The Coorg 600 Km Brevet - #EpicShit
I normally don't write a blog now a days unless I do something which I would like to go back and read about later in my life. Coorg 600 KM Brevet definitely fits the bill and hence this blog.
Me along with Stefan and couple of more friends were planning Nubra Valley cycling (Ladhak) this year in early September. And again we wanted it to be a self supported ride. To get to Nubra Valley from Leh you need to cross Khardung La pass which is one of the highest motorable pass in the world. 40 kms of steep climb, in low oxygen terrain, at 5% average gradient starting from an altitude of 2300 meters approximately. Lot of cyclists have done it in past but one needs to prepare if one wants to enjoy the ride and not struggle. One of best ways to prepare for me is to ride brevets in Bangalore.
Audax India Randonneurs (AIR) calendar is published at the start of season (1st November) every year. I had earmarked a series of brevets 200, 300, 400 and 600 km with each being 2 weeks apart in June and July as a practice rides to get fit for the Nubra ride. But I had a big surprise in store. The chief organiser of Bangalore Randonneurs (The AIR affiliated cycling club), Mohan has a habit of throwing challenges to riders. This time he annoucnced this will be toughest SR (Super Randonneur) Series ever done in India. Mohan a veteran in riding himself, when says tough, it's really tough. Anyway, I had signed for this series mentally so decided to go ahead with the plan.
With Anchetty 200 and Basavana Betta (Hill) 300 being one of toughest in their category I knew Hogenakkal 400 and Coorg 600 will be extremely tough rides. Each of these ride were around 1% elevation on an average. After 250 kms mark in the 400 ride I started having a niggle in the right knee. But completed the ride in good time. Rested the body and did one Nandi climb and a flat 130 kms ride on next weekend to check the knee status. It felt OK so I went ahead and decided to do the Coorg 600 brevet.
Just before the brevet there were too many news items forecasting heavy rains in Coorg making rounds. However organisers did their job, figured out that it will be safe to ride and decided to go ahead with the Brevet.
My tyres were facing too many punctures in the brevets so I had decided to change the tyres before the 600 ride. The tyres of my choice arrived only in the afternoon on the day ride was scheduled. The RR Cycle sent a mechanic with new Tyres to the start line. The bike got ready with new tyres exactly at 4 PM which was the ride start time. Not without a drama of a flat tyre again after putting the new tyres 10 minutes before the start.
The Route was Kanteerava, Yeshwantpur, Tumkur Road, Neelamangla, Hassan, Sakleshpur, Somwarpet, Suntikoppa, Madikeri, Virajpet, Gonikoppa, Mysore, Kanteerava.
Deep, Arpit, Guru and Myself were riding together since the start of the series. Guru decided to skip 400 and 600. He was volunteering in the 600. We had food just at 40 kms mark on the Hassan Highway at place I had food when I did a solo tour to Sakleshpur. After that Arpit was riding fast. Me and Deep decided to just to stay behind at a comfortable distance from him. Else he would have gone faster!
After the Belur Cross Control Point the rolling climb starts gradually and its rolling uphill all the way till Madikeri base 11 kms before the town.
The road between Hassan and Sakleshpur was extremely dangerous as construction was going on and we were riding in night with lot of lorries and buses plying on the narrow stretch.
It started raining near Sakleshpur and after crossing Sakleshpur we reached 227 km manned control point around 4.30 AM in morning. There was no place to rest and relax so we quickly had Chow Chow Bhath arranged by Monish and Guru at the CP and moved ahead. Initially it was rolling downhill and then the treacherous climb to Somwarpet started. We stopped at a tea shop to have buns and biscuits for breakfast. Finally reached Somwarpet and then headed towards Suntikoppa which was another rolling climb. The whole distance till Mandya from here will be steep rolling uphills with short downhills. Both my knees started paining after Somwarpet climb itself. Finally reached base of Madikeri climb, a 11 km continuous climb to the town was next. With the knee pain I was slow on the climb and Deep was sticking with me. Arpit would have reached 5 mins earlier than us to the Cafe Coffe Day in Madikeri, which was a control point. It was raining on the top and we got completely wet again by the time we reached control point. We had some coffee and then Lunch at a nearby hotel and started towards Virajpet. first 5-6 kms was steep downhill and after that again the steep rolling climbs started. In between we crossed a river and stopped to take a picture which would be only picture I would take during the ride apart from selfies at the control points.
The ride after this point was enjoyable and suffering at the same time as we crossed Virajpet, Gonikoppa and Rajiv Gandhi national park. The road inside the forest was completely blocked due to a tree fallen on the road. Fortunately we on cycle could steer clear of the blockage from the side.
Deep started having some acidity issues so we stopped soon after crossing the forest. Arpit was riding ahead and he waited at the Hunsur cross for us.
From Hunsur cross till Mysore, road was bad and there was a lot of traffic. Around 10-15 kms before Mysore it started raining again and we again got completely soaked. We stopped for dinner and by the time we finished dinner rain stopped. We started again and after getting on the Mysore - Bangalore road we started feeling very very sleepy. I dozed on saddle couple of times. We stopped at a petrol bunk to take a power nap for 20 mins. It seems there was dog who was sniffing all of us but I was happily snoring on the ground! Also, sleeping with wet clothes was a first for me.
After this we reached Mandya around 2 AM which was final CP before the End Control and a manned one. We ate some bananas and quickly took a power nap for 15 mins before starting again.
We would soon feel very sleepy again and stopped after Channapatna for a power nap for 15 mins. After we started from there just before Ramanagaram I had a flat. It was pinch flat. More drama - I changed the tube but it was not holding air. Changed the tube again and now it was fine. Both my spare tubes were used and now we had to chase the End Control to finish before 8 AM which was end time of the ride.
We stopped near Bidadi to have tea and bun and started riding the final stretch. I got a PR (Personal Record) on Bidadi to Kengeri segment. With busted knees that was not a bad effort. After the Nice Road junction one BMTC bus almost hit me. I took some time to give him pass as I was avoiding potholes, which irritated him I guess. The same guy little later braked right in from of Arpit. Jerk!
Finally we reached the end control at 7.11 AM to mark a successful finish.
This was truly epic not only because it was one of the toughest 600 but because of all the buildup with tough 200, 300 and 400. Uncertainty of rains and my Punctures! The group has already started calling me puncture wala!!
I decided to gift myself this jersey
But the size won't fit! We did celebrated in Toit and most of group was present for that. Everyone shared the bill too.
Anyway it was EPIC SHIT by all means!!
Me along with Stefan and couple of more friends were planning Nubra Valley cycling (Ladhak) this year in early September. And again we wanted it to be a self supported ride. To get to Nubra Valley from Leh you need to cross Khardung La pass which is one of the highest motorable pass in the world. 40 kms of steep climb, in low oxygen terrain, at 5% average gradient starting from an altitude of 2300 meters approximately. Lot of cyclists have done it in past but one needs to prepare if one wants to enjoy the ride and not struggle. One of best ways to prepare for me is to ride brevets in Bangalore.
Audax India Randonneurs (AIR) calendar is published at the start of season (1st November) every year. I had earmarked a series of brevets 200, 300, 400 and 600 km with each being 2 weeks apart in June and July as a practice rides to get fit for the Nubra ride. But I had a big surprise in store. The chief organiser of Bangalore Randonneurs (The AIR affiliated cycling club), Mohan has a habit of throwing challenges to riders. This time he annoucnced this will be toughest SR (Super Randonneur) Series ever done in India. Mohan a veteran in riding himself, when says tough, it's really tough. Anyway, I had signed for this series mentally so decided to go ahead with the plan.
With Anchetty 200 and Basavana Betta (Hill) 300 being one of toughest in their category I knew Hogenakkal 400 and Coorg 600 will be extremely tough rides. Each of these ride were around 1% elevation on an average. After 250 kms mark in the 400 ride I started having a niggle in the right knee. But completed the ride in good time. Rested the body and did one Nandi climb and a flat 130 kms ride on next weekend to check the knee status. It felt OK so I went ahead and decided to do the Coorg 600 brevet.
Just before the brevet there were too many news items forecasting heavy rains in Coorg making rounds. However organisers did their job, figured out that it will be safe to ride and decided to go ahead with the Brevet.
My tyres were facing too many punctures in the brevets so I had decided to change the tyres before the 600 ride. The tyres of my choice arrived only in the afternoon on the day ride was scheduled. The RR Cycle sent a mechanic with new Tyres to the start line. The bike got ready with new tyres exactly at 4 PM which was the ride start time. Not without a drama of a flat tyre again after putting the new tyres 10 minutes before the start.
 |
| RR Cycle Mechanic at work |
 |
| At the start |
The Route was Kanteerava, Yeshwantpur, Tumkur Road, Neelamangla, Hassan, Sakleshpur, Somwarpet, Suntikoppa, Madikeri, Virajpet, Gonikoppa, Mysore, Kanteerava.
Deep, Arpit, Guru and Myself were riding together since the start of the series. Guru decided to skip 400 and 600. He was volunteering in the 600. We had food just at 40 kms mark on the Hassan Highway at place I had food when I did a solo tour to Sakleshpur. After that Arpit was riding fast. Me and Deep decided to just to stay behind at a comfortable distance from him. Else he would have gone faster!
After the Belur Cross Control Point the rolling climb starts gradually and its rolling uphill all the way till Madikeri base 11 kms before the town.
The road between Hassan and Sakleshpur was extremely dangerous as construction was going on and we were riding in night with lot of lorries and buses plying on the narrow stretch.
It started raining near Sakleshpur and after crossing Sakleshpur we reached 227 km manned control point around 4.30 AM in morning. There was no place to rest and relax so we quickly had Chow Chow Bhath arranged by Monish and Guru at the CP and moved ahead. Initially it was rolling downhill and then the treacherous climb to Somwarpet started. We stopped at a tea shop to have buns and biscuits for breakfast. Finally reached Somwarpet and then headed towards Suntikoppa which was another rolling climb. The whole distance till Mandya from here will be steep rolling uphills with short downhills. Both my knees started paining after Somwarpet climb itself. Finally reached base of Madikeri climb, a 11 km continuous climb to the town was next. With the knee pain I was slow on the climb and Deep was sticking with me. Arpit would have reached 5 mins earlier than us to the Cafe Coffe Day in Madikeri, which was a control point. It was raining on the top and we got completely wet again by the time we reached control point. We had some coffee and then Lunch at a nearby hotel and started towards Virajpet. first 5-6 kms was steep downhill and after that again the steep rolling climbs started. In between we crossed a river and stopped to take a picture which would be only picture I would take during the ride apart from selfies at the control points.
The ride after this point was enjoyable and suffering at the same time as we crossed Virajpet, Gonikoppa and Rajiv Gandhi national park. The road inside the forest was completely blocked due to a tree fallen on the road. Fortunately we on cycle could steer clear of the blockage from the side.
Deep started having some acidity issues so we stopped soon after crossing the forest. Arpit was riding ahead and he waited at the Hunsur cross for us.
From Hunsur cross till Mysore, road was bad and there was a lot of traffic. Around 10-15 kms before Mysore it started raining again and we again got completely soaked. We stopped for dinner and by the time we finished dinner rain stopped. We started again and after getting on the Mysore - Bangalore road we started feeling very very sleepy. I dozed on saddle couple of times. We stopped at a petrol bunk to take a power nap for 20 mins. It seems there was dog who was sniffing all of us but I was happily snoring on the ground! Also, sleeping with wet clothes was a first for me.
After this we reached Mandya around 2 AM which was final CP before the End Control and a manned one. We ate some bananas and quickly took a power nap for 15 mins before starting again.
We would soon feel very sleepy again and stopped after Channapatna for a power nap for 15 mins. After we started from there just before Ramanagaram I had a flat. It was pinch flat. More drama - I changed the tube but it was not holding air. Changed the tube again and now it was fine. Both my spare tubes were used and now we had to chase the End Control to finish before 8 AM which was end time of the ride.
We stopped near Bidadi to have tea and bun and started riding the final stretch. I got a PR (Personal Record) on Bidadi to Kengeri segment. With busted knees that was not a bad effort. After the Nice Road junction one BMTC bus almost hit me. I took some time to give him pass as I was avoiding potholes, which irritated him I guess. The same guy little later braked right in from of Arpit. Jerk!
Finally we reached the end control at 7.11 AM to mark a successful finish.
This was truly epic not only because it was one of the toughest 600 but because of all the buildup with tough 200, 300 and 400. Uncertainty of rains and my Punctures! The group has already started calling me puncture wala!!
I decided to gift myself this jersey
But the size won't fit! We did celebrated in Toit and most of group was present for that. Everyone shared the bill too.
Anyway it was EPIC SHIT by all means!!
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