vGOH 1200K Ride: Bangalore-Yercaud-Yelagiri-Chamudi Hills-Basavana Betta-Sira-Bangalore

Virtual Gates of Heaven (vGOH) - 1200kms Ride in 90 hours with 10,000m elevation

Back in 2018, the route was via Yercaud, Ooty and Coorg. Me and Prasad had quit at 615kms after Ooty due to heavy rains and we were under prepared to ride with rains. That mistake of quitting the ride haunted us for long. So, it was a revenge ride this time. Due to the Covid-19 situation, it was conducted virtually, meaning, we could plan our route, food, stay ourselves. So it was a self-supported ride.

Thanks to Mohan Sir and Bangalore Randonneurs Team for coming up with such an awesome plan to ride 1200kms and come out of the fears of covid situation. Thanks to Sushma and my parents for trusting me on the long ride without practice. Thanks to Biju (Cycling Boutique) for all last mins check-up to make sure the bike was fine since it had been a while since I had given for service.

Me and Prasad planned a route Salem-Yercaud(twice),Mysore-Chamundi Hills-Basavana Betta and then Bangalore-Sira-Bangalore to keep it simple at the end. We made our home as the base to start, mid-point and at 900k mark. Plan was to ride 600kms non-stop, then rest for 2-hours and then 300k, rest for an hour and then complete the last 300k. 

Day-1 (Bangalore - Salem - Yercaud Hills - Krishnagiri) - 350 kms

The previous night I could not sleep better out of excitement. We ate veg fried rice which we had packed previous night and 2 boiled eggs. Started from Sena Vihar, Bangalore at 6:00am. Though many roads are dug up in Bangalore, we could make it to Silk board in an hour and luckily had escaped the traffic. From here, it was going to be smooth sail with tail wind and downhill. We picked up good pace and reached Krishnagiri in 3:20hrs covering 100kms.

Vivek R saw us while he was driving to Salem, and took a few pics and we had a quick chat with him and headed to Salem. We skipped breakfast and instead stopped at Dharmapuri for early lunch. By 2:30pm we were at Yercaud base, Salem. We stopped for tea and snacks ahead of the big climb. Prasad started climbing aggressively, my lack of climb practice started showing up. I struggled for first 3 kms of climbing. This is the point when mind starts playing with the body and we need to back ourselves. I started eating whatever I had chips, cake, chocolate, everything got over. With each thing I was eating, the monkeys there would chase me to get a bite. It was fun watching the baby monkeys jumping around, practicing the climbs with small bushes. Specially here I have seen people to be very kind to monkeys. Many people get food, groundnut, bread and give it to monkeys. We reached the mid point (Hair pin bend 16), here we get snacks and tea. I was so hungry, I ate watermelon, cucumber, tea and corn. This was sufficient to take me to the peak. After 3kms we were covered in thick fog. 5:30pm: The clouds had completely covered the peak. Its such a delight to ride in cloudy weather, a heavenly feeling. The visibility was very low, we had to ride carefully and had switched on our blinkers and headlight. 

Here is the short video of the clouds on top of Yercaud hills.

By the time we reached peak it was 6:00pm and completely dark, sipped hot tea and started the descent. We had to be careful riding down as tires could skid in high speeds. By this time, we decided not to climb Yercaud 2nd time, instead we went with the idea of riding to Yelagiri. 2 Reasons: 1) not enough visibility during night 2) back to back climbs were tough as we were not fully prepared for such hard climbs.

It was 8:00pm when we reached Salem outskirts, and we stopped for dinner near tollgate and packed enough food (fried rice) for the late night and early morning. With tailwind, we were at a very good pace. We remembered our earlier twin hill rides with Shashi and places where we had rested. Near Thoppur ghats after the climb, Raghu was calling us on mobile, once we reached there he mentioned mech issue with his cycle bottom bracket, and Sunil would join us from here. With tailwind and pleasant weather we reached Krishnagiri at good pace by 1:00am. We had good buffer of 4 hours in hand.

Day-2 (Krishnagiri - Vaniyambadi- Yelagiri Hills - Krishnagiri - Bangalore) - 260 kms

As we were riding all day and with Yercaud climb, body was tired, and from here riding night time was tougher. We were caught surprised at not finding a single tea shop open at Krishnagiri. About 15 kms later, we were very drowsy and stopped at a petrol bunk, the person at bunk was kind to give us safe space and we rested for 20 mins and late night packed dinner, and had tea at the nearby shop. The tea shop owner was gossiping about the Tamil Nadu politics and how Stalin has better chance of winning this election like Jagan :-). We started sprinting here to reach Vaniyambadi by early morning. 6:00am, we were climbing Yelagiri hills. Its such a wonderful route, the elevation is gradual, consistent and much easier than Yercaud. Legs were so much used to climbing now that we hardly felt any pain and we could climb non-stop. The people in and around here seemed quite health conscious, we could find many batches of kids and elders climbing up the hill barefoot, and many were doing squats and pushups. The hairpin bend Num 10 was fantastic, so we planned to stop here while climbing down for pics. Once we reached the peak, it was time to freshen up, so we went in search of a hotel. With only bread omlette, we were fine as it had clean restrooms. 

We climbed down quite quickly in 20 mins, it was light drizzle. From here, it was going to be tuff fight against the heavy headwind. We started with good pace of 15kmph and steadily increased to 18-20. It was quite tiring ride and we were feeling very hungry. We ate egg dosa on the roadside hotel, and drank hot tea. This gave us enough fuel to ride till Krishnagiri. We could reach by 1:00pm, we stopped for quick cool drink break, as we were getting ready for another battle of climbing. The plan was to ride beyond Shoolagiri climb and eat at Anand Bhavan as we would get the famous jigarthanda. But, were disappointed to see it closed for renovation. God had different plans to keep our 'Jigar' thanda by raining :-). After a good lunch with rice and sambar, we started climbing, by this time it started raining. We wore the jacket and had covered well, but it was irritating to take off the jacket often as it would rain and stop in a while. This was killing our momentum. With many climbs, we felt drowsy at 3:30pm, and found an empty bus stop to take a quick nap. Prasad wakes up exactly, alarm is only a back up option. Am bit lazy, I oversleep, so Prasad wakes me up :-). We woke up to see the rear tyre had gone flat. It took us 10 mins, to find the pin and fix new tube. We were now trying to hurry up to beat the heavy traffic due to weekend. It was 8:15pm when we reached Bangalore with barely 2 hours of buffer. We had to clean up our bikes, lube the chains, refuel and then headed out for dinner. We packed food (veg biriyani) for the late night as well. We carry a 10L Decathlon bag, its lightweight and can easily carry food and other stuff for 3 people and when not in use it can be folded into a small pocket. We came back and slept nicely for 2 hours.

Day-3 (Bangalore- Mysore - Chamundi Hills - Basavana Betta - Kanakapura - Bangalore) - 310 Kms

We started at 12:00am after a good sleep of 2 hours. Here we shifted our strategy to ride to Mysore via Mandya and keep the Basavanabetta for the afternoon, otherwise we could have been too early to climb at Betta. At Bidadi, Sunil caught up with us and we started riding together. We were hungry by now as we were riding with headwind. We decided to take a 15-mins nap and then eat dinner. Near Maddur we badly needed a tea, it was about 4:00am, and were finding it hard to control sleep. The tea shop owner was a busy guy and still was cracking jokes, he wud say 20,000 for Rs20/- packet of chips and 10,000 for Rs10/- packet (yes, he was counting paise). He gifted 3 of us 1 rupee chocolate and wished us a good ride. Meanwhile, Prasad’s bike fell off, he had leaned his bike on a jeep and the driver took off while we were busy with tea. Luckily except for few scratches, the derailleur and the hanger were safe. We took one more break near Mandya at 6:00am, to eat remaining dinner and drink tea. We then planned to ride non-stop till Mysore 40kms away. Once at Mysore, we went in search of a good hotel. It took us 30 mins to freshen up and then packed juice and headed out to Chamundi hills base. Surprisingly the 7-kms was not a tough one, easy gradient and it took us about 25 mins to climb. We took photos near Mahishasura statue and then infront of Chamundi temple. From here Sunil went alone to Mysore and then repeated the Mandya-Mysore-Malavalli route next day, whereas me and Prasad went towards Sira.

We now climbed down in 10 mins and were heading to Bannur. With tailwind, it was a cakewalk to Bannur and then towards Malavalli, about 1:00pm, Prasad felt sleepy, so we planned to take a quick nap near a farm where a guy had setup a sugarcane juice stall, we requested him to watch our bikes. The sleep under a tree for 20 mins was very satisfying. So much breeze and the cool shade was a heavenly feeling. Drank sugarcane juice and then reached Malavalli at easy pace. Divya mess in the beginning of the town serves best meals at very less price. The ragi ball and rice sambar was filling and we were now ready to climb Basavana Betta. People at the base were scaring us that there were elephants and 4pm was not a good time to start. With not much choice, we went ahead with the climb. Around here, I just opened up mobile to check strava, and the app had crashed and it restarted recording, but we had lost about 28kms of riding, so we had to ride 28kms after 1200k. With fatigue after riding 800kms, Betta seemed quite challenging and we thought it could take us 2-hrs, so the strategy was to take a few breaks on the way and sip enough water and to climb criss cross. First 2kms of tough climb was done and Interestingly, we were doing good, so we went on. The more climbs and we were getting more confident and it took us just 35 mins to climb the daunting hill. Another 5 mins to reach the Basaveshwara temple. 

With all major climbs done, we were now confident that tough part was over. But from the top of the hill, we could see the rains in Bangalore. So, we had to get ready for another round of drizzle. When we climbed down quickly and headed towards Kanakapura. The plan was to stop here for a tea break, but Vasu hotel was closed by then. Another shop and he served us mild hot tea, we told him that he shud take less money as it was not hot. He took it seriously and made fresh tea and did not take money. 

The Kanakapura climbs are intimidating, but the roads were pathetic. With light drizzle and fatigue, I was feeling very drowsy, so we decided to take 20 mins nap infront of a closed hotel. It was very chill weather and body feels cold when not riding. We started climbing again, as it was very early in the morning, we could not find a single tea shop. The plan was to reach Bangalore by 11:00pm and then head out to Sira starting at 1:00am. But, the fatigue had changed our plans. We were at Kanakapura road at 12:15am. It was quite late. We found a Shell petrol bunk which had an attached snack and tea shop open 24/7. We rested in the parking lot, freshened up and drank hot coffee. We changed our strategy here, instead of heading to home, we planned to ride directly to Sira to save 2-hours. Also, another reason was to beat the city traffic and also headwind. This shift in strategy was very helpful, but it also meant we wont get sleep in bed for an hour. So, we headed through the outer ring road and found a petrol bunk to sleep. The guy did not accept our request, so slept in front of a Bajaj service center. A good 2-mins sleep was helpful, we reached Gorguntepalya and had a smooth exit out of the city as per our new plan. 

Day-4 (Bangalore - Tumkur - Sira - Tumkur - Bangalore) - 310 kms

Near Nelamangala, another Petrol bunk was calling us :-). We rested here for 20-mins and ate the packed food. Hot tea for the morning at 4:00am was helpful in rushing through and by 6:30am we had crossed Tumkur. Plan was to eat breakfast at VRL, but it was closed, and we found out another hotel after a km on the right side. With idlies and coffee, it was good enough until lunch. Mohan sir checked our whereabouts and shared a few pics with him. 

At about 11:00am, both of us were very drowsy and next to the highway, there was lot of grass, but it was too sunny. Finding shade here was tough, so we took a short nap, and I woke up in just 10 mins as I could not bear the sunlight. We headed to Sira, it was easy climbing down. The plan was to ride at least 10kms after Sira Coffee Day to cover the distance we lost as the strava app had crashed. 

After the u-turn, it was much easier to ride. At Kamat, we ate North Indian meal and started at 2:15pm, we aimed to reach Tumkur before 5:00pm. With help of tailwind, we were climbing faster and surprisingly, we reached Tumkurat 4:00pm. With idlies, coffee and ample buffer to reach Bangalore, we decided to slow it down a bit. Another stop near Reliance petrol bunk, with short rest, we started slowly towards Nelamangala. Prasad had a quick shut eye moment, and we were forced to stop at a tea shop and bought some chewing gum. 

Now, we were fresh with energy and planned to ride faster to avoid getting drowsy. City traffic caught up and it was too fast moving vehicles. We then carefully navigated till Peenya and stopped a while to re-strategize as we were running short by about 20kms. We entered city and riding in short loops around Yeshwantpur and MS Ramaiah hospital. With just 10kms left, we then headed to home. 

It was such a satisfying ride. We had completed 1200kms of crazy ride in 87.5 hours. Since this was a self-supported ride, it was so much fun in planning and executing it. The change in strategies at times was very helpful in making sure our ride was comfortable. 4-days of lovely endurance cycling had come to an end. These 4 days we were immersed in endurance cycling, thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

Tips for long ride:

Just trust yourself that its possible. A good practice will help make long distances comfortable. Sleep cant be avoided, we need to learn to take power naps. And best of all, do not expect Organizers will help, true randonneurs don't depend on anyone, they just ride for their own satisfaction. Make sure to reach first 600k within 38 hours, rest for 2-3 hours and freshen up for next haul. If its possible to rest again at 900, its amazing. This ride was a good learning for us on how to plan such long rides and be ready for navigation, plan well for food, rest and make strategies and re-strategize if the plan A fails. Lot to learn on the long rides yet. With Mohan Sir and BR team, we hope to get good opportunities to be better randonneurs. Lastly make sure to enjoy every long ride :-). We can inspire each other and achieve more to be better randonneurs. Thanks everyone at Bangalore Randonneurs for all the support and motivation, am ever grateful.

Bangalore-Goa-Bangalore (BGB - 1200 kms) cycle ride

Bangalore-Goa-Bangalore (BGB-1200km) cycle ride

BGB is the 1200K LRM organized by Bangalore Randonneurs. The route passes by Shimoga, Jog Falls, Western ghats, Karwar, Margao, Doodhsagar forest, Dandeli forest, Yellapura, Haveri, Tumkur and back to Bangalore.

Preparation:

I clearly had a month to prepare before the 1200K ride event. So, the 4 weekends were well utilized to target 4 long rides for practice:

330 Kms Bangalore-Mysore-Bangalore

500 Kms Hubli-Satara-Hubli

360 Kms Bangalore-Salem-Bangalore

400 kms Bangalore-Chitradurga-Bangalore

I firmly believe that training is an important part of the event, to make us feel comfortable during the event. Each of these were done almost at the same or better than the brevet timings.

Brevet Start:

We met all the superstars of endurance cycling. The organizers were Mohan Sir, Monish and Rohit V. While riding 1200kms is tuff, organizing such an event is even more tougher. Along with 1200k, even the 600k Bangalore-Goa was organized, so the 3 amazing organizers had to manage 80+ riders. Helmets off to the organizers.

Bangalore to Tumkur:

Day-1 4:00pm: We started off at 4:00pm on 21-Feb from Konark Hotel, Kanteerava stadium. Ther was heavy traffic until Gorguntepalya. Prasad, me and Arvind regrouped at the signal before speeding up towards Tumkur. Milan joined us here and stayed all along. Me and Prasad had planned to ride a min 100kms before the first stop. So, the Almonds in the pocket were helpful. We reached the second CP at 120kms and did not waste a min and instead moved ahead. I knew there was a hotel near KB Cross as I had cycled on this stretch earlier. The hotel was just 5kms ahead. The owner was helpful in arranging the food as fast as he could. We filled up the bottles, drank coffee and headed out, all in 20 mins. Point was not to waste time in breaks.

KB Cross to Mathighatta:

Day-1 9:30pm: We were 75kms short of the 3rd CP. We now had more than 3hrs of buffer, with good dinner and awesome tail wind, we decided to push faster. We were closer to Tiptur when we were joined by Nithin who had started 30 mins later along with other 600k riders. Nithin had his bluetooth speaker on and some cool Kannada songs were keeping us awake. Since he rides super fast he caught up with us. We all passed through Arsikere town, a sudden gush of wind hit us, but it was only momentary. We passed through the town, we showed the deadly humps after the Bus stand which had taken down 6 cyclists during the Shimoga 600k ride. 6 riders were injured and treated at local Govt Hospital. Since then the humps were clearly marked and there was enough streetlights and everyone could notice the humps. The plan was to complete 200kms under 10.5hrs, but we reached Mathighatta by 12:50pm which was under 9.5hours. We ate quick dinner of Chow Chow bath. Had a nice chat with Mohan sir, Monish and Rohit. And we started off towards Shimoga. We had spent exactly 13 mins at the CP. Me and Prasad have improvised on reduced time at CPs. We did not want to sleep at least until 400+kms, so we kept going. About 15kms later, we were joined by Sunil and Amar. We stopped at a nearby temple, as we could not tolerate the cold weather and finally wore the jerkin and socks.

We reached Birur town, and the Shivarathri was quite visible all along the night. At Birur, people queued up at the Shiva temple. We were all drowsy around 2:30am. After a few kms, we all stopped by a chain of tea shops. We drank tea and had a nice nap for 10 mins while seated on chairs. After we woke up it took us a few mins to gather pace, and around 4:00am crossed Bhadra River Project (BRP), the home to cycling don Shashi, the Army superman. The roads were quite smooth here. We were now joined by Rohit Chandrashekar, he had bluetooth speaker on, and some awesome bollywood mashups helped us reach Shimoga. 

We reached Shimoga 270kms away from Bangalore by 4:50am. That was more than 5hrs of buffer. The roads, churches, grounds reminded me of my childhood holidays spent at my Grandmother's house in Shimoga. We were super hungry, and the only option we had was to eat at the roadside idly shop opp to bus stand. 

Shimoga to Jog:

Day-2 5:20am: After about 10kms at 6:00am, we were very sleepy and chose a small hut. We took a 30 mins nap. The strategy on this ride was to sleep slightly longer than the 10 mins power naps we used to take in earlier long rides. So, we decided if we are taking a nap, it has to be 30 mins or more. It was now 6:30am and we found a petrol bunk and requested the owner. He was helpful and mentioned his close friend is a cyclist. Just ahead of Anandapuram, Amar frantically stopped us near a hotel and mentioned that Sunil's bike had an issue. We tried to understand what had gone wrong. The hub was probably broken lose. Sunil was quite disappointed. But, he had made a call to Nataraj Sir, he is our Go Green rider. A retired KAS officer, a true friend in deed. Everytime we face any kind of issue nearer to Shimoga, he is our God. He has always been helpful. He agreed to bring his hybrid bike on bus and take Sunil's roadie back. So, we decided to move ahead, and Sunil would catch up at Jog Falls or Goa based on his speed and our rest time. Amar now joined us.

Now 4 of us me, Prasad, Milan and Amar formed the team and headed towards Sagar.  From Sagar, it 36kms away from our major destination. We expected it could take approx 2 hours. After about 20kms, we now headed down towards Jog. The steep down increased the speed and in hardly few mins we were at the bridge across the Sharavathi river. It was such a beautiful view from here. We further climbed down the hill towards hotel Mayura and reached our CP4 by 11:30am. We took a selfie at the hotel, and Milan's wish was to take selfie at the falls. We lined up and took nice pics and headed back to hotel. The hotel guys mentioned we were in-between breakfast and lunch period, meaning late for breakfast and too early for lunch effectively nothing to eat. We enquired with local people and found a Bramhins Bhojanalaya up the hill about a km away. It was a tough choice to make, climbing a km out of the way was not easy. But, its the matter of food. If we miss here, we did not know where else could we have got lunch. So, decided to climb up and reached the hotel. The aunty there reluctantly agreed to serve food, but only rice and rasam. We said thank you so much, please bring everything that you have. 

Jog Falls (382kms) to Kumta (454kms):

Day-2 11:30am: We now were high on energy, it was 1:00pm, but we decided to keep going as we knew that its easier to descend the western ghats during day light. The navigation from here was absolutely necessary. We were now heading towards the forest zone, and one wrong turn could have been difficult to recover. I had bought a new phone to replace my iphone as the battery was ever a problem. The new phone had 6000mah battery, so I was hopeful the BikeGPX
would be our best guide here. We made one wrong turn, and the alert helped us to stop and reroute quickly. Our next destination was Vandane. It was getting hotter, so we stopped by a shop at Doddamane and drank cold water from a mud pot. The ladies who were removing the arecanuts curiously asked us why were we cycling, from where, to where. After quick break, we headed towards Aghnashini forest. The climb down here across the western ghats was one of the most interesting part of the ride. The next 25kms was adventurous, its steep, beautiful but many pot holes. So, we had to be very careful and yet attentive to appreciate the amazing scenes across the valley. The valley, thick forest, tall trees on either side, and the Aghnashini river flowing deep down, its view you can't miss. This particular stretch of reserve forest is known for Lion tailed Monkeys which is a protected species. I was hoping against the hope to see one of them, but we weren't lucky. From Doddamane to Dhivagi its a steep down and our hands were paining with clutching the breaks all along.  Just ahead of Kumta, Mr Narayan Hegde has arranged food and rest at his home. It was very helpful especially after the tough stretch across the Aghnashini forest. We now were very relieved as the difficult part was over and we were ready to face butter smooth roads.

Kumta (454kms) to Margao (Goa-588kms):

Day-2 7:00pm: After a quick snack and an awesome tea, we thanked Mr Narayan Hegde's father, mother and uncles who made us awesome food and tea. Prasad's front brake disc was touching the pads, we requested the tool kit and tried to bend the disc a bit, not successful, but we did not have a choice, and Prasad was ready to go even with the problem. Rajaneesh had reached here earlier than us and taken a short nap. He wanted to ride with us. Hemanth also joined us. So, we were now, 6 of us riding together Prasad, Milan, Amar, Rajaneesh, Hemanth and me. The highway was just 4 kms away and we hit the highway with an aim to stop only at Ankola about 40kms away, which was the next CP. The plan was simple, make best use of the 4-lane newly laid highway and reach next CP under 2 hours, and exactly we reached by 9:00pm. A quick selfie and then we headed to Kamat hotel. This is our usual hotel every time we pass through Ankola towards Goa. A heavy dinner and a cup of coffee, we were back on the saddle. Around Karwar, we all wished to drink tea, but none on the highway. So, we could not take a break. We climbed across the small ghats around Karwar and got the first glimpse of ocean. The sea port at Karwar was very busy late in the night with cargo being loaded/unloaded. Without tea break, we just headed towards Goa hoping to get tea near the state border or check post.

Karwar:
Day-3 1:00am: Rajesh Nayak had stopped on the roadside to help Shettappa Pirangi (an awesome rider from Hubli). Since Rajesh was helping him out, the group of 7 decided to move on. But, soon the group wanted a short nap and we all slept at a closed garage. By now, Rajesh and Shettappa joined us. Rajesh was very fast and he went ahead. Now Shettappa joined our group. About 5 kms into Goa, Shettappa's bike had one more flat, he mentioned this was his 4th already. Rest everyone took a few mins rest and me and Shettappa started looking what had gone wrong. After a while, we found the air going out from tube and the corresponding point on tyre pointed to nothing. This was getting tuff. Back on saddle, we were still hunting for the tea shop, Prasad suddenly stopped and pointed to a shop, and it turned out to be a wine shop :-). Very close to the ghats, around 3:00am, we could see one tea shop. By now, Hemanth, Shettappa, Amar and Milan had gone ahead. Prasad and Rajeneesh and me drank 2 cups of nice tea and it helped us to stay awake. We all reached the mid-CP Margao by 4:30am on Day-3, it was 588kms from the start point. This is a major milestone as the feeling of half distance covered and also a good 2-hr nap on the bed. We woke up, took shower and an early morning breakfast of Poha. It was 7:00am, and we were in a hurry already as the buffer now had come down to just an hour. We need at a minimum 2-3 hours of buffer at any point of time to make sure we have sufficient time for climbs, headwinds or bike issues. We got to meet several of the 600k riders at the mid-cp. This was end CP for them. We had a quick chat with Sowmya, Muba and Dr Netra. Meanwhile I lubed the chains for all 7 of us, as it had been close to 600kms ride.

Margao (588kms) to Mollem (634kms):

Day-3 7:00am: Fresh out of bed, a good bath and breakfast we were pumping with energy. It was again tough to navigate through and reach the Mollem road, so BikeGPX was a must. The plan was to stop at an eatery just ahead of the forest and climbs. The idea was to fill our tummies, pack a bit, fill our bottles ahead of the forest stretch. Meanwhile, Prasad's front disc was still touching the pads, so we stopped by a house and requested the owner if he could get the tool kit, we tried to bend the disc in opp direction, it helped only a bit. The sound reduced, but Prasad was determined to ride at any cost. At Mollem base, we could find many hotels but all of them were serving only bread. Milan had found a hotel which served parathas. This is what we wanted, bread wont give enough strength.One person who had come here with his family appreciated our efforts and came back again to give us some food and encouraged us to ride safe and complete. After the 2nd breakfast, we were now up for the climbs. The climb is for about 21kms, with 15kms steep climb and 6kms of rolling terrain. Its a good road and is quite wide and the traffic is high on this Margao-Begaum highway. For our luck, the sun was hiding behind the hills and it was easy to climb under the shades. So, our plan was to climb 21kms non-stop and then wait at the hill top. Shettappa and me were slightly ahead and we decided to keep going. At the forest checkpost we cross over from Goa to Karnataka, from here the roads are cemented, it was good to ride.  It was too hot, there were a few shops, and we took a break and waited for others to join here. 

Anmod to Ganeshgudi (661kms):

Galin, Sundar and Elango were taking rest here and left in 10 mins. Elango forgot to pick his wallet and mobile, we noticed it and took it with us to hand it over to Monish to pass it on to Elango. I told Elango that I wish he left some dollars in that wallet :-). At the Castle rock cross, we missed to take right turn as there was construction work going on and I kept my mobile inside to avoid dust. That was a mistake. Luckily we realized it within a km and turned around. We did one more mistake here to ignore the restaurants. We were now heading towards no-man's land. We now had shifted from Mahaveer Forest to Dandeli forest. At one of the climbs we met Mohan sir and he gave us buttermilk and told us no food for another 50-80kms :-(. But we did have a lot of reserve food. And hoped we will come across something. The navigation around this stretch was super critical. We could not afford to keep away the mobile. BikeGPX was on all the time. Me investing on the new phone was totally worth it. We were short of 20kms to Jagalbet. Shettappa being the local here mentioned until Dendeli he does not expect any food. I was hoping against the hope for lunch around Jagalbet. For our luck, there was one restaurant (Simba) open and we requested the owner to serve us fast, and he obliged. He, his wife and son were superfast in getting us food and cool drinks. We were delighted to have lunch at least 40kms ahead of next potential lunch place. We were still fighting hard to reach the next CP (Chapoli post office) before 6:00pm.

Ganeshgudi (661kms) to Chapoli Post Office (713kms):

We reached Ganeshgudi with about 1.5 hours buffer and then crossed the Dandeli white water river rafting place. We were now trying to go as fast we could to make sure we reach CP on time. It was a tough rolling terrain, many more climbs. At Supa dam, Rajaneesh and Milan stopped to take a pic, but we were trying to rush through, in the hurry Rajaneesh fell down as he was on cleats and could not balance quickly after turning around. We reached Chapoli post office by 5:00pm, easily 1hr ahead of the time. We had a wonderful tea at the bus stop and ordered one more round and then headed to Dandeli.

CP7 Chapoli Post Office (713kms) to Yellapura (790kms) via Dandeli:

Day-3 5:20pm: With the CP covered, we now had the next CP Yellapura to be reached by 12:41am. So, we now had 7.5 hours for 77kms. We took it a bit easy until Dandeli and crossed the fearsome Kali river. The roads were good until Haliyal cross and then till Bhagavathi, it was bad roads with many potholes. At Bhagavathi we stopped for a quick snack and a fresh tea made by an old lady. She was kind enough to make fresh strong tea. We had 43 kms and another 5hrs in hand. Shettappa was a bit worried about Grinny as she was quite behind and in the forest range, and a quick call to Mohan sir confirmed she was now safely riding with Rohit and Rahul. We now were racing to Yellapura. After a few kms, it was total dark and without noticing we were riding in the forest stretch. Since it was close to amavasye (new moon day), the beautiful greenery was not easily visible. But the cool wind and tall trees made it evident. We wished if we had done this stretch during the day. It was slight rolling and pretty much climbing down, we zipped through the forest range and reached Yellapura by 9:00pm, well ahead of the CP close time. we now had 3hrs of buffer.

Yellapura (790kms) to Haveri (880kms):

Day-3 9:40pm: At CP we had dinner and a quick chat with Mohan sir and we wanted to head out. Plan was to sleep when we felt sleepy and not to force sleep. We slowly started off, but heavy dinner, fatigue on 3rd night of the ride started hitting on us. In the next 3 hours we had only covered 25kms. It was very hard to stay on the saddle. While we were hunting for a place to sleep, it was desolate and it was not safe to sleep. So we were now searching for a village. Luckily about 18kms from Mundagod we found a village. Except dogs, the entire village was asleep. We stopped by a house and took a 20 mins nap. After the nap we decided to ride non-stop until Mudagod. Mohan Sir had mentioned there could be fresh idlies served outside the Bus stand at Mundagod. So, we were riding in that hope. We reached Mundagod and were stopped by the Police team who stopped all 7 of us, lined us up and asked a few questions. The Inspector was probably drunk and took some pics of us with him to post it on FB. We did answer all the questions properly and requested if we can get going as we we had already spent 20 mins. After a while Mohan Sir saw us and offered the curd rice, it was awesome at 4:00am :-). From here to Bankapura it was a smooth flow thanks to curd rice. But, Shettappa's cycle again had a flat. We did not change the tyre here, instead replaced the tube and kept going. Another 5 kms, one more flat. We were a bit disappointed as it was 3rd flat since Goa. I asked Shettappa to point the headlight and scratched the tyre a bit with my nails. I could see a minute silver thing. First i ignored it, but there was nothing else nearby which could have punctured the tube. So, the suspicion was right, the thin metal wire of the tyre had come out pricking the tube every time. So, this was first time I had seen the metal wire inside the tyre poking out. As an immediate plan, placed 2 Rs 10 notes and a new tube, we were now set to go. We discussed about picking up the spare tyre which Prasad had placed in his drop bag. At Bankapura toll booth we got to drink tea. From here it was about 20kms and we now were about 1.5hrs ahead of the control point, so we were in good shape. The highway kind of increased pace and we reached Haveri by 7:15am.

Haveri was the 2nd manned control point where we were given lodging facility. But, we did not have much buffer. We opted to sleep just for 45 mins and I had set the time for departure at 8:30am. The facilities were managed so well by the organizers, as soon as we reached the hotel, we had our rooms assigned and our bags already kept inside. So, it was like enter the room and take a nap, get ready and breakfast was served in the room. This is super helpful work by the organizers when we were time constrained. 

Haveri (880kms)  to Chitradurga (1018kms):

Day-4 8:30am: We were now 5 of us Shettappa, Prasad, Milan, Rajaneesh and me. Others took a bit longer sleep break. We 5 started strong against the headwind. Plan was to ride for 2-hrs non-stop and then stop at a breakfast point. Against the headwind, we tend to lose lot of energy, and it was wise to plan this way. Milan was too hungry so we stopped by a fruit seller selling Guavas. It was yummy, Milan got 3 big ones. We stopped near Ranebennur at a small hotel serving Lemon rice, topped with mirchis. This 2nd breakfast really helped us to push faster. Rohit, Amar and Asutosh caught up with us here. We were much a larger team of 8: Prasad, Milan, Amar, Rajaneesh, Shettappa, Rohit, Asutosh and me. 

Closer to Davanagere, Amar and Asutosh stopped for lunch, but the rest of us wanted to keep going and were actually looking for watermelons. Across the road, we found one and asked the guy to cut open a big melon topped with salt.

We cycled for another 30 mins and felt too hungry to go ahead. It was 2:00pm and super hot. So the plan was to eat good lunch, take a good nap and then race to Durga. We stopped at a Dhaba just before the toll booth and requested the Dhaba owner if we could eat lunch and take a short nap inside the dhaba. We had stopped here during Kittur 1000K as well. Amar and Asutosh joined us here. I missed the alarm and we ended up sleeping for an hour. It was a very refreshing sleep for all 8 of us.

Chitradurga (1018kms) to Sira (1098kms):

Day-4 6:00pm: At Chitradurga, we had 2 hours of buffer, so we took a short break of tea. The waiter  Satish at Upadhya hotel is known person to me. He has seen me cycling in this stretch many a times and he understands the importance of time for us. I requested him for 2 Tea's and 2 Coffee's, and it was served next min. Asutosh called me, he was about 6kms behind us, but was struggling due to neck pain. And he was riding in awkward position to negate the neck pain. He called up to request if we can arrange the Volini spray. Amar had one spray, so we handed over 1 pain killer tablet from Rohit and the volini spray to Satish, the waiter and asked him to hand it over to Asutosh. By the time we were about to start, Asutosh arrived, we tried to do a bit of massage, but it did not. help much. He was very gritty. He said, come what may, I will complete this ride. During Mollem climb near Margao, he fell off his bike due to a car coming too close and he had bruises and his jersey was torn, but not his determination. We started off, and I could not see Shettappa, I gave him a call and asked him to be ahead of us as I was suspecting another flat. And in next 10 mins it happened. Meanwhile, Rajaneesh was slightly behind us, so we called him and asked him to catch up with us before we reach Hiriyur, so he can be with us till Bangalore. Now, we decided to change the tyre as Shettappa was carrying the spare  tyre from Prasad. All it took was 7 mins to replace the tyre/tube and we were back on the saddle. Our next planned stop was at Hiriyur, I knew that hotel Parijatha will be open and 9:00pm would be the right time for dinner. We all packed a bit of food for the late night. By now, all 7 of us were riding together and it was absolutely helpful specially when someone felt sleepy, he was made to talk.

We reached Sira by 12:20 and we were good 2hrs ahead of the scheduled close time. We decided to take a 20 mins nap and the hotel staff at Kamat were kind enough to give us some space in the hotel veranda. It was very cold outside, so the veranda was a littler warmer. We woke up and started off, but the fresh tea just close to the hotel was tempting and we spent 10 mins till the hot tea was prepared and served. I bought a few packets of arecanut to chew in case if I feel sleepy.

Sira(1098kms) to Bangalore (1220kms):

Day-5 12:50am: 45 mins after we started from Sira, we started the 3 major climbs near Sira. And i had predicted that our group would stop near the Seebi climb, and as expected all of us stopped here and ate the yummy late night dinner that we had packed from Hiriyur. The beggar near the bus stop protested as we were trying to occupy his bed room (he sleeps in bus stop). Soon he realized that we were mere guests and would exit soon. About 10 kms from here, Galin cheta had stopped. Sundar was sleeping near the shoulder area. Me, Prasad and Rajaneesh stopped to check if cheta needed any help. Rajaneesh first did the right thing to cover Sundar by placing the bike in front with blinker on...this covered Sundar who was not well and was taking rest. Cheta mentioned that it was his 5th flat. I checked if its fine for me to have a look at it. Rajaneesh and Prasad also took a quick nap here, me and Cheta got into the business of identifying the source of puncture.

Coincidentally, just like Shettappa's tyre, even Cheta's tyre metal thread had opened up. It was so minute that it was barely seen. I tried using my nails to scratch it, and I hit upon the sharp part. It was just impossible to remove this metal thread, so I tried my luck by placing Rs 10/- note. and then placed the tube on top. Amazingly it worked all along, Cheta was very happy. I was happy that I could help Galin cheta in whatever way I could. By now, Amar, Rohit, Milan and Shettappa had gone ahead a bit. And soon, we caught up with Shettappa, he had a problem with his bike. Unfortunately his carbon frame was broken. And anytime the fork could have come out. So, this was danger to the rider and the bike. So, I made a few calls to wake up people at 4:30am. It was way too early. We could not get any help to replace Shettappa's bike. We had lost almost about 30 mins in trying to figure out a solution. We were very close to Kyatasandra. From here we had about 70kms and 5 hours in hand. But, we were a bit unsure of the traffic in the city, so we decided to start pacing up from here. We told Shettappa to be careful and instead should consider a replacement bike anywhere along the route. But, Shettappa's Gloria (his bike name), was not letting go, and instead helped him to complete the tough ordeal.

Milan and Amar paced ahead. Prasad, Shettappa and me were riding togther. Asutosh, Rohit, Rajaneesh reached a bit later. We stopped only at Nelamangala toll, drank tea, filled up bottles and again started racing. We reached the end control by 8:58am. It was clear 1-hr ahead of the end control timing. The city traffic slowed us down a bit, but we were well under the control. In all we had slept for about 6 hours in the 90 hours period, but the strategy of 30 mins or longer was very helpful. We were not hit with hallucination. It was wonderful riding along side Rohit Chandrashekar, Asutosh, Amar, Shettappa, Milan, Rajaneesh and Prasad. Each of you are amazing riders and wish to ride again with you folks.

Overall a ride to remember, we made new friends, had a good chat with old friends, faced new challenges with flats/disc but came out strong. A ride thoroughly enjoyed...Thanks a ton to the organizers Mohan Sir, Monish and Rohit and so many other volunteers at the start point, end control and on the way.

Every ride is different, every ride is challenging in its own way, every ride teaches us something new, we need to enjoy every ride!