Harohalli Thattekere

Date: 2 July 2016

Total distance: 92 Kilometers

Start Time: 8:00 am

Return Time:  1:15 pm

With: -

Altitude Profile:
Koramangala - Harohalli - Thattekere - Jigani - Koramangala

Just a week left for the 600km brevet and I had not done any riding after the 400km brevet. I desperately needed to get back on the cycle, however, had not been able to get back on the bike. 2 weeks flew even before I knew and all that I had done over the two weeks was to plan rides. The wet weather in Bangalore did not make things easy, it has been raining and the Sun barely shows up, perfect to tuck myself in bed rather than to ride.

I decided against doing any long distance rides and preferred to do short rides, approximately 100 kilometers which would involve a difficult climb as well. Had two options, one was to go to Shoolagiri and the other was to do the Harohalli-Thattekere route. I decided to do the Harohalli-Thattekere ride as it would be slightly easier than the Shoolagiri ride. The plan was to start the ride by 4:00 am so that I could be back by 9 am. I woke up around 3:30 am and decided to catch a further 5 minutes of sleep; when I woke up it was 7:15 am. It was late, however I decided to go ahead with the ride; quickly got ready and was ready to leave at 8:00 am.

The initial part of the ride was slow due the gradient till Jayanagar. As I made the turn to Kanakpura Road, although the gradient dropped, metro construction had put the road in bad shape and there was a lot of traffic as well. I was nervous as I did not want any punctures since I was not carrying any spare tubes. I managed to get through this section and as I reached Kaggalipura, the road condition improved and also the traffic thinned out. Riding became a pleasure from here although there was a strong head wind which was slowing things down. I was struggling a bit on all the climbs which put a lot of doubt in my mind for the upcoming brevet. The thought did cross my mind that I should call off the ride and also the other option was to turn back and ride back on Kanakpura road itself. However, the further I went on the road, I was able to calm myself and continue the ride. I reached Harohalli at 9:45 am and took the turn towards Thattekere, rode for roughly 1 kilometer before stopping for a break.

As I restarted the ride, I knew that there would a lot of climbing to do and the climbing would be almost till Koramangala, which would be about 40 kilometers of climbing. However, I was in for a surprise when the initial part of the ride took me downhill for about 5 kilometers. It was mainly rolling hills till about a kilometer from Thattekere, as I approached this climb, there was a truck behind me, I was very happy that I was climbing better than the truck and as I made it up the climb, I had opened up a gap to the truck. I reached Thattekere and as I exited the village, there was another huge climb, this time the truck overtook me just as I was making it to the top.

As soon as I made it to the top of the climb, I saw the forest gate which goes to Thattekere. I saw a couple of forest staff stationed at the gate. I did not intend to go in, however, the bus shelter just opposite the gate was very inviting and I stopped to rest for a few minutes. The forest staff came immediately and said that I could not stop and should keep moving since I was inside the Bannerghatta Forest Reserve and that I should make it out of the forest reserve if I intended to stop. I tried to speak to the guard and tried to tell him that I only intended to rest, however, he was adamant and insisted that I should leave immediately.

I continued riding and the ride inside the forest reserve was mainly downhill and I made it out rather quickly. I did not come across any animals and also the birds were fewer than the last time. As soon as the forest reserve was crossed, the gradient begins to climb and climb rather quickly. I made slow progress; it was a very good workout. The Sun was playing hide and seek and the dark clouds threatened to open up and a strong cross wind was pushing the cycle sideways. I made it past the climb and stopped to refill water. I was 5 kilometers from Jigani and when I restarted, I was hit with very bad roads. As I was riding the road cycle, I had to get down and push the cycle in some sections and in some others I took the risk of riding through and hoped that there would be no punctures. When I reached Jigani I was relieved as the road quality improved and I was able to make quick progress although the gradient kept increasing.

I made it to Hosur road and as I counted down the climbs, the traffic picked up and slowed things down. Fortunately as I was on a cycle, I was able to squeeze my way in between traffic at the signals and made it back home by 1:15 pm. It was a tiring ride due to the wind and the gradient, however a good workout.

Ride Details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Koramangala	Harohalli	40	1.75	1.75	8:00	9:45	22.86
Harohalli	Koramangala	52	3.25	3.50	9:45	1:15	16.00
		92	5.00	5.25			18.40