MC's Cycling Diary

Date: 12 July 2015 Total distance: 159 Kilometers Start Time: 4:40 am Return Time: 3:10 pm With: - Altitude Profile: Received a message from Pavan checking on whether Antargange in Kolar is a nice place. Had heard of the place, however never visited it. It is just 70 kilometers from Koramangala, so decided to ride to Antargange on Sunday. I woke up at 3:30 am and started to get ready. Was very slow today and was ready only by 4:30 am. Started the ride, weather was slightly cold so the pull over was being used. I took the usual route to go to Sarjapur, so nothing exciting and then the journey towards Chikka Tirupathi. The ride from Sarjapur to Chikka Tirupathi is very pleasant, especially since the traffic is thin. I reached Chikka Tirupathi by 6:10 am. 34 kilometers in 1.5 hours, so was right on cue with the plan except that I had started 30 minutes late. However, at this juncture, I should have checked google maps for directions. I didn’t and then went in t

Date: 5 July 2015 Total distance: 90 Kilometers Start Time: 6:20 am Return Time: 2:20 pm With: Madhusudhan Altitude Profile: After all the planning for the Mandalpatti ride on 18,19 July everyone dropped out. However, decided to continue with the ride to Manchanabele, only Madhusudhan was free and could make it. We had decided to leave at 5:00 am, however, Madhusudhan was able to make it only by 6:20 am. It worked for me as well as I could rest for an additional hour after the previous day’s difficult ride. We started at 6:20 am and rode at a pretty steady pace and made it out of Kengeri by 7:45 am when we stopped for breakfast just before we turn off the highway towards Manchanabele. 30 minute stop for breakfast and we were on the saddles again. Madhusudhan seemed to be in decent shape, however just after we turn off the highway, we encountered steep climbs. Took its toll, however Maddi (as he is fondly called) stuck to it and did not give up. He pedaled all th

Date: 4 July 2015 Total distance: 125 Kilometers Start Time: 1:30 pm Return Time: 9:00 pm With: - Altitude Profile: Viewed the Cycling and More website and saw that they are planning the Mandalpatti ride on July 18, 19. Checked with Madhusudhan, Madhu, Sushanth whether they wanted to do the ride. They were keen, but needed time to confirm. So we planned to go to Nandi hills as a practice ride since the slopes at Mandalpatti are very steep. Planned to do the ride on Saturday, however none of them were free on Saturday so decided to go alone. The others were free on Sunday and wanted to do Manchanabele on Sunday instead of Nandi Hills. Agreed for the Sunday ride and decided to do the ride on Saturday as well as it had been a while since I had ridden on consecutive days. Made a mistake here of taking the ride for granted since I had already done Nandi hills earlier and also the Goa trip. I started only in the afternoon at 1:30 pm thinking that it will take only 4 h