2017 Heaven and Hell brevet - back to square one?
Two years after my first brevet, I was in a phase which I couldn't even remotely dream of a few years ago. Conquering brevets in 2015 and after that, riding and running a bit became my favourite morning routine. Recently I started eying a full marathon and started training for that.
Last Saturday, the super randonneur medal from 2015 season (along with a 200 km brevet medal from February 2016) finally reached me in the medal ceremony. It was nice to catch up with fellow riders. A few of them asked me if I was doing the infamous Heaven and Hell ride this time. I said I did not give it a thought yet. I was wondering if the brevet would come in the way of marathon training, but a fellow rider reminded me of need to stick to riding in order to run better.
Four days passed by and I found myself renewing my AIR BIB number and registering for the brevet without any planning. My only thought was - "What better way can I spend the coming weekend? :)"
Planned to leave early from office on Friday to rest more, but that didn't happen.
This time, unlike any other brevet before, I was totally relaxed with a laid back attitude. Instead of thinking about all the stuff that I might or might not have packed, I was thinking about which bike to ride ;) It was good in a way as I could doze off without too many thoughts about the ride bothering my sleep. As planned, I started at 4:30 AM and reached the start point - The Bike Affair Kondapur store by 5:00 AM on my hybrid bike. This bike was serviced recently and also has the rear mud-guard. Besides, I wanted to try and relate to the first brevet experience. Got the bike check done, greeted fellow riders, bought a couple of tubes, and got the brevet card stamped. Did a few stretches reluctantly before getting pumped up for the ride.
The ride was flagged off at 5:30 AM and I was on the front of the pack for a few minutes. Checked the route once on phone and it suddenly occurred to me that I did not turn on my Garmin. Started recording the ride after 1.5 km or so, and kept riding. I could feel that I am not in the best of my forms, but I was confident enough that I was in a much better form than two years ago.
To keep up with my fellow riders, I kept pushing myself despite knowing that it was not a very good thing to do. I had the nutrition bar on the fly and we thought of stopping for coffee but couldn't find a place. We came to know that we have to reach the check-point to find a place. We reached the first check-point chit-chatting all the way for more than 60 km. Had a few bananas, refilled a water bottle, had a bit of chocolate, and we got back on to the road. The climate was very much forgiving as we got cloud cover and head-winds were experienced only a few times
We stopped at Vikarabad after calling out to the fellow riders who were taking wrong turn. We decided to have coconut water, and then something to eat as we won't be having many options after this stop.
We had idli and dosa and started off again. The turn towards the second checkpoint - Kotepalli lake was in a very bad shape. I was glad that I did not get my road bike. We met up with other riders at the second check point and got the brevet card stamped. Few riders went for kayaking in the lake. I refilled a water bottle with glucose, had some juice, lemon soda, and stretched a bit as I felt my right leg muscles tightening at Vikarabad. It was around 11:30 AM and I was hoping to reach the third check-point - Haritha resorts by 12:30 PM.
After a bit of riding, the heat was increasing. Even the winds were alternating between hot and cold. We took a short break and started off. Only after starting again, I realized that we took the break in the correct place because we were approaching the Ananthagiri climb! I was determined to ride this time on the hybrid all the way up without getting down. A couple of riders went ahead but another couple of riders had to switch to walking as they got cramps. I rode slowly in the heat sweating, feeling the pounding heart, holding the urge to take a break towards the end of the climb. Finally arrived at the check point by 12:30 PM relieved that the major part of the ride is over. Got the brevet card stamped, cooled down after washing my face and hands, and settled to have lunch. The cloud cover came back while I was having lunch and chatting with the volunteers and fellow riders. Started off at almost 1:00 PM and could feel that my pace was coming down slowly. I was riding alone due to the slower pace.
The tree cover, cloud cover, down hills were all helping me to go forward without too much strain. I felt lucky to had the clouds help me all along.
I stopped at a place for a jeera drink, where I stopped last time in the Ananthagiri ride. A fellow rider caught up and we started after he got hydrated, eating naturo and filling up our water bottles. I was feeling good as I didn't get into a situation to use the second water bottle yet. Though we rode slowly, it felt good riding on a known territory. The turns, inclines and declines being mapped in the brain already, I could easily plan when to ride and when to cruise without getting strained. After crossing Mrugavani park and taking the turn, we stopped briefly to stretch and have electrolyte water as we both were on the verge of cramping. Getting back on the saddle meant more soreness in the bum.
The smooth part was over as soon as we got onto ORR service road. The inclines got longer and longer, and the bum felt more and more miserable. We stopped briefly before and after Microsoft climb to check and confirm the route. After crossing the IIIT junction, the fellow rider was falling behind and I rode slowly looking for him. The traffic became a problem from Botanical gardens signal.
Finally reached the final check-point and also the finish point - The Bike Affair by 5:25 PM.
Felt relieved as I didn't expect the ride to be at least this good. Relaxed for some time, had some soft drinks, and finally headed back home.
Overall, another memorable ride for a lifetime :)
Last Saturday, the super randonneur medal from 2015 season (along with a 200 km brevet medal from February 2016) finally reached me in the medal ceremony. It was nice to catch up with fellow riders. A few of them asked me if I was doing the infamous Heaven and Hell ride this time. I said I did not give it a thought yet. I was wondering if the brevet would come in the way of marathon training, but a fellow rider reminded me of need to stick to riding in order to run better.
Four days passed by and I found myself renewing my AIR BIB number and registering for the brevet without any planning. My only thought was - "What better way can I spend the coming weekend? :)"
Planned to leave early from office on Friday to rest more, but that didn't happen.
This time, unlike any other brevet before, I was totally relaxed with a laid back attitude. Instead of thinking about all the stuff that I might or might not have packed, I was thinking about which bike to ride ;) It was good in a way as I could doze off without too many thoughts about the ride bothering my sleep. As planned, I started at 4:30 AM and reached the start point - The Bike Affair Kondapur store by 5:00 AM on my hybrid bike. This bike was serviced recently and also has the rear mud-guard. Besides, I wanted to try and relate to the first brevet experience. Got the bike check done, greeted fellow riders, bought a couple of tubes, and got the brevet card stamped. Did a few stretches reluctantly before getting pumped up for the ride.
To keep up with my fellow riders, I kept pushing myself despite knowing that it was not a very good thing to do. I had the nutrition bar on the fly and we thought of stopping for coffee but couldn't find a place. We came to know that we have to reach the check-point to find a place. We reached the first check-point chit-chatting all the way for more than 60 km. Had a few bananas, refilled a water bottle, had a bit of chocolate, and we got back on to the road. The climate was very much forgiving as we got cloud cover and head-winds were experienced only a few times
We stopped at Vikarabad after calling out to the fellow riders who were taking wrong turn. We decided to have coconut water, and then something to eat as we won't be having many options after this stop.
The tree cover, cloud cover, down hills were all helping me to go forward without too much strain. I felt lucky to had the clouds help me all along.
I stopped at a place for a jeera drink, where I stopped last time in the Ananthagiri ride. A fellow rider caught up and we started after he got hydrated, eating naturo and filling up our water bottles. I was feeling good as I didn't get into a situation to use the second water bottle yet. Though we rode slowly, it felt good riding on a known territory. The turns, inclines and declines being mapped in the brain already, I could easily plan when to ride and when to cruise without getting strained. After crossing Mrugavani park and taking the turn, we stopped briefly to stretch and have electrolyte water as we both were on the verge of cramping. Getting back on the saddle meant more soreness in the bum.
The smooth part was over as soon as we got onto ORR service road. The inclines got longer and longer, and the bum felt more and more miserable. We stopped briefly before and after Microsoft climb to check and confirm the route. After crossing the IIIT junction, the fellow rider was falling behind and I rode slowly looking for him. The traffic became a problem from Botanical gardens signal.
Finally reached the final check-point and also the finish point - The Bike Affair by 5:25 PM.
Felt relieved as I didn't expect the ride to be at least this good. Relaxed for some time, had some soft drinks, and finally headed back home.
Overall, another memorable ride for a lifetime :)
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