MC's Cycling Diary

Date: 29 April 2018 Total distance: 117 Kilometers Start Time: 4:30 am Return Time: 12:30 pm With: Madhusudan Altitude Profile: Koramangala - Harohalli - Maralawadi - Thattekere - Jigani - Koramangala It was the weekend and Madhusudan wanted to ride after  long time. We had limited time and had to plan for a half day ride. The route was decided as Harohalli - Maralawadi and return through Thally if possible if not we would return from Thattekere - Jigani. The start time was decided as 4:30 am. I was up early and was ready by 4:00 am. I started from home at 4:30 am as I had to get to HSR layout by 4:30 am, which was the meeting point. I reached at 4:40 am and began the wait. Madhu came by at 4:55 am and we started the ride. It was a steady ride through the city. Most of the roads were well lit and we did not require to use the lights. When we made it out of the city, it was day break. We had reached the NICE road junction on Kanakpura Road when we

Date: 21 April 2018 Total distance: 385 Kilometers Start Time: 5:15 am 21 April 2018 Return Time: 4:00 am 22 April 2018 With: Meera Velankar, Mohammed Rafi, Raghu Nandan Nagaraja Altitude Profile: KR Puram - Kolar - Palamaner - Gudiyattam - Ambur - Krishnagiri - Salem The planning for the Fleche started off in March when the discussion for the team began to take shape. A group was formed and with more than a month to go we had about 10 members in the group. As the date for the Fleche neared the team members began to drop out. We could have formed 2 teams at the beginning, however, with the dropouts we were looking at no team. I was able to confirm my availability very late on account of dates for hockey matches being published only on 10 April 2018. As soon as I got to know that I could ride, I confirmed and we had two riders in the team, Raghu and me. We needed a minimum of 3 riders to form the team. Swamy said that Rafi and Meera were interested in ri

Date: 14 April 2018 Total distance: 97 Kilometers Start Time: 5:00 am Return Time:  9:15 am With: Rohit Bidkar Altitude Profile: Koramangala – Devanahalli - Budigere - Koramangala The Fleche is scheduled for 21 April. We had put together a team and I was now looking to get a little practice in. I did not want to miss the opportunity to put in a small ride the week before the Fleche and with limited time was considering doing Nandi Hills. Rohit Bidkar messaged and enquired if I would join for the weekend ride. I was more than happy to join. Rohit had planned to ride to Devanahalli and return through Budigere. It was the ideal distance considering that I had about 5 hours for it on this weekend. I decided to ride the MTB as I had not lubed the road bike and also wanted to avoid a cleaning session before the Fleche. As discussed over the call, I was ready at 5:00 am and within a couple of minutes of reaching Sony World Signal Rohit arrived as well. I

Date: 7 April 2018 Total distance: 402 Kilometers Start Time: 5:30 am 7 April 2018 Return Time: 4:30 am 8 April 2018 With: Siddalinga Swamy Altitude Profile: Kanteerava Stadium - Mysuru - Gundlupet - Mysuru - Kanteerava Stadium I was not keen on this ride as it was on Mysore Road as I had ridden on this road just a couple of weeks back. A closer look at the route and I got to know that Gundlupet is in Chamarajnagar district and just to cover distance in the Southern most district of the Karnataka state I opted for this route. Although it was just 50 kilometers in Chamarajnagar, it would give me a footprint in the district and I was happy to endure 350 kilometers in known territory just to take the opportunity of riding in Chamarajnagar. It was going to be the MTB as I was looking at a relaxed ride with the emphasis being on enjoying the ride rather than chasing speed. Although I had decided on the MTB I still got both the cycles ready just in case t