My 1000km ride , in brief

It might be a while before I find the time to describe the experiences and emotions that I went through while doing the 1000k but decided to take out time to do a quick jot-down of a gist of my experience.

• Learning from 600k. Help yourself before helping others. Stay focused on finishing your own stuff. Be prepared to ride all alone for the 1000k if necessary. To that end I stopped listening to music while riding for 2 months.Did a 240km Mysore – Bandipur – masinagudi – 4th hairpin – masinagudi mysore ride in intense heat without any gadgetry.
• Ride started somewhere between 4 – 4:30 pm. Raman and Sohan took the lead in getting out of the city. I overtook them on the Nelamangala flyover
• Started raining after the Nelamangala flyover. Put on my rain jacket. Kept it on for the rest of the day/night.
• Rain stopped soon after. I had a quick food break at Kamath, Dobbspet
• A motorcyclist reported 7-8 cycists 2 km behind. I waited for a short while around Tumkur. Continued.
• A pillion rider insisted I take his *hand* to go to Hiriyur. Tried to explain the concept of a self-supported ride. Gave up. Requested him to please move on.
• Another motorcyclist reported 7-8 cyclists about 7km behind, just before I touched Greenland
• 2 double-omelettes and a tea at Greenland. No sign of other cyclists.
• Reached the dreaded windy uphill area after Aimangala toll booth about 00:30 am. Struggled to control my cycle , strong crosswinds from left to right , pushing me into traffic. One gust made my bike skid abut 1/2 a feet ( I think). Thankfully no damage done.
• Got confused by a left sign that said Chitradurga. Went into a service lane. Called up Sreepathi who opined Chitradurga exit should not be confusing.
• Further down the road the exit came. Went to an ATM at 2:15 or so. Slept a little. Woke up at 3:00 and waited for some 10 minutes.
• Lost my way inside Chitradurga. Asked the locals for directions to get out. Got out.
• Started feeling sleepy and tired. Meandered towards Ghar Dhaba. Wanted to reach by 8:30 am. Probably reached around 9:30am. Heat was killing me.
• Ghar Dhaba had now become “Kamat Upachar” – Awesome. Had a breakfast/nature/nap break. Started again.
• Good for a while, then found the going tough. Kept drifting into sleep.
• My first attempt at sleeping by the road side. Stayed well of the shoulder, used my cycle as a barricade. Lasted few minutes maybe. Sun was on me, sleep tough.
• Continued. On a road to Asundi, there was an arch. That seemed to have some shade. Slept for a few minutes. Woke up hearing a loud horn. A bus. Honked. Just to wake me up. Felt disgusted.
• Decided to enter Haveri town. Had 1.5 glasses of lassi. There was a huge gathering for a mass wedding in the heart of the city. Everybody was curious. I answered them in my Kannada to the best of my abilities.
• Started drizzling. Quickly went back to the highway, hoping to use the shade. No luck. Sun started killing again. And of course headwinds a constant phenomenon.
• Found a tree on a field off the road, decided to trespass and sleep. 5 minutes was showered by lots of leaves. Looked up. Hanuman Langurs unhappy to see me in their territory. New learning. Langurs do exist in human habitations. Left, had to.
• Entered the hills, Hubli wasn’t far away.
• Had to answer Nature’s big call. In a village. No obvious place. Asked the villagers. They pointed to where they do *it*. I proceeded there and did *it*.
• Reached Hubli at around 5:40 or so. Was pushing, very tired. Found the corporation bank ATM.
• Had Coconut water 1st time in the trip. Ate some kernel. Had a curd rice in a hotel. Felt better, hit the road again. Was 7+ by now. Giving up hope on others. Hubli TS closed at 7:20pm.
• Entered the highway, attacked it with gusto. Tough. Kept drifting into semi-consiousness and out of it. On an undivided highway. Was conscious of the danger but unconscious. Figure!
• Kept taking micro-naps , riding and again sleeping. At one point when I blanked out, I checked my odo. Was about 7km extra. Had no clue how I got there. Was in a very hallucinatory state.
• Relaxed, pushed ahead. Drank a coke in the last hotel I found. Hoped it would help. It did, to a point.
• Again dozed off in a highway construction area behind barricades.
• Got up, started cycing. A group of men ran from all sides, brandishing torchlights straight at me. Surrounded me.
• Heard vague sounds of bomb, bomb. One of them physically restrained me. Volleyed questions at me.
• I answered in Kannada. Saw some of them relax a little. Others kept up the pressure, they suspected my tail-light was a timing LED device.
• They wanted explanations as to why I was doing what I was doing. I reasoned that a cyclist is bound to get tired after a while and use some rest.
• Again, heated confabulations among themselves as to how to deal with this strange situation.
• Eventually they demanded they search me and all my belongings. I let them. Finally they got convinced. They let me go. I did, relaxed a little.
• It dawned on me later on that the reason they held me was to prevent me from pressing that button that would blow us all up.
• Tried sleeping again, short while. As I got up, a highway patrol vehicle came up. Again the questions. I realized there aren’t too many people enthused in this world about a lonely cyclist who cycles alone at night in a highway.
• They told me to get in their vehicle since I was tired. They would drop me to the nearest Dhaba to rest. I told them that it was not allowed. They said they were well within their rights. I told them “Not allowed for me”. More talk, more arguments. Finally I convinced them that I’ll walk for a while, use it to refresh myself and then cycle. I did , only to realize that walking was also tough. Decided to take a sitting nap and make a final dash. Sat by the side, closed my eyes, napped.
• Started , slowly. Just as I gathered momentum, Whoooosh, whoooosh.
• 2 cyclists. Knew one of them had to be Opendro. Asked them to stop for a sec. Told them we’d ride together. Opendro & Deepak they were. Finally my hallucinations disappeared.
• Entered Belgaum town. Took a while to find the ATM. Found it, used it. Lied outside the ATM. Too many musquitoes. Went inside
• Vinay D Raj showed up. Eventually all 4 of us inside.
• Prepared to leave. Cops showed up. Interrogated us for a good 1 -1.5 hours. Took photographs, phone numbers, checked IDs of us.
• Sleepy folks. We refilled water and had tea on a roadside dabba.
• Raced on the highway , covering 100+km in hilly terrain in 3.5 hours. Phew!
• Entered town, took ATM slips.
• Ate breakfast. Idli wadas , kesari and khara bath. Deepak gawked at me and Opendro feasting on the ghee laden Kesari. Obviously we were not textbook nutritionists.
• Jayaprakash of Go Green, Hubli caught us outside. Awesome meeting a cyclist. Arranged a lodge room. we slept. I gave my cell to him to charge.
• He came back in 2 hours, we slept 1.5. Had a charged phone, so could now keep it on more. Called Rohini, who was happy that now I had 3 more people with me.
• JP escorted us out of town. We continued. Opendro diagnosed the sound from my hubs as grease grinding on the ball bearings. Thank goodness for the specimen samples of Oleum Cocos Nucifera that I always carry. Put it in the hubs. Sound disappeared.
• Further down, heavy rain. Grease from Open’s hub washed way. Again C.oil to the rescue. Temporarily, albeit
• Bankapur toll plaza, he found a mechanic, fitted his hub with grease. My multi-size wrench came in handy. Yay!
• We rode till till Kamath. Took a 1.5 hour dinner break. Bad idea. I again started hallucinating. Wasted another 30 mins try ing to rest me and get me some tea.
• I said, let me try going all out to kill the sleep. Worked. Cycled like a maniac with Opendro nipping at my legs, (possibly scared ). Covered about 25-30km in 45 mins (don ‘t remember exact number – Open would) Had to finally relax it was too much effort.
• Again after a while , hallucinations. Open and Vinay went ahead. Deepak stayed with me. God knows what life secrets I shared with him. Once we caught up, I slept for 2 minutes. Now felt okay. Raced to Chitradurga.
• Open and Deepak rushed towards some random exit, while I hollered that the exit was ahead and I was alert (Nobody believed me)
• we entered town, went to the ATM and got slips. I was ready to continue. Got glares.
• Looked for lodges, checked out lousy ones.
• Auto guy comes , takes us to a lodge. Collects commission from lodge. Decent place. I put moov on my legs to avoid getting a cramp.
• Morning wake up. Open the door. A marriage party guy asks me if I am from the music band. I look at myself, then at them and say “No”.
• Have a tea at the base of the flyover on the highway. Deepak asks me to cycle at good pace. I end up racing ahead.
• Start seeing folks returning from 600, 400 , etc. Waved to Aman.
• Found Nirmal and Mustafa on the side relaxing. Stopped by for a quick chat. They were returning from 400. Told them I wanted to return early.
• Stopped at Kamath, Sira. Sugarcane juice/Idliwada/coffee. Called up my wife then Venkat the warrior, told them I didn’t want to risk going too late final day, after the prev two days hallucinations.
• Saw Open/Deepak going past. Ran outside with the coffee cup in hand. Waiter gave me a wierd look. They went ahead, too late to notice me.
• Thought I’d catch up, never did.
• Caught up with Vinay, borrowed my unfair share of dry fruits.
• Rested ahead, Arvind caught up. Heat was on now. From experience decided to relax till Tumkur and then cycle fast.
• Met Rajanikanth ( they guy who cycles 200km to recover from bike accidents, not the movie star). Chatted, cycled for a while.
• Cute guy, he dialled Rohini and made me talk to her. I told her I’d be there around 3:30-4 at end-point. Knew she’d come. She didn’t know I knew she’d come. Thought it was to be a surprise. Unfortunately Venkat announced to the world.
• Cycled very fast now, but took lots of breaks, a tea break where the lady refused to take money , telling me it was a privilege to serve a guy who cycled 1000km. These guys make the ride more worthwhile than any one else. I forced her to accept the payment. Filled my bottle with water from her drum.
• Passed Sandeep, Ramesh Palani, Manjula and others. Alternate catch up and Go ahead. Took another break for some coke. Finally felt confident that I wouldn’t pass out before end-point again.
• Before left to Hesarghatta, got a flat. Rajani caught up. I just decided to walk. 2-3 km walk v/s puncture fix. Former wins.
• Bad co-ordination with Opendro who decided to come back to give me his cycle. Instead got a puncture.
• Arvind gave me his bike. I took it. Only to realize height , saddle position all different. Trundled slowly , missed the SBI atm. Had a huge reception waiting for me. including my favourite members of my fan club- my kids. Took an ATM slip from the bank above.
• Completely overwhelmed by how many people knew I was riding 1000k, and genuinely felt happy for me.
• Happy to see so many cyclists completing their rides. The timed finish is a great idea.
• Had cake, and some Iced Eskimo. Soothing for a severely sore throat.
• Venkat hired a Meru Indigo merina. Dropped Open somewhere in Jayanagar. Reached home. End of amazing 3 days.

General ostentatious gyan on a 1000k

1. Fatigue makes it difficult to ride the 300 per day quota after day 1. 
2. 1000k (or more ) rides are no place for squeamishness. No place to sleep , sleep by the side of the road. No place to answer nature’s call, do it in the bushes
3. You need to prepare , period. Don’t expect to get up one day and do a 1000k
4. You need luck, something can still go wrong.