Office commute – 5 days, 5 ways

How many times have we felt, “damn, the traffic is so slow, I could easily be faster on foot”, but never dared to try. On one such Friday evening when it took me 1:45mins to cover the 26k home, I decided to try all modes of options to commute to work – Car, Bullet, Bus, Cycle and Run.

Although, I had the phone lines open for 165774hours for the entire country to vote in their favorites, all of 41people voted (blame the economy, H1N1 or both). And like any reality show, the results are being announced after a choti si break.

Summary of the results:
• The least one-way time to commute was recorded while I rode the cycle; 54mins for 26km
• The least average time (both ways) was recorded by the bullet - 61.5mins, the cycle was a close second at 62.5mins
• The time taken by the next three modes were Car (1:12hrs), Bus (assisted: 1:45hrs) and run (2:35hrs)

Terminologies used:
• Work-ability: The ability to work after one commutes to office. Yes, some morons like me work after getting to office.
• Health Equity: Health = health, Equity is used to use up the residual remnants from my Fin MBA
• Relaxation Index: The measure of relaxation during the commute

Caveats:
• Although, I tried to keep the start the commute at the same time each day, there were deviations. Even a 10-15min change can cause quite a difference in results in peak hour traffic. This variable could have been controlled further
• Same as above for the time to leave office too
• There was a significant loss of speed in transmission because of slipping clutch plates in the bullet. But then, we are not getting into muscle fatigue during the cycling phase either
• The experiment is not sensitized to the day of week as well. I also have only the luxury of sample size = 1. With multiple data points, with different modes being taken on different days, one could also account for the Monday morning, Friday evening traffic variations
• All parameters where I have arrived at objective results (viz., cost, time, carbon footprint) have been converted to a 5-point scale for measurement. All parameters where results are subjective (viz., work-ability, safety, health equity, relaxation index) have also been subject to my subjectivity
• The ‘Overall ratings’ is arrived at using weighted-average. The weights are provided by me (Health equity 25%, Work-ability 20%, Cost & Safety 15%, Time & relaxation 10%, Carbon footprint 5%). Of course, this could vary from person to person and the ‘Overall ratings’ are quite sensitive to the weights considered
• We are comparing superman legs with them machines

13th to 17th July 2009
Route taken: Boopsandra>Hebbal>Windsor Manor>Chalukya circle>Cubbon Park>Richmond circle>Divyasree Chambers>Hosur Road>Forum Mall>Krishna Cafe>Wipro Park K2>Agara jn>Iblur Jn>Wipro Corporate Office
Total Distance: 26km
Run
Make: Superman
Start time: 6:00AM onward, 6:40PM return
Total time taken: 2:32hrs onward, 2:39hrs return
Cost to commute: Nil

Notes: I wear high viz clothing, cap & reflective wristbands for safety. I run on the right side of the road (opp. to the direction of traffic). At the earliest opportunity, I jump onto the footpaths. Despite utmost care, I nearly zonked out when I rammed against a signpost (twice) & also got shown the finger by one impatient jackass on the ring road. I use my car (parked conveniently in the basement car park at work) as a makeshift cupboard for my change of clothes and laptop & shower and change at work.

Cycle
Make: Giant OCR Road bike
Start time: 7:30AM onward, 6:50PM return
Total time taken: 54mins onward, 71mins return
Cost to commute: Nil
Notes: I wear high viz clothing, helmet & gloves for safety. I alight from the bike if I need to take footpaths, maintain high alert if I need to jump signals and do not listen to music or answer the mobile while on the bike. The morning ride is a very pleasant experience indeed. The car, shower & change get me work ready in about 45mins or so.

Car
Make: Hyundai Elantra
Start time: 7:45AM onward, 7:20PM return
Total time taken: 64mins onward, 1:20hrs return
Cost to commute: Approx. Rs. 110
Bus
Make: BMTC Ring road bus
Start time: 8:30AM onward, 7:00PM return
Total time taken: 1:45hrs onward, 1:40hrs return
Cost to commute: Day pass Rs. 30
Notes: Last mile connectivity issues at both ends; had to hitch a lift from work to the ring road. A lot to be desired on the frequency and timelines of the Volvo buses. Heavily crowded bus on the return.

Motorcycle
Make: Royal Enfield Bullet
Start time: 8:45AM onward, 7:00PM return
Total time taken: 59mins onward, 1:04hrs return
Cost to commute: Approx. Rs. 75
Notes: Due to clutch pads smoothening out, the power was not transmitting from the primary drive. Therefore, even at high revs, the speed remained low. Also, I left a little later than usual to work on the bullet adding to the total time taken.

The NET RESULT:
• Saturday was spent in roughening the clutch plates
• More importantly, after another week of trying to keep with this schedule, I gave up mostly because the running was difficult to sustain
• I now run partly (12km) and cycle partly (13km) to work, parking the cycle at Madhu’s (my sis) place overnight and picking it up the next morning. I find this a perfect mix of commute, training, cross training & work-ability
• Thanks for participating in the survey, most of you got it right. Since this survey did not involve sending an SMS, you saved Rs.6!! Cheers!

Bangalore Bicycling Championship 2 –Race to Nandi

…and within a few hours of landing in Bangalore, I was busy spreading word about the new Giant in town, when I was casually drawn into RSVPing an ‘yes’ to the second leg of the Bangalore Bicycling Championship (BBCh).
And that is how, one day before I was to be engaged to Shreya,
“Main Uske Upar Tha,
Woh Mere Neeche Thi,
Haathon Mein Haath The,
Pairon Mein Pair the,
Please bura maniye,
woh sirf meri cycle thi”
Wah wah!! And Wah wah!!

The plan was also to pass on my Firefox Roadpro to Bharath (who was recently won the duathlon & has a PB of 18:33mins for a 5k) & Samim picked me from Hebbal at 6AM.

The race was to start from the Coffee Day near Jakkur at 7am and I had never ridden with BBC before. Although I knew there were 60 registrations, it was another thing to actually see them on the service lane opp. to Coffee Day. Everyone was kicked about the event – there were last minute topping up of air, bikes being fitted together, pleasantries being exchanged, photos being taken and some even doing initial warm up laps. While all this was happening, instructions were given over a loudspeaker as we all piled up at the start line.

We started at 7am, I had no drafting or pacelining whatsoever, simply wanted to try the climb on my new baby and ride back home. There were race marshals (members volunteer to be out of the race to help organize the chaos) at the highway turn off point (17km) and at the base of Nandi hills (31km). I did fairly well on the flat stretches. I averaged 33kmph before the turn-off and 25kmph after the turn-off to the base.

But it’s really the climbs that separate the wheat from the sheaf. While I struggled after about 5k into the climb taking nearly 43mins to ride up, Dipanker who came in first, climbed in 25.5mins!! Nevertheless, it was the maximum I have been on saddle on the Nandi climb and I have happy to have had minimal running/walking stretches.

I averaged 23kmph over the entire distance. I came in 18th out of 70 finishers, with 3 bikers passing me in the last bend. With 11 points from this, I have made a grand entry into the points table of the Bangalore Bicycling Championships.

After relaxing for awhile, we rode down to the Idly point for some breakfast. Sudhir, Murthy and other cronies decided to pace line on the way back. It was soon apparent that drafting behind another takes a lot more than just knowing what needs to be done. It works well for bikes/bikers of similar capabilities. While the rest of the gang broke off at Coffee Day, Sudhir and I continued all the way back home.

Mahesh did a wonderful job (and a brave one, esp while perched on the jeep with his SLR) with the lens and gave us all those wonderful pics. I have splashed them all over this blog/facebook/orkut. More pics from this shutterbug at http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpwaltz/sets/72157620529487549/

Despite my “Haathon Mein Haath, Pairon Mein Pair” incident, the engagement went on peacefully and I am now engaged! Pics you can see at http://www.flickr.com/photos/manojbhat/sets/72157621333296046/

Stats, route elevation courtesy BBC members, Photos courtesy Mahesh.

The American Independence Outsourced Run

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
And thus on the 5th day of July I jumped on my cycle to place claim to my ‘certain unalienable right’ to attend the Uncle Singh’s Not American Independence run in Bangalore’s countryside. Well, since the 4th July run was outsourced to Bangalore, someone had to goof up on delivery and it was one day late!
I have hared runs in the past in this territory and knew the approach from Devanahalli. But I dug the map out and figured that there was a much shorter way via Bagalur and decided to try it on my new set of wheels.

The roads are laid recently and there is very little traffic to worry about. So, if you want to do a 70k loop from Hebbal, you should try this. Head North from Hebbal towards BIAL. Take the right at Bagalur cross > Bagalur > You will hit a T-junction, take the road that goes towards Gummanahalli (2km) & Yediuru (5km) (not towards Kannur) and then take a left on the Hospet-Devanahalli road to Singanahalli. From here Devanahalli is about 10k.
The run site was near Singanahalli.

Reproducing the run report by Vikram (Illiterate) Ram for two reasons – one, such well written hash trash, two – me lazy.

...but we all, like, got these really cool t-shirts with this kinda neat pattern thing (ugh; can't believe I just said that; score).

Anyway, the Scribe is back from holiday but was distracted from the setting and specialities of this Run, first by a certain charming lady who is back from her holiday (with tigers), and then a certain other charming lady who fretted over what to pack (or not) for her impending travels, with FRB-spouse, to the Leh Marathon.

Still, it was observed that a record turn out – some 60 Hashers large and twee – made it to a trail muddled by many checks, checkbacks, falsies and fishhooks which kept the pack together across several acres of farmland and those ubiquitous eucalyptii. There was a vodka/melon stop.

Followed by Part 2 of what was, in fact, An Astonishingly Long Run...at the end of which, and courtesy a miscalculation of rations, many people perished of starvation.

Circle charges:

• Hares Pervert Producer, Crushed Nuts and Crude Sick for what they accomplished by way of terrain and chalk.
• The United Colours of Horrors, comprising of Idiot, Meghana, Eric, Simran, Rohan, Yohann, Siraj, Chilly Filly and Pygmy.
• Queenfisher for voicing concern that she hadn't been iced in ages. As that situation was remedied, Raw Sex held forth on the 9th August Run and the dinner-do after, the Pondicherry relay run, and the so-on and so-forth. What Queenfisher did not melt down was given over to
• Virgins on Ice For The very First Time: Satish, Fareed, Nikhil, John, Roopa, Durgaprasad, Lekha and Amit. Welcome!!!
• Crude Slick was re-assigned to ice for introducing a self-confessed “marathon runner”. Disgraceful!
• Idiot, Karin and Krish, and some others whose names elude us, were honoured for being Born in the USA...or something of the sort.
• Mama Mia, Kumkum and Idiot were feted for the dubious distinction of being Three Generations of Hashers In The Same Family. Say...has anyone noticed just how much beer Idiot gets to guzzle?
• Phatphatiya (me, me!!) and Lekha were congratulated for getting Engaged (not to one another)
• Pervert Producer was acknowledged for Sponsoring Those Super Cool T-Shirts.

GM and RA led the hymn. Just as we thought thought it was over, Perv Prod set off a surprise display of fireworks. Must have been all that sulphur: the skies opened and everyone drove home in a massive downpour.

I did manage to hitch a ride back in the beer van and escaped almost all of the massive downpour. On On…

Run No. 878

Run No. 878 starting from Obelix’s home in South Shields was like a tour around the suburban Cleadon. The trail took us to the Cleadon Mill – ruins of a haunted (?) windmill from the 1800s. And when we were tired looking for the flour in knee high grass, we were shepherded down the hill and back up again near the water tower. It was quite a bright sunny evening and the group was split with a few of us FRBs breaking away in front. But soon speedbump and I were lost and got back on trail after a few anxious minutes.
With all the historical sections done with, in the beginning, we jumped at the chance to short-cut when lubricunt offered the shorter route back to the circle.
Back at the circle, we were treated to some mushrooms and bell peppers BBQs. And while we were soaking in the amber liquid and barbeques, we were treated to some spectacle in the Obelix’s backyard – a near complete rainbow.
More pictures and colors at: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/manoj.bhat/ObelixNHHH
Ps: It happened on Jul 17th, which means I am in namma Bengaluru. So you can pick up the phone and call ;)

Totempole NH3 Run

A day after the Blaydon race, was another treat – a fantastic run no. 877 with the NH3. It started from the Totem Pole’s backyard, into many hills in and around the Hetton park area.
Faceplant, speedbump and I managed to get to a few FRB checks. Back at the circle in Totem pole’s house, I was charged for sitting at the FRB checks which earned me my visiting hash name, Disposed Phatphatia.
The wheat beer, Schneider Weisse and lemon pickles brought back memories of home.The photos here: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/manoj.bhat/NHHHAtTotemPoles

Cyclone Challenge and the Giant Miracle

I did have a busy ‘business’ trip this summer; sample this:
Monday 1st June – Landed at Newcastle
Wednesday 3rd – heard about the Blaydon race at the NH3 run
Friday 5th – saw a poster for the Cyclone Challenge at client office
Saturday 6th 4pm – push in a last minute postal entry into the Cyclone race
Monday 8th – Promised a spare number to the Blaydon race & a bike for the Cyclone challenge
Tuesday 9th – Run the Blaydon race
Wednesday 10th – Run with the NH3 at Totem pole’s
Thursday 11th – Pick up bike from client manager’s home
Friday 12th – Get bike serviced & register for the race
Saturday 13th – 62mi ride in the Northumbrian countryside on my Giant Bike
Sunday 14th – Reflect on the busy week that was ;)

Maybe it was nowhere close to being miraculous, but each piece fell so neatly in place and before I knew it, I had participated in a 100k race in what would, eventually be, my bike!!

I never have been a destiny’s child and always had to earn every reward, but this time around I couldn’t have made it without a lot of help.
I would have missed it, if it hadn’t been for a poster at cafeteria at work.
I would have missed it, if, after seeing that the online reg was closed, I did not write to the organizers.
I would have missed the postal registration, if the organizers office was a distance away (with some few hours, no postal service would have delivered the form that quick). It was a mile from my hotel.
I would have missed it, for the want of a bike and Newcastle didn’t have a store where I could hire one.
I would have missed it, if the only biker I knew at work – Tony was at work (he probably has a MTB not suitable for the race). But Tony was on a 2 week vacation.
I would have missed it, if had heard about Tony leave from anyone else but Tim, coz when Tim heard why, he said he could possibly have a bike at home that I could borrow!
I would have missed it, if it wasn’t one of “those bikes with thin tires, and funny way to change gears” (aka road bikes!)
I surely wouldn’t have brought it back with me, if Tim was a biker himself, or if his girlfriend insisted he become one or if British Airways didn’t allow free carriage for sporting equipment, or, most importantly, if Ananth hadn’t told me this 2yrs ago on a Nandi ride!

Presenting… The Bike
It was indeed a “bike with thin tires, and a funny way to change gears”. It was a 2006 Giant OCR3 series – a mid range, budget road racing bike, with triple chain rings in the front useful for climbing. It has an Allux frame, carbon fork, 24speed Shimano Sora shifters, Shimano Sora in the front and Shimano Tiagra at the rear derailleur’s. It’s a XL 58cm and at 10kgs it weighs close to nothing. I did have to spend a bit at Cyclogical to get it road worthy and a little more to pack it later for the air travel.

Pre-Race:
The pre-race Registration was at Leazus park on Friday evening. It was not quite the gala I had expected but was nevertheless buzzing with bikers participating in the Criterium races clocking those fast laps around the park. For an event that was touted as “one of UK biggest”, the lack of bike stalls was conspicuous. At the counter, a SI-card was strapped around the waist and was to be kept that way till the end of the race. I also got my first bike number - 1835

The Race (link):
I had gone through the Google maps directions using street map, a number of times to make sure I don’t get lost the following morning in getting to the Falcons Rugby Club. Even as I entered the stadium, I saw a peloton riding out of the stadium and immediately felt the adrenaline rush. The start was well organized – some 2000 bikers were starting either the 62mi or the 100mi races in a space of 2hrs. Some 20bikes were flagged off every 2mins after dipping the SI-card in the timing slots. It looked like I was the only Indian rookie around, also arguably the only one in non-skin-tight shorts, without cleats or water bottle, but still carrying a camera!

The plan was to stay with the peloton or paceline behind someone to catch the draft. But the group spaced out in no time. As Leadlegs says in his blog:
“Now and again the small group we started out riding with, …, was swamped by a faster group that zipped all around us like hungry piranha attacking a carcass, before moving on to the next victim. It was a bit intimidating at first but I soon got used to it.”
As soon as we were out of Ponteland we were left with beautiful countryside to deal with. I tried to make small talk with fellow bikers for awhile. There was also a nagging patter from the front of the bike that I attributed immediately to the only critical area in the front – the fork or the quick release. It was just the clattering noise and I hadn’t made up my mind to stop and look for the problem. An Irish biker came up quietly behind me and pointed out to the reflector tapping against the brake cable and welcomed me to the ‘noiseless world’.
And from then on, there were no problems with the bike whatsoever.

My first off-saddle point came as early as 22mi or so, just before the Forestburn timing station. I didn’t shift the gears at the right time and the cadence had dropped putting in too much strain on the quads on a steep incline.

The timing station (which I reached in 1:22hrs) was stocked well, and I gulped down lots of water, a chocolate bar and some bananas. I also pocketed a couple of bars to sustain me till the next station, which according to the map, was about the same distance as the first.

So I had started out expecting to be out of water for about 1.5 hrs. I also knew that this section had the most climbs and very undulating. The 62milers separated from the 100milers about here and there was a much lesser crowd from here on…

I took many of the climbs either very easy or off the saddle, jogging alongside like a loser. After 1.5hrs, I began to expect the aid station sometime and was tapping into the reserves of my body fluids. The combination of no water and jumping off the saddle expedited the incidence of cramps. I can manage calf cramps, but the cramps in the Quads are the worse and I dread them.

After about 2hrs, I had started to hallucinate, looking far ahead to spot any signs of colorful paraphernalia of the water stations. I had started to curse the organizers for not making this clear in the map. It was clearly mentioned that there would be 4. I had started to wonder how close the remaining timing stations would have to be, to accommodate 3 more. The other riders simply zipped by with customary “Are you alrites”, but didn’t wait enough to hear my “not really”s. By this time I had started to question my wisdom of entering into the 62mi event. And the lush green landscape? I didn’t notice much.

The Ryals:
So, in this state of desperation, I look around the bend in the road and there is this “the fearsome climb of the Ryals with its 30% middle gradient” as described by the organizers. There was no way in bloody hell I was going to get on top of that on my bike. My optimistic side was still expecting a water stop right on top like a reward. But barring some photographers (for whom I got on my bike again to get this pic) and some resting bikers, there were none. But I was surprised by the number of bikers who attacked the Ryals, to the top of the first one and then continued on to the top of the second!!

And finally when I had made up my mind to crash into the next pub that I saw, the tents of the timing station at Stamfordhm came to view. I had gone 2:53hrs, the toughest section of the race, without water!

I rested there for awhile and was also forced to rest someplace midway. Although this was the easiest section -12mi and downhill most of the way, I took about an hour to finish in 5:17:47hrs overall.

Post Race:
The final standing put me in position 520 among 825 finishers. Not great, but I must have won the “longest without fluid” category hands down, if ever there was one. I picked up the goody bag and a simple cotton tee, some chips, coffee and the timing certificate and sat down at the exit to enjoy the spoils.

Well, if you thought I did ok, you should check the blog link which I chanced upon… about how 10yr old (yeah 10yr old!!!) Josh finished just 11mins after me. Woah, lotsa catching up to do there, I am about 19years behind!
Time to get back to work now…

The Blaydon Race

Aw went to Blaydon Races, 'twas on the ninth of Joon,twenty hundred an' nowt-nine, on a summer's efternoon;Aw tyuk the start frae Balmbra's, afore the light was fadin’,Away we went alang Collingwood Street, an’ in 42mins was in Blaydon.
(chorus)
Oh lads, ye shud only seen us gannin',We pass'd the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin';Thor wes lots o' lads an' lasses there, all wi' smiling faces,Gawn alang the Scotswood Road, to see the Blaydon Races.

Disclaimer: I didn’t write that. This anthem of Tyneside was written by Geordie Ridley and
eIn keepin wiv da Blaydon spirit, I iz writin dis in Geordie English.
Read on… an' if yous don’t iz gona, try again whun yous iz well.

So, as hit turned hout, I wuz da third in line to get da spare dijits fe da race hat da Hash an' dere wuz 2. I wuz fe real sore to as missed on da fun-race. But, I iz not da one to borrow up easily, an' I had da well kind manageez hat wurk to put up da notice fe da spare runnin dijits.
So, as it turned out, I was the third in line to get a spare number for the race at the Hash and there were 2. I was really sore to have missed on what was promised to be a fun-race. But, I am not the one to give up easily, and I had a very kind Manager at work to put up a notice for a spare running number.

And lo an' behold, on 8th da monday, Steve walks up to me an' tells me dat e could as one an' dat da lad from da club iz gona brin hit on toosday durin grub. I didn’t mind da 10 poonds hat all.
And lo and behold, on 8th the Monday, Steve walks up to me and tells me that he could have one and that a lad from the club would bring it on Tuesday during lunch. I didn’t mind the 10 pounds at all.
And that’s how I came about wearin da bib dijits 682 in Groat market lookin fe hashers hat 5pm on da 9th hof june. da band wuz bein set up in front hof balmbras an' da marshals wuz gettin' ready to blok da traffic.
And that’s how I came about wearing the bib number 682 in Groat market looking for Hashers at 5pm on the 9th of June. A band was being set up in front of Balmbras and the marshals were getting ready to block the traffic.

met lhj, cf, nickerless, woohoo, face-plant, vic & claire not before I had fed meself wiv da six mile sub-way. da nek muscle wuz da only one wot wuz warmed up before da race, wiv all da lookin around (left, east side, up an' down) to do. bwoy oh bwoy.
I met LHJ, CF, Nickerless, woohoo, face-plant, Vic & Claire not before I had fed myself with a six inch sub-way. The neck muscle was the only one that was warmed up before the race, with all the looking around (left, right, up and down) to do. Boy oh boy.

the race started hat 7.15pm in broad daylight an' I fought I wuz ahead hof da pak, bein da club runna, but neva once seun da elite runners. I ran da heavy race, not pushin meself hat any point fe real, coz I had narr feel fe da terrain.
The race started at 7.15pm in broad daylight and I thought I was ahead of the pack, being a club runner, but never once saw the elite runners. I ran a good race, not pushing myself at any point really, because I had no feel for the terrain.

there wuz quite da racket hat da start an' dere wuz bands playin along da course…
“Oh lads, ye shud only seen us gannin',We pass'd the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin';”
There was quite a racket at the start and there were bands playing along the course…
“Oh lads, ye shud only seen us gannin',We pass'd the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin';”

Hit wuz da yorkie experience runnin wiv such da massiv pak hof strong runners. I held da pace an' sprinted da last few meters to da finish line in 42:11 mins.
It was a great experience running with such a huge pack of strong runners. I held the pace and sprinted the last few meters to the finish line in 42:11 mins.

there wuz quillions hof goodies hat da finish line – some luvly eye candy can-can gaals, blak puddin, coffee johnny tee, newcastle brown ale (all part hof da blaydon race tradition). i waited fe da chill fe hashers an' we headed to da blak bull inn fe some blak sheep bea. an' while we wuz re-hydratin, we wuz treated to clog jiggy withit an' sword jiggy withit by da local jiggy withit group. There were loads of goodies at the finish line – some lovely eye candy can-can girls, Black pudding, Coffee Johnny tee, Newcastle Brown Ale (all part of the Blaydon race tradition).
I waited for the rest for hashers and we headed to the Black Bull Inn for some Black Sheep Beer. And while we were re-hydrating, we were treated to Clog dance and sword dance by a local dance group.

Aal togetha hit wuz da dun evenin.
All together it was a beautiful evening.

Moe on Blaydon Race heer
Moe photus heer

The Causey Arch Run

Maybe they didn’t mean it when NH3 bid me farewell at the circle on Run 859, ‘cause I was back to Newcastle, to New Kent Hotel and to NH3 for the first run in June, Run No. 876. The English Summer was in - a heady mix of cool breeze, bright sunshine and intermittent drizzle, near perfect for some long countryside runs.

The Bullocks family were setting the trail in the Durham countryside starting at the Causey Arch Inn & Keko’s Restorante & Pizzeria on Marley Hill. Counterfit offered a lift and we had enough time for some Guinness. It was quite a cold summer evening and I missed my windcheater.
We were about 15 runners and were rewarded right at the beginning – spare balls to pick up! I filled up my pockets with some dimpled balls scattered on the field close to a golf course. The lush green fields and the weather had also inspired some love making along the trail earlier during the day! We piled some miles till we reached the site of the Tanfield Waggonway station.
So there was this railway line that passing under us at the station. Little did I know the history of this line.

Here’s some trivia for you guys - Tanfield & Causey Arch:
The wooden tracks were built in the 18th century to carry coal from the Tanfield colliery to the Tyne side. The wooden wagons were pulled uphill by horses and then gravity carried them to the riverside, the speed being controlled by horses harnessed behind the wagons. Horses then carried the empty wagons back on the bye-way.
930 waggons passed everyday, that’s 1 in 20secs, with some 50yards between them.
Because of friction, the wagons often caught fire and had to be pulled out.
The Causey Arch is the oldest surviving Railway Bridge and was unprecedented when it was built in 1725.

We ran through FRB checks, Molly Pollys, checks, criss-crossing the tracks several times. It took us through some flowery fields to the BS (aka Beer Stop), where we polished off the last drops of some bitter pints.
We joined the walkers in the last stretch to the On-Inn. We warmed ourselves over some Pizzas, I went for the only veggie option – the Ortalano and some more Guinness. The discussions were around the upcoming Balydon race. With the lasses taking the 2 extra numbers that Nick had to spare, would I miss that race narrowly? Did the mountain bikers that we passed on the home stretch, have a prophetic implication? Only time would tell, Stay tuned!
On On
Pics here and more Causey Arch on wiki here.

Lepakshi

I had visited this town on the way to Hampi last year and always wanted to take my parents there someday. It’s perfect for a one day trip from Bangalore, if all you want to do is drive a short distance and still be able to visit someplace significant.

There are 2 ways to get there – via Chikkabalapur on the NH7 and left at Bagepalli or on via Doddaballapur on SH9, through Gouribidanur and Hindupur. There’s nothing to choose between the two in terms of distance, I chose to drive on the NH7 hoping for better roads.

We left at around 9 in the morning after breakfast at home and headed out on NH7 towards Hyderabad. The roads were great in patches, the not-so-good sections were those where we had to move on the wrong side of the road to make way for road widening work. Managed to cover a lot of distance till we reached the Ananthpur check post, just as you enter AP. There are no restaurants on that stretch, if you are used to the likes of Mysore road, you will be in for a rude surprise. We had stocked up sufficiently at Chikkaballapur.

We reached Lepakshi at 11 or so, first visited the Veerabhadra temple, took the services of a guide who in broken Kannada / Telgu went through a lot of historical and mythological significance of the place. The main diety, the lingas, the mural paintings, the kalyana mantap and the suspended pillar depict some fine workmanship. Check the wiki link for more info.
We spent sometime also at the Nandi statue which is the largest in India, followed by Tanjore and Chamundi Hills (that makes 3/3 for me). We were told that the Nandi here was a calf really and from the expressions a timid one.
We drove straight back and were in time for late lunch and early coffee.

Warwick Castle Jog

Work took me to Warwick near Birmingham, UK during the end of April. Workshops were lined up all day at work and the hotel was way outside of town. I managed to squeeze out time to jog the 6-7miles to see the Warwick castle.
I like the uncertainty and mystery around such runs – you have no idea how long you are going to run, what you are going to see, who you are going to meet.
It was a pleasant evening, the sun was out and the rabbits scurrying into the bushes as I passed them. There were just enough people on walks to ask for directions, one of them even letting me know the best place for a view of the castle. Without this bit of info, I would have run to the (closed!) castle gates and would have missed this spectacular view from over the bridge ahead of the castle.

Act of Random Kindness at Arkesh’s Mango Farm

Date: 02-03 May 09
Something struck me when I saw the closing dialogue of the movie Evan Almighty; I got out of the writer’s block and started to finish this post.
It’s easy to imagine that the ‘Ark’ in the Arkesh’s name stands for Act of Random Kindness. I have known him for a sometime now – as Praks father, soft spoken and charming, he always made you feel good about yourself after you had met him. So when I met him last Dec and spoke with such fervor about his farm off Mysore road, I made a note to myself to visit sometime.

Melukote

We wanted to take the weekend at our pace – Raghu, Raji and Dhannya confirmed and Tima and Ragi dropped off. The only reason I wanted to detour to Melukote was because it looked like a beautiful place in Jani’s album. (yes, I see other parts of those pictures now, after I’ve finally moved on. In fact, I am now on the verge of the imminent. Well, the Noah's Ark was not a singles' cruise; was it?)
We started from Bangalore at around 7, Mysore road was expectedly busy, although it was second day of a long weekend. We drove in my Elantra, stopped at Kamath for the buffet breakfast. The drive after we got off the highway was the best, we rolled the windows down and let the countryside air fill our lungs. It was about 11 when we reached the Kalyani at the bottom of the Melukote hill.
After the must-do photo shoot at the pushkarni, we started to climb up the hill to the Yoga-narasimha temple. It was blazing hot and the climbing the all the steps up to the teimple was not easy. We also visited the Cheluvanarayana temple. It was packed with sweaty devotees and ‘devotion’ was definitely not top of mind when I got a glimpse of the deity.

Where it is:
Approach from Bangalore towards Mysore – Within 0.5k from Ramanagaram bus stop, turn left on Kanakpura road. Reach Railway over bridge within 0.5k, pass the bridge and turn right after the bridge on Bannikuppe road. Reach Bannikuppe in 8km, turn right at T-junction and an immediate left turn to reach Aralaalasandra
Approach from Bangalore towards Kanakapura – Reach Saatanur via Doddalahalli. Proceed on Channapatana road about 20k to reach Volagerehalli and 3km from there to Aralaalasandra
Approach from Mysore towards Bangalore – After Channapatna bus stop turn right towards Honganooru at Saatnur circle. At a fork about 4-5k later, stay on the tank bund and continue for about 5k to Volagerehalli and continue straight to Aralaalasandra
I never thought we could make it with those directions, but they were spot on and more accurate than the GPS (sloppy benchmark to start with).
It was right at the end, that we overshot the farm, thanks to Raghu’s misleading gut-feel and our not-so-local-language-conversant co-pilot, Dhannya. The Elantra was subject to a lot of abuse from the road (or the lack of it), but I was proud of the way it handled the terrain meant for the 4x4s.

What is it:
We had absolutely no idea what to expect when we reached the farmhouse. But as soon as parked there, we started to breathe, see and eat... Mangoes. It’s a 50acre farm – a 1000 mango tress and some delicious varieties – Alphonso (Badami), Raspuri, Totapuri, Kari raspuri and a few local ones. In the middle of the harvesting season, each tree had nearly about 100 mangoes to be picked.
Kenchegowda was the caretaker of the farm, was out to graze cattle. But his wife and kids and Chandrappa made sure we were comfortably settled in the rooms in the first floor of the farmhouse after a guided tour of the farm.

Mango Harvesting: Thanks to movies and beverages, we woke up late and plans of trekking to Devarabetta or Kabaaladurga had to put to shelved for another day. Arkesh uncle came there in the morning and everyone got on their feet (everyone, except Raaji). After a quick breakfast, the mango harvesting began. While Raghu and I joined the team and were soon finishing off an entire tree ourselves. The words - first time right, low hanging fruits and sap actually meant what they were and not some business jargon. Arkesh uncle taught us how to harvest, to keep the sap from burning our fingers or the fruit. It was a relaxing exercise – starting off with an empty carton and a full tree and finishing off with a full carton and an empty tree.
The repetitive act of picking the mango to go for next, carefully plucking it at the right spot, placing it gently in the carton and back till the entire tree is cleaned up, and just doing this over and over again, is what brings to it an element of relaxation.
Raghu and I got back to lunch after a while, but Arkesh and team kept to the task till we had some 60 odd cartons, all treated with Ethylene (?), loaded and ready to make it to Metro.
The girls were having a ball too, sharing the machaan (hammock) and some gossip, am guessing!!
All’s well, but it really didn’t end well. What with the traffic on Mysore road at the end of a long weekend!
The next trip to the farm is going to be on a different set of wheels and also looking to do those treks and maybe a run or two…
Want to leave you guys with this quote from the movie Evan Almighty:
“God: How do we change the world? Evan Baxter: One single act of random kindness at a time.
God: [spoken while writing A-R-K on ground with a stick] One Act, of, Random, Kindness.”
Photos from Raghu and me

Labor Day Labor

While on my trip to UK, of the things that I had picked up were a pair of tail-lamps, a crank brothers hand pump, spiral cable coil lock and a high-viz vest. And all of this had joined my Firefox that had barely been tested.
Bangaloreans are lucky to have Nandi Hills at just the right biking distance in our backyard. The Bangalore Bikers Club rides out almost every weekend to Nandi and I planned to join a group of mountain bikers to ride to Nandi Hills and back – a distance of about 100km from Hebbal. I pulled out of that and decided instead to join Sriram (profiled here) to ride 2 loops from the Nandi turn-off point off the highway. With Sriram, it would mean a much faster pace. But since we were to start off the highway, it would mean I would do a shorter ride.
A 4:30am weekend
This is becoming a norm now, wake up at 4:30am on a weekend. What is unfortunately becoming increasing regular is how I have to wait for people to show up. I was about 10mins early and Sriram was about 30mins late.
We started at about 6:40 from the Nandi turn-off point (23k to Nandi) and rode together one loop of about 10k and back. Sriram took off then, the next thing I saw was as I was approaching the point where we had turned off, he was racing some motorcyclists and was overtaking a few of them. The guy’s a freak.
I continued on and was struggling up the slope, yet to reach the foot of the hill, but already low on cadence and in granny gears. It was then Ignatius Chen Chin Fa, aka Iggy, the Kannada-speaking-Chinese-guy passed me on this bike. I met the die-hard RFLers – Rishi, Amrita and team, they had finished one loop and were getting ready for one more.
I started the ride up the hill – 7k of hill riding, the last 3k pretty steep. I lost Iggy and his friend within the first km or so.
I kept pushing the pedals for about 4k. The pedal clips help a lot in the uphills. You can pull up with one leg and you push down with the other. I had to resort to a lot of walking, jogging in the last 2k and just made it ahead of the runners to the top. I would have to work hard and try and get to scale the hill in one go sometime soon.
Rode down and back to the car in good time. I joined the Rishi and others at the dhaba for breakfast. Lotsa labor on labor day, I should say!

The 'National Geographic' Charlaw Run

The Charlaw Inn NH3 Run No. 859

The Newcastle H3 puts in an additional run out in the countryside on the first Sunday of every month and that gave me a chance to squeeze one more.
Billy was driving from Jesmond and offered me a ride. The run was to start from Charlaw Inn in Edmondsley on the way to Durham. Billy’s navigator, Marian was out in London and I, barely knowing how to read the signs and the map, was to step up and do the job. Little wonder then that we got lost on our way and on my advice (very indianish but effective) stopped at a post office to ask for directions.
The run was hared by knickerless, Bellox me & Talking B – the family hared run. There were the regulars of the NH3, but lots more walkers. It felt great at the start of the run - the cool breeze, the endless fields, the windmill on the horizon, the hash jokes lifted the spirits.
The run quickly took us off the road into the fields and woods. There were some steady uphill sections and the path in the woods ran along a creek for a while, we jumped up and over fences, cattle gates, fallen trees and floating timber. There was a Beer stop about mid way at a local inn, the Wardles Inn and we set off again after the hydration.
The Animal Farm
It wasn’t difficult to find the right trail – do not go in the direction if you hear the hounds barking or if the sign says “beware of the bull”. We passed some deer, rabbits, highland cattle and some wild hashers running all over the place. In many places the earth was soft and it was near impossible to keep the mud off the shoes. I had managed to save my shoes almost till the end, but was duped just once by some grass over a slushy patch and went in ankle deep into cold mud.
The Farewell
I was honored again at the circle, with a down down, a complimentary NH3 tee-shirt and cap. Thanks NH3 for those wonderful runs and for being such a shit-hot host. On On…
Rest of the photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/manoj.bhat/NH3CharlawRunNo859

Ps: The title of the post is inspired by someone who has made a few appearance on visorview in the past and made it to the finals of the NatGeo Misson Navy... hats off!!!

Run Kennedys

Obelix, Watsarong, Lubri, Counterfit, Billy, Marian, Lubricunt, Speedbump, Inncontenance, LHJ, HJ, Knickerless, Yohoo Banger, Totempole, Phatphatia – that was the entry that went under Run No. 858 at Kennedy’s at 8:25 on Wednesday the 25th Feb '09 (that is 1day short of 3yrs since I started running with the BH3. It's in the archive here).

For me, it was one more run made easy by the Hashers. My directions were simple – walk 700mts to the Jesmond Metro station. Be there at 6:10, look for a pretty lady in running gear (read, Speedbump) and she will guide you to the run site.

The run did start off well – with cops stopping by to check if the flour was WMD and I saw off a pint of Guinness before the start. The run was in South Shields and close to the sea, but the hares – Obelix, Watsarong and Lubri made sure we saw none of it. We ran through many red houses shouting our on ons. Many “Molly Checks” (a U-turn sign, upon reaching it everyone turns back and goes right back to the hare, circles the hare and gets back on the trail) and Triple FRB checks (same as FRB check only done with 3 FRBs) kept the pack together. And then there were “three on ons” - 3 flour dots in a row to indicate the right trail where the FRBs shout on-on-on.
The closet we got to wildlife was a toad that was living dangerously. Thankfully none of the hariettes were looking for the Prince Charming!

Customary down down were given to the hares at the circle. I got a down down for being the flasher on the run. It was Spitfire in the circle and I got back into the on-inn and tried the NewCastle Brown Ale and the Johnsmith.

Many thanks to Speedbump and to Billy and Marian for driving me back to the hotel. Marian even got out of the car into the cold night hug me a goodbye. On On…
Photos here

The Bangalore Midnight Half Marathon 09

It took me less than 2hours to run it, but 1248hours to write about it. It’s like when they ask you in interviews "what are your weaknesses?” (Well, it’s probably not like that, but wtf) As you can see the Bangalore midnight marathon did happen. Crossover didn't manage it screw it up totally, only they decided to have it one week before the Mumbai marathon (oh yeah, that’s pending too).

It was the Mumbai marathon that I had been training for and I didn't want anything to really come in the way of the best part of the training - the tapering. But with a marathon happening in Bangalore, was I going to miss it? No.
But unlike some brave hearts like Rishi and Amrita who decided to run two full marathons in 2 weeks, I decided to do the half.

Athreya picked me up (and Reena, omg!! oh!!) and we reached the school from where we were supposed to start. We had to walk a long way to the start line though.
We didn't have the fuss at the start like in the last edition of the midnight marathon and we may have started at 12 midnight too.

It was fun to run the first few kms with Leona who was 'jumpy' after she had won the 5k event and downed a few beers! I was running alone for most part of the run. It was very pleasant running in the night and the whole body cycle working aganist you didn't bother me. I was trying not to run too fast just saving up for Mumbai, I guess. We had to do 2 loops of A to B and B to A of nearly flat course.
I held the pace for the first loop and then caught up with Prateek who was also doing great on the prep for Mumbai. Infact, both of us were holding the pace down, so it would not affect our tapering :)

With about 2-3kms to go, we could hold it no more and sprinted for the finish. I finished in 1:57mins. This is my first recorded marathon under 2hours - PB!!

But the night was nowhere near over - we all waited in the cold night waiting for the RGI girls to finish their relay marathon. I ran the last few hundred meters with most of them, they finished on the podium. Meghana did the 10k, the first 10k for her young one she is still carrying.
So there! Not the greatest race to run, but it was good fun with all friends around.

Statutory warning: Be ready for some dated posts to come up here...

Hash Bash at New Lanark

It was Run No. 1187 of the Hamilton Hash, Run No. 1465 of the Edinburgh Hash, 14th trail weekend for the Bras and Pants H3 on Sunday, 22nd Feb in the cotton mill village, New Lanark in southern Scotland.
No, the brasandpantsh3 is not a “consortium of pub-going loose forward women” but is the “Brewery Runs Around Scotland & Pants because you are panting for a beer” Hash House Harriers… Read on…


I missed the train to Edinburgh on a Saturday morning by 30secs and as I cursed the fat-b!%&#-behind-the-counter for issuing my tickets late, made my way out of the Metro trying to look for a cheaper than full-fare (44£) option. Not the best way to start the weekend you would say.
But Edinburgh changed it all – the train ride itself offered some wonderful views, on either side on the window ;) From the moment I stepped out of the Waverley station into Princess street, I was surrounded by historic spires, parks, castles and museums. Even a non-event like walking to the hotel turned to a memorable experience.

I took a tour bus in the evening and visited the castle and the Scottish Parliament. The locals were friendly and were more than willing to help a ‘slumdog millionaire’ find his way around. One couple even offered that I should try a Falafel and recommended an Israeli place for me to try one. All this while, though, I was still working under the assumption that I would somehow find my way to this little village of New Lanark the following morning for the run.

In hindsight, I would have never made it, if I hadn’t seen a mail from Sheryl Valentine (!!) from the Edinburgh Hash offering to drive me to Lanark. Without leaving anything to chance, she offered to pick me right from my hotel lobby all the way to Lanark. We stopped briefly at the Gillespie home to pick up Alan. While Sheena (aka Sheryl) treated me to some coffee, Alan showed me around his vintage car collection – a 1936 Talbot, 1960s MG, and a Jaguar – all tenderly housed in his garage. It turned out that they had visited India in 2004 and run with BH3 as a part of the prelude to the Goa Interhash. She fondly remembered how the cops had stopped the traffic for some 200 hashers who had turned up then.


We drove for nearly three quarters to reach New Lanark. The hashers were from all around the place – the EHHH, TNT Hash, Hamilton Hash and the Aberdeen Hash. The brewery run had left most of them in various state of sobriety and drunkenness and one with a black eye even.
The pics tell you the story of the run – fantastic trail along the Clyde walkway taking us through the World Heritage site - cotton mills, a hydroelectric power station, the spectacular falls of Corra Linn and the Corra Castle.
It was looking very touristy till we saw flour going right down a steep, slippery path, right into the river!! A few of us did try to work our way around it, but the Hamilton hares had made sure there were no shortcuts. With my shoes worn over my neck, I stepped into the freezing cold waters of the river Clyde. My feet frozen and shoes dry, I made it to the other side. We ran some more till we came to the Bonnington dam (?) passing a few more falls before heading back. It must have been about 7-8miles in all. It was teeth chattering cold in the circle. The GM Megasaurarse and the RA cuckoo ensured that we stayed there long enough for the cold to reach our bones. I was given a down down for being foolish enough to come to a hash run from half way around the globe. I did have my share of true ales – the Burton Bitter & the Biere Speciale while the RA with his bunny cap went on with his stories.
Sheryl Valentine led the circle to sing all the songs (incl. the nipples on the tits one for the harriettes). Many of them were new to me. We went on then to the On Inn in the village, a warm place called Clydesdale Wetherspoons Inn for some Guinness and lunch.
There were so many things that should have fallen in place for me to make it to the run, many thanks to Sue, the Speedbump for all the directions and to the Gillespie couple – Sheena and Alan for escorting me to and back. I had to really stretch out Alan hospitality to take a lift right back to Waverley.

Pics of the run are at http://picasaweb.google.com/manoj.bhat/EHHH

Videos of the circle are here, here, here and here...

On On...