Gates of Heaven - 2018 Edition (1,200 Kilometer Brevet)

Date: 14 July 2018 - 17 July 2018

Total distance: 1,214 Kilometers

Start Time: 6:00 am 14 July 2018

Return Time:  8:45 pm 17 July 2018

With: Various riders

Altitude Profile:

The Preparation Phase:

Getting the Body Ready

The brevet calendar of Bangalore Randonneurs had been finalised and published in October 2017, the signature event in the calendar being the 1,200 kilometer brevet. Named Gates of Heaven, this 1,200 kilometer ride is touted as one of the most difficult rides in Bangalore if not in the country. It has an elevation gain of 13,000 meters including 3 hills and lots of rolling terrain. Climbing being my Achilles heel I had to put in significant work to be able to crack this ride.

8 months for the ride seemed like sufficient time for me to progress from having ridden 600 kilometers brevet to 1,200 kilometers brevet. The first step was to get used to riding a distance over 1,000 kilometer and I tried my hand at the Kittur Express (Bangalore Randonneurs) in December 2017 and then the Sir Arthur Cotton ride (Hyderabad Randonneurs) in January 2018, both of which did not rival the Gates of Heaven in terms of elevation, however, I got familiar with the rigours of riding for 3 days and understanding my sleep pattern. The Sir Arthur Cotton ride being in Hyderabad also set the ball rolling in terms of navigation since I was not in familiar territory. I did not want to be dependent on a navigation device and used Google Maps and also spent significant time on looking at the route and familiarising myself with the names of the towns in the route. It worked out pretty well and I was getting comfortable with this method. Post this ride, there were small set backs on the injury front which robbed me of precious time to prepare, however, I was making the most of the time available after recovery.

4 months had gone by and I had still not done any work on the climbing front. It was at this point that the Palace on Wheels 600 BRM was announced by Mangalore Randonneurs and I jumped at the opportunity to ride since it involved climbing and rolling terrain. It was a start to the preparations and it was in a sense ideal preparation as it was a difficult ride and I was under time pressure throughout the ride. This ride prepared me on the time management front along with giving a feeler of climbing and rolling terrain.

Only short distance brevets remained and I took it easy in April and May concentrating more on leisure rides and the odd brevet rather than pushing towards getting better at climbing. It dawned on me in June that I was almost out of time and had to get cracking if I wanted to be able to get to the starting line for the event.

The idea was to go for long rides which would mirror a brevet. Rides were executed with the emphasis being on doing over 24 hours of riding and preferably in rolling terrain. Being in Bangalore, there is an abundance of routes with rolling terrain and I did not start very well as I crashed on the first ride in June, fortunately not too much damage and was able to ride without losing time on recovery. Anchetty 200 BRM in 2nd week of June gave the confidence that I could ride in rolling terrain at a fairly decent pace. The subsequent week the plan was to ride over 24 hours to get the body fatigued and then attempt climbing, tried it by doing the Hassan route, however, I was not able to climb Nandi Hills as I got lazy to try it. Only 3 weeks remained of which I had only 1 spare weekend to practice, since I planned to ride the Dhanushkodi 600 BRM and the weekend before the ride was rest weekend. I made max use of the weekend in hand and did the Yercaud - Pollachi - Coonoor ride. A ride which gave a feeler of climbing with tired legs and also getting to know that the route for the ride would be changed since we were not allowed at Valparai and also that riding at night in Ooty is not allowed. Dhanushkodi 600 was a beautiful ride and the ride where I decided that I had to switch to wearing sandals as I suffered from soft feet from the rains and I had tried shoe cover, riding with socks, without socks, none of it had worked, last minute, however the change had to be made.

Don't Forget the Mind

I had done what I could with respect to preparing the body. The mind had to be prepared which was to come up with a plan for the ride. Knowing what the body can take and the route is an essential aspect of planning for the ride. Come up with a plan which while executing the mind is not stressed and the ride is half done. The last minute change in the route did not help, as I was familiar with only 500 kilometers of this route and the rest was unknown.

Day	From	To	Start	End	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Distance	Avg Speed
1	Vidhana Soudha	Hosur	6:00	7:30	1.50	1.50	40	26.67
1	Hosur	Krishnagiri	7:30	9:30	2.00	2.00	55	27.50
1	Krishnagiri	Salem	9:30	15:00	4.50	5.50	106	23.56
1	Salem	Yercaud	15:00	18:00	2.75	3.00	29	10.55
1	Yercaud	Salem	18:00	19:00	0.75	1.00	30	40.00
1	Salem	Bhavani	19:00	23:00	3.00	4.00	60	20.00
1	Bhavani	Avinashi	23:00	3:30	3.50	4.50	63	18.00
2	Avinashi	Mettupalayam	3:30	6:00	2.00	2.50	42	21.00
2	Mettupalayam	Doddabetta, Ooty	6:00	12:00	5.00	6.00	55	11.00
2	Doddabetta, Ooty	Gudalur	12:00	15:00	2.50	3.00	55	22.00
2	Gudalur	Kalpetta	15:00	19:30	3.50	4.50	70	20.00
2	Kalpetta	Kalpetta	19:30	22:30	-	3.00	-	-
2	Kalpetta	Kalpetta	22:30	2:30	3.00	4.00	60	20.00
2	Kalpetta	Kutta	2:30	6:30	3.00	4.00	60	20.00
3	Kutta	Gonikoppa	6:30	8:30	2.00	2.00	35	17.50
3	Gonikoppa	Suntikoppa	8:30	11:30	2.50	3.00	46	18.40
3	Suntikoppa	Sakleshpur	11:30	17:00	4.50	5.50	84	18.67
3	Sakleshpur	Chikkamagalur	17:00	21:30	4.00	4.50	67	16.75
3	Chikkamagalur	Hassan	21:30	2:00	3.50	4.50	63	18.00
3	Hassan	Channarayapatna	2:00	5:00	2.00	3.00	40	20.00
4	Channarayapatna	Nelamangala	5:00	13:00	6.00	8.00	116	19.33
4	Nelamangala	Kanteerava Stadium	13:00	16:00	2.00	3.00	30	15.00
	Total				63.50	82.00	1,206	18.99

Having ridden till Yercaud, I knew that the ride till I descend from Yercaud could be done at a reasonably quick speed. After that since it was mostly unknown territory, I ensured that the ride speed would not exceed 20 kmph and came up with a plan to complete the ride in 82 hours, albeit an aggressive plan, however, it gave me a sufficient buffer in case I had any issues on the road. Knowing that I could ride at 20 kmph and still complete the ride put me at ease. Further, the plan was not fixed and it had to be dynamic as we would have to factor in the conditions on the day of the ride. Reminded myself not to panic if I am unable to keep to the plan and to keep riding as long as I am within the control point timings.

D-Day Had Arrived      

What seemed like a long way off was onto me. Felt like time had gone by in a flash and felt under prepared for the ride. It reminded me of my Chartered Accountant exams, where any amount of studying makes us feel under prepared. When I look back I have ridden over 2,000 kilometers in June and still feel that I have not done enough to be prepared for a ride of this magnitude.

The organisers have put in a lot of effort to make this a ride to remember. They ran into road blocks on the route front and had to strike Valparai off the route and replaced it with rolling terrain to Chikmagalur since cyclists are not allowed to ride to Valparai. The route to Ooty has been changed to riding through Kotagiri instead of Coonoor and the climb has been scheduled during the day as against the night in the original plan again on account of the road being closed at night. The organisers have had to re-work the route in the last minute and still came up with a route with similar difficulty level as the original route.

I got the cycle serviced and got to know that the chain is worn out. Replacing the chain just before the ride is not advisable since I don't know if the chain will slip and will have to ride to get the chain working. I was left with 6 days before the ride and going on a long ride is ruled out, I had to make do with a couple of 20 kilometer rides around the city and hope that the chain settles. The other change that I have made in the last week, is trying to shift to riding with floaters/sandals instead of shoes. The reason for the shift being the rain which has been pouring in abundance along the route. Having struggled in the last month on account of soft feet due to the rain, I'm hoping that the last minute change won't have an adverse impact.

A briefing had been arranged for the riders the day before the ride where we were informed about the route and the difficult sections in the route. We were told that there could be inclement weather and stretches of bad roads for which we would have to build a big enough buffer to be able to reach the control points in time. It was a good session and also a little unnerving as the difficulty level of the ride had increased after listening to the briefing.

I woke up late and had to rush to the start point and reached 10 minutes before the start. Guess most of the riders had already arrived, there were a lot of cyclists and cycling enthusiasts, friends and family of the riders who had come to the start point to wish the riders. Exchanged pleasantries with a few riders and before I knew it the countdown was on and we were flagged off.

Bangalore to Krishnagiri - CP 2 - Off to a Flyer

Early morning hours, less traffic, cool temperature made it perfect for riding. Started slowly through the city and gradually built up the speed as we got past Electronic City. Cross tail wind, mostly downhill gradient meant that riding was easy. Lokesh, Ruban and I were riding together. I was waiting for Raghu to zip past us in a few moments and vanish into the horizon. However, Raghu did not come by and instead the three of us were riding rather quickly and averaging over 30 kmph. At this stage I was not pushing myself and was still clocking a good speed, which meant that I was getting significant help from the wind. Crossed the border and we were cheered by riders from Hosur which gave a little push to keep going.

The ride which was quick till Hosur, got quicker as the downhills commenced. The Sun was just about beginning to make an appearance, however, the temperature was still cool and we were making good use of the helpful conditions. The pace at which we were riding, we were expected to reach the first control point before 9:00 am. Mohan Sir and Jins passed us when we were around 15-20 kilometers from Krishnagiri.

As we closed in on Krishnagiri  the pace was beginning to drop since the wind had changed direction and was now a cross head wind. It did not matter too much at this point as we were very close to the control point and were scheduled to stop for breakfast.

The clock ticked to 8:50 am when we reached the first Control Point at Saravana Bhavan. Mohan Sir, Jins, Satish and Harish welcomed us and signed the brevet cards. We headed to the restaurant to have a quick breakfast. A plate of Poori and a plate of Pongal was ordered and just as we started breakfast Raghu came in. What was supposed to be a quick breakfast became a 40 minute break and we resumed the ride at 9:30 am.

Even though we had spent 40 minutes for breakfast, it was still a very quick start. 96 kilometers were completed in under 3 hours, average speed reflecting 33 kmph. It felt good to see the average speed hovering over 30 kmph for the first time.

Krishnagiri to Yercaud - CP 3 - Head/Crosswinds Reared Its Ugly Head

The pre-breakfast ride was very quick. As soon as we restarted, it was clear that the post-breakfast ride was going to be difficult and that we would not be matching the speeds that we had done earlier. Now it was a matter of riding as quickly as possible and at the same time keeping the legs as fresh as possible since we had to climb to Yercaud.

The fast start had helped to create a buffer and a little slowing down in this section did not harm us too much. We rode steadily till we got to the Dharmapuri bypass. At this point Raghu sped ahead and the three of us were beginning to fall behind. We had to make a stop to refill on water and had a Coca Cola to boost the energy levels. Quickly back on the bikes and in a short while we were whizzing down the Thoppur Ghat.

Reaching the Thoppur Ghat meant that the ride speed was going to increase again. I had expected the wind to cease after we got past the ghat, however, there was no stopping the wind on this day. It continued unabated, however, with the gradient being downhill we were able to pedal quickly. Ours was a 2 stop strategy to get to the base of the hill, some more hard pedaling and we were at the Salem toll where we stopped for lunch. Saravana Bhavan plate meals along with a lot of Lime Soda and Butterscotch Ice cream is what we had to fill ourselves up. It was a rather long lunch break, however, we were still on course to start the climb around 3:00 pm.

We rode into Salem town, traffic was not too heavy and we were able to negotiate our way through to the Yercaud road rather quickly. We stopped a few kilometers before the foot hill to stock up on banana's and a Coca Cola bottle to be able to handle the climb. As there was a sugarcane juice stall, all of us had sugarcane juice. The Salem Cyclists group was very helpful here when they spotted us and sponsored the sugarcane juice.

A quick ride to the base of the hill led to the climb being started at 3:10 pm. If we could climb well then we would be able to descend in daylight which would save us some time rather than getting caught out in low visibility in the dark. I was determined to make it to the top without stopping and wanted to make it a steady ride to the top. Raghu and Ruban took off like a jet propelled engines, I was into a steady rhythm, however, Lokesh was slow as he was cramping.

Having ridden the hill quite a few times over the past months, the plan was to keep a steady pace over the initial 9 kilometers and then push on when I get to the hair pins. Kept my excitement in check and also the eagerness to stay in touch with the others in check and rode at my pace. In a few kilometers Ruban had stopped for a break, I continued riding as I was sure that he would catch up in a short while. Few more kilometers, a look up and I could see the hair pin bends leading up into the sky, a familiar sight now, which had unnerved me on my first attempt on this hill, however, on this day I did not allow the sight to de-motivate me, instead I was enjoying the scenic beauty of it. Just before the hair pins start, the volunteers had set up a refreshment stall, as I was stocked up well and also did not want to break the rhythm of the climb, I continued without stopping. After a couple of curves I was at the hair pin bends, at which point Raghu who had stopped at the refreshment point came by and went past me again. On this occasion, I was able to keep him in my sight and was pulling myself up the hill. We were beginning to catch up with other riders. On my previous climbs in the hills, the wind had never been a problem, however, today the wind was slowing us down on the climb as well, which was dampening the spirit a little. With 7 kilometers to the top I saw Raghu coming to a halt, he had a puncture. Without wasting too much time, we set about replacing the tube. 20 minutes later we were back on. Having lost a little time I pushed hard to make it to the top as quickly as possible since riders had begun to descend when we were replacing the tube. Reaching the GRT resort was confirmation that the climb was almost done, with a downhill coming up and providing an opportunity for the legs to recover, I rode high gears and made it to the control point at 5:20 pm.

Yercaud to Chengapalli - CP 4 - Dragging our feet

Rode back to the lake and waited for Raghu and Ruban to click their pics at the control point and come back. It took only a few minutes for them to come by, however, with the temperature dropping at the top of the hill, it seemed like a lot more. As soon as they were back, I started the ride to get back downhill. The descend started with a host of traffic welcoming us and overtaking them took a while. The jam was created by a bus and after getting past the bus, it was time to run into another string of vehicles created by a slow moving truck. Got past the truck as well and reached the refreshment stall and refilled on water by which time Ruban came. We refilled water and resumed the ride. It was a quick descent and we continued riding to make it out of the city and onto the Coimbatore highway.

Lokesh who was about 3 kilometers from the top when we started the descent, called and enquired about our location. We decided to sync up at the dinner point which was Saravana Bhavan at Vaigundham. The wind had subsided and riding was easier than it had been in the morning. An hour and a half of steady riding and we reached Saravana Bhavan at Vaigundham. A plate of parotta and just as we finished, Raghu, Lokesh and Satish Sharma arrived at the restaurant. A relaxed dinner and we were ready to start riding again.

We were now on the border of the plan and the buffer that had been built was not available anymore. However, I had realised that the buffer would not matter since we would have to stop at the foot hill and reaching before 5:00 am to the foot hill would force us to stop. I was looking forward to a 30 minute stop and had prepared for the same in the earlier weeks, anything additional would be a bonus.

We started after dinner at 9:30 pm. 70 kilometers to be ridden to the next control and we were on course to reach by 1:00 am. It was going to be a relatively easy ride till Bhavani before the gradient begins to kick in a little, so 30 kilometers of easy riding followed by 40 kilometers of riding at a steady pace was what I was looking forward to. However, in a short while Lokesh began to cramp very badly. He could barely walk, the salt intake during dinner had not helped and he was still struggling. We stopped and tried to walk the cramp off, stretched a little and then started slowly. A tea break was taken in the hope that it might help. We rode slowly after that hoping that he would recover by the time we reached the next control. Further with a little rest at the control point I was sure that he would get better. It took a while, however, it looked like Lokesh was slowly getting his legs back and we began to increase the pace slowly.

A lot of riders were making a beeline for the next control, we did not allow that to play on our mind and stuck to a steady pace. It was only when we were in the last 10 kilometers to the control that we began to up the ante and raced to the control point.

It was 1:36 am when we reached the control, a fair time considering the troubles that we had in this section of the road. We were welcomed by the volunteers and saw that all the riders who had reached before us were still at the control point and were catching up with sleep. We parked our cycles and headed to have a delicious large serving of Tamarind Rice which had been arranged by the Coimbatore Cyclists.

We were 60 kilometers from the foothill, 3 hours was a fair enough time to do it giving us an hour to rest. Although an hour was available, knowing that riding in the hours before day break would be difficult I preferred only a 30 minute break so that we could use a little buffer on the road. 20 minutes sleep was decided and all of us hit the floor. 30 minutes later I was up as it was getting cold and that was the automatic alarm. I had overshot the sleep time by 10 minutes. I checked with Lokesh, he wanted to rest further and with the sight of Swamy and group pulling into the control point, he decided to ride with them as it would give him some additional time to rest.

Chengapalli to Doddabetta - CP 5 - Playing catch up

Raghu, Ruban and I got ready to leave, filling the bottles, chatting a little with Swamy and group, the clock had ticked to 3:00 am when we started.

We rode quickly and caught up with Akhil, Balaji, Galin and Robert (Galin & Group) just as we pulled into Avinashi town. A little slow through the town separated us from the group and from Raghu as well. We rode past Avinashi took the turn towards Annur and we were off the highway and into dark interior roads here. The pace automatically dropped and a short stop to sync up with Raghu and Satish and we were off again. We reached Annur town at around 5:00 am and the sight of a bakery made us stop to refill on water, eat and catch up on a quick sleep. The owner was good enough to allow us to use the premises to sleep and also woke us up when he started getting a steady stream of customers and told us to get going.

Arrangements had been made for us to fill up on water and have fruits 8 kilometers from Annur. Although we had stopped just 8 kilometers before, when we reached this place, we stopped again and headed in to have lime juice and banana's. When we reached this location we had fallen behind time and had to get going quickly. Satish made the quickest stop, guess he was out of there in 5 minutes, Ruban was next when he got going 10 minutes later, I started 5 minutes after Ruban, not sure when Raghu started from there. Given that Raghu is a fast rider I expected him to get ahead on the climb if not before.

It was crunch time, the expected time of arrival at the foothill was 7:00 am, an hour behind the planned time. I knew that I was short on time and I had to push hard on the climb to make it in time to the next control point at Doddabetta. Almost in line with the new expectation I reached the base of the climb at 7:10 am, 30 kilometer climb to follow. Raghu had not shown up as yet. I started the climb and mentally prepared myself to have a long day on the saddle. I had ruled out a breakfast stop in order to make it to the control in time and the alternative to breakfast was to have Pepsi/Coca Cola which I would buy during the climb. When I started the climb, I had a couple of banana's in the jersey pocket which I had stocked up from the refreshment point.

A couple of kilometers into the climb I caught up with Satish and Elango. A quick chat with Elango where he gave inputs on the gradient of the climb and I went past them. The information that it was going to be a steady climb to Doddabetta with the gradient increasing as we get closer to Doddabetta only got me pushing harder to make it to the top in time. Surprisingly I was able to sustain the pace. I rode 11 kilometers in the first hour and was very happy with the pace. A quick calculation and I was back in the game to make it to the top by 12:00 pm, however I did not know what lay ahead and kept riding as quickly as I could. The rain made its first appearance here with a drizzle. It lasted only for a few minutes during which time I heard the familiar voice of Jins egging me on when Mohan Sir and Jins passed by. That was an indication that the earlier control point had been closed and the riders were on their way to the next control.

The gradient was getting steeper and the pace kept dropping. Preferred to keep moving rather than stopping for a break as that would break the rhythm. Made judicious use of the banana's that I had stocked to keep going. The next hour had me going up 8 kilometers during which time I passed by Mohan Sir and Jins, I had a couple of boiled eggs, a little juice, stocked a banana and was on my way. 19 kilometers covered in 2 hours of climbing, a decent pace, however the kilometer stone to Ooty still showed over 30 kilometers and that number was worrying and at the same time kept me ticking and stopped me from taking additional break's.

At this point I do not know if the gradient was getting steeper or that I was getting tired or it was a combination of the two. The next hour I covered only 7 kilometers during which time I went past Venkatesh and Mohan and also caught up with Galin and group. I stopped for a quick refill of water and bought a bottle of Coca Cola and got going. I was riding behind Galin and group who started just ahead of me from the shop. The gradient shot up here and riding became slow. The sight of the kilometer's to Kotagiri coming into single digits and then dropping below 5 kilometers was encouraging. Just as we got close to Kotagiri, there was a downpour. I rode ahead of Galin and group when they stopped for a pic at Kotagiri.

As I exited Kotagiri town, the wind picked up and so did the rain. The wind was swirling and the rain came in from different directions getting my apparel drenched in no time from all sides. A look at the valley and the hazy view confirmed that the valley was engulfed in rain. The gradient had let up and I was in rolling terrain. This helped on the time front and also helped the legs recover a little. I passed by Arun, Dilip and Koken who had stopped to get their rain gear on. As I was not carrying any rain gear, I did not spend time in getting it on or off. Arun, Dilip and Koken were the front runners and getting past them even for a brief while gave me the confidence that I could make it not only in time to the control point but reach there and create a buffer for the next section.

In a short while, the climb started again and I was overtaken by Arun. The rain had stopped for a while, however, with Doddabetta closing in the wind picked up speed and riding became difficult. Like the wind was not sufficient it began to drizzle again. Getting into the higher altitudes, there was mist, the view was beautiful, mist, light drizzle and damp roads was a picture perfect moment. However, I did not have time to enjoy the sights too much and was back to thinking about getting to Doddabetta. With just over a kilometer to go, the drizzle changed to a downpour, the clothes which were damp were drenched in a matter of minutes riding became very difficult. Visibility reduced as well as the mist became thick, however I was within a kilometer of Doddabetta and I pushed myself to get there as quickly as possible.

12:25 pm when I reached Doddabetta Control Point. A look around and I saw that Arun had taken refuge in a bus stop and I headed in as well. The wind was howling and the trees were swaying furiously. Took the pic at the control point and just as I tried to call Mohan Sir, they pulled up at the control point. Along with them Koken and Dilip also arrived at the control point. We were the first riders to reach the control point. I was very happy with the performance on the climb and was all geared for the descent. Mohan Sir and Jins told us to get going and not to waste time, they told us to have lunch at Ooty and then continue riding. We wore our reflective vests and got going from the control.

Doddabetta to Kalpetta - CP 6 - The suffering begins

As per the plan, I was going to ride to Gudalur before stopping for lunch. The idea was that getting to lower altitudes would help on the rain front. I was just 30 minutes behind my plan and felt that I could make up that time on the descent.

What followed was what defines a brevet for me. The conditions threw a spanner in my plan and the ride changed completely hereafter. The practice, the planning everything went out of the window with the weather playing havoc.

We started the downhill and within 100 meters, I was out of my depth. I was shivering and struggling to control the cycle. 4 kilometers were all I could ride and the sight of a restaurant was sufficient to bring me to a halt. The idea behind stopping was that I could have lunch while I waited out the rain. Good idea or a bad one, but I stopped and hoped that the conditions which were treacherous would improve in about half an hour.

I ordered a meal and held onto a cup of hot water as I sat shivering in the restaurant. Galin and group and Venkatesh and Mohan stopped at the restaurant as well. When piping hot rice was served I dipped my fingers into the rice and still could not feel my fingers. My capacity to bear cold conditions is pathetic and this was pushing the limits. I gobbled up the food in the hope that the food in the tank would heat the system up a little.

Post food, there was a small waiting period for the rain to stop. At the first opportunity that I got, I got onto the saddle and started the descent to Gudalur. I was still shivering and concentrating on the road while keeping the cycle steady was a very difficult task. There were climbs in between and I was loving the climbs as I was able to get some heat into the body. Having climbed to Ooty from Gudalur, I knew when to expect the downhills and also the length of the downhill which helped in a sense to prepare for when I would begin to struggle with the cold again. The rain had stopped only for a brief while at Ooty and it continued to pour. Mohan caught up with me and we rode past fallen trees and small landslide sights, although it was scary sights at no point did I allow this to waver my focus from continuing to ride. I continued riding in the hope that the conditions would improve from the next turn.

Mohan was concerned that Venkatesh had fallen behind and that he should wait for him. We reached the mid-point of the descent, Naduvattam and opted to stop and wait for Venkatesh. There was a small shop which was serving parotta's, I had one and ate a packet of fryums as well and just when I ordered another parotta, Venkatesh flew past us. The parotta was cancelled and Mohan got going and I followed in a couple of minutes.

The rain continued, the wind continued and the temperature was still not increasing which meant that the conditions were still horrendous to ride in, the only change being that by now I had worked out a position in which I would not shiver, although it put a lot of pressure on the legs, I did not have an option but to stay in that. Getting into the cobble stone section made me ride carefully so that I get past it without crashing. We had been warned about this section being dangerous, a few extra minutes spent to get past this safely would not cost me much over the course of the ride. Getting closer to Gudalur, the descent became steeper which meant that it was risky. I rode slowly not wanting to skid and ran into traffic in Gudalur town and saw that Venkatesh and Mohan were stuck in traffic as well.

Took the turn towards Calicut, rode a kilometer through bad roads and then got onto good roads and rolling terrain. A few more kilometers, it stopped raining and we were in rolling terrain. Finally, the weather although still dour had improved and I felt like I had gotten out of jail.

It was 4:30 pm when I reached Gudalur, 80 kilometers remained to the Control Point and I had 6 hours in hand to do it. The focus had shifted from getting to the control point with a buffer to getting to the control point in time.

Venkatesh and Mohan stopped for a break at the next town, I opted to continue since stopping would cool the body down. I enjoyed the ride through rolling terrain with no rain I was cruising through the slopes of the Nilgiris. I checked with a person on kilometers to Meppadi and his statement that I was only 13 kilometers from Meppadi was like music to my ears.

I crossed the border from Tamil Nadu to Kerala and crossed a bridge and the sight of the brown water was an indication that there had been abundant rains in the area. It was 7:00 pm when I was crossed into Kerala. In a short while it was nightfall and along with crossing the border came bad roads and yeah, the rain was back. If the descent had been bad in terms of trembling while riding and fighting the cold, it was now a case of trying to spot a pothole in the dark. On a few occasions when I went in heavy I was lucky to get away without any damage and that automatically slowed me down. Being in Kerala, I was unable to read the kilometer stones and every time I saw one I assumed that I was looking at the distance remaining to Meppadi. Distance remaining in single digits kept me going and when it was down to zero I was looking for the place where I had to take a right turn to Kalpetta. Instead I saw a board showing left to Meppadi. My first impression was that the left was to go to Meppadi town and that I did not have to go into town. It was a shocker when I got to know that I had reached Vaduvanchal and I still had 12 kilometers to go till Meppadi. The person I had enquired with had stated the distance to Vaduvanchal rather than Meppadi. This was even more dampening than the rain and it made me feel a little low.

I reconfirmed my location on google maps, can't spend too much time cribbing about not reaching where I thought I would be. Started riding again after resetting the ETA to Kalpetta. I had kept hunger at bay till that point as I kept telling myself that I would be in Kalpetta in 30 minutes. However, now with over an hour of riding to do, the thought of food kept growing. Making it out of town I was away from the shops and that meant that I was drinking water to keep my hunger at bay. The rain was intermittent and just had a way of knowing when the clothes were just about getting dry. The minute I would get a little comfortable, the rain would start again and I would get drenched again. Riding in potholed roads and in wet clothes was getting to me. And being hungry had a large role to play in the frustration beginning to increase. The mind was getting into the 'how much more' of this should I take mode.

Although the distance to Kalpetta from Meppadi was only 10 kilometers, I decided to stop at Meppadi to eat a snack so that I could get the main cause of the distress out of the way. I stopped at a bakery and after having an egg puff and a piece of Mysore Pak I was back on the saddle. Arun, Dilip and Koken went past when I stopped at the bakery. Fortunately the road from the time I took the right turn towards Kalpetta was in excellent condition and was downhill. I raced towards Kalpetta and when I reached the junction I took a left, I don't know why I did this, but now I was having a problem remembering the route as well. I was unable to check the route on the phone on account of the rain and rode about 2 kilometers before it dawned on me that I had taken the wrong route. I confirmed my fears by checking the map and rode back towards town. In the next 10 minutes I was pulling up in front of the resort.

It was 9:10 pm when I reached the resort and the sight of Satish Addanki brought a smile on my face. He guided me to the room where Jins was waiting to know about the ride. I had just two words for the ride from Doddabetta till Kalpetta, "Suffer fest". Along with the suffer fest came the news that Raghu, Ruban, Swamy, Prasad, Raju and Partha had quit the ride. It was very disappointing to hear this, however, this ride just does not give enough time to think of anything other than getting back on the saddle and getting to the next control point in time. I re-focused on the ride and got back to planning for the next control point.

I washed up and quickly headed for dinner, where we were served Chapatti, rice, chicken curry and veg stew along with hot water. The food was delicious and during dinner it was decided to ride the next section in a group and that we would do it immediately after dinner. While we had dinner, Satish Sharma came in and in a short while Venkatesh and Mohan, and Galin and Group arrived as well. 11 riders had made it to the Control Point at Kalpetta in time and all had the same plan, have dinner and then ride the loop before stopping for rest.

Kalpetta to Kalpetta - CP 7 - The killer loop

10:20 pm when Arun, Dilip, Koken, Satish and I started from the control point. It was evident from the start that Satish was struggling since his brakes were worn out and he was unable to keep pace with us. We rode quickly towards Panamaram and took the turn towards Beenachi. We were welcomed by a kilometer of bad roads and when the road improved slightly we hit a wall. Short and steep climb followed by an almost equal distance short and steep descent. The road was deserted, almost no civilisation around, a vehicle passed by rarely giving us a hint of civilisation. The understanding of this route was that there might be a few steep climbs and descents and will majorly have rolling terrain. However, what followed for the next 20 kilometers until we reached Beenachi were steep climbs followed by steep descents. The plan to finish the 60 kilometer loop by 1:00 am was now a distant dream and we slogged it out on the climbs and concentrated hard on the descents to avoid going into a pothole. Arun and Dilip were looking like they had just started the ride and the effect of having ridden 600 kilometers did not show at all. Watching them climb kept me on my toes as well. Fortunately there was no rain in this section which was comforting as the ride which was already difficult did not become impossible.

We got past Kenichira town and entered what looked like a forest area. Not sure if it is a forest or it was estates, however, it did feel rather lonely and riding alone in this section would definitely test the mettle of a person. The countdown to Beenachi town had started as we looked at the kilometer stones and the numbers in single digits was helping. Getting to Beenachi was important, since the road goes downhill from here to Kalpetta and getting to Beenachi would effectively complete this loop.

The closer we got to Beenachi, the steeper the climbs got. With no change in the pattern, it was becoming boring....climb, descend, climb, descend, climb, descend.....the mind was crying out "get me some flat terrain". The mind could ask for anything, but what was on offer was only climbing and descending. The sight of Beenachi town not only brought a smile on the face, but with it came a burst of speed as we went downhill for the next 10 kilometers. When we did get back into rolling terrain, my chain slipped and I had to make a stop to fix the chain by which time the rest of them had sped ahead. Fortunately, they had stopped a kilometer ahead and we continued riding in a group. There was a quick drizzle to get the clothes wet again just before we got into Kalpetta.

We pulled into the resort at 2:00 am. We headed to the dormitory, took a bath, changed clothes and hit the bed. I did not plan to stop at the resort since I was apprehensive of getting to the next control in time, however, after doing the loop and pretty much extracting all the juice from the legs I had to rest for a couple of hours. I was glad to know that Arun, Dilip and Koken were going to start at 5:00 am and decided to join them.

I set the alarm for 4:30 am and went to sleep, which was pretty much as soon as the head touched the bed.

Kalpetta to Gonikoppa - CP 8 - Pedal like your life depends on it

I woke up at 5:15 am and saw that only Koken was up. The remaining riders were fast asleep. I looked at the phone and saw the message stating "missed alarm". I felt like kicking myself. It was an unnecessary loss of time. Freshened up, by which time the other riders were all up and everyone were at different stages of getting ready.

Satish Sharma had missed a turn and had ended up inside the forest making him miss the control point. He had decided to continue riding without coming back to Kalpetta. Galin and Group were the first to start towards Gonikoppa. Venkatesh and Mohan next, Arun, Dilip, Koken and me were the last to start from the resort.

6:15 am when we started which was to an extent a result of Mohan Sir coming and pushing us out of the resort saying that we were late and would run out of time. 5 hours 45 minutes for 100 kilometers seemed like a lot of time and I did think that we could make it comfortably.

Within a few kilometers of the resort the 10 riders were together. The gaps between us was just a few meters until Koken stopped for water and we lost sight of the 6 riders. Dilip's brakes were worn out, mine still had some life left in it. The road after Panamaram was not in great shape and there were a lot of potholes necessitating that we ride carefully. To make life difficult, it started raining as well. It was a repeat of yesterday's weather. The rain came in spates and left us drenched. We needed to clock at least 20kmph to be comfortably placed, however, our pace was in the 17-18 kmph range which was slowly dropping us back.

We stopped at Mananthavady for breakfast. A 30 minute stop to fill ourselves up. I had Puttu Kadala Curry, a favorite of mine followed by a Samosa. We had 3 hours 45 minutes to complete 62 kilometers. On any day this should be an easy task, however, given the road conditions and the weather, we were going to be fighting against time to complete this. The enormity of the task at hand had still not struck me and I was fine with riding a little slowly in Kerala as I was sure that the road would improve in Karnataka and that we would be able to ride quicker after crossing the border.

We got a spell of dry weather, however the roads were pretty bad which did not allow us to take advantage of the dry weather. 9:00 am when we made the turn at Kattikulam towards Tholpetty reserve. 52 kilometers to be ridden in 3 hours, making it an average of 17 kmph. Which is what we had been riding, making it clear that we could not take any more delays and any spell of slow riding would hurt us badly. The slow spell of riding was coming up as well as there was a short climb inside Tholpetty Forest Reserve which would be followed by rolling terrain making it very difficult to regain the time lost during the climb.

Just as we entered Tholpetty Forest, we caught up and went past Venkatesh and Mohan. We had assumed that Galin and group were ahead, and thought that they were the best placed of us to get to the control point in time. Along with entering Tholpetty Forest came a fresh bout of rain, it was a deluge and as we climbed I saw water flowing downhill and forming a stream on both sides of the road. There was no time to appreciate the beauty of the forest and although I did think about the course of the water and where it would join the Kabini river, it was time to get back to getting across the border as quickly as possible.

It was crunch time and Arun and I rode ahead of Koken and Dilip. The climbing continued till we crossed the border and got to Kutta. 35 kilometers to be done in 2 hours and the required average had gone up to 17.5 per hour. Along with crossing the border, my brakes were also worn out. Another setback to riding quickly was that the road condition was not as good as I had expected and there were a lot of potholes. Every descent would invariably end up with a pothole forcing me to slow down and restart pedaling. On one such occasion where there was a fallen tree blocking half the road, Arun got away before an oncoming car blocked the road and I had to wait for it to pass. That is all it took for Arun to open the gap and disappear. As long as the rider is in sight it is easy to keep pace with them, once they are gone, it is very difficult to keep riding at the earlier pace. I began to slow down and was worried when the distance remaining to the control point was not coming down quickly.

It was time to pedal like my life depended on it which required a small change in the thought process. Instead of trying to get to the control which seemed to be taking forever, I changed the focus to getting to the nearest town. The advantage of doing this was that the towns were 7-9 kilometers apart. Not too hard to push for 7-9 kilometers as against thinking of pushing for 30 kilometers. This worked for me as I was able to sustain the pace over a period and every town I reached was a confidence booster to keep going and the pace automatically began to increase. With 7 kilometers remaining to the control point, the chain slipped and I had to spend precious seconds getting the chain back. The seconds felt more like minutes and when I got back on the saddle, it was time to ride hard. Ran into traffic at Ponnampet, stayed calm and waited for the traffic to clear and then raced towards Gonikoppa. In 15 minutes I was there at the control point.

11:45 am when I took the pic. Arun had reached, Dilip and Koken came by in 2 minutes. We took the pic and headed to Classic Restaurant to have lunch. The other riders came by 2 minutes apart. We had assumed that Galin and group were ahead, however, they were behind us and managed to come in before the control point closed.

It was a close run thing and I was happy to have made it in time. We ordered lunch and recounted the ride to the control point. Mohan Sir and Jins came by and gave us Unniappam's. They were surprised that we had taken so much time and said that we should get going quickly since getting to the next control would be difficult as the gradient ahead is very difficult.

Gonikoppa to Sakleshpur - CP 9 - The grossly underestimated terrain which was the game changer

In spite of the warnings, we had a relaxed lunch and took our time to get started. It was 1:00 pm when Arun, Dilip, Koken and me started from the restaurant.  9 hours 40 minutes in hand to ride 120 kilometers. What's the fuss about, we got this was what I had in mind when I started.

As soon as we started we got a feel of what to expect, a steep climb which kind of got the focus back towards having to ride to the next control point rather than basking in the thought of having reached the previous control in time. It was a beautiful road with estates on both sides till we got to Pollibetta. When we turned towards Siddapur, the road was bad and we rode slowly. Dilip had stopped for a break and we rode slowly in this section waiting for him to catch up. We reached Siddapur town and stopped for a coffee while Dilip came by. When Dilip came by he said that he had to have his brake pads changed since his cycle was not stopping. We found a shop where brake pads were available, not good ones, but ones which would do the job for a few 100 kilometers is what we needed. Arun, Dilip and I changed our brake shoes. It took an hour, and Mohan Sir kept reminding that the clock is ticking and kept reminding that the road ahead is difficult and that we should get going. 3:30 pm when we got going from Siddapur.

Arun and I sped ahead opening up a gap to Dilip and Koken. We rode past estates and came across many fallen trees and electricity poles. It was a reminder that the wind had played havoc in this region and that we were actually going through without any issues. We reached Chettalli and when we took the turn, Arun sped ahead. I could not keep pace and fell behind. 11 kilometers ahead I saw that Arun had been surrounded by people and when I closed in saw that he had a fall. Got to know that he had been rammed from behind by a car and that effectively put him out of the ride since both his wheels were bent. Mohan Sir and Jins arrived at the scene and were on hand to handle the situation.

By the time I made my way past the accident site, 30 minutes had lapsed and all the riders had gone ahead. 5:15 pm when I started, I had 72 kilometers to ride and had 5 hours 25 minutes to do it. Going to be a close run thing and this got me into the mind frame to ride long without taking a break. The other riders had stopped at Suntikoppa for a break, I opted against stopping and continued riding.

A kilometer from Suntikoppa, I saw Satish Sharma at a bakery. I checked with him and he said that he would come along. My plan was to get to Somwarpet at a minimum in daylight which meant that I had to get there by 7:00 pm, leaving me 50 kilometers to do in 3 hours after Somwarpet. We passed by a burgeoning Harangi river and although I was tempted to stop and admire the view, I continued to ride.

From Madapur to Somwarpet the road had steep climbs and along with it came rain and wind. A lot of fallen trees and the Electricity department employees trying to restore fallen electricity poles. They warned us about the situation being bad and about the risk of ending up under a falling tree, however, I shut myself from all talks about a risk and kept riding.

The sight of Mohan and Jins passing by and enquiring if I wanted anything was a relief. I stocked up on chocolate and chikki's and a good number at that. When they sped ahead, I was about 5-6 kilometers from Somwarpet. Satish had caught up with me and we rode ahead to Somwarpet town and took the turn to Koothi.

It was beyond 7:10 pm when we got onto the Koothi road. 50 kilometers to be done in 3.5 hours, average of 15 kmph, should have been an easy job. What followed were a lot of short and steep climbs. It was difficult to climb straight and I was climbing diagonally on most occasions. There were a few occasions when I got caught out in the wrong gear on a climb and came to a halt, getting back on the saddle and pedaling was a herculean task. With visibility being poor, the descents were harder than the climbs. The positive that I had at this point was that the brakes were functioning better and I was confident that the cycle would stop if I hit the brakes.

Passed by a beautiful waterfall, and kept going. Many places where the water was flowing across the road and in poor visibility it was just about being lucky that there we were making it out of the puddles unscathed. The roads were narrow and there was no electricity at the villages making this section seem even more deserted than it actually was. On reaching Koothi town we were being warned that we should not go ahead since it is elephant territory and that it was dangerous. I had shut myself to any kind of warnings and was only thinking of getting to the control point. At that time, I was a person who did not know kannada and could not understand what was being told.

The expectation that the gradient would ease up after Koothi did not materialise. The gradient continued to be short steep climbs which was being done by riding diagonally. Although not much, at that moment, I was thinking that all the diagonal riding would increase the distance to the control point by at least a kilometer or two.

We had been losing a lot of time on account of the gradient, however after reaching Vanagoor handpost it began to ease up a little and we were able to accelerate. A two minute stop to eat chocolate helped to keep us going. Having been told that navigation is a challenge in this section I kept disturbing Satish Sharma to keep checking his device to ensure that we are on the right track. Being right on the borderline with respect to the clock we could not afford a wrong turn.

Since I had ridden additional distance, I could not match my strava reading to the exact kilometers of the control point, however, I knew that the additional kilometers were in the 6-8 kilometer range. At this point I was looking forward to the left turn which would take us towards Byakaravalli and then towards Arekere which was supposed to be difficult to spot. When we did get to this junction we spotted the left rather easily, which left me thinking if there was another left turn ahead. The kilometer stone was showing Byakaravalli, however, I was getting worried if we were on the right route, Satish Sharma's reassuring voice saying that we are on track kept me going.

I was not sure how far we had to go to reach the control point. Felt that it was probably around 5-7 kilometers. If we weren't going through a difficult phase already, there was a huge downpour. Matter of seconds in which we were drenched. No time to think about rain, wet clothes, only thought was to get to control point. It sounded so good when Satish said that we were within a kilometer or two of the control point. Rode harder and saw a light in a building after ages and hoped that it would be the control point. Took the turn and saw the organisers car with blinkers and head light. Mohan Sir and Jins welcomed us. A quick look at the clock confirmed that we had reached just in time,10:40 pm. I was elated to have made it in time.

We had run the clock very close, however, there was not much time to think about it, since getting to the next control point was on my mind. Mohan Sir enquired if I wanted to rest, however, I said that I would have dinner and start.

Drenched once again just before the control point, Satish and I went in shivering to the control point. We headed for dinner, having survived on chocolates and chikki's it was time to eat well. Not only because I was hungry, but also to take care of the nutrition for the next 6 hours since I would not get anything on the road ahead. The caretaker at the resort was very helpful and served up a delicious dinner. Chapatti's, rice, chicken curry, fish fry, chicken kebab, salad, fruit salad.....it was a lot of items and I feasted. I did not realise that I had spent 50 minutes on dinner.

The other riders had begun to arrive at the control point. However, all of them opted to stop since they had missed the control point timing except for Dilip who was keen on finishing the ride even though he had missed the control point timing.

Sakleshpur to Chikmagalur - CP 10 - The one that almost got away

The two of us started from the control point at 12:15 am. 5 hours available to ride 75 kilometers. It was still raining heavily and the few additional minutes spent at the resort hoping for the rain to stop were futile. I was back to shivering and getting onto the cycle was painful. It was downhill terrain as well which made it even more difficult as I was now shaking profusely. It took a short bout of pedaling to get the body warmed up and back to feeling comfortable on the saddle.

Dilip was very vocal and we chatted almost continuously. There were just a couple of turns to be taken on this section and if we managed to do that then we were good on the navigation front. Dilip was running low on the phone battery, in spite of which he was helping on the navigation front. We reached the Bangalore - Mangalore highway and managed to spot the turn towards Mudigere near Anemahal. Dilip confirmed that we had to make the turn and we got onto the road to Mudigere.

It continued to rain, visibility was poor and even though it was downhill terrain to start with, we were averaging around 17-18 kmph. We could not risk high speed descents since the brakes were worn out again and we did not want to end up in the ditch . There were a couple of sharp turns as well which were spotted in the last minute and with a desperate attempt to bring the cycle under control. In a short while we were in rolling terrain and the rain eased up a little. We found a building where we stopped to connect Dilip's phone and light to the power bank. We resumed riding, we were about 3-4 kilometers from Hanabal when Dilip went off the road as he had a shut eye moment. Fortunately he was able to control the cycle and got back on the road. He decided to stop and sleep and at the first bus stop, he stopped. The place was deserted and very lonely, I told him to ride ahead to Hanabal town and rest there, however, he was sure he would not make it to Hanabal town and said that he would rest for a while and join me later.

I rode ahead and in a short while was at Hanabal. The rain was back and it was windy as well. It was deserted and there were almost no vehicle's on the road. It felt like the clock was ticking faster than it normally does and I was running out of time. Distance was coming down in a trickle, I had to rest for a few minutes to get going again and stopped when I saw a bus stop just after Hanabal. It was a quick 5 minute stop and I was woken up by the sound of passing trucks. Vehicles on the road felt like a blessing and I was back on the saddle and pedaling hard.

My understanding of this route was that it was rolling terrain till I get close to Chikmagalur and then there would be a climb just before Chikmagalur. However, I was climbing to get to Mudigere itself. I don't know if it is actually a climb or I was in rolling terrain, but it felt like I was climbing all the while. I did not want to screw up on the navigation front and kept checking on the kilometer stones which were on the right side of the road necessitating that I go to the wrong side to shine the lights on them to confirm that I was on track.

I reached Mudigere town at 3:30 am. A section of bad roads where I had to ride slowly and then I stopped to confirm the route. Checked google maps and I was on track. Messaged Mohan Sir that I was 30 kilometers away from Chikamagalur and got back onto the saddle.

The climb continued towards Chimagalur. The additional factor hampering riding in this section was mist/fog which became smog every time a truck went by since the smoke from the vehicle made the fog thicker and visibility was almost nil. I kept a constant speed and was pushing hard to make it past the climb. The climb was never ending (or so it felt) and it was time to wake up and sprint on the climb if I had to make it in time. I have never ridden big gears on a climb and seriously doubted if I could do it after having ridden 950 kilometers. Worth a try, shifted into the big gear and went for it. Fortunately, by the time I did this there was not much of the climb left and I was probably in the last couple of kilometers of the climb. I got a section of downhill in which I was able to recover some time. Reaching Vastare town was where things changed for the better. Easier terrain and I was able to speed into Chikmagalur town. Sped past the Serai resort and made it to Chikmagalur town just in time again.

Although I had run the clock close to the control point at Gonikoppa and Sakleshpur, I was confident that I could make it in time, however this was the only control where I had begun to doubt if I could make it in time. Believing that we can make it is very important and gives an additional 1kmph speed I guess which over the course of such a long ride makes a big difference.

Chikmagalur to Hassan - CP 12 - Emotional phase and favourable weather....finally

After reaching Chikmagalur town, having been fighting against the clock from Ooty base, it was time to rest a little. The fatigue had taken over and having time in hand suddenly made me sleepy, I found a Hyundai showroom just out of town and caught up on 20 minute sleep.

When I woke up it was day break and I was happy that visibility had improved. I was hungry and I rode slowly in search of an open store where I could find something to eat. I found a provision store and ate a banana and some mixture before resuming.

I started towards Belur and this was the time when I realised that the gradient had eased out, visibility had improved and riding was going to be easy. The time when I realised that I had time on hand and that I could make it the next control comfortably. Time on hand allowed me time to think and with it came a whole lot of thoughts and before I knew it there were tears rolling down my eyes. It took a couple of minutes to realise that there was no specific reason for this and that I still had over 200 kilometers to ride.

A quick reminder that I still had a ride to complete and with the conditions being unpredictable, I had to remind myself not to take it easy. A call from Mohan Sir saying that he and Jins would wait for me at Hassan served as a wakeup call and I was back up to speed. I was about 15 kilometers from Hassan when the clouds opened up ....again. The prediction was that the rains would stop at Chikmagalur, however, it was still raining. By this time I was used to the rain showing up at wrong times and did not allow it to divert the focus from the ride. Kept my head down and kept turning the pedals. I missed the usual land marks before Hassan town and did not know how much more I had to ride when I saw the board welcoming me to Hassan Town. I was within 5 kilometers of Hassan town.

The rain had changed to a drizzle, when I reached Hassan town I had to make a stop to buy an android cable since I had given mine to Dilip and my phone charge was down to 30%. I was running the risk of losing the ride data. Found a shop about 100 meters from the restaurant where Mohan Sir and Jins were waiting. Quickly purchased the cable, connected the phone to the power bank and I went to the restaurant. I was welcomed by Mohan Sir and Jins and the sight of their beaming faces took away any tiredness that was there.

I freshened up and headed in to have breakfast. I was shivering again as I had been at almost all the stops since Doddabetta since I was drenched again. I had a chat with Mohan Sir and Jins about the ride and what lay ahead. It was a relaxed breakfast, once again a long stop for food, this time I could afford it since I knew that the next 80 kilometers will be a quick ride. Confirmed to Mohan Sir that I would get to the next control point between 3:00 - 4:00 pm, bid good bye to Jins as he was heading to his home town and started the ride from Hassan at 9:45 am.

I had 6 hours 15 minutes to ride 80 kilometers to the next control. Last month on a practice ride I had done this in 3.5 hours. This was supposed to be easy. And it was going well when I did the first 15 kilometers at a decent speed. When the downhills did come by, I was unable to pedal and the tiredness had caught up. I was coasting on the downhills and was unable to carry the speed to the climbs. This slowed me down and I was labouring through a section where I should have been flying. This got me worried as well that if I was struggling through the easy section then what would I do in the next section when the ride becomes a little difficult. The slow speed was putting me to sleep as well, I opted to sleep for a while and see if it would help in increasing the speed.

When I woke up I was still disoriented and was in a fix. I was still labouring and was thinking if I would make it to the Control Point at all. That's when I saw the familiar face of Mohan Sir coming by and enquiring about how I was feeling and encouraging me to keep going. That was the boost that I needed and I was up and running again. He said that he would be waiting for me at the Control Point and I did not want to make him wait for too long.

Along with me finding the required focus to pedal, there was further good news. There was a tail wind and finally, I was able to carry speed onto the climbs as well. The weather had finally turned and it was time to enjoy the favourable conditions. The kilometers which were trickling down earlier were now coming down in a hurry. I reached Hirisave and wasted no time in getting the hammer down to make it to Bellur Cross.

Contrary to my expectation, I had reached Bellur Cross at 2:20 pm, at least 40 minutes before the expected time.

Bellur Cross to Bangalore - CP 12 - Avoid the jinx

106 kilometers to be covered in 9.5 hours. The required average speed was just above 10 kmph, with a lunch stop in the near future, that would get pushed to around 13 kmph. I was not worried about the speed now. I told Mohan Sir that I would ride a further 10 kilometers and stop for lunch at Halli Mane. The 10 kilometers were ticked off rather quickly, 2:50 pm when Mohan Sir and I walked into Halli Mane restaurant opposite Swati Delicacy and ordered a veg meal.

It was a relaxed lunch break. I was in no hurry and this had become a norm over the course of this ride that the meal stops were averaging an hour. On looking back, I guess the meal stops were long and I avoided taking breaks later rather than making quick stop for breakfast/lunch/dinner and then stopping again for tea/coffee/snacks. I was in a relaxed frame of mind at the start of the meal without thinking about the remaining distance or that I had a ride to complete, it was my way of giving the mind a little bit of rest. It was only when I had finished the meal that I re-focused on the ride and after a few more words of encouragement from Mohan Sir I started at 4:00 pm.

8 hours were available to ride under 90 kilometers. Knowing the terrain put me in an even more relaxed frame of mind. I was cruising and was riding this section in touring mode and was enjoying the ride. The pressure of having to keep a watch on the clock had been lifted and the ride even though on the highway was suddenly very enjoyable.

Just when I was beginning to get too much into touring mode, I was passed by the riders returning from Sakleshpur in a taxi. They stopped ahead, Akhil, Balaji, Galin, Koken, Venkatesh, Mohan, Robert and Satish alighted from the vehicle and started clapping and encouraging me to keep going. A superb gesture on their part which got me back in brevet mode and I was riding quickly. The tail wind was still around and I was making easy work of the ride to Solur which happens to the town from where the gradient eases out.

On any other ride on this route when I reach Solur, I know that I'm done with the ride and completing the ride is a formality. It's 50 kilometers to the finish from Solur and most of it is in fast rolling terrain. However, on this day, I was careful and did not want to celebrate before reaching the finish line, lest I jinx the ride.

Reached Solur and made quick work of reaching Nelamangala. It was around 6:30 pm when I reached Nelamangala, there was still daylight and as I got onto the flyover there was a new challenge, riding through traffic with no brakes.

I had ample time and rode slowly being extra cautious on the descents. I did not mind crawling to the finish line as long as I could avoid a crash. This was working perfectly till I reached the Gorguntepalya signal. I was making my way past a taxi from the left which had stopped at the signal. Just when I went past the back door, the passenger opened the door and rammed the door into me. Since I had to go straight, I was in the centre lane and when the door opened, I was thrown into the left lane and straight into the path of oncoming traffic. A truck passed by inches from where I lay on the road. When the truck went past without running over me, I knew that I was destined to complete this ride. I took my time to get up from the road, I was helped by people around and I was told to ride slowly, I did not know what that meant since I was already very slow. I did not want to offend anyone by retorting to that comment or pick a fight with the taxi driver, I kept quiet, checked that the cycle was not damaged and that the wheels were rotating. I had a small wound on my right index finger knuckle, other than that, there was no damage. I rode past the signal and stopped at a small store to have a banana and drink a little water.

The break calmed me down and I was ready to ride the remaining 10 kilometers. I entered the traffic filled roads of Bangalore, kept to the left and avoided getting in their way and rode gingerly. I was crawling, however with a lot of time in hand I was not worried about the speed, I just wanted to get to the finish line without any other crashes.

I informed about my location when I reached Chinnaswamy Stadium. I was within a couple of kilometers of the finish line. I did the loop and as I got closer to Konark hotel, I could see that a crowd had gathered. I had expected about 15-20 people to be at the finish point, however, a crowd in excess of 50 had assembled.

I was welcomed by my fellow riders and a whole lot of cyclists and cycling enthusiasts. I was overwhelmed by the welcome and do not have any words to describe the feeling. The feeling of having completed the ride had not sunk in as yet and having a huge crowd welcoming me was a first for me. There were familiar faces as well as new faces in the crowd, but it seemed like everyone there knew me for a long time and I was being welcomed home.

It was an awesome feeling to have so many well wishers waiting for me to finish the ride and their beaming faces made me forget any tiredness that I had and I was all excited. So excited that I tried to do a bike salute and realised that the body was tired and that I should take it easy.

Ride Summary

Started as a ride and ended as a journey

When I registered for this ride, and started preparing for this ride it was all about doing a cycle ride. Little did I know that it would throw up so many obstacles which would end up as life lesson's. It's not about riding the distance, but about the emotions that one goes through over the course of this distance that makes this a superb experience. The emotional aspect of getting through 1,200 kilometers overshadows the physical aspect.

It started off as an easy ride and the ride was exactly as it had been planned for. Make it through to Doddabetta peak with sufficient buffer and use that buffer well to get through the rolling terrain which follows for the next 400 kilometers and this ride was as good as done. Not too much fun, if everything goes as per plan and there had to be something that changed the equation, which in this case was the weather. I had prepared myself to face the head winds from Krishnagiri to Salem, rain in Wayanad and Kodagu. Only the head winds predication stayed true. The rain was very heavy and for a person who does not enjoy cold weather and prefers to stay warm this was a crunch moment. Not having rain gear worked as a positive as well as a negative. Negative since I was freezing, positive since I did not spend precious minutes in wearing it and taking it off. The weather in many places mirrored a storm, howling winds, swaying trees, fallen trees giving an indication of the carnage, and incessant rains were less than ideal conditions to ride in. But the essence of the ride lies in making the most of the conditions in hand and trying to stay in the game for as long as possible.

I outdid myself on the climbs to Yercaud and Doddabetta which gave the necessary adrenaline dose to keep going further. I did lose time on the descent to Gudalur which was supposed to be a place where I got myself a buffer, however knowing that although I had lost time I was still within the control point timings allowed me to stay calm and keep riding.

In addition to this I had a very good group of co-riders who were very helpful and kept me motivated to keep riding. Watching them fighting in horrendous conditions and doing it with a smile on their faces was were motivating and kept me ticking. Whether it was during the day or in the pitch dark of the night, their smiles were sufficient to keep me positive. The ease with which they were riding even after 600 kilometers was very motivating. From Kalpetta, we rode through bad roads, incessant rain, phases of blistery wind, steep gradients, narrow roads, deserted places, creaking branches at night giving it a very eerie feel, animal threat. All this would not have been possible if we had not pushed each other to keep going. It was a cat and mouse game where each one was trying to outdo the other and in the process was getting everybody closer to the finish.

Other than the people factor, there were a lot of thoughts which kept me going as well. The conditions will improve in the next kilometer, this will be the last climb and the gradient will ease out for sometime at least after this which will allow the legs to recover, but a significant one was that if I quit, then I would have to ride all these kilometers again in 2 years time in conditions that could be worse which at the moment was not very appealing. Since I was riding, I thought that the conditions that we have at the moment are the best that could be had on this route since we haven't seen the future.

Heartfelt gratitude to the riders and the organisers

Would like to congratulate each and every rider for making it to the start line. I went through a lot of jitters and had developed cold feet to get to the start line. Just standing there takes a lot and hat's off to the riders. Akhil, Arun, Balaji, Dilip, Galin, Koken, Mohan, Robert and Venkatesh, tough luck. Having ridden 882 kilometers and missing out by a whisker is very difficult, this experience will only make the already strong riders even more stronger. I was fortunate to complete the ride since it was my day. All of us completing would have been the ideal situation.

Amar, Lokesh, Raghu, Raju Sundharam, Ruban, Parthasarathi, Prasad, Siddalinga Swamy, I have learnt a lot by riding with you all and it would have been wonderful if all of us could have finished this ride. To Rajkumar Khot and Shashidar K C, you'll were sorely missed on this ride and would have loved to have you'll on this ride.

This ride would not have been possible if not for the superb organisation by Bangalore Randonneurs. Would like to thank all the volunteers for taking time out and making this ride possible in spite of all the hurdles that you'll faced. The arrangements made during the ride were perfect and only people who have a deep understanding of a rider's requirements could have come up with this and hat's off to you'll for making this as comfortable as possible for us. The food arrangements for us along with the unlimited supply of refreshments were fantastic. Marshalling the route and keeping us on our toes, words of encouragement at the right time were fantastic. Just the sight of a familiar face/voice over the phone in unknown places served as energy boosters and motivation to keep riding.

I know that how much ever I try to do this it is not going to be sufficient. Mohan Sir, we are lucky to have you in Bangalore. Not only do you come up with insane routes but you make it possible to ride those routes as well. From plotting practice routes and giving valuable inputs you prepared us very well for this ride. Your LEL experience kept me going every time I was faced with inclement weather. Watching you continue to marshal the route in spite of not keeping well was very motivating. You have been an inspiration and will continue to be one.