Ever since we took to cycling in March 2021, most of our rides have been on the northern and western sides of Dharwad, except for one ride to Hubli and a few rides towards IIIT which is in between Dharwad and Hubli. Mid of April I got an idea of going towards Kusugal and Byahatti. I was familiar with the roads out there but I checked the distance on Google Maps to fix the start time. The route: Dharwad to Hubli to Kusugal to Byahatti to Dharwad. It would be a 60 km ride, I decided to start around 3-30 am on April 30th.
I woke up at 3-00 AM, ready to leave by 3-35. As I stepped towards our building gate, I could feel rain drops, little wet patches were seen clearly on the ground. It was windy as well. For a moment I thought of waiting until rain ceased. No, let me proceed. Rainfall was light. Two minutes later, on the Dharwad-Hubli road, the intensity increased. I stopped under a petrol bunk shelter. It was confusing... is it raining widely... one look at the sky... no, it's just passing rain. I resumed. 3.5 kms further i.e. as I passed by SDM Dental College. Glad I left the rain behind :)
The road to Hubli was a familiar one, well lit and mostly downhill, it was a easy ride. As I exited Hubli, I stopped for a minute to have a sip of water. The road to Kusugal was flat, I maintained a good speed. I entered Kusugal, rode through the narrow streets, villagers were up, sweeping the fronts of their homes, and dogs were still on duty. A few dogs gave suspicious looks, some growled, some chased a few meters... part of riding through a village. In a couple of minutes I was out of Kusugal, heading towards Byahatti. Weather was cool, more or less flat roads, progress was consistent. As I entered Byahatti, I got a glimpse of the village's iconic clock tower. This village is a junction of four roads... Kusugal, Hebsur, Tirlapur and Dharwad. A stretch of pot-holed road is a permanent feature of Byahtti-Dharwad road. The other feature of this road is its straightness. A kilometer from Byahatti, started feeling the resistance of headwind, it blew head on. After a few kilometers I realized the road was a constant uphill stretch. I was hoping the wind ceased but there was no let up. I wanted to take a break but continued until a Neem tree was spotted. Around the 42nd kilometer I found a Neem tree on the edge of a field.
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| looking towards Byahatti |
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| looking towards Dharwad |
My leg muscles relaxed during the short break. I sipped water, got a rainwater washed Neem stick, stuck it into my mouth and resumed the ride. The bitter taste was a pleasant diversion from the exertion of riding into the wind. I chewed on the stick for 15 to 20 minutes. I remember throwing away the stick just outside Somapur. The uphill continued and the wind got stronger. At times it felt as if I was wrestling with Vayudeva. With some 10 or 12 km to go, I took another break. This was mainly to get a shot of this green tunnel.
I was hoping to cover the last bit non-stop but the force of wind got stronger as I came closer to Dharwad. With 5 or 6 kilometers to go, the wind was so forceful I almost came to a standstill. I stopped in front of a fabrication unit, stretched my legs and sipped water, Within couple of minutes I resumed the ride. Once inside the city effect of wind was not much. I took my usual route back home which includes passing by Line Bazar Hanuman Gudi. Back home, I hurriedly parked, locked and covered my bike. My left foot was hurting because of the tightness. The side of left foot starts hurting after 3 or 4 hours of intense pedaling. The only way to relax is remove shoes.
Sipping hot tea I went through the 3 apps- Zeopoxa, Google Fit and Zepp Life. Below are the screenshots of the ride summary from all three. I had enabled auto-pause in Zeopoxa and Zepp Life. No such option in Google Fit.
Notice the straight line in my route- that's the stretch between Shivalli and Dharwad.
Zepp Life records heart beat rate through MI smart band - a gift from my brother.
Almost a kilometer difference in the distance between the 3 apps. Need to research more on this aspect. Anyway, for the record, I go with Zeopoxa data since that has been my first tracking app.
This ride is the most difficult of all my rides. Even my 70 km Dharwad-Kittur-Dharwad ride wasn't so tiring. Wind has been a major resistance factor. Talking of wind reminds me of Madhugiri hill climb back in December 2011. Do see Madhugiri and read about my experience at Madhugiri fort.
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