Jog (1,000 Kilometer Brevet) - 2nd Edition
Date: 7 April 2022 - 10 April 2022
Total distance: 1,020 Kilometers
Start Time: 4:00 pm 7 April 2022
Return
Time: 2:38 am 10 April 2022
With: Jayaprakash N
It’s been a while since I’ve done a 1,000
kilometre and above ride; September 2020 being the last time that I had
ventured on a 1,200 kilometre ride in 90 hours. After that it’s been about
getting shorter distance rides and only 1 overnight ride.
I had the opportunity to ride the 2nd
edition of Jog 1000; it was a good opportunity to get back into the rhythm of
riding long distances. Having already done the 1st edition of Jog
1000 in April 2019 and the route being the same, there was nothing new to look
forward to in terms of the route.
I did not get into the details of
planning for the ride. Having ridden the earlier edition I had a fair idea of
the route, the time and also about where I could do better as compared to the
previous edition. I wanted to use this ride to try out a few things as far as
bag set up, saddle, nutrition were concerned. I had doubts about being able to
ride through the night as it had been a long time since I had done an overnight
ride and this was going to be 3 nights. A few doubts lingered on being able to
get to the start point and being able to ride, however convinced myself to go
for the ride and give it a try.
Link to the previous editions blog is
below:
The 1st edition blog covers the control point to control point description in detail.
About the ride
Hiccup at the start and then the adrenaline rush:
Lined up at the start point and waited for the clock to tick to 4:00 pm to get started. Navigation on the garmin unit did not load, however, had Bikegpx on the phone as back up and used this as the navigation device.
We were flagged off at 4:00 pm and as we
started the ride, I was unable to lock the cleat into the pedal. Tried
frantically, but the shoe did not get locked. Stopped and looked at the cleats;
the cleats were clogged with the seeds from the gulmohar tree. Quickly removed
the seeds and managed to unclog the cleats. Tried to lock the pedals and this
time the pedal locked and then the anxious wait for the traffic signal to turn
green.
The ride was a go when the signal turned
green and the few minutes that had been lost was sufficient to get the heart
pounding and I rode at a brisk pace. Caught up and then passed riders along the
way and before long I was on the Mangaluru highway and making the most of the
mild cross-tail wind.
When I came to the start point, I wanted
to ride easy till the first control, however, the hiccup at the start made me
push faster than I had wanted to. However, it was not too bad, was able to
sustain the pace. At around 5:30 pm gobbled half a chicken roll and continued
to churn the pedals.
Water consumption was on the higher side
and I was through with one bottle at around the 40 kilometre mark. Not wanting
to make a stop for water before the first control unless absolutely necessary,
I took smaller sips of water and tried to have water only on completion of 8-10
kilometers.
There were riders ahead and behind,
however, I was riding alone and it felt like I was riding in a bubble since I
wasn’t catching up with the riders in front nor was anyone coming up from
behind.
Reached the first control at Mayura hotel
around 7:45 pm and although it was early for dinner, decided to have dinner and
refill water before resuming the ride.
Wanted to make this a quick stop,
however, realised the tiredness only when I sat down to eat. Ordered a meal,
however, was able to eat only rice with curd and had a lemon soda to drink. Refilled
water and got back on the road. The stop took about 30 minutes.
Highway ride for a further 70 kilometres
before we turn towards Belur. The ride was steady and only concern was water.
The water consumption was high and necessitated a stop every time a bottle was
empty to be on the safer side so that I don’t run out of water.
Had expected the stretch from Hassan to
Belur to take some time, however, I was able to get past this section quicker
than expected. I wanted to make it to Belur as quickly as possible as I
considered the section till Belur to be boring and did think that I would get
sleepy if I prolonged my approach to Belur. I made it to Belur around 12:45 am.
The volunteers were there and I was happy to have the Upma and Kesari Bath as I
was low on energy. The orange and badam milkshake further propped up the energy
levels.
Low Visibility
The weather was humid and the water consumption was high. Within 10 kilometres of exiting Belur there was a heavy mist cover and visibility was low . It felt like a drizzle in many places. The road is winding and it’s enjoyable to ride on the roads as long as we are able to spot the rumble humps. However, the mist was making things difficult and I tried to ride as carefully as possible.
I caught up with JP near Kottigehara and
having company in low visibility sections helped. Although the mist cover was
heavy and the temperature was low, the water consumption was still high.
Further, the clothes were wet from the mist and I was feeling cold, there was a
push to pedal harder to keep the body temperature up. I wasn’t worried about
the water consumption as I expected to re-fill water at Kottigehara since the shops would be open. However, on reaching Kottigehara, the shops
although partially open did not have water and what JP and I got was lemon soda.
We had the lemon soda and started from Kottigehara. I was worried since we had
reached Kottigehara at 3:30 am and it would take a further 90-150 minutes at
least for the shops to open. I had 1 bottle of water (750 ml) and had to manage
on this for the said duration. With the next section having climbs, I was
worried about running out of water.
The visibility was not improving, the
mist cover was heavy. It was not a concern as long as we were climbing,
however, on the descents it was a concern. There was hardly any traffic which
allowed us to take wider lines on the descent, taking the wider line helped to
carry speed and also gave additional time to see the road ahead and make
corrections in the line if required.
It was 5:30 am when we reached Kalasa and
the sight of a shop open in the wee hours was a big relief. JP and I refilled
our water bottles and had a juice before resuming the ride. The bottles being
refilled was a big relief as I was now confident of making it past the
Kudremukh climb.
As we exited Kalasa it was day break and
we could see the plantations. With day break there was no concern on low
visibility. We had spent 3.5 hours in low visibility and had covered about 80
kilometres in that time. It was a fair return for the conditions that we had ridden
in.
Kudremukh
stretch (Pass through Western Ghats)
In a short while we passed tea
plantations and reached the forest checkpost. Nakul and Kirti were waiting and
gave us Obattu, buttermilk and juice. It was a short stop before JP and I
resumed the ride.
It starts as a steep climb and then the
gradient eases up and is followed by rolling terrain. The road surface is not
great, filled with pot holes and in general the road surface is rough. JP was
climbing with ease and seeing him ride pushed me to try and keep pace with him.
The mist cover kind of robbed us of the open view of the Western Ghats;
however, I was happy that we were riding through this stretch in mist rather
than in heat. I could not gauge where we had reached and the distance to the
start of the descent to the Mala checkpost kept playing on my mind. JP giving
information of how many kilometres of climbing remained based on his Garmin
helped a lot to get past this section.
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When the descent did start, I was excited
to have made it past the climb and making it to the Dakshina Kannada district
the road surface improved which helped to make a fast paced descent to the Mala
check post. We stopped for breakfast; dosa, goli baje and pineapple were what
we had for breakfast.
Hot and Humid
Having crossed the Western Ghats, we were
now in hot and humid territory. We still had about an hour of comparatively low
temperatures and tried to make the most of it. JP and I paced ourselves well
and made it past Karkala and almost made it to Padubidri by when the heat had
cranked up. We made a stop for water and juice at Padubidri. On the restart,
the shoes again did not get locked. Made another stop to clean the cleats and
then resume the ride.
From this point it was about trying to
make it out of the highway and get back onto interior roads as quickly as
possible. The highway is open with no tree cover, the heat and wind made life
difficult. We managed to keep a brisk pace and made it to Udupi, lunch at
Udupi and then back on the highway. Stops for water, sugar cane juice to keep
ourselves hydrated. There were many times on this ride that I was topped up
with water, however, I was dehydrated and energy levels were beginning to dip.
We took a power nap just before reaching Maravanthe. The pace had dropped before the power nap, however, it improved after the nap. The break had worked for us and soon enough we made the turn from the highway towards Kollur.
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This section has steep gradients and
doing this in daylight is definitely an advantage. However, the heat and
humidity had the body boiling every time I was climbing and the ride was rather
uncomfortable. Pushed through this section and got onto the road to Kollur. I
was low on energy and asked for a stop to eat and fill ourselves up before we
start from Kollur. 5:15 pm when we reached Kollur and I had Parotta and
watermelon juice.
It’s a 9 kilometre climb when we exit
Kollur. However, the food and drink had not kicked in and I was feeling very
low on energy. Did not push on the climb and made slow and steady progress. JP
had gone ahead and waited at the top of the climb. I made it to the top just as
the daylight faded and the night took over. We took a break to refill water and
had juice before resuming.
So near yet so
far
70 kilometres to the drop bag location.
Approximately 4 hours including a dinner break is what we would have liked to
do. However, the gradients ahead were steep and we were not climbing in this
section, it was more like crawling.
The gradients were only 10-12%, however
the heat, humidity and fatigue made it appear like much more. Getting past 10
kilometres was very tough and when we did reach Sullali we were happy to see
restaurants and took the opportunity to have dinner.
Only 55 kilometres remained after dinner,
it was a struggle to stay focused in the rolling terrain. The climbs kept
slowing us down and the drop in speed was hitting the motivation levels. We
took a power nap and made a push to get to the drop bag location.
Rest and
rejuvenate
12:15 am when we reached the drop bag
location and were happy to see Nakul waiting for us. He escorted us to our
room.
Bike drive train was cleaned and lubed, freshened up and slept at 1:00 am. We woke up at 3:30 am and had rice and dal which had been arranged by the volunteers and started from Kargal at 4:30 am. Kirti gave us Croissant/chocolates and wished us luck for the ride ahead.
Favourable conditions
Early hours of the day were going to be
ideal conditions for riding. The heat would not have kicked in, the plan was to
get as many kilometres as possible before 10:00 am, preferably get 100
kilometres at least done.
We negotiated the climbs from Jog and
then picked up pace in rolling terrain, a stop for badam milk at Sagar and then
we got a good session in to get to the outskirts of Shimoga where we stopped
for breakfast.
We made it past Shimoga at 10:15 am. 300
kilometres remained.
Heat, Dehydration and Acidity
The road conditions deteriorated, rumble
humps, and increase in traffic made it difficult to ride. Add the heat to this
and riding was not enjoyable. Although there was sufficient fluid intake, I was
dehydrated and acidity had also hit by now. Eating anything sweet was a problem,
however, I had to have the energy bar’s as we were trying to get to the CP at
Mathigatta before stopping for lunch. Pushed to get to the Mathigatta CP and
then stopped for lunch. A relatively quick stop for lunch and we were back on
the saddle.
The section from Arsikere to
Channarayapatna was rolling and I was slowing down in this section. As we got
closer to Channarayapatna, I was low on motivation. Only 150 kilometres would
remain, however, it was going to be a ride on the highway and there was nothing
to look forward to. I did ask JP to go ahead as I was slowing him down,
however, he pushed me to get to the CP at Yadiyur. We made it by 9:15 pm to
Yadiyur. Under 90 kilometres to the finish, however, I wanted to stop for
dinner, JP did not want to stop for dinner. He rode ahead while I stopped for
dinner at Empire hotel.
After dinner I wanted to take a power nap
so that I don’t hallucinate on the remaining ride, however, the traffic on the
highway was heavy and the noise did not allow me to sleep. I got back on the
saddle and made steady progress towards the finish.
I did not hallucinate and kept riding,
albeit at a steady pace. Entering Bangalore was a painful experience. The road
is very bumpy near Yeshwanthpur (10 kilometres from the finish), the small
stretch of 3 kilometres was physically and mentally more exhausting than the 985 kilometres
which had been ridden before it.
The city was well lit on account of the Bengaluru Marathon and it was a pleasure to be riding in the city at that hour. I made it to the finish by 2:38 am.
Hit or Miss
Bag Set Up - Miss
The bag set-up was a disaster.
Tried to get rid of the handle bar bag
and replaced it with 2 top tube bags, one for navigation and the other for nutrition.
However, the bags on the top tube were not firm and kept moving a lot. Probably
50% of the ride was done with the legs rubbing against the bags and I had to
make constant adjustments to the bag position.
The handle bar bag would have had the
spare tubes and tool kit, which are quite heavy. However, with the removal of
the handle bar bag, the weight now was shifted to the saddle bag and this was
another disaster. With the bumpy road surface or when negotiating the road
humps, the bag would droop and rub against the rear tire. Had to get off and
re-pack on a couple of occasions. Thanks to Nakul Khadilkar who showed me how
to use the strings in the bag to keep the bag up at the Belur Control Point
(220 kilometres), if not the ride would have been painful.
I have to either revert to the old set-up
where the weight is in the front in the handle bar bag and the saddle bag will
only have clothes which do not weigh much; this will compromise the handling of
the bike a little or I have to re-work the bag set-up and see how I can move
the items around to have a better accessibility to items and improve ride quality.
Saddle - Hit and Miss
Thanks to Srinivas Gokulnath for the
Infinity saddle. The saddle was comfortable and I did not have a saddle sore
till around the 800 kilometre mark. I usually have saddle sore around the
350-400 kilometre mark and in hot and humid conditions the onset is earlier.
However, on this ride the saddle sore came into play rather late.
I did not get the saddle height right
which led to pain in the legs. It was very mild around the 700 kilometre mark,
and increased on the bumpy road surface around the 750-800 kilometre mark. The
pain reduced on better road surfaces; however, the entry into Bangalore with
the road surface being very bumpy made it a very painful entry into the city.
Nutrition - Hit and Miss
Thanks to Sheriyar (Freewheeling) for the
4PM bars. They were delicious and I managed to tide through a few stretches
where food was not available with the energy bars. The bars are coated with
white chocolate, which did not melt in the heat and also they are not dry which
made it easy to swallow. I was happy with the product.
My nutrition is still largely solid food
and I need to make stops for food. The heat and humidity on this ride
restricted the food intake to mainly rice and curd and a lot of juices. Many
stops were made for cold water, however, in spite of the increased fluid intake
I did get dehydrated and then acidity set in on Day 3.
Sleep Management - Hit
I was apprehensive about being able to
ride at night and expected sleep to play a big part on this ride. However, to
my surprise, I was able to get through the first night of the ride without
taking a power nap. Further, I did not feel the effects of not having slept and
the ride on the next day was not hampered due to the lack of sleep. I did take
2 power naps, one in the afternoon and another around 10:30 pm before reaching
the drop bag location. Managed to get 2.5 hours of sleep at the hotel before
resuming the ride and on the return leg, I tried to take a power nap in the
last 90 kilometres, however, the traffic on the highway was too noisy to let me
sleep and I ended up not sleeping and made it to the end. Surprisingly, I did
not hallucinate on the ride and was happy to have managed the ride on a total
of 3 hours of sleep.
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