When I did my first century ride on 9th June 2012, I had promised to myself that I would do a Mysore trip at an average speed of 20kmph+. Well, that day was yesterday (26/10/13) - I did a Bangalore-Kanakapura-Malavalli-Mysore bike ride.
It all started with a regular ride on Kanakapura Road. I stocked up with some chikkis, dry fruit and water. I had only one sachet of gatorade. The initial target was to go as long as possible on Kanakapura road and come back. On the way, around just after kaggalipura, I bumped into Ananth Vishwanathan who on his Bianchi Nirone Roadbike. He was going upto Mysore to stay with his friend and return the next day. He tempted me with an offer - Join him upto Mysore and take the Volvo back ... It did not take a lot for him to convince me :-). So Mysore it was ...
We went upto Harohalli and had breakfast at the Vasu Hotel and I was searching for a medical shop to buy a couple of Electral Sachets. It was just around 7.45 and there was no medical shop open at Harohalli. Decided to go ahead upto Kanakapura and buy there.
It was a great day to pedal - very nice and pleasant. Kanakapura road (NH209) is my personal favourite for biking because of all the tree cover. So, it was the two of us pedaling away to glory. I was able to maintain good speed (of course, it was downhill, so that helped ;-) ). We reached Kanakapuraroad at around 8.30PM 8.30AM and bought 2 sachets of Electral. It was about 50 kms from home and I had done in about 2hrs 20mins with a breakfast break. So I was rolling and I thought I ll reach Mysore by 2PM - Reality was to have the last laugh!
On the way to Malavalli, I stopped a couple of times and had some good stretches. These were stuff I learned from my previous rides and I followed them rigorously and it sure helped. We reached Malavalli by around 11.55AM and that was around 97km. So I thought this is great going - the weather is great, we have a good riding speed of 24kmph and there was no stopping!
Lunch at Utsav Restaurant, Malavalli
When I had blogged about my 200km Brevet, there was a guy who advised that bikers should have rice for food and not roti, because of the carbohydrates. I had done some research and found that this was the general advice. So, we had 2 Maaza, 2 Tomato bath, 4 cups of curd, 2 half curd rice and 1 bottle of water and the bill was all of Rs 148!!! It was indeed a pleasure! Paid a tip of 10 bucks too!
The Sun shines down on us!
So we started around 12.35PM and it was getting hotter. I thought we can do the 50km in around 2.5 hours and we should hit Mysore around 3PM. The road was a small road with little traffic. It was Mandya district and we had some great views. Sample these pics
With these views accompanying, I was pedaling hard and and the sun shined down on me hard! I was feeling like sipping water every few minutes. I carry a regular water bottle with a screw cap. So I had to stop the bike, get down and then sip some water. Had I been carrying a regular sipper, I could have sipped while riding. But on second thoughts, that would be effortless and I would end up drinking a lot of water and feeling heavy in the stomach; that happened towards the end of the ride, but a sipper would mean easy drinking and I might get that feeling sooner. But I guess these are choices we take while doing the ride and these small decisions reflect on the ride efficiency.
Just before Bannur, we found a small dam and it was beautiful! Ananth decided to get down while I stayed up in the sun .... Look at these pics to get an idea.
The sun was really cruel and it impacted my speeds greatly. I stopped a couple of times on the way for drinking coconut water and Maaza .... I also was stopping for my regular stretches, but the road not very smooth and there were short climbs all through. I was pedaling on the 2x3 gear and was also feeling the heat. But I have noticed that though my speed comes down during the heat, I am not overly bothered by it. As long as I control my urge to gulp down a lot of water, I am ok to actually sweat it out in the heat.
It was around 3PM and I was still around 25+ km away from Mysore. I realised that this is not gonna be a cake walk! I was down to average brevet speeds of 15kmph (including any break). So recalculated and set myself a target of 4.15PM; that would mean 10 hours since I left home in the morning. I am glad to say I was able to achieve this and reached the Mysore bus stand around 4.10PM. Here is me all smiles after the journey!
I wanted to go the Palace and get a snap in front of the palace with a cycling salute. But I totally forgot about it when I reached the bus stand. While I was about to load the bike into the Volvo luggage rack, I remembered. But I did not have the enthu to go back! I boarded the Volvo bus and came back to Nayandahalli around 7.30PM and reached home by 8.15PM - that was 14 hours of useful time spent and a promise kept!
Now I have to go back to Mysore to get the snap in front of the palace ... I live to bike another day!
Learnings from the ride:
Practice riding in the heat while maintaining good speed. I am gonna do afternoon rides from 1PM to 5PM on the weekends so that I get used to the sun.
Ride stats:
So overall, an unplanned, but satisfying journey to Mysore! My hunger for long rides is sated and I dont plan to do any more long rides in the near future!
The day after
Today (27/10/13), I did my regular 5km walk and did a 20 minute stretch of all parts of my body - neck, shoulder, back, hip and legs. I seem to be ok - now I am off for some diwali shopping and am gonna have my well deserved tub of icecream with my daughter!
EDIT 28/10/13: Corrected time from 8.30PM to 8.30AM
It all started with a regular ride on Kanakapura Road. I stocked up with some chikkis, dry fruit and water. I had only one sachet of gatorade. The initial target was to go as long as possible on Kanakapura road and come back. On the way, around just after kaggalipura, I bumped into Ananth Vishwanathan who on his Bianchi Nirone Roadbike. He was going upto Mysore to stay with his friend and return the next day. He tempted me with an offer - Join him upto Mysore and take the Volvo back ... It did not take a lot for him to convince me :-). So Mysore it was ...
We went upto Harohalli and had breakfast at the Vasu Hotel and I was searching for a medical shop to buy a couple of Electral Sachets. It was just around 7.45 and there was no medical shop open at Harohalli. Decided to go ahead upto Kanakapura and buy there.
It was a great day to pedal - very nice and pleasant. Kanakapura road (NH209) is my personal favourite for biking because of all the tree cover. So, it was the two of us pedaling away to glory. I was able to maintain good speed (of course, it was downhill, so that helped ;-) ). We reached Kanakapura
On the way to Malavalli, I stopped a couple of times and had some good stretches. These were stuff I learned from my previous rides and I followed them rigorously and it sure helped. We reached Malavalli by around 11.55AM and that was around 97km. So I thought this is great going - the weather is great, we have a good riding speed of 24kmph and there was no stopping!
Lunch at Utsav Restaurant, Malavalli
When I had blogged about my 200km Brevet, there was a guy who advised that bikers should have rice for food and not roti, because of the carbohydrates. I had done some research and found that this was the general advice. So, we had 2 Maaza, 2 Tomato bath, 4 cups of curd, 2 half curd rice and 1 bottle of water and the bill was all of Rs 148!!! It was indeed a pleasure! Paid a tip of 10 bucks too!
The Sun shines down on us!
So we started around 12.35PM and it was getting hotter. I thought we can do the 50km in around 2.5 hours and we should hit Mysore around 3PM. The road was a small road with little traffic. It was Mandya district and we had some great views. Sample these pics
 |
| The Road and the View |
 |
| Green!! |
 |
| My Faithful Companion - As always! |
 |
| Another green field! |
Just before Bannur, we found a small dam and it was beautiful! Ananth decided to get down while I stayed up in the sun .... Look at these pics to get an idea.
The sun was really cruel and it impacted my speeds greatly. I stopped a couple of times on the way for drinking coconut water and Maaza .... I also was stopping for my regular stretches, but the road not very smooth and there were short climbs all through. I was pedaling on the 2x3 gear and was also feeling the heat. But I have noticed that though my speed comes down during the heat, I am not overly bothered by it. As long as I control my urge to gulp down a lot of water, I am ok to actually sweat it out in the heat.
It was around 3PM and I was still around 25+ km away from Mysore. I realised that this is not gonna be a cake walk! I was down to average brevet speeds of 15kmph (including any break). So recalculated and set myself a target of 4.15PM; that would mean 10 hours since I left home in the morning. I am glad to say I was able to achieve this and reached the Mysore bus stand around 4.10PM. Here is me all smiles after the journey!
 |
| Mysore!!! |
Now I have to go back to Mysore to get the snap in front of the palace ... I live to bike another day!
Learnings from the ride:
Practice riding in the heat while maintaining good speed. I am gonna do afternoon rides from 1PM to 5PM on the weekends so that I get used to the sun.
Ride stats:
 |
| 155 kms pedaled! |
 |
| Almost 8 hrs of pedaling |
 |
| Average Speed - 19.56 kmph |
So overall, an unplanned, but satisfying journey to Mysore! My hunger for long rides is sated and I dont plan to do any more long rides in the near future!
The day after
Today (27/10/13), I did my regular 5km walk and did a 20 minute stretch of all parts of my body - neck, shoulder, back, hip and legs. I seem to be ok - now I am off for some diwali shopping and am gonna have my well deserved tub of icecream with my daughter!
EDIT 28/10/13: Corrected time from 8.30PM to 8.30AM
