I originally did not intend to do the Monsoon Brevet – 200 Km Heaven & Hell route scheduled for Jul 11th. A couple of reasons – I thought I will not enjoy riding in the rain and I wanted to focus on training for my first full marathon on August 30th. After getting drenched in rain during my Naraspur ride, I realized that riding in rain is fun after all and may actually help cool the body during long rides. Second, with my strained right leg after interval training, I thought I will be better off giving my running a bit of break for a couple of weeks. So, I registered for the brevet and wanted to complete it in less than 12 hours.
A couple of 100 Km rides are recommended during the weeks before a brevet. I had done 117 Km during the Naraspur ride but that one was with a lot of breaks. So, I decided to go on the 100 Km Brevet practice ride with TBA on Jul 4th. My colleague and friend from the US also joined me during the ride. I was the slowest during the ride but managed to complete 100 Km in about 6 hours. It was a hot day and I hoped the brevet day would be more pleasant.
I usually keep the week before brevet light and relaxed but could not manage it this time with a lot happening at work. I don’t think I added enough protein in my diet during this time as well. But I managed to get some good sleep before the brevet and woke up around 3AM with the feeling that I was all set! I arrived at HBC by 4:30AM and after a quick bike check, I went through some stretching exercises. I had my partner Mani riding with me. We planned to ride together again! He is a source of strength for me and the reason behind my finishing on time in Nov despite being injured.
The ride was flagged off at 5:30AM and I started steady. While I was able to cover the first 65 Km in less than 3 hours during the last brevet, I was never able to hit an average of 20 Km this time before the first checkpoint. Blame it on head winds and the massive elevation after Shankarpally, we managed to get to the first checkpoint that marked 66.8 Km only at 9:12 AM. The average during this distance was only 18 Km/hr but I did not doubt my ability to complete the brevet on time at that point of time.
The route immediately after the checkpoint was downhill with some aiding wind and continued that way for a while. It made be feel good and confident. But this lasted for just about 10 Km as we started facing more uphill again. I reached the next checkpoint that marked 108.6 Km at 12 PM. That was 30 minutes later than last time. I felt time concern for the first time when one of the volunteers pointed out that we are cutting close as the checkpoint was supposed to close in 45 minutes. The next checkpoint closes at 2 PM giving about 2 hours to complete the daunting Anantagiri hills. After a break for 20 minutes, started pedaling again.
We made steady progress towards Anantagiri Hills. I felt we were doing better than last time but statistics later would show that it was only marginally better. I had targeted to ride up the entire Anantagiri climb but had to give up soon after the first few hundred metres. I did not even attempt to ride after that till I reached the peak. As I started to walk my cycle up, I noticed that the time was 1:31 PM. I should be able to make it on time for the checkpoint at Harita that included lunch but the buffer time had already gone down significantly. I reached Harita at 1:44 PM with just 12 mins left for closure. That would be the last long break as I had some curd rice and refilled water. I started riding again around 2:15 PM with strong feelings of time pressure.
With some tailwind and downhill, I increased the pace and averaged about 20 Km/hr for the first time since morning. But after about 12 Km at 140 Km mark, I felt tired and slowed down. Mani checked if I wanted a break and I gladly accepted it! I lied down on a stone giving support to my back for the first time since morning and it felt great. We took a break for about 15 minutes but it was a revitalizing one. We now had less than 4 hours for the remaining 65 Km.
We decided that the next break would be at Chevella, at the same bakery that we stopped last time. This stretch of about 22 Km was the best since morning with an average speed of 21 Km/hr. At Chevella, we had some hot tea and cold sprite as I gave some support to my back again. It was a 15 minute break and the last one before the next checkpoint at movie towers that was about 32 Km away. We started riding again around 4:25 PM and clearly on time pressure now. Movie Towers checkpoint closes at 6:11 PM and I had about 1 hr 45 mins to cover 32 Km. The average now had to be more than 18 Km/hr with tiring legs. Is it possible?
As I crossed Chevella town, a couple of cyclists crossed me checking if I was still targeting to finish. They then added that they did not finish the last checkpoint on time and are anyways riding back to finish though they are out of the brevet now. Folks who dropped out of the brevet just crossed me and I still hope to finish! That was scary! A short while later, another rider crossed me checking if I am still in. That is when Mani had a master stroke. He said that I was pedalling strong but not moving fast enough. That could be due to lower gears and he suggested that I move up my front gear. When I started riding geared bikes, I usually tend to be on higher gears straining myself and getting exhausted. So, I consciously started riding on lower gears giving relief to my legs but I was compromising on speed with that. It was now or never situation and I decided to go back to my original higher gear strategy. It seemed to work as I managed to maintain good pace and I reached the foothill of Movie Towers by around 5:55 PM. As I started pedalling uphill, I felt exhaustion hitting me and remembered that I did not eat anything solid for the last couple of hours. I had a couple of energy bars and should have eaten it. A bad mistake but never mind as I had time to walk up the hill. I reached the checkpoint at 6:01 PM with 10 minutes left. I was the last one to reach the checkpoint and was told that about 40 out of 104 riders were out so far due to tough conditions. I had a banana and some water and lied down on the road to give some rest to my back. One of the volunteers said it will take 35 minutes from there to the checkpoint with the tough Microsoft Hill being the only remaining challenge. So, the break lasted about 15 mins and was quite refreshing. I now had less than 45 minutes to cover the last 11 Km.
As we started riding up the first hill leading to Microsoft, Mani pulled off ahead and I was not sure if I will be able to continue riding. I knew that walking would cut it too close and risk missing the target by a few mins. That would be disastrous after all the effort. By that time by mobile phone had died along with Strava and I did not even know how much time was left. I started feeling cramps on my left left but told myself that I am going to pedal hard. Fortunately, the banana I had at Movie Towers started kicking in and I managed to pedal hard and reach Mani who was anxiously waiting at the peak. He said it was only 6:40 PM and I relaxed! It was a home run after that and I reached the finish point at 6:47 PM with 13 minutes left! And that was 1 minute later than last time. Never mind as I was more than 30 minutes behind midway.
I had my family waiting for me at the finish. I was great to see them and need to thank them, particularly my wife for helping me prepare for all these events! Will I do this again and go through the pain again? I think so!!!
