Mysore - Suntikoppa BRM

Date: 10 September 2016 - 12 September 2016

Total distance:  515 Kilometers

Start Time:  4:45 am 10 September 2016

Return Time:   5:00 pm 12 September 2016

With: -

I had done the 200KM Brevet organised by the Bangalore Randonneurs under a temporary registration number. The ride did not reflect in the list of rides done by me and as such I did not want to take a risk for the SR application and wanted to complete a 200KM brevet before the window closed. The closest place doing a 200 KM brevet was Mysore and the ride was scheduled on 11 September 2016. The added incentive was that the ride was to Kodagu, a location that I have wanted to go to but have not managed to get there as yet. Since the ride was starting from Mysore, I decided to ride to Mysore the day before the ride and to ride back the day after the ride making it a round trip. The only hiccup was that the Kaveri issue had cropped up and there were a lot of protests happening through Bangalore and the Kaveri belt. I dwindled with cancelling the ride as the protests did not show any signs of abating and a bandh was scheduled the day before I left to Mysore. Things were uncertain till the last minute, however I decided to go through with the ride and hoped that nothing untoward would happen. I opted to go by  Kanakpura road instead of the route through Mandya since Mandya was the hotbed of the protests and Kanakpura being slightly on the interior the coverage and intensity would be less. Moreover, as the bandh was done with and the water had been released, I was hoping that there would be no protests.

The plan was to go to Mysore on 10 September 2016, go for the ride on 11 September 2016 and then based on the physical condition take a call on whether I would come back on 12th or 13th September 2016.

To Mysore:

Date: 10 September 2016

Start Time: 4:45 am

End Time: 14:30 pm

From: Koramangala, Bangalore

To: Jayalakshmipuram, Mysore

Distance: 161 kilometers

Altitude Profile:
Koramangala – Kanakpura – Malavalli - Mysore

I had kept the alarm for 3:00 am, although I did wake up to switch off the alarm, I did not get up immediately. Tossed around in the bed and finally woke up only at 4:00 am. I got ready and was ready to leave at 4:45 am.

It was still dark, however the weather was perfect. I rode out slowly as I did not want to push hard in the beginning and moreover the main ride was tomorrow and I had to make it in decent physical shape to be able to ride tomorrow. The route was familiar and I knew that I could make up for the slow speed near Kaggalipura as the gradient drops in this section. The ride out of Bangalore was uneventful and fortunately there were no incidents with dogs, I increased the speed after crossing the Kanakpura road metro station.

There was day break as I exited Kaggalipura and was wondering if I should have left an hour earlier. I had opted to use the dark shades for the ride which meant that I could use it only after the light picked up, and as the light was still low I was riding without the glasses. A bug got into the eye and reminded me that I should have used the plain glasses instead for the early morning ride. The ride was pretty painful and slow after this as I tried to get the bug out without stopping. A little bit of a circus and my failure to get it out resulted in a stop and a look into the selfie camera of the phone to get the bug out. However, the eye was still feeling sore and it took almost 30 minutes to get back to normal. I made slow progress towards Harohalli and was losing interest in the ride as well.

Harohalli seemed to arrive after eternity and as I made it out of Harohalli I noticed that there was almost no traffic. I was beginning to see the effects of the Kaveri River unrest and the impact that it was having. I had heard that the routes towards Mysore had been blocked and had not come across any such blockade and was hoping that there would not be any bloackades further up the road. As the thoughts dwindled between the Kaveri river and the Suntikoppa BRM and the beautiful view, I reached Kanakpura at 7:15 am. I had made it to Kanakpura in 2 1/2 hours and the average speed was good in spite of the initial hiccup. This motivated me to keep pedaling and I made quick progress towards Sathanur.

I saw the first signs of the road blockade as I approached Sathanur. The road had been closed by using logs which were set on fire. The logs had been moved aside, however there was smoke still emanating from the logs and a black stain ran across the road where the log had been placed. From Sathanur at every junction these blockades had been placed. I could not help but reflect on the hardships that people would have gone through to get past these sections. It was early morning hours and people seemed to be getting back to life after the previous days protests. Everything seemed peaceful and I was hoping that it remained like that. I passed by Basavana Betta and reflected on my ride the previous year and wondered if I would be able to climb the hill today. However, I gave up the thought as I did not want to risk hurting myself and not be able to do the Suntikoppa ride. I reached Halaguru and made a stop for breakfast which was a single idli. It was a very quick breakfast and I was back on the bike in 10 minutes.

The ride to Malavalli was again reminders of the protests with the after effects of the road blockade visible at every junction. The BWSSB branch at Halagur was well protected with about 8-10 policemen stationed outside. Things were peaceful and it did not look like changing. I enjoyed the ride to Malavalli and stopped to refill on water and chugged down half of the 200 ml bottle of Sprite. It was 10:00 am, I had completed 100 kilometers, rested and refilled on fluids and braced myself for the climb to Mysore.

The Sun was out and the heat was beginning to tire me, the view of green agricultural fields did help to reduce the impact of the heat. The ride towards Bannur was slow. As I wilted under the heat, the weight of the bag was becoming a problem and I was constantly trying to adjust the position and could not find the right adjustment of the bag chord to ease the pressure on the shoulder. I was relieved to get to Bannur as I was looking forward to getting to see the Kaveri river. Within a few kilometers of exiting Bannur I came across a canal which was full and it was surrounded by agricultural fields, It was a refreshing sight. Fisherman had set up a stall next to the canal to sell their day's catch and shepherds were preparing their sheep/goat to be traded with Bakrid round the corner. Within another kilometer I reached the bridge to Kaveri and stopped to take in the view. The growth to hyacinth was disappointing, however it was not enough to overshadow the beauty of the river.

I resumed the ride and as Mysore got closer I was beginning to tire and it was getting difficult to ride. I stopped with about 12 kilometers remaining to Mysore where I sat under a tree and had a small chat with a farmer. He was complaining about the lack of rain and enquired about rains in Bangalore. I noticed that more than half of his land had not been cultivated due to the lack of water. I felt sorry for his plight and wished him luck and continued my ride to get to Mysore. I made good progress and as I approached the city, with about 9 kilometers left the road was being re-laid. It had been metalled, however not tarred as yet and riding on this was going to be risky. I tried to ride as carefully as possible, however as I was approaching the city the traffic had picked up and they did not allow me to ride slowly. I had to constantly wait for the traffic to clear and was frustrated with all the honking to get me off the road. I got off the bike and pushed it along the left away from the traffic. Walked for about 2 kilometers to get past the non-tarred section and got back on the cycle.

Some more climbing and I was in the city. However, since I had come by the Kanakpura Road to enter the city, I had to get to the other end of the city to get to the hostel that I had booked. Made a stop for Coconut water and gulped downed water from 3 coconuts and made my way to the hostel. Kept checking on Google maps for directions and made it to the hostel at 2:30 pm.

Ride Details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Koramangala	Kanakpura	56	2.50	2.50	4:45	7:15	22.40
Kanakpura	Malavalli	50	2.50	2.75	7:15	10:00	20.00
Malavalli	Mysore	55	3.50	4.50	10:00	14:30	15.71
		161	8.50	9.75			18.94

Suntikoppa (200 Kilometer Brevet):

Date: 11 September 2016

Total distance: 200 Kilometers

Start Time: 6:15 am

Return Time:  4:30 pm

With: -

Altitude Profile:

I had a disturbed sleep through the night and I did not need the alarm to wake me up. I was up at 5:00 am and was ready to leave at 5:45 am. The ride was scheduled to start at 6:30 am and the start point being just 500 mts from the hostel, I was going to be early. I could not stay on in the hostel and opted to leave and wait at the start point. I rode a little just to warm myself up and headed to the start point. To my surprise the other riders had already arrived and only 2 riders were yet to arrive. I was in for another surprise when I was told that the ride was supposed to start at 6:00 am however, there would be a 10 minute delay at least since a couple of riders had to get their rented bicycles and the person with the key to the garage was on his way.

By the time the start formalities were done and the route instructions were given it was 6:15 am. There were 6 starters for the brevet and 5 additional riders who were doing a practice ride till Hunsur. The start was as expected, a couple of them starting very fast and a couple of slow starters. I rode at my pace, I kept a check on the speed as I did not want to accelerate too early and hit the wall. I knew that the last 14 kilometers involved a lot of climbing and I wanted to save up for the last segment. However, having a rider in my eye line was tempting and there were times when I tried to catch up with the rider in front and exerted myself more than required. I hoped that the person in front would disappear from my sight so that I could ride at my pace.

I made it to Bilikere by the end of the first hour and as I rode towards Hunsur, I noticed that there were a lot of sections with steep descents and mentally prepared myself for a difficult return. My initial impression of the ride was that it would be difficult to get to Suntikoppa and the return would be a stroll since there would be a lot of descents. However, as I rode towards Hunsur I realised that the return would not be easy. I was passed by the team of riders doing the practice ride and marveled at the pace at which they were riding. There were steep climbs as well on which I was struggling and as the clock ticked towards 8:00 am I was hungry and wanted to stop for breakfast. There are a lot of restaurants in Hunsur and I was confident that the other riders would have stopped at Hunsur and I would join them for breakfast. As I made it up the last climb towards Hunsur, I saw a couple of riders returning, they had reached Hunsur and were on their way back to Mysore.

When I reached the restaurant section, I was surprised to see that the other cyclists had not stopped. They had continued, however I wanted to stop and I passed by two crowded restaurants and stopped at the third which did not look crowded. I went in and saw that the restaurant was full. I waited for 5 minutes and it did not look like anyone was getting up. I hopped onto the cycle and started riding again. Just as I got onto the cycle I was passed by Hemanth and we passed each other a couple of times in the next few kilometers. I reached the junction where we head straight towards Madikeri and the left goes to Gonikoppa and noticed that the organisers were waiting at the junction to give directions to go towards Madikeri. I stopped to have a banana and a quick chat with the organisers and I was off towards Periyapatna. About 10 kilometers off, I reached Coffee Day at Kamalapura and stopped for breakfast. 2 egg wraps and a bottle of juice was ordered with a request to serve it quickly. Having experienced the lethargic service at Coffee Day I kept an eye on being served quickly. As I waited for the food, I saw Hemanth go past Coffee Day. When the egg wraps arrived I was not able to eat it since they were very hot. I had an uneasy waiting period for the wraps to cool down and then gobbled them up before heading back to the bike and continue the ride.

In 15 minutes I was at Periyapatna and a look up the road I saw three riders. Shakir Khan, Sulakshan and Hemanth were riding up front. It looked like they had stopped for breakfast which is why I was able to catch up with them. The ride from Periyapatna to Kushalnagar was about catching up with the 3 riders ahead and chatting with them and then riding ahead when they slowed/stopped for breaks. I was happy that I had made it to Kushalnagar by 11:00 am and braced myself for the climb that was coming up.

Few kilometers out of Kushalnagar I caught up with Prajwal, a quick stop for water and I rode for about a kilometer with Prajwal before he stopped for coffee. I rode on and the feeling of riding in the hills in Kodagu was exhilarating. I passed by a forest outpost which had a lot of visitors since the Dasara elephants were there and it caused a small congregation of vehicles. The roads were relatively empty and the forest area added to the aura of the road. The road was not as steep as I had expected and there were downhill sections as well which allowed me to recover. I caught up with Santhosh who was visibly tiring since he had not stopped for breakfast and was looking at getting to the mid-point and then heading to a restaurant to eat. I told him that we were about 5 kilometers away from the mid-point and that there might not be any hotel at Suntikoppa to eat and that we would need to return to Kushalnagar to grab a bite. He soldiered on since it was 5 kilometers to the mid-point.

As I got closer to Suntikoppa, the legs were feeling good and I was not cramping. I managed to increase the speed and was making quick progress to Suntikoppa when I heard a shout. A quick look back and I noticed that Umesh was signaling to me to stop. I had overshot the mid-point and fortunately he had seen me and called out. I turned back and got off the bike. Just as I was getting the brevet card signed, Santhosh also arrived and we called out to him to stop. Fortunately for Santhosh, Umesh had packed vegetable pulav and he ate it heartily. The quantity was a bit too much for me and I could eat only half of it. Even before I could realise I had already spent 30 minutes at the mid-point and I was aching to get on the road and return. The eagerness to leave was fuelled by the downhill ride to Kushalnagar and also I did not want to lose out on the tail wind. When getting to Suntikoppa, we had a head wind, which did affect the speed a little, however, I was not too worried about the wind and I wanted it to stay on so that I could take advantage of it on the return.

Prajwal reached just as Santhosh and I got ready to leave. We started out and the initial part of the ride was a small uphill and I used this section to get the legs going again. As soon as we hit the downhill I pedaled hard and began to coast. I carried the speed to the up hills and pedaled hard on the up hills as well. In one such uphill I tried to race against a truck and although I managed to keep the truck at bay for about 50 meters, the truck eventually went past and I was left gasping for breath. I kept the speed up in the downhill and as I approached the forest check post there was traffic jam. One elephant was being transported in a truck and the remaining were close to the road leading to inquisitive onlookers slowing down and creating a road block. I was forced to slow down and wriggle my way out and build up speed again. I looked back and did not see Santhosh, I did not wait up and continued to pedal and quickly reached Kushalnagar.

The ride from Kushalnagar was slower and had a few steep climbs. However, with the wind assisting me I was able to keep the average speed up and made my way to Periyapatna very quickly and proceeded further. As I was coming close to Coffee Day there was a temptation to stop for a rest. However, knowing that a rest stop at Coffee Day would cost me at least 30 minutes, I opted to stop at a shop next to the road where I refilled on water and juice and started riding after a quick 10 minute stop. I rode quickly and made it to the junction where we go on straight to Mysore and the right goes to Gonikoppa by 2:15 pm. 50 kilometers completed in 2 hours and I had a further 50 kilometers to go.

The hunger pangs were beginning to bite, however, I did not want to have a heavy meal as it would make things difficult especially with the climbs from Hunsur to Bilikere still remaining. I opted instead to have Coconut water and the Coconut Malai as supplements. I stopped in the Hunsur by-pass and gulped 2 coconuts and the malai and restarted the ride. A few climbs were taxing, however the downhill which followed allowed me to relax and to catch my breath. The ride from Hunsur to Bilikere was not as difficult as I had expected and as I crossed Bilikere, I knew that I was almost done for the day. A little more effort to get through to Ilavala and then there were long downhill cruises to Mysore. As soon as I got into the Mysore limits there were a few climbs, however as I was close to the finish it did not seem to be very difficult.

I reached Cyclopedia, the end point at 4:45 pm and submitted the brevet card for the time entry. Paid the medal fee and headed to the hostel to freshen up. I had completed the ride in 10 hours 30 minutes, I was surprised that I completed the ride quicker than I had expected. I was tired, however, the excitement of completing the ride got the adrenaline flowing and did not allow me to feel the effects of the ride.

Ride Details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Mysore	Hunsur	40	2.00	2.00	6:15	8:15	20.00
Hunsur	Suntikoppa	60	3.00	3.50	8:15	11:45	20.00
Suntikoppa	Hunsur	60	2.75	3.00	11:45	14:45	21.82
Hunsur	Mysore	40	1.75	2.00	14:45	16:45	22.86
		200	9.50	10.50			21.05

Return from Mysore:

Date: 12 September 2016

Start Time: 7:45 am

End Time: 5:00 pm

From: Jayalakshmipuram, Mysore

To: Koramangala, Bangalore

Distance: 155 kilometers

Altitude Profile:

The ride was done, I was not feeling too tired so I decided to return to Bangalore and the rest day was not required. Had thought that I would leave around 10:00 am after breakfast, however, I was up at 5:00 am, all the twisting and turning in the bed to get back to sleep did not work. I got out of the bed at 7:00 am and was ready to leave at 7:45 am.

The initial ride out of Mysore was slow as I did not know the route, used Google maps and a couple of enquiries with people and I was out of Mysore. Things were peaceful so I opted to ride on Mysore road as it had food options. I had not had breakfast and also lunch would be a possibility because of the time when I started, so Mysore Road was a safe option with respect to food. I was feeling sore from the earlier days riding and so the decision was to have a relaxed and slow ride and not to push hard to get to Bangalore. It was a working day as the Bakrid holiday had been postponed and the road was relatively empty. I had ridden about 8 kilometers out of Bangalore when a Volwswagen Polo pulled up beside the road and Prajwal got out of it. I stopped and got to know that he was headed to Bangalore and he offered to take me along. I however declined since the plan was to make a round trip and I had time on hand. A brief chat and he sped towards Bangalore in the car and I resumed with a slow pedal. I reached Srirangapatna and an hour's ride was done. I was hungry and the Srirangapatna climbs were coming up. I opted to stop for breakfast and fill up a little bit before hitting the climbs.

I had pongal and watermelon juice for breakfast. I overdid the watermelon juice as I had two of them and filled myself up a bit too much. When the ride started the thought of having to ride up hill was not very appealing, however having done the route the previous month I knew that it will not be very difficult. I pedaled slowly and steadily, enjoying the music and the view. I noticed about 4 canals filled with water in the stretch from Srirangapatna to Mandya which I did not know existed in all these years of passing on Mysore road. I saw Anil Kadsur riding towards Mysore along with another rider, a quick wave of the hand to acknowledge the riders. As I made my way up the climbs I was not enjoying the route, probably monotony has set in. Even when the down hills started towards Mandya the excitement had not kicked in and it was a struggle to keep myself going. The mind was craving for breaks after every 5 minutes and it took a little effort to keep going and minimise the breaks.

I reached Mandya, the epicenter of all the Kaveri protests. The town was calm and almost empty even at 10:00 am. It looked like the town was asleep and was resting after all the effort put into the protest. I was relieved that there was no protests and was confident that if Mandya has gone silent then there would be no problem further and I would get home easily. As I crossed Mandya I stopped for coconut water and reflected on my timing, and saw that I was decently placed with respect to the time. 50 kilometers in 2 hours 30 minutes was par time however laziness was setting in and the thought that I had 100 kilometers to go was beginning to grow on me and was de-motivating. The thought did cross my mind that I should head to the nearest bus stand and load the cycle on to it and get back home in the next 3 hours. I fought the thought and coaxed myself to ride for another hour and then take a call.

The ride from Mandya to Maddur was slow and steady. I made it to Maddur in an hour and just as I was entering the town I saw the first signs of the Kaveri protest. The protesters had blocked the traffic heading towards Mysore. There was no violence, just standing across the road with a hoarding and not allowing the traffic to move. The traffic heading towards Bangalore was not blocked and I was having a free ride. I did not stop to see what would happen, I continued to ride and was wondering how Mandya was peaceful and Maddur was protesting. I continued riding and even though I did see protesters, the protest was peaceful and I was not worried. I noticed that the road to Bangalore was almost empty and was wondering when was the last time I had seen the Mysore Road so empty.

I reached Channapatna at 12:30 pm and just as I exited Channapatna I saw the police had stopped traffic going towards Mysore and were diverting it towards Kanakpura Road. Half an hour later I was at Ramanagar and it was the same, the traffic was being diverted towards Kanakpura Road. The police were making an announcement as well that protests were happening at Mandya, Maddur and Malavalli. I found it strange that only traffic going towards Mysore was being diverted and the traffic towards Bangalore was not being diverted. The assumption was that things were fine in Bangalore and therefore no diversion was required.

I was not hungry and did not stop for lunch. I stopped after Bidadi to refill on water and that's when I received a message from my sister that Bangalore was boiling as well and that trouble had erupted and that I should avoid Mysore Road. I had already done 120 kilometers on Mysore Road and taking a deviation seemed to be unnecessary, I told her that I would continue on Mysore Road as there was no trouble on it.

I was beginning to tire as I had not had lunch and was getting to the point where I just wanted to get home, freshen up and then have something to eat. I had completed most of the climbs towards Bangalore and was bracing myself for the climbs within Bangalore till the market area and then the relaxed ride home. However, when I reached Kumbalagodu I did see a few protesters standing beside the road and about to block the road. However, the cops were there too and the protest was not in the middle of the road, it was beside the road and as such did not hinder traffic movement. From here till Kengeri I came across a lot of protesters beginning to assemble, however traffic movement was not affected. I hoped that I would be able to make it home in the same route and I did not want to take a deviation through Utarahalli as the route from Utarahalli is very steep. Within a kilometer from Kengeri town, when I reached RV college the traffic was not allowed to go ahead. Everyone including two wheelers were being turned away. I had no option but to turn back and ride through Utarahalli.

I was not very happy with the turn of events and Prajwal's offer to drive back to Bangalore was pinching me as I had not accepted the offer. I had to ride back for a kilometer towards Kengeri to take the turn towards Utarahalli and start the climbs. I was using Google maps for directions and at the same time messages started pouring in on Whatsapp about the protests turning violent, a sense of panic was setting in. Protesters had gathered in huge numbers at all the junctions and shouting slogans and others were on bikes riding through the streets shouting slogans. I was tired and was more worried about the climbs and the route rather than the protests since the protests were not hindering traffic.

As I got further into Bangalore, the traffic increased and I could see the panic amongst the drivers as they were desperate to get home. Public transport was minimal leading to a lot of people having to walk home. Residential areas where anxious parents waited for their kids to reach home and junctions where a lot of protesters gathered to burn tires in the middle of the road and watch the fire. Getting though Uttarahalli was little problematic as the road had been closed, however, I did have the option of going through the interior lanes to get out of the blockade. Managed to make my way to Outer Ring Road and then to Banashankari. The protests in Banashankari was more with even the interior routes being blocked. I rode past burning tires and hoped that I would not get stopped by the group of protesters. I did not worry too much as I am a localite and as such knew that I would be able to talk myself out of any complication on the road. As I got into Jayanagar, I was slightly relieved as I knew that Jayanagar has a lot of interior routes and that I would have a lot of alternate routes to get back home. In one of the interior roads where a fire had been lit, a police jeep came to a screeching stop right in front of me and the cop stepping out of the jeep was slightly hindered by my passing the jeep. I did not stop to see what would happen like most of the residents in the area were doing, they were all out of their homes and watching the protests rather than being indoors which would be the safer option. After I crossed Jayanagar, I had an uneventful ride home. I reached home at 5:00 pm and freshened up and ate up to re-energise myself.

The ride through the protests was not something that I wanted and I was relived to make it back. Hats off to all those on the road who even under stressful conditions followed traffic rules and waited at signals. There were the riders/drivers who incited more panic by riding recklessly and created traffic road blocks by jumping signals and cutting in front of others. However, largely driving was disciplined. Protests were being made, however people were not being targeted and were being allowed to get home. I got the feeling that most of the panic was created with the messages circulated on social media and that the general sense of panic would not have been stoked if not for social media. The flip side of social media was on full show and I hope that people learn from the experience rather than to make things worse. The sight of the city coming to a halt and being taken over by fear and protests was not a sight that I enjoyed.

Ride Details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Mysore	Mandya	50	2:50	3.00	7:45	10:45	20.00
Mandya	Ramanagar	50	2.00	2.25	10:45	13:00	25.00
Ramanagar	Koramangala	55	3.75	4.00	13:00	17:00	14.67
		155	8.25	9.25			18.79