vGOH - Virtual Gates of Heaven - 1200kms , 10,000mts elevation, 90hrs

vGOH - Virtual Gates of Heaven - 1200kms , 10,000mts elevation, 90hrs - My Journey

I had missed participating in first edition , I was traveling on work. At the start of the year had GOH in my plan of events to participate. Thanks for Mohan sir for coming up the idea of opening up the challenge in different mode. 

 The Preparation

When Mohan Sir started the Bangalore Randonneur Monsoon Challenge-#BMRC100x10 was quite excited as it had given an opportunity to come out of the comfort zone of the lock down. Those 10days helped to get the rhythm of cycling back, it followed with #BMRC5115 which kept the momentum leading to the event. Over couple of weekends I did ride to Shivansamudra twice, once with Mohan Sir and Raghunandan, second time with Pedal Pushers and HMWC cycling team. A good solo ride to Anchetty a week before as part of prep, gave me confidence to take decision that I could ride the big one. 

The Event

When VGOH was announced , we were in Halagur relishing the crispy Masala Dosa at Poli Hotel while were riding to Shivanasamudra. 19th September was the date and we had 20 days to the event. As we had to plan our own route, its both advantage as we could choose our route and disadvantage as less riders riding same route. I checked with my coach Anil about the event , he gave me green signal to proceed and be prepared to ride alone and if I find a partner, feel lucky !

 The Plan

I requested Raghunandan if I could ride with him, as there were already few groups formed, Before he confirmed his participation,  I had planned few routes and discussed with him, after few discussions we finalized that we will ride Twin hills (Yercaud & Yelagiri) route (600kms) first two days  return home and then ride Bangalore to Mysore and climb Chamundi hills twice (600kms)

 

The Execution

Day 1 - (Bangalore - Yercaud- Yelagiri)

A quick bike check the previous night and packing the required materials hit the bed hoping to catch the sleep, got a good sound sleep. Mythri was up early in morning filling lemonade and Amla juice for me. A good filter coffee set up the mood for the long ride.

 Raghu and I met at the main gate of the apartment and set off at sharp 6am. en-route to silk board in BTM Layout met our team of Monish , Mohan sir, Santosh , Pritish ,Satish sir riding towards Kanakapura road , we wished them and kept riding. Empty roads, tailwinds with downhills post and Raghu for company ensured we clocked the first 100kms in 3.12hrs. We had good breakfast and started off towards Dharmapuri.. Headwinds slowed us down, we kept riding at decent pace and stopped at Dharmapuri for quick drinks break. Vivek R who was heading home to Salem stopped by to wish us and captured a good video of us both riding. We stopped at Omalur around 1pm for lunch. We had a good meals keeping in mind of the big climb ahead of us. We saw Swamy and Prasad ride past us while we were having lunch. We met them few kms to Salem and rode together for some distance. We stopped by to have turbo fuel ( Sugarcane juice) before the climb and pack some quick snack and water. 

 

My previous Twin hills was DNF, had quit after climbing 7kms, an unfinished job was waiting to be finished and it was playing in my mind, so I was thinking of going past the point where I had quit last time. As we reach the base of Yercaud , we saw Swamy and Prasad refueling. I started the climb at a steady pace, the weather started to get cooler and cooler as we climbed. A big relief after the 7kms mark and stopped at the 2nd bridge for a quick picture. Enjoyed the stretch of hairpin bends, as I climbed up and around 10th hairpin it was quite foggy, switched on the lights with blinkers and kept riding, reached the peak in 2 hrs, an unique and amazing experience of riding in fog and very less visibility. I started climbing down and met Swamy and Prasad 2kms before the peak and they informed Raghu was just behind. Met him a km down and informed that I rode till the lake and returned and wait for him at base.I usually love the downhills, but was quite cautious as it was foggy and rode slowly. 

 

Reached the base, refueled and stretched a bit, Swamy & Prasad came down and they informed that they were not repeating the climb but would ride to Yelagiri, which they hadn't planned earlier. Raghu also came down and said that he had some mechanical issue in his bike and it wasn't comfortable to ride. We stopped by at Annapurna Restaurant for dinner and packed food for late night ( A lesson learnt from Swamy to have enough food for night). Raghu lubricated the bike and we headed towards Thoppur. Tailwinds helped us and we rode at good pace and reached Thoppur toll. Raghu's bike was making noise and it was uncomfortable for him to ride. We checked with Swamy and Prasad who were couple of kms behind and we decided to ride together to Yelagiri. 

 

 Day 2 - ( Yelagiri - Hosur - Bangalore)

Tail winds ensured that we reached Krishnagiri as planned and to our surprise didn't find any tea shop opened. After 10-12kms we rested at a petrol bunk which also had a small Tea shop opened. After the tea, we were cruising due to tailwinds and descent. We were also discussing the return journey as it would be climbs, headwinds and sunny. We reached the base of Yelagiri as planned, by 6am we started climbing, I was riding at my pace and stopped at couple of hairpin bends for quick picture and refuel. reached the top in an hour and had a coffee as I headed towards downhill, Swamy and Prasad also reached the top and we decided to refresh and have breakfast there.We were discussing about Amar who has lost the route and had to trek along with bike for few kms in midnight, and were relieved to see his msg that he had found his way to black top and has started riding.  We clicked few pictures at one of Hairpin bends and climbed down, the roads till the highway were patchy, we rode bit cautiously and the moment we reached the main road, a strong headwinds welcomed us. 

 

The winds were quite strong and it was quite tiring to ride, after few kms stopped for water break, couldn't see Swamy and Prasad, they were a bit behind. I kept on riding as we had some decent climbs to finish. After 20kms in that route was quite exhausted, stopped for a refueling and called Swamy, they had stopped to eat. I informed them that I will continue to ride and stop for lunch at Krishnagiri. That stretch of 45kms from Vaniyambadi to Krishnagiri sucked a lot of my energy due to headwinds. Had a good lunch at Ananda Bhavan at the junction met Swamy again, checked their plans, they were yet to have lunch, did inform them that I would continue to ride and catch up in Mysore road later in night. 

Mythri had informed me that it was raining continuously in Bangalore and I was hoping that if it rains en-route it could reduce some headwinds given the climbs all the way to Hosur. Started around 1pm from Krishnagiri planned to reach home by 6 pm. Just after few kms post Krishnagiri toll its started to rain, with rain coat on, kept riding at steady pace. As I approached Shoolagiri there were lot of motorists, cars and at times trucks to coming in wrong direction , one motorists almost hit me, it reminded me of my previous accident in Shoolagiri, so became bit more cautious as it was raining intermittently too. At 4.30 had finished the climbs and had reached Hosur. The typical Bangalore traffic welcomed me at Electronic City, had to change my plan to take a short cut route via Begur towards Bannerghatta road to home due to traffic. Made it to home by 6.30pm. 

 

 An unfinished job of riding Twin hills 600kms was done in good time and it gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the ride. A quick wash to bike as it was quite dirty due to muddy road at few stretches, cleaned the chain and lubricated it. Had to visit my grandparents due to some medical emergency. After dinner had good sleep. Around 11.30pm Swamy called me to check if I was joining them, did ask them to ride and would catch them up.

Day 3 - ( Bangalore - Mysore - Chamundi Hills - Bangalore)

I started at 12.30am and took Turahalli route to reach Mysore road, had to encounter quite a few dogs on the way. Kept riding at good pace, As I was reaching Bidadi there were two police men stopping few vehicles for checking. Asked them if they saw two cyclists, they said they saw them ride past just 2 min ago, thanked them and informed that we were riding to Mysore. At the Bidadi railway crossing bridge caught up with Swamy and Prasad. After a km we stopped for resting and a quick rest & food. Thanks to Mythri, she had packed my fav lemon rice. It was a chatty ride post that, we stopped at a tea shop in Ramanagara, the shop keeper was quite an interesting character, he spoke many languages and made the conversations interesting. 

Headwinds was tiring us, as we neared Maddur we stopped for tea as we were feeling sleepy too. Post tea a good ride till Mandya it was 7am, we had coffee and finished the packed food, The head winds were more stronger post Mandya, we aimed to reach Mysore by 9.15am and we made it. After a good breakfast we were all set to climb Chamundi hills, the weather was cloudy. We rode past the palace circle. We started the 7km climb to the hill, its quite gradual climb and easy as compared to the other two we did. Mysore is my second home, lived there for almost 15yrs and have lot of memories, every celebration, a sad moment, festival, to spend time we used to go to Chamundi hills and our favorite spot was a view point en-route to Nandi. We took 32min to climb and clicked few pictures in front of Mahishasura and Chamundi temple. Prasad climbed down to meet his Uncle, I and Swamy stopped by the view point for more pictures. My plan was to do the Blr-Mys-Blr and climb Chamundi hills twice, I had decided to finish the 2nd climb today itself. We planned to meet near Halagur ( Base for Basavanabetta - which Swamy and Prasad were climbing) if possible. I started riding the Chamundi hills again and again finished around 32 min, this time on decent went towards Nandi passing through our favorite view point, clicked few pictures and rode down. 

 

It was around 12.30pm and decided to ride till Malavalli  and have lunch there as we expected tail wind and the route was negative gradient. The scenic views of paddy fields and the streams kept me engaged and could also spot few birds as well. I reached Malavalli sooner than I estimated. Tried out lunch at new hotel near bus stand - Saviruchi, The facilities was good and food was tasty too. Post lunch ride was quite easier with tail wind, I started to play music to not fall asleep, around 4pm I was in Halagur and tried to call Swamy, as they were climbing they couldn't respond. I kept riding and by 6pm I was in Kanakapura. Stopped at Vasu Hotel for a quick Masala Dosa and Coffee. Planned to reach home by 8.30pm, however the climbs, traffic and bad roads slowed me down and reached home by 9.30pm, with 900+kms done, the feeling was good.   

Day 4 - ( Bangalore - Mysore - Chamundi Hills - Bangalore)

 A good rest for 3.5hrs started my ride at 2.30am. It was quite cold and today I had leg warmers to keep myself warm. Music was my companion and kept riding at steady pace. Plan was to stop at Ramanagara tea shop where we had stopped the previous day. Reached there by 5am. Had some packed food and Tea, the shopkeeper was glad that I was visiting him second time and offered me discount too. He did speak to me for a while as there were few customers and spoke about his journey. I started back and planned to reach Mandya by 7.30am. I had stopped at a point near Maddur for sometime and didn't know why :( , then later realized I was hallucinating. Freshened up a bit and reached Mandya. I had left my water bottle at the coffee shop the previous day, stopped by the same shop, had coffee and checked for the water bottle, the shopkeeper had kept it safely  I thanked him and reached Mandya city. 

 

Had stopped at Sharda Restaurant for breakfast. Mohan sir called me to check how I was doing, and if we could meet post the ride at Kanteerava. Also got a call from Swamy there was bit of confusion around the elevation gain from the twin hills ride and we were planning to climb hills again, however Mohan sir cleared the air that if we had used ride with GPS and planned the routed with 10k elevation, we were good. With 200kms to go, was feeling energized to finish it on high.

 

The headwinds post Mandya were lesser than the previous day, a steady pace again ensured I reached Mysore by 11am. Stopped at Siddhartha layout for a quick refueling and started the ride towards Malavalli. It was quite sunny today and less tail winds, but the scenic route kept me energized. Reached Malavalli and had lunch at Hotel Saviruchi. The weather was cloudy and cool breeze helped to ride post lunch, I was at Kanakapura by 3.45pm. Another coffee stop there and planned to reach home by 7pm. Surprisingly some bad stretch of the roads were repaired today and felt good riding past hoping that in next couple of months our fav route would have good roads. Informed Mythri about my estimated arrival, When I close to Art of Living had hit the 1200km mark and a sense of satisfaction started creeping in. Reached home by 6.30pm and was welcomed by my daughter Sukruthi and Mythri at apartment main gate. 

Sukruthi & Mythri were as excited as I was as I did finish without any mechanical issues and time constraints like I had ended up in BGB. Surkruthi also presented me a congratulatory card for the finish. After 4 days and 3 nights on the bike with challenging weather conditions, it was a dream finish for me. 

 

Few tips from Pro riders that helped me during ride 

1. Mentally be prepared to ride alone, if you get a company you are lucky

2. Keep your self hydrated always, eat before you are hungry , also pack food for the route

3. Never decide to quit when you feel so, It may be a case where all you wanted was a short break to energize your self

4. More the time spent on saddle, your bum will get used to it. In long rides use butter cream / oil / vaseline which ever suits you  to reduce soreness

Thanks to my family ( Mythri , Sukruthi) for all the support. Special thanks to my coach Anil Kadsur for all the fitness regime to build the required fitness, Thanks to Swamy and Prasad for riding with me and a big thanks to all my cycling friends for their lovely support.