We planned to start at 5:30 AM, but due to usual delays which included my rear brakes getting dismantled(god knows why, it was ok yesterday) We started at 6:15 AM from Bilekahalli(near IIM-B) on our two MTBs. Touched Hosur road and then it is dead straight (it is called Hosur Road remember ) Going was relatively easy.We stopped at Chandapura at the 16.5 km mark for about ten minutes to refresh ourselves, and then restarted cycling. We reached Hosur around 8:15AM for a total time of 2 hours.

Me, Standing next to the Hosur Road Flyover

After whiling away quite a lot of time there, and searching for a cycle shop to refill air, we started the return journey.

The return was a real killer, If I was a cat, I must have lost 3 of my nine lives. There was a strong headwind, really bright sunshine and huge inclines(from a n00b point of view). I reached Chandapura again and made my first stop. I realized then that my fitness levels were in the “unacceptable” category

Drank some more gatorade and restarted cycling again, But the heat was getting me and my energy levels were sapping. At hosur, we originally had just Gatorade and one of those oats munch bars. I believe that was the first mistake we made(correct me if I am wrong) in not refuelling the “engine” Neither did we have breakfast, only a Nilgiris Cream bun.

I found moving on very difficult, and stopped near electronic city for a good twenty minutes under a shade of a fly-over going across the road above me, near the Elevated Highway toll-gate.

Then I restarted cycling and even the slightest inclines seemed to go at me. I felt really drained out and felt the need to drink something to get some energy, stopped at a small shop and had a cold Pepsi. It made me feel a little better and the hot feeling around my head reduced. Then I slowly trudged along,  albeit grudgingly just wanting to finish the whole thing and honestly, thinking why on earth did I do this in the first place.. LOL. Each kilometer from then on seemed so distant. But now that I am home, I feel elated to have completed it. Many thanks to all the people who inspired me on Daily Mile and the Bangalore Bikers Club list

Raring to go again

Trip Statistics:

Distance: 67 km

Time: 04 hours 38 minutes

Overall Pace: 14.5 kmph

Route map and other info at DailyMile

BTW, my Iron Man housemate, Sunil, who is a regular at the neighbourhood gym reached an hour before me!

PS:- Also, took this lame opportunity to update my blog which has been in hibernation for a really long time

• Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul.
• Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the saddle.
• Life may begin at 40, but it doesn’t get real interesting until about 110 mph!
• You start the game of life with a full pot o’ luck and an empty pot o’ experience… The object is to fill the pot of experience before you empty the pot of luck. If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.
• Midnight bugs taste best.
• Saddlebags can never hold everything you want, but they CAN hold everything you need.
• Never try to race an old geezer, he may have one more gear than you.
• It takes more love to share the saddle than it does to share the bed.
• The only good view of a thunderstorm is in your rearview mirror.
• Never be afraid to slow down.
• Don’t ride so late into the night that you sleep through the sunrise.
• Sometimes it takes a whole tankful of fuel before you can think straight.
• Never hesitate to ride past the last street light at the edge of town.
• Never do less than forty miles before breakfast.
• If you don’t ride in the rain, you don’t ride.
• A bike on the road is worth two in the shed.
• Young riders pick a destination and go… Old riders pick a direction and go.
• A good mechanic will let you watch without charging you for it.
• Sometimes the fastest way to get there is to stop for the night.
• Always back your bike into the curb, and sit where you can see it.
• Whatever it is, it’s better in the wind.
• Two-lane blacktop isn’t a highway – it’s an attitude.
• Winter is Nature’s way of telling you to polish.
• Good coffee should be indistinguishable from 50 weight motor oil.
• The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome.
• The twisties – not the superslabs -separate the riders from the squids.
• A friend is someone who’ll get out of bed at 2 am to drive his pickup to the middle of nowhere to get you when you’re broken down.
• Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt @ 70 mph can double your vocabulary.
• There’s something ugly about a NEW bike on a trailer.
• Don’t lead the pack if you don’t know where you’re going.
• Practice wrenching on your own bike.
• Everyone crashes. Some get back on. Some don’t. Some can’t.
• Don’t argue with an 18-wheeler.
• Never be ashamed to unlearn an old habit.
• If you can’t get it going with bungee cords and electrician’s tape, it’s serious.
• If you ride like there’s no tomorrow, there won’t be.
• Gray-haired riders don’t get that way from pure luck.
• There are drunk riders. There are old riders. There are NO old, drunk riders.
• The best modifications cannot be seen from the outside.
• Always replace the cheapest parts first.
• You can forget what you do for a living when your knees are in the breeze.
• Only a Biker knows why a dog sticks its head out of a car window.
• It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.