SR5: 1500Kms of Cycling in 5 days (Fastest Super Randonneur Series)

Randonneuring is a long-distance cycling. In randonneuring, riders attempt courses of 200 km or more, passing through predetermined "controls" (checkpoints) on the route. Super Randonneur (SR): This title is earned by any rider who completes a series of brevets ( 200, 300, 400, and 600 KM) in the same year. A medal will be sent by Audax Club Parisien (ACP), France. SR title (total of 1500kms) usually takes anywhere between 1-2 months or even much longer based on the rider and the opportunities.

Bangalore Randonneurs is an ace cycling club based out of Bangalore which pioneers in many adventurous rides. To name a few, Gates of Heaven-1200kms, Kittur-1000kms, SR5-1500kms. The organizers of this fantastic club, Mohan Sir, Jins Paul, Harish Venkatachalam are some of the wonderful souls taking utmost care of the riders and providing motivation to break our barriers.

What is SR5: While a regular SR series takes anywhere between 1-2 months, achieving it in 5 days (to be precise 110.5 hours) was named "SR5". Completing 1500kms in 110.5 hours is challenging. The official rest time was 9 hours among the 110.5 hours.

Day	Distance	Start Time	End Time	Rest
Day 1 & 2	600Kms	6:00am	10:00pm	6 hours
Day 3	400Kms	4:00am	7:00am	0 hours
Day 4	300Kms	7:00am	3:00am	3 hours
Day 5	200Kms	6:00am	7:30pm
Total: 110.5 hours (including 9 hours of rest)

Planning and preparation:

Me and Prasad had the experience of unsuccessful Gates of Heaven 1200k, but we had learnt a lot from that one ride. Prasad considered upgrading his bike to roadie so that we could gain more speed and get more buffer time. So, exactly 1-month before SR5, Prasad got his new bike Merida Scultura-400. So, now we both were on Merida roadies. While Prasad did many century rides to get used to the posture, I went for a 340kms solo ride to my home town Hospet on my btwin single speed and a couple of century rides post that set me up for the long ride. We both did a chikkaballapura 100k for another practice together.

Exactly 30 days ahead, our planning started. We discussed in detail as to what should be our preparation, and what could be potential problems we could face during the ride.

We booked a room in Hotel Chancery, which was 500m away from the Konark hotel (Brevet start point). On the previous evening, me and Prasad went to the hotel and kept our luggage bags at hotel cloak room. The apparel for each ride was well thought of and placed in covers, along with spare batteries, lights, cap, dry fruits. Each ride was marked on the cover.

The strategy was simple, to follow the 4-3-2-1 formula, to create and maintain a buffer of 4 hours for 600kms ride, 3-hours for 400kms ride, 2-hours for 300kms ride and lastly 1-hour buffer for the 200kms ride. Me and Prasad had been riding together on long distance, Aravind joined us with his brand new cycle, bought on Monday, took a 100-km practice ride on Tuesday, Wednesday rest and he was ready for the long ride on Thursday.

Day 1 and 2 - 600Kms ride: Bangalore-Chitradurga-Davanagere-Ranebennur and back to Bangalore

Woke up at 4:30am, quickly got ready and headed to Konark hotel. Prasad, Aravind and me were riding together. We started fast and reached Tumkur in 2:20 hrs and proceeded to first control at VRL. A heavy breakfast of idli/vada/masala dosa and a strong coffee, we were back on highway. From Tumkur, we accelerated to reach Sira and headed straight to Hiriyur. Soon the humidity was catching up, we took quick coconut break. Re-energized, we were again back on the bike, we had early lunch at Hiriyur at 12:00PM, we had built a steady 3.5 hours buffer. A heavy lunch at Hiriyur in sharp 20 mins, and we were back on bike. By 2:45pm, we reached 2nd control at Mysore Cafe.

We had a quick interaction with Mohan sir, and he advised us not to push too hard as we had a long long way to go. That was a wake up call not burn out our body on day-1, instead he suggested to go with a steady approach and conserve energy till last day. From here on, we slowed down a bit, and eased past Davanagere at 6:30pm. A quick tea break and we were heading to Ranebennur. The tailwind helped us maintain good pace and we had built a healthy 5-hour buffer. Now, all that we needed was to maintain this buffer. 

We reached mid-point by 8:45pm, a quick dinner of Puliyogare and Curd rice (My Father-in-law had helped in finding and booking the food caterer in Davanagere). After the yummy dinner, we took a quick nap for 20 mins and we headed back. From here on, it was head-wind, the journey was much tougher as it was already 15-hours since we had started and we were feeling drowsy. At Davanagere, we saw that Monish, Rajkumar, Satish and Raghu halted for few mins and had just started of. We realized probably they took a tea break. We stopped there and a nice double tea. When we crossed Coffee Day, we saw a few cyclists, but we did not want to stop and instead pedaled ahead. After about 10 kms, our eye could not control sleep, it was 1:00am, we saw a well-lit temple on the left and saw two guys happily sleeping there. We parked our cycles and slept for 15 mins. That refreshed us, and we started pedaling hard. The sugarcane trucks all along this stretch were very luring. But, we had control our inhibitions to save time.

By 4:00am, we reached Chitradurga and Mohan Sir was waiting for us. We ate a few bananas, and headed towards the city. We again felt dizzy at 4:30am, and try to sleep at veranda of a lodge, but the guard shooed us away. Me and Prasad knew of another place where we had taken rest at an earlier ride. We went back to that place and slept for 15 mins. After the nap, we pedaled slowly towards Hiriyur. Plan was to eat breakfast at Hiriyur. We were witnessing a beautiful sunrise, and our eyes were relishing the beautiful colors of sky changing every 5 mins. As per the plan, we reached the hotel, requested the coconut vendor to look after our cycles. We freshened up and then saw Monish, Rajkumar, Raghu, Satish had reached the hotel by then. They joined us at hotel for breakfast. In 30 mins, we started again, we reached Coffee Day control point by 11:30am, but from here on it was a struggle. It was getting hot, head wind mixed with climbs and fatigue, slowed us down drastically. After the last major Seebi climb, we usually stop at a small hotel for customary cool drinks. We made a mistake here, instead of eating lunch around 12:30, we dreamt of eating at Tumkur/Dabaspet. The slow ride meant, we reached Dabaspet by 2:20pm. Aravind was very very hungry. I was managing with a few dry fruits. This was not a good decision to delay the lunch for so long. With empty stomach we lose speed. After a heavy lunch, we slowly started pedaling. Monish and Raj caught up with us, till then we had thought their gang was way ahead, but then he mentioned they took lunch break at Tumkur. The Nelemangala stretch reminded me, Monish and Rajkumar of our first 600kms ride together in 2015. We remembered the army man Shashi here. It rained heavily, we were least expecting rain in the winter. But, then the rains cooled us and roads were smoother. We did not stop, instead just pedaled through the rains.

We reached the end control at 6:30pm, about 3.5 hours ahead of the end time at 10:00pm. We ate quick dinner at Konark, packed chapathis for next morning and reached hotel Chancery. A quick bath, replied to whatsapp messages, called up our families and were ready to take nap. Prasad was snoring in a minute. It took 15 mins for me to offset the snoring music and get into deep sleep.

Day 3 - 400Kms ride: Bangalore-Tumkur-Devarayanadurga-Lepakshi-Penukonda-Bangalore

We woke up at 3:15am. We had planned for 10-mins per person to get ready, and exactly in 20 mins were ready. The ride started very early in the morning at 4:00am. Mohan Sir and Jins had arranged light snack, we also had packed a few chapathis for late morning. Early morning was not really that cold, we were bit slower than our 600k ride. We could catch up with Rajkumar Khot and Monish closer to Tumkur. After Tumkur, there was a dead-end with right and a left turns without any boards. Monish and Rajkumar took the wrong left turn. We took the right, and then realized that they both were riding on wrong side. We stopped 2 bikes and requested them to inform the duo about wrong direction. Meanwhile, Monish and Rajkumar Khot realized after a few kms that they were heading in wrong direction.

We reached the base of Devarayanadurga at an easy pace, saving the energy for the climb. We had planned to climb non-stop and we could do so slow and steady. Once we reached the control point, took a pic and immediately headed back to meet Rajkumar and Monish at the beautiful lake near base. From here, it was a very smooth road towards Madhugiri. On the way, we stopped at Koratagere to drink sugarcane juice, and we met Mohan Sir and Jins in car and we all had a nice sugarcane juice. We enquired about good hotel, and a local mentioned about Ganesha Tiffin center next to the petrol pump. The thatte idlies were yummy and then half lemon rice (rather he gave us full), was very tasty. All but Rs 90/- for all 3 of us :-). We crossed Madhugiri and headed towards Pavagada. Aravind had a flat, the nearby bus stop gave us shelter to fix. Half the village surrounded us to know more about cycles. I found a small pin. We replaced a new tube, but then, it got a pinch flat, Monish and Rajkumar joined us and then they both fixed the tube properly. From here on, we all were riding together. 

At about 130kms from start, Mohan Sir stopped us for lunch. We feasted on pongal and kesaribhath, and then started towards Pavagada. Heavy headwinds were slowing us down. Once we reached Pavagada, we took a short tea break, and explained our expedition to people. After Pavagada, we were hit with very heavy headwind, it did slow us down. Prasad wanted to sleep before Pavagada, but we kept pushing. We stopped near an old well, a water pipe nearby helped us freshen up. We spotted a few small water snakes in the old well. Monish and Rajkumar were curious to know how could we spot snakes while riding :-). From here on, we all pedaled together cracking jokes. Heavy headwind had anyways slowed us down. So the company of Rajkumar, Monish and Shreyas made our journey joyful. At Penukonda cross, Mohan Sir stopped us with his trademark smile. Some more pongal went in without effort. Lots of wonderful discussions at this spot. Santhosh joined us. Jins gave wonderful massage to Prasad and Aravind. They were thankful to him. Mohan sir shooed us away as we were getting late. Rajkumar slowed down a bit due to knee pain. Monish suggested us to move ahead and they planned to join us at Lepakshi. We cycled non-stop till Lepakshi. It was tail-wind from here on. So, we could speed up.

We had a good dinner at Lepakshi and packed rice for late night. Hell a lot of climbs from here. And late night meant, we were climbing slowly. We stopped at a dhaba and requested the owner if we could sleep at his garden, he denied. And do not know what happened to him, after 2 mins, came back and took all of us inside and showed us a room to sleep. And asked us if we needed blankets. We thanked him for his gesture and said, we are fine without blankets. A quick tea and then we headed towards Chikkaballapura. After about 20kms at a climb, Aravind took a sudden right and was speeding up. I was focused on climb and was riding with my head down. I did not realize why did Aravind took a sharp right, and then I was stopped by 2 transgenders, fully dressed up. For a moment, did not know how to escape. Before they said anything, I reached out to my pocket. They waited, it was pitch dark, and I had Rs 20, 50 and 500 notes. And I pulled out one note, and with a bit of light saw that it was Rs 20. They wished me gud luck, I moved on. Mohan sir had mentioned of secret control, but did not know it was this secret :-). Another 20kms, we were flagged down by Harish. He did the secret control formalities and offered us water. We were looking for tea, even after Chikkaballapura, close to Airport, we could not find even a single tea shop. After airport toll booth, we found one tea seller on roadside, and drank piping hot tea. But, we were still very very drowsy. From here on, we wanted to reach end control ASAP, but the drowsy eye slowed our speed. After Hebbal, took left and kept pedaling without a stop. I showed Kammanahalli road to Aravind where my home was located. From here on, we do not know how we reached MG Road and then to Konark hotel. It was all like a riding in the dream. We reached 2-hours prior to the end control time.

We reached Konark hotel at 5:10am. It gave us a mere 50-mins sleep before we start for next ride. But, we made sure we lube the chains for all 3 cycles before we slept. We had requested for hotel for wake-up call just incase we don't wake up. By now, we had completed 1000kms in 3 days (72-hours).

Day 4 - 300Kms ride: Bangalore-Chintamani-Horsley Hills-Kolar-Bangalore

The 300kms ride was at 7:00am. the quick nap and then hot water bath energized us. But, we were damn hungry. So, we made a strategy to eat breakfast within the first hour. And it was the right step, we took exact 10-mins to complete our breakfast. 3-idlies/1-vada was the energy pack we needed to hit the road hard. We started pedaling hard, we could catch up with many riders before Chintamani. But then, legs were not strong enough to push even faster. At Gownipalli junction, we took early lunch, and then headed towards Horsley hills. Mohan Sir was at a nearby temple holding lunch for us. But, we planned to move ahead and climb the hill before lunch. Even at Horsley, our plan was to climb non-stop. The 8-kms climb took us about 1-hour. We took a quick break at the peak and then headed back to the base. A few quick pics on the way down and then headed straight for Puliyogare and curd rice. We were running close to the control time. Mohan sir suggested we need to be awake and ride properly for 24 hours more to complete SR5. 

While we were climbing down Horsley we met Rajkumar Khot. He had knee pain during 400k ride, but love his grit. He somehow managed 400k ride, but then during 300k, he really slowed down due to pain. But, he never quit, rather kept riding. Salute to his never-give-up attitude.

Monish joined 3 of us and we started riding together. Closer to Gownpalli, we were hit with very heavy rains. There were clouds from nowhere. It reminded us of the Gates of Heaven. We were shivering, but then, we remembered the simple formula. In rains, don't stop instead keep pedaling. After 30 mins, rains stopped, at Gownpalli cross, we did not get any food, we decided to stop at Srinivaspura for dinner. We ate fresh dosas. But, could not rest as we were running very close to the control time. The ride to Kolar was very nice. Both sides tamarind trees, slight moonlight and less traffic, we were relishing the night ride. But, we started pedaling hard. We met someone riding alone slightly ahead of us. It was Santosh. He was delighted to see us and joined us. Just outside Kolar, four of us slept near a hotel. Me and Prasad remembered that we all taken rest at the same place during our last 300kms ride in 2016. We thought of sleeping for 15 mins, but just after 5 mins, the Mosquitoes were fighting for the space on me. I decided to sleep at space between Aravind and Monish. But, unlucky me, my blood was more tastier. I decided to walk around to frustrate the mosquitoes.

We started towards Bangalore. With faint light, saw a rider sleeping at a bus stop. We decided not to wake him up. That was Santosh. His cycle was not there. I thought it was brilliant of him to hide the cycle behind the bus stop and sleep. Later he told us, even he was worried not to see his cycle, it had fallen off :-).

At Hosakote, we badly needed a tea-break, Monish badly needed a nap for 5 mins. Once we regrouped, we just had 1.5hours for 25kms to reach the end control. We decided to speed up. Plan was to ride crazily from here and meet at end control. At a flyover, me and Monish were speeding up and saw a young boy fully drunk was playing with his life trying to touch vehicles which pass by. His 2 more accomplices were convincing him to board the 2-wheeler. Finally he boarded and the 3 of them were purposefully coming closer to Aravind. He was irritated but maintained his composure. They did it again. He was still not moved. Me and Monish were watching all this drama. We were trying not to overtake these guys and to irritate them. Instead, we slowed down a bit. But then, we needed to meet our timelines as well. So, we decided to move ahead. We were 4 of us against 3 of them. The kids did not intervene, though they were riding close by, but did maintain distance. We reached the end control in just 7 mins before the end time. Quick formalities and we headed to hotel Chancery. We badly needed rest. We slept as soon as we reached. We got good 2-hours sleep. And then 8-mins to freshen up and we packed our stuff, checked out of chancery, and we were at start point at 5:59am. 1-min ahead of start time.

Day 5 - 200Kms ride: Bangalore-Kolar-Chintamani-Chikkaballapura-Bangalore

We started at 6:00am, yet again, our strategy was to eat early breakfast. We stopped at Hosakote toll booth. It was a big gang, Santosh, Shreyas, Prashant Iyer, Prasad, Aravind, Rajesh. We ate heavily and headed towards Kolar. Fatigue was already hitting us hard. We stopped for a coconut break near Narasapura. We met Monish here, but asked him to move ahead as we were riding a bit slow. Our strategy was to ride non-stop till lunch. We stopped at a village and ate a few fruits. Mohan Sir messaged on whatsapp about the delicious lunch. We reached by 1:00pm. Ate a heavy lunch and Mohan sir reminded us that, we still have 85kms left. We started off, but could not control sleep. We slept near a house and then headed towards Chikkaballapura. Aravind missed taking pic at an ATM, he came back took pic and joined us. We stopped at Nandi Upachar for quick refresh and tea. We started in exact 5 mins time. We crossed airport toll booth and close to Decathlon, then Monish called up. He spoke about the traffic on Hebbal flyover and asked us to speed up till flyover and then take it easy in the traffic. We cruised till Hebbal and realized the heavy traffic. From here on, it was was racing against traffic and time. We reached about 30-mins ahead of end control time.

SR5 completion:

Satish Addanki, Rajkumar, Bhaskar had been waiting for us. We waited for Santosh for 15 mins, and then started the celebration. A well-deserved photo shoot and then a SR5 cake. Sushma and Ananya joined me. Sushma helped fix cycle to the rack and drove us home. I started sending messages and called up Shashi. That completed our long awaited SR5 series. We had completed a tuff 1500kms ride in under 5 days, 110.5 hours. The dream ride was done. The 5-days of cycling went past like a quick dream. We hardly realized we were riding for all 5 days almost non-stop. But, the fun of riding together, wonderful organizers, perfect routes made it a fun filled, memorable ride.