Night Ride to Sinhagad Fort

A wise mind is the source for peaceful life, and an insane one is for a life full of adventures. I am thankful to god, that i have a couple of friends, who given an opportunity can come up with weird-do plans on the fly, that definitely can make people think "Are these people gone mad !!!"
Well we did something of this sort last weekend.
Nakul the brain behind it (I sincerely want to thank you publicly for this ride, dude i would have never even thought about doing something like this, and you made me do this, ur an energy bomb brother).
Initially some of us were planning  to go to Kolad for Weekend, but since our friend Apurv wasn't available, we decided to go somewhere near for the weekend, and postpone our kolad trip for sometime.

Then Nakul asked, lets do a night ride to Sinhagad, i had just heard that people do ride to this place, but had no idea about the terrain agreed readily for the same, so the draft was set.

I decided to do the ride on my rugged, trusted, time tested, age old hero hawk,
as the terrain was a strictly no no for a road bike.

We decided to meet at a common place at around 11PM.
A friend Advait was also to join us, but was running an hour late, I didn't wanted to just wait, so we decided lets roam around the city, and decided to go to Chandni Chowk and be back.
This was really crazy of us, we just went to Chandni Chowk almost 8-10km away and did what - bought a bottle of water.

Moving on from there, we caught the NH4 highway, and just zoomed to reach our initial location, where we joined Advait and started cycling towards Sinhagad fort.

Adjacent to the khadakwasla dam back waters, the road appeared so beautiful, accompanied by a full moon, slight cold wind, being there at that moment itself felt like a blessing.

Passing by villages i must say, no matter which village/area we passed dogs didn't miss a single chance to announce our presence, some even gave us a run.
I was tensed, since i knew if these dogs decided to chase,  I wont be able to sprint, but anyways nothing eventful happened, and we reached the sinhagad fort base.

Soon enough we started the Sinhagad climb, its a 10km climb. I wont say this was the toughest or the longest that i have ever done, but the road, and the night did made it a tough one.

Initially the road was good, and we were going pretty casually slowly steadily and then, VOILA no road at all ......
Just sand and gravel, and if I try hard to peddle, my wheel would just roll at its place. This gave me some tough time, as my bike was continuously skidding.
So we decided, lets drag our bikes till the point from where proper roads start.

This way we continued for around a KM.
As we were approaching the top, it was getting more windy, and chilly.
I really didn't wanted to stop for breaks much, as starting again in this kind of cold was really difficult.

It was a very cold night, thankfully the full moon, made the night appear very beautiful.

As we were inching towards the top, the night view of the city beneath was getting more and more breathtaking.
I really liked the road, running adjacent to mountain top, one side was the cliff, and the other trench.
It took us almost 2 hours to reach the top, and i am wholly to be blamed for slowing down everyone's speed.  

And finally the top - reaching there literally felt like an achievement to me.
And I wont believe my luck, an old couple at 4AM in morning, opened their small tea shop, and offered not just the tea, but bhajias as well.
In this kind of spine chilling cold windy night, hot bhajias, and tea - what are you thinking, ofcourse it was like a wish getting fulfilled.
We ate lots of it, to our hearts content :)

That time, Advait asked the couple have they ever seen leopards here.
He said yes very casually ................
I was dumb stucked - dude he is talking about leopards, the man eater one, the real one, and he is talking as if he pets them.

He was confidently saying, they never harm humans, they fear us, we fear them, and mostly never come on roads, but still its a LEOPARD.

So after enough of chit-chatting and enjoying early morning, we decided to start our descend.
But ................ you remember it's early morning 5AM, top of hill, windy and cold.
So Nakul suggested lets do some running and dips, to warm ourselves enough before the descend.
So as suggested we did some 6-7 laps of running, followed by dips.
It was really really good way to warm ourselves.
So with a happy tummy, we started our descend.

This time again the bad roads slowed us done big time. Continuously clutching the brakes, i don't know about the other guys, but atleast my fingers went numb.
And we took a break .....
so now, even the downhill is getting tiring, i still laugh thinking this.

From distant i saw some light on the road, looked like torch light, some 4-5 people.
OK, but what are they doing at this time of morning on this road, when while ascend, we didn't find a single soul right until we reached the top of the hill, i wasn't expecting anyone, atleast walking.
On reaching closer, Advait asked from where are they coming, that's when  we got to knew, these people are doing night trek, from Katraj to Sinhagad Hill top.
Something very famous, many people here desire to do this sometime, and i remember once Saurabh also said, they had done this sometime, and it was fun.

And we saw more and more people as we were reaching the base, it must have been a total group of 20-25 people.

By the time we reached the village at Sinhagad's base, sun started to rise.
It was very foggy, still cold, but atleast a relief, soon it will get warm enough.
We reached Khadawasla Dam, and decided to stop for a photo session break.

Now this early morning view of Khadakwasla back waters, was so beautiful, simply breathtaking.
It was absolutely quiet, and just beautiful.
We had a photo session. Many other riders started to come, probably to enjoy the morning just like us.
And after a long break, we started our journey towards our homes.
A weekend started well ............... :)

Commuting to Office on Cycle - Lets do it people !!!

Recently i happened to write an article for my office magazine.
Sharing it here:

Cycle and Me:

This article would be a walk through one's childhood days, when the most amazing toy, giving a touch of freedom, and something to quench the need for speed (puts a grin on face of most kids making them feel they can perform like lance armstrong), was a cycle.

I still remember the number of tricycle, and bicycle i had in my childhood, certainly it being so important and has played such a crucial role in my upbringing, i bet most of us do atleast have a faint memory of the bicycle which our parents gave.

But then times change, priorities change, as we grew up, grows our desire for something bigger, something better.

College days makes our heads turn when some super bike passes by, making us almost swear to buy it when we make ample money after getting jobs.

But then reality sets in, the ever increasing petrol prices makes us settle down with some Japanese bike, and we end up boasting around the mileage it gives.

And as time passes by, changes our desire, which now sets it guns to buy a new car.

But while in this hoard to give ourselves the pleasure and comfort that we think we deserve what we generally end up doing is become completely unfit, growing in middle of the body, too tired to enjoy rains, too tired to admire the beauty of nature.

Trekking becomes more of a outing, where we are just willing enough to walk for a few KM.

Dare i say this, ask some middle aged guy/girl or some one in late twenties to walk for 3 KMS, and it looks like a marathon task for him/her.

During this time, cycle vanished from most of ours life. When most of us have not ridden one in years, or decades. No one ever considers it as an alternate mean of commuting.

A mere suggestion of switching to bicycle as a commuting vehicle makes most of them believe its an option which is well below their dignity.

Even though fuel affordability is consistently a matter of concern to most of us, switching to it is unacceptable.

A confirmed official statistics says, that in India the average commuting distance is less than 5KM, yet most of us, don't have a bicycle at homes.

Why is it so, is it because during all this while we became so lazy, that any physical activity looks like a punishment.

Or the more accurate reason, our culture teaches us, that cycle is for someone who falls below the poverty line. Do give this a thought, if you wish to travel for say 1KM, what mode of transport will you choose, and why don't you have a bicycle till now.

Another statistics say(This one is from Bangalore, but i really don't think city matters at all, after all even we do face traffic congestion problem), that the time required to travel around in the city, is in the following order for the distance less than 10KM:

Bicycle<Motor Bike<Car<Public Transport

By this article, i honestly don't mean to humiliate or challenge anyone's preference, its just one single plain question.

And to add to all these woes, do we know how much damage we do to mother earth by our shear ignorance, ignoring the most efficient vehicle ever devised by humans.

It's never too late, specially when it's up to contributing something towards benefiting mother nature.

Thousands of kilograms of carbon can be avoided if a car is kept off the road for a year.(I roughly remember, the figure is somewhere close to 1200KG.)

Mind you this is for just one car, imagine what will be the effect if most of the vehicles go off the road for unnecessary or short distances.

On a lighter note, there is even an iPhone App available to measure the carbon footprint caused by an individual.

Remember, most of our fellow citizens are busy doing their bit of damage they can cause to mother earth. By avoiding following them, we can just contribute or possibly save something for the coming generation.

One definitely doesn't want the next generation to have fights for water, or some unpolluted air for breathing.

The preference for switching to this god vehicle is definitely our own personal choice, and i am no body to persuade anyone from atleast giving this mode of transport a try, after all we were dying for it in our childhood, so definitely we do love it, its just that in the matter of time, the love got lost.

Discover the joy of exploring unknown land, traveling long distances, meeting new people, making new friends, trying new local cuisines.

Let me assure you one thing, cycling taken as a hobby takes you places, and its damn addicting. But then not all addictions are harmful.

A motivating fact that i can share here with you all, Pune has the second highest number of cyclists in India, only trailing Bangalore.

A friend of mine, dumped his car for commuting to office for him it was 6KM each side, and he saves Rs.600 per week on fuel.

Cycling is by far the safest mode of transport, remember your vehicle is light weight, and you can't achieve very high speed which will become difficult for you to control.

You might not believe me for this one, well search any local news, you are bound to find accident related news involving motorists, rarely cyclists.

Hoping to see more number of people on saddle, and once again i apologize sincerely, through this article i never meant to hurt anyone's sentiment, or challenge anyone's preference of vehicle for traveling.

Review btwin sport 1

Here i am to review my beloved btwin sport 1 bike.
The bike which made me a super randonneur in less than a year(4 months to be precise), and helped explore so many new places.
Total mileage just on this bike must be around 3000KM till now.
So let see what this bike has to offer:

Frame:
Its light weight aluminium frame, does the job, and is no where fragile. It had its own share of battering and bruises, and has lived upto my expectation.The fork is also aluminium make. The complete bike weighs around 10kg.
I have taken my bike even in bus a lot many times, when traveling to distant places.
I am completely satisfied about this

Stock Tyres:
It has stock 700x23 hutchinson tyres. I don't know if they are famous or not, good or bad, but believe me, i had just one flat till now that too very recently.
For me it works just fine. I agree i am a cautious rider, generally avoid shiny objects on road, but still i believe it must have had run over so many pieces of puncture causing crap on road, considering the distance it ran. 
The other reason could also be that it expects 100psi pressure to be maintained while riding, and i never ride for anything less than this.

Gears:
Front derailleur has shimano triple, with three rings, and rear derailleur has shimano 2300, so gives a total combination of 24speeds, fairly sufficient for riders like me, who generally don't hammer to attain high speeds, nor do aspire to participate in any races. However many people in Bangalore own this bike, swear by its name, and even participate in races organised by BBcH.
The shifters are peppy, smooth enough, the front one is a bit harder, not sure if its the case only on my bike, or with everyone.

Ride quality:
For me its just awesome, considering the fact that i moved from hero hawk to this, so for me this bike is nothing less than perfect, also i don't have experience with any carbon candies.
You will feel every gravel, stone, pothole on road on your palm, so having a pair of gloves is highly recommended.

The handle bar cover is white in colour, which just attracts dirt, and by the end of the day becomes dirty black.
Better to get them changed to some darker shades.

Brakes:
Stock brakes are btwin make.
They are good, never had any problem with it.

You will find people claiming road bikes are extremely fragile, and prone to lots of damage.
I don't know why any one should spread such rumors, but believe me, if you're planning to ride on road most of the times, these bikes should not be a problem.
One can happily go for them.

Top speed achieved:
66.3KMPH.

Longest distance rode:
655KM

A DNF for Bangalore-Belgaum-Bangalore 1000KM BRM

Convincing myself for this monstrous BRM was a difficult task.
I had attempted 600KM twice, longest distance attempted on my bicycle, both successful irrespective of the difficult nature some how i managed to nail them.

From my past BRM experience i knew, i wont be getting enough time to sleep,  I can manage to skip one night's sleep if required, but this BRM is having 75 Hours window, how will i manage 3 nights without sleeping was my worrying point.

Apurv called and said he wants to give this a try, which sparked an instinct let me try this as well, even if i am unable to finish atleast i can meet my friends there.

So me, Apurv, Arun, Vikramsinh, and Dinesh registered ourselves from Pune.
Pheww !!! I was getting very conscious about this ride, so bought a new Lycra pants specially for this ride.
Me and Apurv even did a Lavasa ride, coz we haven't done any long distance ride since Last January when we finished 600KM BRM.

However on the day of my journey to Bangalore, i got fever, so i couldn't sleep properly in Bus.
Reached Bangalore, and after reaching home, i again tried to sleep for some time but in vain.
So finally i gave up the thought of sleeping, and started preparing for the ride.

We reached the starting point 10 mins after the start time, it took time locating the correct CCD from where we were supposed to start.
Within a radius of half a kilometer, i found 4 CCD's(:o)
Chiddu recommended that we better hurry up, no point waiting here for friends.
So we started from there.
We were joined by few other riders, and together we crossed Bangalore City limits.
So after here on, its only NH4, go straight and come back kind of a ride.
The highway is simply awesome, its a roadie delight.
By the time we reached peenya, it started raining heavily.
There goes my Cyclocomp, it's display is gone. Kept it in Bag, and started riding again.

Some time in evening at around 8pm, Apurv had a flat.
I waited for him sometime, he joined us after 20 mins, and from there on we again started riding together.
We were joined here by Ramesh who had come from Chennai to attempt this brevet.
Had dinner in some local dhaba, the food was simply too delicious.
So after some over eating, we started riding again.

However here on, lack of sleep started showing its sign, i asked Apurv and Arun to move ahead i'll follow them.
Here on, i started to get pain in my left knee.

At around 1AM, i was craving to drink some tea/coffee, and there i found this dhaba.
I gave up the tought of catching up with Apurv and Arun, and decided to have tea here.

Seating arrangement was done on "Khatiya", it looked just like  a typical North Indian style Dhaba.
I was enjoying my Tea, it tasted just like what you get in Villages, no adulteration.
Other truck drivers were busy with their dinner.

Here Ramesh caught up again.After finishing off the so called Tea break, we started riding.

At around 3:30AM, i reached some Toll Naka, and found Shreyas and Kiran sleeping there.
Finding them made me so happy, i can still do something to reach next control point at Chitradurga within cut-off time.
Shreyas told me that we can easily reach the control point, its not very far from here.

After taking some rest, we started at around 4AM from there.
The wind mills started to appear on the nearby mountain tops, it was an amazing view.
Locating Chitradurga control point took some time, but somehow we managed to reach there, and got the time stamp 05:28:01, just 4 minutes before the cut-off time. Pheww !!!

After having an early morning breakfast, me, Shreyas and Kiran started to ride from there.
We all were feeling damn tired, and just after coming out from chitradurga town and joining the NH4, we decided to take a small nap.
Took some rest under a tree, and started riding again.
My knee pain started increasing so went down my speed.
While riding towards Davangere, i saw Ramesh who had decided to quit.

I passed Davangere, and was about to reach Rannebennur.
The knee pain, and the wind were slowing me down heavily.
My calculation said, if i ride continuously only then i will be making to Hubli the next control point.
But this time my knee was literally pleading, it can't bear any more.
So called Chiddu and informed him that i am quitting from here.
I was just 10KM away from rannebennur, when I asked a few localities which is the best way to reach Bangalore.
They told me to ride 10-12KM towards Davangere, i will find a place called Harihar from where i can get a train as well as Bus towards Bangalore.

I rode towards Harihar, after doing enquiry at railway station, they said the next train will be at 4PM, and they have no idea what i need to do to carry my bike along with me.
So gave up the idea of travelling in train, and reached Bus stand.

There came the bus for Bangalore, i asked the conductor whether can i carry my bike, which after discussing with his driver friend he allowed.

I locked my bike to the grill behind driver's back, and god knows when i went to sleep.

Reached Bangalore at around 10PM, and rode towards my friends place.

After all things said and done, sometimes i feel every other thing is an excuse,
the distance had made me nervous, coz never before this brevet i ever had a thought what will i do if i have to call for a quit.
But sometimes i feel its my lack of sleep the night prior to the ride messed it up.

But anyways the ride is one hell of its type. I had a good experience, hope to nail it some other time.

Choosing between a Road Bike, Hybrid, or an MTB

I have decided to write on this topic mainly because i feel its something which has been blown out of proportion.
People who want to start cycling pay too much of attention towards which bike they should start with, so much of attention, that it sometime leads to not taking a decision at all (This is a perfect example of a proverb: Too much of analysis leads to paralysis of decision making ability).
Since it involves taking a monitory decision, we generally want to be extremely cautious about it.
This article might help, but should be taken as a pinch of salt, and don't come looking for me, if you end up with a wrong bike after making a decision based upon my write up. :)

If you are in the market to buy your first serious bike, chances are that you have never done any kind of long distance riding.
So inorder to take an informed decision, you approach people who have been active in cycling.
Now here comes the problem, if anyone approaches me for a bike suggestion, i will always be tilted more towards road bike - why because i love it i know most new users wont start straight away with off road biking, and its just so exciting.

But if this new biker approaches a guy who has a MTB, might recommend an MTB, and ask the new fellow to stay away from road bikes as they are very fragile, prone to punctures, high on maintenance blah, blah, blah ...!!!
So the user is now confused decides to select either  a MTB or a hybrid.
Few more people come into picture, and his decision making capability goes absolutely hay wire.

This was actually my condition last year, before taking a final call, and finally i bought btwin sport 1.

We need to understand one thing, these bike categories come into picture only when we know what we want.
If i take my example, from day one i always knew i am never going to do any kind of off road biking, so i bought a road bike( i want to say road bikes are no where as fragile or delicate as they are projected).
I am using it almost daily, and it serves good.

I know people who have ridden more than 600KM on a MTB.
Forget MTB, a guy completed 600KM brevet 4 times in Pune on a Hero Hawk single speed.
I know this guy, who travelled all the way from Ahmedabad to Pune on a Hybrid.
And have read somewhere that a guy from mysore has done a cross country on an MTB.
And a Chartered Accountant from Kolkata who has done cross country on a Atlas Goldline !!!.

The point is, you can do all of this on any bike, but the degree of comfort will vary accordingly.
If you like MTB styling, go for it. If you like those skinny tyres, and awesome looking roadies, go for it, or if you like the decent look of a hybrid bike, go for it !!!

If deep down you know that you are never going to attempt a down hill, don't go for an MTB. If speed doesn't thrill you much, or if you don't like to feel every grain, or pebble present on road on your palm, and need a comfortable ride always then stay from road bike.
Now this should be the actual criteria before making a purchase decision, and not what people say.
Listen to you heart-mind first.
If after making a decision, you feel to upgrade then there is nothing wrong in having two bikes.

Believe me, i have many friends who started with MTB, just because they were a tad cheaper than a road bike, and other so called experts have suggested to stay away from road bikes, but after riding some serious distances, ended up with a high end carbon road bikes.

Usage should be the criteria, there are people who have done stunts on a road bike, and people with MTB riding at crazy speeds, and be first one to finish the brevet well before time.

Recently a friend approached me, wanted me to suggest him a good bike.
He wanted to use it just for city rides.
I tried convincing him a lot to go for a decent hybrid which costs 16k.
But he was reluctant, as he believed this is too much for a bike.
I asked him to test ride to understand the difference, but he was unable to get over his mind set, that cycles should be cheap. 
Understanding his dilemma, i just asked him select the bike which you like, but keep in mind, lighter the weight, peppier will be the ride, so go for an alloy framed bike, and atleast try to get decent gears with in it.
He bought some hercules bike for 9k, and was way way happy.
I can understand his feeling, he started riding with me, distances started to increase from a few kilometers to few hundred's on weekends.
Putting decent mileage on his cyclocomp, he tried a friends MTB. That's when he understood what i was trying to make him feel at the first place.
Without much a delay, he went ahead and got himself a MTB.

My point is start is necessary, get into details later on.
No one bike will fit for all the purpose, its similar to keeping Pants/Trousers/Jeans. They are all different, it depends what you like to wear the most.

One more point, please stay away as much as possible from cheap bikes atleast to start with, coz right if at the beginning you are tormented, you will never experience the real joy of biking. Quality comes at a cost.

People might have different views, i have just put mine to help you to go ahead and start biking !!!

And do remember, no matter which bike you purchase, Helmet and Blinker is a must.

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.