Shivamogga (600 Kilometer Brevet)

Date: 16 June 2017

Total distance: 614 Kilometers

Start Time: 4:10 pm 16 June 2017

Return Time:  7:35 am 18 June 2017

With: Rajkumar Khot

Altitude Profile:
Lavelle Road – Channarayapatna - Shivamogga - Channarayapatna - Lavelle Road

I registered for the 600KM Brevet. The route was Channarayppatna - Arsikere - Shivamogga and return on the same route. I have ridden on this route before except for the  50 kilometer stretch between Channarayapatna and Arsikere. I was undecided on the cycle and had more or less settled on the road bike, however, after last week's ride, even though I had struggled I wanted to attempt this on the MTB. As I had done two 600KM brevets on the road bike, I wanted to attempt this on the MTB and see if I can handle the distance. Further with the ride to North India in the pipeline this would serve as a good practice on the MTB.

I was unable to sleep well the night before the ride. I was worried since it meant that it would effectively result in 3 nights without sleep and was apprehensive of being able to fight sleep on the return leg of the ride. It was a rushed day before the ride. I had forgotten to charge the power bank, lights and iPod. A little bit of scrambling with respect to charging the lights and packing the handle bar bag. Time flew and before I knew it, it was time to leave. Rajkumar messaged around 2:00 pm that he was leaving and reached my place at 2:15 pm. I was still getting ready. 15 more minutes and we were on the road heading to the start point.

Dark clouds were above us and rain was imminent. It was only a question of when the clouds would open up and we were speculating that it would be a wet start and that we would not be able to escape the rains. We made it to the Old airport road when it began to pour. We stopped and waited for 30 minutes for the rain to stop. We started the ride after the rain stopped and rode through wet roads and by the time we reached the start point (Airlines hotel) we were covered in muck from the road. We needed a change of clothes before the ride had even started, however a change was not going to be available for the next two days. We met the organisers and all the old faces along with a few new faces. It was a good group of riders and although it was a 600KM ride it was a good turnout with over 35 riders starting.

The rain and the large group resulted in a  delay in the start of the ride by 10 minutes. For the first time it seemed like a brevet as the riders were not riding it like a race and were slow to start. In spite of starting almost 20 seconds after the flag off I was part of the lead group of riders. We had to make our way through heavy traffic in the city and I was able to ride on the footpath without fear of a puncture as I was riding the MTB. I was able to get away from the city quickly, however I got stuck at the Gorguntepalya signal which took almost 5 minutes to turn green. By this time most of the riders had caught up with us. As we got past the signal there was a host of riders going past me. I was not concerned with the riders going past as I was riding to my schedule and as long as I was keeping with my schedule I knew there was nothing to be worried about.

I rode over the Peenya flyover and then made it to Nelamangala and turned onto the Mangalore highway. The Go Green riders and Rajkumar were about 100 meters behind me and I slowed down to ride in the group. We were chit chatting as we rode and were making good progress. There were riders streaming past, however I was not concerned as I was riding just over the average speed required. We had made it past Kunigal when Rajkumar and I fell behind the group as Rajkumar took a loo break and as we resumed the ride Satish Addanki caught up with us. He had started the ride about 30 minutes after us and had caught up with us. There was no stopping him either as he sped past us.

It took a while but we caught up with the Go Green riders and with Satish who had made a stop to check on the route. We rode for a further 15 minutes when we reached the first control point. The plan was to have dinner at Bellur Cross which was a kilometer ahead and not to spend time at Coffee Day which was the control point. We made a quick stop to take a selfie and got back on the cycle and rode towards Mayura hotel. 5 minutes and we were at Mayura hotel. It was 9:15 pm when we stopped for dinner. Ashok and Venkatesh were done with their dinner and were leaving. We ordered meals and as we waited for the food to arrive the other riders began to arrive. Within 10 minutes a whole host of riders were at Mayura hotel.

The food took time to arrive and by the time we were done with food and refilled water it was 10:00 pm. We were done with 100 kilometers and had taken 6 hours for it with a dinner stop. Mohan Sir reminded us that we should not waste time as we needed to get to Arsikere by 3:00 am to be able to finish the ride comfortably. Satish, Rajkumar and I started the ride at 10:00 pm. The Go Green boys took some time to get going as Sunil decided to quit.

We got onto the road and started slowly as it was a climb. Within 5 minutes of the restart Rajkumar found speed in his legs and began to ride very fast, Satish followed, however I was not able to keep pace. It took all of 5 minutes for me to lose sight of their tail lights. I tried to up the pace, however was being held back by the thought that I had 500 kilometers remaining and not 100. After a few kilometers I saw that Rajkumar had stopped and was waiting for me. We rode together from here at a steady pace. Not very fast but above the required average. I had settled into a rhythm and was able to increase the pace a little. The ride from Yadiyur to Channarayapatna was uphill, however it was not very difficult as we were just 100 kilometers into the ride, I was riding easily. The kilometers were being ticked off pretty quickly and with smaller targets like Hirisave and Kirisave in between we were able to get to Channarayapatna in 2 hours. I remembered the last time that I had ridden this route and had been impeded badly by the wind. We got onto the Channarayapatna by pass and rode about 4 kilometers before stopping at a shop for tea, water and to buy biscuits as we would not get anything for the next 50 kilometers. As we sipped on tea a few outstation riders joined us and just as we started from the shop we were joined by Mohan Sir as well.

5 more kilometers and we had to turn from the National highway onto the state highway going to Arsikere. We had been informed that this section is isolated and it was advisable to ride in a group here. When we entered the road we were about 8 riders in the group. 4 riders were riding quick and I was able to keep pace, when I looked back I saw that Rajkumar had fallen behind, I slowed down and waited for Rajkumar to catch up. We had Jeetender also for company. 3 of us rode steadily, neither too quick nor too slow. Mohan Sir had fallen behind. We could see the lights from Shanti Grama in the distance and it looked pretty close as it was in the night. It was rolling terrain and having seen the gradient profile, I knew that we would have to climb for about 25 kilometers on this stretch before getting into a downhill section. The rolling terrain was instilling fear since the downhill's were steep and we would have to climb back up on the return. It was pitch dark and the road was also not in good condition. It was filled with potholes and gave very little leeway for errors. It helped that Jeetender had powerful lights and we were able to see the road ahead for at least 50 meters. As we ticked off the kilometers with relative ease we stopped for a break with 20 kilometers remaining to Arsikere.

I was sure that we were almost done with the rolling terrain and should be hitting the downhill gradient in a short while. As we were resting, a few more riders came by and opted to stop as well. Mohan Sir also caught up and stopped. A couple of young riders were part of the group now and they had just returned from a ride to Tirupathi and were feeling the effects of the ride. We chatted for a bit and were once again reminded by Mohan Sir that we needed to get going and that we could rest at the Control Point at Arsikere. We got back on the saddle and started the ride. The rolling terrain continued. The two youngsters zipped past us and were gone in a few seconds. We continued our steady pace and as we got past the rolling terrain and entered downhill area I increased the pace. The Arsikere hill was visible in the distance due to the lights leading up the hill. I kept that as a marker and kept pushing the pace. As it was mostly downhill I was able to make up a little on the time front and just as we were reaching Arsikere, I saw one of the young riders waving to us to stop. We stopped and he said that his partner had crashed at the spot and that he was badly injured. He had stopped a passing vehicle and had requested them to drop the rider at Coffee Day which was the second control point. He asked for Mohan Sir as he wanted to inform him that Daryl's ride was over. I told him to ride to Coffee Day as Daryl had been dropped at Coffee Day and that Mohan Sir would also come to Coffee Day in a short while.

We made it into town and got past the rolling terrain near Arsikere and made it to Coffee Day, the second control point at 3:00 am. We had completed 200 kilometers and were on schedule on the time front. Only 4 riders had reached before us of which Arpit and Saday were still in Coffee Day. I did not want to spend too much time at Coffee Day and wanted it to be a quick stop. We did not want to eat nor refill on water, so the plan was to get going quickly. The only surprising element was that Satish was not to be seen as he had not reached Coffee Day. We speculated that he would have stopped at the Arsikere bus stand for coffee. I went to the rest room and as I came out I saw that Rajkumar was on the phone. When he got off the phone he said that he had spoken to Satish and that Mohan Sir had crashed as well and Satish was taking him to the hospital. He wanted us to inform Alok the organiser that Mohan had crashed and also wanted us to coordinate with Alok for numbers of a rider from Chennai who was now near the crash spot. It took a further 30 minutes for riders to start arriving and with it came news that 2 other riders had crashed at the same spot. This was beginning to become a ride of attrition and as the casualties mounted Satish made it to Coffee Day. He came and sent Daryl to the hospital in an auto along with Umesh and said that he would wait at the control point until they returned. He also said that he had decided not to ride further and would ride back after the boys came back.

Rajkumar told Satish that he should ride ahead instead of riding back. It was still 3:45 am and as we had sufficient buffer it seemed that we did not have to worry about the time. The only downside was that I was awake and did not use the opportunity to catch up on sleep. Effectively I was losing out on productive hours and I was hoping that it would not come back to bite me. As we waited for Daryl and Umesh to come the other riders came and they started from the control point. The clock kept ticking and when Daryl and Umesh came by it was 4:30 am. By this time the Go Green boys had arrived and said that Shashi had also crashed at the same spot. He had wounded his knee and had a swollen wrist. He was struggling to ride and was considering quitting the ride. Meanwhile 3 more riders arrived and they had crashed as well although not at the same spot. Fortunately there were a group of 3 doctors who had stopped at Coffee Day and they helped the riders with a pain killer injection and some ointment and had said that they were not serious injuries and it was ok to continue.

It was 4:45 am when we restarted the ride from Coffee Day. The buffer that had been built had been lost. It effectively meant that we had to ride a 400km brevet from here on. We had 27 hours for the 400km, a relatively easy task on any other day, however considering that we had already ridden 200 kilometers and were without sleep for an entire night (2 in my case) and had a lot of climbing to be done the 27 hours deadline seemed like a touch and go affair.

Satish was doing the pace setting and I was sitting on his wheel. It was a steady pace and I was able to hang onto his wheel. Rajkumar maintained a constant gap and as we made our way towards Kadur the gap between Rajkumar and us began to open. We were 8 kilometers from Kadur when I told Satish to stop as Rajkumar had fallen behind. A 5 minute stop and we were back on the saddle. We entered Kadur and made a stop for Coffee/Tea. I was hungry, however I opted just to drink coffee and we got back on the saddle after 10 minutes.

By the time I packed the saddle bag, Satish and Rajkumar were gone and I was about 50 meters behind. It took a while, but I was able to catch up with them and then get onto Satish's wheel as we sped towards Tarikere. My energy reserves were beginning to deplete and although I wanted to stop at Tarikere I felt that it would be difficult to stop at Tarikere since we were behind on the time front. When we did reach Tarikere we saw that Vikas, Sachin and Aatish had stopped for breakfast and Satish also stopped. We realised that Rajkumar had fallen behind and he came by in a minute. We stopped for breakfast and ate dosa's. Rajkumar was having a problem with his drive train as it was worn and the chain was slipping. It was difficult for him to put any sort of pressure on the pedals to increase the pace. It was 8:00 am when we stopped at Tarikere and we were back on the road at 8:40 am.

We were 40 kilometers from Shivamogga which was the mid-point. We had 3 hours to ride 40 kilometers. We had managed to pull things back a little on the time front, however considering that there was climbing on the way back I wanted to have as much of a buffer as possible. When we restarted, it was again the same formation, Satish riding ahead, me on Satish's wheel and Rajkumar a little behind. As we rode on and reached Bhadravathi, Satish had pulled away, I was riding quick, and managed to keep the gap at a max of 50 meters. Rajkumar was behind and was riding slowly. I was worried on the time front, however as we closed in on Shivamogga, we had not seen any of the front runners returning. That was a bit of a consolation as I had expected that we were behind the front runners by at least 3 hours by now. However, with just 15 kilometers remaining to the mid-point and none of the riders returning the gap was smaller and it was a relief as well that we were not behind on time.

We stopped for a few minutes just as we got to the end of the Bhadravathi by pass for Rajkumar to catch up. When we got past the bypass, Ashok and Venkatesh went past us. A few more kilometers and Arpit and Saday were on their way back. After this there were no other riders returning. We made it to Shivamogga outskirts and got onto the bypass and rode on bad roads and heavy traffic and made it to the KSRTC bus stand. It was 10:30 am and we had caught up with Vikas and group who were just about to start their return. We took the selfie and were refilling on water when Rajkumar saw that his rear tire was punctured. Fixing the puncture took 30 minutes and we were back on the road.

The return was difficult. The heat was up and it was climbing. The group again followed the same formation with Satish riding ahead. Although it was slow progress I was not pressing the panic button as we had a 1 hour buffer on the time front. Moreover, even though the progress was slow we were able to ride at the required average and were not losing time. When I reached Bhadravathi I thought that I was done with the climbing and was expecting an easy ride to Tarikere before the next round of climbing starts. However, contrary to my expectation the climbing continued and I was making slow progress. Satish was not to be seen ahead of me and when I looked back Rajkumar was also not there. I opted to ride ahead expecting that Rajkumar would be riding slowly on account of the drive train issue and that he would catch up. The heat combined with the climbing was sapping my energy. I was struggling a little to keep the pedals going, however every time I got a flat section I was able to increase the speed which gave me hope that it was the gradient and wind that was hampering me and that I was not down physically. I made it to the turn to Lakkavalli and as Rajkumar had not caught up, I stopped to wait for him. 5 minutes later there was no sign of Rajkumar, I knew that he would have had another puncture and the gap could be more than 5 minutes only on account of the puncture. I was 5 kilometers from Tarikere and was very hungry. I decided to ride into town and have lunch by which time I was sure that Rajkumar would catch up.

It was 1:15 pm when I reached the restaurant where we had stopped for breakfast, Vikas and group were there and Satish was also there. I ordered a meal for myself and dug into it as I was very hungry. I was literally on my last bit of energy when I made it to the restaurant and would have struggled if food was not available. Satish and I were done with our meal and Rajkumar had still not arrived. I called Rajkumar and he said that he had a puncture and was just outside Tarikere and would be at the restaurant in 5 minutes. Rajkumar reached at 1:40 pm and he was forced to have a quick lunch. We were back on the saddle at 2:00pm.

We were 60 kilometers from Arsikere, we had 5 hours to make it to Arsikere and were doing well on the time front. However, I had kept the cut off as 6pm to get to Arsikere if I wanted to make it back on time. The buffer was for the section from Arsikere to Channarayapatna as it involved a lot of climbing. We effectively had 4 hours to ride 60 kilometers, which is not too difficult and if we were able to ride the next 20 kilometers well then we would be able to build a bigger buffer for the Arsikere-Channarayapatna section. When we started, I sat on Satish's wheel and was able to sit behind him. Every time he increased the pace, I was able to catch up. Rajkumar was just a few meters behind. We made good progress in spite of the heat and when I made it to the railway crossing before Kadur, I knew that the climbing was done and that we would have a relatively easy 20 kilometers before the climbing started again. Satish began to accelerate and I tried to hang onto his wheel. I was doing pretty well at staying close till we got to Birur when Satish pulled away for good. Although I was not able to keep pace with Satish, I kept the pace up and in a short while I was at Kadur and rode out of Kadur and saw that Satish had stopped at a shop to have tea. I stopped and refilled on water. Rajkumar came by just as Vikas and group passed us, they had stopped at Kadur. We took a short 10 minute break before resuming. We had decided that we would not stop for long at the Arsikere control point as it would help us to get past Arsikere - Channarayapatna stretch in daylight.

When we restarted, Satish sped away, I took time to get going. Rajkumar and I were riding together. It was back to riding steadily and it took a while to get going. The sight of a fellow cyclist in the distance was what got me going. Now that I had a target in sight, I increased the speed and as we got closer to the control point I was beginning to reel in other riders. The Sun had begun its descent and it was a beautiful evening which unfortunately was being spoilt to a certain extent on account of my quest in building a time buffer for the latter part of the ride. As I caught up and passed the riders Rajkumar was also close behind and we made it to the Arsikere Control point at 5:20 pm. Satish had reached 15 minutes earlier and as we pulled in at Coffee Day the riders that we had passed also streamed in.

We were welcomed by Alok and Pavan and given refreshments. We got the brevet cards signed and in spite of planning to make this a short stop it became a 30 minute stop. We had a little daylight left and wanted to get as far as possible on the Arsikere - Channarayapatna stretch in daylight. I ate curd rice and drank a little juice and was ready to leave. We started from coffee day at 5:50 pm. We got onto the state highway and within a kilometer we reached the railway gate. We had to wait for 5 minutes for a goods train carrying petrol to pass before we could resume the ride. It was 6:00 pm effectively when we started the ride. The climb started and as I got fleeting glimpses of a beautiful sun set behind me we began to knock off the kilometers. Initially as the gradient was not steep and moreover with daylight available we were making good progress. However with the light dipping our speed came down as the road was not good and also the oncoming traffic lights were blinding us. My lights were running out of juice and were not powerful enough which made it a struggle to increase the pace. We rode on the rolling terrain and were careful enough to avoid potholes. We made it past the steep section and could see the highway in the distance. However, this was like dangling the carrot in front of us and the more we rode the highway just did not come by. It was mentally taxing as the highway never arrived, I tried to keep the pace steady and when I saw Shanti Grama I knew that I was close to the highway. Kept churning the pedals, however, with the highway still some distance away I began to struggle to pedal. More than struggling to pedal I was finding it very uncomfortable to sit on the saddle. I thought that the saddle sore had worsened and in spite of trying hard I was not able to pedal at average speed and finally with the highway about a kilometer away I slowed down. Rajkumar rode ahead and waited for me as soon as he hit the highway. When I did join the highway I stopped and checked the back tire. It was a puncture. The reason for the struggle was revealed.

We got down to fixing the puncture. We had light as we had made it to the highway. It was 8:45 pm. We were bound to lose time, however, we could not think on the time front and started to fix the puncture. I was struggling on the physical front and Rajkumar immediately got down to removing the tube. He removed the tube and inserted the new tube and I pumped air into the new tube. It took us 30 minutes to get going again. The organisers passed us when we were fixing the puncture and offered to help. However, we were almost done with the job and told them that we could handle it. We told them to inform Satish that we had a puncture if they saw him ahead.

It was 9:15 pm and had 45 kilometers to get to the control point which would take us at least 2 hours even though it was downhill. Rajkumar wanted to ride, however I was hungry and told him that I needed a refill. There were hotels around and we decided to stop for dinner rather than a light meal and then riding to the control point. We had roti and egg curry and as the clock ticked by we knew that this was going to be a close knit affair with respect to the time. We took 40 minutes for dinner and started the ride at 10:10 pm. We had 3 hours to get to the control point in which we had to ride 45 kilometers. Doable as it was downhill.

We started slowly and then picked up the speed. We made quick progress in the night. The climbs were becoming taxing and slowing me down, however I was still able to keep going at a quick pace. However, sleep was catching up and the real test began as to how I was going to keep sleep at bay and ride for about 125 kilometers. I did not want to sleep at the control point and wanted to make it a quick stop. However, as the kilometers ticked by I knew that I had to rest at the control point and had thought that a 10 minutes sleep would only do good rather than harm. We kept churning the pedal and made it to the control point at 12:15 am. We had reached earlier than expected, I got the brevet card signed and went into coffee day and took a quick nap for 10 minutes. Freshened up and got back on the road at 1:00 am.

We had 7 hours for the remaining 100 kilometers. Based on earlier rides I knew that getting to Solur would be difficult, but once we make it to Solur the rest of the ride eases out. Rajkumar was riding ahead and we rode 2 kilometers from the control point and reached the Yadiyur toll booth. Rajkumar was about 10 meters ahead of me and as he made his way past the toll station and was crossing over the cow catcher, his front wheel got stuck between the cow catcher and flipped him over. Even though he was riding at a slow speed , the tiredness did not allow him to react quickly and he went face down into the road. I could see that he was not moving after the fall and by the time I got to him, I could see that his eyes were open but he was dazed. As it was a toll booth there were others around and they immediately came by to help. When we picked Rajkumar up, he did not know what had happened. It was very worrying when he was saying that he did not know what he was doing there. I saw that he had a cut under his right eye, where the spectacles had pressed against the skin and that he had bitten the inside of his mouth leading to a big gash inside his mouth and there was a small cut on the upper lip. Although he was wounded there was not much loss of blood. We picked him up and sat him down on the footpath and gave him water. As other riders began to go past us Rajkumar said that he was ok and that they could ride on. I needed a band aid to cover the wound so that there will be no further blood loss. However, I was not carrying a medical kit. I called Alok and informed him of the crash and asked him for a band aid and cotton. Alok, said that rather than waiting for him to come by after closing the control point, it would be better if I ride back to collect the band aid. I told Rajkumar to wait and rode back to Coffee Day. Collected the band aid and cotton and rode back as quickly as I could by which time a passerby had already given Rajkumar a band aid and had taped the wound. Rajkumar who was in a dazed state had begun to find his bearings by then. I checked with him on continuing the ride, which I had feared was over immediately after the fall, however he was ok to ride.

It was almost 2:00 am when we started the ride. I did not want to push the pace even though we were behind on the time front. I knew that we could make up for the lost time if Rajkumar recovered and wanted to take it slow and give him time. We rode at around 15 kmph and made slow progress. We made a couple of very short stops to rest during which I told Rajkumar that it was risky to ride on and that we should load the cycles onto a luggage auto and get back since Rajkumar was saying that his vision was impaired. I feared that he had a concussion and that riding under stress would only make it worse. However, Rajkumar was determined to complete and said that he would ride on.

When we restarted, I was struggling with sleep and was finding it very difficult to keep my eyes open. There were a couple of occasions when I ventured into the middle of the road and I was longing for a sleep break. The sight of other cyclists sleeping beside the road only weakened me further as I knew that I could also afford to take a break. Thought that I could make it to Solur before stopping, however, it was getting very difficult and I had to stop at Kunigal. Saw a bus stop and immediately dozed off until I was woken up by Rajkumar in 10 minutes.

When we restarted the ride Swami and Prasad caught up with us. We were surprised when we saw them as we had thought that they had quit the ride. I was in awe of them for having managed on the time front in spite of having been delayed at Shivamogga where they gave an interview and also met up with friends. Further, I got to know that Shashi had ridden till Arsikere before stopping as the pain from the fall became too much to handle. Chatted with Swami and increased the pace. Rajkumar had also recovered and as we got closer to Solur I began to struggle again, this time with the climb. However, I was confident that the road eases out after Solur and kept pushing myself to get to Solur. It took a little effort, but when I made it to Solur I was relieved. The ride from Solur to Nelamagala was relatively easy, however I was very sleepy and wanted to stop again for a quick nap. However, with under 40 kilometers to the finish, stopping for a quick nap was not an option. I had to keep riding. When I crossed the last toll on the Mangalore highway I expected that I would get onto the Tumkur road in a short while but it took longer than I expected and it was very difficult to ride as I was almost asleep. I wanted to stop for tea and did check at a couple of hotels for tea, however it was 6:00 am and too early for tea. Rajkumar gave the biscuits which we had bought the previous night. I munched on the biscuits as we rode and made slow progress to get to Tumkur Road.

It was 6:15 am when we made it to Tumkur Road and I had woken up a little after filling my stomach with biscuits. Got onto the Tumkur road and were making good progress when I got drowsy again. It was a struggle to ride and I told Rajkumar to ride ahead and that I would come by a little later and I was beginning to slow him down a lot. However, he said that he would ride with me and stayed behind. I made slow progress and was waiting to get to Peenya metro station. As soon as I got to the metro station, I was able to increase the speed and made quick progress and made it to the city limits and rode through empty city streets except near the Raj Bhavan area where there were more cops than vehicles since the President is going to be in town for the Metro inauguration. We rode quickly and got to the finish at 7:30 am. We had reached 30 minutes before closing time. I was happy to have finished although the thought that it would have been a quicker ride if not for all the issues that we faced during the ride. I was feeling lucky as well since I had gotten away without a crash in a ride in which 10 guys crashed out of the 36 starters. 8 of the guys who crashed had to stop and Rajkumar and Mansukh were able to complete in spite of crashing.