Centurion ride To Chikkatirupathi

For a long time I was itching to have a 100+ cycle ride, never having attempted such a feat. So over the long weekend of 12-14 th Feb 2010 decided to attempt the same. After a game of see-saw I was left without any company , but being determined I decided to do the same solo.

[NH-207]

So got up very early than usual on a holiday of 12th Feb. It was still dark outside and the sun had yet to come up. Set home at around 6.10 am. It was chilly but within a few cycles of pedal the body was warm enough to sustain the atmospheric temperature it was exposed to.

Riding solo has in itself a different set of attractions than when riding in a group. Becoz due to the lack of company mind starts to divide itself into two groups, the less visible inner self and more visible outer self and the conversation begins between them. While some people might have the opinion that every person has God within himself , which I tend to believe they are referring to the inner self/mind which as whole comes out as a more mature mind and not accessible at all times, and on the other hand people might consider talking to oneself is the first sign of one going mental :P.

Anyway the ride was smooth, with evenly spaced up's and down, a haven for a cyclist, since if its complete down then we surely know that we have to climb the same monster while returning back. Reached BSK bus stand and from there took the inner ring road to reach the Silk Board Junction. From here the drive through the outer ring road was smooth and quick with some delay at HSR layout due to flyover construction. Reached the Sarjapur Road junction and left the outer ring road to continue on this route. This route was 4 laned and the traffic was bare minimum. Saw a couple of cyclists group on the way but didnt stop to say hello.

Reached Sarjapur, and surprisingly the roads were bad here. Asked a person for directions and he directed me a circuitous and highly potholed road, which I came to know much later. Dont know what sick pleasure this person achieved. After Sarjapur the roads are again good and soon after there is a left turn to be taken on to the NH -207 moving towards Hoskote.

Ride along this NH-207 was very good, the entire route was tree lined and there was no traffic at all in sight. The numbers of vehicles I came across can be counted on my fingers. Anyway when I was taking a snap one of the cycling group caught up with me. They were 2 guys Sudhanshu and Barani who had met up at BBC(Bangalore Bikers Club) and expecting me to be a third person they were waiting for they greeted me and so did I. Soon we came to know I was not the person they were looking for. Anyway they invited to join the group and I gladly accepted.

But as we started pedalling with our normal tempo these 2 guys started to fall behind. The reason for this they were actually pedalling at a lower gear and I was pedaling at the top most gear. And later came know from Barani that the reason they were riding at those gears was to increase their heart capacity. But me ingorant of their intent, was getting sometimes irritated at this.

[Chikkatirupathi]

Anyway reached Chikkatirupathi by around 8.20 am and went inside the temple to have some darshan. "Darshan in tights", I was half expecting the poojaris to throw us outside. Anyway this place has nothing to write about and we continued onwards towards Whitefield.

[Varthur lake]

As we started to approach nearer and nearer to Whitefield the traffic started to get denser. Took a pit-stop on the banks of the lake Varthur. While waiting for the others to show up saw a couple of foreigners riding on their MTB's. And as soon as they saw me called out "Hi, How You Doing?", to a complete stranger that was me, and I called and replied to them. "The Invisible Bond Binding the Brotherhood(also Sisterhood :) )of Cyclists".

Anyway by this time(10 am) the Sun was up and it started to get a bit tiring, and I was still a long distance away from home.

After the Varthur lake me and Sudhanshu took a wrong turn leading us right back to Chikkatirupati. By the time we realized it we had gone too far. Asked a local and he pointed towards a dirt trail. The ride through this dirt trail was good running to around 1 km and finally we reached the correct road.

Reached Sarjapur road and started moving towards my home. As in India's most popular game , that is cricket, there is a phrase , "Nervous Nineties". This phrase was totally apt to me since the last 10 km of riding in the concrete jungle under the blazing sun was miserable.

Anyway reached home at exactly 12:05 pm taking around 5 hrs 55 mins to cover the distance of 104 km. I signed a heave of relief on completing my first centurion ride.

[Mera Humsufar]

Came home and had some 3-4 litres of water and had a cold water bath in the tub, soothing the aching muscles and mind,..... AAHHHHHHHH.....Life :)

For those interested, here is my career stats so far:

100's ---------------------------> 1
50's ---------------------------> 2

[Route Map-Click To Enlarge]

P.S> The snaps were taken using mobile cam, hence the quality. Since weight issue come's into picture when taking the Canon s3 IS on cycling rides. Got to get a compact cam. Next on my wishlist :).