Sir Arthur Cotton Ride (1,000 Kilometer Brevet)

Date: 26 January 2018 - 29 January 2018

Total distance: 1,013 Kilometers

Start Time: 11:00 am 26 January 2018

Return Time:  7:00 am 29 January 2018

With: Shashidar KC, Amarchand

Altitude Profile:

Hyderabad - Hanamkonda - Eturnagaram - Bhadrachalam - Maredumilli - Rajahmundry - Vijayawada - Suryapet - Hyderabad

I had started off the year with a 170 kilometer ride and was fairly happy with the recovery from achilles tendonitis. Although I knew that riding a 1,000 kilometer brevet was asking for too much, I decided to risk it and hoped that the leg would hold. If it held, then it would be great, if not I was prepared for time off the saddle again. I did think of riding the 600 kilometer by the Bangalore Randonneurs which was scheduled for the same day, however, as it was a repeat of the 1,000 kilometer route, I was not keen and feared that boredom would set in if I attempted this route again.

The 1,000 kilometer ride by the Hyderabad Randonneurs was an opportunity to ride the distance as well as to get out of the comfort zone of knowing the route. This would be a test as I did not know what to expect. I did try to look up on the gradient of the route and saw that a few sections of the road were not listed on Strava and as such the gradient profile generated by Strava for the remaining section showed that it was a relatively easy ride with an elevation gain of 2,000 meters as against the elevation gain of the same route in Ride with GPS which showed 4,800 meters. With very little information available, I drew up a conservative plan with respect to ride speed and minimised the break timings to be able to complete the ride. I broke the route up into small section of 50 kilometers each and came up with a 67 hour plan for the ride.

Shashidar KC and Amarchand had registered for the ride and we had ridden together in the Bangalore Brevets circuit. Shashidar and Amar are part of the GoGreen group of riders and I had ridden with Shashidar, Swamy, Prasad and Amar on previous brevets. We synced up before the ride and planned the logistics for the ride. As carrying three cycles on the same bus might be a problem, we booked into two separate buses. Shashidar and Amar on the 10:30 pm bus and me on the 10:15 pm bus.

The event was scheduled to start at 11:00 am on 26 January 2018. As it was a long weekend, there were no tickets available on 25 January and we had to opt for travelling on 24 January 2018. I had not booked the ticket and was tracking the bus and wanted to book in a bus which had at least 20 open tickets so that loading the luggage would be hassle free. However, as fate would have it, a bundh was called on 25 January 2018 in Karnataka which extended the weekend and the weekend rush was advanced to 24 January 2018. I booked in a bus which was filling up fast lest I run out of travel options.

I bought bubble wrap, last minute purchase and wrapped the cycle concentrating on the left side as that would be the side of the cycle which would be lying down in the luggage compartment of the bus.

I started from my place at 8:30 pm. I had to get to Majestic where the bus was scheduled to start at 10:15 pm. I thought that I had sufficient time, however, half a kilometer from the house and the traffic and the people on the road with their bags making a beeline to exit the city awakened me to the fact that this was going to be a close run thing to make it to the bus on time. I had to take a slightly long route to avoid traffic and finally made it to Majestic at 9:45 pm. Fortunately for me the bus had already arrived. The driver as usual had a problem with the cycle being loaded as luggage as the bus was full and loading the cycle ate into space for others to keep their baggage. I had to pay Rs 500 for the luggage, a steep price, however considering that I did not have an alternate mode of transport I paid up.

Shashidar and Amar had boarded their buses and had paid Rs 300 for each cycle. We met for a brief while at Majestic before the bus started. It was the usual struggle to sleep on the bus. The bus arrived at Hyderabad at 8:30 am, an hour after the scheduled arrival time. Shashidar and Amar also reached at the same time and we rode out of the bus stand towards Decathlon Uppal. It was a fifteen kilometer ride through busy roads of Hyderabad. We had breakfast near Decathlon and then rode a further 2 kilometers before settling into SVM Grand. It took a while to find the hotel and then book the room through Oyo. We settled in, freshened up and as Shashidar and Amar headed out I had lunch and then caught up with sleep.

I had forgotten to bring the water bottles along. The evening went with Shashi and me making a trip to Decathlon to buy water bottles before having dinner and then heading back to the room and sleeping. Although the ride was scheduled to start at 11:00 am, we still had to wake up at 7:00 am so that we could get ready. The usual process in Bangalore would have been to prep the cycle and load the accessories onto it and then getting to bed. The next day would be just getting ready and then heading to the start point. However, here we did not have the benefit of prepping the cycle the previous night as the cycles were parked in the basement. The one hour activity had to be done  in the morning.

Although we had to get up only by 7:00 am, as I am used to getting up early, I was up at 6:00 am. I was tossing around in bed waiting for the clock to get to 7:00 am. When the clock struck 7:00, I was up and slowly we began the process of getting ready. We had breakfast and then prepped the cycles and before we knew it, it was 10:15 am and time to leave.

We hurriedly left to the start point and reached at 10:30 am. The place was abuzz with cyclists. It was a large turnout for a 1,000 km ride. We finished the start formalities and then headed into Decathlon to inflate the cycle tires. We did not realise that the route briefing had started while we were inside. By the time we got there, half the route had been covered and we managed to get a little bit of the rest. As I was unfamiliar with the places, it was difficult to follow the briefing. The briefing was done and the ride was flagged off at 11:00 am.

34 riders started the ride which included 3 female riders. Most of them were from Hyderabad and there were 5 out station riders (as I know) which included 3 of us. We started slowly from Decathlon as we had not started the ride on Strava. When we got going, we picked up the pace slowly. The initial 15 kilometers was within the city limits and there was a lot of traffic. It was only after we crossed the Outer Ring Road junction that we were able to pick up the pace.

Although the traffic had reduced, it was more due to the road being a three lane road and we were left with the left lane pretty much to ourselves rather than the two lane road within the city which had cramped us for space. The road was mainly downhill and it was easy to recover. It was sunny and there was a slight wind, but riding was easy. The only limiting factor was that we were in a 1,000 kilometer ride and did not want to expend all the energy in the first 50 kilometers. We were witness to the bad effects of the highway when we saw a person crash because he could not control the bike when a dog crossed the road. He fell along with the lady and fortunately they were able to get away from it unscathed. I did not want to think about it and made a quick exit from the place.

The heat was building up and we slowly began to open up a gap to the other riders. Sunder and Rajesh (LEL riders) were ahead of us. We followed them for a bit and the next few kilometers we were overtaking each other in turns. Amar was riding quickly and when we entered one of the towns the traffic was heavy and in the wake of trying to get past the traffic Amar had a fall. He had to brake suddenly and the cycle turned him over. He was quick to get up, however he was bruised badly. Looked like his cycle had gotten away with it, however, closer look and we got to know that his seat was bent and it could not be rectified. We were less than 50 kilometers into the ride and had a crash. Amar would have to ride the remaining distance on a bent saddle, the ride just got more difficult for him.

We recovered from the crash and after a short while of riding slow we were back up to speed. We caught up with Sunder and Rajesh just before Jangaon and were told to take it easy and not push too hard. We reached Jangaon at 2:00 pm. As it was just beyond lunch time and as we did not know about the availability of food ahead we decided to stop for lunch at Reddy Mess. We had meals which comprised of a lot of rice and curry. It was a carb loading session and in half an hour we were back on the road. We rode for a kilometer before stopping at a medical store to get pain killers for Amar.

The tummy had been taken care of and so were the wounds. The focus was now going to be on the ride. We passed a few cyclists who had gone past us and on chatting with them realised that they had continued to ride without stopping for lunch. It was surprising that they were riding without eating and I was wondering if they were surviving on a heavy breakfast or it was a case of eating gels/snacks.

Road work was in progress and only half the road was available. We had to be careful in this stretch since we were cramped for space. The road on the left was not in good condition as well in many places which necessitated that we ride slightly in the middle which brought us into the firing line of the vehicles.

The gradient was largely downhill and we were making good time. We saw that three cyclists had stopped at the side of the road and we could make out that one was working on his cycle. Closer look and we realised that Anshuman (another cyclist from Bangalore) was working on his cycle. I thought that it was a puncture, however when we got close we saw that his chain was jammed between the crank and the frame. The other cyclists rode ahead when we reached. The chain was stuck very badly and we were running out of ideas to get it loose. The crank was loosened but the chain did not budge. Finally, when we turned the cycle over the chain came out easily, a simple fix for a problem which looked complex. That went into the knowledge database for future instances if any of the same kind. Anshuman's ride which seemed over five minutes ago was back on track.

When we restarted the ride, we rode with Anshuman for a while. We did not realise when Anshuman had dropped behind. We continued riding and the pace was quick. With an improvement in the road surface, our speed was up and we raced towards Hanamkonda which was the first control point. The clock had ticked past 4:30 pm and the Sun's intensity was down. Good road, perfect temperature, perfect visibility, no wind...in short perfect conditions for cycling and we were flying.

We reached Kazipet which is 5 kilometers before Hanamkonda, however, an ATM had the address as Hanamkonda branch. We were considering stopping and taking the selfie, when a volunteer was ahead and said that Hanamkonda was 5 kilometers ahead. He told us that there was a forest guest house ahead and that if we wanted refreshments then we could head there before continuing the ride. Since we were riding very fast, we did not want to stop and rode ahead to Hanamkonda.

We reached Hanamkonda at 5:00 pm. A quick stop for the selfie, posting it on the group and we continued the ride. I was looking out for the 1,000 pillar temple which we were going to cross during the ride through Hanamkonda. I assumed that the temple was on the left and kept looking for it. We passed out of town and I could not see the temple. We rode ahead and stopped at a provision store for refreshments. I got to know that the temple was on the right and not on the left when Shashi told me that he had seen the compound. The temple per se was further inside and not visible on the road. A small consolation that the temple could not be seen from the road.

It was 5:45 pm when we resumed riding. Our next stop was Incherla, which was the dinner point which was about 50 kilometers ahead. A simple target to get to but with the light fading, it was going to get a little difficult. It was difficult because there was a lot of traffic and their lights were blinding us. I had to bring the cycle to a halt and then build up momentum on many occasions in this section. As we got closer to Incherla, I was getting hungry and was struggling to ride. I ate a granola bar which I had and that helped me to push on further. There were sign boards indicating the distance to the restaurant at Incherla and I was able to push myself to get to the restaurant under depleting energy reserves situation.

We reached Incherla at 8:00 pm. Although there were no volunteers around, dinner had been arranged and we were told that each rider would be given Jeera Rice, Curd Rice and Water. When we asked for other items on the menu, we were told that we would not be given anything additional. A few cyclists had arrived and were having their meal. We ate the food, refilled on water and started from the hotel at 9:45 pm.

Next stop was Vamshi Mess at Eturnagaram which was 50 kilometers away. Before we reached Vamshi Mess we had to ride through a forest which was coming up in 20 kilometers. I was excited about riding in the forest, although I would have preferred riding through it in daylight.

The traffic which was heavy till then thinned out when we entered the forest. The road was good and with minimal traffic riding was a pleasure. It was an eerie feeling to ride through the forest at night, however it added to the excitement. The cycle lights throwing just enough light to show that we were riding in a tunnel since the road had a good canopy cover. It was rolling terrain and we were slow on the climbs which showed signs of tiredness creeping into the legs and also a dip in nutrition level. With nothing available to eat the only option was to push on.

We reached Tadvai, the town before Eturnagaram and came across provision stores. We stopped to buy batteries for Amar's light and had juice and bought biscuits for the road. We resumed after a 10 minute break and rode into the forest again. I had assumed that the forest section was done when we reached Tadvai, however there was more and it was nice riding through the extended forest section. We made quick progress and reached Eturnagaram and after following the directions in the cue sheet to a T we made it to Vamshi Mess. 4 riders had reached before us and as we got the brevet cards signed, a couple of other riders came in as well. We were given roti's and served hot milk. It was again a case of no volunteers present, however the owner of Vamshi Mess was doing the volunteer duty.

We took 45 minutes to get going, just as we started Sunder, Rajesh and Prady reached Vamshi Mess and told us that arrangements had been made for sleep and refreshments at Venkatapuram which was about 30 kilometers ahead. It was a bunch start with the 7 of us starting almost together. Only 2 riders had started before us.

We were going to be crossing the Godavari river in 10 kilometers. I was disappointed that I was crossing it at night and would not get to see the bridge or the river. In a few kilometers we were close to the river and the excitement of getting to the bridge was growing. When we reached the bridge, contrary to my expectation that it would be colder since we were near the river, it was very warm. The bridge was about 2 kilometers long and when we crossed the bridge a little bit of the excitement died down. Now it was going to be riding through interior roads in the dark and through the night where we would be fighting off sleep and the cold weather. That is what lay ahead and as the exciting part of the ride was done for me, I was fearing boredom might set in which will complicate things.

We had ridden quickly and caught up with the 2 riders ahead of us just after crossing the bridge when we reached Jagannadhapuram. It was now a big group with 9 riders riding together. In a way it increased the speed and we were making good progress. So good that when we reached Venkatapuram, we were still fresh and did not want to stop at the forest guest house for refreshments. It was too early and the food eaten at Vamshi Mess was still serving us well. We decided to ride on.

Bhadrachalam was 100 kilometers away. Before that we had to get to Cherla which was the next control point. It was 12:45 am when we reached Venkatapuram, we had done 273 kilometers in just under 14 hours including breaks. We had to ride 44 kilometers to get to Cherla. A relatively easy task considering that we were running through the kilometers quickly.

In a few kilometers after Venkatapuram, Amar stopped as he was having a problem with his lights, this separated the three of us from the group. We continued and there was a small drop in the pace as compared to what we were doing in the group. In a few more kilometers we had passed the group as they had stopped to rest, which I did not see and Shashi told me later that they had stopped. So we were out in front and in an hour things began to get difficult for me.

I was low on energy as the food eaten at Vamshi Mess had been expended. The mercury had dipped as well. As I was low on nutrition I was feeling the bite of the cold even more and was struggling since the thought of food was embedded in my mind and I was unable to focus on the ride. I asked Shashi for the Amla which he had bought and hoped that I could sustain the ride till Cherla and hoped that some shops would be open at Cherla to fill up on. One Amla soon became two and then three and I was not showing signs of recovering. We made it to Cherla and after the quick stop for the selfie we resumed the ride and I was desperately searching for a store which was open.

To my disbelief, there were no stores open and I was facing riding 60 kilometers to Bhadrachalam. I ate the remaining Granola Bar after sharing it with Shashi and Amar and then the biscuit packets and chocolates which had been brought along were also shared and we had exhausted all our nutrition resources. I was still hungry and did get a feeling that I was bonking and that I actually did not require further food.

We continued riding and as the kilometers and the clock ticked by, sleep was beginning to come into play as well. Amar wanted to sleep, however Shashi and I wanted to ride on as the plan was to ride the first night without sleep. In a few kilometers we did stop and doubled it up as a power nap stop for 10 minutes. Shashi and I did not sleep and we woke up Amar in 10 minutes and we got going.

We resumed riding, but my pace had dropped. I was back to thinking about food and now with the stop for the short sleep, I was feeling very sleepy. I tried to concentrate on the road and set small targets, but it was not working and the pace had dropped. Shashi sensed that the pace had dropped and when I told him that I was sleepy we decided to stop and sleep for a while before resuming. We found a bus stop at the next town and slept for about 20 minutes when we were woken up by Shashi and we resumed riding.

The benefit of the stop was that it was almost 5:00 am and I was hopeful that a few shops would be open at the next town where we could have something warm to heat up the body. However, the towns that we passed at 5:00 am were still a long way from being awake. nothing much to do but to continue riding. It was better to keep moving slowly rather than stopping and waiting.

The move paid a few dividends as I was finally able to focus on the ride and brought the distance to Bhadrachalam down. A sustained period of riding brought us to within 14 kilometers of Bhadrachalam and further as it was 6:00 am the shops were also open. Amar had fallen behind and we could not see his lights, Shashi and I stopped at a shop and had piping hot idli's. Surprisingly when we stopped at the shop I was not feeling hungry and was keen to keep riding as we were just 14 kilometers from the control point. Shashi and I shared a plate of idli's which were so soft that they melted in the mouth. It was tempting to have more, but I was focused on getting to Bhadrachalam. Amar came by in 2 minutes and had a plate of idli's before we resumed the ride.

The ride to Bhadrachalam was quick and as the light improved with day break I was feeling better. It was like my batteries were getting charged by the sun light. There was a light mist around and the mercury was still low. A little bit of a push and we reached Bhadrachalam and rode into town and to Haritha hotel where the support car of Sunder and Rajesh had become the volunteer car at Bhadrachalam.

We reached at 7:00 am and hoped to freshen up, have breakfast and leave in 30 minutes. We got the brevet cards signed and got to know that Sandeep Vanga was the only rider to check in, he had reached at 6:00 am and had started towards Chintur. We went into Haritha hotel and got to know that there is only one rest room which could be used and further the breakfast was not ready. As we freshened up one after the other, the clock ticked past 7:30 am, the breakfast was still not ready. It was 7:45 am when breakfast did come by, but it was not very tempting and I was already missing the idli's at the shop where we had stopped earlier. We decided to ride and have breakfast in town rather than in Haritha.

Just as we got back to the cycles, Sunder, Rajesh and Prady arrived and told us that the breakfast which had been arranged at Chintur has been cancelled since none of the riders were going to reach in time for breakfast. They said that coconut water had been arranged instead. Sunder told us that the climb is about 15-18 kilometers and it was steep and told us to save up some energy for the climb. I enquired about the gradient and was told that there is a max gradient of 12% and an average gradient of 5%-6%. Numbers which did not worry me too much as the Yercaud climb is 20 kilometers with an average gradient of 7%. I was not worried about the climb and knew that as long as I could take care of the food aspect for the climb, I would be able to manage the climb. We were scheduled to start the climb just before lunch since we would arrive at Chintur around 12:00 pm. The plan was to have the coconut water which was arranged and then stop for lunch before starting the climb.

We got back into town and stopped for breakfast. We had idli's and bhajji's for breakfast and got back on the saddle. It was over 8:00 am when we started the ride, we had taken a very long break and it was disappointing to lose time unnecessarily. When we rode out of town the mist descended out of nowhere and reduced visibility to about 10 meters. Further, with the Sun being hidden behind the clouds the temperature dipped again, I had taken off my jacket and was struggling to cope with the drop in the temperature. I enjoyed it every time the Sun peeped out and enjoyed the warmth of the Sun's look. In a few kilometers we stopped again to have coffee and biscuits.

Approximately 50 kilometers to get to Chintur from where the climb was going to start. The clock had ticked over 9:00 am and the Sun was finally showing signs of winning the battle against the mist and was clearing it out. We got back on the saddle and headed towards Chintur. The traffic was thin and the road was good. We rode easily till we reached Nellipaka. The road surface alternated between good and rough from here and riding was not very easy. Although there was a good canopy cover, the road surface left a lot to be desired. Anyways, we cannot have everything going our way during the ride and have to make the best of the conditions that are on offer. I concentrated on the beautiful forest cover rather than the bad roads. Every time the road surface improved we would increase the pace and slow down when it deteriorated.

I enjoyed the Sun's rays peeping through the thick forest cover in places and also enjoyed the rolling terrain when the road was good. As the clock ticked by, I was in a good rhythm and as I chatted with Shashi, did not realise that we had dropped Amar. The kilometers to Chintur coming down at a fast clip kept me motivated to keep going. When we realised that Amar had fallen behind, we were about 7 kilometers from Chintur. We decided to ride ahead and stop further ahead.

Shashi spotted a fruit store 3 kilometers from Chintur. We stopped and had bananas. The shop owner was not very happy selling the fruits to us and had a lot of conditions about what we could have and what we shouldn't touch. Amar came by in 5 minutes and had bananas. We resumed the ride and as soon as we started, the road surface was very rough and riding was difficult.

We crossed the bridge over the Sabari river which is a tributary to the Godavari river. It was small bridge as compared to the mighty Godavari and the water level seemed to be low. We rode into Chintur town and passed a few restaurants where we could have stopped for lunch. We rode on since we had not reached the place where we were going to be given coconut water. The road condition deteriorated and riding was very difficult. 

We reached the refreshment point which was almost out of town at 12:00 pm. We were told that only Sandeep Vanga had arrived at 10:00 am and had ridden ahead. We had coconut water and ORS and then came the news that there were no restaurants ahead and that we had to ride to Maredumilli which was 50 kilometers away where lunch had been set up for us. That hit us hard and when we asked about stores which sold snacks, we were told that we would have to ride at least 15-20 kilometers to get to one. Now it was a decision between riding 15-20 kilometers ahead or riding back 2 kilometer on bad roads and having lunch. Although it was just 2 kilometers, it was 4 kilometers to and fro on bad roads which made it seem like a herculean task. As we had coconut water and ORS and banana's a little earlier, I was confident that we could ride 15-20 kilometers. We decided to ride ahead rather than go back for lunch.

We had expected the climb to start immediately after the refreshment point. We were pleasantly surprised when we got rolling terrain. Although the road was patchy we made quick progress and before we knew it we had knocked off 13 kilometers to Maredumilli. The task of getting to Maredumilli suddenly appeared to be easier than expected. Further there were no hills in the vicinity which made it seem like the climb was not going to start immediately.

In a couple of kilometers there was a welcome sight of a store and we stopped and stocked up on biscuits and had juice to fill us up before we started the climb. A few more kilometers and the hills came into sight. We rode next to the Sabari river for a while and when we came across the first view point the climb started.

Contrary to expectation of it being an easy climb, this took us by surprise when we hit steep gradients and never ending curves. Although we had been told that the climb was 15-18 kilometers, I had not expected a steep gradient and it was difficult in the afternoon heat to ride up steep slopes. Amar fell behind, however being in the hills Shashi and I rode ahead and kept churning the pedals in the hope that the gradient would ease at the next turn. It took about 5 kilometers of climbing by which time I had expended the energy from the fruits/snacks and was running low. However, watching Shashi climbing was an inspiration and kept me going. He was making easy work of the climb and kept churning the pedals, this motivated me to keep going.          

It was slow progress as the gradient did not let up and kept getting steeper with each passing kilometer. We had ridden about 8 kilometers I guess when I saw that the road was going downhill and was very happy that I had made it past the climb. What followed was rolling terrain and I was pushing myself even though the legs were finding it difficult. Every downhill was recovery for the legs and just when I beginning to get the feeling that we were done with the climbing, the board saying "Ghat Road Starts" with the road going up landed a blow to my motivation. I had to stop and eat up if I wanted to continue and asked Shashi to stop so that we could eat the biscuits before continuing. Shashi obliged and we spent 10 minutes eating biscuits before getting back on the saddle.

The climb was a short one, however what followed was descending a hill and then ascending another. Although the climbs were short, it was difficult with the road surface being very rough. There was a lot of rolling resistance and that increased the effort exponentially. The distance remaining to Maredumilli was now into single digits and that kept me going. I even rejected an offer to have ice cream (my favorite) since getting to Maredumilli was more important than enjoying an ice cream.

We reached the Vaali Sugreeva Ayurvedic Restoration Camp which was 5 kilometers before Maredumilli at 3:30 pm. Two volunteers were waiting for us and I was happy to have made it. Shashi and I pulled up and were welcomed by the volunteers. We were told that the ride gets easier after this and that it was rolling terrain further and we were done with the major climb. We were provided a delicious homemade meal which comprised of rice, rasam, chicken curry and curd rice along with juice and fruits. I dug into the food and filled myself as I did not want to make any more stops before reaching Rajahmundry.

Shashi is a super fast eater and was done in 15 minutes, I was slower and I was done in 30 minutes. We were getting ready and were wondering about what time Amar would make it and whether we have to wait for him to get here or if we will ride ahead and wait at the next control point. Just as we were discussing, Amar reached the control point. I was surprised that he had made it with only a 30 minute delay and was mighty impressed with his riding. Amar had his lunch and we started off at 4:30 pm just as Sunder, Rajesh and Prady arrived at the control point.

The start was fast and Amar was flying off the blocks. It took a little time to catch up with Amar in the rolling terrain. We came across a photo session of a couple who had parked their bike in the middle of the road and were busy striking poses for the camera. A little bit of an attempt to photo bomb their session and we increased the pace of the ride. The legs were feeling the effect of the ride and were looking forward to a little bit of rest. We were done with 500 kilometers, Rajahmundry was 70 kilometers ahead and I was not looking to make any stops and was keyed in to ride all the way.

The Sun had begun its descent and I had worn my jacket at the previous control point. It was a decision that I rued a little as I was feeling very hot during the climbs in the rolling terrain and did not want to stop to get out of the jacket as that would be a loss of time. I relished the downhill's more because of the wind cooling me rather than the speed. We reached the Bhupatipalem Reservoir just before Rampachodavaram. It was beautiful and I stopped to click a few pics.

Rampachodavaram was the place where the forest ended and we had been told that we had to do the section from Chintur to Rampachodavaram in day light. We crossed the forest gate at 5:50 pm and had been able to do the forest section in day time. However, only Sandeep who was ahead by 2 hours and the three of us had done it in daylight. I realised that the requirement was to cross the entry gate near Chintur in daylight and not the exit gate at Rampachodavaram.

The road condition deteriorated and the traffic increased as well. With darkness setting in it was very difficult to ride. Shashi was flying in this section and I was managing to keep pace which required a lot of concentration as the road was filled with potholes and rough patches. There was a lot of honking and with nightfall Amar wanted to stop for tea and snacks. We could not find any tea stalls and kept riding. It worked for me as I was not keen on stopping.

We reached Gokavaram, a big town at 7:00 pm. We were just 30 kilometers away from Rajahmundry and I wanted to get there so that we could get a little extra sleep in. However, Amar was keen on tea and snacks and was very particular with his choice of tea/milk. We went around Gokavaram from stalls to restaurants before settling on bhajji's from a stall and then tea from another store. 30 minutes later we were back on the saddle.

When we restarted the ride, we got to know that we had not left behind bad roads. In fact the road was worse from Gokavaram with huge potholes and as we were close to Rajahmundry the traffic was very heavy. Riding was not enjoyable and was very difficult to negotiate our way in between potholes and traffic. The 10 kilometer ride from Gokavaram to Korukonda almost killed my appetite for the ride and I was drained. Although the road improved from Korukonda, the traffic was heavy. It got a little easier as we got into the Rajahmundry limits as the roads were wider and it was easier to ride. However, I had lost a little focus and was riding slowly. Went past the Rajahmundry airport and then rode into town. Amar had a problem with his lights which enabled me to catch up with them and then we rode into town. Followed the maps with a little difficulty inside town and took a couple of wrong turns before getting back on track.

We reached the Riverview Towers control point at 9:00 pm. We got the brevet cards signed and then headed into the room. As we got busy with freshening up, Sandeep who had reached couple of hours earlier had his dinner and started. We had dinner and then decided that we would wake up by 12:00 am so that we could leave by 12:30 am. Unfortunately we had opened the window in the room and the room was filled with mosquitoes. The initial 10 minutes was difficult as there was no blanket, however I got under the bed sheet and covered myself and went to sleep. I was woken up by the volunteer at the control point at 12:00 am. We got ready quickly and were able to stick to the plan of starting at 12:30 am. I stocked up a biscuit packet provided by the volunteers for the road. I quickly lubed my cycle chain and I was ready to go.

We rode out of town and towards the Dowlaiswaram Barrage. We rode slowly as we were following the directions in the map and did not want to miss on any turn. We made a couple of stops to recheck on the map and made it to the barrage. The barrage has been built across the Godavari River and the name of the ride was derived from this section. The Dowlaiswaram Barrage is followed by the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage. Again we were crossing over the Godavari River at night and I was left wondering why the start time for the ride was 11:00 am rather than the usual 6:00 am start which would have given us a chance of seeing the Godavari river and the barrage in daylight.

The barrage is a long one, almost 6 kilometers and we rode across slowly. When we made it past, the focus changed to getting to Tadepalligudem. The road surface was back to rough again and it was not a pleasure to be riding on the rough surface during the second night. The body was tired and wanted a comfortable ride rather than a bumpy ride. We never hit the speeds which we were doing earlier and were very slow. Kilometers came down in a trickle and riding this stretch alone would have been very difficult. We reached Nidadavolu and had to slow down as there were a few turns to take and following the map was slow. We had to stop at a railway crossing as well as we missed the gate by a few seconds as we were caught out asking for directions.

The ride from Nidadavolu to Tadepalligudem was more of the same with rough roads and slow progress as there was a slight monotony that set into the ride. We passed Sandeep who was sleeping in a petrol bunk about 10 kilometers from Tadepalligudem. We reached Tadepalligudem and again followed the map to get to the control point. It was 3:00 am when we reached. We had taken 2.5 hours for 45 kilometers which seemed slow at the point.

We reached Chaitanya School and saw two men standing outside. As we were across the road, I shouted out asking whether this was the control point, but the two of them were blank. A couple of tries and it was still the same and they did not acknowledge nor did they wave to us to come towards them. Shashi rode ahead and tried to see if he could find someone to ask for directions. Amar and I crossed the road and went towards the school and decided that we should take a selfie and then resume the ride. When we got close to the school, one person finally acknowledged that it was the control point and he called Prady to inform that riders had arrived. I spoke to Prady and was instructed the write our names, rider number and arrival time and sign on a sheet of paper and hand it over to the person. We did that and then were told that tea was available. On further enquiry, we were told that biscuits were also available. It took 15 minutes for the tea to arrive by which time I had eaten a packet of biscuits and stored up another for the road. The wait for tea was spent trying to catch a power nap while being bitten by mosquitoes. Sandeep came by just when the tea arrived. Amar had tea and we were ready to start.

We did not realise that we had spent 45 minutes at the control point and felt the pinch of wasting time at control points. Further when we rode out of Tadepalligudem we missed a turn and had to ride back a little by which time Sandeep was waiting at the turn to confirm if it was the correct one. The four of us rode onto the highway after which Sandeep sped away and we rode slowly.

Based on my experience during the previous night I was worried about this time of the night. I was worried about sleep setting in and wanted to make it through to 6:00 am. It was only 2 hours away and I was doing fine as I was awake and kicking after the break at the control point. Shashi checked with me if I was feeling sleepy and I said that I was doing fine. To keep myself awake I played music and probably that was a mistake in hind sight. It took just 5 minutes for sleep to set in and I was struggling again. Shashi and Amar were doing fine and I was finding it difficult to keep my eyes open. I was in a dilemma as we had just stopped and it was too early to stop again and wanted to ride ahead for a further 30 minutes at least. However, I was fighting a losing battle against sleep and called out to Shashi and told him that I wanted to stop for a short nap. We found a bus stand and stopped just 15 kilometers after starting from Tadepalligudem. It was 4:45 am when we stopped. We had ridden only 15 kilometers in an hour which showed that we had slowed down significantly and in hind sight it was a good stop.

We started after 15 minutes. Shashi was very prompt in waking us up and getting us going. Shashi had only slept at Rajahmundry while Amar and I had taken power naps in addition to the sleep at Rajahmundry, however Shashi was still looking like he had slept the most and Amar and I were sleep deprived. We rode steadily hereafter, as the sleep had been taken care of I was able to focus on the ride. Eluru was the next control point and it was 40 kilometers ahead. I now had only 1 hour of riding in the dark remaining and I knew that with day break it would get easier. Just as I had expected at day break, it was like I had a fresh lease of life and I was back up to pace. The road just before Eluru was lined with paddy fields on the right and it was beautiful to see the paddy fields covered with mist at day break. I stopped and crossed the road to take a pic even though I knew that it would drop me behind Amar and Shashi.

I was confident that I could make up the time to Shashi and Amar as they were riding a little slow. However, when I got back on the saddle, I had lost sight of them and at the same time I could not make up the distance as well. Either Shashi and Amar had picked up the pace or I had slowed down. Either ways, my attempt to catch up was proving futile. Shashi had stopped ahead and waited for me to join in and then we rode towards Eluru. Amar was waiting at the junction to Eluru which was our next control point. The Ashram Hospital, where we arrived at 6:50 am. We were hungry and wanted to have breakfast which was available outside the hospital. However, we decided to ride ahead and eat at a restaurant on the highway.

It was a bad decision to ride ahead as there was nothing available ahead. We had to ride 10 kilometers before spotting a dhaba on the opposite side and were told that only idli's were available. We were more than happy to take it as we were not sure about other options further ahead. We freshened up, during which time Shashi spotted a guava tree and plucked the fruits for later on the road. We had half cooked idli's and I filled myself up to be able to ride long. The next stop was 60 kilometers away and based on the ride after Rajahmundry it looked like we would arrive at Vijayawada only at lunch time.

We took an hour to get going and when we did we set out the plan for the ride. We had ridden 680 kilometers in 45 hours. We had 30 hours to ride 320 kilometers. However keeping in mind my struggles at night I wanted to get the distance down to less than 150 kilometers by 10:00 pm. We were exactly 200 kilometers from the control point at Suryapet and we set ourselves a target of getting there in 12 hours. This would bring the remaining distance down to 120 kilometers in 18 hours which would give us the required buffer to slow down as well.

As soon as the plan was set, we got our feet moving and all of us responded in increasing the speed. The road surface was good and I was enjoying the ride and we brought the kilometers down quickly. Shashi and I engaged in a sprint as well in many sections here and were not feeling tired at the end of the sprint. However, after a good 20 kilometers the road turned bad again. the top surface had been scraped off to re-lay the road and this slowed me down drastically. It was like riding in vibrator mode and it was painful riding. Not only did it bring the speed down, it was subjecting the body to a lot of pain. I was already struggling with the achilles tendonitis and was trying to manage the pain, however, this section was very difficult and the pain was back. It was disappointing that the leg was not holding up and I resigned to the fact that I would require time off after the ride.

Amar was flying on this stretch and it took some time to catch up with him. We stopped for coconut water just after a toll and hoped that the bad road would end at the toll. However, it continued for a further 10 kilometers I think before we got back on good roads. It was a relief to get back on good roads and I was back up to speed. We sped towards Vijayawada and reached the control point at 10:20 am. We had initially expected to reach the control point at 11:00 am, however we had ridden 60 kilometers in 2 hours 20 minutes in spite of the bad roads. All of us were so keyed in to ride at that moment that when we reached the control point we did not want any refreshments nor rest and wanted to get back on the road. However, the insistence of the volunteers made us relent and we headed in to have banana's and juice.

Sandeep had gone ahead and Sadanand Reddy had reached the control point and was having refreshments when we reached. We freshened up and had Musk Melon juice during which time we spoke to Swamy and received further encouragement for the ride. We started from Kay hotel at 11:00 am.

We had to ride on the Vijayawada by pass and in a section as there was road work going on we had to take a deviation and had to ride through heavy traffic. It was slow progress and just when we made it to the highway we had a journalist asking about the ride and literally pleading with us for an interview. I was not keen on obliging, however, he followed us for more than 3 kilometers and finally Shashi obliged. He took a photo and asked a few questions about the ride. We got back on the saddle and resumed the ride.

We were on the highway and the road was good. Finally there was minimal rolling resistance, however, there was no tree cover and the Sun was out in all its glory. We rode quickly and as the clock ticked towards 12:00 pm we were getting hungry, it was time to get the guava's out. It was very delicious and I enjoyed the guava a lot.

Our next target was to get to Nandigama as it looked like we would be reaching there at lunch time. The guava kept me going and I was able to sustain the ride till Nandigama. We reached Nandigama just after 2:00 pm. We rode into town and had a difficult time searching for a veg restaurant as they were all closed as it was Sunday. We managed to find a place serving idli/parotta and I had a plate of parotta (as I was tired of eating idli's). Then we had goli soda of which I had 2 glasses and filled myself up.

It was just over 3:00 pm when we got back on the highway. We were 90 kilometers from Suryapet, the next control point. It was very hot and there was no shade available. The Sun was at its most intense and I did float the idea of stopping to rest and waiting out the heat, however, Shashi and Amar were keen on riding and said that we would double up the stop to fill water as a rest stop. We rode further and passed Sadanand Reddy who was taking a break and then stopped at a shop to fill water. During the stop Sadanand Reddy went past us.

After refilling on water, we started the ride and rode slowly as we did not want to tire ourselves. The plan was to keep riding and not stop. As long as we kept moving we were fine with it. It was around 4:00 pm when the volunteers passed by in their car and gave us refreshments. They told us that it was good that we were doing this section in the evening as there was relatively less traffic, they said that the bus traffic would increase post 10:00 pm and riding in the night on this stretch would be treacherous. Useful information and the required motivation to keep going.

As we rode on, the intensity of the Sun was reducing, which helped to increase the pace of the ride. We were about 50 kilometers from Suryapet and were riding quickly. A few more kilometers and then we stopped for a tea/juice break. Amar had tea while Shashi and I had juice. The break was a tad short of 30 minutes, however I was not too worried on the time taken as we were doing well on the time front.

When we restarted we were about 40 kilometers from Suryapet, the break had recharged me and I was off to a quick start. A couple of minutes and I realised that Shashi and Amar had fallen behind. I rode a little ahead and waited for them. When they came by I got to know that they had been stopped by another journalist for another quick interview. The ride till Suryapet was quick and we rode at a stretch except when we stopped at sun set time to click a few pics of us riding with the setting sun in the back drop.

We reached Suryapet just before 8:00 pm. However, we could not locate an ATM and had to ride into town and this took a while. We reached an ATM at 8:00 pm. We took the pic and uploaded on the group. The next stop was at 7 Restaurant as this was marked as the place for food on the cue sheet. We assumed that arrangements had been made for the riders at this place and rode to it rather than stopping at Suryapet for dinner.

It was 8:20 pm when we reached 7 restaurant. There were 5 volunteers at the place in addition to the support vehicle of Sunder and Rajesh. We were welcomed to the place and told that we were doing very well on the time front and that we would complete the ride with ease. They told us that we could freshen up or continue. When we went into the restaurant, it was like a mall set up and we realised that there was no arrangement for the riders and that we would have to have the food on our own account. There were a lot of options for food and we settled on the buffet meal which seemed to be the quickest option as the place was very crowded. We took an hour at the place before restarting the ride.

It was over 9:30 pm when we restarted the ride. We had 130 kilometers to ride and based on the earlier ride speed could have completed the ride by 3:00 am - 4:00 am. However, we had checked the bus availability during dinner and realised that there were no options for us in the wee hours of the morning and as such reaching early would require us to wait at Decathlon as room bookings were expensive. We decided to take it easy and to reach Decathlon by 6:00 am - 7:00 am.

The decision to take it easy meant that we continue riding quick and taking long breaks, however, we started riding very slowly and were discussing on the plan for the return from Hyderabad rather than focusing on getting to Hyderabad. We were making very slow progress and a couple of reminders that the ride was not complete did not change the mind set. We rode 20 kilometers in just over an hour and Amar wanted to take a sleep break. We stopped at a RTO check post and requested them if we could sleep inside their premises. They obliged and Amar immediately slept on the floor, Shashi and I sat on the bench outside and slept with the plan being to resume in 30 minutes. However, in 30 minutes, Amar was not budging, so we decided to sleep for a further 30 minutes. Shashi tried going in and sleeping while I slept on the bench. Shashi could not sleep as the place was filled with mosquitoes and was left guarding the cycles. He woke us up after an hour and got us going.

Things had slowed down a lot and we still had 110 kilometers to reach the end point. We re-focused on the ride and started riding quickly. It helped that the gradient was not very steep and we made quick progress. We did slow down in a few sections, but in large we were riding quickly. We took a couple of quick breaks to have biscuits and kept moving ahead. As the night wore on it was getting colder and it was imperative to keep riding to keep the body temperature up. The kilometer stones showed distances to Nakrekal, Chityal, Chotuppal and I set smaller target to these places and kept myself going.

We reached Chotuppal at 3:00 am. We had 50 kilometers to go and were on course to finish by 5:30 am. We were ahead of schedule, but the cold weather meant that we did not want to stop. I was under the impression that Ramoji Film City is in Chotuppal and rode the next few kilometers looking out for it. Every kilometer that it did not come by it, made me restless. I had ridden about 3 kilometers, when I took out the phone to check how far Ramoji Film City is. Maps confirmed that I was 20 kilometers from it and that put my restless mind at ease to know that I had to ride for another hour at least before I cross it. Just as I was putting the phone back into the handle bar bag, Shashi overtook me from the right, I weaved left to avoid him and at the same time Amar was overtaking me from the left. I crashed into him. We did not fall and were able to hold onto each other and arrest the fall, however, Amar's leg got wounded as it slipped from the pedal. A few minutes spent tending to the wound and then we rode ahead and stopped at a bus stop to sleep.

We spent an hour at the bus stop, it was the same plan, sleep for 30 minutes, which got extended to an hour. Shashi again woke us up and got us going. We had just 40 kilometers to the finish and when we restarted it was very cold. We immediately hit a downhill section for about 5 kilometers. It was very difficult to ride this section as the body was cold and the downhill made me feel the chill in my bones. I was very happy when the rolling terrain started which was mostly uphill for about 12 kilometers. On another day I would probably be complaining that it was uphill, however, today I was enjoying it and was pedaling hard to get the body warm.

As we got closer to the city, heavy vehicles increased, especially buses and we had to be careful that we stick to the left and not venture to the center of the road. The traffic was getting thicker and further there was a traffic jam as a truck had broken down. We weaved our way past the traffic and when I reached Ramoji Film City and looked back neither Shashi nor Amar were seen. I waited and then called Shashi to find out where they are. He said they got delayed since Amar's light had fallen off and they had to search for it.

Just as we reached the Outer Ring Road we caught up with Sunder and Prady who had gone ahead while we slept. We followed them on the Ring Road as we did not want to miss out on any turns. 14 kilometers later we were on the road to Uppal. As soon as we got onto the road we engaged in a sprint to the finish which was 12 kilometers away with Sunder and Prady. Shashi took the honours of winning the sprint by reaching Decathlon just before 7:00 am. Sunder, Prady and I reached a couple of minutes later and Amar followed a couple of minutes later. It was a scintillating finish to the ride and I did not have anything left in the legs at the end of the sprint.

We were welcomed by the volunteers and congratulated for completing the ride. We submitted the brevet cards and were then called for the medal presentation. Post the medal presentation we started off with the photo session which ran for almost an hour.

When the excitement of finishing the ride settled down, we starting planning for the return to Bangalore. First task was to get to the bus stand, we rode through very crowded roads and made it to the bus stand only to find out that all the KSRTC buses are scheduled to start only in the evening. Since Shashi was leaving to Hubli, only Amar and I were heading back to Bangalore. We checked on private transport and got to know that there is a bus at 11:30 am and that they would take cycles in it. It was 10:30 am and we had to rush. Shashi said that he would wait at the bus stand and wait for us to confirm the luggage charges since the private bus to Hubli was leaving in the evening. Amar and I rode in traffic and managed to get to the booking center by 11:00 am where the tickets and luggage charges were taken, however we were told that the boarding point is 5 kilometers away and that we would have to ride till there as they cannot take the cycle in the pickup bus. We were back on the saddle and rode through traffic again and reached the location at 11:30 am. The bus was delayed and started only at 12:15 pm. We were able to load the cycles and board the bus and informed Shashi about the luggage charges. Shashi decided to take the KSRTC bus in the evening and stayed back at the bus stand.

The VRL bus started at 12:15 pm and reached Bangalore at 9:30 pm with a couple of stops for food. I rode home from Majestic and got home at 10:30 pm. Freshened up and hit the bed to catch up on sleep and recover.

Overall it was a good ride experience. The leg is getting better but will require more time. Pretty sure if we had good roads, the leg would have held. I went into the ride thinking that it would be an easy ride and that the climb would be easy, however, contrary to expectations it was a difficult ride and posed a few questions. The feeling that I missed seeing the Godavari river in dayight will rank as a disappointment and the question that it might have been possible if the start time was 6:00 am will remain unanswered.

I had good ride partners with Shashi riding consistently right through the ride and Amar was the surprise bag, he matched us on his MTB with slicks and came out trumps during the ride. Amar soldiered on despite getting injured and having a bent saddle for over 900 kilometers of the ride. Shashi kept the pace up and looked out for the two of us through the ride. Riding on the rough roads and cold and dark nights would have been very difficult if not for their company.

It is a first 1,000 outside my comfort zone (with respect to familiartity with roads) and was a very good learning experience. It had helped me understand my limitations better and to prepare better for the next ride.