Twin Hills (600 Kilometer Brevet)

Date: 23 December 2016 - 25 December 2016

Total distance: 602 Kilometers

Start Time: 4:00 pm 23 December 2016

Return Time:  5:30 am 25 December 2016

With: Ruban Raju

Altitude Profile:
Lavelle Road – Yercaud - Yelagiri - Lavelle Road

It was time for the 600KM brevet, I had missed the ride the previous weekend and had done only a few city rides in the past 2 weeks. The brevet was covering 2 hills, Yercaud and Yelagiri. I had attempted the Yercaud climb earlier during the year and had failed, this ride gave the opportunity to attempt the climb again and in addition I would be riding up Yelagiri as well, another hill which was in my radar. I knew that the route would involve a lot of climbing and completing within the brevet time would be a difficult proposition. However, with the recent climbs under my belt I was quietly confident of being able to complete the ride.

The cycle was given at RR cycles to repair with instructions that I did not want the wheel to fail again. I waited for almost a week and finally they had to patch it up with old spokes since new ones were not available as the Btwin Triban 300 has been discontinued. I rode the MTB around the city for a few rides and had half a mind to take the MTB for the ride rather than to take the road cycle. However, considering that the effort would be lesser on the road cycle I hoped that the road cycle would hold. I had decided not to ride aggressively and try to be as smooth as possible so that the wheel will not have to take too much impact. Ditches, potholes were to be taken at slow speeds and no speeding through them to avoid damage.

The day of the ride came by quickly and I was back to fixing the rider number and charging the lights. Although I had two lights, as it was winter and daylight is at a premium, the lights were sufficient to last only one night and not two, also my phone battery has deteriorated and lasts only 10 hours per charge. Although I have a 13,800 MaH power bank, I wanted to get another so that I would not be in a power crisis, a power bank for the phone so that I could run Strava and Ride with GPS apps, and another power bank for the lights. I ordered the power bank and they were due for delivery on the day of the ride. I hoped that the delivery person would come in time and delayed my exit to the start point till 3:15 pm. The ride was starting at 4:00pm and I could not wait any further, I left for the start point without the additional power bank. I knew I had to ration the power usage and decided to run only one app on the phone.

I reached the start point at 3:45 pm and saw that the other riders had already arrived. I finished the start point formalities and met up with the riders from the previous rides. Shashi and Swami were there along with Amar forming the group of Go Green riders, Satish Addanki and Rupert Fernandes were targeting their first SR titles and the super stars Shanmugham Athi, Arpit Sharma and Dhanraj Karkera were also present. Prasad S, also part of the Go Green group had ridden the 600 BRM in Hyderabad the previous weekend and completed his SR, was there at the start to wish us. The turnout for the ride was small, only 16 riders were starting, we were given the route briefing and before we knew the ride was waved off.

A slow start due to the traffic as we passed through MG Road, Brigade Road and then onto Hosur Road. We got through the heavy traffic till Electronic City and although the traffic was heavy, as the road widened after Electronic City we were able to ride faster. A few riders got onto the Electronic City Flyover to beat the traffic, we rode below and were surprised to see the riders ahead of us. I caught up with Shashi and Swamy and rode together. I had expected to take at least 2 hours to get to Hosur considering the traffic situation, however I was surprised when I reached Hosur in 1.5 hours. This was a bonus for the climbs and we needed as much as possible to be able to complete the climbs. We rode steadily and made the most of the down hills to reach Krishnagiri at 7:45 pm. We stopped at Saravana Bhavan for dinner and were surprised when we were told that meals is not available, our preferred dinner was not available, we ordered Chapatti and Veg Biriyani instead and ordered a Mushroom Biriyani to be parceled for the night. We were served very quickly and we ate quickly and were back on the saddle at 8:15pm.

It was a heavy traffic day and the positive of having traffic was that we did not have to use our lights. The head lights of the traffic was helping us save our lights for later. The pace was steady, not slow since we needed the buffer time for the Yercaud climb and not fast as we needed the energy to climb Yercaud. We were passed by Dhanraj Karkera like a bullet train and joined by Ruban Raju, they had ridden with Shanmugham and Arpit and had been delayed at the dinner break. Ruban joined us and rode with me for the rest of the ride. We got past the Dharmapuri by pass and stopped at a bakery for tea. A quick 15 minute stop and we were back to riding.

I saw the Coffee Day within a kilometer of the stop. This was the control point for the next day. Within a couple of kilometers we reached the toll and there was a kilometer long traffic jam on both sides of the toll. Being on cycles we managed to squeeze our way between traffic and made our way through to empty roads. Within a few more kilometers it was the Thoppur ghat and I sped down the ghat. Swamy and Shashi rode a little slowly and a gap opened up, Ruban and I were riding together and we decided to stop at Salem and refill on water and wait for Swami and Shashi if they did not catch up with us by then. The wind picked up after Thoppur and it made life difficult, especially with 5 kilometers remaining to Salem, it was very strong and was tiring me. We caught up and over took Satish and entered Salem at 12:45 am. We had seen a lot of bakeries/shops which were open before the toll and rode assuming that we would definitely get an open shop after the toll as well, however as we were in the city limits all the shops were closed. I was out of water and also needed extra supplies for the climb. I was relieved when I saw a bakery which still had a few customers and although I had to cross the road to go to it I did not hesitate to stop and cross the road. Ruban waited near the cycles while I went to the bakery and bought water, juice and biscuits. Filled the water bottles and still had an extra bottle with me. Although it was additional weight for the climb I did not mind carrying it since it was a long climb with nothing available during the climb. Satish came by and he went to the bakery to have tea. Swamy and Shashi came by in 5 minutes and we rode into Salem.

We rode through the town and made our way towards the base of the climb. As we got out of town we ran into our familiar ally, street dogs. On a few occasions I was quick so the dogs did not bother chasing me and on a few occasions I sped when they chased me. I told Shashi that we should probably take the dogs along with us as they will make us climb the hill easily. We reached the toll collection post at the base of the hill and stopped to catch our breath. Ate a few biscuits and water and we were ready for the climb. It was 1:30 am when we started the climb.

We had 21 kilometers to climb. It was dark and as we were 4 of us, we were rationing the light usage, only 2 of us were using the light and the others were using our light to save up for the next day. A few kilometers into the ride and Ruban was clearly faster than all of us. We had done about 4 kilometers when Ruban and I opened a small gap to Shashi and Swami. Ruban was urging me to ride faster, I told him that he should ride ahead and that I would try to keep up. Little did I know that he would ride so quickly that within the next 30 seconds he had disappeared from my line of sight. I turned back and Swamy and Shashi were also not to be seen. I decided to keep riding and would wait up ahead for Swamy and Shashi. I had not worn my Jacket and Gloves and it was getting colder. I knew that I had to make a stop to wear them and would double that up as the stop to wait. It was dark and every time a leaf fell from the tree it would make a noise and I was left wondering if something would jump at me in the dark. I was making good progress and when I crossed the 15 kilometer to go mark I was happy that I had made it past the mark where I had stopped on my previous attempt of this hill. I rode another kilometer and stopped as it was getting very cold.

I wore my jacket and gloves and looked behind to see if I could see Swamy and Shashi. Nobody in sight and I was standing alone in the dark. I ate a couple of bananas, biscuits and drank water. Now that most of the load from the bag was out, it was very light. I waited for a few more minutes and since Swamy and Shashi were still not in sight I got back on the saddle as I was sure that they had stopped for a break.

I continued riding and got a push when I reached the hair pin bends. I had expected the ride to get steeper and more difficult when I reached the hair pin bends, however it got easier since I was counting down the hair pin bends rather than the kilometers and the hair pin bends came a lot quicker than the kilometers. There are 20 hair pin bends and the first few come up quickly, before I knew it I was at the 11th hair pin bend. I stopped again to eat a few biscuits and drink water. The bag got lighter. I continued climbing. The GRT resort was visible since it was well lit and it served as a marker to the top. It seemed like a long way off, however, with each bend it was getting closer. I reached the 16th hair pin bend and it took a while to get to the 17th and 18th hair pin bends. Just as I made it past the 18th bend I saw Dhanraj, Shanmugham and Arpit heading down the hill. It was 3:30 am and they had already started their descent. I kept pushing and when I reached the GRT resort, Ruban was waiting and I signaled to him that we should continue riding as the climb was almost done. A further half kilometer and the climb was down and we rode down towards the lake. A small check on Google maps for Hotel Shevaroys and a steep 25 meter climb to the hotel, we had reached the control point at 4:06 am. I was elated that I had completed the climb and still had time to spare. We headed back to the lake and sat on the wall and opened the Mushroom Biriyani which we had packed. I shared the Biriyani with Ruban and looked at the lake and a wonderful crescent moon. I tried in vain to photograph the moon, however the phone camera was not good enough to capture it.

As the elation of the climb settled the cold weather at the peak began to bite. Every minute of waiting for Shashi and Swamy was becoming more difficult as the body temperature began to go down. Fortunately for us, a tea stall opened up and we spotted the fire of the gas stove. We headed to the stall and ordered a cup of coffee each. The milk was yet to boil and we had to wait. We stood around the stove with the hands near the fire, however my fingers were still hurting from the cold. I held onto the boiling milk vessel (my gloves were still on) and finally managed to heat the fingers up. The coffee was ready and as we sipped on hot coffee and ate murukku, the shop owner set up a fire with used cups and cardboard. We were more than happy and sat around the fire waiting for Swamy and Shashi.

Swami, Shashi and Satish arrived at 5:00 am and all of us huddled around the fire. We waited for them to finish the biriyani, rest and then we filled up on water. We started the descent at 5:45 am. I realised that I had spent close to 2 hours at the peak and wanted to make a quick descent. Daylight was just about beginning to stream in and if I could gain a few seconds on the descent, it would give time for taking pics as well. About 4 kilometers into the descent I saw Amar trying to fill water into his bottle from the bore well at the temple. I stopped and tried to help him by pumping the water, however I was not able to pump the bore well fast enough, we switched roles and the bottle was filled. Shashi came by and stopped as well. We briefed Amar about the climb and restarted the ride just as Swami went past us. I accelerated and made some quick turns, on one turn I brushed against the railing at the hair pin bend as I just about managed to get the cycle back under control and avoid a crash. I over took Swamy and stopped after a couple of turns to take pics of the valley. As I descended further only Swamy was behind and Shashi was missing. When Swamy enquired I told him that Shashi was behind and must have stopped to brief a couple of other riders who were heading up. I continued down and within a short while I was at the base of the climb, I rode on and decided to stop for Shashi and Swamy at the turn to Salem city. I reached the turn at 6:30 am. I removed the jacket, gloves and skull cap and loaded the bag to make it heavier. 20 minutes and still no sign of Swamy and Shashi. I called Shashi, but it did not connect. I did not have Swamy's number, spent a few anxious minutes and decided that I should ride till the Control Point.  I restarted the ride at 7:00 am.

The control point was 50 kilometers off and it involved climbing up the Thoppur ghat. I had initially planned to have breakfast before heading to Thoppur, however I was not hungry and decided to ride to the control point without stopping. There was no wind and the Sun was not harsh as yet, the cool weather also helped. I made steady progress and counted down the kilometers to Thoppur. I had sped down the ghat on my way towards Salem, now I had to climb back up and I wished that I could climb back up at the same speed. I was getting hungry as well as I got near Thoppur, coupled with the climbing that I had done to get to Thoppur had sapped my energy. I started the climb slowly and within half a kilometer I felt a slight cramp in the left thigh. I continued pedaling, however, I still had almost 300 kilometers to ride and coming down with a cramp would effectively end my ride. I got off the cycle and walked a few steps, stretched, felt better, got back on the saddle. Just as I restarted the ride Ruban came by, I was surprised to see him since he had gone past me on the descent when I stopped to speak to Amar. I assumed that he had stopped for breakfast and when I enquired he said that he had not had breakfast, he had a puncture at the top of the hill and had taken time to fix it. Which meant that it was Rupert and Satish who had passed me on the way down. I enquired if he had seen Swamy and Shashi and he said that he did not see them. As we rode up the ghat we were passed by a riders who had participated in the TFN and were heading back home in their cars. They tried to make conversation, however I was too focused on the climb and too tired to reply. We made it past the climb and I was relieved that the climb was done and more over the Control Point was just ahead. Took a further 10 minutes to pull up into the Coffee Day and the sight of Mohan Subramanyam's car was a relief.

We reached the control point at 9:30 am. Handed over the brevet card, freshened up and ate curd rice, fruits and drank juice. Just as we were finishing up Satish Addanki reached the control point. We sat around for a while, Satish decided to catch up with sleep, Ruban and I were keen on riding and decided to start.

We started from the Control Point at 10:10 am. The weather had changed, it was hot and windy. Although it was rolling terrain, I was struggling to ride against the wind. We had 50 kilometers to get to Krishnagiri and I planned to stop at Krishnagiri for lunch, however Ruban wanted to continue riding and have lunch near the Yelagiri base. The plan seemed feasible and I said that we would take a call when we reach Krishnagiri. As we rode, Ruban was having an issue with his right knee, he had twisted his knee on the descent from Yercaud and it was now becoming painful. I gave him Volini, however he was not happy with the volini effect and wanted Moov spray. We searched for a medical store and could not find any in the vicinity. We continued riding and the heat was sapping our energy. I was feeling very sleepy and was pretty close to sleeping on the saddle. We stopped at a shop to have ice cream and refill on water. The stop had gotten rid of the sleep as well. A few kilometers ahead Ruban stopped again to have butter milk. In a few kilometers after the restart we found a medical store and finally got Moov spray. He applied it and continued riding. He was using the Moov spray frequently to kill the pain. However, it was not working and he wanted to buy a knee cap and see if it works. I told him that it would restrict the movement of the leg and it would hurt more, however he wanted to try the knee cap. We were about 20 kilometers from Krishnagiri, I told him that we would have to push till Krishnagiri to get to a medical store. As we got closer to Krishnagiri, the speed was back in the legs and we were making good time. Although the time was just over 1:00 pm, I was not very hungry and was all set to pedal on towards Yelagiri, however, Ruban wanted to stop and we doubled it up as a lunch break. We stopped at Saravana Bhavan which was packed and we had to wait for some time to get a table. Meals was ordered which came quickly and we gobbled it up. Even though I was not very hungry I ate up so that I do not have to take any further food breaks.

We started from the restaurant and took the turn from Krishnagiri to Chennai. We went off the highway to a medical store and purchased the knee cap for Ruban. While he was wearing the knee cap, the owner of the medical store enquired about the ride and as encouragement for the ride gave us a bottle of glucose free. I was over joyed with the shop owner's gesture, I had heard about it happening with the other riders, I had never experienced it personally. We got back on the saddle and headed towards Vaniyambadi which is on the Chennai highway. The map shows that the route from Krishnagiri to Vaniyambadi is a gradual downhill, however we were welcomed by huge flyovers. The Sun and the wind added to the frustration and the progress was slow. I was again feeling sleepy, however I wanted to get to the top of Yelagiri by 7:00 pm and knew that if we increase the stops then making the cut-off will be difficult. I continued riding and had just begun to pick up speed when Ruban wanted to stop since his leg was hurting. We searched for a place with shade and stopped when we found one. Ruban managed to catch 10 minutes of sleep and I had to wake him up to get going. Within a few kilometers we were onto the next control point, the Vijaya Bank ATM and took the selfie and resumed riding. We could see the Yelagiri hill on the right, however we still had to pedal about 20 kilometers to get to the base of the climb. The progress was slow due to the heat and the wind, we got a bit of a respite when we got a long downhill section. We stopped at a bakery to refill on water and have juice which was 6 kilometers from Vaniyambadi. We resumed riding and in the next half an hour we had reached the outskirts of Vaniyambadi and made the turn towards Yelagiri.

We had to ride about 8 kilometers to reach the base of the climb. The road was not in very good condition and it was climbing up, it was like the climb had already started and the effect of riding for 24 hours was beginning to show. We kept pushing and finally managed to get to the base of the hill. We stopped at the base before starting the climb.

It was 5:45 pm when we started the 13 kilometer climb. The Sun had begun its journey down, however there was still daylight and I wanted to make it up as far as possible in daylight. We saw Arpit on his way back when we were resting at the base and Shanmugham a kilometer into the climb. Ruban was fast and disappeared in a few seconds. I settled into my pace and kept churning the pedal and made slow progress up the curves. The hair pin bends start immediately, I used the same approach as I had used in Yercaud, which is to countdown the hair pin bends rather than the kilometers, however, at Yelagiri, the hair pin bends and kilometers come down at the same rate. Initially, Ruban would ride ahead and wait up for me, however, after the 7th hair pin bend of 14, he rode all the way to the top. The ride from the 7th to the 8th hair pin bend is long and it took a while. The Sun had gone down completely and the valley was beginning to light up using electricity. The beautiful green valley and blue sky had changed to black with stars lighting up the black sky and lights looking like stars in the valley below. There was heavy traffic on the hill, both, going up and coming down which did not allow me to take the lines which I would have preferred. The kilometers were coming down steadily, however with 3 kilometers remaining the gradient begins to bite, only 2 hair pin bends were remaining, however they took almost ages to arrive. It was getting frustrating that the peak was not arriving. Finally when I did see the end of the climb it was a relief. Ruban was waiting at the peak and we continued to ride into town and after enquiring with the locals managed to locate the Indian Bank ATM. Took the selfie and immediately started the return journey. As it was dark, I did not push very hard on the descent, however considering the traffic and the light factor, I was still fast on the slopes. I managed to overtake a few vehicles and when I reached the base it was 7:30pm. I had passed Satish Addanki who was half way up the climb at 7:15 pm. I told him about the climb and then resumed my descent. Ruban arrived at the base 5 minutes later.

We started the ride from the base at 7:40 pm. I was hungry and wanted to stop for dinner, I had suggested that we stop at Star Ambur Biriyani which was just after the toll gate for dinner, Ruban was fine with the idea and we rode towards the toll. The initial part of the ride was downhill, however as soon as we got onto the highway we were climbing again. It took some effort, however as the Sun and wind were not present we made it to the toll and then to the restaurant by pedaling at a decent pace. We freshened up and downed a biriyani each. I told Ruban that we should pack a biriyani rice each for the road. We ordered a plate each to be parceled, it was only when I loaded the bag that I realised that the packs were very heavy. Since only I was carrying a bag, I had to carry the packs and it was very heavy. Although I had ridden with weight over 12 kgs on my back and this was just about 2 kgs, carrying the weight after having ridden 450 kilometers was very difficult and it felt like I was carrying a hill on my back.

We started the return to Krishnagiri at 9:00 pm. We had 134 kilometers to ride to get back to Bangalore, 44 of which would be covered when we get to Krishnagiri. The initial part of the ride was uphill and I was struggling to ride. It was a loss of interest in the ride which de-motivated me, there was nothing new to look forward to and as it was the return ride, I was not very enthusiastic to ride. I made slow progress and was relieved when I saw that the climbing was done and we were onto rolling terrain. I tried to increase the pace, however the weight on my back was beginning to take its toll, I tried to drag myself, however as it was slowing me down considerably, I asked Ruban if he could carry the bag. He agreed and as soon as the bag was off my back, I began to ride quicker. The change was evident and the pace of the ride was up. We were hurtling towards Krishnagiri and a 11:00 pm arrival at Krishnagiri was on the cards when Ruban was feeling the effects of the weight and wanted to stop. We stopped near a well lit area with 24 kilometers to go for Krishnagiri and before we knew it half an hour had passed. We restarted the ride at 11:00 pm and made the most of the rolling terrain. With about 8 kilometers to Krishnagiri, Ruban handed the bag back to me as the weight was beginning to take its toll on him. We made quick work of the remaining distance due to the rolling terrain and reached Krishnagiri at 11:30 pm.

I had decided to get rid of the weight as the cost of carrying it was more than the benefit we would get. We were not hungry and it did not look likely that we would be using the biriyani rice before reaching Bangalore. I found a man on the street in Krishnagiri and handed over the biriyani rice parcel to him. The weight off the back, I felt a lot better. We needed to refill on water and Ruban wanted to rest. We rode into town in search of an open store and finally managed to find one. We refilled on water and then plonked ourselves on the porch of empty shops and rested. Ruban took the opportunity to catch up on sleep. I was worried about street dogs around the area, there were at least 5 which kept barking and loitering around the cycles. I woke Ruban up so that we can start riding again. It was 12:00 am when we started the ride.

The ride from Krishnagiri to Hosur is difficult since it involves a lot of climbing. The target was to push ourselves to get to Hosur and the ride eases out after that. We had ridden about 10 kilometers, when Ruban spotted a bakery and wanted to stop, although I was not keen since I was finding it difficult to restart after stopping, we stopped and ate dil pasand and drank juice. We divided the journey into 3 sections, ride till Shoolagiri, Shoolagiri to Karnataka Border and the last section being from the Border to the end point. We restarted the ride at 12:45 am. I was slow of the blocks and before I knew it we were at the ghat and I dragged myself up. As soon as the ghat was done, I was warmed up and increased the pace. Ruban wanted to stop, however I told him that we should push to get to Shoolagiri and we could stop after we get there. I counted down the kilometers to Shoolagiri and when I saw the Coffee Day board at Shoolagiri I stopped unwillingly since restarting was a problem. We stopped and there was no place to sit as we did not want to cross the road and go to the Coffeee Day. We stood around for 5 minutes and decided to restart. It was not sufficient rest time for Ruban, however, the damage had been done, I was just not able to get going after the 5 minute stop. The ride slowed down to a crawl and I was struggling to get the body going. Ruban suggested that we had to stop and rest to get the pace back up. I agreed and we found a place to rest. It was a shop again with a bench outside. I lay down on the bench and I dozed off. I was sleeping for the first time in 34 hours. I was woken up by Ruban in 15 minutes and I was in a dazed state. I woke up grumpy and my body was aching. I got back on the saddle and the struggle to get going continued. Once again the ghat section was onto us within a few minutes of the restart and I put my head down and kept pedaling. The pace did not matter to me and I was only looking to complete the distance. I did not realise, however I made it out of the ghat quicker than I thought that I would make it and as Hosur came closer I was finding it more and more difficult to pedal. Ruban even chided me on the pace and asked me to go quicker. At that point I was happy just to keep moving and knew that I had to make it to the outskirts of Hosur which was 3 kilometers away to get the pace up since it becomes rolling terrain after that.

I fought sleep and shouted at myself and got myself into Hosur. The site of the road going downhill and being able to carry pace was a relief. It was getting very cold and misty as we were nearing Bangalore. The ride through Hosur was quick considering that I was crawling before, riding at 18-20 kmph seemed like I was flying. The site of the Karnataka border was a relief and also an energy booster as I picked up the speed. We crossed into Karnataka at 4:00 am. I was back in familiar territory and knew the road here well. I knew the climbs and the descents and knew where it would take an effort and where I can ease off. We rode steadily and as soon as we crossed the Silk Board Flyover we were welcomed by bad roads. We were less than 10 kilometers from the end point and the roads were not going to be a deterrent although it reminded me of all the places in the body which were aching. I gave it a final push and reached the end point at 5:30 am.

Lokesh was waiting for us and welcomed us. We submitted the brevet cards and dug into the refreshments that Lokesh had got. We got to know that Dhanraj, Shanmugham and Arpit had arrived before us and only Rupert and Satish were yet to arrive. The rest had dropped out. Rupert arrived just before 6:00 am and Satish came in by 6:30 am. I was very disappointed to learn that Shashi and Swamy had discontinued the ride. I got to know that Shashi had suffered 4 punctures on his rented cycle and had been given wrong size tubes and therefore had to use patches which did not work properly for him. They had given up at the base of Yelagiri.

I have completed another 600 km ride and also I have earned my 2nd Super Randonneur title. I was happy with the ride, especially since I had to climb two hills and in terms of difficulty, this is the most difficult ride that I have done till date. It was satisfying to have completed the ride and I have ticked off two more hills.

Ride Details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Lavelle Road	Krishnagiri	95	3.75	3.75	16:00	19:45	25.33
Krishnagiri	Salem	105	4.25	5.25	19:45	1:00	24.71
Salem	Yercaud	30	2.50	3.00	1:00	4:00	12.00
Yercaud	Dharmapuri	75	3.00	5.50	4:00	9:30	25.00
Dharmapuri	Krishnagiri	60	3.00	3.50	9:30	13:00	20.00
Krishnagiri	Yelagiri	75	4.50	6.00	13:00	19:00	16.67
Yelagiri	Krishnagiri	75	3.50	4.50	19:00	23:30	21.43
Krishnagiri	Lavelle Road	87	5.00	6.00	23:30	5:30	17.40
		602	29.50	37.50			20.41