Sunday, June 28, 2009

Bangalore to Nandi Hills - Cycling Endurance Race

I am proud to say that I secured 42nd rank in the cycling endurance race conducted by BBC (Bangalore Biker's Club) from Bangalore to Nandi Hills :)
I know that 42nd out of 100 participants is not a kind of rank which can make one proud. But considering the terrain of the racing route and the fact that this was my first cycling race, I am little bit proud of myself that I successfully finished race.

The race was scheduled to begin on the Sunday morning at 7 o'clock from the CCD outlet on Bellary road. Totally 4 guys from IISc (Abhijit, Poovaiah, Alex and I) had decided to participate. But an interesting thing happened on Sunday morning which comples me to believe that whatever Murphy said is true. It so happened that there are 2 CCD outlets on Bellary road, one which is around 2 Km away and second which is 20 Km away from IISc campus. As per Murphy's laws until 5.30 AM on Sunday we were assuming that the race will start from the first CCD outlet, so we imagined that it is an easy 5 min ride from campus.

But we got a call from organizers and they clarified that the starting point is actually the second CCD. All of us got ready quickly and set off at around 6 o'clock. We cycled as fast as possible, as if the race had already begun and reached starting point in 45 minutes. There we saw around 100 cyclists with full enthusiasm ready to shoot. Many of them had carried cycles in cars, SUVs etc.

The race started at around 7.15 AM. The total distance to be covered was around 40 Km. There were 3 checkpoints. Water and electrolyte was provided at checkpoints. After first checkpoint the Nandi hill peak (which was the finishing point) was visible. The top part was fully covered with clouds. I got really excited imagining that I'll be there in clouds soon.

After 2nd checkpoint started the last 12 Km stretch of road which was all uphill. I was getting more and more thirsty with every passing Km. But the worse was after 3rd checkpoint, last 3.5 Km was quiet a steep road up. There were many steep and dangerous turns. The sun was fully out. The real test of stamina and endurance was in this part of the race. It was difficult to keep the spirit steady and legs moving. At a very steep hair pin turn, the roaring people was audible and there it was, the finish line of the race. I finished in 2 hr 20 min.

It was a great feeling having finished the race. After that we roamed around there for some time and returned to campus in the evening.