After the 200 Km Brevet on July 11th, I shifted my focus on training for Hyderabad Marathon on August 30th. When the registration for TAF Freedom Ride scheduled on August 15th came up, I was in a dilemma whether to ride or complete the pending long run during that weekend. It is not often that I get a chance to ride with my office colleagues, particularly with folks from both my current work place and the previous one. So, I decided to risk my marathon training and registered for the Freedom Ride.
Freedom Ride 2014 was my first formal event (and my first medal) in my cycling and running career! It was one of the toughest finishes I encountered so far. I was confident it will be far easier this time given my current fitness and stamina levels. The event location and route were significantly different this year. To commemorate 68 years of Indian Independence, the event covered 68 Km. To and from from my home made it 94 Km.
I woke up at 4 AM and was a bit worried to see light rain falling. I hate wet roads and water splashing all over. Rain stopped by the time I started but water remained on the road. I started cycling from home at 5 AM and reached the venue by 5:40 AM, well on time for 6 AM start. After meet and greet with some old and new friends, we were ready to start by 6 AM. The start was delayed due to technical challenges as the organizers struggled to get the public address system working! It was disappointing as the schedule had warm up scheduled for 5:30 AM, which never happened and the PA system was not up even by 6:15 AM. Anyways, the ride was eventually flagged off at 6:15 AM.
As I was at the head of the line, it was a quick start and I maintained good pace. The route this year was all along the ORR and was much easier that last year. The only concern were the dangerous speed breakers that were irritating to negotiate. I rode continuously till the mid point where I had a banana and some biscuits. The ride back was also non stop at a good tempo. I finished in about 3 hours 15 minutes, about 30 mins less than last year! I was glad that I got better. After a few pictures with my friends and breakfast, I rode back home covering a total of 94 Km.
