Horsley Hills (300 Kilometer Brevet)

Date: 10 December 2016

Total distance: 301 Kilometers

Start Time: 5:40 am

Return Time:  11:30 pm

With: Different riders

Altitude Profile:
Lavelle Road – Horsley Hills - Lavelle Road

I had been waiting keenly for this brevet, the route was announced over a month ago and the minute it involved a climb, I was keen to ride the brevet. I would not have been so keen to ride if this was announced in the previous year, however, with a few improvements on the climbing front, this is another opportunity to test and improve my climbing ability.

I registered for the ride well in advance and as the ride day got closer, I was losing interest in the ride. However, I did not want to lose the opportunity to ride and knew that I would laze around during the weekend if I did not ride. I got the cycle ready for the brevet by fixing the rider number and other accessories required for the ride.

I woke up at 3:00 am and left home at 4:15 am. I rode via the inner ring road and then onto MG Road. It was a longer route, however as I had time I opted to have a relaxed ride even though the route was longer. I reached Airlines Hotel around 5:00 am, got the brevet card and completed the start formalities. It was a big turnout for the 300KM ride and the riders were arriving late, it took time to complete the start formalities and the start was delayed. The route details were given and most importantly we were told about the places where food would be available. The ride was flagged off at 5:45 am.

We had the quick starters and the slow starters, this time I was in the mid section, neither slow nor fast. I had Vikas Ruparelia accompanying me and although both of us are usually slow starters, today we made a pretty quick start. Within 5 minutes we could not see the riders in front of us neither anyone behind us. It was a cold morning and part of the speed was attributed to getting the body temperature up. We made a quick exit from the city and made our way past a lot of flyovers to get to Hoskote. It was 7:00 am and just as we took the left to head towards Chintamani, we were joined by Divij Shah. Divij lost his right arm at the age of 4, has restarted cycling about 9 months back and was riding with ease. He has both the derailleur controls on the left side, however uses only one brake. We were amazed with his riding skills and his balance, we chatted and rode together towards Chintamani. It did not take long before Divij rode ahead and we were left catching our breath.

We had been informed that the last town where breakfast would be available is Kaivara and that we would not get any food after that till we get to Horsley hills. Kaivara was about 60 kilometers from the start point. We rode steadily and were catching up with a few of the fast starters, although it was early for breakfast, knowing that it was the last place where we could fill up on food we stopped. It was 8:00 am when we stopped for breakfast at Kaivara. We caught up with all the fast starters here, there were about 7 of them at the restaurant and the owner of the restaurant must have made a windfall today since all the cyclists were stopping here. A plate of Idli Vada was polished and a few minutes of rest and we were ready to to roll.

We had caught up with Divij at the restaurant. Vikas, Divij and me started at 8:30 am from the restaurant and made fast progress towards the first check point at Chintamani. We reached the check point at 9:00 am where Mohan Subramanyam was waiting for us. We got the brevet cards signed, filled water and restarted the ride. Divij rode ahead, the fast start was beginning to show its effect on Vikas and he had slowed down, I slowed down and waited for Vikas to catch up. Within a few minutes Divij was gone and I would ride ahead and then wait for Vikas to catch up.

The road was in good condition and it was lined with trees on both sides. It was a very pleasant sight and I was enjoying the ride. We rode past a lot of agricultural fields with tomato being the main crop. However, the tomatoes were either dumped or left in the plants to rot, assumed that the cost of harvesting the crop is higher than the returns and hence they had been left to rot. The ride speed was down and it got slower. When we reached the turn to go to Gownipalli we ran into cross winds/head winds along with rolling terrain which hit us. Not only was the wind and the gradient slowing us down, it was tiring us as well. Gownipalli was only 10 kilometers ahead and we made it to the village at 10:15 am. We had completed 100 kilometers and it had taken us 4.5 hours to do it. A fast start, however Vikas was slowing down and wanted a break. I coaxed him to riding a little further and getting to the Karnataka border before taking a break. I reduced my speed and was waiting for Vikas to recover so that he could pick up the speed. I was calculating the time and distance remaning when I heard a 'twang', I knew that it was the spoke, a look down at the back wheel and I could see the wobble. I stopped and rotated the wheel and confirmed my fear. One spoke was broken, however the wobble was not very bad and there was just a small rub against the brake pad, which would not slow me down a lot. I did not want to take off the brake pad as the descent from the hill was pending. I continued to ride and decided that in the eventuality of the situation getting worse I would remove the rear brake pads.

In a few kilometers we reached the border and stopped for a break. A couple of villagers struck up a conversation and were enquiring about the cyles, the ride and then the talk shifted to the present scenario in the country after demonetisation. I was anxious to get started, however, Vikas was keen on resting. The Go Green group passed us and we slowly got back onto the cycle. We rode a few kilometers and Vikas was still on the slower side, he said that I should continue riding and that he would ride slowly. I rode slowly and waited for him, however, in a couple of kilometers he was out of sight and I assumed that he must have stopped to rest again. I caught up with the Go Green group at B.Kothaguda, they had stopped for Coconut water break, however, as I had taken a break a little earlier, I did not stop and continued to ride.

The wind and the slow speed of the ride had taken its toll and I was tired. I was not able to get back upto speed and was struggling a bit to cycle. I was going through my water supply quickly and realised that I was hungry and hence the weakness and the struggle to cycle. The clock had ticked past 12:00 pm and I could not afford to stop for a break to fill my stomach. I kept filling myself with water to quell the hunger sensation, however as I ran out of water I had to stop to buy water. I also bought a bottle of Jeera Soda and a couple of sips of the cold soda helped to get rid of the hunger.

I rode towards the hill and soon I got my first glimpse of Horsley Hills. The area was surrounded by hills and the sight of mobile towers on top of the hill was the confirmation that I needed to ascertain the hill that I would have to climb. I kept looking up at the hill and planning my ascent when I was caught by the Go Green boys. I rode with them and when we reached the junction to turn towards the hill they stopped for a break. I do not prefer to stop just before a climb as I lose the rhythm and also the effort level is high and the legs have to take the surge in the effort rather than just a little increase in the effort if I had continued to ride. In spite of my preferences, I stopped and waited for them to start the climb. They took a 15 minute break before getting onto the saddle and starting the climb.

We had been informed that it is not a difficult climb. Keeping Nandi hills as a marker this was supposed to take half the effort that the Nandi climb requires. It is a 8 kilometer climb and has a gradient of 500 meters which mathematically is the same as Nandi hills, however the climb was told to be gentler. I had my apprenhensions about the data provided, however the confidence of climbing it was good, the only problem that I was having was that I was tired and was low on energy since I was hungry. The climb starts with a mix of gradual and steep climbs and as I made made it past the 2 kilometer mark, sweat got into my eyes and they started to burn. I tried to ride, however the burning sensation was increasing and I could barely keep my eyes open. I stopped, took off the goggles, wiped the sweat, closed my eyes for a few seconds and got back to pedaling. I did not want to take breaks as I knew that stopping and starting on a climb makes it difficult and we lose a lot of time doing it. I kept pedaling constantly and slowly the pace kept increasing and I was ticking off the kilometers. It helped that as I got higher the tree cover increased and I had natural protection from Sun light and also there were a few places where the gradient lets up which allowed me to recover. I saw a few cyclists who had hit the wall and were pushing their cycles up the hill. I was feeling better that I was still pedaling, at the same time I saw all the fast starters riding down the hill, they had started the return journey whereas I was still riding up the hill. Although I wanted to be on my way back, although I knew that I had lost time, I kept these thoughts out of my mind and continued to climb. I stopped to catch my breath with 2 kilometers to go and again when there was a kilometer to go. I made it to the top just as Satish Addanki was reaching the top. It was 1:50 pm when I reached the top. I had taken an hour to complete the climb and was famished by the time I did it. The site of food in Mohan Subramanyam's car brought a smile and I immediately gobbled up Lime Rice, Curd Rice, 1 orange and 2 bananas. I realised that I was beginning to bonk and reminded myself to take it easy as I still had 150 kilometers to go.

The Go Green group began to trickle in. Prasad had reached before me, however the rest of the group started coming in over the next 20 minutes. I hung around and did a small recce to find the view point on the hill, however I could not find it and gave up the search and came back to the cycle. Divij was also at the top and enquired about Vikas. I told him that he had slowed down and I was not aware if he had started the climb. Within the next few minutes riders started to reach the top and there was a steady flow and the group began to swell. I wanted to start the descent as I wanted to take a few photos of the valley, a look at the Go Green boys and I it did not look like they were going to start in the next 15 minutes. I told them that I would start as I was planning on making a few stops in the hill.

I started the descent with Divij, Satish and Mohan Kumar. Made it down 2 kilometers when I saw Vikas climbing up. I stopped and updated him about the distance remaning and clicked a couple of pics. The others had continued down hill and did not stop. I continued the ride and made a few stops to take more pics. It took me 30 minutes to get down the hill. The others had ridden on. I assumed that I would be behind them by around 15 minutes and had a lot of catching up to do.

I had passed a few riders on my way down the hill and was wondering if they would make it to the top in time. At the same time the focus shifted to my time and was calculating at what time I would get to Kolar. I wanted to get to the Old Madras Road highway before dark, however, it looked like I would make it to Kolar only after dark. I would have to ride continuously and would make it to Kolar only by 8:00 pm, a break for an hour for dinner would leave me with 4.5 hours to complete the remaining 70 kilometers to Bangalore. The situation was manageable, however, with a couple of stops from Kolar to Bangalore, it looked like I would make it to Bangalore with just an hour left, which was not sufficient time in case I suffer any issues with the cycle. I picked up the speed and pedaled hard. I had had a good lunch and had stuffed myself, the thought was that I had eaten enough to get me to Bangalore and a dinner stop was not required. I rode hard and kept pushing above 25 kmph.

I reached B Kothaguda, I wanted to stop for Coconut water but could not spot the vendor so continued the ride. I was riding hard and was making good time. I reached Gownipalli and as I exited the town, I began to revise my estimate. I had 20 kilometers more to get to back the Bangalore Chintamani road and it was 4:15 pm, it looked like I could get to Kolar by 7:00 pm if I could continue riding at the same intensity. I caught up with Rupert Fernandes and he was having a relaxed ride. I inquired and he said that he was saving up for the last 50 kilometers. I continued riding hard and with 5 kilometers remaining for the Bangalore Chintamani road I caught up with Divij, Mohan and Satish. I had not expected to catch up with them, however I was happy to have caught up. I rode on towards the Bangalore Chintamani road and when I hit the junction I stopped at a shop for a break. Satish, Divij and Mohan joined in a couple of minutes and a 5 minute break became a 30 minute break. Aloo Bondaa, Masala Vada and biscuit and if better sense had not prevailed, I would have stuffed myself with more. About an hour ago I was ready to ride to Bangalore without another food break, however at the sight of food I realised that I was hungry again. Reminded myself that I still had 100 kilometers to go. The Go green boys also came by and made a stop at the same junction.

Divij, Mohan, Satish and I started riding at 5:30 pm towards Srinivaspur. The Sun had already begun its journey down and the light was fading quickly. We were riding quickly and Mohan fell behind. It took us just over 30 minutes to reach Srinivaspur and we entered the town there was no daylight anymore. We rode through a stretch of bad roads and when we made it out of the town there was total darkness. The cycle lights were turned on and we started speeding towards Kolar which was 24 kilometers away. The road was in good condition and it was aligned with trees on both sides, I was missing riding this stretch with day light. It would have been a much more pleasurable ride if I had been able to see the view. However, it was a case of concentrating on the patch of the road on which the light was focused and riding quickly. In a few kilometers Satish stopped as his feet were hurting.

When we restarted Satish was doing the pace setting, the climbs would be done slightly slowly and the flat/down hill sections were being done quickly. It seemed like we were riding in excess of 25 kmph, however the speed was getting averaged out to 20kmph. It was a 2 lane road and we had a lot of vehicles unnecessarily honking at us when they were going past and a few who rode past us like the road was not meant for us and that we had no right to be using it. They would have been happy to push us off the road, however they came across 3 riders who were not willing to get off the road and stuck to the left side of the road. We reached the outskirts of Kolar and ran into traffic and some bad roads. Enquired with a few people for directions to the KSRTC bus stand and a slow ride through the city took us to KSRTC bus stand and then to Saidham hotel at 7:30 pm.

Arpit and Saday were having their dinner and our first activity after taking the selfie was to freshen up. We ordered a North Indian meal and Sweet Lassi. The meal took forever to arrive and it took almost 30 minutes for the food to be delivered. We gobbled up the food and the lassi and I realised that I had filled myself up again. We paid the bill, got ready and started the ride from Kolar at 8:30 pm.

We rode through the crowded city and made it to the highway. The highway was familiar territory and the countdown of the small towns had begun. However, the vehicles were irritating like always with many of them unnecessarily honking. It took a few minutes to get into the rhythm, after which we were churning out the kilometers very easily. There was no wind, however there was no heat as well to slow us down. Narsapur, Tavarekere, Dandupalya were ticked off with ease and as we got closer to Hoskote, we stopped at a reataurant for tea. As we sipped on tea, Mohan Kumar caught up and said that his chain was slipping and enquired if I could fix it. I told him that for now he would have to ride slowly without putting too much pressure on the chain. We shifted into the lower gear so that he would not have to change gears when riding on the flyovers. He continued to ride as we waited for the tea and then slowly sipped on the tea. The Go Green riders passed us when we were at the restaurant and it was a sight to see all 8 riders with their lights passing us.

We got onto the cycles and started the last phase of the ride. Divij's light had run out of battery and I was riding along side helping him with light. We were about 30 kilometers from Bangalore. The first thing that we realised when we started cycling was that it was cold. In spite of wearing my jacket I was freezing. The half fingered gloves had left the fingers exposed and the fingers began to hurt. We increased the pace of the ride to generate heat and to get warm. We realised that the stop for tea was a bad one as it had brought the body temperature down. The flashing tail lights of the Go Green boys served as a marker for us to catch up with and we rode fast. As we caught up with the Go Green riders, the body temperature was up and we continued to ride hard. I heard another 'twang' and knew that I had lost another spoke, the tire though was rotating without being obstructed. I hoped that this would last for a further 25 kilometers and that I could make it back. As we got closer to Hoskote the flyovers started and we were sprinting up to keep the body temperature up. The sprinting was helping on the time front. We made it past Hoskote and then to KR Puram. The KR Puram bridge was a sprint again, however it was a slow sprint and as we reached the top we knew that the ride was good as over.

We rode on Old Madras Road, then onto MG Road and set ourselves a target to get to Airlines Hotel by 11:30 pm. We peddled hard, however the legs were showing signs of fatigue as we struggled near MG Road. When we reached Lavelle road, Satish had fallen behind. Divij and I reached Airlines Hotel at 11:34pm, we had missed our target, however we had reached well before the cut off and were happy to have made it back. Mohan Subramanyam welcomed us and we got our brevet cards signed.

It was an enjoyable ride through some peaceful interior roads in the morning. I would have preferred to have made it up Horsley Hills with more ease, however, I will still consider making it to the top as a positive. The ride back was more about speed and the legs feeling good in spite of the increased work load. Other than the noisy vehicles on the way back it was an enjoyable ride with more positives rather than negatives.

Ride Details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Lavelle Road	Chintamani	75	2.50	3.00	5:45	8:45	30.00
Chintamani	Gownipalli	25	1.50	1.50	8:45	10:15	16.67
Gownipalli	Horsley Hills Base	35	2.00	2.50	10:15	14:00	17.50
Horsley Hills Base	Horsley Hills Top	8	1.00	1.25	12:45	14:00	8.00
Horsley Hills Top	BC Road	57	2.75	3.00	14:00	17:00	20.73
BC Road	Kolar	38	1.75	2.50	17:00	19:30	21.71
Kolar	Lavelle Road	63	2.75	4.00	19:30	23:30	22.91
		301	14.25	17.75			21.12