MC's Cycling Diary

Date: 1 December 2018 Total distance: 260 Kilometers Start Time: 5:00 am Return Time: 7:15 pm With: - Altitude Profile: Koramangala - Dharmapuri - Kuppanur - Yercaud - Salem A combination of work commitments and procrastination had kept me off the saddle after the SR5 event. I was unable to ride in November other than regular commute. The inaugural 200 kilometer brevet being hosted by Salem Cycling Club gave the opportunity to get back on the saddle and to ride around Tamil Nadu before the event. I did plan a 3 day tour, however, things did not work out and I had to restrict myself to riding on the day before the event. Yercaud has three approach roads, one from Salem city, one from Kanavaipudur and one from Kuppanur. I had done the Salem city and Kanavaipudur routes and wanted to try the Kuppanur climb. Plotted a route which showed that Kuppanur is at 200 kilometers from Koramangala and did not look too taxing and it seemed doable. The c...

Date: 6 October 2018 Total distance: 400 Kilometers Start Time: 4:00 pm 6 October 2018 Return Time: 4:30 pm 7 October 2018 With: Siva Balaji (after 100 kilometers) Altitude Profile: Trichy - Melur - Trichy - Veppur - Trichy I had to complete a 400 BRM in order to complete my 3rd SR for the 2017-18 season. I was optimistic that I could do this in spite of being on a very short tour just before this ride. The ride was scheduled to start at 4:00 pm and I was weary of being able to ride through the night. If I could get through the night with about 150 kilometers to ride, then I was sure that I could finish the ride. The tour went well, however I did have a couple of mechanical issues on the way. I was just 10 kilometers from Trichy when I had a puncture and got to know that the rear wheel axle is broken as well. Fortunately I had sufficient time to get to Trichy and along with a lot of help from Prashanth T K (Trichy Randonneurs) the cycle got fixed....

Date: 4 October 2018 - 6 October 2018 Total distance:  541 Kilometers Start Time: 6:00 am 4 October 2018 End Time:  12:15 pm 6 October 2018 With: - It had been over 6 months since I had done a cycle tour. I was itching to go on a tour, however I did not have sufficient time to go on a weeklong tour. The 400 kilometer brevet in Trichy on 6th October gave an opportunity to do a little touring before riding the brevet. The plan was to ride to Trichy, since I had a couple of days available, decided to ride to Yercaud, Kolli Hills and Thanjavur. I had missed out on Thanjavur on my previous visit to Trichy and did not want to miss the opportunity this time around. Knowing that doing a tour after the brevet would be difficult, I opted to finish the tour before the brevet. Further, the plan was to avoid the national highway as much as possible and to ride interior roads which included the state highway. Since I had ridden from Hosur to Salem on the Nat...