Reflecting on an Epic Ride
I wanted to share my thoughts after completing one of my longest rides I’ve ever done, and what an experience it was!This journey infact started a month prior to the events commencement. I could hardly dream about peddling 1000 km in the stipulated time. But it was Jospeh Anthony sir in his casual tone told me"Lets do it Sir!". I was taken a back to hear this from one of the youngest rider of the club.(Only 56 years). But I knew when he said he was serious about it. This inspired me to take this up challenge. Then, I started hunting for a new road bike for this ultimate challenge since I couldn't do it on my hybrid. I took a test ride of Joe sir's new road bike and was impressed with the huge difference in riding quality. This is when Prasanna Joshi sir agreed to sell his "AISHWARYA" to me with a heavily heart. This is when I started preparing for my new accomplishment along with constant guidance from Shettappa sir right from choosing the bike to the ride plan along with Shivanand Dandavatimath. We had good practice rides for a month along with fitness and workouts needed for cycling. Sanjay Rolli sir, though wasn't a participant but supported me for the fitness preparation.When I shared this idea to my better half she had a blank stare for a while as if i was dreaming but somehow I brought her into conciousness and convinced her that this was real and was true.
The D day started on 17th of October with all high joshh and strong positive vibes among all our riders (10 of us). Dr.Nagraj Tangasali who is also a renowned cyclist flagged off the event at 6 in the morning along with Prasanna Joshi and Shivanand Dandavatimath who were RIDE RESPONSIBLES. It was raining heavily but still nothing could stop our journey since our adrenaline was running high. The rain was a blessing in disguise but at the same time it was challenging to beat the windy rain and water loggings enroute.we had our breakfast after Haveri i.e after 75km n continued the journey.
I reached first CP Guruprasad hotel @ Chitradurga around 5.0 pm where we covered 219km. Few of them had already reached and relaxing. Two of our cyclists had puncture. Till we refreshed ourselves and lubing our bicycle it was 7.0pm to continue from there. Due to few rough patches and deviations I had my first puncture. It was our shettappa sir riding with me came to my rescue to fix the puncture. I reached Tumkur along with Ajay Singh Subhash n Thimmesh at around 3.0am. We rested our back on the service road and continued towards kunigal taking a diversion there. At this juncture everybody started dozing on saddle. So to beat it we started playing ANTAKSHARI. I was just 14km away from our first resting point Hotel kings comfort and I missed the road and went 7.5km on the wrong route. It was Ajay who realised that something went wrong with me and he called me to guide the correct route. Reached the resting point at around 8.30am second day where we covered 395km. Got refreshed and started our next leg towards Mysore. It was quite sunny morning. So I misjudged the weather and thought it wouldn’t rain and left my rain jacket in hotel room. It was my big mistake.
I reached Chamundi hill with breathtaking scenery enroute with elevation of 7kms to reach the MAHISHASURA statue at the top. We had covered 505km, half the way. I had some refreshments along with joe sir n started our journey back. This is when I realised that I did a blunder of dropping my rain jacket in hotel. It started raining like cats and dogs till we reached back to hotel. I was only one completed drenched and riding helplessly. It was pitch dark night with rain and thunder storms which made the road visibility very poor inspite of putting double front lights. AT some points we were almost riding in paddle high water logged on road. During this patch of road I hit stones and that damaged my tyres. Thanks to shettappa sir friend who was waiting for us in such heavy rains with fruits bread n sweets at midnight around 1.0am We reached back to hotel at 3.30am on day 2 n covered 615km. Slept for 3hrs and started next leg at 7.0am. Since I had damaged my tyres previous night, luckily my front tyre got burst just I was about to sit on the saddle. Luckily no physical damage was caused. Since it was at CP point Shivanand Dandavatimath helped me to change the tyre.
All thanks to shettappa sir who had brought spare tyres for himself but genoursly gave it to me. I was half hour back during this process and covered it without taking any breaks. Reached Tumkur at 10.00 am and had breakfast. After that we never looked back and rode continuously until we covered 705km on day 3. Had a lunch and started our ride. It was crouching heat from Tumkur. So I just stopped for tender coconut water and that is when my rear tire blew off. With great difficulty waiting for an hour in that hot sun luckily Shivanand Dandavatimath was passing by. Got another spare tyre and changed.In both the instances he was my Big SAVIOUR. I was almost 30-40km behind the schedule. But that didn’t deter me and reached chitradurga at 7.00 pm. Had some refreshments and from chitradurga to Davangare covered 75km in around 3hrs.
Joe sir accompanied me all along this route. At our last 100km stretch was a real testing time. Every inch of our body was paining. My foot sole started peeling n burning. Now my breaks increased to every 15-20km for 5 minutes. I had 7 hours to cover 100km. In normal conditions it was quite sufficient to cover. But this time it was getting tougher n tougher. But never gave up. Dr. Dixit from Haveri was waiting for us in wee hours with juice n sweets. It was like finding OASIS in the dessert. Thanks a lot sir. From there on we started strolling towards our end point. Every km I rode was equal to 10km for me.
At the end point Shrikant Deshpande sir , Anand Shanbag, Naman, n few of club members were waiting with big smiles n Hugs. The warm welcome n hospitality we got from them melted all my tiredness. My emotions were high at this point. When I reached home my family was waiting for me eagerly to receive me. A smile n Hugs from my wife n son n my Pet MADDY further drained down all my fatigue. It was only after I came back from ride I told my parents about the ride. They were shocked to hear it n same time proud of me It was a complete satisfaction for me.The journey tested my limits, both physically and mentally. Moreover it checked my mental toughness n how to overcome challenges. The real challenge started when fatigue set in, but that’s where I found strength—both from within and from the encouragement of fellow riders.
There were moments when I doubted if I could finish, but the sense of accomplishment at the end made it all worthwhile. The beautiful scenery along the way, the sense of freedom on the open road, and the camaraderie of riding with such an amazing group were highlights of the day.This ride was a reminder that the most rewarding experiences are often the ones that push you out of your comfort zone. I’m proud to have finished it and excited to set my sights on the next challenge.Thanks to everyone who joined and supported me along the way. It’s rides like this that remind me why I love cycling!
With Love
Dr. Amit Hosur
#keeppadelling
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