600KM BRM Pune - Deccan Naadkhulla

With lot of anxiety i went to bed early, awaiting to start my second 600KM BRM ride.

This actually didn't do any good to me, a constant worry whether i will be able to perform well, and i am carrying all the stuff that i might need woke me up thrice during the night.

Finally gave up the thought of sleeping, got up at 4:30AM, and by 5AM started my 15KM ride towards Pune University - the starting point.

There i met Manjula, who came from Bangalore, with the BRM she was planning to finish off her series.
To my surprise i met Apurv(I better call him an iron man from now on), he was also targeting 600BRM,
now this guy had just finished a full marathon in Mumbai just 5 days ago, and there he was standing at the starting line with a broad smile and his new shiny road bike(bianchi nerone 7).
Chaitanya, surprised to see him with his MTB, was actually looking for someone who can finish off 600 in under 30 hours :O
And one person i would really love to mention Hiren Patel, he was attempting this 600BRM fourth time on his single speed hero hawk cycle.
His courage is worth a salute,all the past attempts were successful, and infact in this one, he will turn out to be the one with the best timing.

So we started at 6, easy going in morning, a little cold, but manageable.
At 73KM mark, touched the base of Khambatki ghat,  i decided to have breakfast, while i saw most of the riders overtaking me here on, it was a good decision, because the ghat section was a bit challenging, better to fuel yourself up for the tough section. The heat has already started to make its presence felt.
As soon as i crossed the ghat section, i was expecting the terrain, to be flat-ish, and my first control point at Umbraj 157KM, i was targeting to reach their by 12:30.
But it was getting really-really hot, and the head winds, were really irritating, with lots of breaks for refilling water, i understood, this isn't as easy as i was expecting it to be.
I was feeling drained of energy, and finally around 1:15PM, i made it to my first control point.
Called my sister to tell about my location, and i was not even able to talk properly, with this present situation at 157KM mark, god knows how am i going to cover the remaining 450KM ??
So after a good 15mins break, i started and soon caught up with Gagan, Arun, and Dinesh.
Hereon we rode together.

The head winds were present all the way upto the next control point at 247KM, which happens to be Kolhapur.
Around 7:30PM, we made it there.
PHEW !!!, i am still doing well enough to be in this brevet.
Had burgers at McD, and moved on quickly.
Here on god knows what happened, my appetite for food was completely gone,i wanted to sleep.
When others stopped for dinner at Hotel Sai International i actually dozed off on the table.
Ate some vada, and started from there.
Night riding was good, it was chilling cold, a full moon night which is supposed to be beautiful, but given my condition, i was not in a position to appreciate anything, i desperately wanted to see only one thing at that time - control vehicle.

I was riding with dinesh, when we were trying to locate the control point, just imagine you're riding continuously from 11PM to 3:30AM in night, you know you're very close, but can't make out what distance is left, was so frustrating.
Dinesh as usual was cool, he was sure it's somewhere close, and aah - there it is !!!
That's it, i am going to sleep now atleast for 2 hours i thought.
I met Durgaprasad, and Vinoo there - they were extremely helpful.
I was surprised to see Chaitanya, he dropped because off injury.
Ate some food went to sleep at 4, my hands and feet were numb because of cold, but still i slept.
Woke up at 5:30AM, and we left around 6:30 after having a photo session.
Riding on, at 8:30AM we stopped for breakfast. I ate some poha didn't like it at all, and by the time we left that place it was already 9AM.
Did some calculation, and the fear of missing the next control point started to loom.
So hereon, i rode very furiously and without any break for the next 73KM, i made it upto Katraj Ghat. Had a pepsi and started again.
Finally reached the next control point at 500KM mark coffee katta at 1:30PM.
There i met Divya and Apurv who were ready to leave for the lonavala loop.
I skipped the idea of having anything here, and decided to ride with them.

All this while i never had eaten properly, and was actually riding only on gatorade.
The terrain is rolling, reached lonavala control point at 5PM, and was feeling nauseated.
While coming back, i decided to ride slowly since had buffer time with me, and not to drink any more gatorade.
I had reached up to dehu road turning point at 7:30PM, and i was having a feeling i will bonk now anytime.
I tried doing it, but didn't happen, so started riding again slowly.

Finally at 8:22PM after riding for 38 hours 22 minutes, i finished the 634KM BRM successfully.
I met divya and apurv there who had reached well before me.
Greeted Dinesh, Arun, and Gagan who came following.
Had photo sessions, shared experiences, and decided to leave.
Now my other big concern, my house must be around 25KM from this place, how am i going to go.
To my rescue came Aniket, who told me he will drop me home - :) !!!
Thanks a lot Aniket for the same.

After all thing done, yes it was a good experience, but a very difficult one.
I should have done atleast a small recce of the route, so as to know what to expect.

400KM Brevet - Head winds + chilling night, makes it one hell of an experience

@Ashu: this one is for you, first thing first, if you think after completing 600KM brevet, anything less than that is easily doable you are wrong.
Each ride is different, and no two rides can be compared in terms of difficulty.

Ok, enough of self critics, lets get some exciting stuff penned down.
3 things i missed a lot in this brevet due to my lack of complete preparedness
   1) Extra cover for myself, very useful during night riding.
   2) Eye cover - goggles , damn i really don't learn anything from previous rides
   3) Moov spray, how silly of me to forget this !!!

The complete route for the ride was over state highway, so atleast road condition was good most of the times.
Started the ride morning 6AM, passed through the super amazing and super smooth sangam bridge(not the one generally used, this one looked new, maybe still a secret :) )

 Passed through Nagar Road at a decent pace.
It was mostly foggy, i wont say zero visibility, but yes chilly and windy.
Within no time we passed  Wagholi, so here on traffice was not much expected.
The entire route passed through villages, nothing great if you look at it in general, but I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

But as time was passing by, heavy winds started making it's presence felt.
Though still going strong, i manged to reach CP1 at 10:30AM, 105KM from starting point.
Had my breakfast of Misal-Pav, i started from there at 11AM.

After around 25KM, passed through Ahmednagar.
Second control point was placed at 200KM mark.
My target to make it  was around 3PM, but hunger, and thirst we're taking their toll, and i could make it there only by 3:30PM.
Since i was having a good time lead, decided to have a good break.
Had dal fry with jeera rice, took some rest, and started my return journey.

On my way coming back, at around 7PM, riding alone for almost 13hours was so boring, i wanted to talk, i was missing my biking buddies badly from bangalore.

Then the volunteers in their vehicle passed by, they suggested me to catch up with them at the next CCD, i obliged.
I was told that most of the riders except Chaitanya (fastest MTBeeR, you can meet him only at the start point) would be halting at CP1 during night time.
And will start from there only after a good nap.
So i had two options:
 1) Ride alone all through night, and finish the brevet well before time.
 2) Ride with the group, but i will be mostly making it on time.

I choose second option simply because i knew, boredom can kill my enthusiasm,
making it really boring, nothing much enjoyable.
Anyways this is a brevet, and not a race, even if i make it in time, it would be fine.

I met Divya at CCD, and she said she will be skipping the halt, and will be riding throughout.
That's it, after a break for almost an hour, I along with divya started our return journey.
En-route Gagan caught up, and soon, it was a fun ride - chasing Pune ASAP became the target.
It is so much fun riding in the group, i was thoroughly enjoying it.
Riding on state highway in night can be risky, specially the section if there is no divider - so people please don't step out for night riding without blinkers and reflective jacket.

We took a tea break at Ranjangaon. It was really surprising that on route there were no chai-tapri to be seen.
After sharing our chai break with other truck drivers, when we decided to start - man, it was so so damn cold, my teeth didn't stopped chattering
i was finding it really really hard to pedal because of cold.
Somehow came in rhythm, and decided now on, no more long breaks until Pune.

Finally at 5:09 reached Pune University Gate, got the receipt from ATM, and marked the end of my 400BRM with a broad smile.