100 km cross-country bicycle ride

Almost everyday of December I had been thinking of a long distance ride. Which way to go was the question. Kusugal-Byahatti-Shivalli route requires a MTB because of bad stretches near Byahatti. My MTB needs a major service, so dropped that route. Kittur route requires good lights, both headlight and tail-lamps should last at least 4 hours which was manageable with my collection of lights. However, I was concerned of a backup. I thought of lapping a certain stretch on BRTS route but that wouldn't be fun. I kept on thinking until Dec 24th evening but told Pushpa that I'd a long ride in mind on 25th morning. I planned to start at 4 AM, set alarm for 3-15 AM and hit the sack.

Dec 25th morning. I woke up without the alarm and checked the phone, it was switched off. It was 3-30, I decided to go ahead, even if it meant a little late. I plugged in the charger letting the phone charge up while I got ready. By 3-55 AM, phone was 80% charged and the backup was at 100%. Told Pushpa that I might go towards her office or IIT and left. I pumped air into Montra's rear wheel, fixed the lights and started still unsure which side to go. At the main road, I turned left ...ride towards IIT would be nice in this weather. On entering NH48, I decided to head towards Belur Indl Area, a round-about route to IIT. At the industrial area exit, I thought "forget it, let me go towards Kittur." As I rode on, I felt traffic was more this time compared to the previous ride... Dharwad-Kittur-Dharwad ride of Feb 2022.

On downhill stretches, when the speed picked up, there was some rattling noise. I stopped for a minute at Venkatpur village to check, everything seemed okay. One possibility was a broken spoke or two which can be checked back home. Barring that stop, I rode nonstop to Kittur. About 6 km to go, the headlight indicator flashed red, I turned it off and rode on ...thanks to lights from slow moving trucks, they kept the road lit up well. However, the lamp had some energy left in it, I used it in darker stretches. I had to optimize to make it a nonstop ride. I entered the fort gate and exited, a symbolic gesture and came back to the highway, stopped at Chennamma Circle for this picture. It was 6-30 am and I was heading back towards Dharwad.

On the return leg, I got a thought of making this a 100 km ride. For that to happen the ride had to be extended. I was thinking of options, can decide on the route by the time I arrived at Belur. Recalling my 80 km cross-country ride on July 30th, I had ignored drinking water, as a result I had mild cramps and numbness in my legs. I decided not let that happen by stopping every 30 minutes for a gulp of H2O. The first stop was 15 minutes later than scheduled, I stopped next to a fuel bunk near Belur village. While I stretched and rested, a kitty appeared and started circling me and Montra, meowing softly. I played with it for a minute and left.

The next stop was on IIT road where I ran out of water. I went around IIT, a familiar route, and arrived at Guddada Anjaneya Gudi where I refilled the can. Since the water was salty I was hesitant to drink. The ride continued, I passed Kelageri and then reached Mugad. I bought a bottle of water and few peanut-jaggery candies. I rode out of the village, along the lake bank and stopped at Durgadevi Gudi which is on the lake bank. The temple was a perfect place to stop ...a bench, drinking water, cool breeze and a nice sight. 

On washing my face I realized the amount of salt I had lost. The candies were delicious and energizing. From here, the next 8 km is a uphill stretch, it's going to be crawl. Indeed it was but I kept my focus on. The next stop was at my maternal uncle's place. My aunt asked me to have breakfast, I declined and moved on. The last few kilometers were slow because I inside streets to avoid traffic. The inside roads are ups and downs. I realized the chain and gears need oiling badly. Also they had taken on lot of dust, Montra needs a nice pressure wash.

I was elated when Zeopoxa showed 102 km in front of out apartment gate. Finally a 100 km ride happened. Here are a few screen-shots from Zeopoxa. Google Fit had stopped tracking for some reason, on analyzing the issue, it looked like the software mistook this bicycle ride for a motorcycle ride! I deleted the listing and made a manual entry but the app is still hooked on to older data. I'll check again, maybe there's a way to fix it.

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Spotted Owl

A spotted owl has been visiting the African Tulip tree next to our apartment for the past few months. It looks the same owl, so I'm assuming it's the one I finally framed using my Nikon P900.

It was around 6-30 pm Pushpa spotted it perched on a branch. We immediately got the camera and a powerful lamp. Pushpa kept the owl in the spot-light while I took several shots. The owl was hardly stationery, it turned its head left-right-left-right for some reason. Anyway, I managed to capture a few decent shots.

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yellow cucumber creeper

Yellow cucumber seeds thrown in a planter sprouted and grew into little creepers. One of the creepers has borne a few flowers as well.

The creeper's tendrils have held on to a steel bar hung on another planter. Within the coils of the spring are little insects which infect certain plants.

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