To the people who made me a Cyclist!
I still remember the first ride I rode with the group, Sarjapur Cyclists. It was the end of August last year (2020), where Pooja was leading the ride to Kelavarapalli dam on Saturday ~80 kms and Madhav was riding to Manchanabele dam ~150 kms the next day. The longest I had ridden before that was around 75 kms which was a solo ride to the big banyan tree and I was almost dead after the ride. So naturally, I opted for the shorter Saturday ride of 85 km as a 150 km ride with the Manchanabele climb seemed too difficult for me.
The ride was supposed to start in the morning around 6 am and I woke up late (The tradition which I follow till date!). I had started some 30 minutes late, so had to really pace myself to catch them somewhere on the way. I met Hari at the Attibele flyover and felt good as I had caught up with at least one of the riders. Then just after the toll, met Madhav who was planning his return back the same route. Now it was me and Hari all the way to the dam. The road from Hosur town till the dam goes through some amazing village roads and paddy fields. It was a pretty great scenic route. Everyone else had already reached the dam and started taking pictures. This was the first time I met Pooja, Amrisha, Ankit and other riders with whom I still ride with today.
Soon after we took a detour to have some breakfast and headed towards Sarjapur through some scenic routes. The ride ended up being more than 100 kms which I did not expect and turned out to be my longest ride till then. It was my first-century ride and I’m sure every cyclist remembers their first 100! Felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.
And the next weekend itself, it was time to ride to Shoolagiri and back! Me being a complete amateur back then, did not factor in the elevations, heat and even the distance. This was the first time I rode with the admins of the group. Roy, Madhav, Priyanka and Amrisha too! It was damn hot and for the first time I was tackling such elevations (Didn’t know what the future held for me in terms of elevations!) Man, it was tiring! And adding to it, the Sunday lockdown in Tamil Nadu had all restaurants shut down. Thankfully we found a small hotel which served steamed Idlis on the way back. We had to stop at multiple water spots and pharmacies to stuff our mouths with glucose.
But yet again, a satisfying ride and my longest ride till then! My ass was hurting like hell after a long day on the saddle, got my first padded shorts after this ride!
After this, there was no stopping! The ride distances and elevation climbs started to increase every week or so. To be honest, I’ve never been free on a weekend since then. The next couple of weekends were always filled up by some or the other rides. It had become an addiction of some sort (Although a derogatory word, couldn’t find an apt word to use in this context). Early morning rides passing through village roads, forests, lakes and having a hearty breakfast became a common occurrence.
My first Nandi climb was with Mansoor, another strong rider! I had felt the wrath of a proper hill climb and don’t know why, I instantly fell in love with it. Nandi hills is one of the most favored climbs for cyclists in Bangalore. The return trip to Nandi from Bangalore city is a ride of around 150 kms.
There was something about the climbs which I cannot express in words. There’s a wave of contentment and a sense of achievement once you reach the summit. It is the feeling of accomplishing something huge, looking back at the ascent and being able to say I’ve got the strength to do this! You tend to focus on your breath and keep cycling no matter how long the climb is. The simple ability of focusing on the present rather than the future while climbing definitely opens up your mind. Climbing huge elevations are nonetheless tiring and suck the energy out of you, but it’s surely transformative and not to forget about the pleasurable descents where we zoom off at speeds exceeding over 50 km/hr on our cycles.
I still remember the time when Me and Arvind decided to climb Nandi multiple times on a random Monday. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Bangalore on a Monday morning, we two were busy climbing a hill just for the sake of it. It was like we had the entire mountain to ourselves.
After the 2nd or 3rd climb we were sleeping on the footpath at the summit, tired as hell and discussing on why are we doing this? Why are we putting our bodies and minds through such a strenuous task? We just laughed it off and took a good nap, but looking back, that ride changed a lot of things. That seemingly impossible task for us, turned out to be completely doable just because we decided to do it. This is the point where profound realization hit wherein no goal is big enough to achieve, you just need to start! (And obviously, have a crazy friend to support you!)
Do have a look at us descending Nandi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7aizPamyhU&t=446s
From climbing Triple Nandi, Double Mullayanagiri, Bettamugilalam, Jawadhu hills, DD Hills, Kaggalipura, Kanakapura, Yercaud, Yelagiri and last but not the least, the slow and painful Krishnagiri climb, my thirst for elevations is still not quenched.
Priyanka’s idea of riding over 330 kms a day before her birthday was literally insane! The route passed through three states- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. And yet, we four peeps- Me, Priyanka, Mansoor, and Raj were crazy enough to tag along and started to ride on a fine Sunday morning. The longest distance I had ridden before this was some 150 odd kms (Bangalore-Mysore). It was one hell of a ride and what better way to spend one’s birthday than lying down the road at midnight in the middle of the highway at an abandoned tea stall too tired to even move single muscle! This was my first ride which took longer than 24 hours to complete and realized the effects of sleep deprivation.
The ride to scale Bettamugilalam with Madhav, Roy and Priyanka was quite a scenic route I’ve rode on. Madhav had decided to scout an uncharted location and had a goal to record the segment on Strava. The segment was the nearest Category 1 Climb to the city of Bangalore. This was my most difficult hill climb experience till date. I still vividly remember the scene where I was pushing my heart out on the climb and Madhav was casually walking along with me with literally zero effort! But the descent experience was one of its kind. The entire descent was through a forest reserve, watering holes for elephants and it was as if the entire stretch was completely devoid of humans.
My first ride to Krishnagiri and back with Arvind and Nishant! This might be one of the most memorable rides I’ve ever ridden. We’ve been the trio for many rides and brevets after this! From eating delicious roadside village food, tube punctures to having my axle broken in the middle of the road, this ride brings back a lot of memories. And Nishant has been the photographer of our group since then!
Cycling to Chikmagalur, staying there in that awesome location in middle of the coffee estate with a bonfire and of course the muddy trail just beside our stay was one of a kind experience that I could ask for!
(P.S. Roy’s MTB, Arvind’s GoPro, the trail beside our stay and obviously our risk appetite were the perfect combo we could ask for!)
Do have a look Ankit enjoying the trail over here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZFEiavXzc4
And dare I forget the mighty climb of Mullayanagiri which has its summit at over 6300 ft. It’s the highest peak in the state of Karnataka which we ascended numerous times like it was some generic hill in our backyard.
Do check out Nishant descending the Mullayanagiri over here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxag_xSkWg8&t=17s
The weekend vacation at Chikmagalur with you guys would definitely be one of the most cherished moments which I still remember to date and would anytime love to do it again.
I never really believed in riding brevets until a couple of months back. Cycling always meant relaxed rides with friends for me. But seeing strong riders in the group riding such long distances really picked my brain just to try a couple of brevets and see what it’s all about. And man! Once I started, I could not help myself stop! The kind of friendship and helping out others I’ve seen during brevets and long-distance rides was truly out of bounds. I’ve never seen or experienced such spirit of brotherhood and comradery in any other walk of life. Such ride companions might be classed as the epitome of human kindness!
From completing my first brevet in January this year, 2021 to achieving the SR title a few months back, it has been an amazing journey so far and you guys made this possible. It’s a SR title for all of us.
Cycling to me is an idea of slowing things down, deriving pleasure from small stuffs and enjoying experiences. In the grand scheme of things, Happiness is to be found in the smallest and insignificant of places. I’ve seen beautiful destinations, had truly lip-smacking food and met crazy, amazing people on the saddle who test the limits of human endurance on both physical as well as mental fronts.
Here’s to meeting a group of complete strangers a year back and them being whom I can call close friends today! It was like having another family far from home! I feel blessed to be a part of such a vibrant and active community. This is to you Sarjapur Cyclists! And, Thank you for everything ❤.