This time BBC had organized its September month end long ride on Oct 3rd. Plan was to start from Merida junction and go till Muthathi, take a dip in river Kaveri and return back. The total round trip distance was around 180 km from Merida junction. Previously I had ridden a maximum of 67 km in a day so it seemed too much to me, so I decided to return from Kanakapura itself. Still the round trip distance for me was around 135 km from Marathalli bridge.
On Saturday evening, I was a bit excited for the ride and little nervous as well as in my last long ride I was totally drained out after 67km only. This time I had taken a challenge to double the distance.
On Sunday, woke up around 3:30, got fresh and started the ride at 4:30 am from Marathalli bridge with Vishy and Aditya. It started drizzling as soon as we started. Though it was a light drizzle but enough to drenched us and get mud from the road through rear wheel on our t-shirt. Still the drizzle felt very pleasant. Met Ravi and Aditya's friend on the way to Merida junction. Reached there at 5:45 am. There I met Manoj Verma and his son. There most of the riders had already reached by then, few even had started the ride.
We started our ride at exactly 6:00 am after a brief from Yogesh about direction. Riding till Kanakapura was very easy. It was all the way down, so rode at a very decent average speed of 20kmph. Reached Kanakapura at 8:30 am after riding 48 km from Merida junction without any break in between. Met Gunashekar and his wife on the way. His wife was riding on a single speed bike so they were riding slowly.
Had breakfast there, Now from there most of the people (including those who initially planned to return from Kanakapura) was going ahead. They also asked me to come and it was really tempting to go ahead as I was still feeling very fresh though I had started feeling a little pain in my shoulder and this was due to not having handle at the proper height even though I had raised it to the maximum. I had to lean against the handle and that way my upper body weight was on my shoulder. These are the small technical details in which our Indian companies are still lacking. I knew that going ahead is easy and optional but returning back is mandatory and it will be really tough as it is all the way uphill ride. Moreover I knew that my shoulder pain is going to get worse.
So decided to return from there itself. Got company of Anil and Sudarshan to return back. By that time Manoj and his son also reached there. Manoj told us to carry on as he wanted to take some more time there. Anil and Sudarshan had already started while I was talking to Manoj. I also started riding back, cached both of them very soon.
After only 8-10 km we started feeling the toughness of uphill ride. Took a small break of 5 min. Again we started from there but as we rode ahead riding was getting more and more tough. Also by this time I had started getting pain in my shoulders. Again took a small break and had coconut water there. We started again, Anil was riding ahead of us and I and Sudarshan were riding together. Only after 4-5 km from there my shoulders pain has increased so I stopped and lie down for some time there. Anil carried on as he was riding ahead of us. After 15 min again got up, did some stretching and started riding again. I told Sudarshan to carry on from my next break as I will take my time. Again stopped after half an hour, Sudarshan carried on from there. I kept taking breaks of 5 min after 3-4 km.
After harrohalli I met Badri, stopped there for some time. He was taking his friend on his car as it was the maiden ride for his friend and he was not able to paddle on the up hill. Asked if he has move spray, which he didn't had but he said he could give me some message on my shoulders. And that really helped a lot, I had move gel with me, asked him to apply it on my shoulder. That massage gave me a fresh energy. Badri asked if I would be able to complete the ride as it was still 10-12 km to Merida junction which I replied positively. Completed rest of the ride till Merida junction in next one hour, took 3-4 small breaks in between. My flat was still 18 km away from Merida junction but from there riding had become much easier as it was more or less plane road from there. On plane road I was still riding at 20-25kmph even after so much tiredness. Reached home at 2:45 pm. Fall on the bed and slept till evening.
After that talked to home and friends, no one could guess that I have ridden 132 km in a day. Few weeks ago even I would not have imagined myself riding more than 100 km in a day but now after this ride I feel very confident for a 100 km ride. After reading story of others, I think I did pretty well on my first 100+ km ride. Covered 132 km in 10:15 hrs including half an hour break for breakfast and all the small breaks in between. Even after 132 km my legs were not that much tired but it was the improper height of the handle which made the ride a bit painful. For that I will get an additional handle bar (which you see on any ranger cycle) to attach it to the handle to avoid shoulder pain on my next ride [Jugaad technology :)]. A big thanks to Anil, Sudarshan and Badri to help me complete the ride.
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