Nandi Hills

Date: 22 October 2016

Start Time: 4:35 am

End Time: 12:45 pm

From: Koramangala, Bangalore

To: Nandi Hills

With: Sushanth & Sunil till Hebbal flyover, Chetan till Airport Road Toll

Distance: 136 kilometers

Altitude Profile:

Chetan is the new addition to the cycling group and every time there is an addition there is a push to get things going again. A welcome ride had to be done and my requirement to do some climbing made me lean towards Nandi Hills since it is the closest hill. A few rounds of checking about who will come on the ride and the list was down to Sushanth and Sunil riding till Hebbal and Chetan and I to continue riding towards Nandi Hills.

I was surprised that I was able to do the ride to Madikeri and Ooty which involved a lot of climbing without suffering from cramps at anytime during the ride. I will have to test myself on Nandi Hills now to be certain that the climbing ability has improved since this hill has always been difficult for me and I have struggled every time I have attempted it. Am hoping that I can get through to the top unscathed.

A lot of discussion about what time the ride would start and what we should bring along for the ride. There was definitely an excitement about the ride and I thought that the group would be inspired to ride the entire distance. I had decided to ride the road bike and made a few checks to get the cycle ready. Set the alarm for 3:15 am and went to bed at 12:00 pm.

I woke up promptly when the alarm rang and sent out the message to the group and received a reply from Sushanth and Chetan. I knew that the ride was on and was going to be on time. I got ready and was ready to go at 3:50 am when I received a call from Sunil asking for the time of departure. I was a little perplexed that there was a confusion about the departure time and was told that Chetan had proposed 4:30 am for the start. Rechecked the messages and saw that Chetan had proposed the revised time and Sushanth had agreed. So the start was going to be at 4:30 am. I sat and waited for the guys to arrive. Could not wait for more than 10 minutes and decided to ride around the block till the guys arrive. When I stepped outside, Chetan was already waiting, I came back in and Chetan and I waited for Sushanth to arrive. Sushanth arrived promptly at 4:30 am and Sunil followed in 5 minutes. We did not waste any more time and started as soon as Sunil arrived.

It was a misty morning and we rode slowly through the city. Sushanth and Sunil restarting to ride  and Chetan having just started I was not keen on pushing the pace lest it demotivates them. The speed generally hovered around the 12 kmph mark. As we crossed the golf course section and rolling terrain commenced the speed picked up and we made good use of the down hills and sped towards the Hebbal flyover. I made it past the flyover and Chetan followed suit, I stopped before the Yelahanka flyover and waited for Sunil and Sushanth to arrive. However, after a 5 minute wait they did not arrive, I checked my phone and saw that Sunil had called. I called him back and got to know that Sunil and Sushanth had turned back. Well the previous days excitement was not enough to make them pedal longer.

Chetan and I continued riding and rode slowly over the flyover. Being Chetan's first ride I did not push for speed and was happy that he was riding and wanted him to complete the ride at his pace. The morning mist had not cleared as yet and the temperature was still cool. The pace of the ride was not sufficient to warm the body and I was feeling the chill. I rode ahead and every time the gap opened up I would stop and wait for Chetan to catch up. At one stop he did state that he wanted to have breakfast and we decided to have breakfast at Indian Parata Company which is near the turn from the highway to Nandi Hills. However, we were making very slow progress and at 7:30 am we were near the Airport toll and still had 10 kilometers to go for the restaurant. I waited for Chetan to catch up and when he did we decided to stop for breakfast since 10 kilometers would take another hour at least at the current pace.

We had a quick breakfast. A plate of idly vada during which Chetan decided that he would not ride further and would return. I was a little disappointed that he was returning and did think about returning with him. However, I did not want to miss the opportunity to climb up the hill and opted to continue the ride.

The ride from the Airport toll to the turn from the highway was quick. It was down hill and all the energy that I had conserved over the first 35 kilometers of the ride was being expended now and it was being expended fast. It took about 30 minutes to reach the turn from the highway and as I rode on for the first time I came across a closed gate at the railway crossing. Waited for the train to pass and then continued to ride quick. However, the gradient was picking up and as the road went up the pace dropped. Along with the gradient increasing the wind was up and I was having a head wind. Although I was not happy with the head wind, I knew that the return journey will be easier as I would have a tail wind. I caught the first glimpse of the hills and even though it looked very close it took some time to get to the end of the road.

I made the left and the road continued to climb. In a few minutes I could see that I was approaching the climb and I was excited since I was feeling good and the legs were not tired. I shifted into the low gear in the front so that I would not get caught out when the climb started. I reached the foot hill and knowing that the start of the climb was steep I worked my way down on the gears and hoped that the legs would not give up on me when I made the first couple of turns.

On all my previous attempts at this hill I have started cramping at the end of of the first couple of curves and although I was feeling good today, I was worried that the legs might not hold. When I made my way past and the legs did not cramp, I knew that it was a license to me to try and ride up the hill and to record a personal best time for the climb. The gradient was steep, however having done the climb before I knew that the gradeint eases off and did not panic. I tried to keep the speed above 10 kmph and was doing a decent job of it. Based on the speedometer reading I had estimated that I would cover the first 4 kilometers of the climb in 12 minutes, however when I did complete the 4 kilometers I was disappointed to see that I had taken 20 minutes to complete it. I do not know where I lost time, however I did not allow that to bother me and continued to ride.

The back was beginning to hurt, I managed the back by standing and pedalling, a luxury that I had for the first time on this hill. As the gradient picked up and hair pin curves started I had the luxury of taking the wide route round the curves since the traffic was surprisingly thin for a Saturday morning. I saw about 15-20 cyclists on their way down, however the sight which was inspiring was that of a 8-10 year kid pedaling up the hill on his mountain bike. He had a consistent rhythm and did not look like tiring. It kicked me to complete the ride up the hill without taking a break. I had not noticed that I had shifted into the lowest gear on the front and at the back and when the gradient began to kick with just 3 kilometers left I was searching for a lower gear. I missed the MTB for a fleeting second before accepting that I had to put in a little more effort to complete the climb. The countdown from 3 to 2 took some doing since the gradient was steep, however it eased out with 2 kilometers left and I made it comfortably to the top.

I stopped at the entrance, took a few photos, did not want to go to the top since I knew that entry to a 'single' person is not allowed. The adrenaline was kicking in since I had completed the climb and there was a push to get back on the saddle and start riding again. I made a quick ride downhill with a few stops to click a few snaps and before I knew it I was at the foot hill again. I did not waste any time and I sped towards the highway. I did feel the effects of the climb, however the elation at having completed the climb and also the tail wind was pushing me to keep riding and I was making quick progress.

The ride from the foot hill to the highway was a breeze and I was left wondering how I had struggled on all the previous rides. I wanted to stop to have a tender coconut water, however, the speed of the ride was pushing me to keep going. The ride on the highway was also quick and I realised that I was making up for the slow start. The wind was helping and I made quick progress. I took the flyovers and avoided the time consuming traffic signals below and before I knew it I was at Hebbal.

The sight of a traffic jam at the Hebbal flyover was disappointing. I squeezed my way past traffic and having lost all the momentum of the ride I had to revise the expected finish time. The traffic was heavy and was pushing me to ride hard on the flyovers. I was invariably jogging on the wheels and putting a lot of pressure on the chain. I went from one traffic jam to another, traffic at Hebbal Flyover to Mekhri Circle to Palace Road. I felt the chain slip for the first time when I was making my way up the Windsor Manor underpass, the first time it has happened, a look down and the chain was fine, a tentative pedal and the cycle was still going forward, I continued to ride hard. I shifted a couple of gear and it was working fine, I made my way past Infantry road and then to MG Road. From here on every time I restarted at a traffic signal or if I jogged on the wheels, the chain would slip, I backed off the speed and rode slowly from here just to get back home. The traffic signals were the worst since the chain would slip everytime, I did not make the stop to have juice and wanted to get back before any further damage is done. I made it home at 12:45 pm and was happy with the ride although there is some cycle maintenance to be done.

Ride details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Koramangala	Hebbal Flyover	17	1.00	1.25	4:30	5:45	17.00
Hebbal Flyover	Airport Road Toll	18	1.50	2.00	5:45	7:45	12.00
Airport Road Toll	Nandi Foot Hill	25	1.25	1.25	7:45	8:55	20.00
Nandi Foot Hill	Nandi Peak	8	0.75	0.75	8:55	9:40	10.67
Nandi Peak	Nandi Foot Hill	8	0.25	0.50	9:40	10:15	32.00
Nandi Foot Hill	Airport Road Toll	25	0.75	0.75	10:15	11:00	33.33
Airport Road Toll	Hebbal Flyover	18	0.75	0.75	11:00	11:45	24.00
Hebbal Flyover	Koramangala	17	0.75	1.00	11:45	12:45	22.67
		136	7.00	8.25			19.43