Slowly the city recedes and urban landscape fades. The smells of country take over, tingling eucalyptus and fresh earthy cow dung.
Browsing Category Experiences
My experiences outdoors on the bike or on the feet!
Two experiences
#1 – The fall At KM 120 @LEL, where I nicked the kerb and fell on the pavement, two cyclists crossed me and were about 10m ahead when I kissed the earth. One of them was a fellow Indian with whom I was riding from the previous control, and around this distance he hitched on with another German cyclist I think with whom he was riding 10m ahead. They stood there and asked if I…
Mulbagal musings
On a Friday night, a LEL prep ride with Satish turned out to be a nice 184kms. Dipankar rode with us till Volvo, Kolar. Satish was in high cadence mode leading the way, a zippy ride until Mulbagal (92km) aided by tailwinds. The return ride was fun with gusty headwinds, we rotated positions not wanting to slow down cadence. It was a nice fast ride of 184km in 7h:14m (ride time). Couple of tea breaks,…
Chitradurga 420
Well I did make it to see the windmills this weekend. It did however prove costly.As the dawn of Sunday was making its presence slowly, my headlight the B&M Luxos powered by hub dynamo broke(clamp affixed to frame broke) hanging merely by the wire. The tail lamp became emotional and also gave up. So at about 110kms from Bangalore, on the dark Sira-Hiriyur stretch at 3:30am, with just a reflective jacket, I had no option,…
LEL Training
Fri and Sat evening turned out be a dampener for LEL training. After the Friday fiasco of four punctures and spending quite a few hours in the rain. Sat evening ride though short, turned out to be another wet ride. Sunday morning was fixing the tubes, tyre and the bike! Found the tyre was busted, riddled with small holes all the way. Sunday was a tiny redeemer as I did a 103km training ride on…
No more tubes
Dang, this friday night turned to be a couple of whimpers that ended with a bang! Three punctures with the last one ‘a bang’ aborted the Chitradurga ride, all this happening even before I reached Hebbal (15km). Two punctures one after another, and I decided to abort, as I had no spare tubes. Continuous rain all through and this should be the culprit. Thought at the least I should walk the 14+ kms after using…
Weekend ride to Chennai
Last Friday LEL was a ride to Chennai and back (+local commutes of 52kms) at 721KM. Hmmm, that is kinda one-way LEL! Started 5:30PM Friday, rode via Krishnagiri and reached Chennai at 10:15AM, covering 344kms with a ride time of 13:39 (25.2kmph ride avg, 16:47hours total time). A puncture little after midnight provided a natural recovery break. Love the over enthusiastic bored dogs who love to chase you in the night especially on those empty…
Three centuries and a HM
This weekend LEL training was fun, three consecutive century rides late evening on Fri,Sat,Sun and a relaxed HM late Sat morning. Fri night was fantastic whilst Sun night was brilliant. Let me detail this.. Friday night was start at 2040, and Armin’s album State of Trance 2015 worked the magic! You know it is magic when you see circular rainbow on oncoming headlights, when eye lids shrink into a slit and you become the music’s…
The world is not enough
Over the last four and half years I have cycled nearly one circle around the earth, incident free. No accidents, no niggles. Last Thursday on the eve of Ugadi, I landed on my butt hard on the pavement while dismounting! Hmmm, circling the world is not enough to know how to get off the bike properly! Black and blue butt with a very painful wooden leg for the next few days. A slow 5km run…
My learnings from DNFs
Challekere 400 330km/Sore bottom, could not sit on saddle after 330mm.Never wear a brief inside the cycling shorts! Anchetty 200 Completed the whole course, reached the mid point via a different route despite recede-img the route the week before.Enjoy the chit chats with friends, but don’t miss the turns specified in the cue sheet! Sholapur 1200: Incessant rain for 24 hours right from start , gear shifter and brakes stopped working at 450km.Carry lube, get…