It was one Uphill cycling expedition with no preparation at all in fact not even adequate exercise for atleast 5 years but some bragging credits of previously performed ( events,tasks,insanity or madness ) which ranges from Hyderabad 10K run, Followed by Preparation for Mumbai marathon despite ligament injury, Two attempts of Mumbai Full marathons, A Hyderabad Half marathon, A 106 Kilometer walk in Hyderabad and another Cochin to Thrissur walk.Sorry for the Blah Blah its these things that keep the guts strong.I am a believer of mental training to endure difficulty by expecting a tough task ahead.
I have often been in search of some "activity" like those mentioned above since 2009.I had quit marathons as i was protesting against Hefty registration fees of Procam International Infact a Ironman is one of my secret desires but i can't swim ofcourse i can paddle about 30mts in a stretch and rest for sometime and repeat about 6-8 times in a swimming pool. But then about Cycling, i couldn't do it so far as i was without one and it did not happen.Meanwhile i planned about Globe trotting and India on a bike etc None of these happened except a Trip to Kanyakumari by car which doesn't qualify for an "activity"
Suddenly on 7th Oct Tuesday in facebook my friend Hafiz puts up a post inviting aspirants to register for a Cycling trip to Nelliampathy from Pothundy dam on 11/10/2014 and Cycles would be provided for Rs250/- for the ride.I immediately called up to seek an entry ticket.Usual qualifying questions began and i boasted of my Above "activity" and i was in consideration for a ticket.By Wednesday i was told i would be given an entry on 2nd expedition as i was without a previous cycling experience.But i insisted on this expedition as i was hungry for an "activity" as you would have understood by reading so far.On Thursday afternoon i called hafiz again to be greeted by positive node and i rushed to meet him when i met mavericks of this circus Robin - An alchemist who takes discarded cycle frames from junk and rebuilds custom cyles. Alwin who was a Smiley soft spoken rider who rides cycle daily to work, his possessions include a Fiji and a BTWIN gearless.
There was a talk about postponing the expedition, i insisted on doing it irrespective of the flock size of the riders participating in the absence of Cycles walk up the hills, Robin and Alwin was also of the same opinion and few calls were made to invite riders dayas joined in and expected brite to be part of the team.Assembling point was at Robin's home from where we planned to take cycles in his Omni van and Alwin's Jeep. I visited Robin's home a Garage, Junkyard and a Treasure trove of Cycles from trash and variety and all kinds of tools for cycles, Robin has a weakness for Tools, there was Compressor guns, Butane gas, .......It was fixed that i should reach robin's home by 4:30 am and we would leave by 5:00 am to reach Pothundy dam around 6:30 - 7:00 Am.
On saturday 11/10/2014 my mobile alarm squeaked i got up and left with a backpack consisting of a Bottle of water, a pack of glucose and a pack of chikkis and i reached at Robin's home at 4:36 and waited meanwhile dayas arrived on his Cycle and shortly alwin arrived in his jeep and Robin started to pack his Omni van with Cycles by removing their Front wheels so that they fit into the rear of the van. Brite did not appear and we figured that 4 cycles could be stuffed into one van and that Jeep wasn't necessary.Robin, Alwin and me in Van while Dayas would come along on Sudeep's bike who going to be our Photographer.
Around 5:10 we left Robin's home and we were speeding through NH47, we stopped by a roadside hotel for breakfast and proceeded further via nenmara and then to Pothundy dam meanwhile we were seeking a location to park our van, finally decided to park it near the Pothundy dam checkpost and we reached there and parked the van besides the Checkpost office and started to unload the cycles from the van and fix the front wheels as it was completed.Robin received a call from sathish who had planned to document our trip, we waited for him soon he arrived a Tall elderly man in corduroy and he was accompanied by Smitha a B.Ed teacher and a Social activist.
Robin informed the authority at checkpost and meanwhile we pushed our cycles past the Checkpost in best of our behaviour and slowly started to peddle the Cycles. I was provided with Robin's Homebrew from a Hercules frame and his erection of 5 rear gears and 3 Front gears which were not working at the time of this attempt.
All of us started with confidence and continued, while my muscles showed the sensation as this was an uphill ride and not a flat road but to my luck the gears were set with the combination of xx-cc thus pedaling was not impossible if you are determined. I am a firm believer that in all endurance sports will-power, strength of the mind, and mental endurance is more important than the practice.Practice never does any harm for sure.I kept reassuring me that more was yet to come and that uphill on a hair pin bend road is no mean task and that it is going to be a testing ride.I counted on my past conquest in marathons and walking and i wasn't willing to give up and reassured myself that i was going to reach the summit for sure.
Initially I moved on and Allwin by my side while Robin and Dayas trailled and Sudeep out there on his bike photographing.While satish roared ahead of us on his bike with his aide and positioned himself a little ahead and started to capture the video while smitha clicked photos on her mobile.In a short span of time Allwin and i were ahead and others were out of sight for atleast 150 mts and as these roads were curvy we soon lost line of sight but to catch a glimpse later either from a winding road downhill or on a stretch where there was line of sight for 300 mts, while this was going on occasionally allwin and i kept moving ahead of each other as one gets past his peak pedalling other get into his peak pedalling and takes ahead to be followed by a similar situation and by now atleast 6 different positions of video capture was done by satish and robin had come closer while allwin on his gearless btwin went ahead and he was out of sight thus he maintained a steady lead of 300 + mts while the game was now between Robin and me.Robin in his full set of Cycling gear which includes helmet, yellow jersey and "gelled" short pants meant for cycling. Unlike the silent rider
I have often been in search of some "activity" like those mentioned above since 2009.I had quit marathons as i was protesting against Hefty registration fees of Procam International Infact a Ironman is one of my secret desires but i can't swim ofcourse i can paddle about 30mts in a stretch and rest for sometime and repeat about 6-8 times in a swimming pool. But then about Cycling, i couldn't do it so far as i was without one and it did not happen.Meanwhile i planned about Globe trotting and India on a bike etc None of these happened except a Trip to Kanyakumari by car which doesn't qualify for an "activity"
Suddenly on 7th Oct Tuesday in facebook my friend Hafiz puts up a post inviting aspirants to register for a Cycling trip to Nelliampathy from Pothundy dam on 11/10/2014 and Cycles would be provided for Rs250/- for the ride.I immediately called up to seek an entry ticket.Usual qualifying questions began and i boasted of my Above "activity" and i was in consideration for a ticket.By Wednesday i was told i would be given an entry on 2nd expedition as i was without a previous cycling experience.But i insisted on this expedition as i was hungry for an "activity" as you would have understood by reading so far.On Thursday afternoon i called hafiz again to be greeted by positive node and i rushed to meet him when i met mavericks of this circus Robin - An alchemist who takes discarded cycle frames from junk and rebuilds custom cyles. Alwin who was a Smiley soft spoken rider who rides cycle daily to work, his possessions include a Fiji and a BTWIN gearless.
There was a talk about postponing the expedition, i insisted on doing it irrespective of the flock size of the riders participating in the absence of Cycles walk up the hills, Robin and Alwin was also of the same opinion and few calls were made to invite riders dayas joined in and expected brite to be part of the team.Assembling point was at Robin's home from where we planned to take cycles in his Omni van and Alwin's Jeep. I visited Robin's home a Garage, Junkyard and a Treasure trove of Cycles from trash and variety and all kinds of tools for cycles, Robin has a weakness for Tools, there was Compressor guns, Butane gas, .......It was fixed that i should reach robin's home by 4:30 am and we would leave by 5:00 am to reach Pothundy dam around 6:30 - 7:00 Am.
On saturday 11/10/2014 my mobile alarm squeaked i got up and left with a backpack consisting of a Bottle of water, a pack of glucose and a pack of chikkis and i reached at Robin's home at 4:36 and waited meanwhile dayas arrived on his Cycle and shortly alwin arrived in his jeep and Robin started to pack his Omni van with Cycles by removing their Front wheels so that they fit into the rear of the van. Brite did not appear and we figured that 4 cycles could be stuffed into one van and that Jeep wasn't necessary.Robin, Alwin and me in Van while Dayas would come along on Sudeep's bike who going to be our Photographer.
Around 5:10 we left Robin's home and we were speeding through NH47, we stopped by a roadside hotel for breakfast and proceeded further via nenmara and then to Pothundy dam meanwhile we were seeking a location to park our van, finally decided to park it near the Pothundy dam checkpost and we reached there and parked the van besides the Checkpost office and started to unload the cycles from the van and fix the front wheels as it was completed.Robin received a call from sathish who had planned to document our trip, we waited for him soon he arrived a Tall elderly man in corduroy and he was accompanied by Smitha a B.Ed teacher and a Social activist.
Robin informed the authority at checkpost and meanwhile we pushed our cycles past the Checkpost in best of our behaviour and slowly started to peddle the Cycles. I was provided with Robin's Homebrew from a Hercules frame and his erection of 5 rear gears and 3 Front gears which were not working at the time of this attempt.
All of us started with confidence and continued, while my muscles showed the sensation as this was an uphill ride and not a flat road but to my luck the gears were set with the combination of xx-cc thus pedaling was not impossible if you are determined. I am a firm believer that in all endurance sports will-power, strength of the mind, and mental endurance is more important than the practice.Practice never does any harm for sure.I kept reassuring me that more was yet to come and that uphill on a hair pin bend road is no mean task and that it is going to be a testing ride.I counted on my past conquest in marathons and walking and i wasn't willing to give up and reassured myself that i was going to reach the summit for sure.
Initially I moved on and Allwin by my side while Robin and Dayas trailled and Sudeep out there on his bike photographing.While satish roared ahead of us on his bike with his aide and positioned himself a little ahead and started to capture the video while smitha clicked photos on her mobile.In a short span of time Allwin and i were ahead and others were out of sight for atleast 150 mts and as these roads were curvy we soon lost line of sight but to catch a glimpse later either from a winding road downhill or on a stretch where there was line of sight for 300 mts, while this was going on occasionally allwin and i kept moving ahead of each other as one gets past his peak pedalling other get into his peak pedalling and takes ahead to be followed by a similar situation and by now atleast 6 different positions of video capture was done by satish and robin had come closer while allwin on his gearless btwin went ahead and he was out of sight thus he maintained a steady lead of 300 + mts while the game was now between Robin and me.Robin in his full set of Cycling gear which includes helmet, yellow jersey and "gelled" short pants meant for cycling. Unlike the silent rider
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