The 'Y' Marathon

Pre-Read:
The 'S' Marathon
The 'O' Marathon
The 'R' Marathon
Record 'R' Marathon
The 'Y' Marathon

The 'Y' Marathon:

Quick Update:
I ran the final Y Marathon distance of 21.2 kms in 2:03mins.

Split timings:
10.5kms in 1:05hours
21.2kms in 2:03hours

BPM Stats:
Average: 147 BPM
Maximum: 168 BPM

Current mood: Humming “Naa hai yeh paana, Naa khona hi heh” from Tum Se Hi!!

The Epilogue
Superman lasts only so long as the endorphins do, and then the pain takes over. By day four, my knees had taken a beating. I had shin splints, knee and ankle hurt, this is not something I am proud of!
I wanted to endure the last one all alone, the perpetual question “WHY” had to be answered. I started very late, 0635 in the morning, completely missing the refreshing sunrise and the almost full moon.
Every step I took for the first couple of kms seemed to take the pain around esp. around my knees to a higher plane altogether, like every little step I had taken in the last 4 months. As I jogged (limped should be the apt verb) down BEL Road, I was asking myself this very question “Why I do it or why I cannot not-do it”
Why I do it or why I cannot not-do it
Because, when you are an optimist or insane, you view every challenge as an opportunity. You know it may be impossible but you see a tiny window, a glimmer of hope. For me, all I have do, is to close my eyes and drift for a few seconds to see that window of hope, of opportunity.
But when every hope, every opportunity turns into a challenge, a struggle, you sense the small window beginning to close. The thought of what-if-nots grips you, you frantically try to take charge, to gain control of the uncontrollable, in vain.
And what do I do, I run. Clench your fist and punch slowly into a wall, doesn’t hurt, right. Now do it a hundred times, a thousand, a million perhaps, and it would hurt, it would hurt like hell, I can tell you that. I did that with my legs through the last 5 days. I guess I run towards that small window, to the life I can see through it. Today, I run, I run to redeem.

At the end of it all, I’m not sure what the feeling is like – a tear in the corner of my eye, a smirk on my lips. “Tum Se Hi” runs on in the background…

The Record 'R' Marathon

Pre-Read:
The 'S' Marathon
The 'O' Marathon
The 'R' Marathon

“Come on, Manoj, 20mins more and we are done”. This, after we had run 16kms at nearly 12kmph pace, in 1:16mins and when I was nearly dead. I lengthened my stride a wee bit. I glance at my watch, 1:33hours, Doc looked over his shoulder, “Just 2kms to go, a few more minutes.” I curse under my breath, “Easy for you to say”; the legs seemed to be flying though. The last km was somehow the longest, must have been the effect of adding the 200mts to make it to 21.2kms. “200mts to go”, he declared.
There was no tape to break, no line to cross, no gigantic clock on display… in the fields somewhere near Hoskote, Alain, Doc and I exchanged low-fives. What a fantastic run, it had been. I clocked my personal best timing, a half marathon in 1:40mins!!

At 4:30 this morning, when I looked myself in the mirror at my unshaven face, I was tired, 2 more hours of sleep seemed very very inviting, I was almost craving for it. The legs, though, seemed less stiff after the 5hours of sleep I had managed. Doc and I were running with Alain, who is a fantastic runner and had kept pace with Doc for most of the Ultra Marathon.
I reached Spring Meadows at Whitefield at 0530 and we started off in the dark armed with headlamps. It did slow us down a bit for the first 5-6kms.

At the finish, the feeling was simply amazing. Superman returns, resurrected!

Split timings:
10kms in 50mins
12.6kms in 1 hour
21.2kms in 1:40hours
25kms in 1:59hours
26kms in 2:05hours

BPM Stats:
Average: 167 Beats per min
Maximum: 227 BPM (something wrong I guess, can’t imagine this!)

Myths buried:
Taper? The run comes after 3 half marathons in the last 3 days – 66kms in 72hours!
Rest before the run? 5 hours of sleep was all I could manage the night before.
Carb-loading? Zilch, dinner was 3 chapatis with dal.

The only thing that mattered were the ‘extra nuts’ I was running with – Rajat and Alian, Thanks so much!!

Current mood: Someone remind me why I started running this series please!

The 'R' Marathon

Pre-read:
The 'S' Marathon
The 'O' Marathon

The 'R' Marathon

If it was introspection and the ensuing feeling of ‘oh’ with the ‘O’ marathon, it was R for Rajat Chauhan all over the third half marathon of the series. We looked like we were jogging around circles in Cubbon Park this morning. We were running through the Cubbon Flora and a whole lot of the-larger-connotation-of-life, ethics and moral fibers, love life and otherwise (mine and Docs respectively!) jobs, yada yada yada…

Time stamp: 0610, 25 February 2008
Distance: 22.5kms
Half Marathon time: 1:51mins
Average BPM: 168
How I feel: Stiff… very stiff and sore around the knee. May live through the next two runs. It hurts, but am I glad it is only around the knee!!
Current Mood: Runners High

The 'O' Marathon

Pre-read:

The 'S' Marathon
The 'O' Marathon
oh [ō] interjection
1. used to express strong emotion: used to express a strong emotional reaction to something, for example, surprise, shock, pain, or extreme pleasure •

In my case, the ‘O’ marathon was more of a reaction to a realization of what had gone wrong. It happened somewhere between the ‘S’ and the ‘O’ half marathons.
I ran with Runner’s For Life along the Airport Perimeter and followed it up with a plain (plane!) Dosa at Krishna Café at Kormangala.

Time stamp: 0635, 24 February 2008
Distance: 24kms
Half Marathon time: 1:55mins
How I feel: The pain has not really surfaced. More importantly, the remorse has already abated!
Current Mood: Introspection

The 'S' Marathon

The Genesis

“Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.”
When I quote this, I am only partly referring to this half marathon series.

Let me take you through the thought process. I have a problem and I figure I can’t live with that problem for long. So, I need to solve it. (Are you still with me?) If I were to find a solution, I need to get to the root cause. Now that is another problem. Can’t live with that one either. So, I need to solve this one too. (Are you the same you, who was with me then?) As you can see, I was getting nowhere close to the solution. Then I decided to work it Bottom-Up, most solutions are simple. Seek Absolution.

I am quite capable of all that thinking myself, but some credit should also go to Robert Harris’ book Pompeii for this one, he took me through 300pages of stuff like this.

Ok, the serious stuff, I figured I had to feel sorry and in the process try and get to the what-went-wrong part. When you are long distance runner, all you got to do (can do?) to fix some aberrations and find answers is simply “run”.

In this Sorry Series, I am going to attempt to run 5 half marathons in 5 days, hoping to feel a lot of remorse, not just the pain.

The ‘S’ Marathon

(pls. click on the image above to make some sense of it)
Unfortunately for me, the time between the thought process and the start of the 5 day ordeal was only enough for one dinner and a good night sleep. I woke up this morning ready to take it straight on.

I ran a distance of 20.8kms from my home near Hebbal taking the route of the last year’s Bangalore half marathon to Kanteerava Stadium and back. The mind was however, jogging down some memories. I covered the distance in 1:54mins at a average beats per minute (BPM) of 165 and a maximum of 202!!

Did I get the answers? “No”. Do I feel the remorse / pain? “Yes”.
I have not been in the running groove for the last month or so, trying to kid myself that this is the recovery phase. Just warming a new pair of Adidas Supernova as well, but I guess I will survive!

Coming up on the morrow – The ‘O’ Marathon… Do come back!

Mumbai Marathon – how "I ran well in Jan"

But the Mumbai Marathon was sabotaged even before it began. Three marathons in 3 months, with the 78km Ultra marathon just completed. There was hardly any time for sore muscles to heal, the submicroscopic damages had to wait. The 4-hour noon-run at Nandi hills with Nischal and Athreya did more harm than good.
Work threatened to play spoilt sport as well. With days to go before I would leave to Mumbai, there was unprecedented work-load, even as I went into the carb-binge mode. With two days to go, a reject from a job offer, sent me spiraling down into a depression. I had very little time to regroup myself.

Karmic Healing
I stayed in Mumbai at my Brother-in-Law’s apartment in Andheri, cooking rice and boiling my potatoes – the Australian Open took my mind off the more persistent problems.
On Friday evening, I was treated to some yummy pasta dinner at Rajesh’s place. We then went across to another friends place and then met this girl called Anandita – a creative writer, she looks straight out of a Opera musical. I’m never the one who’s a fan of Karmic healing, Reiki and the likes. But, man, she was good, working on my Aura, and in no time, she got to telling me all the things that were bothering me. She advised me to be confident, be patient and relax. It helped a bit.
What helped more was a mail that found its way into my inbox “… all the very best. I am sure you will do great”.

The Marathon eve was spent in driving some 2 hours from Andheri to Nariman Point to collect my Bib No. 1362. Also got to do a bit of recce of the run route, my first time at Mumbai and I wanted all the information I could get. At the Pasta Party at Moshe’s, we packed ourselves with loads of carbs and the all-important RFL camaraderie.

Race Day
It was a number story all along - 30 refreshment stalls along the route, serving over 5.6 lakh biscuits, 5834 dozen bananas, 35000 apples, 75 volunteers specifically assigned to distribute refreshments among runners, 89000 liters of water, 12 medical stations, 10 ambulances, 250 doctors on duty, 500 policemen, 1200 security guards, 2500 volunteers and 3 helicopters used for telecast.

Major Satish, who was accompanying “his boys” from the Services, had stayed over at our place. (his boys eventually won the top 7 places in the Indian Men category!!) With all the approach roads to Azad Maidan blocked, taking a train was the practical choice for transport. But it meant that I had to be up full 3hours before the marathon was to begin at 7:45am.

I reached CST just as the pack of half marathoners were starting to pour onto the roads. This is one sight that I always miss out on my marathons, when you run the full marathon you can never be around when the celebrity runs begins.

I had just enough time to do the pre-marathon ritual:
Change into the Ultra tee and dri-fit shorts
Fasten the laces with just the right tightness, neither too loose nor too tight
Pick up goggles, cap and sweatband
Wear sunscreen generously
Pull out Vaseline and use on crotch, underarms (when you do this avoid eye-contact with passers-by)
Untie the laces and retie them with just the right tightness, neither too loose nor too tight
Stuff the pockets with Gel and Endurolyte capsules
Take the sipper out
Pin the Bib to the tee
Buckle up the Heart Rate Monitor around the chest, check the watch unit
Pull up the socks, check the laces, undo them, retie them with just the right tightness, neither too loose nor too tight (seriously, I never get them right)
Reminds you of Halal, eh?

At the holding area, there were lots of familiar RFL faces, most of us were in the Bangalore Ultra tees. I had planned to run with Girish and Nischal. I was using Nitin’s Garmin Forerunner for time-keeping and had set a 5:35-5:45 min/km pace. Girish was nowhere to be seen and Dharam stuck with us from the very beginning. Both D and Nischal had at least one sub-4 finish before this one. I knew I just had to keep pace with them.

With the run starting as late as 7:40, the sun was up soon even as we reached Marine Drive. We passed through Chowpatty, Mahalaxmi temple, Haji Ali and Siddhivinayak temple, consistently hitting the 5:40min/km pace. We took a short walk break at the 24km mark, when I passed Shivaji park I had begun using muscle relaxants to ease cramps.

We had more than the usual share of cheering from the bystanders and I was pretty excited about it, till Nischal reminded me that I was responding to some of the “Way to go, Superwoman” cheers as well. I desisted from any more waving till I was running alone.

The three of us kept the average speed close to 10kmph till the 32km mark. At the exclusive for HASHers water stop, I was looking for more muscle relaxants. As we neared the Peddar Road flyover, Nischal kept the pace going while Dharam and I fell behind. As I walked up the flyover, I conversed with a Doctor someone who was carrying some breakfast home to his family. It was his normal Sunday morning routine to walk 3kms to the restaurant and back. It was nowhere close to a normal Sunday morning for me, though.

The pace was slaking by now and with 3kms to go I was down to walking pace. Shyam, who I had first met during the Bangalore International Marathon, joined me with some 2kms to go and we egged each other on to the finish.
As I approached Azad Maidan, I pulled out the last reserve of energee left, Athreya who had finished his own in under 4 hours helped me pace my last few hundred meters. I crossed the finish line in 4:29:52 hours.

It was also the first time I raised money for charity for a NGO Dream-a-Dream. Many thanks to Sarosh, Raaji, Rishi, Shamji, Adarsh, Sriram, Amit, Keerti, Meena, Malay, Chetak, Ashwin, Shweta, Sod, Satsang and Naveen. I will try to keep you posted on more activities of the NGO.

Thanks also to Nitin who lent his Garmin Forerunner 305, while it helped 3 of us keep to the 5:40min/km, the graphs showed more detail than ever required for the post-race analysis. I was so overawed, I simply stared at the graphs no end, darn, it even showed me how fast my pulse raced even when I stopped for a leak!! Check out this and more here.
A few days later Nitin shared with me how we had won a contest to upload the Mumbai marathon profile on MotionBased. The blog can be read here.

This one is very very special, “I ran well in Jan” will remain in the mind forever ;)

Run-Way Run

Guess what, in a couple of months time, when the Bangalore International Airport gets operational, there would be a few RFLers who can boast of having been atop the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) tower and having spread our hands and attempted to take off from the run way!
Thanks to Marcel, the COO of BIAL, a HASHer and a strong runner himself, we got the clearance to run at the Airport.

As always, I bulleted down to Devanahalli, which is like 30kms from Hebbal. But on that winter morning, the fog was thick, reducing visibility to a few feet and soaking the leather jacket. There was no traffic around to do my famous tail-light principle and I had to keep the speed real low. The saving grace was the markers on the road which were the only indication that the road was curving or otherwise. Boy, I loved the short, 0-visibility ride.
Also meant I got some exclusive pics of the ATC with the sunrise in the backdrop. Check out the colors on this one!
The run started at 7am or so. With Mumbai marathon just round the corner, no one was planning very long ones. I had myself planned to do a short 10km run. Marcel gave the clearance to taxi slowly onto the run-way. The fog and sun battled on the runway as we ran up and down, 8kms back to the Helipad. The Nandi Hills offers a fantastic backdrop to the terminal.
We then climbed up 13 floors to the top of cuckoo’s nest – the Air Traffic Controller tower. From up there, it was as if the entire airport was spread out in front of us on a 360º map.
Marcel Hungerbuhler, the COO himself, took around the terminal pointing to the departure and arrival gates, the aero bridges, the baggage carousels, the retail spaces – most of them well on target to meet the 31st March deadline. I was particularly impressed with the jalousie-like roof of the terminal. The terminal will handle 9million fliers, up from the 4.5 million which was estimated when the project kicked-off. The overruns seem to have been handled well by BIAL. We were also privy to the future plans including a second airstrip and another terminal taking the traffic up to 30million by 2010. That would mean a good million look-a-like, chiki-eyed, Chinese airhostess clones... woopsa!

At the end of the run, I was presented with the plaque which said, “This plaque is presented to the individual who ran for the longest duration at the First Bangalore Ultra Marathon.” I had surely hoped for a better audience while I received this one ;)
Monica rode back with me making sure my Bullet had enough G-force to remain grounded!
Coming up Mumbai Marathon and another runway run…
Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/manoj.bhat/BIAL

Much better technicalities on Suresh Blog

Anita Boras reports here - her take on completion.

From the Press, featured on Bangalore Mirror, here

Stalking Shimoga

How close you are to someone is not a function of distance…
…and if you really think there is distance, put a bullet right through it!

In a spur of a moment decision, I decided to do just that. I will refrain from revealing what transcribed on the Friday evening that snowballed into taking the decision – we can think it as an Euphoria from a good morning run, even better interview and a sooper prank.

So, on 22nd morning I fuelled up, paid a quick visit to MTech, more to ease my guilt of not servicing my bullet for 5000kms now. At 1pm, I was off, on the highway headed towards Tumkur and Tiptur towards Shimoga.

Riding Alone?
Technically, yes, I had more than one person’s share of emotions, thoughts and enthu to make up for it. Riding alone comes with a lot of positives – you are your own boss, one less pair of sore buttocks to worry about and hey, you can fantasize about the n-no. of possibilities of filling the pillion seat (the grapes are sour, eh).

The ride

Day 1 – Bridging Gaps, real and virtual
Reached Shimoga in about 5hours after negotiating some 300kms of road, to the nearest (only!) internet café. Pillion rider or not, I still had to make some plans for the following 2 days. I stayed over at Shyla aunty’s place at Shimoga and her tenant helped me finalize a tight plan for the next 3 days covering a lot including Yana.

Day 2 – Of a stubborn Goddess and Kaptivating Kodachadri
I finished my 12km jog in the morning, yes, Mumbai marathon is just around the corner. The plan was to cover Kollur and Kodachadri and head back to Shimoga for the night. I only managed to reach Kollur only by noon. Long Qs for darshan and lunch ensured that I was way off my plan. It’s only about 30kms from Kollur to Kodachadri.

"Good things come slow - especially in distance running." Bill Dellinger

Even as I navigated thru the worst stretch of road to Kodachadri, I had a premonition of what was in store. The last 3kms is the killer. The steep uphill dirt/rocky track was uneven, slippery and very tricky to ride. Most people trek or take jeeps that ferry people to the Inspection Bunglow and Bhatta’s place on top. No second thoughts, if I endured an Ultra last week, it was the turn of my bullet now. I reached the top at 430ish. The view of the hills was so enchanting, I simply had to change my plans for the night. The IB was already full of trekkers. I parked my stuff with a group of trekkers, changed into my running shoes and headed off to the top to catch the sunset, doing my spread-thy-wings on the edge of a cliff!

Running shoes, an extra pair of socks, sunscreen, goggles were the contents of my tank bag. My leather jacket was the only protection against the howling breeze. Luck surely favors the brave, I met a long lost friend Sharath and his cousins who were carrying extra sheets.

Mythology has it that, goddess Mookambika killed Mookasura in tearing fury here. The goddess was so fierce that Shankaracharya meditated at Kodachadri, invoked and pacified the goddess. Though the goddess now-a-days are less furious, winning them over is no less penance. (ask me how I know!)

Day 3 – One moves the soul, the other stops the heart!

Day 3 was when it all rose in a crescendo. It started at 5AM on top of the gusty Kodachadri. I trekked up alone in the twilight to catch the first rays of the sun. A group of trekkers who had camped overnight were stirring at a distance. I perched on the edge of a cliff to watch the spectacle. The night was cold and cloudless; I identified the moon, the North star, the Ursa Major and minor, while I thought of a lot other celestial bodies. (tooo much no!). The sun took it time coming up. But thanks to the 360° panorama, I was witness to the battle of light and darkness. No words can explain it – the intensity and spread of the orange and blue takes over from the shades of black. What bliss, but it took its time, alright!

After breakfast at Bhatta’s place and bone-breaking ride we headed towards Singandoor. It was Sharath who suggested I visit Singandoor temple and ride to Sagar. We bathed in waist-deep rivulet, something I hadn’t done in a long time now.
The deity at Singandoor, Chowdeshwari is believed to be very powerful by the locals, I passed in my own chota ‘list’ at the temple.

The Launch

The Sharawati backwaters separate Singandoor from Sagar, but everyone makes way for a Bullet. The Dept of Ports runs a Launch to ferry people, bikes, cars, vans and buses across the river. It was yet another first time for me, the 20min ride was fantastic – the ride only costing 1Re per head and 5Rs for the Bullet! Those denominations don’t seem to exist in Bangalore no more.

At Sagar, I was reunited with the net, I had important mails to reply to. I made a quick pit stop at a Bullet Mechanic for some chain tightening. The ‘pro’ quickly rattled off a series of repairs that were due and remarked how I had managed to ride all the Bangalore on this one. That is the beauty that my bullet is! Its almost a compliment when someone says that, like someone said I was looking fresh after having run 6hrs on the Ultra day!

Next quick visit was to Honnemaralu (Honnu = pearl, maralu = sand) near Sagar. Honnemaralu is a camping site, a nature camp, located on the banks of Sharawati backwaters. I went on a short row-boat ride, while the boatman Ganesh explained the purpose and concept of the NGO that runs the place. It offers boating, camping, swimming and trekking facilities, perfect for a 3days holiday. I promised myself I would be back there sometime soon.

Promise or no promise, I was surely back at the internet café at Sagar soon enough. All the praying seemed to have worked, I was almost riding-in-the-air on my way back to Shimoga, that’s how you ride when you are on cloud 9!

The day had begun with the sunrise-treat to the eyes, the day ended with a treat to the ears – if it was the soul that was touched in the morning; it was the turn of the heart in the evening! What a day, I say!

Day 4 – Curtains!

As I rode back, singing along the song Anisutide from Mungaru malé, one thing was certain, what I had seen, experienced and left behind was a lot of unfinished business. Shimoga will have to be stalked yet again, albeit better planned and less hurriedly…

Ride Plan
Day1: Bangalore/1300 – Tumkur – Tiptur – Arsikere – Tarikere – Bhadravati – Shimoga/1800 (300kms)
Day2: Shimoga/0900 – Ayanur – Hosanagara – Nagara – Kollur/1215 (120km)
Kollur/1430 – Nagodi - Nittur - Kodachadri/1630 (40kms)
Day3: Kodachadri/0830 – Sigandur/1200 (70kms) - - - Sagar/1600(30kms) – Tagupa (50kms) – Honnemaralu/1700 (8kms) – Sagar - Shimoga

What I missed:
Sagar – Varadapeeta Moola(1km) – Keladi (8km) – Ikkeri (4kms) – Jog (40kms) – SahasraLinga/Marikamba temple – Siddapura – Sirsi/Sonde (50kms) – Yana (40kms)

Selected fotos at here/c1441307.html

Bangalore Ultra Marathon 2007

78kms, 12:07hours, 151BPM average heart rate, 10liters of water, 3 PowerGels, 7 Endurolyte capsules. 2 PBJ sandwiches, 2 biscuits, 0.5 liters of Gatorade, Iodex and Moov.

Photo credit: Ravi Kaklasaria

I have run a long race - starting from the post-surgery rehab last October, the dip-stick test at the Midnight marathon, to packing 60-89kms a week for the last 6months, I have run it long, long and hard.

The Bangalore Ultra was really not a run, it was a collective dream of a dozen lunatics who fantasized brining Ultra marathon running to India. More than 100 ordinary men, with slightly less degree of lunacy, decide to live that dream for months.
This is no melodrama, in fact it is far from it. Every other week, we went to RFL to take our weekly dosage of pain for months in row. There was wonderful camaraderie as we followed each other’s progress or otherwise.

Carb-Loading

In the week running up to the D-day, there was fear, apprehension, excitement and anxiety churning up a weird concoction in the tummy. It was like I was taking an important exam, but only in this case, all I could do was eat well and rest while I waited.
On Thursday morning, I was the first one to collect my Bib and T-shirt. I was the last one who had registered to run the 78kms distance. Bib No. 017.
At the rooftop pasta party at Bangalore Bistro, we added a tinge of humor to an already heady mix of emotions, while we stuffed ourselves with cartloads of pasta.
My mom cooks potatoes and sweet potatoes, cuts down on chapattis during the week leading up to the marathon, this time I switched to boiled rice (or brown rice) which is higher on nutritional value.

Sleep came in bursts the previous night. I remember having woken up thrice, at times, even alarmed that I would wake up late and miss the run.
I was riding my faithful silver bullet to the venue with Sudhir. I didn’t care much about how I would ride back. If I were in shape to finish, I figured I would be in shape to ride back home. I refused to think about what would happen otherwise.

I started at 4:30AM, picked up Sudhir and was at the venue at 5:30. The race started precisely at 6, flagged off by Nisha Millet. She was such a sport, I saw her run her two loops as well. Flagged off by the runner for the runners!

The Strategy
How to use some gray matter while running

Start slooooow
I have always liked to take a sprinting start to avoid the elbowing and generally like to lock into a good pace early. But this time I vowed that I would not do less than 1:40hours on each loop of 13kms.
This was impossible even at my slowest pace, I would have to start walking right from the beginning. I also promised to stick to a low heart rate – less than 140BPM for at least one loop and keep it very low for the first 4 loops. I let everyone pass, resisting the huge temptation to lock into a faster pace. I just put my head down and told myself, “I haven’t started running, my race will start only after 4 loops (52kms).”

And when in doubt, follow your heart

I stuck to my HeartRateMonitor reading, when it goes up above the target for the loop, regardless of the time, or gradient or cheering pretty Manipal medicos, I walked. Whenever the svelte Nischal passed me, I factored in a few missed beats as well.
I stuck with it keeping the BPM below 150 for the third loop and about 155 for the fourth. But by then, there were other things that needed my attention.

Treat Yourself!

After 4 hours of running, the clouds cleared up, I had to pull out my goggles and sunscreen. I told myself, the next 4 hours would be tough. 1 liter of water per half-loop of 6.5km, about 1 PowerGel every loop after the first, 1 Endurolyte capsule for every 1-1.5hours of running (so much math, that I need a secretary to run with me next time around). For now, I had to make do with what was around.

Running mates

I have mixed experiences with running mates, but this time I had no luxury of choice… laggards can’t be choosers. Someone passed me around then and asked me, “which loop?” I had no clue. All I knew was I had 7more hours to run. I ran the second loop with Sanjeev and Jai…
… then I caught up with Sudhir.
Woah, it will take a while to explain this giant of a guy. Let’s save time and check him out here. We both were doing similar pace and we decided to keep it going as long as we could.
I had to hard sell the Ultra to Lingu (an outstanding salesman at IBM himself) on Friday. The half marathoner was pushing it all the way to 52kms. I met him on this penultimate loop. Sudhir, Lingu and I set the pace together for a long part of that laborious afternoon. Lingu finished his 4 loops in 7:xx hours.

As we neared the end, Sudhir continued to keep me company… A lot of what transcribed is quite hazy, but sample this!

Me: “But it may get dark by the time we finish”
Him: “that is not a problem, I have a torch”
Me thinks: He carries a torch in his pocket for all of those 12hours!

Me: “Hey, can’t take your pic man, the battery has run out.”
Him: “No problem, I always carry extra batteries”
Me thinks: I didn’t even bother carrying an towel, too heavy!

Me: “Guess I am cramping up, let’s walk till the next aid station.”
Him: “No problem, I have Moov with me, let me know if you need painkillers.”
Me thinks: Damn you, there goes my excuse.

Me: “13kms is still 13kms.. am going to take it easy”
Him: “I feel I can take off, I think I will”
Me thinks: Must have packed some of that in his pocket too

Whether it was painkillers, camera, mobile phone, cash, torch, determination or girt, the pocket seemed to have a never-ending supply!

Just Keep ‘Moov’ing

The guys at the aid stations were fantastic. It is not so much the front runners who need the aid, it is the once who struggle at the end. And RFL really understood that well. After about 2pm, there must have been about a dozen ‘lunatics’ left on the trail. It was then, I began to notice the mobile help. The volunteers were on bikes carrying muscle relaxant sprays to help ease cramps. I always had generous helpings every time they passed. On the last lap, at aid station 3, they ran out of sprays. I tried Moov, it worked well too. The ointment mixed beautifully with the red mud and sweat around my legs to form a heavenly shade of red. I seemed to work. But if it was the right calf now that needed attention, the next moment it was the left quad, then it was the left hamstring, then the left here, then down there, up here too… ‘moov’ing simply wouldn’t end at all!

Hugs and Misses

2:05hours left to 6PM, last lap 13kms left, our previous one was 2:15 or so. It was a tough ask. I held Sudhir back on the onward loop, 6.5kms to go in about 1 hour. As we approached the aid station 4, the Iron man, Doc and Kirean passed us, we were not the only ones on the trail, yippee (I couldn’t exclaim too, I would risk a cramp). Sudhir was itching to go by now, and decided to leave me fight out the last few kms alone. I held back, the last thing I wanted was a cramp. When it comes, it comes hard… ask me how I know! I didn’t want to blog this story again. I was only about 2-3mins behind Sudhir thou. I passed doc even as he was quitting the race at the AS3 after his 100.4km run. Wow!
15mins to go to the finish 2kms away. On any day I would take 6mins to cover that distance if I pushed.
For a brief moment, the thought of finishing in 12 hours titillated me, my legs responded with a warning pull. I limped back to the ground reality. I said I would walk but not do anything foolish that would make me quit or finish any less strong.

Nobody roots for Goliath

Wrong!! With one km to go, I heard an uproar in a distance, I looked at my watch 11:59, Sudhir had made it. I looked ahead, I saw the 1km mark.

As I walked back to ONV, there was one man who walked towards me at a distance… A1, the man himself. I don’t think I cried, but I would have come very close to crying while we hugged. I felt like the last guy to be placed on campus, the whole campus waits for the moment and the party begins.
I entered ONV relishing the applause and soaking in the moment. It was H U G E…

Hall of Fame

I earned the title of "Longest Survivor on the Trail" and made it to the Ultra Hall of Fame

The morning after

I waited for about an hour at ONV, mostly walking on my feet before I put my sore bum on the bullet saddle. I rode back home feeling nothing at all…
I woke up the next morning with a stiff fanny, and lower back… gone by noon. It was Monday as usual.

It took a while for me actually realize what I had done. At the post-run party at Koshy’s Mahesh remarked, “It was all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. 200 people stretching themselves.. imagine what it would do to the society at large.. all our limits are only in the mind…”

20 days of training left for the Mumbai Marathon 2008, is a sub-four marathon the boundary in my mind…
For now, Superman has to go… Up Up and Away!

BH3 presents The Bike Hash 2007

Bike hash 079
Originally uploaded by Manojbhat

FAQs
What is BH3?
It’s a lot of things, but definitely not Borane. All the Hash dope is on my post on my first Hash shot here.

What is the Bike Hash?
Nothing different actually. The site is serene, the hashers insane, the beverage chilled and the circle is round. On the bike hash, however, you get your bums on the saddle and pedal away into the countryside.

How do you hare the Bike Hash?
Jugy, Sunil and I hared this one. Hares recce the area and lay the trail with chalk powder complete with false trails. This was the third one that I have hared, the first two were with Abnash. We started at Eagle Ridge on saturday morning riding on the Bullet. With Google Earth and Gramin GPS to guide us we ran into lotsa dead-ends, many roads ran straight into a pond or lake. We marked a 7-8km shorter route for the walkers. We got back early on Sunday morning to mark the longer route. For two hours, Jugy and I sweat it out trying to find a loop for the long riders. We managed a good one finally not before we checked out more villages and puzzled village folk.

When, where, how, why, who, which, what-the, whatever
The Xmas Hash Bash was on 37 Crescent on Saturday and the Bike Hash wouldn’t start till the hangover had subdued. The bikes were sponsored by TI Cycles who brought in 50 new Hercules and BSA bikes. There were a few bright Trek cycles too that stole the limelight. All traces of the cyclonic rain of the previous week had totally disappeared. The sun was at its blazing best when we started at 11 or so. It turned out to be a 19km route at the longest and many fellow runners from RFL got all the heat training for the upcoming Ultra.
Back at the circle at Eagle Ridge, future sutures did the RA honors, Jugy was fired, Sunil was made new GM, the new mis-management (me included) was announced, yada yada yada…
(gosh, am so bored today)

There is a much better version blogged by Nischal. Read it here.
Photus:
Hash Bash http://www.flickr.com/photos/abnash/sets/72157603434852334/
Bike Hash http://www.flickr.com/photos/abnash/sets/72157603434828092/
Bike Hash http://www.flickr.com/photos/manojbhat/sets/72157603431531769/
That’s it for now…

Paapa Vinasam run at Tirumala

My childhood pal, Vijay married Kalpana in Tirumala on 28th Nov. There was no way I could have missed the wedding and the opportunity to ride the good roads to Tirumala. I added a cherry on top – a 16km run on Tirumala to Papavinasam.



BubbleShare: Share photos - Delicious Christmas Recipes.




Head out on Old Madras Road via Kolar, bear left at Chitoor, the bypass is potholed and very avoidable. I reached Tirupati at 6 in the evening, after 4hours of riding. There’s a through security check before you begin the 20-24km ascent of Tirumala hill. It was pitch dark when I started the climb. The well-lit, well-marked, one-way curvy section, is a treat to any biker. The brightly lit tilak, padma and chakra of the Lord visible almost right through the uphill ride plus the steady traffic on road ensures that the throttle is on leash.

I walked into the wedding ceremony - leathers, boots, helmet and tank bag in tow. The vara pooja and reception was held on Tuesday. I stayed with Vijay and Centhil in one of the guest houses at Tirumala.

The next morning, I pulled out my dri-fit tee, shorts and running shoes. I stated off towards Papavinasam about 8km from Tirumala. It is a very scenic ghat route that cuts across lush vegetation, offering multiple view points of the Tirumala hills.
Upon ‘wiking’ I find, Tirupati has seven hills representing the seven heads of a huge serpent.

The fist thoughts that come to mind when you think of Tirupati is the endless queues, the melee at the temple complex. The only pleasant thought is that of the laddoo you ‘earn’ after the darshan. The temple failed to touch my spiritual side on my previous two visits.

But this time, as I jogged through the hills, I saw why Tirumala invoked so much spirituality. The rocky hills all around, the dense vegetation, the lakes and streams – so divine that you connect with your inner self.
There is God in those hills, guys, so next time you plan one of those TTD darshans spare a couple of hours to explore the beauty that really is Tirumala.

I would have missed all of this if it were not for the running. After having run about 5kms I spotted a dam at a distance off the road. There was a path taking to that one, the gates to the dam were locked, but there was a gap to squeeze through. The view was simply out of the world – there were all possible hues of green, reflecting off still water of the reservoir- all packed in one picture perfect postcard.

Papavinasam – is the place where you are supposed to wash off all your sins. And like most tourist-thronged places, it was disappointing. Water flows down some pipes and devotees take bath underneath, if any, one could pick up a few sins there…
I let the water wash off my hair. The sins of the head, I washed off… the sins of the heart are only meant to scar.
I ran off-road on the way back to check out a very beautiful lake, fantastic stuff really.

I got back to Vijay wedding feeling so refreshed. The wedding itself was grand, almost to a point where it got bigger than the bride and the groom! I hit the highway immediately after lunch.

The ride down the hill was also great – the challenging curves and the view of the hills for all of the 20odd kms ride.
At 6, the weekday evening traffic chaos at KR Puram brought me straight back to the ground with a thud.

Kavery Trail Marathon

17th Nov, Saturday

20:30 “We wanted to do it ourselves because there must be a thick layer of Peanut Butter and Jam, others outside make it too dry.” On that cold night at Fort View, Shagun and her boys were packing a rare ingredient into the PBJ sandwiches for the run the next day – energy and enthusiasm.

21:00 Bopanna and A2 come back after marking the track with some 20kgs of chalk powder. The biting cold, a pitch dark 11km trail and lack of warm clothing had stretched the marking to 4.5hours of hard work. They have made sure that every km is not merely marked but also displayed laminated signage with quotes to pep the runners. But they barely have enough time to get their blood flowing back into their veins here.
In the meantime, in Bangalore, there are innumerable things to be taken care of – from how to handle baggage to answering parking queries to arranging for snacks and Runners world copies to coordinating the 5 buses that were to leave at 4am in the morning – A1, Atul and team have their hands full.

21:30 Bopanna reviews the emergency medical procedures with the Sanjeevini Ambulance and the paramedic - the specializations at the nearest hospitals at Mysore and Srirangapatana, the routes to be taken and preparedness on basic first aid.
Shagun team has just finished off packing those PBJ sandwiches into 3 air-tight boxes, neatly labeled indicating which aid-stations they should be used at. 30 loaves of bread and 8kgs of peanut butter and jam!!
The supplies van was stacked to capacity – everything from 600 bottles of water and 500 bananas to ice boxes to garbage bags. When you organize an outstation run, even printouts and toilet paper rolls have to be thought out in advance.

21:45 Everyone around seem to have forgotten one important thing – Dinner. My own 120km ride from Bangalore had left me starving. Even as we loaded some carbs – rice and potatoes, A2 is busy on the phone, patiently giving directions to a runner on how to get to MG Road to Cubbon Park! The guy got it somewhat, on the third attempt and then he went through it all over again. Well, not everyone is gifted…
Over dinner Bops was still double-checking all the minute details with the rest of his team. A2 and I finished off dinner with boiled sweet potato that my mom had lovingly packed for me.

22:30 As I headed out to my own room at a nearby lodge, Bopanna was giving a final thumbs-up to the lunch menu for the following day. The rest of the team was to wake up at 4am so that they could be at the run site by 5.
These guys had started running at the Kauvery Marathon long before the whistle was blown. Fabulous job RFL!

18th Nov, Sunday – Race Day!
When you don’t pay attention to the details, the Kauvery Trail Marathon can very easily turn into a disastrous Kauvery Trial Marathon, as it did for me. Read on…

06:45 I ride the 1km from my lodge to the run site. The first bus carrying the full marathoners is already at the start. The air was crisp, the sun was up and mist rose from the surface of Kauvery – it was a dream start. The second bus arrived a little later even as we joked, chatted and strategized.

It was an important race for me, my third full marathon, and the first one that I had religiously trained for. I had set out not only wanting to finish but impress, should have known better to keep vain pride zipped up at the baggage counter.

07:30 Even as I dodged past the crowd at the start, the sweet smell of sugarcane fields filled up my lungs. I was raring. I was anxious about my knee bruise. Yes, in what could have ruined my race altogether, I had skidded off my bullet at Marathalli trying to avoid a speeding cyclist just 3 days before the race. The bruise on my knee was just beginning to get the shade of pink. I was lucky to be running this one. But it felt great that morning and never once thought about it again. I would have greater problems to worry about.

08:20 I crossed the first U-turn, 10kms in 50mins!! I was way too fast than what I had planned to do. The idea was to run at 6min kilometers for as long as I could, I was doing 5min kms at that point. I would have to slow down. I threw quick answers to puzzled farmers who wanted to know what it was all about.

09:20 I reached the end of first lap in 1:49hours, my best for a half marathon. The group of half-marathoners, yet to start their own race, were all applause. I refused electral at the water station and asked for plain water to consume with a powerbar Gel that I was carrying. I was making my first mistakes, the lack of electrolyte intake would eventually become the nemeses of my race in the last 10kms.

10:00 I crossed the 26km mark in 2.5hours. I was now doing exactly 6mins per km, timing every marking that I passed. I was pleased with the effort so far and looked forward to a 4:15 hours finish. I passed the 9.5km water station (30km) in under 3hours.

10:30 There was a slight nagging cramp developing in the right calf muscle. I crossed the U-turn a second time, happy that I will not have to do it again. The front runners from the half-marathon, Hari and Pradeep passed me here and egged me on. I thought of stretching a bit to ease the cramp, as I raised the calf, I cramped so badly, I landed palm first on to the ground and screamed in pain. I had forgotten my bruised palm and it had its way of grabbing attention. From there on, it was struggle.

I passed some infectious motivation to A1, “Pain is temporary; Quitting is permanent” as we crossed. Was I telling this to myself or to A1?

12:17 The finish. The next couple of hours were the longest hours I have ever run and the worst. As I passed the ruins of the temple on the trail, the whole pack of 10km runners came into view. This was really the fun crowd - runners in bright colors, flashy caps, in ecstatic, boisterous mood. Should have been in a better shape when those pretty little things passed by ;)
In the next 4kms, my inflated ego took the beating, even as some stronger legs continued to pass by. This is the toughest part of a marathon, the mind gives up and there is a strong negative emotion. This time, the reserves came in the form of Jani and Raj, who were running the 10km. The walking and chatting helped shift the pain from the cramped calf, but it is vain pride that weighs you down heaviest in those final kilometers.

In his book, “Every Second Counts”, Lance Armstrong says “The experience of suffering is like the experience of exploring, of finding something unexpected and revelatory. When you find the outermost thresholds of pain, or fear, or uncertainty, what you experience afterward is an expansive feeling, a widening of capabilities.” True, I agree, but hey, I would rather do that “revelatory exploration” alone, it hurts real bad in the head when you are lying down, squirming in pain and yet trying to put on a placid face.

Thanks to Jani and Raj who stuck on with the cramping me till the very end… thanks so much.
And as if to complete the task of destroying my vanity, with the finish line in sight, Navin who passed me gave a congratulatory pat on my posterior and how difficult it was to take it, I had to limp to stifle the cramp. The natural Kauvery canal Jacuzzi at the finish helped massage sore joints and reinvigorated me for the rest of the afternoon.

I registered a finish in 4:47hours easily surpassing my personal best of 5:35 in last year’s Bangalore Marathon.
The winner was clearly the team at Runners For Life - over 3000 man-kms were covered in all by the 140runners, a fabulous performance in tiring conditions!!!

The Postmortem:
It took less than 2hours for the calf muscles to ease that cramp and 3-4 days for my bruised ego to recover somewhat. Suggestions and analyses flowed thick and fast over lunch at Fort view and on the mailer group for a few days after. I did my own reading too (more here) and reaffirmed that it was the lack of salt / electrolyte intake to blame for the faux pas. See, it wasn’t me!

Afterword:
Slowing down is probably good, it does help you to pick up some friends for the longer race of life.

(Applause Applause… come on, that’s mine… no plagiarism on that one, honest...)

Kauvery Trail Marathon - A Prelude

All those weeks of determined and persistent efforts, of chasing wild dreams of pace, distance, time-on-feet and of coffee and icecreams, are going to reach a crescendo during the coming weekend at the Kauvery Trail Marathon on 18th Nov. Watch this space!!



Madhu Avasarala, the Ultra marathoner had this to say about the wonderful trail.

"On Saturday October 13 2006 I did a 36K run in company of Juggy, Nischal,
and Satsang. The trail head starts just outside the gate of the Rangan
Thittu bird sanctuary which is near the town of Srirangapatna, just before
you hit Mysore on the Mysore Highway travelling from Bangalore.
This is one of the nicest places to run. The trail is hard packed dirt and
one is actually running on the levy of the canal.
The scene is quintessentially Indian, Indian of my childhood days of dreamy
stretches of space filled with river canals, vast stretches of bright green
cultivated fields, oxen resting in the shade of a tree, native village boys
jumping from the bridge into the canal, a lone white egret quietly sailing
into the horizon, vast trees sighing in the breeze with their branches
drooping lazily into the water, sunlit eddies swirling in myriad colors, the
flowing mellifluous waters of the Kaveri canal dreamily humming the 2nd
movement of Beethoven's pastoral symphony, the intense quiet midday heat,
the garrulous buzzing of an annoying insect, sounds of rice fields rusting
as they sway in the breeze...
When at the end of the canal you suddenly come onto the full view of the
Kaveri flowing, it's a marvelous picture. You can hear the river before you
can see it. It is a treat to cross it and dip your hot legs into the
delicious cold stream.
That evening while resting after the arduous run and even into the night I
couldn't get this rythm out of my head. The quiet gentle Kaveri keeps
flowing on... "

Can't wait to be there again!!

‘Eid’ioctic Half Moon Run

‘Eid’ioctic Half Moon Run
Oct 14th 2007
Off Mysore Road, behind Hejjala Village

The BH3 Run No. 451 was the laziest but a very enjoyable run. To start with, it was set in the beginning of the festival season, a 20-20 match between the world champions J and the Aussies, reason enuf to keep you glued to the idiot box. The attendance was low – there were 27 of us at the start and probably none who wanted to run!!
Picture this –it’s a pleasant Sunday afternoon, you are basking in the shade of a huge tree on a hillock overlooking a lake, and there’s beer and snacks. Well, for most people this is perfect setting for a picnic. But we are the Hash – the drinking club with a running problem. So, when the GM pumps the horn, we are all on our feet (albeit grudgingly!!) for the run.

And thanks to sum anjaani josh, there was an extra spring in my feet (I don’t have a reputation for being a Ghalib, excuse the hindi plz). I took every false trail that went into fields and shrubbery. The run must have been a sub 10km one and Pradeep and I finished FRBs (Front Running Bastards). And even as we finished at the lake, the sun going down, the Ed Ka Chaand came out from behind the tress on the horizon. It was a fantastic sight to savor as we downed some draught beer and samosas.

And, hey, it is official now and there’s research now that backs me – the malted bitter drink (read beer) after a workout is better than water. Conserve Water!! Read here.

Head West, Head East

1300kms, 40lts of petrol, 1 breakdown, 27 highway hours, 29Sep-02Oct’07

It’s one of those rare phases in life now - a very pendulous phase, with contrasting emotions that are hard to explain. A depressing morning lending itself into a refreshing lunch break, the dangling blue ear-ring erasing the etch of static cubicles and walls, the locked battle of the convict and the romantic. While outwardly, nothing has changed at all; I am still the IIM grad, employed in a MNC, still single and happy, internally, I have been traveling miles and miles of agonizing turmoil putting each of these superficial statuses to risk, every single day.

The idea of a matching physical torture probably brought in an iota of sadistic pleasure to my melancholic mind. And I was tricked into ‘looking forward’ to a weekend of long rides, long run and friends.

Either I could head west, travel 270kms to Madikeri, to the RTMC 6A party, or head east to Pondicherry, travel 330kms to meet the gang. The pendulum of indecision put its ugly head up again, I was unable to decide which of the two to let go. Unlike life, though, riding on a bullet provides at least some answers - the answer was simple, ride west, then east. Maybe all answers are indeed simple, my optimist-self reassures me that, there would be a su-someone who would add the rang (color) to my meandering existence. (Are you listening??)

T h a t was the mood as the weekend began to roll…

RTMC 6A at Madikeri

The Anniversary rides are the biggest and promising events of RTMC, the Bangalore Bullet Club. It seemed like yesterday when we partied all night long at Yercaud for the 5A. There were some 40 bullets that lit up the roads as we left Town Hall at 640am. The high point was the participation of Mr. Bose, the grand old man of Bullet racing, even after 50years of riding, there is a sparkle in his eyes when he talks about his Bullets. There were quite a few from the Madras Bulls (MadBulls) who had already traveled 300kms to join us. The regrouping points were at Kamat Lokaruchi and at Srirangapatana, they had to be long to accommodate all varieties of riders and Bullets. There were patchy stretches of bad roads near Periyapatana. We took the deviation to Siddapura.

Its always such a pleasure riding in Madikeri, the roads are narrow and winding, foliage thick, the routes green and the climate cool. And despite all this, my thoughts kept swinging back to the workplace mischief, bringing a boyish grin inside the visor. And somewhere on the highway before Hunsur, my Bullet passed yet another milestone - 30000kms on the odometer, yoo-hoo!!

The RTMC party was at Capitol Village about 3kms from Madikeri on the Madikeri-Siddapura road. The place has a rustic feel to it, with a small lake, tiled cottages, corgi-styled balconies and decent view of the fields. For want of space, a few of us were booked at Crystal house, a hotel at Madikeri. There were 100 bullets which made way to the party.

My Party in the wild

Long before the party was set to start late evening, the preparation had begun – liquids of all colors being concocted into the cocktail, grass being rolled to give the various degrees of high.
I had my own plans to get there – my dope of endorphins was waiting for release; all I needed was my pair of running shoes to inject the pain.

I ran down from the room to Capitol Village and looked conspicuously out-of-place at the party in my shorts and dry-fit tee. But the short 3km run had already gotten me hooked, I wanted to do more. I borrowed Shakti’s torch and even as the blaring music began to play to the head-bangers, I started to pound the roads.

As I left the party behind, at 915 in the night, the mist and eerie darkness welcomed me to my first night run. And what a run it was, the ghostly silhouette of the tress, backlit by the grey skies and mist, the firefly trail decorating the dark shrubbery, the cool air swelling up my lungs, the crickets chirping incessantly at the unusual visitor.
I had only planned to set out to my hotel to change and get back to the party. But by the time I reached Madikeri, I was deeply engrossed in my thoughts. I turned back to face the hazy and obscure road, praying and begging for some clarity, some light to pierce this mist, some answers to the questions that haunt me.

And like pure magic, in the middle of all this, the naughty smile kept coming back, briefly translocating me to my office cafeteria. A sharp loud (in that silence, even the pitter patter of my shoes could be called loud) barking of two dogs, snapped me back, sending a chill down my spine and the barking grew louder and nearer. It started to rain on the second lap, and I tempted to abort my run and head back to the resort at the end of this loop. As I neared the resort, my ears picked up faint rock music in the distance; my party was not over yet. I turned back to the road, I needed all of those endorphins, pain is what I have to get used to after all. Is that the answer, well, maybe not, but hey it always helps to experience the possible worst-case. From there, it can only get better.

And better it did get, literally. When I got back to Capitol at 1045, the beverages were flowing, the dancing souls were subdued and I attacked the food and desserts with delight. That is one run I will not forget in a hurry.

Madikeri to Pondicherry

Sunday turned out to be a full day of riding, nearly 14hours from start to finish. I started from Madikeri at 7am with Sumanth. The route from Siddapura was so good, I was tempted to try to shoot the stretch of the ride on my Nikon S10. I managed a bit, check it here, any guesses how I managed this stunt?
Breakfast happened at Maddur Tiffany’s and all was going well as hit Bangalore well before noon. I pulled over at R1 Plaza just outside Hosur at 1pm for lunch. With just under 300kms to go, 6pm at Pondi seemed very possible and I extended the lunch break to 2pm. But just as I started from there, as I was settling into a cruising mode on the fantastic highway to Krishnagiri, the speedometer started to behave erratic like the Indian cricket team and the Bullet came to stop. It was a definite problem with the electricals and I tried a bit of troubleshooting for the next 30mins. When nothing happened, I pushed the Bullet a good half a km or so to a mechanic. A loose connection in the coil in the clutch case was the culprit. It was 4pm when I rejoined the highway again. I decided to ride non-stop for the next couple of hours to make the max of the daylight. And when twilight faded, I still had to cover 95kms from Thiruvanamalai to Pondi. Braving high beams, flies and fatigue I reached Pondi at 8:30, it still took me another half hour to get to Le Club, where Raghu, Raaji, Ada, Tima and Shamji were chilling out.

Forth is deceptive. There is this one kind of it, when served chill in a mug is supposed to refresh (I personally think it is the world’s biggest hoax, let’s discuss this over a beer sometime). Ok, the other forth – bubbly and unconstrained, until it comes in splashing all over your face. Yuck, salt it is. We sat on the rocks on the beach at 12 in the night soaking ourselves, trying to stare the waves in the eye (yeah, what!!). But it’s amazing how when you are pals, any froth – salty or bitter tastes so sweet, no.

Aurovil Ashram

The place is fantastic, independent cottages built to give it a rustic feel that makes you feel at home, instantly. It’s a great place to stay if you are planning an extended holiday at Pondi. So much silence and peace of mind at that kind of price is a steal.
The real holiday started on Monday, the real holiday is when you don’t do nothing. You should read about our other real holiday here. We undid some millions of years of evolution, re-evolve or something (I think it is called revolution, I know that word from somewhere) when turned hunters and liars again (Charles Darwin would never tell you they were liars, it would have created a revolution, I think). We played bluff for as long as I can remember and then went hunting for food to the Aurovil village. It was some Seethusamudram strike in TN and Aurovil is in TN and not Pondi (not a bluff that one) and we literally had to hunt around for grub. For dinner we had to get back to basics – fruits, bread, jam and omelets minus oil. I don’t know, we started off making half boiled which became omelet and then started off making omelet which became scrambled eggs. At 230 in the morning, no one complained. It was a difficult night as we discussed issues close to my heart (wink). Words, laughter, advice, serious debate, thoughts, spirit and bluff filled all the space between us friends. Friends… what can I say, you guys are great!!

My Bullet needed a little attention in the morning, some welding and a visit to the mechanic for some peripheral work and it was back to being great.

Road Humps Ahead!!

I like this road sign the best and always look out for the humping when I pass it!! But in this case, the road hump was inside the Ashram, sans the sign. Well, the ashram is a place for solace and silence not for some cheap rallying thrills, he he. All that makes sense till you break the rule once. In the night, when Adarsh and I were getting back on the Bullet, we tried a bit of wheeling… we nearly had orgasmic pleasure (eeikes) taking the bullet off the road over a couple of steep declines in the road within the ashram. We came back to do some more in the morning, its so much fun to do it in the morning (lol).

We slept through the spectacular sunrise at the beach but woke up in time to leave the ashram by noon. We had brunch at Pondi and hit the highway by 1230 or so. Shamji took up the pillion seat for the first 50 odd kms, from then on Adarsh and I rode together, enjoying some good music, decent roads and pleasant riding conditions. I stopped a number of times en route and shot some high energy videos of some kids in the villages in an attempt to make a short congratulatory video for a friend.

The road trip has probably not done anything to make the blue earring any less elusive, but the smile that it will bring to my lips would surely have broadened by some unforgettable memories from there.

Pearl Valley

What it is: Water Falls!!
How far is it: It is some 50-55kms from Hebbal Flyover
How to get there: Ride down on Bannerghatta Road, take left at Bannerghatta towards Anekal. Take a right into Jigani Industrial Estate along the ring road. Look out for a BP petrol station on the right. Take right and follow signboards to Muthyaala Muduvu.
Roads: 4 lane road upto Bannerghatta without dividers. The stretch from there on is lined up with trees and makes a fantastic ride. Good roads throughout.

Pearl Valley can be anything between Pearl and Peril depending on your mode of transport. On Saturday, 8th Sep, as Kavita, Ananth and I set off on our bikes, it was closer to the latter.
We started from Hotel Chalukya at 0532 hours (I measured time, you can see how accurate I was!). Kavita showed great grit, she had never cycled more than 20kms at one go. She joined us till a little after Bannerghatta, trudging along the uphills, but doing very well overall, a laudable effort, indeed.

Ananth and I then took off from there at a good speed, but somehow, the destination was always that 10-15kms away. Ananth was supposed be the distance and route guide, who quite nonchalantly approximated the 55kms to 35km. Well mate, it wouldn’t have mattered much if we were measuring distance to the moon or Britney Spears’ waist or something. (click here for some Britney jokes!!)
I guess it was showing in our faces as well. Coz at one point when we asked for directions, the guy actually added that it was downhill all the way!

We reached Muthyaala Muduvu or Pearl Valley at 0940. There are a couple of restaurants where you can park (we parked inside one of them!) and walk down some steps to the “falls”. If Pearl is to stand for ‘economy’, the name of Pearl Valley is very apt. It was quite a miracle how the falls had managed to stay that way despite the flooding all-around in nearby Bangalore. It took us some 2mins to get to the falls and like 20mins to laugh out all those water-falls-PJs we cracked.

We left there at 10 and got back on some better roads to Bannerghatta in an hour’s time. I had some nagging problem with the mid-gears, one chain getting stuck incident. We got back to IIMB by 1130 and home by 1230.
But tell me, why cycle 110kms all the way, while you can marvel at the swirling lakes at Silk Board flyover and every other road in Bangalore? Beats me!!

The Hills Trilogy - Last leg - Yelagiri Hills

Aug 18th - 19th
Wrapping up that one helluva week of Bulleting, biking and running was the Hash outstation run at Yelagiri.

Yelagiri
Yelagiri is a hill station about 170kms from Bangalore. The place is a RTMC favorite for the delicious Biryani at the town in the foot of the hill, Vaniyumbadi. The Bangalore Hash once every year runs at locations outside Bangalore. With good highway from Bangalore, Yelagiri’s got those ingredients for a good weekend trip. The hill kinda rises abruptly in an otherwise flat landscape. The ride off the highway to the foot of the hill offers a daunting view of the hill, all with the zig-zagging ghat road that leads to the top.

There was one lal dabba, KSRTC van that was arranged to transport a majority of the 40 odd Hashers. I decided to ride down instead wanting to replace my earlier tragic memories of the ride to Yelagiri (Read the story). We stopped for breakfast buffet at Hotel Shivaranjini, near Titan at Hosur and from then on all the way to the top.

Chalk De, Yelagiri!!
Abnash (pervert producer), Sunil (not yet) and I were to Hare (mark the trail with chalk for the others to find/lose) this run. Ha, which also means you get some free Beer at the end of run at the circle. So, soon after reaching the Hotel Hills at Yelagiri where we were booked, we headed off towards the general direction of the lake and the hills, with bags-full of chalk. The next 3 hours went into throwing chalk around lake (the typical “couples in a pedal boat” lake), fields, village roads (no bio-terrorism threat here!) and the Nilgiri forest area. The Hash finished off its quota of Corporate Social Responsibility when the hares cleared off the undergrowth in the forest with Abnash’s gardening cutter!

The forest full of Eucalyptus tress and as silent as the Bacchan family on the all new Jr. (or maybe I should use it as a simile for fast, as in as fast as Abishek or something) Well, anyways, the point is, it was as forest as a forest can be. The trail was fantastic, going around the lake, into the fields and then into the forest area leading into a view point offering the panoramic view of the landscape and then the circle around a mini-pond.

Got back from the run to a few rounds of Table Tennis (how can I ever say no to that one), some malt beverage fermented with sugar and yeast, desserts and dance.

Steep Sunday
About 10-15 of us had made plans to run down and up Yelagiri hills in the morning. My fatigued legs managed about 20kms in all in not so good time, climbing up the last 12kms.
The recovery run was a very very short one, the partying had vanquished the Hashers’ running problem to an extent. There was little you could do, esp after the sumptuous breakfast. There was some fresh pomegranate juice that was simply out of the world.

I left there at noon, the Indian flag and the military cargo n all and was back home early evening with just the one tea stop at Hosur.
Pheww, what a week I say!!

Warming Up to fight Global Warming

Just when you begin to brag of your fitness levels, you read something like this. Well, then you don’t believe everything that get reported in the papers these days!! My gut says the Blue Boys won the World Cup, the Sensex is at 20K and well, Aish is single. This had to be one of those fill-the-page-3 items. I quickly dismissed it as someone’s figment of imagination and got back to ostentatiously flaunting my fitness. The 34kms in 3:10hrs I did with RFL last Sunday, back up there.

Then my sister called up and put me on to this guy, Samim who spoke enthusiastically about the run from Bangalore to Mumbai, 1100km in 22days and then cycle back in 6days. He talked more about the sponsors, the running-around to get it organized and the cause - creating awareness about Global Warming, full josh and all.

I know what you are thinking, those were egg-jactly my thoughts too… my sister had pulled a fast one on me. But Samim hadn’t finished yet; he said I should join him and his cycling mate, Vibhor at MG Road on their practice the next day.

So I land up that Wed morning in front of Coffee Day, MG Road with my road bike to check these supermen for myself. Superman is what Samim is, coz the guy is a former National No.3, has among many others biked Bangalore to Mysore in 3hours!! (hey, stop comparing that to my Bullet timings now, man Vs machine is no contest). Vibhor, half as old as Samim is a new injection of good cycling skills and passion to the team.

As I joined them pedaling loops up and down MG Road, Samim talked about his grandiose plans for improving the cycling scene in the city, all the way up to building a team for races like the Tour de France. Well, there are going to be whole lot of hurdles to deal with, but he believes it is far better now than it ever was. He said he was checking me out for the races too… (Don’t laugh, that was not a joke!!) The guy is blood and flesh alrite, but too dreamy to be human, I knew something was not right here.

The Run from Bangalore to Mumbai
The run is being flagged off on 8th September. Here’s wishing Samim, Vibhor and his team an injury free expedition. Hoping to see all those plans becoming a reality soon.
While you put your hands together for him, watch this space for more on this trip, with that dash of humor(?) as usual…

Samim Rizvi Begins his Run to save the environment
06 Sep UPDATE:
Samim Rizvi is starting out on the marathon run from Bangalore to Mumbai tomorrow morning at 10AM from Vidhana Soudha. Check out the link to GreenPeace on the sidebar for information on Global warming!

The Hills Trilogy - Part II - Chamundi Hills

Cauvery Calling
It is a feeling that you kinda get addicted to - the good-pain in your hamstrings, calves and quads and it lasts for a couple of days. Last week I had just enough time to restore harmony with my Quads, ankles and lower back after the Nandi Hill ride.



The gear I packed on Tuesday was a rather unusual mix of leather jacket to dry fit apparel, ankle boots to new shooz, spare tube to Polar HRM. For, what I had in mind was a ride to Srirangapatana, run, ride to Mysore and run up the Chamundi Hills the next morning.

It is the season of patriotism, of ChakDe India, of a test victory over the British, of a strengthening rupee. I bought myself a Tricolor to celebrate the spirit of Independence. For the first time, I stitched the Saffron, white and green stripes to size, biting my tongue at those anxious moments when the crucial stitch had to come right while pedaling the Merit sewing machine delicately. After an hour’s battle the Flag adorned the rear view mirror of the Bullet quite smartly, my Laksh was achieved!!

The Forrest of RFL, Dr. Rajat came up with this idea of running up the Chamundi Hills on 15th Aug. Sunil and Jugy added the Hash angle to it, by planning a run near Srirangapatana on 14th, stay over at Mysore and then scale up the hill in the morning. And the plan came with the hash promise of serene landscape along the Cauvery river.

Just before the Rangantittu bird sanctuary there is a kachha road that runs along a Cauvery canal. As Sunil & I took this route to chalk the trail, the landscape opened up to some wonderful imagery of paddy and sugarcane fields along the canal. About 5-6kms on this route and then we took a road to an Ashram and a village. Beyond the village, was the river flowing close to its brink, thanks to the good monsoons this year.

By 4 in the evening the critical mass had gathered for the run – Sunil2, Dave, Mike, Leona, Uttam, Sindoor had joined us. Later Abnash and family and Nischal caught up with us. The run was fantastic, about 7.5kms of bliss. We chilled out at the river for sometime, soaking the sore feet in the cold waters and headed back before sundown. Dave shot some excellent pictures of my bullet on his Canon SLR, see if I can get my hands on those. I wish I could put up some of the pristine country air for you to sample or better still save some for myself.

I was booked at Dasaprakash at Mysore for the night. We treated ourselves to a finger-licking buffet and Beer at The Metropole.
The RFL team from Bangalore joined us during the night – Doc, Bhasker, Satsang, et al. At 6am we were about 18 of us running up the Chamundi Hills.

Chamundi Hills





The Chamundi hills 3490ft high aberration in the center of the city of Mysore, boasts of rich historical significance and the famous Chamundi temple.


The uphill climb is 6km around the winding road to the top. Most of us managed a good timing of 39-42mins on the first lap (yes, we ran it up twice!!) and 22mins on the downhill. It was the second lap that was the push. I did an additional 3kms when I accompanied Nischal on her second lap. I still have the can’t-say-no-to-beautiful-girls disorder. Bhasker kept us company as well on the way down sharing his marathon experiences.

Breakfast served after a 27km run will generally taste good anyways, only Sandesh Prince made sure they didn’t screw up. They have a breakfast buffet which is value for money really… I am not sure, thou, that they continue to offer that after the RFL Raid on Independence Day!!
I was spared the traffic on the ride back to Bangalore and made it non-stop in 2hours 15mins.

The Hills Trilogy - Part I - Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills

As a boy I always fancied looking down, perched on the petrol tank of my dad’s Jawa and watch the road blur under me. I am growing up to be that boy again!
For a brief moment, it took me away from the sore lower back, the headwind and the afternoon sun; I was translocated. Every shiny dot on the tarmac stretched to form a line, joining the hundreds moving under me. As I bend down to dwell upon my shadow, the knees incessantly move in tandem, the white lines on tarmac paused and went… the hot, dry air made way into and out of the bellows. I craned my neck briefly to sample the uphill left to climb and the childhood fantasy was snapped.

Last Saturday, 11th Aug, Ananth and I cycled up to Nandi Hills and back.

5:20AM Hebbal Flyover - the start
7:00AM First Break just off the Highway, after about 35kms
7:38AM Stop at the ruins just as we begin the ascent
8:15AM Stop at the 4km mark
8:27AM 5.5km mark, disembark from the saddle.
9:00AM Reached the top, park and scout for tea!!
(45kms+8kms uphill in 3hours 40mins)

The onward ride was not as difficult; we rode up 5.5 kms uphill as well, before we got off the saddle. The temperature dropped quite a bit as we approached the top, 4850ft high. At 8:30AM, we were literally walking on the clouds. The roads were wet and the sun was waging a condensation battle with the fog and the cloud. One of my favorites is that moment as the sun clears up the hazy obscurity.

Nandi hills is ‘the’ favorite among the coo chi-cooing couples and dare devil bikers. The 90acre area attracts more than a 1000 motorists on any given weekend and could turn into a disaster if you think you were leaving the crowds behind in Bangalore. It is highly recommended to leave Bangalore early to catch the sunrise and then head back.

We stayed on top for about 30mins or so, searching for a tea kadai and filling up our water reserves. My chocolate bars and biscuits came to the rescue of the empty stomachs. What muscles are worked while you ride downhill?? The Forearm! I had to work hard with the brakes to keep myself from falling off, new brake shoes really help.

I love it when you can exchange ta-tas from kids on my bullet rides. When you are on a cycle, you can also hear them scream and they can see you grin. At one stretch near Devanahalli we were welcomed by drum beats by a school band practicing for the upcoming 60th Independence Day celebration. The Blow of the trumpet grew louder as we passed. I was wondering what independence we were celebrating if kids had to rehearse for the march on Service roads in blazing sun.

And then there were children near the hills who were collecting Ganesha Festival Funds!! Their WMD was a length of rope tied around two trees on either side of the road. After our break near Chikkajala junction around 1130, a motorcycle slowed down to my pace and the pillion shook hands with me. The guy was himself a long distance biker and was happy to see like-minded insanity on the highway.

Ananth is a fellow Hasher and rides a Firefox. His pace was perfect for me, chatting when I was bored and egging me on when I needed it. The fact that we took only 3stops on the onward journey was largely because of his girt. Thanks mate!

The last stop was after Jakkur for tender coconuts, it was 1230 and I had one last uphill to climb before the flat home stretch. I reached home at 1pm in time for a warm bath and delicious Pulav… thanks mom!!

I was happy to finish the 110kms in good shape in stark contrast to the previous Nandi Hills ride. It did get Ananth and I accustomed to the crosswinds to expect on the longer Pondi ride…

Checklist for long rides:
Check for appropriate tire pressure, pedals in order, good brake shoes.
Carry plenty of water, glucose, biscuits, chocolate bars.
Carry a tool kit, puncture kit, spare pedals.
Stow these on a carrier, securely fastened with bungee cords, keeping the shoulders free.
Rub Vaseline on crotch, underarm to help reduce friction.
Use sun block, sun glasses, cap/helmet to keep the sun out.

The fotos are here.