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.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.
2 comments:
Congrats on the century ride. Any specific reason to use Zeopoxa? Why not Strava? You get to meet/socialise with other cyclists.
Thank you, Prashanth. Usually I ride solo or with my wife or with friends which is rare. I did check out Strava, abandoned the registration process half way through. Zeopoxa and GFit suits my preferences.
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