes on the odometer and in a minute or two it concked off. This Sunding wired speedometer had served me well till now. For Rs 250, It was very accurate. I was used to this and felt lonely with no idea on speed and distance now. The second half of the ride from Pavagada to Penukonda was after sunset. I generally carry one pair of sunglasses to use during day rides. I dont use any glasses for night rides as I always feel that even the plain riding glasses dont give me good visibility. This time it did pose a different type of challenge with insects continuously hitting my eye. Thank God that the problem lasted only on this stretch. It was cloudy with a chance of rain. We stopped for early dinner at Penukonda since we had got an indication that there may be no good quality food available till you hit the lepakshi turn. Also that those food points close by 9 PM. Did not want to take a chance as I was not confident I could make it to that junction by 9 PM. While having food at Penukonda, many riders trickled in and they had got caught in rain. The break prolonged for me as was waiting for the group with whom I was riding to finish. Did not want to ride alone in the night. The ride from Penukonda to lepakshi has a steep climb and just a few kilometers after the start we encountered light drizzle. This was enough to drench the clothes. I had a good break and was feeling energetic. This was easily visible as I was able to ride fast. Most of the other riders I think had slowed down due to the drizzle and were no where in sight. The only person with me was Nithin. He is a young and extremely fast rider who was doing backup duty this time for few female riders. Thats one beauty of Bangalore Randonneurs. Female riders ride BRM's for free and mostly some experienced male riders will accompany the female riders. Its a great gesture. Me and Nithin were breezing along and thought that we can wait up for the others in the next CP. Just before lepakshi, got a flat tire at a pitch dark place. Metal piece pierced tire. Immediate deflation. I called up Nithin and informed him. He came back for me. While we were fixing the puncture few other rides joined us. Since it was pitch dark, all the lights and additional help was a blessing. We removed the metal piece as well. It was drizzling all the while. The Lepakshi control point is at Lepakshi Nandi. You have to take a deviation from the National Highway towards Lepakshi. A few strethes of road was under construction and it was pitch dark as well. I was riding with the group. The control point was more of a touch and go. As we came closer to the point where we meet the National Highway, the drizzle turned into a heavy downpour. I got completely drenched. Shoes, socks fully wet.

These are the times which challenge you mentally. Never easy to ride in Rain. The wet clothes make your body cold. You have to negate it by the warmth generated by cycling. The moment you stop pedalling you start feeling the cold. On top of this, lepakshi to Chikkaballapur has a killer climb. This slowed us down and after an hour, the rain reduced to a drizzle. At someplace on the highway, stopped with the group to have some tea. This was a bad decision. I got acidity due to this. Was feeling a bit uncomfortable on the ride. Once you reach Chikkaballapur, you start getting rolling terrain. The last 50 km or so was a grind. My eyes flared up when I saw a shop right in front of Nandi Upchar that was open. Wanted to get a coke or some soda which could releive me of that slight acidity. Was happy when the shopkeeper told that he can make lime soda for me. Had a refreshing lime soda and it really helped. I was able to give a strong finish to my ride. All in all, extremely challenging ride. Tested endurance to the core. Not easy, not easy. At points, it gets you thinking why do people ride brevets. But at the end, the accomlishment gives you a sense of satisfaction that is hard to explain. 400 done and dusted.

Chitradurga 600 BRM

Chitradurga 600 BRM


                                        

*The ride started at 04:00 PM on Friday, 13-DEC-2019. 600 Km Brevet needs to be completed in 40 Hours.

*This time, the route was different than the earlier standard Bangalore Randonneurs for 600 which is usually Ranibennur or Gooty. Ranibennur route has road construction beyond Chitradurga and Gooty route saw lot of flat tyres due to dried thorns and stray nails. The final route was to ride till Chitradurga and then return back till Nelamangala that would be 400 and then go towards Hassan and come back for another 200 which would sum up to 600

*These 600 rides are planned to have two nights on the ride unlike earlier. There are a couple of reasons for this, the main one being to avoid heat and a secondary one being that it gives a feel of sleep deprivation for riders to prepare for the 1000 km ride; 1000 km rides willbe 3 nights and riding a 600 with just one night ride experience will not be ideal preparation.

*Although I had a trip to Vietnam which had late night and difficult connections I managed to get two nights of solid sleep prior to the ride. I had decided to take power naps as and when required on the ride

*In total, there were 6 control points
1. Konark, Kanteerava Stadium start by 16:00 hrs at 0 km - Manned CP
2. VRL Checkpoint by 21:47 hrs at 86.80 km - Unmanned Selfie CP
3. Hotel Naveen Regency by 05:24 hrs at 200.90 km - Manned CP
4. Kamat Upchar Sira by 11:08 hrs at 287 Km - Unmaned Selfie CP
5. BP Indian High School by 17:00 hrs at 376.40 km - Unmanned Selfie CP
6. Sai Baba Mandir by 23:26 hrs at 474 km - Manned CP
7. Konark, Kanteerava Stadium 08:00 hrs at 605.30 - Manned CP

*Had decided to break down this whole ride into 3 segments of 200 Km each. I was thinking of finishing the first 200 in 10 hours and the subsequent 200 km segments in 13 hours each. That would give me enough buffer and pace the ride well.

*Initially we struggled through pathetic Bangalore traffic till we reached Peenya and moderate traffic from there onto Tumkur. We stopped for dinner at Kamat Upchar @115km point. There were strong cross winds. A beautiful full moon night, zero cloud cover and butter smooth national highway. Lots and lots of downhill and rolling terrain. Knew very well that getting back to Bangalore would be a uphill task "literally" however reaching Chitradurga was a breeze.

*At the durga manned control point, got my Brevet cards stamped and had chow chow bath (Khara bath + Kesari bath combo). Stretched for a bit and then started back towards Nelamangala in about 30 minutes.

*The early morning sunrise scenes were beautiful. It was sunny during the day and moderately hot. I was thanking god that its not summer. Realized that I did not need any power naps. Just some rest while we stopped for food or water was good enough to keep me going. The climbs were steep. The energy levels were low by afternoon. It was getting difficult to maintain momentum. By now we had reached Nelamangala @375 km the point we need to take the Hassan road. We stopped for food although we were a kilometer from our next unmanned control point.

*Apart from the road being good there was nothing much to appreciate on the Chitradurga highway. The second set of 200 km took around 13 hours. This was expected as it was an uphill gradient almost all the way.

*The Hassan highway is very scenic. Its a rolling terrain all the way. The group that I was riding with took many breaks as the energy levels were down. I was all right but decided to stick with the group. Took a 20 minute power nap on a chair before sunset at a place we stopped to have juice. As we approached evening it got dark and cloudy. I was hoping that it would not rain but was unlucky. It rained heavily after Kunigal at a point where I had no place to hide from it. Within minutes I was fully drenched. The intensity of rain reduced but there was a slight drizzle for the whole way till manned control point Sai Mandir. We had BisebeLe bath, bananas, chikki etc whole heartedly.

*With 125 kms more to go, decided to keep the momentum while riding back. There was no scope to take breaks as if you take a break then the body will cool down. I was in a group so was pacing accordingly. Some of the fellow riders are so inspiring. They have achieved so much and yet they are so humble. A truly learning experience. The rolling terrain presented some really steep uphills. Very challenging to do that elevation gain especially on the last stretch of the ride. Continuous riding, few short breaks for coffee and took me to Nelamangala.

*The last 25 is in the city. Welcome to Bangalore. Bad roads, dust, garbage, early morning truck traffic, BMTC buses etc. No respite from uphill till Windsor Manor bridge. I was slow, but steady. Finally closed the ride by 6 AM with two hours to spare.

*Apart from a 20 minute power nap I have not slept on the trip. I was drowsy towards the end but was in full control. Brevets are not regular endurance rides. These test your will power, patience and practice. If it was easy, everybody would do it. Its not impossible since many people finish these long distance events easily. I will just say that these are difficult rides. On this ride, we had 50 participants. Made many new friends.

*I had bought a new cycle odometer from Decathlon which is wireless and works on gyrosensor. However, due to three issues went back and returned the same. Device mounting not stable as it does not lock properly, very poor backlight and inaccurate kilometer calculation even after correct tire size setting.

*This would not be possible without the support from my family. Pappa, Amma, Shalu and Adu. I really mean it.

*Would like to thank my Cycling friends who were there for me one way or the other. The list of things they have done or the way they have inspired me is endless. In no particular order Swamy, Ashish, Pradeep, Raj, Ramu, Prasad. Lucky to meet such people in life.

*Finally, with this ride I have completed 200 BRM, 300 BRM, 400 BRM and 600 BRM which makes me a Super Randonneur (SR). :)

Enriching the Mind, Body and Soul

Cycling to office in Bangalore and nearby rides from the city had their time in the sun. This time Pradeep and I wanted to do something different. Something which will take us close to nature which would allow us to explore hills, rivers, forests and beaches. Give our lungs a break from pollution and a treat for our eyes. We knew that the exercise we would get is just a fringe benefit.

We decided to explore the ever-green western Ghats. After reading few blogs from fellow cyclists we identified a couple of routes and finally narrowed down to Shimoga to Sringeri and Udupi.

Our Route

Got the cycle checked for health to sustain the 250Km journey and packed the bags for the trip. We typically travel very light, total of two sets of quick dry attire. No packaged foods. We eat on the go and strictly stick to bottled water.

On the scheduled date 16^th December 2017, we cycled to Majestic bus stand and then loaded the cycles to Airavata bus as luggage to Shimoga.  On 17^th December 2017 at day break (6:30 AM), we started towards Tirthahalli. Shimoga to Tirthahalli is 65 Km. The fog had set in and visibility was moderate, but the layer of fog on the open fields was beautiful. Our first stop was at Gajnur Dam. It’s a small dam where they allowed us to walk down right on top of the gates. We could see vast stretch of reservoir filled up to the brim. Took a few snaps and started cycling alongside Tunga river.

On the way from Shimoga to Tirthahalli 

View of Reservoir from Gajnur Dam

Very quickly we reached Sakrebyle (14Km) which houses an elephant camp. It is considered the best camp for training elephants in the state. We also saw two trucks which were carrying elephants (perhaps to the camp). We were a bit early, so we could not see the elephants bathing. There were lots of kids on excursion to this place. The kids were happy to see Pradeep’s cycle (Firefox RoadRunner) and showed very little interest in mine (Btwin Mybike)

We started towards Tirthahalli. A family in a Maruti Ertiga belonging to Mr Shabbir saw us cycling and stopped for us. He mentioned that they are a member of the Shimoga cycling club. They were very happy to see us cycle and enquired about our itinerary. They were also bit unhappy about many fish eateries that had sprung up on the road till Tirthahalli and were concerned about lack of civic sense and rash/drinking and driving prevalent in that area.

All along the way we enjoyed the natural scenic beauty, lakes, bridges and forest cover. At Tirthahalli we had breakfast at Mayura hotel near the bus stand. We hogged Idly, Vada and coffee. Bought new water bottles, made some calls home and started on towards Kuppalli.

Scenic Beauty on the way to Tirthahalli

Tunga River

The climb to Kuppalli has rolling terrain going mostly uphill. The gradient sometimes went up to 15%. We were hydrating ourselves quite a bit now. We took a slight deviation of 2km from the main route to reach Kuppalli.

  

Kuppalli is the birth place of Rashtra Kavi Kuvempu. The childhood home of Kuvempu has been converted into a museum by Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Pratishtana (a trust dedicated to Kuvempu). This trust has undertaken immense developmental works in Kuppali to showcase Kuvempu and his works to the external world. The ancestral home is beautiful. Its old-school architecture with courtyard is something I wish all our homes should have. You can even buy books at this place. There is a small petty shop where you can get limited food. Poornachandra Tejaswi (Son of Kuvempu) was also cremated at a nearby place. Very rare to find father and son both being great scholars. We had a refreshing cup of buttermilk and started back towards the main road heading towards Koppa. We did not visit Kavishaila.

Kuvempu's House at Kuppalli

Kuppalli to Koppa was perhaps the most difficult stretch on our whole journey. Even though the distance betweekn Kuppalli and Koppa is only 11 Km, we took a lot of time to cover this distance. The Late afternoon sun was beating down upon us and we were staring at relentless climbs which touched 22% gradient. The greenery and breath taking views motivated us to chug along. Our plan was to reach Koppa as early as possible and then have a relaxed lunch. We also wanted to make sure that we reach Sringeri well before sunset. You see, these highways are not well lit.

During a break on the way

We had gone a couple of kilometers into Koppa town in search of a decent restaurant. We had to cycle back to the point where we could turn towards Sringeri. The initial climb was very steep, but after that the route to Hariharapura was mostly downhill. After Hariharapura we again hit rolling terrain where there was a mixed bag of ups and downs. Another last burst from us helped to conquer the climb to Sringeri. It was well before sunset. We roamed around the temple town cycling casually to reach our hotel, Advaita Lancer. Its situated slightly away from the temple but it is nice and clean. We quickly checked in, had a luke warm (would have loved hot) water bath and then walked down to the temple. Had a good darshan, had good food. A day well spent.

Sunrise at Sringeri

On 18^th December 2017, we woke up early after a good night’s sleep. Started again at day break 6:30 AM towards Agumbe. It was pretty cold with chill head winds. All this, till the time the body got warmed up. It’s a common route till Agumbe after which we decided to ride to Udupi instead of Kundapura. This decision was based on the road condition information provided by Mr Sridhar who is Pradeep’s friend and a localite. On the way to Agumbe we passed through some breathtaking places. This place has abundance of greenery. Cycling provided us the perfect synergy with nature as we felt that we could not get this level of enjoyment if we were on a motor vehicle. The best view comes after the hardest climb. J We reached Agumbe pretty soon as we had rested well. We had breakfast at a hotel in Agumbe bus stand. The bonda soup was outstanding.

Near Agumbe

As you might know, Agumbe receives very high rainfall and is sometimes called Cherapunji of the South. Its extremely green with great bio diversity. Lot of research on rain forests, medicinal plants are done here. Being a hot bed for king cobras, research on these reptiles are also done extensively. Agumbe is a popular destination for bird watchers and photographers. Many episodes of Malgudi Days were also shot here.

At sunset point, Agumbe

We visited sunset point, took a few snaps, admired the depth of the gorge and started towards Hebri. We saw a check post and alongside it was a vast lake. The lake was beautiful and also had a few boats, but the water was full of algae. The forest guard was thrilled to see us cycle there. It is all downhill till Hebri. The cycle speed had to be controlled very carefully down the hill. Also, we made sure that the rim did not get heated up too much as the brake pads continuously rub the rim.  The view was brilliant. The joy of navigating through hair pin bends is amazing. Thankfully the roads were good even after the heavy rains during monsoon.

Lake near Forest Guard office, Agumbe

We were taking some breaks to check the Gujrat 2017 Assembly election trends and results. We reached Hebri and continued cycling towards Perdur. We had rolling terrain nothing as bad as what we had seen on day 1. We reached Perdur fairly quickly.

There is a famous Anantha Padmanabha Temple in Perdur. Temple devotees gave us a dozen of bananas which was Prasad from their Pooja. The Admin folks from the temple were very accommodative. They allowed us to enter the temple and attend the maha mangalarthi even though we were not in the preferred attire (we were on cycling shorts and T-shirt). It’s a pretty old temple. The temple folks offered us to have lunch and then move along. However, we had other plans. We wanted to reach Udupi and have lunch there. The locals suggested us to go to Udupi via Kalliyanpur instead of Manipal as the road is better and there would be less traffic. As the kilometers to Udupi started decreasing, the energy level started increasing. We went straight to Woodlands hotel. Had a heavy and relaxed meal. It was a A/C restaurant so we chilled down quite a bit. We changed over from cycling attire to something that would be acceptable at the Udupi Temple and headed straight to the temple. There was a long queue to the temple so we decided to go to Malpe beach for sun set and come back to the temple later. It was a flat terrain of about 8 Km to Malpe which we covered very quickly. Relaxed on a bench on the beach, took a couple of snaps during sun set and headed straight back to the Temple. By this time the crowd had thinned down. Made a quick visit to the temple. It was a special day due to Paush Amavasya. The vigraha was adorned with Vajra (diamond) kavacha alankara. We also heard that the sea would be very calm and many devotees take a dip on the sea early in the morning. During this day (once a year) the sea would be like a swimming pool (without waves).

Beautiful water body on the way

Sunset at Malpe beach

We called up our local friend Mr Sridhar who came down and met us at the temple. From there we had dinner together. After dinner, we headed straight to the KSRTC bus stand. Loaded the cycles as luggage and crashed on the seats only to wake up at 5:30 AM on 19^th December 2017 in Majestic, Bangalore. Offloaded the cycles and reached home in next 30 mins. After having hot water bath and breakfast, started to office.

The men

All in all, this was an amazing trip. Total 250 Km. 120 Km on Day1 and 115 Km on Day2. Rest was from home to Bus stand and back. Covering the inclines on this route on a MTB was challenging but very satisfying. The weather was brilliant. The roads were pretty good except small stretches where some bridge work was going on. We saw many animals in their natural habitat such as elephants, peacocks, various rare birds which I could not recognize (but my photographer friends would have), mongoose, monkeys and umpteen number of cows as we approached villages. Saw many lotus covered lakes with crystal clear waters, backwaters, rivers and streams which were a treat to the eyes. All this in one ride. Riding with Pradeep is always a pleasure. I get to learn a lot every time we meet. I need to be thankful for our families and friends to make this possible. Need to do more such get aways! Hopefully there will be another such adventure soon.

Their machines, Firefox Roadrunner and Btwin Mybike

Independence Day ride : MyBike from Bangalore to Mysore

Folks, this Independence day (15-Aug-2014) my friend and I decided to cycle down from Bangalore to Mysore. We both have Decathlon Btwin MyBike single speed bicycles.

We chose to ride via Kanakpura as many of you have already certified this as a better cycling route to Mysore. Our route was Jayanagar 5th Block >> Banashankari >> Harohalli >> Kanakpura >> Malvalli >> Bannur >> Mysore. (https://goo.gl/maps/5MPjV) We started at 5:30 AM from Jayanagar 5th block. The weather was beautiful and overcast. We reached Malvalli by 12 Noon where we stopped for lunch at Utsav. After a decent break, we started again to conquer the climbs from here on. There is back to back inclines with considerable elevation for the rest of the ride (Malvalli to Bannur to Mysore ~ 45 Kms). This last leg was tiring with the sun beating down upon us. Accordingly we took more frequent hydration breaks. The head wind was playing spoil sport in slowing us down, but in a way kept us cool. The riding surface was good all through except a small stretch near Bannur which has lot of pot holes. Traffic condition was moderate as many of them had decided to visit shivanasamudra / talkadu this day.

There were many motorists and villagers who were very curious to find out what we were upto. Questions like : Where are you going? Where are you coming from? What time did you leave bangalore? How much does your cycle cost? Are you tired? were common... All along the way, we were encouraged with thumbs-up symbol. Few school kids were thrilled to race with us on their village cycle.

We reached Mysore KSRTC bus stand by 5 PM after which we met few of our Mysore friends. We took some rest and headed back to Bangalore in Airavata with our cycles' as luggage. We paid Rs 50 per cycle as luggage charges.

Along with us we carried Water, Electral, Chocolate bars, Chikki and bananas to energize ourselves. Looking back, we feel very satisfied that we could complete this landmark ride on a single speed bicycle.

Regards
Dileep & Pradeep

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