Am a little late to put this up…but hey ! can’t miss this
The much awaited BSA Hercules Cyclothon i.e. the cycling event, first event of its kind in India, happened on 11th October 2009 in Bangalore.  After much fanfare, promotions, massive participation, nice goodie bags, reduction of race distance for amateurs (from 50 to 36 km)….it finally took off.

I planned with Aravind to drive down using my new cycle rack  (for our bikes) which I had just picked up from Canada. Coming back from a long trip I wasn’t prepared physically but was all eager to be there for the momentous event.

The event was at NICE corridor one of the highways outside Bangalore and was cordoned off just for that (thanks to the Bangalore Traffic Police). We decided to leave early in the morning to catch the elite riders’ race at 7 am. It was quote a ride and spectacle with bikers’ from all nooks and corners of the city riding early in the morning towards the destination.

We were late and reached when the elite riders were coming back and what a sight it was.

Sabu Ganegar (20 years old) of Patiala clinched the crown in the elite category.

Ganegar finished the 65 km race in a time of 1hour, 27 minutes, 54.76
seconds while Sachin Pawar of Delhi came in second place with a time
of 1.27.56.76.
The elite race was also marked by a big crash in the peloton and 4-5 riders were seriously injured.

The amateur race started late and we all went for it. Great road, nice scenery and lungs & legs in action. 1hr later I was at the finish line.

A great event with encouraging participation from all bikers and audience alike. Here’s for more for such events !!

cheers

And so today was the the fifth race BBCh (third one for me). For the uninitiated please visit Bangalore Bicycle Championships.

I was looking forward for this one as it was a “Roadie” race (for 42 km) and a prep for the Cyclothon in October. However, I freaked out when I read the race location. Yes I never heard of it and it was way beyond (some 50 km odd from my place), so was wondering if I will expect good tarred roads to push my bike to the limit.
However, much prodding from my bike partner, Kiran, we set off early in the morning loading both the bikes in my car (which was not a very good idea as we discovered later).
There was slight drizzle and weather looked promising for a good race. We finally reached at 7:15 am. Slowly the racers trickled in with the KYNKYNY racing team making the a last grand entry with their new red jerseys. And I knew this was going to be a memorable race. BBCh had come of age.
And boy it was!! It was a great route, speeding through through the fields, streams, villages ( and btw also passed thorugh “Nandini Sperm Statio”) on nice tarred roads.

The entire route was 42 km and I finished it in 1h 46m (yes, improvement from prev races).

Look forward to coming back here again for biking.

cheers

Biker’s log Earthdate 28.06.2009.  I am a member of  Bangalore Bikers Club (BBC) and this was my first race. And am cycling after more than 15 years.

4:30 am: CSNY croons “Helplessly Hoping” in full volume. That’s my phone alarm. Well it metaphorically enacts my act of waking up. This time I did wake up and why not it was the bicycle race day.

5:15 am : Packed my bike into the car, helmet and other stuff. Double checked my iPod and my Nikon D60. As I drive towards Hebbal saw lot of cyclists clearly riding towards the starting point of the race and this is wee hours of the morning.

6:00 – 7:00 am : Reach Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), the starting point and come to know that it around 44 km ONE WAY. Dude, I misread the race details and route. However, seeing so many serious bikers together was a great delight. Where were these guys all this time when I was looking out? Last count unofficially around 70 plus. Bikers and volunteers gather together across the road from CCD. It was a great sight -  with so many good looking bikes.

7:12 am : Finally the race starts. And in a symmetrical straight line the bikers take the left of the highway and race toward Nandi hills. I turn on to my iPod and straight to “Bicycle Race” song by Queen. *seriously*

7:32 am : I lose sight of the bikers ahead of me. Not sure if there were any behind me. Ok so this is my first race and I stop regularly taking snaps and bikers pass me by. Thats a relief, I am not the last one.

9:00 – 10:00 am : at the foot hill of Nandi hills. 8 km more to go and yes all uphill. Amazing view across. My Nikon D60 gets into action as I trudge towards the peak. (4851 feet above sea level).  Last 4 Km were killer as I finally reached top with the bikers cheering me on.

10:30 am – 1:00 pm :  Take my bike and head back to the CCD where my car was parked. The downhill of 8 km took only 14 min and it was some ride. And as I reached the plains it evened out. two and half hours later finally reached the destination with photo and  coconut water breaks in between.
Checked my bike’s speedometer and I had covered  88.4 km.

Awesome !! Raring to go for the next race soon. Check out the results at Bangalore Bikers Club (BBC)

Thanks to all the bikers who came and particularly the volunteers without whom this race wouldn’t have been a success. Till the next race…

cheers