Basavana Betta

Date: 27 September 2015

Total distance: 183 Kilometers

Start Time: 3:00 am

Return Time: 3:30 pm

With: -

Altitude Profile:

I have been following the Bangalore Biker's Google Group and got to know that a 200 kilometer brevet ride to Basavana Betta was done on 29th November. Basavana Betta is known as the Nandi Hills of South Bangalore which is approximately 100 kilometers from Bangalore. I got to know that the climb up the hill is extremely difficult and is more difficult than the Nandi climb.

I had planned to ride to Barachukki falls on Saturday, 26 September, however, it was raining all night and it continued to rain at 3:00 am. I cancelled the ride as I did not want to get drenched right from the start. I decided that I would ride on Sunday, however did not want to ride 260 kilometers and tire myself for Monday since it is going to be a busy 3 days for me with the tax filing last date being 30 September. Wanted to do a shorter distance and decided to do the Basavana Betta ride since it was going to be just 200 kilometers overall and more over I underestimated the climb. Even though I had read about the difficulty of the climb, I was confident that I would be able to do the climb. Set the alarm for 2:00 am so that I could leave at 3:00 am and get back by evening rather than leave at 5:00 am. The other consideration for leaving early was that I would be able to do the climb before the Sun would be out in all its glory.

I woke up at 2:00 am; strangely it was a different morning, I was not feeling the same enthusiasm that I usually have for every ride. The work pressure was definitely having its effect and I did not want to tire myself too much. However, did not call off the ride and decided to go ahead. Packed the bag with a little bit of extra weight so that I could get used to carrying weight. With everything packed, I was ready to leave and was off at 3:00 am.

The Mysore ride had given enough confidence that 200 kilometers would not be difficult to do. The only thing that I wanted to watch out for was pushing too hard in the beginning and then struggle to finish. Was vary of the dogs and was very watchful and surprisingly the usual locations where I was expecting the dog problem to surface was empty and I made it through easily. However, after I made it through the Kanakpura Road metro station and went ahead about half a kilometer, it was dark and I could hear dogs barking behind me, however I thought that I had crossed the danger zone; I was in for a shock when I could hear the barking getting closer and when I turned back, I saw that there was a dog right behind. I slowed the cycle down and the dog backed off. I was relieved to make it through this and then pedaled at a steady cadence towards Kanakpura. Since the road to Kanakpura is mainly downhill, the timimg was not affected and I was able to make it to Kanakpura at 5:30 am. As I headed out of Kanakpura, the sky was beginning to illuminate and the darkness of the night began to recede. I stopped after a while to take a break and recharge myself.

I restarted and it was more downhill towards Sathanur. The thought process shifted to the return journey which was going to be uphill and I was realising that the Basavana Betta ride was not going to have a climb of only 7 kilometers to the top of the hill. It was essentially 100 kilometers of downhill and then 100 kilometers of uphill of which 7 kilometers to the top of the hill and then after returning to the base, it would be a further 93 kilometers of uphill towards Bangalore. Reached Sathanur and a look at the Cyclo Computer made it clear that it was not going to be 100 kilometers to the top of the hill and it would fall short of the mark. I was using Google Maps for directions and to know the place where I need to turn off the highway. When I reached the turn it was still 7:00 am I was ahead of time and decided to rest for a while before starting the climb.

I started off at 7:30 am and was surprised that the base of the climb starts within a kilometer of the turn from the highway. At Nandi hills the start of the climb is very steep and then the gradient eases off allowing us to catch our breath. Although I had read this climb was unrelenting in the gradient, I was expecting it to be similar to the Nandi climb, where the initial part would be steep and then there would be a place where the gradient would let up. I started off the climb very positively and confidently and did not allow the gradient to affect me. It was a very steep climb and after the initial half a kilometer, the view hit me and it was very tempting to stop and take snaps. However, I did not want to discontinue the climb and continued to pedal since stopping and starting is difficult. However the gradient was not letting up and when I looked up it was disappointing to see that the climb was going to be more of the same. I stopped to catch my breath and decided to take the opportunity to take snaps.

I restarted and was not able to do more than half a kilometer climb. I tried riding diagonally to reduce the effect of the gradient but it was proving futile. The leg was cramping and the ride became rest when the leg is cramping, ride again till the cramp sets in. Walked, jogged, jumped, stretched, but nothing was working and the legs refused to recover. The thighs were hurting, stuck to pedaling and then came across a kilometer stone which said that there was still 5 kilometers to go. This broke my will to climb. I had struggled to climb and put in a lot of effort, it was disappointing to know that I had done just 2 kilometers of the climb. I stopped as I was determined that I would ride up the hill an did not want to push. However, when I restarted, rode a further half a kilometer and the gradient was not letting up at all, this was the nail in the coffin as I knew that I don't have enough time to rest the legs and help them to recover. It was disappointing, and knowing that the return journey involved climbing, I decided to push the cycle and realised that pushing the cycle on this slope is not easy. I wanted to make it to the top and kept pushing myself to reach the top. After a kilometer, the gradient began to ease and I was back on the saddle and rode, however within a short distance the gradient again became steep and I was off and pushing. As I reached the top the last kilometer and half the gradient eases off and was able to ride till the point where the forest ends. From here it is a further kilometer to the village and another kilometer to the temple. Had to push the cycle up to the village but was able to ride to the temple from the village. When I reached the temple was so exhausted that I did not want to go in to the temple. It was 8:45 am and by far the most difficult climb that I have attempted till date. Disappointing that I could not ride all the way up. Just sat under the tree to catch my breath and relax. The Cyclo Computer showed that the distance was 91 kilometers, short of the 100 kilometer by 9 kilometers.

Time flies and within no time it was 9:00 am and I was hungry. I was still on schedule with respect to the timing and started the downhill ride to the base of the hill. Since the climb is very steep, the downhill ride was dangerous as the cycle picks up speed in no time. If the brakes or the tires fail, then it will result in a very bad fall. Fortunately, I did not have any such experience and I made it to the base, i.e., the turn at the highway, by 9:30 am. It took half an hour because I made quite a few stops for taking snaps as the view was breath taking.

As soon as I was on the highway, I could see the that the gradient of the road was uphill, however it was a gradual increase and I was able to pedal easily. My first target was to get to Sathanur so that I could have breakfast. As I rode towards Sathanur, I was beginning to struggle, the legs were hurting and as the Sun was out, it was sapping the energy. Made a stop for Coconut water, however the effect of the stop lasted for roughly one kilometer. I labored towards Sathanur and was relieved that I had made it to Sathanur. Found a small hotel and literally dropped into the chair and ordered for Dosa's. They served 4 dosa's of which I was able to eat only 2. I refilled on water and drank a juice before starting the ride.

I was very tired and the thought did occur that when I get to Kanakpura I should load the cycle onto a bus and return to Bangalore. I saw a lot of auto's and was very tempted to signal to one of them and load the cycle. I did not give into the temptation and rode on. The ride from Sathanur to Kanakpura has a couple of long downhill sections which eased things a bit and also since I was on schedule with respect to the timing, I was motivated to ride on. I reached Kanakpura at 11:30 am and I was still pedaling between 15 - 20 kilometers per hour. On steep climbs it would drop, however the speed was decent enough and I decided to ride on and not take the bus. Next stop was Harohalli and as I was getting close, dark clouds came up and the skies opened up. It was 11:50 am and it was a heavy downpour, I guessed that it would not last long, so I decided to stop and opted not to get drenched. As expected the rain let up in 10 minutes and I was back on the cycle and was happy that the temperature had dropped which would make life easier.

I made it to Harohalli at 12:30 am and as I exited Harohalli it began to rain again. This time I did not stop and continued to ride. Was drenched in no time, but it helped to cool me off and also felt a little refreshed. Was making good progress, when the hunger began to kick in. It had stopped raining and I was beginning to dry up, but the energy level was low as the stomach was empty and the speed had dropped significantly. I thought that I was close to the Coffee Day and wanted to stop there for lunch. Just then it began to rain heavily. This time I decided to stop as it would double up as much needed rest. After a 15 minute wait the rain let up and I was back on the saddle.

Kept riding and the Coffee Day was not arriving. I could not wait any longer and I stopped for Coconut Water and ate Coconut Malai. I decided that I would not make any stop for lunch and would head home for lunch. It would save time as well and I would be able to make it home earlier. Made use of the chocolate that I was carrying for energy boosts.

Once I resumed the journey, I was counting down the small towns on the way into Bangalore and also the steep uphill sections which were left. When I made it to the Kanakpura Metro Station I was relieved since I knew that the worst was behind and that the ride would ease off from here. However, since I was low on energy, even the easy ride was proving to be difficult, but I pulled through and the sight of home was a big relief.

I made it home at 3:30 pm, right on schedule, but I was exhausted. Feasted on  good lunch at home and then hit the bed to recharge myself after one of the most tiring rides that I have done.