200 km BRM – Huliyurdurga by IISc Randonneurs
If one might wonder what all a randonneur might have to face on a brevet, the first BRM made everything clear. We had plenty of climbs, winds, rain and a few bad roads as part of an eventful 205 km ride.
Kalpesh, Karthikeyan, Rajesh and I started from IISc Gymkhana gate a little late at 6:20. Most of the riders had already started. The early morning drizzle made us very cold, but it felt better after we started cycling. We made our way to pipeline road via chord road. The stretch of pipeline road before outer ring road has some steep descents. That is where Rajesh discovered he could hardly brake. We stopped for a while near ORR as he tried to fix the brakes. Soon we were on Magadi road and out of the city. Rajesh had fallen behind by then, and I learned later that he abandoned because of the brakes.
Magadi road has some nice descents, and it was fun to ride on it in the rain. I had planned to take a break at the eatery at Bhachenahalli, and so started riding fast. I passed a few riders including Abhijit and Dheeraj. I saw Bharath on the climb just before Bhachenahalli, and we stopped at the eatery. Kalpesh soon joined me there.The two of us would ride together till Channapatna. After breakfast, as we started riding, I faced a new problem. My body had become cold due to the stop, and as I was completely soaked the wind caused me to shiver. I felt better after some time.
After the Magadi control, the roads were almost nonexistant in Magadi and covered with mud. Our bikes got painted brown with the mud. Roads become good after Magadi, and this stretch to Huliyurdurga is very nice. There is dense tree cover on either side of the road and hardly any traffic. After Huliyurdurga we searched our way to Koppa. Neither of us had a speedometer which made it difficult for us to follow the cue sheet, and we missed a turn taking 6 km more to reach Koppa. I got a flat here. We stopped and replaced the tube.
There were a lot of carts and tractors carrying sugarcane in this stretch. I was feeling hungry and tired now, but decided to continue for 12 more kms till the Maddur control. We caught up Karthik here, and he was also very hungry and didn’t have any water. After he had some water, we asked him to continue till the Maddur control. We reached Maddur Tiffany’s at 12.45. Most of the riders were there.
After lunch, we left from there at around 1.30. Kalpesh, Karthik and I started riding together. We needed to maintain a pace of 15 km/h on the almost uphill route from here till the end. Mysore road didn’t have much traffic. The sun was out now warming us. There was a strong headwind here making it difficult for us to ride fast. I was feeling very sleepy now and starting dozing off. I had taken coffee at Maddur Tiffany’s, but it didn’t seem to work. For a while I thought about taking a nap, but decided against it. I thought may be riding fast would help, and so after Channapatna I sped up, riding alone. This indeed helped, and there was a quick shower just before Ramanagara which wiped off any remaining sleep.
Refreshed now, I continued riding nonstop till the third control after Manchanbele. I had ridden on this route before. This time also I enjoyed riding here, especially the Manchanbele climb. I reached the third control at 4.50. I reached close to the city when it was turning dark. The stretch on Magadi road from Sunkadakatte to ORR junction had a lot of traffic as usual. It was still manageable to pass through the traffic, and I had to wait only at the signals.
Just before reaching Yeshwanthpur, when the ride is about to end, and you think you have done enough climbs for the day, there is the final challenge of the climb at Mahalakshmipuram. I considered getting off the bike and pushing it up the slope, but I saw another rider vanishing from my sight at the top of the climb, and decided to continue riding. I somehow managed climbing it.
I reached the end control at 6.45. I called Kalpesh to find out where he was. He had reached ORR, and so he was set to finish before the 7.30 closing time. Karthik got a flat just before ORR, and he lost time getting the tube patched at a shop. He would finish the ride at 8.15. It was his first 200 km ride, and he would have made it in time if it hadn’t been for the flat.
Photos by Alex: http://picasaweb.google.com/102365532980939624165/Huliyurdurga200KBRMNovember2011
Photos by gans subs: http://picasaweb.google.com/108786458769812949648/Brevet200November262011
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