I have been looking forward to every September during the last four years – that’s when Hyderabad turns ideal for cycling, with the monsoon coming to an end and winter starting to set in allowing for long rides. With bountiful rains last monsoon season, the lakes around Hyderabad were brimming with water and the scenic routes were a delight to the eyes! I had good company in Aditya and thanks to his Google Pixel phone, we captured some fantastic views.
We started in September with Bakaram and Musi river upstream from Hyderabad!
We rode around Himayat Sagar during the first weekend of October:
More beautiful Shamirpet lake the next weekend!
Finally, Patancheru and Ordnance Factory:
Now was the time for brevet season. After finishing up as a Super Randonneur in December 2016, I had told myself that I will try to repeat it during the next winter season.
200 BRM – Heaven & Hell:
Unlike my previous brevets, I decided to cycle to the start point at HBC Station that would add another 20 Km. I thought this would prepare me better for the longer brevets coming up. I had company of Aditya for the first 120 Km but after that I stopped pushing myself and slowed down significantly. I could sense a bit of over confidence creeping in and had to endure a minor scare of not finishing on time. Finally, managed to complete with about 5 minutes to spare!
300 BRM – Tour of Neelagiri:
After the scare of finishing 200 BRM late, I told myself that I should overcome complacency and ride faster. It had the desired effect. Though I took an hour longer than the last time, I was still in time with more than an hour to spare.
400 BRM – Nizamabad & Armoor:
I had to do it alone with Aditya deciding to focus on racing with his new road bike. I finished with about 40 minutes left, but not a lot of pictures!
600 BRM – the Two States:
The first weekend of January 2018 brought the ultimate challenge of completing 600 Km brevet to become a Super Randonneur again. It was a different route this time, all along the Bangalore Highway till Gooty and back. I started strong and rode at good pace for the first 65 Kms as we crossed Jadcherla at almost 25 Km/Hr. The first problem stuck around 80 Km. I felt my rear wheel drag on but carried on for a few minutes. Then I decided to stop and check. It was a shock as my rear tyre was flat in the middle of nowhere – and this was the first time in more than three years of long rides that I had to deal with a flat. Just as I was preparing to fix it, a couple of riders were kind enough to stop and help me. It took about 30 minutes to change the tube and start riding again. We stopped for dinner break at 120 Km and I got the punctured tube fixed. Now the second problem – as we were around 140 Km mark, we saw a young rider standing on the side of the road appearing clueless. He had a flat and had no idea or tools to deal with it. Along with the two angels who helped me, we fixed his flat and got moving after about 30 minutes. Net-net, I lost an hour and that meant I could not take any rest at mid point at Gooty. When I started from the mid-point, I only had about an hour buffer that appeared insufficient given the uphills that I had to deal with.
The return journey under the hot sun was tough. After a short lunch break and relentless riding, I reached Kurnool around 6:15PM. Another 200 Km to go and under 14 hours left. I started to feel sleepy around 7:30PM and had to take a power nap at one of the road side tea shops for about 30 minutes before riding again. Then I made the final mistake – while taking a dinner break was a wise move, the duration of that break was atrocious. When I started after dinner break, I had to cover almost 150 Km with under 8.5 hours left – almost impossible given my energy levels and the impending uphill! I gave it my shot riding fast for the next one hour gaining some time. But just before Jadcherla, the uphill started and slowed me down significantly. I reached the checkpoint at Jadcherla later by about 45 minutes. I now had about 3.5 hours to cover 70 Km, pretty much impossible. Instead of hitting the wall trying to push too hard, I decided to just finish late. After a tea break just before dawn, I dragged myself towards the finish point.
I completed 600 Km in about 41 hours, more than an hour later than allotted time. Net-net, I finished a brevet late for the first time after 13 successful attempts. But who cares – I did complete riding 600 Km and consider completing the last 60+ Km knowing fully well that I will not finish on time as an achievement in itself! The thought of giving up and getting onto a bus or a mini truck to get back to my car crossed my mind several times. It required immense will power to complete in this scenario and glad I was able to do it.
