The One With the Cold Feet

After the strenuous ride to Krishnagiri we deemed ourselves fit for a multiple day ride. The plan was to ride to Mangalore and return by bus. The route also included a ghat section, about which we were very much excited and nervous. From our earlier rides we observed that a speed of 20kmph is achievable for us. That multiplied with the 10 hrs of riding implied we could cover about 200Kms in a day. Thus, even with the ascents and ghats, the ride to Mangalore spanned over a couple of days seemed a decent and achievable target.

Special thanks to Ram from BBC who helped us a lot while planning the trip. He too wanted to join but couldn't make it because of some official obligations.

We had decided to ride on Friday(10th Feb) and Saturday(11th Feb) thereby allowing ourselves to book some recovery time on Sunday. Plan for the first day was to reach Hassan as early as possible and continue to Sakaleshpur if there is enough light left in the day.

The alarm clock woke me up at about 4:00 AM. I got ready by 04:30 AM and was about to leave the house when I thought of checking my mails. There was some disturbing news in the mail which almost made ponder over the thought of aborting the trip. Although, I realized there wasn't much I could do by sitting at home and decided to carry on with the trip. I knew it would help me relax myself.

I met Jagan near Domlur Bridge at 05:30 AM. This time I was also carrying pannier bags containing our gears amongst other stuff for the 2nd day ride.

We were to reach Nelamangala by 07:00 AM but the roadblock at the circle after Mantri Square messed up our sense of direction. The GPS on Jagan's mobile did help in getting back on track. Then again we missed the turn at Nelamangala pedaled for about 6 Kms towards Tumkur. Our stupidity and absent mindedness paid their toll and we left Kunigal at 11:00 AM, an hour behind the schedule.

There wasn't a decent place for breakfast at Kunigal (our intended breakfast stop) and we didn't want to waste any more time. We had kept ourselves hydrated so a couple of bananas and a packet of ParelG sufficed for breakfast. We also noticed that it isn't prudent to schedule a break for less than or equal to 10 mins. Practically it is not possible at least for us. Buyig water bottles, filling up water bags, streching your muscles, catching your breath etc. takes a little more than 10 mins. 30 mins proved to be optimal.

Except for a small patch in Yeshwantpur (too much traffic and pollution so early in the day) the roads were good and completely worth a bicycle trip. A few ascents and descents along the way but nothing too difficult or too easy. Also, there were a few stretches of long straight monotonous roads which were a bit boring to be honest. Same goes for the patch from Kunigal to Yadiyur. Although, there are a lot of coconut vendors on this patch. We reached our 100 Km mark somewhere near Yadiyur. While savoring the taste of coconut water the vendor suggested a restaurant nearby for lunch. We were on our way there when we saw a hoarding claiming CCD was just 2KMs away. Well, no one said anything and we kept riding until we reached CCD. It was 01:00 PM. After riding for over a 100KMs, any cool drink from this outlet can make wonders to your tired self. After the blunder on the Krishnagiri ride, we had scheduled a 2 hour break in the afternoon to evade the heat. The air cooled CCD insisted us to look no further. The lunch was good. There is only one problem with the afternoon break. You feel sleepy. Not good if you are running on a tight schedule.

We clicked a few snaps here and then continued pedaling after 03:00 PM. A road widening project was going on a little after our stop. This meant no more four lanes and so no more exclusive lane for us. There were times when we had to get down from the road to make way for the giant trucks. Apart from this, the road was pretty good.

The ride through Chinnarayanapattana was embarrassing. I am quite sure that to their eyes we were no less than jokers. There were instances when school kids were pointing fingers at us and laughing. We stopped just after this town. It was about 04:30 PM, we refilled our water sacks and continued riding. Thanks to the Shades, Water Sack, Jersey, Shorts, Shoes and the playlist on my Walkman ;) I was tired but not enough to quit. Sakaleshpur looked like an achievable target and we would have have made it if not for the inability to resist the temptation of entering a CCD 3 KMs down the road.

It was 5:30 PM when we started pedaling again and Hassan was still 28Kms away. The torchlights were already working their way trough the fading light.

I was optimistic and wanted to pedal till Sakaleshpur but Jagan was realistic and wanted to stop at Hassan. A steady climb from Channarayanapattana to Hassan, giant fast moving vehicles with their bright headlights and the dark streets left us with no other choice than to stop at Hassan. Although, it took forever to reach Hassan. Throughout the trip, this was the only patch when I found myself out of breath.

We reached Hassan at about 7:00 PM covering a total distance of 210Kms at an average of 20.5Kmph. We pedaled our way into the city and were greeted by the very much expected awed and ridiculed looks. We stopped at the first decent hotel that we could find. We were a bit skeptical about parking our rides in the regular parking area of the hotel situated in a city fairly unknown to us. The hotel manager agreed to station the rides in the hotel lounge plus he gave us a discount after learning that we had pedaled our way from Bangalore. There was one little disturbing thing though, he asked "Do you want your beds close together or separated?". I mean, what kind of question is that?

Anyways, after a days ride any hotel room would feel luxurious. That accompanied with a hot water bath and delicious dinner made the transition into the sleep state far too swift.

The plan was to start riding at 05:00 AM the next day. Somehow, we missed n number of alarms set at regular intervals of 5 minutes. It was 07:00 AM when I got up. Jagan was still fast asleep. I got ready and tried to wake him up. I checked mail again and this time there was a good news. Wow!! It felt so good. I had finally been accepted somewhere :).

The hotel did provide us with hot water but Jagan had to use cold water while bathing after the ride. It took a toll on him and he had a fever. His knees were also jammed, the idiot didn't stretch even for a bit after the ride. Plus, he was too scared of the ghat section that we were supposed to cover. No other option but to return back to base. We canceled our KSRTC tickets for Mangalore-Bangalore and booked two for Hassan-Bangalore instead.

There was a little brawl with the conductor about carrying cycles as luggage. He was asking Rs.200 .... per cycle. The luggage compartment was all empty. Finally he took me to some station master who stamped two tickets for Rs30 each and gave away Rs10 to the conductor and the driver. I surely would have given him more than Rs10 had he asked nicely and reasonably.

I know this ride did not go as planned but we promised each other that we will finish it soon, before bidding adios!!