Nair Cycling Blog

Gravina in Puglia 3

2011-07-13T03:32:00.000-07:00

I made it to Gravina in little over an hour, headed straight to the local bar, sat outside and had a massive Gelato. con gusto di stracciatella and fichi caramellato.. Yummy. I headed to the room later, took a shower and just fell asleep. In the evening I explored the Gravina historic center and took photographs. I cannot post those here but if you are friends with me on facebook you are welcome to take a look at it. The historic centers in Italy is the heart in every sense of every town or village. They date back centuries and till today provide the pulse to the life. They are different region to region and the ones in Puglia are more rugged and fortified. Long narrow alleys lined with shops and businesses. Surely a piazza right in the center where almost the entire town gathers in the evening to socialize. Restaurants, cafe's and bars cater to them. In this case in Gravina not only is it beautiful but the old part of it also contains ancient caves or grottes and tunnels that were used for living or as frantoios where they made wine. They were used till a few years ago.

Gravina in Puglia

Well the next day I decided to explore a few more places. That wine and limoncello got me drunk again and I could not wake up early yet again and faced another tough ride. This time I decided to ride to my destination without stopping too much. I took a different route for exploration sake, almost flat to compared to the previous ride and the road was so straight I had a kms of visibility in front of me.
The town I was headed to was called Poggiorsini. The town was set in the middle of these wheat vastlands and just a km in length! Took me an hour to get there at almost 25km/hr. I stopped just once to take this shot.

When I reached Poggiosini I found the piazza empty. Seemed like some of the far west movies were shot right here! There was no one and I was expecting a gun fight to breakout. Just one of those scenarios. I took a break to take more photographs. Later I went to a local bar to have a drink to refresh. The lady who worked there was keeping a curious eye on me as I struggled to find a place to leave the bike. She then finally remarked saying I should not be worrying, there was no one and very safe. I looked around and thought where the hell can one actually run with my bike in this sort of place!! I was later told that the piazza was full of people shoulder to shoulder in the evening when everyone gets back to town after the work in the fields. I lingered around for a while and just rode back home in a TT mode. The roads were that good

I had a great trip and I love these isolated region of Italy. People crowd themselves in Tuscany and other places which are so over rated. I love the back roads. You actually get to step back in time in a place like Italy in the heart of Europe and get to see how life existed in these parts centuries ago. Some more photographs and I close this post here.

Poggiorsini

Thanks for looking!

Gravina in Puglia 2

2011-07-13T03:23:00.000-07:00

Alright then lets move on! I did not do much that evening, I did get out and walked thru the center to get an idea of the place and get myself oriented. Had a great dinner at a local recommended taverna. A delicious Angus and red wine to accompany it with other local delicacies just made my evening. Add a limoncello to that and I remember feeling a little drunk on my way back to the hotel. Well the drunk part was confirmed when I could not get out of bed till 8 am!

I dropped one of the panniers in the room and just filled one with camera equipment. By the time I left it was 9 am. I loaded the course on my GPS and it read 38C at 9 am!I knew it was going to be tough ride. The ride was going to be thru barren land without a tree to hide under. As soon as I left Gravina I was right in the middle of the wheat vastlands. I had never seen anyting like that in my life. Honestly felt I was in Kansas. The ride was sort of rolling hills and the traffic was mostly made of farm vehicles. A lot of people were busy working in their land and harvesting wheat or laying down the ground for the next season. It gets so hot that people prefer to work either very early in the day or late into the evening. By 10 people were winding down and I had just begun my ride.

I took it slow and took quite a lot of photographs. The ride was a 60k loop which included passing thru a tiny farming town called Dolcecanto, descending to a dam and then climbing back to Gravina. During the entire ride I saw not more than a few vehicles and that was kind of spooky. I was the tallest object out there with no trees around! Beyond Dolcecanto I lost my way a little since the road I had chosen to descend to the Dam turned out to be a dirt road. I was not in a mood to take that in that heat and face any difficult. I took a good look at the 800 and I figured if I rode a few more kms there was an alternative to descend down to the dam but it included a climb. I thought what the hell. I went ahead and took it, passed a few climbs and then faced a one long descend into the valley enroute to the dam. Here I also got my first open view of the entire landscape. It looked great even if deprived of the best light conditions.

Vast Wheat fields in Gravina in Puglia

The descend to the dam was fast and I did not quite feel that I was riding a touring bike. The landscape was so brilliant and uniquely beautiful. The fact that I had to climb everything I was descending still did not play on my mind. I rode hard to get to the damn. The curiosity was getting the better out of me. How could there be a body of water in this barren landscape? The contrast was something I was longing to see and hence I descended very quickly. A few more rolling hills and finally I got the first glimpse of it and my heart pounded with excitement. I honestly do not have words to describe just how beautiful it was. So I will let this photograph tell you the story!

I basked in the beauty around the lake for sometime stopping quite a few times to take more photographs. By the time I was done it was mid day and it was soaring hot and the temperature had reached 40C. I had a long climb back to Gravina. I was very low on water and the heat and the warm air dried everything inside me. My mouth was so dry I was almost choking on the bike as soon as I hit the climbs. I decided to only take small sip and conserve and just ride without stopping anymore. What I enjoy during these situations is that I am able to rely on my fitness to get me thru. I was confident I would get over the climbs without any difficulty if I just rode. I mean how long can a climb really be! 10kms or 15kms back to the town? I knew it was hot but I knew I could do it. These are times I relish I train so much that I can get by these situations. Saying that honestly.

Beginning of the long climb and a brief look behind. That was the last pic I took on that ride. I packed everything and just rode back. It was tough but I was also happy I was getting a good workout.

Gravina in Puglia

2011-07-13T03:12:00.000-07:00

It has been exactly a month since I came to Italy, my yearly pilgrimage to the holy land of bicycling. Over the past 4 weeks I have been training hard to get in some decent form for the Giro delle dolomiti in early August. Every 4th week is a recovery week, recovery here means same amount of kms but just not intense. I thought it was a perfect excuse to put my Bianchi together and head out for a tour. Also I realized that in the coming 4 weeks I would not get another opportunity. To add there were few threads here last week about touring bikes that motivated me to jump the rope.
My in-laws have been coping with the flurry of bikes that gets unpacked every time I visit. We have 5 bikes here now. The post man made it known recently that he works exclusively for me these days. I love the Volpe a lot and it reminded me of all the good times I had in Greece 2 years ago. In an instant I put the bike together, threw a rack on it, dumped some clothes and other essentials in one pannier and cameras in the other. Ohh and I also installed the new saddle. I was a bit skeptical going on a tour with a new saddle but somehow was confident because I rarely have saddle problems. I sat up in the night to draw a few routes and downloaded the courses on the Garmin 800. I decided to leave as early as 6 am.
Woke up in the middle of the night feeling everything was done in a haste and I would not enjoy a tour since this was the first time I was going on a 3 day tour on my own. Missed my wife a lot and went to bed confirming I was not going to go. Woke up in the morning at 8! Do I go or stay back and enjoy the days at the beach? After some encouragement from the family and also from my wife back in SL I decided to go. I told either I will be back in an hour or after 3 days. And i set off. I was going to Gravina in puglia, some 100 kms away from my town further south. This place has a wonderful historic center and if I am not wrong the land around it feeds half of Italy. My plan was to ride there and spend rest of the 2 days exploring the country side and small villages. This is a very remote region in Italy not like Tuscany or the rest.
So I began thinking I was going to ride to the next town and see if I wanted to continue. I am the most skeptical bike tourer. I was enjoying the bike. felt very smooth. I am more used to riding these roads with rigid carbon bikes. This one felt like a 4 wheel drive with super suspensions.
Above are 2 photographs. One is as I approach the first town Locorotondo, a town that makes great white wine and the other is a shot inside the historic center of the same town.

I enjoyed a fantastic cappuccino in that town above. Took a few photographs. As I was pondering over my future plans a whole bunch of bike tourers from the US and Italy rode into town. They loved my bike and we started to talk for a few minutes and that really pushed me to go ahead with the tour. Within minutes I was on the bike riding thru a very familiar countryside. Rolling hills lined with olive trees and fruit orchards and open landscape with wheat. This time of the year the wheat has already been harvested. The first 50k or so is my training ground and I have ridden infinite number of kms thru it but most of it in a very suffering fashion. In a default mode I saw myself pushing the touring bike at 30km/hr! Some bad habits die hard! I had remind to myself that I had to ride slow and indulge otherwise I was looking at finishing my 100kms ride inside 3 hours. Thus I stopped and took these photographs.

We have been having a heat wave of sorts and the temperature now was lingering at above 38C. It was hot and I was feeling it. I was also hungry. I decided to ride town to town, most times are just 10-15kms apart. I rode thru a few without stopping and decided to take a break and fuel myself at Gioia di Colle at the 50k mark. These are rides with no shades. The ride is beautiful but one start seeing mirages after a few kms under the sun. I was happy to take this break and down a good drink and some snacks.

Anyways by the time I left Gioia del Colle it was 1pm. I knew a section of the ride was going to be on a very busy road almost a secondary highway and I wanted to avoid those busy hours. So I decided to ride on and not stop anywhere till my final destination. As I got close to the next few towns it had an industrial look to it. Nothing attractive. I just kept my head down and rode. As I got close to Gravina, the trees started to disappear and the land looked barren with miles and miles of wheat fields. Massive tractors replaced the fast cars. I was cooked by the time I got into Gravina. I had spoken to a friend who knew a good place to stay right in the center. I called him and he guided me to the B&B. They had a very spacious garage in the bottom of the building where I left the bike and headed to my room. A good shower and I settled on the roof terrace for a beer.

A view from the roof terrace right in the historic area.

My SL story continues! Castlereigh Reservior.

2010-09-28T05:45:00.001-07:00

Rrrrrnnggg!!!, the alarm rings on my newly bought HTC phone at 645am! I was woken up more than usual since I still had to get used to that new sound. I could hear the sound of rain on the roof of the cottage. It had been raining whole night. It was cold. It was the first night I covered myself under the sheets in SL! I closed my eyes to that sound which seemed like eternity only to be woken up again. This time it was the knock on the door. My breakfast was here at 7am. I was so optimistic the night before that I had asked for the breakfast to be delivered as early so I could get out and ride my bike! It was a very small set up at the resort with just 2 cottages with the other one empty. Even the cook was not available so early in the morning so my western breakfast (not my choice) was made by the room attendant. He said it was easier for him to put a continental breakfast than a traditional srilankan meal. Fine! I settled on the verandah of the cottage with my food and a warm coffee. I know it is tea country but I still need my coffee to wake up my senses. Actually now thinking of it my senses were already awake from what I saw in front of me. Thru the tall standing timber trees surrounded by tea shrubs I could see the beautiful reservoir with low mist just hanging right on top of it. It was raining and the only 2 sounds I could hear was the rain drops on the leaves and yes religious tamil music coming from some speakers on the other side of the reservoir! Refreshing! I was told not to venture out too far into the tea shrubs as leeches were very common!

The view of the reservior from my verandah

Within 30 mins I was already in my cycling jersey waiting for the rains to die out. The night before I had mapped out a ride around the reservoir. It was a 50k ride with plenty of climbs on the nearby hills. Since i was not sure about what to expect of the road conditions, I had made up my mind to ride the mtb. I was going to take it easy and even packed my slr camera and a few lenses in a water proof bag. Just in case! Meanwhile the music continued on the other side of the reservoir, so did my wait! Everytime it looked like it was over and I got up from my chair, it would start all over again.

It was 11am now and I was still sitting in my jersey with my cycling shoes on and my arm resting on the bike. The attendant came over to take the dishes away, on his way out he turned back and said sir, it does not really rain like this, it is very unusual! Oh yeah! Thanks for telling me that. I was tempted to ride, I was getting impatient, very impatient but it was still 11, the ride was just 50k and the day was still long. So I waited.

The rain continued till 2pm and meanwhile I had my lunch! The cook was back at work and he made a delicious chicken curry, dal and plain rice. A cup of coffee followed! I know it is tea country but I need my coffee after my meals! Just after lunch the rain finally stopped and I decided to take the risk and go for a ride. Before I set out I confirmed with the employes at the resort about the route I had drawn for the previous night and also to let them know where I was heading. Just in case! It was strange to have my mind in a 'tourer' mode, it had been a long time! I had to intentionally slow myself down to relish some of the scenery! I was also riding the mtb. My scott was back at the cottage upside down to drain some of the water that might have entered inside the frame during the ride to Hatton! It had happened a few times in the past too. Though I have ridden the mtb a number of times on trails in the US and also around the city in Colombo, this was to be the longest ride I ever rode on a mtb! It was a little difficult to believe that fact.

The ride began with a long descent towards the end of the reservoir. My plan for the ride was to just get to the end of it at about 5k mark and return since more rain was likely.

The state of the roads were not too bad. It ran along the reservoir on one side and slanting slopes of neatly manicured tea plantations on the other. I was in no hurry and even stopped a few times in the first km itself. 5kms of riding brought me to a dam about 150m long at the end of the reservoir. I could not take photographs for obvious reasons but I stayed around to check out the views. Though one eye was always on the clouds over head as it just did not look good. The peaks of the hills were covered with dark rainy clouds and my original 50k plan looked a distant reality as it required me to climb to the top and get behind those mountains. I did not even know know how high they were as they were perennially covered with dark misty clouds. That had been the case since I got to Castlereigh the day before! My only knowledge of what lied behind those low hanging clouds was derived from the elevation graph that I had drawn online. There were a couple of fishing boats in the reservoir and few men fishing on the shores of the reservoir. I was told by the hotel attendant that these guys caught fresh water fishes that weighed upto 5kg, apparently it is very fatty and is best eaten fried!

After passing over the dam and a security post, the road went thru a small village of sorts. I decided to ride further. Right after the village the road started to quickly descend and wind thru tea estates towards a place called Norton Bridge. I stopped at a few plantations to take photographs. Norton Bridge was the lowest point of the ride at 800m. I was aware that since the ride started I had only been descending for 12 long kms and to go back there was some stiff climbing to do. I was also aware that if i decided to ride my original plan of 50k I had to climb over 15 odd kms to a place called Maskeliya where the other reservoir was located. A huge 1400m high mountain stood between the 2 reservoirs and I had to get some way on top if it to cross to the other side. The rain had miraculously held back till now. So I decided to gamble and go ahead with the 50k ride. All this time I hardly encountered any vehicles and that played on my mind. I was just not in a mood to get stuck some spooky place I had never been before! I was also racing against light. It was getting darker because the light was not penetrating the thick dark clouds.. I quickly got back on the bike, cleated and took the road to Maskeliya. I was climbing thru misty winding roads and it got denser as the altitude picked up. The climb itself was not too steep but the mtb did make a workout of it. I knew these moments were different from my usual rides. This was an adventure and I was excited! I was a little scared too. I knew this was similar to that day when I climbed Mt Ventoux on a cold rainy day. My impulses were having the better of me and my desire to explore what lied ahead was intense. Inspite of all the cycling I do, these moments are rare and intriguing to me.

Without much trouble I climbed the first 5k mostly thru thick forest of sorts. The only people I passed by were a few kids getting back from school. They probably know each inch of these hills on the back of their hands. They helped calm my nerves. The first climb finished on top of a pass cut thru the mountain to get to the other side. This was a quiet intersection with a tiny bus stand. Two women maybe tea plantation workers took refuge from the wet weather under the roof of the bus stand. I wanted to ask them for directions or rather confirmation of my route but I decided to wait a moment to ask someone else. Not that I don't trust women! Soon a motor bike passed and I frantically waved at them to stop. Hatton? Road to Hatton? They wanted me to get back on the route I just came from. Ofcourse since I was riding a loop, I was still closer to Hatton if I turned back. I knew that myself. I made them understand that I was riding a loop and wanted to get to Maskeliya and then to Hatton. This reminded me that Vignesh my room attendant at the cottage had told me to ask for the Maskeliya - Hatton road in case. They looked at each other and said the road to Hatton via Maskeliya was tough! In their own words 'difficult'. It was really wet out there. For the first time I was looking down at the other side of the immense mountain into the deep valley. The valley steeply descended and from the scenic overlook or pass where I was standing I could see a dam way down easily over 500m or more into the valley. I quickly collected my attention back to the motorbikers. I decided to ignore the 'difficult' comment and thanked them for the advice but decided to finish the loop. I calmed myself with the idea that I had the legs to climbs, it was not going to be a climb of epic proportions and if it poured fine! It just could not take more than 2 hours. The only trouble would have been if I got a flat or if I crashed! I had everything I needed in case or worse I thought I could hitch a ride with someone. So I continued.

Descending towards Norton bridge

The mist got denser as I continued my climb, the views down the valley got even more spectacular. I was riding parallel to the peaks wilderness sanctuary. The mountain range seemed like a massive wall. Inspire of the height at which i was riding I could still hear the loud sound of the river raging through the valley. A few kms ahead was another scenic overlook and I had my first glimpse of the laxpana waterfall. White raging water in all its fury taking a deep plunge over a 100m height into the valley was quite a sight! I was only a km away and the sound was deafening! On any other given day the sight or the entire ride was just maybe not as mesmerizing but the conditions that i was riding through made just about everything twice as dramatic and i felt spellbound in it's beauty. As the ride continued on one side of the valley the mountain range continued it's own parallel path. There were plenty of more waterfalls off those mountains and lush green impenetrable forests on the higher range of the mountains. The scenes looked like a clip out of the movie Avatar! I thought why they spent so much money on computer rendering and effects when they could have just shot the entire movie on the other side of the river! It was that enticing! The winding climb continued towards Maskeliya and soon i was riding back thru more tea plantations. The west side of this mountain range that i was riding on was far more dramatic and wild compared to the east side at Castlereigh. This sise was more rustic in its beauty. I wondered how the entire range must have looked a few decades ago when the entire lot was one big jungle.

By now the tea plantation workers were towards the end of their day. The women dressed in colorful raincoats were walking on the side of the road in a line carrying the freshly picked tea leaves in the baskets on their back. Further ahead I saw many more women weighing each basket of tea leaves. I am not sure what the men do but so far I had only seen women doing the job while men did the job of supervisors. As i passed them they paused to look at me. They were probably wondering what I was doing riding my bike thru there. One thing we had in common was our colorful raincoats. I dont think they see too many like me. The end of the day's work for them also meant I had to hurry thru my ride to make it in time to reach Hatton before it got dark. I was over the half way mark. A few kms later I had my first glimpse of a huge building certainly a tea factory. The sight of the tea factory relieved me as I knew i was not too far from Maskeliya. I had been climbing for an hour thru some of the most fascinating scenery. I was already excited about sharing this with my wife who was supposed to come to Castlereigh with our son the next day. The tea factory lead me to a small intersection and I could see many Hindu temples in the village down in the valley. I stopped, took some photographs, drank some water and took note of the time. I was at ease now!

A big descend brought me rapidly to Maskeliya. A tall tree stood in the middle of the intersection. Every eye in that space was starring at me. Many sat under the tree waiting for the buses to take them to their destinations. I felt observed and intimidated. A right turn would bring me to Adam's peak while the left indicated Hatton. Without further thoughts I took the left. I was thru 3/4 of my ride and the challenges were behind me. A few kms of further climbing brought me to the top of the hill and I was back looking at Castlereigh. The climbs for the day was over I thought. This was the highest point from where I had a view of the castlereigh reservoir. I was exactly on the other side of the reservoir where my cottage was located. I tried to locate it but it was hidden behind the tall timber trees that lined the shore. A 5k descend brought me to the town of Norton and after a further few kms of climbing I was in Hatton. The sun was beyond the mountains by now and I was riding in the last rays of light towards my cottage. I was ecstatic. I felt like I had made some sort of a discovery! Ofcousre many before me must have done the same but i was ecstatic because I did this on my own without any recommendations or suggestions. This was entirely my own ride!!

I quickly changed into fresh clothes and settled on the verandah with a cup of warm tea!! The Tamil music continued from the other side of the reservoir.

Discovering SL, one climb at a time! Part 4

2010-09-28T03:51:00.000-07:00

In the past 6 months due to many logistical reasons I did not really have the chance or time to explore SL. I was sort of satisfied with the rides I mentioned above but deep within me I knew I had to ride beyond that since some of the finest places lied in the central highlands and beyond. A few weeks ago Vandit mentioned on the forum that he was going to Bhutan, a place on my top 5 destinations to ride. I know Bhutan very well as I have lived there in the past and have explored just about every corner of it but on foot! When he proposed the idea that I could join, i was ready to jump on the bandwagon. When I started to figure out the logistics for me to get from Colombo to Paro with my bike, half my inspiration died. Thats when I thought i was being a fool trying to go to Bhutan when I still had the whole of SL to explore. I was charged now and ready.I started looking beyond Hatton on the maps and came across 2 reservoirs just a few kms beyond Hatton. I thought I could pack my bikes and try to spend an extended weekend out there. Trying to google or research about bicycling in SL is futile, there is absolutely nothing except a few counts of riding in Nuwara Eliya tea trails. I was up for whatever the place offered. So Thursday I left Colombo for the reservoirs. I packed the car the night before with my MTb, bike tools and extra wheel sets. But i was going to ride my scott atleast to Hatton.

Riding up the hot slopes of Ginigathena

By the time i started riding the day after it was already 30c in the shade. it was miserably hot and humid. I decided to take it easy since i was just looking to get to Hatton. Much of the description of this ride has already been stated above. Half way up the climb to Ginigathena, it was so hot I felt my head was turning around and there were moments when I was blanking out. That alarmed me and I stopped for my car to catch up. My driver too was alarmed as he rarely sees me stop on a climb. As the car approached me I made hasty signals to hand me a bottle of water. Emptied a bottle of water on my head and I told my driver that I would ride to Ginigathena and then just ride the car. I kept a moderate pace from there on and it felt a lot better.

It got misty and cold and wet.

Ginigathena is at 650odd metres but every time I pass thru there it seems a good 10C cooler to Colombo. Also the ride to Ginigathena is always sunny and exposed to the sun while the ride from Ginigathena to Hatton which is a further 15k of climbs is usually wet, cold and cloudy. Maybe it is the mountains that create those conditions. Wet and cold sounds miserable if you were in England but when I saw the conditions playing out to the usual script I changed my mind and decided to ride all the way to Hatton. My legs found new vigor and i set out rolling on the bike again. The rain intensified and got misty thru the winding climbs. Fine, no worry at all. I asked my driver who was right behind me to keep those fog lights on!

I just kept going till I reached Hatton. On reaching Hatton I realized that I took more or the less the same time I usually take to climb till here! Just on the outskirts of Hatton there is tea shop, a really cool place with a scenic overlook. I always end my ride there with a cup of warm tea. The scott was put on top of the car, made a phone call or two to figure out our way to the cottages that I had booked around the reservoir. Soon got the confirmation and we set out to reach there before it got too late. My driver had to drop me and get back to Colombo the same day since he was needed at home the next day a friday a working day for both my wife and son.

Common sight around Dickoya!

Tea Plantations around Castlereigh

The reservior I was heading to is called the Castlereigh reservoir. It is set in a valley of tea plantations and lined with tall timber trees. Just beautiful. Amazingly scenic place. The roads heading out to Hatton to the reservoir was broken tar and I was glad I also had the MTb in the car! It is about 8kms from Hatton, a downhill drive and passes thru a small tea factory town Dickoya. Dickoya really seemed like a sleepy town where time had decided to take a break!! It was pouring now but still midst of the tea plantations on sloping hills were women dressed in colorful raincoats picking tea leaves.

And ohh I rode 70 odd kms with 25k of climbs from about 20m to 1200m in altitude

Discovering SL, one climb at a time! Part 3

2010-09-27T23:08:00.000-07:00

After the initial enthusiasm of discovering Hatton died out a little, trying to ride it on a weekday and get back home to pick my son from school in time started to take a toll. It became extremely tiring to squeeze it in a day. As long as it was working out, I was managing to get there atleast once a week. Meanwhile I started to ride on the Galle sea face road very much like the Marine drive in Bombay. The road is however shorter just a km long with no traffic at all. It is a perfect set up for short high intensity intervals. The Galle face road was closed to public till recently due to threats from the sea from the Tamil tigers. Since the end of the war the roads have been made open to public but still there is a huge military presence as the army headquarters is pretty close by. The adjoining ground that lies sandwiched between the road and the beach is very popular with the locals in the evening. You see thousands of families enjoying the surroundings and over all the spectacular sunsets over the Indian ocean. This time of the year it is very popular with kite fliers.

The ground also has a massive flat post that carries the national flag. Every morning and evening it is hosted and taken off with precise ceremonies by the army. In the morning the army uses the ground for their regular exercises. Anyways I have been riding this on Sundays providing a spectacle to the army security and the morning joggers. I ride this in the company of my motorbike and we reach 60km/hr at the end of the km. The return is recovery. As I pass the army folks drenched in sweat and my head hanging off my shoulders in despair I hear them silently murmuring "come on" "come on"!! I turn back at the other end and I am ready for the next effort.

Discovering SL, one climb at a time! Part 2

2010-09-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

My Search for climbs starts!My biggest downfall inspite of the extra miles this racing season has been the complete lack of hill training.
The most beautiful mountains lie not that far from Colombo but it takes eternity to get there. In the US I use to drive 100kms out of the city to the hills, ride a century and still be back home for lunch. But here to get out and ride could easily become a day activity.

On my return from Italy I decided to venture out further from the city and a pleasant discovery was made. The place is Hatton a tea plantation area at 1200m some 125k from Colombo. the 27k climb starts at 51m and finishes at 1250m in Hatton. What really interests me is the climb in itself so I have been driving further to cut on the flat kms thru crazy traffic. The road divides in Avisssawella where much of the traffic heads off to Ratnapura while the ride to Hatton pleasantly becomes traffic free! The ride now becomes 70k long out of which 27 is continous climbing to Hatton. I dont think I can do this more than once a week since it requires an hour of drive to get me this start point, and then another or over 3 hour drive from Hatton back to Colombo after the ride. I have been there a few times and the drive has been more tasking than the ride!! The descent seems never ending thru winding roads. I am starting to believe that the descent gives one a far better perspective of the climb than while climbing it.

I have divided the climb further into two sections. 10k and 12-17k depending on whether I want to really reach the town everytime. The first 10k though not very scenic compared to the second half is lot more winding and follows a furious river very popular with whitewater rafting. This 10k is also more difficult in gradient compared to the second half. It is almost at 7-8% but there is a section a km long that plateaus out 3/4th into the climb before picking up again at 8% till the end of the 10k. It brings the overall gradient to just over 5%. The last km and half is the crucial part of the climb where I tend to lose time. I need to stand up and sprint my way up on that section. At the end of this 10k is Ginigathena where the tea plantation starts. I can see myself doing this climb more often even during the week to get a good hill workout.
The second half is similar to the scenes you find in Ooty, just lush green tea plantations and resorts though the mountains are not as cured as OOty. They are more wild here with many high scenic peaks with number of huge waterfalls on their sides. The ride is less tasking but you are still climbing at 5-7% but with occasional respites. but then you already have 10k of climbing when you get to this section and that makes it challenging. I think I will do the entire climb over the weekends just like I did yesterday.

I rode the first 10k yesterday at around LT to set a time for it. Now I have a target everytime I climb that section. The second half I rode at tempo. On the first half I took off 5 mins compared to my time last week, I am starting to understand the climb better and also I rode the second time on 23's!! I got the 10k climb yesterday in 37 mins. I think it is a 32min climb and I have that time in my mind by december since my average HR dropped to 160 by the end of it.
Another target I have in mind is to start riding this ride from Colombo when I get closer to TFN. It would be identical to the SB climb from Manarkkad.

I have been riding this with my family. My wife and I ride the entire thing while my son rides about 10-15k of it. So far it has been a very good family outing combined with stiff training. I think if i can continue to work on this stretch I should see myself in excellent shape for the next season.

Discovering SL, one climb at a time!

2010-09-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

My Scott Cx Addict

Some of you already know that I have relocated to Colombo, SL for the next few years. it has been over 6 months since, of which I spent 2 months riding and racing in Italy this summer. I like SL, it is a fantastic place and truly deserves the tag of the emerald island. But that tag seems a distant reality when I am in Colombo which like any Asian metropolis has its wide share of urban problems. Colombo has a huge cycling scene, majority of the folks who ride race, maybe just about everyone races. All the armed forces have their own cycling team and I run into them or ride with them often! Most of them are really lean, strong cyclists. There are 2 kinds of races in SL. The category is divided between those who ride gears and those with single speeds! The geared bikes are just about all the big brand bikes while the single speed bikes are roadsters, precisely tuned to be very competitive with road bike pedals, race saddles and some even have aerobar extensions! These guys ride them at 40km/hr, a treat to watch. Bicycling only exists in a competitive form or in the form of the many impoverished who ride to work. I dont mean that in bad way. There is no amateur scene like the ones you witness in Bangalore or other Indian cities. I hear occasionally some foreigners do turn up to ride their bikes on the trails in the central highlands. It is tough, very tough riding on the urban roads here which are very narrow and infested with urban moronic drivers. I even drew a conclusion during one of my rides that many of them at home also suffer from premature ejaculation, since they are so notoriously impatient! It has been extremely challenging but somehow I have managed to persist and slowly i am finding my ways to adapt to the conditions. For someone like me who has spent most of my life riding in the US and EU, the reality on the roads is very alarming. These days my training calendar is worked out to the last detail so every ride is effective and delivers a purpose so i dont have to be on the roads without a purpose. Every now and then i also put my bike on the trainer and ride to some training dvd's. I ride my more intense rides in the company of a pilot motorbike/vehicle. I have dressed my driver up in flo green jacket/vest and helmet, the motorists and even the cops take him very seriously. The bright colored vest helps to separate him from the other motorists otherwise he could just be any other motorist on the road! Anyways add to the above 2 long monsoons and perennially hot and humid weather! Having said that I am riding far more in SL than any other place I have ever visited or lived. Since moving to SL I am averaging close to a min of 400km a week compared to the 250-300 in the US. The extra miles have been to compensate for the rather flat terrain in and around Colombo. SL has also required me to ride early in the mornings, this has been hard on me since in the US I pretty much rode whenever i wanted! It gets to 30C by 9am! To me this is a huge lifestyle change as I am not one to wake up early. I graduated at university in Zoology because it was the only major that did not require me to wake up early!! Riding in this heat takes a toll and i try to finish the ride by 10am max and quickly return home to refurbish myself with salts and other supplements.

I brought most of my bikes to SL and some I left in Italy so I don't have to carry them back and forth. The bike that I effectively built myself for SL was my Scott and so far it has delivered! Custom built, Full carbon from head to toe and maybe one of the lightest cross bikes out there! I am riding 32's on it and after almost 5000km and I still have to get a flat. Before I left the US i spent a month with my friends at the bike shop where i built several bikes and learnt the inner workings of a bike and it's components. I knew I had to learn if i had to survive a few years in SL. Riding the scott has been easy on the body inspite of the blemished surface of the roads. I have been getting fast rides out of it and even clocked a 20k TT at 40km/hr!

Army and National Cyclists

I also ride my TT bike on the weekends when the roads are relatively empty and I can let me hair loose. It is a crazy feeling to ride a TT bike thru Colombo in aero clothing, it literally brings the city to a standstill. On my weekday rides I ride out of the city to places like Hanwella or Avissawella. It is relatively comfortable to ride on those 2 way highway stretches but there is no room to let the guard loose. Frequent accidents on that stretch mostly involving buses and motorbikes keeps me wide awake. But it is still a good stretch to ride and the sighting of many other cyclists does help to calm the fears! I have also ridden on the wheels on some national cyclists on that road and it is just great to be in such esteemed company.

Downtown Colombo

Alternatively on weekends my wife and myself take the coastal route south to Galle. I have not made it to Galle yet which is 120 south of Colombo. We ride to Bentota and return which is over a century. We routinely finish our ride at a beach resort in Kalutara which lies in between Bentota and Colombo. We treat ourselves to the huge pool, the beach with gigantic waves and a huge buffet meal of Sri Lankan cuisine!

The road to Galle is a 2 lane highway and probably one of the busiest in the country, it really does not look like a highway and is just like any road you find in Kerala. We usually just ride tempo since we go thru several towns along the way. The ride is of course flat but since we ride south so far we have been riding into the head winds! All along south of Bentota was severely hit by the Tsunami and you can still witness remnants of that disaster! Many graveyards along the road are stark reminders of that unfortunate tragedy.

More photographs from the rides.

A beach along Kalutara lined with fishing boats

Destruction left behind by the Tsunami

Riding towards Kalutara

My Greek Tour 2009

2009-11-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

A Photographic Visual

2062m Blockaus is in my Pocket!

2009-11-13T14:27:00.001-08:00

Chieti to the summit of Blockhaus featured as the 17th stage of Giro d Italia in 2009. The 23.5km climb to Blockhaus is more difficult than the world renowned Alpe de Huez. I had set my eyes on it soon after the Giro. Instead of Chieti my ride started from the city Pescara at 4m above sea level and goes inward 67kms to the summit of Blockhaus at 2062m! I was in the company of my brother in law, a very good cyclist. The ride would be 67kms to the top of the summit. Pescara is a good 400kms from the place I live in the south. So I took the train the night before while my brother in law carried the bikes in the car a day earlier. His girlfriend lives and studies in Pescara so he left early as he had other things to attend to. I loaded the ride on my Garmin and we set out at 1.30pm from Pescara after being treated to a delicious dish of spaghetti.

The ride starts with a gradual 1-2% grade through beautiful country side. The landscape was littered with beautiful country houses, vineyards and orchards. Small villages and towns set on top of hills. We kept a moderate pace through this beautiful landscape with absolutely no hurry! After about 40kms we were a little surprised to find ourselves at hardly 500m of elevation. At 509m we were at the base of the village of Pretoro. It meant that we had to cover another 1500m of elevation in the next 25kms or so! I was still riding on the 53/21 and decided to keep that ratio for as long as I could. Soon from the base the gradient picked up to 8-9% and within a few kms we were riding thru narrow high gradient hairpin bends through the village of Pretoro.

A very quiet village set on the side of a mountain and almost everyone had a view of the sea on a clear day! Breathtaking!! As soon as we exited

Pretoro, we realized we were off the 'course', we asked a local gentleman for directions and he advised us against the intended route as it was

in his words 'tosta' (difficult) and confirmed it was the route of the Giro!

We quickly turned around to the original 'giro' route and soon the gradient picked up to 13% and I shifted down to 39/21 for the rest of the ride all the way to the summit. The roads were winding and passed thru thick forest. There were sections where the forest was so thick that we were riding thru absolute darkness under dark over cast skies. Soon my partner got a flat and we had to stop to take care of it. While inflating the new tube with the hand pump, he broke the valve and I had to give him my spare. We were without any more tubes and it played on my mind.

We were hardly passed by anyone on that climb and by the min the temperature was dropping. We just wanted to get on top after all this work. At around 1600m we exited the tree line and found ourselves in thick fog.

The visibility was not more than 10m and all we could see was the newly laid dark tarmac that laid ahead. we had no clue about our surroundings. Looking at the Garmin, the numbers suggested that we had passed the finish line of the Giro, but the summit was still a good 5km to the top. We stopped for a few minutes to take hold of the situation. With 5 -10m of visibility it was very dangerous. The fog was so thick that my hands were white with dew formations on every single hair strand!

The conditions were bad but we were riding effortlessly with average HR in the 140's!! The road began to narrow and deteriorate and we stayed on the top of the pedals. Every every 3 pedal stroke we were climbing 1m in altitude. We passed deserted telecom towers and soon after some military outfits but we never saw anyone. At 2062m we were finally at the summit. There was not a soul up there and I wondered if we were the only 2 brave hearts or 2 downright fools!! We took a couple of pics and immediately turned around, we were shivering. As soon as we turned our backs the fog was clearing and we got the first glimpse of the landscape and in the distance the Adriatic sea from where we had started this ride. We were truly on top of this beast!

We wanted to stay up to bask in the glory but with no extra tubes, rain and cold weather we risked our lives if we stayed too long. We were soaked to our bones. We stopped for a few more pics and started to descent. The fog was clearing by the min and we stepped on the gas but the road surface was very much wet and we maintained a speed around 50-65km/hr thru winding roads. Most of the time we had a 1000m vertical drop on the side of the roads! Truly breathtaking!

At Pretoro we stopped for a cup of hot tea to warm ourselves. After 2 cups I was still rattling like a leaf. With soaked clothes it was not a great idea to stop. We continued with the descend and it is only after we were below 500m, we realized blood was still running thru our veins!! Mad Mad ride!

We climbed a total of 2350m in 67 kms and the total ride was a cool 135kms in 5 hr 45m including the climb! Avg HR 141bpm Now with Blockhaus under the belt, setting my eyes on a few peaks on the Dolomites next week!

A slideshow!

Mt Ventoux, France May 2009

2009-06-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

My first cycling adventure in the European mountains could not have gotten any tougher by having to ride up Mont Ventoux in France. A photographic work assignment brought me to the region of provence in May. I spent close to 2 weeks studying the mountain and reading about everything I could find. Most things I read did not provide too much comfort. I packed my touring Bianchi Volpe for this trip as I also expected some gravel rides through the country side. Even before I set my foot on the ground I was looking out for the giant of provence through my plane window. Once I reached closer to Malaucene by car it was easy to locate it with its lunar top towering over the entire landscape. It seemed difficult to think that it was even possible to ride up on it. I spent the first few days staring in admiration at it. The initial days kept me off the bike as I had to get some work done but I did manage once to go out for 30 mins to explore the area. Finally when I had a day off, I decided to ride 120km around the circumference of the mountain without going on top. So I set off with the Bianchi and a backpack with my photographic gear and spare trekking shoes. The rain was in the forecast and as soon as I got out of Malaucene, it poured. I rode up the first climb called Col di Madeliene en-route to Bedoin. Luckily the rain stayed too local and as I approached Bedoin, it was dry but cold. it was just great riding among vineyards and fruit orchards. All the while the top of Ventoux was in my view on the left. It played on my mind whether to go for it or wait for a better day. The temptation was too strong for my weak mind and at the entrance of the town I took a detour that went straight towards Ventoux.

Now I was frantically planning on how to do this.

I knew it was 21km to the top and I also knew that it got very tough after the first 5 kms. I decided to note the grade on my Garmin and every time it was lower than 8% I rode on the 26 and I would bail myself out to the 28 when it got tougher than 8%. The average grade over the last 15 kms was 9%! Note the grade on the swtich backs!

here is some info from Wikipedia - South from Bédoin: 21,8 km over 1617 m. This is the most famous and difficult ascent. The road to the summit has an average gradient of 7.43%. Until Saint-Estève, the climb is easy: 3.9% over 5,8 km, but the 16 remaining kilometres have an average gradient of 8.9%. The last kilometres may have strong, violent winds. The ride takes 1h30m-2h30m hours for trained amateur riders. Professional riders take 1h-1h15 min. The fastest time so far recorded has been that of Iban Mayo in the individual climbing time trial of the 2004 Dauphiné Libéré: 55' 51". The time was measured from Bédoin for the first time in the 1958 Tour de France, in which Charly Gaul was the fastest at 1h 2' 9".

The last 5 odd kms was over the tree line and it was easy to spot the tower. It also got very windy. The sight of the tower provided enough motivation to charge the batteries for the final push. Each pedal stroke brought me closer to it and I was very excited. The last switch back provided the perfect opportunity to stand up and sprint towards the tower! My first climb on the touring Bianchi to the summit took 1 hour 57 min. The few times I descended to snap a few pictures I had to turn around to descend a few meters in order to clip back to my pedals such was the grade on the final kms! It was a real pleasure to be on top of it.

At the summit of Mt Ventoux at 1912m! Rode up thrice!

It was very cold on top and within minutes I started to freeze. I quickly wore the wind vest and decided to descend. Though satisfied with the ride I knew I could do better without the back

without the back pack and so I climbed again from Malaucene and clocked 1 hr 45mins on the Bianchi!. What I like about the numbers are that they are in beginning of the 1hr 30- 2 hr 30 range for trained amatuers and plus it was on a touring bike!

I came down to Malaucene and climbed again on a rented Cervelo carbon bike but I really did not have anything left in me for the final climb. I just rode to survive to the summit. The descend was furious and I averaged 60km/hr to the base with few coasting at 85/hr. The biggest gain out of this experience for me is that I feel I have learnt to descend fast with fear!

By the end of it all I look like someone who went for a nordic expedition. My lips and nose are totally ripped to pieces and i did not sleep for 2 days due to fatigue.

Got a tag of Club des Cingles du Mont Ventoux. That was more than 4500m of climbing!

First 40K Time Trial Race

2009-06-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

Disappointing is the first word that comes to mind. Anger is the second! It is only a few weeks ago that the words Time Trial got fixated in my mind due to the discussions on the forum. Sumitpal being the kind culprit :) The real focus of training in 2009 was mostly on building strength on climbs and rollers and the last thing on my mind was TT until a few weeks ago. I had done two 10k efforts prior to the race today. Past 2 months I had some awesome rides in which I was climbing better than ever and consistently finishing with the pelotons in group rides. I was hoping to put up a respectable performance. My wife is the one who got me enrolled for the race without my knowledge. I learnt about it when I received a message from the race organizers on my blackberry while at work. With 2 weeks to the race, I tried to do incorporate some elements of TT training. I also attempted riding the TT bike only to realize that it was a little too late for it. So I rolled out my Pinarello to the first TT race in my life.

The biggest surprise was when I realized last night that the race was 170kms from my home!! My wife, son and I packed up 3 bikes in the car and set out for the race venue early. Second bad news was that I was scheduled to race at 12.30 in the afternoon in the bay area where the temperature soars in the nineties this time of the year! A long ride brought us to the small town of Church Creek and the registration area was loacted at the local high school while the race start line was 8kms away. The organisers wanted everyone to park at the school and ride to the start line which also served as a warm up for the race. The arrival at the school parking lot immediately made me feel like a fish out of water. Every single participant had a TT bike, disc or aero wheels, skin suits and aero helmets. Most riders were out with their team jerseys warming up in their sponsored tents like we see on the pro tours.I felt like I had turned up at the wrong event with my road bike! Honestly it did take a hit on my morale. After digesting the look of my competition and their gear, I headed to the registration desk where I had to buy a day license from US cycling and collect my tag number 232! First time in life I was racing. It took me 35 years to reach this day.

After finishing the formalities, my family and myself set out with our

bikes to the start line. They decided to keep a easy leisurely pace and I used the 8kms to warm up. I quickly got my speed to the 40's and I was feeling good. Next instance I heard this loud grinding sound approaching behind me and I moved to the side of the road thinking a truck was going to pass me only to realize it was 2 cyclists coming at me at 50km/hr with their disk wheels screaming! My morale was taking severe beating and I still had an hour to go!

The start line tent was set up next to the road and cyclists were in line waiting for their turn. I still had a good 45 mins to go so I found the only shade in a nearby private building and sat outside with my family for 30 mins looking around in total awe. With 15 mins to go, I went for a 10 min warm ride and then headed straight to the start up line. My HR was beating at 90 and every step I took toward the tent, I saw it steadily increasing. Rider 231 was set to go now. One of the organizer held the saddle while rider 231 got on and cleated, he was a little out of balance and he almost fell. Immediately I thought I am not doing that. My turn was next up and i told the organizers I would just head out on my own, I was told I could lose up to 10 seconds, it did not really matter to me. I just did not fancy falling and any way I was not even the favorite by hundred miles! The image on above is an example of how other riders looked and their rides.

5 4 3 2 1 and I was off sprinting the first race of my life. Who would have ever thought I would race for the first time at 35? My HR went from 100 to 170 in 20 seconds and the speed shot to 42km/hr. I tried to settle down into a groove but the adrenalin was flowing like a river coming down the Himalayas! I was emotional, I was overwhelmed by the occasion. At the 10k mark I was averaging 40km/hr and my HR was stuck at 170. I don't think that has ever happened before. I was not even sure I could sustain it. I lost control of the occasion. My mind and my body were working independently. I was not feeling fatigued by the high HR and I continued with the effort. At that point I was passed by a rider who had left 30secs after me. He was cruising at 50km/hr. I did not know what to do, should I go after him? I decided against it and kept my pace. At the 20km mark I was averaging 38.9km/hr. I was happy. I could hear my heart screaming. I have never ever sustained my heart rate at 90% for 30 mins.

I was feeling the heat in the swamp! The sun was right on top of my head and the shadow just beneath as narrow as my bike. The road suddenly turned a corner and almost instantly my legs went numb! My cadence and pace dropped and I was not sure what was going on. This was not a bonk. I was clueless. My speed dropped from the 38 to 26km/hr. I just could not gather myself as my mind frantically tried to find an answer. The next 10kms was painful, not on my legs but on my mind. I was angry. I saw helplessly 2 other riders pass me with their aerodynamic bikes. I even contemplated stopping!! But I had to keep going to finish this. At that instance the road turned again and with that I felt a new beginning. I found some courage to give it a last try. By now I had hurt my numbers, I was averaging 34km/hr. That was a significant drop. I recollected myself and started to push again and limit the damage. I kept it around 34 for the rest of the 10kms. I found the legs and here is where I made the mistake. I was so scared that I was content keeping it around 34 instead of digging in further.

Every passing km was a relief and I even saw the speed go up during the last km. My wife and son was there waving at me and I felt a bitter disappointment with my performance. I could have done better. I should have averaged atleast 35!

Many questions will pop up in the next few days but for now I know TT is a different beast. I have it in me to do better. It needs specific training. Most riders had a different physique. They were big and muscular unlike me who is built more for climbs. They were built for such races. I know this because I routinely drop a lot of these riders on climbs almost every weekend during club rides. I can also easily conclude that aerodynamic gear could have given me another 10% if not more. But hey for my first TT race 34km/hr over 40k is not all that bad and that too on a road bike? No excuses offered and I promise to do much better next time. Mark my words.

Ooty to Mysore - Finally we get into 'Pace' formations over the next 2 days

2009-05-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

The rest day in Ooty gave plenty of time to everyone to recuperate including me. We had cycled 500kms in 4 days and climbed over several hills and mountains. Many took the rest day to just stay in to heal their wounds, clean their bikes and chill while few ventured out into the town for the look out for chais and coffees with other riders. I heard that a few also went running to highest point in Ooty. I decided to spend my time with my family. There was already a sense of sadness among many riders that TFN was coming to a close. One of the highlights for me has been the opportunity know other cyclists from India. I think it is fair to say that I have made many friends. The day began late to give time for the fog to disappear from the notorious Kalghatti ghats. The descend is a fast 1200 dive in 14 kms through 36 hair pin bends. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Even my driver warned me against the dangers of the ghat and I was getting a little too worried about it, not so much for myself but other inexperienced cyclists in the group. During the briefing it was made very clear to all that if not sure take the TFN vehicle and then continue with the ride after the descent. Everyone was reminded to check their brakes and given tips to negotiate the fast descend.

At around 8.30 am we left the hostel guided by a pilot vehicle to the beginning of the ghat. We grouped again before the descent and the MTB riders were asked to go first in small groups followed by the road bikers. Quite a few took the advice to travel by car. I chose to ride cautiously often stopping to make sure everyone was safe. I could not resist the temptation to look at the peaks we were leaving behind. I was in no mood to get out of the mountains so soon and at every scenic bend I stopped with a few others to take pictures and crack jokes.

There were several statistics posted to remind travelers of the casualties over the years. It did not take long for the riders to finish the descent and we all regrouped once again. More reminders were given out to the cyclists that Bandipur national park laid ahead and stopping or loitering in the park was prohibited. Last time I visited the park I was in my early teens and my memory of it was very faint. I decided not to rush thru it. After riding about 20kms in the company of Samim and Dipanker, I slowed down to ride with Nachiket, Shantanu and George. Shantanu apparently was struggling on Day 5 with some ligaments problems and I started to wonder if the 4 days of cranking on those big ratios finally had taken a toll. Shantanu could not keep the pace; we stopped a support car to stay with him and the rest of us regrouped to ride through the park together. The park was beautiful with lush green rolling terrain, a few short but heart busting climbs followed by long descends. We spotted several wild boars, monkeys and an elephant with her calf. We continued to ride slow but at a constant pace. It was very hot after 2 days spent on the top of Ooty where the temperature frequently dipped into the single digits. I was feeling on top of my game, the worst was behind me and I was happy. Soon we crossed into Karnataka.

Stats – Distance - 58 kms

Time – 2 hr 20 mins

Avg Speed – 25km/hr

Avg HR – 121 bpm

We have been briefed earlier in the day that the roads were just not rideable between Bandipur and Gundalpet. We knew we were close to the bad roads, so we decided to pull over under a massive banyan tree to enjoy some coconuts. More cyclists started to follow with support cars. Jokes followed with several taking their cameras out. It was truly relaxing. Several cyclists were still in the car as they had decided to ride from Gundalpet to Mysore.

After gulping down some refreshing coconut

water we rode a few kms when the ride came to sudden halt with the road transforming into a sea of potholes. There was only one support car but several cyclists. So the TFN volunteers halted a passing empty truck and several of us jumped on the back with our bicycles. The roads were totally absent and even standing on the back of the truck was impossible, many including me chose to sit down holding on to our bikes for a 30 min rollercoaster into Gundulpet. The dusty town of Gundalpet arrived as a respite and we quickly gathered at a Udipi restaurant for lunch. It was half past one in the afternoon, the sun was soaring and I was in no mood to ride. I suggested that we rode out of town, pick up a shady spot and rest. We knew Mysore was only another 60 odd kms, a 2 hour ride. We took some time to just lie in the shade by the side of the road under some trees. Not many were in the mood to rest and one by one they are stared to leave. Samim, Dipanker and Nachi were left with me and even we decided to leave eventually. Much of the tour there was not much group riding involved and pace formations were totally absent. Samim suggested that we try to ride in a pace line and I was more than happy to hear that keeping in mind that we were riding into a strong head wind!

After a few kms warming up the pace kicked within the group even if quite moderate between 30 and 50km/hr. each one of us took our turn at the front and it all felt pretty easy and comfortable. We quickly passed everyone who had left earlier and we were all set to reach Mysore before 6 pm. One funny incident I recollect during that ride is that one tractor carrying a ton of hay passed us on the right. The width of the vehicle pushed us off the road and by the time I recollected myself my helmet and jersey was filled with straws of hay! It was an absolutely smooth ride with the sun low in the west. As we got close to Mysore the traffic picked up, the pace dropped and we decided to regroup with all the riders at a tea joint. The realization that the tour was pretty much coming to an end was immense on the mind of the riders and everyone took time to chat and bond with others riders. We later rode together into Mysore.

Stats Distance- 57km

Time – 1 hr 50 mins

Avg Speed - 30 km/hr

Avg HR - 131 bpm

Sultanbatteri to Ooty - the highlight stage!!

2009-05-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

The day began early for me with my wife reporting at 2 in the morning that I had fever! I went back to sleep almost convinced that my tour was over. At 5.30am my alarm rang and I felt absolutely miserable and I returned to sleep. At 6 15 am I woke up again as I just could not believe that I had traveled all the way from the US to lie in bed and that too on the only day of the tour that mattered. The fear of regret took the better of me. I woke up and jumped into the shower and tried to dress up. My wife who understood me well told me to give the day a shot and she promised to support me from the car. When I came down with my bike I realized that I was the only one ready to go while everyone else had decided to take it easy after the gruesome stage the day before. Breakfast was not available and the TFN organizers were trying to arrange for it at the Windflower hotel. It was well past 7.30am and I was more than happy to buy time. After a really good breakfast it was time for the usual briefing and it was made clear that if you struggled on the first climb then just wait downhill at Gudular to get sweeped to Ooty. I pretended to listen to it During the briefing I gave a few tips to other riders on climbing and soon I was all set. Dr Renu who had been fantastic all through out the tour made sure that I had ‘electrol’ in my bottles. It was time to go. A large crowd had gathered to look at the departure of TFN cyclists. I had a made a simply strategy for the day. SURVIVAL was the key, no halts, good rhythm and to preserve the energy for the Ooty climb. We all started as a group and the rolling terrain within the first 5 kms already broke the group and soon it looked like everybody was on their own. You could make out that you were in Kerala as the vehicles drove ruthlessly. After passing through a small strip of forestland soon we reached the TN border and with it started small climbs through beautiful Tea estates. The terrain was still rolling. The three wheelers turned from black to yellow. The roads improved along with the scenery and it had all prospects of a fantastic ride.

Within 40 mins into the ride I knew that only

2 riders were in front of me and those were the usual suspects Samim and Dipanker. The temptation to catch them was high but my condition was playing on my mind and I kept telling myself to control any adrenalin rush. I intentionally started to look around and bask in the beauty of the landscape. I even stopped to take a photograph or two! I usually never think much when I ride but the beauty of the landscape was so immense that I was actually getting fearful of the day getting over sooner than later. The greens of the tea plantations and the blues of the sky almost seemed exaggerated! I looked at my Garmin and I was still riding at a modest 25km/hr. My HR was well settled in my zone 1-2 and the climbs did not seem as hard as it was made out to look during the briefing. One thing that was constantly bothering me was the bitter taste in my mouth, I just could not figure what it was and later I discovered from the doctor that it was the reaction of the antibiotics. I kept gulping down the electrol and at times even gargling my mouth with it.

Soon I was on top the first climb for the day and a long descend lied ahead to Gudular. The view from top was out of this world and I kept telling myself that this was easily the best rides I had even done in my life. The mountains of Ooty stood right in front like a massive wall with the peaks covered with clouds. Are we really supposed to climb that, seemed unreal? The descend to Gudular was fast, very fast. The few hairpin bends almost caressed my knees on the turns. The few passages thru small intersections was furiosly fast. My blue Italian jersey caught the attention of the bystanders and I was breezing thru them giving the locals a few secs to glimpse

At Gudular I started to look around for Samim and Dipanker but they were not to be seen. I turned my attention to find TFN vehicles and even they were absent. The town was buzzing with Ayyappa pilgrims. The loud speakers played sacred songs and there was a festive mood in that little town. I refueled myself at a local shop, took a gel or 2. The glimpse of the peaks of Ooty almost sent a shiver down the spine. Within a few hundred meters I was already climbing to Ooty. The climb was 6-7 %. Not much but you had 40km of it! I decided to ignore the distance and focus on the altitude I was climbing. The altitude on my Garmin noted 980m.The first few kms through settlements did not give an idea of the altitude but as soon as the landscape opened up you were treated with the best views of the valley. A car appeared from behind and it was my wife and son. My son just kept shouting 'go dad go'! I gave a quick update to my wife on how I was feeling, the excitement and adrenalin was pumping in my body and feeling pretty good. My heart rate was still well settled at 70%. I ate some food on the bike and I was going to stick to my plan of not stopping till I reached Ooty. My wife told me that she would be around in the car if I faced any difficulty. The altitude was slowly but consistently getting higher and I was already up 1300m. After every few kms I would find my wife snapping away with the camera and my son still shouting at me!

Soon I reached one of the most beautiful locations thru the Eucalyptus plantations. It was just bizzare! I will post a photograph as I am not the best with words. I started to hear sounds of heavy breathing and I looked behind to find Saurabh had caught me. He was climbing well. One thing that pushes my adrenalin to extreme levels is to see a cyclist pass me. I had to eat my ego and let him go. This was not a race. There was still around 30kms of climbs left and I was going to stick to my strategy. After a few kms I saw my wife coming downhill with the car worried that something had happened to me. She was surprised to see a cyclist had passed me and thought I had either stopped or something bad had happened. I calmed her and continued with my task of climbing.

The scene only got better and the vast manicured tea plantations were a sight to relish. My garmin indicated that I was well above 1600m. The support vehicles started to appear. I got a briefing of who was climbing and who was not. There was Venky and iggy who had just reached the foothills and many had decided not to climb including my brother. Venky had sent the support car to get a gel from me. I passed one and instead took some almonds and other nuts in return. Pradeep told me that there was only 10kms to go and a text message from my wife confirmed it. With 10 kms to go I decided to step on the gas. Venky's car soon appeared behind me and that gave me extra confidence to have a crack at the last 10-15 kms. The last 15-20 kms was climbed at an avg of 20km/hr. The support vehicle stayed with me right till the end and at the end of the ride Giri who was driving the car was so mesmerized by staying behind my wheels that he just could not stop talking about it!! They had been entertained ☺. I thought it was so funny and I was still able to hold a laugh. I had accomplished what I came for. I was standing on top of Ooty at 2200m!

Inside me it was not about climbing Ooty, I knew I could climb Ooty, I also wanted to do it within decent time frame. I had a set a target of under 4 hours before TFN so under the circumstances 4hr15 was not all that bad. Later Shantanu joined in and we rode together to find the hostel. I was happy, very happy. One of the best rides of my life under the circumstances! The scenes from Sultanbatteri to Ooty was unparalleled to anywhere I have ridden before.

Mercari – Sultanbatteri

2009-05-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

The day to forget!! The day started with 6 visits to the toilet in a span of 30 minutes and by the time I was done with it, Dr Renu had put me on antibiotics. I was advised to take rest and stay off the bike. I took the advice and went back to my room. Though after viewing cyclists gearing outside my window the temptation to ride had the better of me and within minutes I was down in my jersey. I decided to take it easy after 2 intense days and just ride my way to Sultan Batteri. I knew it was a tough day. The initial plan was to ride the first 45kms to Gonikoppal. The 40kms stretch after that to the border was bad and that would give me a chance to rest by hitching a drive. I was one of the last to leave the guesthouse in the company of my brother and luckily the ride started with a downhill. Once the uphill started we began to pass most riders. It seemed to me that the fatigue was catching with most riders and everybody had decided to take it slow. I decided to give my odometer a break for the day!

The roads were extremely scenic and the slower pace was just right to indulge in it. The rolling terrain with rice fields on the both sides surrounded with palm trees was the perfect backdrop for someone on antibiotics! We passed over a few bridges with rivers streaming past below and we stopped on one to oblige the TFN photographers and bloggers to get a snap or two. Small trails branched out to smaller villages, my mind followed those trails while the rest of me was still very much on the tarmac road. Several long fast descends added to the excitement only to realize that at the end of the turn you were hanging on to your brakes and life to avoid crashing into the biggest potholes you could find. After the first 2 days of big highways and bigger roads the smaller rural roads were an absolute delight. We were greeted to the village of Gonikopal with chalk marks on the roads to guide us thru the town. Most cyclists arrived together. I helped myself to the gas station toilet for the 7th time and I was left without fluids in my body. Both my bike bottles were filled with Electrol and by the time I reached the 45km mark I had consumed quite a few bottles. I decided to put my bike in the car and give the bad roads a pass. As more riders arrived the discussion to ride the bad patch or not started with a few willing to brave it out.

Riders who were ahead on those patches had reported that roads were not all that bad. It was not the condition of the road that bothered me, it was width of the road. Two vehicles could not pass at the same time and if you were riding at that time, where do you go? As I passed those roads in my car I felt it was dangerous for the riders. The road for the most part was not more than 8 feet in width and the sides of the road had a deep gradient of atleast a feet or more leading into very rough patches of stones. The vehicles were passing at their best speeds and I was happy to stay in my car.

We crossed the border into Kerala and soon dense forest and an elephant immediately greeted us. I was starting to feet drowsy due to the antibiotics and soon I feel asleep. I was later awakened by sounds of numerous vehicles in the border town where TFN cyclists had stopped to have lunch. As soon as I got out of the car I could not practically stay on my feet and the severity of my condition set in. I felt I was totally dehydrated to my bones with severe headache. I quickly had lunch with other cyclists and decided to call it off for the day and head to Sultanbatteri in my car. I shared the table with my brother, Ulhas and another cyclist. Ulhas was really indulging in the kerala cuisine served on a banana leaf and asking for all kinds of translations. It was a pleasure to have lunch with him. I left the restaurant very worried for the rest of my tour as the Ooty climb was waiting the next day. After lunch I slept in the back of the car and headed straight to Sultanbatteri hoping to find a good room and take some rest. My sleep was interrupted by a phone call from my brother who reported that Ulhas had crashed his bike and had hurt himself. I was very upset to hear it and it really sent me shivering. I quickly got on the phone and frantically called Dr Renu to get more updates and was a little relieved to hear that they had brought him to the hospital. I reached Sultanbatteri exhausted mentally and physically. I got myself the first room and stayed in the bathroom for the rest of the evening!! A quick visit later to the TFN hotel to meet Ulhas and others in the evening and a dinner at the restaurant brought an end to a dismal day with a big question mark lingering for the next day to Ooty.

2009-01-28T06:59:00.000-08:00

The first day of ride took a small toll on some of the riders and at breakfast it was written over few faces! There were many riders who for the first time had ridden more than 100kms and they were still basking in their accomplishment. Just awesome! Much of the talk in the morning was about the good roads till Kushal Nagar and the climb to Madikari through bad roads. It was a question of who you spoke to, for few the bad roads were just a few kms into Kushal Nagar and for others it was much more. I decided before the ride that I would ride to K.Nagar and then use the support vehicle to get across the bad roads. I discussed with my brother that we would sweep ourselves. The briefing’s Pradeep held in the mornings were excellent and full of useful information.

The pilot car guided all the riders thru a misty morning to the outskirts of Mysore . A few chats about the past day’s ride still lingered on the bike. Riders were starting to get an idea of others and their riding abilities. As soon as the pilot car stepped aside the pace set in and after a few kms I found myself on the wheels of Samim and Dipankar. Dipankar the strongest rider of TFN in my view was in a hurry and soon I was feeling it in my tired legs! The average speed was well into the mid thirties and after an hour into the ride I decided to let the 2 go and ride at a moderate pace. I had to save my legs for Ooty. I rode on my own for 20kms on flawless roads, the best I had seen on the tour. The terrain was rolling, the roads as smooth as silk. Soon I was craving for some company and I decided to stop and wait for other riders. Soon the usual 3 riders that is Venky, Iggy and Shantanu appeared and I joined them. The pace was nice and comfortable and there seemed more time to take in the surroundings. We passed thru small villages and children would scream in delight and ask if it was a race. I had several motorbikes that stayed on my wheels to ask and inquire or just stare in curiosity. One such motorcyclist stayed on my wheel for nearly 3 - 4 kms and all he did was stare. At point I pointed my finger to my odometer, which read 35km/hr and a brief smile leaked on his face! After the 50km mark we finally had support cars and it was time to refurbish the fluids. Soon we passed a Tibetan settlement and suddenly the place transformed into little Tibet. Monks, Flags and Tibetan writings were all over the place and the place was filled with serenity! We slowed to ride graciously through it.

The arrival of Kushal Nagar was pretty obvious as the roads suddenly disintegrated. The conditions of the roads seemed exaggerated due to flawless roads on which we spent a few hours earlier.

The legs by now were in it’s own zone and a conscious effort was needed to slow down and negotiate the rough conditions. The group fell apart and each was riding cautiously apart from Shantanu who was on the MTB. The bad roads did not end after exiting the town and the climbs had already started. I knew it was a long 25km climb to the top of Madikeri. In my mind I decided to ride easy and save the bike for rest of the tour.The climb seemed more difficult due to the holes and plenty of gravel at turns on which the tires were just spinning without any traction. Soon I passed Shantanu and I just kept the pace up. The climb combined with bad roads and incoming traffic zooming past kept me very alert and on my toes. I was wondering what my brother was up to as earlier in the morning I had told him that I would take the support vehicle but I was doing the contrary. I was somehow enjoying the climb and was hoping somehow I could pass the message back that it was not so bad to do it. Soon I met 2 touring westerners on their bikes and I slowed for a sec to let them know there was support vehicles behind from which they could access fluids or food if needed. The climb seemed longer than I had anticipated and doubts started to linger whether I was on the right roads. I decided to pull over the support car and soon Shantanu also appeared. We decided to ride together rest of the ride and soon we were in Madikeri where obviously we found Samim and Dipankar already stretching!

Rather than stopping for everyone whom we anticipated to come after a while, we waited for a few riders such as Venky, Iggy etc and decided to head down to the hostel, which was a fast 7km descent down to the valley. We chilled in the afternoon lazing around the premises of the hostel getting much needed massages from fellow volunteers.

Distance - 117kms
Time - 4 hours 39 mins
Avg Speed – 25.1 km/hr
Total Elevation gain – 1843m
Avg HR - 132 bpm ( Zone 1.5)

Tour of Nilgiris 2008

2009-01-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

In the early months of 2008 when I posted a note on Bikeszone looking for partners in crime to tour the Nilgiris, little did I realize then that I was sowing the seeds for something that probably had the potential to shape Indian cycling. Yes I do feel like that! TFN will get bigger and better. What started as an inner desire to cycle thru the blue mountains soon caught flame and erupted due to similar interests from individuals like Ravi, Pradeep,Venkatesh, Sharath, Sriram, Abhi etc to name a few. The guys worked extremely hard over the months of November and December to realize the potential of TFN. After the registrations started to pour in, the sponsors followed suit and TFN eventually became a reality.

Much of it is history now and I will just add some notes about my ride here instead. To begin with deep inside me I was skeptical of riding TFN due to a lower back injury that had plagued over the past 2 months. Due to some determined hard work put in by a bunch of excellent chiropractors in the US combined with Yoga and a lots of swimming behind me minus time on the bike, I landed in India on the 10th Dec to make my ride thru the nilgiris a reality. My immediate goal was to get in some sort of form on the bike and I trained over 2 weeks in Bombay not the best of locations for it. The back was still hurting and my goal soon switched to surviving TFN. I focused on hill training on the only km of climb I could find around my home in Bombay as long distance rides were out of question.

I landed in Bangalore on the 24th and was very excited to meet other cyclists participating in TFN. Many of them I already knew from BZ but this was a chance to connect faces to their nicknames! My brother Rakesh was one of the last riders to get into Bangalore. I was well awake into the night waiting for his arrival. He arrived at midnight, we had a few hours of sleep and early morning we got his bike assembled and we were on our way to the event. My adrenalin was already pumping once I got into my jersey at 5 am! The hotel staff were a little confused to see us in our attire getting into the lift. We rode from our hotel in darkness, my driver acting as a pilot to guide us thru the city. We bumped into other riders and soon it felt that everybody on the street was heading to the grounds either on bike or foot!

Bangalore - Mysore.
The ride started with a police escort to guide us safely out of the city. Within the city itself the line of cyclists started to stretch over a km. Once we reached the outskirts the ride was all set to kick in. The faster riders set a pace right at the start and I was thinking this was not exactly what I had in mind. I knew the adrenalin was pumping in everyone but there was still 140kms to go! After the initial 30 mins spend in trying to find the dynamics of everyone, I decided to settle into my groove and ride, though at times I did regroup or waited for other cyclists. This was the first time I was riding on a Indian national highway and my mind was well aware of it. At one point I decided to wait for my brother and rode some 20kms with him. At the half way mark I was well settled and the lunch stop appeared sooner than later. I was averaging 33km//hr over the first 75km of the ride. I had just found my pace and I was in no mood to stop and have lunch. We decided to skip lunch and just keep riding. We told ourselves that we could take a small break at Mandya at the 100km mark. At Mandya we were surrounded my many onlookers who had 100 questions about the ride and the bike. We patiently answered many of their queries. After the break the heat started to get to me, the conditions were hard for me and I decided to ride thru to Mysore without any more halts. Two weeks before TFN I was in minus temperatures in the US. During the break many cyclists passed us each at their own pace and rhythm. Once back on the bike I left my brother as he was having cramps and wanted to ride slower.
I regrouped with Venkatesh, Iggy and Shantanu ( who had passed me earlier during the stop in Madhya) right at the outskirts of Mysore and we rode together for a while into Mysore. The group would ride together for every few kms and then fall apart. Every little climb towards Mysore was testing the legs of every rider after the 125km mark.

My legs were showing signs of fatigue, the ride thru Mysore had disrupted my rhythm and by the time I got to Chamundi severe cramps had settled in and I was low on fluids. Luckily my wife located me on the foothills of Chamundi, I struggled to even get off the bike. My close friend suggested the climb to Chamundi was brutal and I was left to ponder whether my lower back would cave in? After 10 minutes spent with massages and refurbishing fluids I decided to give the 6km climb a crack. I knew I could not stop, as the cramp would come back so I settled into a rhythm and started climbing. Within the first km I passed most of the riders who had passed me and I knew there was only Shantanu ahead. Shantanu who hails from Pune was riding a mountain bike and he was the only rider who kept that kind of a pace on a MTB. He would grind those big gears and was awesome to watch. Samim and Dipankar the fastest of the bunch had already reached by then most likely. At the last 2 kms I started to finally get a glimpse of Shantanu whenever the roads straightened after the numerous turns. The view to Mysore became more of a birds eye view and I knew not much was left.

My legs were crying loud for pain and started to work with an incentive to catch him. The cramps started to creep in, the heat was just too much, and I was running on adrenalin more than anything and at point I emptied a bottle of gatorade on my head thinking it was water!

A support car that had stayed with me over the entire climb kept close to me, maybe they found it amusing or maybe they were also into it totally! I managed to finish 10 metres behind Shantanu just before the apparent finish line where my family and friends were waiting for me. I was relieved and happy that the 150km ride was over but this is why I came to ride TFN and the pain was irrelevant!

Stats -
Distance - 151kms
Time – 4 hours 59mins
Average speed – 30.5 km/hr
Max Speed – 60.2 km/hr
Avg HR – 135bpm ( My Zone 1.9)
Calories burned - 5380cal
Elevation Gain - 1716 metres

Italian Summer!

2008-09-21T19:45:00.001-07:00

I reached Italy on July 2nd determined to ride for a month as much of the year had passed preparing myself for the rides in Puglia. Even my recent elbow fracture was not going to stop me from staying on my bike! I stayed in Cisternino, a small village over looking the Itria valley. The Itria valley is located in the Italian southern region of Apulia, on the gentle Murgia hills where the three provinces of Bari, Brindisi and Taranto meet. The valley is overlooked by a handful of small white washed towns and dotted by traditional buildings whose history goes back as 700 years. The little white-washed walled towns surrounding the Itria valley are a startling contrast to the surrounding silver green of the olive groves, red soil and deep cobalt blue of the sea.

Much of the rides were in the company of my family who are all fantastic riders and some of whom take part in almost all the races around the region and beyond. In the group was also Leo Caroli, a veteran of bike races and a regional champion! My intention right from the offset was to survive while riding with them. We rode almost 65-80kms everyday on different routes depending on which way the wind was blowing. Yes! it was the wind that had the final say on the daily courses. The wind can be very strong in those parts and the idea was to start the ride against it and enjoy the tail wind on the way back. Before each ride, one of the experienced riders would wear the meteorologist's hat and come up with wind direction. Today is 'maestrale' (wind from the north) or' levante' (south) or 'Scirocco'(west) would be his call and everyone would just nod eagerly. Very soon it became a curious habit to peep out of the window lying on my bed to look at the neighbour's weather cocks (vane) to predict the bike course of the day!

Most of the rides were made of fast descends to the coast and climbs back to the village and in between riding through much of the beautiful country side. There were several routes around Cisternino varying in climbs, distance and gradient and almost all the rides over the month were always different by mixing up different descends and climbs. Each climb had a title such as Gravina, Panoramica, Selva etc and each one of them were difficult climbs. All the riders had their best times recorded in their minds and the only intention of going over them again and again was to better it! I started to take note of my times too and by the end of the trip I had shaven off seconds to several minutes on many of them. One climb that was hard to negotiate was the 'zoo safari climb' close to the town of Fasano. The 3.2km climb was made of 8 switch backs with an average gradient of 8-9%. My time on it was 14':40" and the best in the group clocked it under 12 minutes! Most local cyclists used that particular climb to train for switch backs for alpine races . A local belief suggested that if a rider could climb the 2 km long Gravina (climb leading to Cisternino)under 7 minutes, he was race ready! My time on it was 7':30".

Another technique we included in our rides often was 'progressions' on flats and that was one activity I enjoyed the most. The purpose was to imitate a sprint finish and ride a fast pace line and every 5 kms or so shift to the smaller cogs one at a time maintaining a specific cadence. The pace would get as high as 60-65km/hr on flats and that was insanely fast! The legs would cry for mercy and you could feel that the lungs just about to pop out of the mouth!

Another great event was on Sundays when most cyclists from the town headed out for a group ride. It was an occasion to compare yourself to others and to hear about all local cycling stories and gossips. They rode hard and getting dropped was not acceptable for many of the Italian machos! I remember an instance on one of the long climbs my wife had dropped a couple of riders, they fought hard as if they were fighting for their lives but the idea of getting dropped by a woman was not an honourable option for them! They eventually did get dropped and the effort took so much air out of them that we did not see them again for the rest of the ride. They bonked somewhere along the course.

While in Italy I also attended a few bike races mainly to support Leo. He rides for a team from Bari and some of the races I attended he finished 1st, either overall or in his category! We were proud to be on his side. The race pace at these regional races were really high and it was frightening just to sit on the sidelines and watch. I came back from these races so determined to compete in 2009 during my next trip to Italy. It would take a lot of pain to train over the next year but it looks promising to be fun! I will need a license and a team to compete and Leo has promised to look into it!

Rides in Italy have been great fun, the courses we rode on stay still fresh in my mind. Riding along the coast with the Mediterranean waves splashing the roads, riding on the foothills between olive groves, riding through vineyards in the historic Canale di Pirro, climbing the Gravina between pine woods, the overlooks at top of the hills with a dramatic view to the Mediterranean will be hard to beat. I intend to return next summer to Italy stronger and faster and hope to ride much better now that I am more familiar with the conditions.

Stay in Italy - 40 days

Bicycle Outings - 26 days
Time on the bike - 66 hours
Distance - 1800 kms
Avg speed over 1800 kms - 26.4km/hr
Total Ascent - 24,000m
Calories burned - 50833kcal

Elbow fracture!

2008-06-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

Update:

It has been 3 weeks now since I broke my elbow. The recovery has been pretty smooth so far. I still cannot ride my bike though I tried to get on it yesterday for 15 mins. I do feel confident that I will be back riding in about 10 days and my trip to Italy is definitely ON!

********************

Well guys this was an accident waiting to happen. I fell off my bike and suffered a radial head fracture on my right elbow. The orthopaedics say I will be off the bike for a 6-16 weeks depending on my recovery. I pray to recover fast enough to ride in Italy this summer.

04/19/2008 Blue Ridge backwards- 04/25/2008 Blue Ridge Ride and again..... on the 05/02/08

2008-04-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have been looking forward to riding over the Blue Ridge Mountains ever since I began cycling a few years ago. We did the Blue Ridger (55 miles) backwards. The group of 20 riders stayed together for the first 10-15 miles. At the beginning of the climb to Naked Mountain I dropped back as I wanted to climb at my own pace. I was happy with my climb to Mount Weather at 1886 feet. There were quite a few long climbs with grade 8% and the max being a gruelling 17%. The descent to Bluemont was furious, the likes of which can fumigate the brakes! My average speed boasted a cool 16 m/hr. Little did I know at that point what was in store for me ahead. I suffered a asthma attack thanks to all the pollen we have at this time of the year and boy did it wreck my ride? I just wanted to get home at that point. I did finish the ride though. Besides that this was the best ride till date I have done with PPTC and I hope I can do it again on a day when the pollen count is low, Yes I will be keeping an eye on that now onwards!!

Ride details....

On 04/25/2006 I met a Juan and other cyclists in Marshall who were planning to ride the Blue Ridge. I asked them if I could join them for the ride since I wanted to try this again after my disappointing ride the weekend before.

Small world! but soon I realised that Juan and I had more in common than just cycling. We have a common friend, photography, he works at the same place like my wife. We did the Blue ridge mountains ride by doing Mount Weather first and then Naked

Mountain. I was a lot better prepared this time to tackle any allergies with a dose of. It was interesting to note the differences in the two rides from 2 opposite directions. The Ride from Marshall to Bluemont was smooth and rolling giving ample time to get the legs warmed up and a small break at Bluemont gave a chance to refurbish the body with enough carbs and fluids. The climb was slow and

grinding but smooth to the top and the descend was long unlike the other way. Just when you feel you are done coming down route 50 and Paris, the Naked Mountain imposes itself as a little thorn which feels like a heart breaker. The scenery is spectacular with the trees in full bloom.

Ride details.....

05/02/2008 Finally I got everything right on this ride after 2 attempts. I rode with the PPTC group from Marshall to the foot of Mt Weather averaging 31km/hr. While the group took a break I decided to continue with the climb as I have come to realise that breaks hurts me and I knew they would catch me anyway. I climbed at my own pace and the rest caught up with me towards the end. We rode back to Marshall with a fast pace line. The average speed turned out to be 26.7km/hr over 55 miles!

Ride details.....

13 April 2008 Training in New Baltimore.

2008-04-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

After the A/B ride cancellations on Saturday I decided to take it easy with a CC ride on Sunday morning. The 37 miles ride was called "Training in New Baltimore" and it covered Warrenton, Airlie, Auburn and Greenville. The ride started at the Hunter Richie elementary school in New Baltimore. The group split within the first few miles and soon I found myself in the front group with Jay and Matt. We stayed together for the whole ride with frequent enjoyable pace lines. I was keeping it easy trying to keep my HR contained in Zone 2. The ride began with short hills giving way to pretty rolling terrain after the half way mark. After the ride I joined Jay and Barbara ( ride leader) for lunch at a Pizza Place in Gainesville.

Link to ride details....

Click below to see elevation profile.

My BMC Ride.

2008-04-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

I bought the BMC Time machine TT03 in 2007. I upgraded the handle bar with a Profile Design Carbon X1.5 handle bar and I replaced the original saddle with Specialized Body geometry saddle. It is a great ride and fast :-)

My V02 test results

2008-04-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

I had my V02 test done today with Sports Physiologist Melissa Dalio at Sports and Spine in Fairfax VA. The last time I did this test was in the fall of 2006. The results are different this time around. The results showed my power output to be 170watts at my aerobic threshold (143bpm)and 250 watts at my lactate threshold (169bmp). My heart zones also changed much due to the fact that I am 10 pounds lighter now than I was in 2006! I intend to get these numbers improved by the end of summer.

My 'other' ride

2008-04-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

This is my 'other' bike. The bike that I ride the most. It is almost a extension of me. I love it :-) I usually do not ride it with the HED wheels. It has Mavic's on it most of the time.

04/30/2008 Vienna-Great Falls-McLean

2008-04-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

After the Saturday ride this was supposed to be a recovery ride, but I do not recollect it being one as the pace picked up as soon as we left the community centre in Vienna. The group split in 2 with in the 1st mile. I was among the first group of 4 people. This was my first ride on urban roads (usually I always stick to the WOD trail) as we covered rolling Great falls, McLean and back to Vienna. This was a cold ride, my toes never warmed up in nearly 2 hours of riding :-(

I have made it a point hence forth to remember the names of fellow cyclists!

Ride details.

04/29/2008 The Plains Ride 'A Mild-Mannered Meander'

2008-03-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ride Details link.

I rode this ride with my wife Rosanna, we kept an easy pace to enjoy the hills. I am really starting to like this particular ride and in the process have met some cool people in the group.

03/23/2008 The Plains ride.

2008-03-24T16:42:00.000-07:00

After years and thousands of junk miles on the bike trails, I felt I had reached a plateau in my bike performance. I wanted to take it to the next level and I thought one way of achieving it was by joining high intensity group rides. So I joined the Potomac Pedalars club. On the 23rd March I took part in my first group ride at the Plains. VA. Fifteen riders took part for a gruelling 100 kms ride on the hills near The Plains and Middlesburg, VA. I was extremely happy with the pace keeping in mind that it was my first group ride and we are still early in the season. Another ride is scheduled for next weekend and I am already itching for more of it.

Total elevation gain 1469m

Details from the ride at Motionbased.com

2008 Bike Virginia- the Crooked Road Tour

2008-03-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

I will be riding the 2008 Bike Virginia- the Crooked Road Tour from June 20-25. This is the first time I will be riding this event and I am preparing to ride the Orange/Red routes.

My New Ferrari Colnago 60th Anniversary Limited EditionBike

2008-03-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

On Monday the 17th March I received the delivery of my new 2008 Ferrari Colnago bike. I bought it from a dealer in Little Rock, AR. I am adding a pic of it:-)

I hope to go for a ride with it soon if the weather stays good. Will post more pictures soon.

The bike is absolutely JAW DROPPING!!!

2007 Reston Metric Century, VA

2008-03-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

This is a metric century ride I rode at Reston, VA in 2007. This was my second Reston metric century ride. The challenging Century and Metric routes follow beautiful rolling rural roads through scenic historical towns such as Hamilton, Purcellville, Lovettsville, and Waterford. Most of the ride I was riding at a moderate pace and also this was my first century ride along with my wife Rosanna.

View the ride details at

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=74924&unitSystemPkValue=1&episodePk.pkValue=3773297

2006 PPTC Metric Century

2008-03-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

The PPTC Century is organised by the Potomac Pedalars Touring Club in Berryville, Clark County, VA. Almost 1200 participants took part for this event.

This is a ride that I really enjoyed because unlike the Reston century that mostly covered urban roads, the PPTC metric century covered beautiful historic back roads through the Virginia countryside.

View the ride details at

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=74924&unitSystemPkValue=1&episodePk.pkValue=1381877

2006 Reston Century Ride

2008-03-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is a metric century ride I did at Reston, VA in 2006. This was my first metric century ride. The challenging Century and Metric routes follow beautiful rolling rural roads through scenic historical towns such as Hamilton, Purcellville, Lovettsville, and Waterford.

View the ride details at

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=74924&unitSystemPkValue=1&episodePk.pkValue=1273317