Thumping Nice Road Half Marathon !!!!!

Having missed the Bengaluru Half Marathon in the month of October, thanks to a 104'er viral fever, I was raring to participate in a half marathon. And the next possible opportunity I got was in the form of the Ajmera Thump Bangalore Celebration marathon, conducted in a section of the NICE ring road after blocking vehicular traffic.I didn't register for this event until just 3 days leading to it, because I didn't want history to repeat and myself  getting disappointed again, sitting in the sidelines and unable to participate.

In comparison to the previous 2 half marathons which I have completed, this looked comparatively easier in terms of the elevation profile and the running surface and obviously the finishing time does conform with this. The half marathon was started early in the morning at 6 am and I was just in time to start the race. The initial section of the run was through the 2 lane concreted road and the early morning weather was favoring the runners to maintain a good pace. One thing I learned from this race is proper hydration and nutrition early in the race, goes a long way in helping to maintain the stamina in the later sections of the run. Hence at every aid station I would stop and have a mini refill of salts and glucose infused into my blood stream.

Thanks to the smooth road, I had finished half of this race within 1 hr clock time and  was raring to finish the other half. Never have I experienced such energy reserves in my previous long distance runs. Therefore I think it might be because of the physical shape and also the nutrient intake leading to the race. BTW I had a cheese filled pizza dinner the previous day :P.

Only when there was 5 km left to finish the race did the sun come out of the cloud cover, but thankfully by that time majority of our run was completed. As usual did a sprint to the finish line and finished off the race with a personal best time of 2 hrs, 7 mins, 39 secs. This is close to 11 mins better than my previous half marathon finish time. So end of the day was very happy for inching closer to my short term goal of a sub-2hr finish time.

Rank	BIB	Name	10.55K	Chip Time
145	1525	Nithin Uliyar	0:59:48	2:07:39

Jazz One : Shivanasamudra and Talakad

Took my Jazz on its first long spin to Shivanasamudra and Talakad. Having visited these regions way back in 2009, it was a trip down memory lanes. Was accompanied by my wife and my parents on this day trip, but unfortunately the falls were still not in their full glory, thanks to deficit monsoons this year. There are 2 routes to this area from Bangalore , one via Kanakpura (NH 209) and the other one via Maddur (SH 17). Both these routes have their own pros and cons. The route via Kanakpura is a good 2 lane road with minimal traffic but one doesn't have access to good eateries like those available in Mysore road. Hence it was decided to take Maddur route in the morning and while returning take the Kanakpura route in order to avoid the Sunday evening Mysore-Bangalore maddening traffic rush.

Gaganchukki

Selfie @ Barachukki

The morning drive was good till Maddur, within which we had our breakfast and packed our lunch. After Maddur the route to Malavalli is kinda ok with a lot of construction activity and road widening going on. At Malavalli we joined the Kanakpura National highway and after this it was a smooth drive. Normally at many instances a person who doesnt know a local language would face some difficulties in navigating through an area, but in my case it was the exact opposite !!!!. At one place we say a huge kannada board showing a left turn towards "Shimsha (shortform of Shivanasamudra)" and without thinking much we took the left turn and within no time we were lost :P. This route was actually the access road to the "Shimsha" Hydroelectric plant (the oldest in Asia !!!) and not towards "Shimsha" falls. Hence after riding through a lot of deserted and restricted roads (but scenic :) ) we finally managed to join the main road to the falls without any untoward incident.

The first falls one encounters from Bangalore is the Gaganchukki falls. In this particular falls one just gets a bird eyes view of the falls and nothing else. From Gaganchukki falls we came back to the main road and after travelling 10-15 kms on this picture-some road running along the river Cauvery, we took a left towards Barachukki falls which is synonymous with the "fun" falls since its in here one can get down to water. Initially we had a coracle ride wherein one is taken till the mouth of the falls and gets lightly drenched with the suspended water particles in the air. But the major disappointment was that they have cordoned off the area where one can directly walk to base of the falls and get drenched. That was one of the highlights of our previous trip, but still anyhow we still managed to play in the water and had a good time.

From Barachukki falls our next destination was Talakad. For this one has to come back to the main road (NH209) and then take a left which is clearly marked by the tourism department. Overall the roads everywhere were great and not a pain point unlike the experience the previous time around. We parked our car by the riverside and were approached by a guide who said that he would guide us to all the temple attractions of the place. This guided tour was very good, recommended and lasted for an hour or so. The guide clearly demarcated the facts from fiction and this impressed me the most since many guides elsewhere try to "masalafy" their stories in order to attract more customers.  The pancha linga temples are Pathaleshwara, Maruleshwara, Arkeshwara , Vaidyanatheshwara and Mallikarjuna temple.

Talakad

After the interesting guided tour it was time to travel back to Bangalore. There was another direct route from Talakad to Malavalli instead of taking the route we had taken earlier in the day to visit the falls. The drive back was eventless and the Kanakpura road even though was a 2 lane was great to drive in. Finally reached home at around 8.30 pm. Overall a great first drive experience on our new Honda Jazz.

Nandi Statue : Observe the torso in shape of a bulls face

Total Travelled Distance >  310 kms.

How To Buy A Car ????

Finally I got my very own car !!!!. This blog is primarily a description of my experience in short-listing and buying a car.  The first thing any prospective buyer must decide on is the budget one is willing to spend on a car. Remember that buying a car is not an investment and based on ones need , the budget should be set. Once that is done the next step is to list out the cars which comes within that budget and something which is intuitively pleasing to the owner. In that aspect I had narrowed down to 3 cars. Hyundai Elite i20, Volkswagen Polo and Honda Jazz. Frankly speaking earlier I had shortlisted only i20 and Polo, since during this initial process Jazz was yet to be released in the market. But having seen the great reviews in the abroad market decided to postpone my decision till July 8th when the car was to be launched in India. Hence on the release day and after the test drive Jazz just swooped down and vanquished all its opponents !!!!.

Apart from the below process of shortlisting a car, another factor which steered my decision towards buying the Jazz is that Elite i20 off late has become very common and even after buying my Jazz, I have never come face to face with another Jazz (apart from test drive cars) on the road making it unique and exclusive, atleast for the time being.

Another major aspect which went against elite i20 is that in the mid variant dual airbags are not present , and for me the safety is one of the top priorities. The other determinant which went against i20 was the huge waiting period for the car delivery, apparently 3 whole months (Jazz was delivered to me in 1 week :P). On the other side the factors which went against Polo was the cost of maintenance and spare parts. Hence Jazz emerged the winner , even-though it might not be an undisputed winner in any of the individual evaluation criteria, it was a winner overall, when all these criteria are put together. In summary it was the jack-of-all-trades :P.

The steps one must follow when buying a car (This is not 100% original, I read other blogs too before buying a car :P )

1. Decide on Total Budget
2. Device whether petrol or diesel. Rule of thumb is if driving more than 1500 km/month go for diesel.
3. Shortlisting the final consideration list.
4. Test drive the cars
5. Create a quantitative table with parameters and weightage given according to ones preference.
6. Winner of this table is the BEST CAR FOR YOU.

Below is the sample weightage chart I had created for my choice.

	Jazz SV	Polo Comfortline	Elite i20 Sports
Looks exterior (25)	20	16	22
Looks interior (5)	4	4	4
Safety (15)	15	15	11
Price + ownership cost (15)	12	12	13
Waiting period (5)	5	4	2
Power/Performance (10)	7	6	7
Mileage (5)	5	3	5
Ease of handling (10)	9	8	9
Interior space/headroom/rear legroom etc (10)	10	7	8
Total	87/100	75/100	81/100

Once the car has been selected these are the follow up steps:

1. Pay a token advance and book the car.

2. Do a pre-delivery-inspection of the car, once a car has been allocated to you by the showroom. Bcoz once the car has been registered in your name there is pretty much nothing which can be done to undo it.

3. Simultaneously process the loan if planning to apply. Banks now provide loans for upto 85% of onroad price or 100% of ex-showroom price. 

4. Once loan is processed the paperwork from the showroom will be completed and you are good to take delivery of the car. 

5. You would receive the registration smart card in mail within 40 days of registration.

This entire process right from the budget allocation till the car delivery took around 1.5 months and went like a breeze for us thanks to the showroom guys. 

The Run Of Raramuri Tribe !!!!!!

"Raramuri !!!!" . This is one event where I got attracted to the very unique name and the finishers medal rather than the actual course. Even though this event is in its seventh edition I came to know about it quite recently from fellow runners. Raramuri refers to a tribe in North America who are renowed for their long distance running ability especially over mountains, canyons and so on. Hence inspired with the same spirit of long distance running, this event was organized on an overcast July morning (18th July), on a track which mimicks traversing through the hills and canyons which an actual member of the raramuri tribe would have endured.

That is how u look when u are eating banana and
suddenly a photographer clicks ur image :P

In this event I was all set to run my second half marathon that too after a huge gap of 3 years. The last half marathon I had participated was for KTM in the year 2012. And surprisingly both KTM and Raramuri runs are considered to be the toughest marathons in the vicinity of Bangalore.  Rough track with lots of stones and the sun had made KTM a worthy adversary, but on the other hand steep climbs and drops has made Raramuri to be in the same league of tough trails.

The run started at sharp 5.30 in the morning which was a big boon for all the runners since by the time the sun was out, most of the participants had completed their race. There were close to 500 odd half marathon participants, 50 odd full marathon participants and 200 odd 10k participants. With an initial warmup session near KSIT college , Kanakpura road we were let into the track which initially follows the pipeline road, which comprises of huge drops and climbs unlike any other topography one would find in the vicinity of Bangalore. Hence within the first 8 kms itself, I was huffing and panting and taking breaks, which would not have been the case if the trail was through flat terrain.

With Finishers Medals

After the initial 10k which follows the pipeline road, we where let into the BSK 6th stage main road which goes through the Turahalli forest, one of the green lungs of Southern Bangalore. The initial part of the race was like a lot of unceasing concentratic waves whereas the later part of the run was like a single big wave of going down and coming up. With all these elevation variations, my knee started to complain near the 14km mark and after that point it was just pushing towards the finish line enduring the pain. Since even the organizers were well aware of the difficulty level, they had provided well stocked watering stations every 1.6km and this did help a lot of runners and at the end of the day there was no major untoward incident. Even the race director was out there on the field providing medical aid to the runners !!!!.

I completed my run with a time of 2 hrs 18 mins 4 secs and surprisingly this was 14 secs quicker than my KTM timing !!!!. I presume I could have shaved close to 10 mins of that time if my knee was not giving any trouble. Overall a race which was satisfying, well organized and fun to complete.

Elevation Profile

Official Stats

Half Marathon
Finished- 02:18:04
Bib: 228

Rankings
Overall 132/270
Male     122/239

Splits
Start            5:32:21 AM
5K               6:00:46 AM  (00:28:26, 5:42 min/km)
14.5K          7:02:08 AM  (01:29:48, 6:12 min/km)
Finish          7:50:24 AM  (02:18:04, 6:33 min/km)

Encounters Of Duathlon Kind, Dwithiya !!!!!

I always get my best "in action" shots while participating in a duathlon, dont know the reason why !!!!. Probably all that cycling gear hides the fatigue and projects a cool looking demeanor. I took part in this event when it was introduced for the first time in year 2013 which comprised of cycling on top of the electronic city flyover which was a novel experience. Once that was done and dusted I was reluctant to take part in the same event being conducted in the same venue in year 2014. since it dint excite me enough. Now in year 2015 when they shifted the venue to Uttarahalli road , literally my backyard, it was too good for me to resist. Hence registered for the event, which by the way was free of cost for me, thanks to Bookmyshow and my wife for having accumulated all those points in my credit card :P !!!!!!.

So early morning of June 14,  dragged myself out of the bed and reached the venue (RNSIT, Uttarahalli Road) on my bike at around 6.15. As with the earlier editions, it had a 2.5km run followed by 18km of cycling and finally concluding with a 2.5km run. One thing I love about these lesser known events is that the crowd is very manageable and doesnt look very overwhelming. Ofcourse the quality of competition is still very good and one is always compelled to push and go that extra mile. Initially participants of the 10k were let into the circuit after a warm-up session. Then it was our turn and we were let into the circuit at around 6.45am. The initial run took us to a backroad flanking the institutes boundary wall. As expected the 2.5km run went like a breeze. This was followed by a quick changeover to cycling gear and then again back to the track. The cycling track took us to the wide and empty roads of BSK 6th stage where one has to constantly face the headwind. Even then, there are certain sections of the track where one could just vroom up and go, but while returning it would be the complete opposite with steep climb and headwind to bother. It was in the same section that I have recorded my top speed ever riding my bike at 54kmph a couple of years back.

Anyway returned back to the holding area and changed gears to running mode. Now this is the most painful transition in a duathlon, of getting back to running after a thrilling-adrenaline pumping cycle race. Initially the legs would not budge at all and it takes some time to get back to the rhythm. Anyhow completed the race with an overall timing of 1 hr 12 mins , but unfortunately 4 mins slower than my younger self. Probably the circuit was much tougher, but with such a small difference it is very hard to tell. Overall still a fun race.

Place	BIB	Name	Time	Category	Run 1	T1	Bike	T2	Run 2
28	232	Nithin Uliyar	1:12:24	Duathlon Individual Men	0:11:35	0:00:59	0:45:54	0:00:44	0:13:12

Marathon Mania : 4th Time Unlucky !!!!

With this being my 4 edition of running at TCS World 10K, I couldnt get something which I had easily won during the past 3 editions. And that is nothing other than a free Nike t-shirt !!!!. Hence 4th time unlucky :). Predictably in this edition I couldnt achieve anywhere close to my best timing of around 52:40 mins, but still I managed my second best circuit timing, which didnt deserve this sort of treatment. So there is just one conclusion, more and more people are getting drawn into the world  of fitness and hence more is the competition level year on year. Time to pull up my socks !! :).

But frankly speaking running TCS 10K has become a bit of a bore, eventhough the weather was great with overcast clouds. Running in the same circuit every year can become a bit tedious. With an exception to this event I always look for marathons in which I explore some new circuit/route and very rarely do I return back to run in the same event unless ofcourse I do get a free Nike t-shirt which of late has become quite difficult as you might have known already :P.


Stats

Category	30 YEARS TO LESS THAN 35 YEARS MEN
Rank	1063 / 7737 Finishers
Category Rank	202 / 1537 Finishers
Gender Rank	1028 / 6606 Finishers
Split@2.7 Km	00:14:52 Avg. Pace 05:30, Avg. Speed 10.9 Kmph Gender Rank : 1100 / 6606 Finishers , Category Rank : 210 / 1537 Finishers
Split@3.6 Km	00:19:00 Avg. Pace 05:17, Avg. Speed 11.37 Kmph Gender Rank : 1064 / 6606 Finishers , Category Rank : 200 / 1537 Finishers
Split@4.6 Km	00:24:33 Avg. Pace 05:20, Avg. Speed 11.25 Kmph Gender Rank : 1060 / 6606 Finishers , Category Rank : 208 / 1537 Finishers
Split@7.25 Km	00:40:00 Avg. Pace 05:31, Avg. Speed 10.88 Kmph Gender Rank : 1056 / 6606 Finishers , Category Rank : 205 / 1537 Finishers
Split@8.6 Km	00:47:59 Avg. Pace 05:35, Avg. Speed 10.76 Kmph Gender Rank : 1059 / 6606 Finishers , Category Rank : 206 / 1537 Finishers
Net Time	00:54:58 Average Pace 05:30, Average Speed 10.92 kmph

Ramanagara Marathon

It had been quite some time since I took part in a running event. One of the major reason being the winter season when I am usually too lazy to get up in the morning to train and hence results in periodic yearly weight gain around this time :P. Therefore with the signs of spring coming, I had to kick-start my training by participating in an event to gauge my present condition  and Ramanagara Marathon conducted on 1st Feb perfectly fit the bill. Decided to participate in the 11km run and not in the half marathon since for the past 2-3 months I had been running 6-7 kms and not more than that , and that too not regularly.

Before Race Selfie

Drone

This time I had Shashi for company and both of us registered for the 11km event. He was participating in the Auroville Marathon the coming week which I had missed to register by a couple of days in December, therefore this was like a preparatory run for him. Both of us left Bangalore in the wee hours of a very chilly Sunday morning on a bike. It was literally freezing while we were riding through Mysore road to reach the venue near Ramanagara. It was not overly crowded as some hi-profile events in Bangalore tend to become and had just the perfect number of around 500-600 runners. There was even a drone covering the event which caught everyones attention and imagination.

Post Race Selfie :P

The run started at 6.30 with the half marathon participants let off and then after a gap of 10 mins we were let off into the track. The route was quite picture some with it snaking through the boulders of Ramanagara which has made the town so famous since the days of Sholay. It was a majorly a trail run and there were a lot of obstacles such as sand, pebbles, stones, boulders enroute which had to be negotiated. Further the  weather was just perfect for the entire duration of the run. This trail reminded me a lot of Kaveri Trail Marathon. I maintained a good momentum,  running majority of the distance behind an IISc runner , making him my unofficial pacer :P. And when the end point came near I had the audacity of overtaking him and finishing ahead of him :D.  I completed the 11 km (actually it was 11.5km) in 1 hr 6 mins. Not a bad timing and I am happy that I would be bettering this time through this summer :). Since there was no chip for this race there was no ranking provided.

Were provided with finishers medal, certificate and followed by an okayish breakfast. Also met a long lost friend after a gap of nearly 12 years. It was so "long lost" that we instantly recognised each others faces but failed to recollect where had we actually met :P. After breakfast, left the venue and later-on came to know that a runner participating in the half marathon had collapsed and had died on the way to hospital. This further reinforces the fact that long distance running shouldnt be taken lightly and one should train and be in perfect condition while attempting such a distance. Hope that persons soul rest in peace.

The Bloody Saga !!!!!

The title with the "Saga" word seems like an overkill for a blog on blood donation, but that is what it has been to me. This personal saga for donating blood started almost 3-4 years back, but due to various internal and external reasons creeping in, wasnt able to donate blood so far. These varied from reasons such as the donation camp dates in close proximity to some of my endurance sports events wherein I feared that too much blood loss would result in a drop in my performance to a bit outrageous reason such as getting bitten by dogs :P (A person administered anti rabies vaccination cannot donate blood for upto an year). Apart from all these "reasons" I had given myself for the delayed gratification, the real reason for not donating blood was that I was AFRAID. Afraid subconsciously of the big needle inserted into my vein and close to half a litre of blood being taken out.  Hence took me quite some time to overcome that fear and donate blood. Therefore in short this was nothing short of attempting some adventure sport :P.

Every 6 months or so a blood donation camp is organized in our office by the Rotary Club. So when such a camp was organized in the beginning of this year, jumped to the opportunity to finally donate and get over the fear, and I must confess it was a breezy affair. After a mini health checkup, a needle was inserted to my vein and the permissible limit of 450 ml was reached within a matter of 10 mins. Once that is done was put into the recovery phase with lots of fluids and food. I was in and out of the entire thing within 45 mins.

Some advantages of donating blood, which I found over the internet.

1. The feel good factor. The satisfaction of saving 3 lifes from just 450 ml of the blood donated. This includes components such as red blood cells, platelets and plasma which are separated and donated.

2. Free medical checkup. Before the donation a free haemoglobin and BP check is done. And before the blood is injected to the person receiving the donation,  the blood is tested for Hepatitis B, C, HIV AIDS etc. and if anything is found the donor is informed.

3. The health angle. Donating 450 ml of blood is equivalent to burning 650 KCals of energy. Further studies have found that donating blood is good to keep a check on the high iron content in the blood , especially in adult males. Iron content within the permissible limits reduces the risk of heart attack and cancer. Therefore donating blood should be in the must-to-do-list of all the healthy males out there.

Therefore a person looses nothing but gains a lot of benefits. The lost blood is usually restored within 48 hrs, during which the donor should avoid heavy exercise and hydrate himself as much as possible. The recommended intervals between successive blood donations should be atleast 3 months. Therefore now I am planning to donate blood at-least once every year. And what inspired me the most was that a severely physically handicapped guy standing in front of me to donate blood. When he can, why cant we ????!!!!. So have you donated blood for this year ???!!!!!. If not go do it, it feels great. :)

Offbeat Hangout Spots In Bangalore ..... (P.S For a Couple)

What are some of the offbeat hangout spots for a couple in Bangalore. Apart from the obvious ones like the Malls, theaters, parks etc I have come up with some offbeat ones which are generally less frequented by the general junta who are in search of some alone time :P. Including some tit-bits which would be helpful when planning for the special date with your loved one :).


Nandi Hills : The Chill Zone

The most obvious answer in the list. But my suggestion is go early in the morning and definitely in a bike. The chillier the better !!!!! :P .  There is very less chances of seeing a sunrise since majority of the time these hills will be engulfed in mist during early mornings and it makes sense to head out with the first rays of the sun keeping the security aspect of a couple in mind. Once there one can spend close to 2 hrs exploring the mist filled park, the temple, Tipu drop.

Some useful titbits:

• There are decent eateries at the base of the hills as well as some enroute. Not much options near the top.
• Paid restrooms available near the parking area.
• Some care should be taken driving up and down the hairpin bends.

Savandurga: The Trek

Some time back I came across an article that one should go on a trek with their life partners once,  before they get married. According to the article one gets to know more about their future life partner over a single trek than any amount of meetings over coffee or movies can possibly provide. If you have a trek in mind then I suggest you head out to Savandurga. Its definitely not a walk in the park and therefore it will push you as a couple over the edge. The outcome of such an exercise, you would come out as a team, facing the odds together hand in hand. :)

Some useful tit-bits:

• The entire trek takes around 5-6 hrs depending on the pace. 
• There is very less tree cover so avoid this trek in summers.
• No eateries nearby. Its better to have it in Mysore road (eg Kamat Lokaruchi) and then take the Ramanagara-Savandurga route. Eventhough this route is longer it is quite enjoyable with winding roads. 
• No public toilets near the base of the hill. In case of emergency one has to request usage of the toilet inside the Kalyanamantap. 

Hessarghatta And Nrityagrama: The walk , talk and dance

If going for long walks, birdwatching etc is in the wish list, then head out to Hessarghatta for an appointment with nature just in the outskirts of Bangalore. One can go on endless long walks in the dried up lakes surrounded by a carpet of grass and migratory birds flocking around.  But when we were there, a police patrol was cracking down on couples even holding their hands. If one continues on this route they come across Nrityagrama and Taj Kuteera which is at the dead end of this route. After paying an entry fee of 30 bucks one can explore this quaint place. Lot of rustic buildings surrounded by greenery. One can see live classes of various traditional Indian dances like Kuchipudi, Bharathyanatyam and so on.
Further there is a kucha road diversion between the Hessarghatta lake and the Nrityagrama (diversion towards "Our Native Village" resort) which leads to one of my most favourite places around Bangalore. A grassland up till the horizon, see it to believe it :).

Some useful tit-bits;

• The only decent eatery is the Taj Kuteera (5 star, so get ready to empty your wallets :P )
• Nrityagrama is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 2pm.
• One has to take a diversion along the eight mile off Tumkur road to reach this place.

Pushing My Boundaries: A Saga Of Cycling 210 kms !!!!!

"Why in the world do you want to cycle 200+ kms ????? "
"Because cycling 100kms is so ordinary and every tom, dick and harry can do it :P."

That pretty much is my cheesy answer whenever I encounter the above question, and believe me I encountered this question a lot, before the ride and during the ride especially from the villagers. This plan of riding 200km was in offing from a long time since I rode 150kms up and down to Nandi hills , way back in 2011. When I started cycling again in my adult life, 100km cycling seemed tough and 200km cycling seemed totally impossible, hence it was more of a psychological barrier. But instead of doing it solo I had come across this concept of randonneuring where a group of cyclists try to complete distances such as 200km, 300km, 400km, 600km, 1000km within a predetermined fixed time and with no external aid , hence forcing the riders to be totally self sufficient. Unfortunately from a long time I wasnt able to participate in this, since most of the brevet events would be conducted on Saturdays and with my Saturdays busy with my MBA classes, I had no option but to wait for the right time to attempt this.

A long Q of cyclists in front of an ATM in Hosur

Making Some New Friends

So fate had assigned March 8th 2014 as the day when I would be attempting my first brevet (a randonneuring event is called so). Initially me and Shashi were planning to do this together, but with an emergency at home, he had to drop out. The brevet was to begin at 6 am and everyone who wanted to qualify had to complete the 210 km of cycling in 13.5 hrs. The route was  Sarjapur Road(Bangalore)->  Bommasandra-> Hosur-> Malur-> Bangarpet ->Kolar ->Hoskote- >Chiktirupathi ->Sarjapur -> Sarajpur Road(Bangalore). Since I had never ridden such a distance , I was apprehensive as to whether I should ride my bike to the starting point and back, which would have increase the count to 240km !!!!!. Finally pessimism prevailed and I decided to take the bike in my brothers car to the starting point. The ride started exactly at 6 am with around 75 people attempting it. I arrived a bit late and by the time I finished the formalities it was already 6.15am, wasting 15 mins of precious time already. Anyway started the ride and caught up with my first fellow cyclist : Kumar from Chennai, who had specially come to Bangalore to ride in this brevet.

Some Bad Roads

Even though we were provided with the Que sheet, we missed the first ever turn towards Bommasandra and overshot it by around 2 km, before it actually dawned upon us that we might have missed it completely. Took a U turn and returned back to the cross. We knew that for every mistake we commit now, we would have to suffer its consequences in the latter part of the day. However this route was great, tree lined, very minimal traffic and I was riding at a good pace. There was a difference in the strategy I adopted on this day , wherein I cycled at a comfortable pace and not overexerting myself , which is what I usually do on my routine 40km weekend rides. Reached the national highway and for the first time I cycled out of Karnataka and into Tamil Nadu while I reached Hosur. In process got separated from Kumar and in Hosur we had to collect an ATM slip to show the organizers the proof of entering. After this rode solo for the remainder of the day, interacting with fellow cyclists every now and then.  Unfortunately there was a huge Q of cyclists in front of the ATM and by the time it was my turn the ATM crashed. Anyway took a selfie snap for proof and soon enough was back on the road. A lot of cyclists took a stop here to have their breakfast, but I was of the opinion that I should keep on cycling and cover good distance before the sun becomes too hot and for the other belief that having a heavy breakfast would just bloat me and slow me down. Hence for the entire day I survived on chikkies, snickers, electral water, biscuits, tender coconut which I used to have at regular intervals.  Even had a Thumbs Up for the sugar and caffeine content when I really needed it in the blazing afternoon heat !!!!!!

A First: A selfie while riding a bike

The route was actually great. It was filled with rolling ups and downs and was a great route for cycling. Reached Malur and then took a right towards Bangarpet. The route from Malur to Bangarpet was simply awesome , being newly paved and with minimal traffic. The advantages of attempting a brevet just a month before the Lok Sabha elections :P. Ofcourse there were some bad patches too. Reached Bangarpet exactly at noon , went to the ICICI bank for the proof of entering and while I was at it, had a chat with a lot of curious onlookers and answering their never-ending questions. Initially they would think that I might be some alien and start conversing in broken English, but when I reply back in Kannada they would be mildly surprised :P. One roadside mechanic even went to the extent of calling me "The next Armstrong !!!!!", and it was my turn to be mildly surprised with his knowledge, leaving alone the controversy surrounding him.

Kolar to Hoskote Highway

The afternoon ride was especially painful and once I hit the treeless Kolar to Hoskote route the going was tough and slow in the blazing heat. All the problems of long distance cycling started to creep in, saddle sores wherein I had to constantly adjust my bum on the seat. Sore neck because of my semi-aero position. In order to counter this sore neck problem I came up with a new but a much riskier type of riding. Since the Kolar to Hoskote highway was a National Highway with 4 lanes, it did have a continuous white line running along its shoulder. So my strategy was to scan the next 200m of the road and then put my face down and just cycle ensuring that I am cycling in parallel to this white line :P.  Hence this provided some respite from the pain. Reached Emerald Isle Resort and with a quick snap thanks to fellow randonneur Mohan, was back on the road towards Chikkatirupathi. At this point the odometer was showing 155km and this was the farthest I had ridden in a day beating my Nandi hills ride. The ride through this country road was pleasant with some cloud cover and tree line. Reached Chikkatirupathi at around 5pm and met the father-son-attempting-brevets-together duo of Sanath and Manoj. I still had 26km to go in around 2.5 hrs. It now looked just like a formality to be completed. Was just hoping that I wouldn't get a flat during the ride and thankfully didnt get any.

Odometer 155: The farthest I have traveled ever

But after this I took a lot of breaks because of exhaustion. The going was slow, but I was sure that I would be able to finish within the designated time. Hit the congested Sarjapur town and then final sprint towards the end point.  As soon as I entered the Bangalore city limits there was an another headache of weekend traffic waiting for me. The stop and go traffic was a bit irritating especially when you have ridden 200+ km since early morning. Reached the end point at 6.45 pm, taking 12.5 hrs for the ride , but officially 12 hrs 45 mins since the start time is taken as 6 am. Had a great sense of achievement, but with a very bad case of saddle sores :P. During the drive back home had a hard time of keeping my eyes open due to exhaustion and somehow reached home safe and without any incidents. Surprisingly the next day I didnt have any body aches even after my body endured such a feat, however I had got a really bad case of sore throat thanks to riding all day in the sun and gulping cold water at every possible instance.

Now the wait starts for my brevet medal to arrive from Paris which usually takes around 6-8 months. So with a 200+ under my belt, whats next ??? A 300 brevet probably, but again not immediately and definitely not in a MTB. Have to upgrade to a road bike which obviously would take some time :). But till then I would be satisfied with my new title.... "Hell Yeah, I am a Randonneur !!!!!!"

[Shaky Cam Video of the Ride]

Trip 'O' Meter : 210 + 3 (getting lost :P) = 213 km

Time Taken -> 12 hrs 35 mins

Career Stats:

200's------------------------------>1 (213)
100's ----------------------------->3 (107, 150, 104)
50's ------------------------------>7 (70,55,86,91,55,81,57)

"How to Piss off Cyclists ???" , Vodafone Cycling Marathon Style !!!!!!

Since I was recuperating from a running injury I couldn't attend the Auroville Marathon in Pondicherry which I had been planning from some time. Hence instead of staying at home, sulk over my bad luck and plan for next years marathon I came across this cycling marathon conducted in Bangalore itself. I registered myself at the last moment since I was not sure how this event would be in its first edition. Its usually the case that whenever an event is conducted for the very first time, it would be conducted in the worst possible manner. And I was not wrong with my prediction. Even though I enjoyed the actual event of cycling so called 40kms, but all the logistics accompanying it was poorly planned.

Registered just 5 days prior to the race. There were 4 categories, Passion Ride(40 km), Green Ride (20km) and Fun ride (10km) for amateurs and Champion ride (60km) for professionals who were registered with the Cycling Federation of India. Since the maximum distance I could take part was Passion ride I registered for it. Even before the race day there was a lot of confusion. First an announcement saying that Passion ride will have a cutoff of 90 mins. Now majority of those registered for Passion ride were flabbergasted, since riding at that speed was close to impossible for the majority ie 40 kms in 90 mins  with average of 27 km/hr.  After a lot of complains in FB they finally changed the cutoff to 105 mins. But the funny part was that the actual circuit was not 40kms as they had advertised, but around 35.5 kms. The next blunder was that they sent a mail to everyone saying that BIB distribution would start at the venue of Kanteerva stadium from 5th  Feb onwards, but when many people landed at the venue they started saying that it would begin from 6th Feb. And all attempts to contact they via email or phone for any queries were greeted with automated messages about a callback soon (which never came back) or the mail being replied 3 days after sending it, making it totally irrelevant. Some people who made it on the right day would be welcomed with a statement that they have run out of timing chips and they can collect it on the race day and when they show up on the race day to collect they were literally shooed away. Hence with this track record the Vodafone organizers managed to piss off a lot of cyclists including me. Luckily I didnt face any problems collecting my BIB and timing chip.

Our Passion ride was the first event on a clear blue Sunday morning of 9th Feb 2014. Hence had to report before the designated flag off time of 6.30 am. Landed at the venue at around 5.50 am and was greeted by huge cycling crowd at the venue. There were close to 1,300 people competing in the Passion ride. But another gross point was that the venue was void of any lighting at this early morning hours. Close to 2k people were struggling to move from place to place and all the lights were turned off... I was like WTF !!!!!... this was the height of incompetence. Anyway at around 6.40am we were let into the road via a very narrow gate. As the count down started everyone started to ring their cycle bell including me, which was music to the ears and sounded very beautiful. Soon enough we started the race. With the lap being around 4.5km, at any point during the race one would encounter crowd on the road and cannot expect a calm stretch at all. Even then the actual race was quite fun. Weaving in and out of cycle-traffic overtaking slower riders, competing with other riders who can challenge you was quite enjoyable. With this sort of an event one could easily imagine what would a vehicle free city look like, with only cyclists and pedestrians on the road.

The Pros: Best in the country

Since the elevation profile of this route (which starts from Kanteerva Stadium, to Kasturba road, to Chinnaswamy stadium and back to Vittal mallya road) was pretty flat, people were able to maintain good speed which was quite thrilling. And there were 3 very sharp turns in this circuit which people including me were belting with full speed. Ofcourse with this amount of crowd and speed , there were bound to be a lot of accidents happening. Especially with the newbies who had a hard time riding in a crowd. And even though there were lots of ambulances,  whenever a rider was injured they were nowhere to be seen even for the first aid. Anyway I finished my ride on a high with a final sprint, with an average of 31kmph which is my best for such a distance(this is after considering the actual distance measured with GPS and confirmed by other riders. If I take 40km distance average is 35kmph :P ) Soon after that the Champion ride with the professionals started and I didn't wait to see the results, but when I saw their videos they were just whooshing by.  Overall both the Passion and Champion riders had a decent experience. But participants from the Green Ride and Fun ride where really shortchanged. Instead of the promised 20km and 10 km respectively , they were made to go around the stadium even after paying the required fee. And to add salt to their wounds they even allowed vehicular traffic on the routes which were earlier blocked for the other 2 rides. Therefore these rides had even more accidents due to overcrowding. And to top it all there were no refreshments provided to the participants which is usually provided for such a sporting event.

Anyway as mentioned earlier all the logistics surrounding the event were pathetic, and with all probability I wouldn't compete again next year. And if it falls on the same weekend as the Auroville Marathon, then "No chance at all!!!!" :)

Statistics

Race Pos. TAG Lap1 Lap2 Lap3 Lap4 Lap5 Lap6 Lap7 Lap8 Net Time Passion Ride 143 1512 00:06:21 00:14:48 00:23:32 00:32:18 00:41:12 00:50:12 00:59:19 01:08:21 01:08:21 Official Distance : 40km Actual Distance : 35.4km Average Speed(with actual distance) :  31 km/hr Top Speed : 42 km/hr Lap Splits : Lap 1: 6.21 mins Lap 2: 8.27 mins Lap 3: 8.44 mins Lap 4: 8.46 mins Lap 5: 8.54 mins Lap 6: 9.00 mins Lap 7: 9.07 mins Lap 8: 9.02 mins Total Distance Travelled : 35.4 + 11* 2 (my ride to and from the venue)= 57.4 km 100's ----------------------------->3 (107, 150, 104) 50's ------------------------------>7 (70,55,86,91,55,81,57)

Images Courtesy : HighOnMarathon