I did not think about doing a 400 Km brevet, till I finished the 300 one (Tour of Neelagiri) strongly. Having finished 300 Km in less than 18 hours, I was confident that the remaining 9+ hours should be ample time to complete 400 Km successfully.
With that thought, I registered for 400 Km brevet: Hyderabad – Nizamabad – Armoor one, largely along NH7. The elevation profile appeared to be tougher that the route for 300Km brevet but nowhere near the challenging Heaven & Hell one through Anantagiri hills. I had about 2 weeks after the Tour of Neelagiri to recover and prepare for the 400 Km brevet – enough time to recover from the previous night out travails but close enough to keep my muscles warm for another ordeal.
I followed similar routines during the 24 hours preceding the brevet start and arrived at St. Martin’s College by 3:30PM on D-day, giving me about 30 minutes to complete paperwork and talk to co-riders on the route. The flag-off was scheduled as a grand event in the college with many students and the college Principal in attendance to cheer the 23 riders who started on a 27 hour ride.
The first 20 Km was a bit of uphill and then it became a gradual downhill that helped us maintain good pace. We reached our dinner venue (Zyka restaurant) around 7:30 PM covering about 75 Km in 3.5 hours. I had some curd rice that I thought should keep me going till the next manual checkpoint at Nizamabad. But before Nizamabad, I had to deal with an automated control point at Kamareddy after about 95 Km. This was my first auto control that made me anxious. I reached Kamareddy around 8:50PM and took a selfie in front of a bank. As a crowd started gathering, I quickly restarted and continued on my rhythm. I made it a point to memorise the cue sheet and looked for the landmarks to make sure I do not lose my way. When I saw the signboard for Nizamabad, I stopped under a light to recheck on cue sheet and confirm the route.
I reached the manual checkpoint around 142 Km at 11:09 PM. It was a beautiful house where the organizers had arranged beds for folks who wanted to rest for a while. 6 out of the 23 riders had already checked in and 3 of them were taking a nap. I had a banana and some juice before I left the place telling the folks that I want to cover as much distance during the cool night. A nap can wait till I return to the same place after 260 Km!
The next 40 Km was tough. I rode through a forest – bad roads, poor lighting and blinding head lights from a few vehicles coming from the opposite direction combined to make it difficult. It became much better after rejoining NH7 around 180 Km. Just before that, there was another auto control point where I took a selfie with a leader’s statue at 1:34 AM. I arrived at the mid-point of brevet at 2:56 AM and clicked another selfie at the designated ATM. When I took a u-turn to retrace to finish point, I noticed it was exactly 3 AM. I had taken 11 hours to complete 200 Km. About an hour longer than the 300 Km brevet two weeks back but I was left with another 16 hours to complete the remaining 200 Km.
It was around this distance during the previous brevet that I had an omelette, which I thought energized me for the rest of the night. I was craving for the same and was happy to find a dhaba. I carried my cycle along with me right till the seat to avoid any curious truck drivers meddling with the gears or other equipment. I ordered for some rotis and egg burji and lied down for a few minutes as the order was getting ready. As I started eating, a couple of truck drivers came to me and started asking questions about the event and purpose. I was in no mood to answer them but did not want to sound rude – I replied with short responses. I noticed about 5 riders cross the dhaba as I was finishing with a tea. After about 30 minutes, I started riding again. It was lonely for about an hour after which I caught up with one of the riders, who was feeling sleepy and needed some company to remain awake. We rode together for the next 3 hours. On the way we saw a few riders taking a nap under one of the bus shelters along the highway. I was not feeling sleepy and wanted to cover as much distance as possible before dawn.
We arrived at the manual control point at Nizamabad at 6:45 AM. It was beautiful weather and the countryside looked fabulous. After completing the paperwork, I was ready to start when the volunteers announced breakfast was ready. I gulped more than half a dozen idlis with chutney. It tasted among the best idlis I ever had – I should have been hungry! I knew the next 140 Km would be the toughest phase but it proved tougher than I had expected.
I was told that the incline before Kamareddy would be steep and wanted to cross it before the sun came out. I could not manage that and was left puffing through the steep incline under hot sun. It took more than 3 hours to cross this 45 Km stretch and I finally reached the last checkpoint at Kamareddy at 10:10AM. That also marked completion of 300 Km. I had another 100 Km to go with almost 9 hours left. Time was not going to be the issue but the thought of riding under the hot sun was draining.
As I was struggling through the incline before Kamareddy, about 3 riders crossed me. I managed to catch up with one of them and we planned to have lunch at Zyka that should be around 20 Km after Kamareddy. I thought we should reach there by 11:45 AM. The hot sun delayed it a bit and we finally managed to reach there by around noon. But we arrived a bit early for lunch and they were not ready! Not wanting to waste time, we decided to look for the next dhaba. But that would not come before the 352 Km mark! I was thoroughly exhausted by this time. It was 1:15 PM and I had breakfast around 7 AM. It was clearly a mistake to have given such a long gap between two meals and with only about 50 Km left, I decided to take it easy. I had some curd rice and took a power nap for 20 mins before starting off again around 2:20 PM.
The power nap did wonders to my energy level. I was surprised by the difference a short 20 minute nap can do to our body! I started riding with more confidence and power and managed to catch up with a few riders who should have crossed me during lunch. The sun also hid behind the clouds for some time making it easier. I finally reached the finish point at 5:23 PM to warm welcome from the volunteers. It was a tough ride but one that I again enjoyed and would cherish for a long time!
