Saturday, December 05, 2009

Pune Marathon 2009 - 10 km

Prologue - Dec 2009 Pune

F
inally the day was on me … was going to take part in this for the second time. Last year I had taken to running LSD (Long slow distance) to take part in this event. I had discovered that running was not so hard if done the right way, which is keeping a slow steady rhythm and not sprinting. The magic is to run to compete against oneself and not race, improving your own timings slowly and steadily.


Therefore taking part in such events serves as a goal towards which one practices some days in the week months before the event. In the absence of such events or goals, the practice sessions are aimless and not inspiring enough.
The event itself is not much to write home about with less said the better about the organization and the problems faced during registration which is all manual. Thankfully this year the forms were available online and Pravin Joshi, my friend and colleague opted to take all our forms and do the registration, collection of bib numbers, etc. Three cheers to him and Umesh.

During the run, the inspiration and additional adrenalin rushes come when you see the roads lined up with spectators waving at you, young children with their gleaming eyes watching the spectacle returning your smile and reaching out their hands to touch yours. Flags and music at certain road intersections make up for the registration nightmare.

Finally I finished the 10 km mark in 55:20:18 per my stop watch but continued ahead confused with another music band playing near the North road corner at Koregaon Park. Came back and waited for some our colleagues who had started later. Did a Photo session and returned back home by 10:00 AM for hot idlis as usual 

Am tempted to try for the elite Marathoner’s club for next year, but that means a full year of serious training and I am sure will be an addiction for years to come after that … like Einstein said “Insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results each time “


Epilogue - Jan 2010 Mumbai

Completed the Mumbai Half Marathon (21km) with a PR of 2:20:41
Ran under the psuedonym :-) of Vikas Nair who graciously offered his Registraton as he was planning to skip the run.

my pics - Bib 11233 are here

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

road bike the eternal search

Numerous forums, research, email queries and am still undecided on which Roadbike to buy.

the last two months on the borrowed hero hawk was an eye opener as i became more and more informed about tyre sizes, frame geometry, cadence et al. Half of me wants to go to the Phadke Haud dealer and settle for a Hero Hawk and the other half tells me to wait and check out the guys in Bombay.

the only downside to not having a road bike yet, is less practice rides over the weekend and i dread to try the long rides on the Firefox. It has become all the more unreliable because of the wobbly rear tyres last week and the discovery that the Hub had worn out. Can one believe a less than one year old bike having the hub worn out !!

And i have enrolled for the randonneurs event on cyclist.in. Watch this space on how my participation plan turns out ...

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Pirangut and Paud

One more weekend long ride and this time with the PCP group. Wanted to do this ride as my first ride with the PCP early this year was only one way, during which I did not conquer Pirangut, opting for the Support Vehicle on the way back then. Therefore, was determined to cross over and come back even though the Hero Hawk did not have the third crank wheel.
This borrowed cycle tyre’s are starting to split and I was fearing the worst on this ride, but thankfully nothing of that sort happened. The ride started from Chandni Chowk which might be around 20 km from my place and I had to start at 5:30 AM in the morning. The Paud Village is at a distance of 20 Km from Chandni chowk and the Deshpnade farms were we were planning to end around 4 kms further up the Paud road.
The uphill road before Chandni chowk had me panting while another guy passed me effortlessly. Need to improve my climbs, or maybe it is the third gear that I am missing … It was around 6:20 Am when I reached the meeting point from where we started at around 6:45 AM. The rest of the ride was cool as the Pirangut ghat is not much of a climb while going, infact, after a short climb it is one long descent with me hurtling down at 60+ kmph the brakes are not too good on this bike and I had to really be on the alert for obstacles during the thrilling downhill road. This road takes one to Paud village and there is a short uphill here as well. Nobody was ahead of me and for a moment I was sure I had missed a turn but was relieved on asking somebody that was not the case … I could see the Tamhini ghats ahead of me which takes one to Mulshi … (one more destination for a century ride ).
Soon the road turned bad and I slowed down wary of my old tyres. Now a guy passed me, but I kept pace with him and soon another group of three riders pulled along and passed me as well. I set my pace behind this group but suddenly they veered to the right and I noticed that we had reached our destination. Phew … 7 :20 AM or so … we had reached fast.
There was no breakfast awaiting us as the guys were just preparing it, I chose to wait while some of them started back. Some stretching and conversations with other riders, ogling at the Treks and Meridas coming in and the other accessories alongside, it was almost 8: 15 AM. Finally breakfast was served, Pohe and tea. And I started back at around 9:00 AM, soon hit Pirangut ghat as two riders on their MTB passed me. This was my litmus test but the legs were feeling strong and I was doing good pace and trailing the wheels of the two MTB ers, theirs being a lighter bike were making good pace. Some buses and trucks trudged by as I continued grinding the crank, standing now and then to relieve the butt. Two more MTBer’s effortlessly cruised past me, one of them is the last year’s Enduro winner, I consoled myself ;-) . The end of the ghat was nowhere in sight and the sun was out, I almost wanted to take a water break, but decided against it. And carried on, perspiring with beads of sweat falling on the water bottle, till I saw the top of the climb as one of the MTBer disappeared downhill, this egged me on and 500 mtrs more and I had conquered Pirangut .
The rest of the ride was easy paced till I took a water break at Chandni chowk at the same meeting point from where we had started in the morning, the time was 10:15 AM. I had an average of 20+ kmph which a good pace but needs to be stretched on for longer rides as well. Carried on amidst the Kothrud traffic, pedestrians crossing, two wheelers and cars causing chaos, reduced my overall pace but reached home at 11 :15 AM. No pics this time though … everything in the mind ... except for the elevation pic below .. (the climbs in order are chandni chowk, pirangut and paud )




Click on the image for a complete map till Mulshi dam

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Dehu road solo

Wanted to check the old Bombay Pune route .... a prelude to the Goal - Pune Bombay before 2009 ends :-) ... Decided to have circa route to Dehu road by old highway and turn into the Bypass highway and come back from Aundh. Overshot the left for the bypass and reached the Toll naka 5 kms from Talegaon ... not bad the time was 7:00 AM ... approx 1 hr 45 min from the time I started from home. Took a water break and returned ... The bypass was a bit strenous at places maybe I don't like straight highways as I had the same feeling when I went Panchgani using this highway ...
Some youngsters on their high end bikes were speeding at 100 + kmph on the other side getting their kick :-) like me as I made my way past the Indira college and then Wakad flyover at Hingewadi... Took a break and some pics and hit the Aundh road back home. Passed the Golf course nearer home and was tempted to get some pics as the sun shining on the green lawns looked heavenly. Passed a guy (knife sharpener) on his cycle riding with the contraption in front of him ... I should be documenting different uses of a Cycle by the junta (coming soon )

Some pics here

Sinhagad Solo

Well, it turned out to be a solo ride after the plan to ride to Shirval on Bangalore highway got dropped out. The other guys were to start late at 6:00 AM and I wanted to be back before 10 if it was Sinhagad.
The Hero Hawk is taking me places and I have fallen in love with it ... Will get a new one and swap the crank set and seat. The ride took me 2hrs to reach base and 1.5 hrs to return with a 30 min. poha and chai break. The rain had made the weather cool and cloudy but left the roads in a bad shape which did affect the overall speed but 70 km in 3.5 hrs is not bad and I had the legs to attempt the climb but decided against it. Did not want to strain my ITB again especially on a bigger gear which the Hawk has. Maybe next time :-). Met a guy Prashant Tilwe (?) who introduced himself as I stick out like a sore thumb when I enter the chai joint at base sweating with helmet and the Hero Hawk. There was this group of school boys on trekking trip checking out the gears et al on the Hawk too. Wonder what a Scott or Kona would do

The return was spectacular as always and at one point of time must have been on 50 kmph. Should get that cyclocomp soon ... so many things to lust after

till then here are the pics

Monday, October 26, 2009

First day

Yesterday was eventful for me and Siddhant. I rode 94 kms (Panshet and back) after a long hiatus from "long distance" cycling because of my knee problem. And the knee seemed back in business. Therefore a "Fisrt day" for me.

More importantly Siddhant cycled in the evening without Support wheels on the side. His first day on the bike without Support.

Am waiting for the day when he accompanies me for a good bike ride early in the morning :-)

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Tale of 2 punctures and 2.5 ghats

Cycling to Panchagani a distance of around 110 + km from my place, three ghats Katraj, Khambatki and Pasarni was the goal for Sunday 14th June as part of the Ladakh practise session. Although I am not part of the Ladakh tour, decided to join in and check out my personal endurance. My goal was to reach till Wai which is Panchgani base and decide whether to take up the last ghat.

Started early morning 4:00 AM to reach Rajaram bridge at 4:45. Here the other members started trickling in till around 5:00 AM. Katraj was a breeze as I was fresh and the dawn air did not make you feel tired. The Katraj tunnel was like a wind tunnel with Trucks racing past you making a jet like sound. The tail lamp and head lamp from Amazon cam in pretty handy during the ride in the dark.

Crossing the tunnel and making my way for Shirval at a good pace, was feeing pretty confident till two girls raced past me. Most of the others had probably already crossed past me. And suddenly I felt the cycle bumping and glanced down. My rear tyre had given way.

The cycle repair workshop came in handy as I dismantled my rear wheel. and removed the tube. I had carried an extra tube with me and i place the same into the tyre. In my hurry I forgot to find the source of the Puncture and started filling in the air. The Blackburn pump from Amazon came in handy this time. Paisa vasool for all the things Parag had carried from Needham for me. :-). By this time several other cyclist passed me and offered help but I refused as I was doing well and did not want to break their rythm. Another one informed me that a Support vehicle was on the way.

Soon enough the Support vehicle came by as I started assembling the rear tyre and found that the spanner which I carried fouled with the other partd and i needed a box spanner which would tighten the wheel fully.

Sanad, from the Support vehicle suggested putting the cycle in the Support vehicle and stop at Shirwal. We reached Shirwal a few kms ahead where most of the Cyclist had a pit top for Wada pav and Kande pohe at a road side eatery. But nobody had a box spanner and I started to tighten somehow both the nuts firmly. Another guy Pushkar had two gaping hole punctures which some of us tried mending but to no avail.
I had some Kande pohe and tea and proceeded as the last of the cyclists (a couple of senior citizens) arrived. I took the Support vehicle guy's cell number as I was now not too confident of my tyres as well as the repair job that I had done. About a 5 to 8 kms away from Khambatki and no man's land, the same tyre gave way. Punture no. 2. Got down cursing fate, I was not complete even Khambtaki and starte pumping air to check whether it was only the lack of it which had caused the flat. now I could here air leaking from some where else. I had no energy to dismantle the wheel and check the source of puncture and called the Support Vehicle. I was feeling reassured as I knew he was still at the road side eatery. he picked up the phone and tells me that he is started climbing Khambtki ghat and he passed me long back. And he could not take a U-turn as the road was one way.

He told me to flag any passing truck or small carrier and reach him as he parked his vehicle for me. There I was in the middle of the highway without help in sight. I waited for around 10 minutes trying to ask for a lift wit no avail. Finally started walking towards Khambhatki ghat but still on the look out for a lift. 10 minutes of walking and finally an empty mini carrier stopped by me, I hauled my cycle behind and got on board behind to hold the cycle. This driver stopped again to take a couple of vegetable vendors at a small village called Khandala. I helped those vendors load their gunny bag. The vehicle passed the defunct toll naka and started it way up for Khambatki and I sighted our Support Vehicle parked under a tree, the driver Santosh was sleeping soundly beside the vehicle and continued doing so as I loaded my cycle into the support vehicle and sat next to him waiting for him to finish his nap. I was dejected as there was no way I was to complete today's ride.

When I saw the last of the cyclist, a senior rider, making his way up the ghat start.
Tiredness and exhaustion was visible on his face and he stopped near our resting point. He mentioned that his gears were making a clicking noise which was very demotivating for him. he wanted me to check those as he had bought this Trek 4300 just last week. I checked briefly with my limited knowledge of gears and could not spot the issue. he told me to ride his bicycle over Khambtki to see if I experience the same problem ! Man, providence had come to my rescue with Trek 4300 and for completion of my goal. I adjusted the seat for my height and started the Khambatki climb. Two punctures, two cycles and two ghats so far ... The Trek was a cool machine and i regret not buying it instead of my Firefox. I was in high spirits now and passed two cyclists making their way up. This boosted my confidence, passed one more and was not sure whether it was my renewed energy or the Trek which was making a difference. Some children in their cars passed me by and atarted waving or smiling at me. I reached the top and started the descent. For any ghat the feeling of descent as you race at almost 40 km/ hr is a most thrilling experience worth the effort of going up at 5 km/hr. I raced past a fourth cyclist as Wai / Surur phata came into sight. I called up the Trek owner to ask him whether he wanted the Cycle back to continue his ride. He told me to carry on till Wai as he was now comfortably seated in the Support vehicle which was following the last of the riders.

The rode to Wai was a breeze, except for some Tar patching and gravel strewn for some distance, thrown up all over because of the speeding vahicles on the narrow rode. One needed to be extra cautious as overtaking vehicles from the opposite side came in front frequently. And i sighted Panchgani table land and the Pasarni ghat. I was feeling a little exhausted now and the time was around 10 :30 AM. Six and a half hours and I had finished my 1.5 litres of water, two bananas and biscuits. Took a halt mid way to Wai and finished some dry fruits as well and remembered the cereal bar. Took a bite but stopped short as there was no water with me to wash it down.

Started again and sighted Wai base. The support vehicle had passed me long back and the trek owner along with many other cyclists who had decided to end their cycling were waiting there. Was in tow minds whether to follow this buys and call it a day or continue as there were around 10 cycles whose owners had stopped and therefore no dearth of Cycles to conquer Pasarni. the Trek owner told me that I could continue on the his cycle as well. The time was round 11:15. I reloaded a litre of water from a restaurant nearby and another senior cyclist encouraged me to take up the ride as he followed me. he suggested that we could always turn back if we wanted to. This gave me more hope and I embarked on the last and the worst of the ghats.

Pasarni like it name is a long stretch winding up to Panchgani and the worst part is you can see the table land far ahead of you beckoning and at the same time threatening. Which is the reason you need to bow down and ride, joked the senior guy as we made slow pace amidst a trail of vehicles and trucks. .The sun was beating down mercilessly with no sign of monsoon clouds anywhere. I took two breaks and finished up the one litre water. The early riders who had made to the top were descending and wheezing past us waving as they went ahead. Man, I needed to go a long way. I must have cycled for around an hour or more now and was past the midway but the confidence had gone. I found myself getting down and pushing the bike more than riding it and taking frequent breaks under the sparse shadows of trees.

No cyclists going on top were in sight as I saw two more guys giving up and racing past. I had reached and surpassed my endurance limit, It was around 12:45 PM and I decided to turn back. Five minutes downhill, I stopped as I saw the senior guy, who had started with me, taking a sound nap under a tree with his cycle parked. I stopped by him and woke him up to see whether he was alright. He sure was and was relieved that I had woken him up and we started the descent together.

Back to the base a sumptuous meal was awaiting us organized by Ulhas Joshi in the restaurant. Ulhas had reached the top at 10:30 AM and descended long back.

Our way back was on the foot board of an S.T bus with cheerful conversation with the bus conductor who was curious about the journey and amused that we did not go to "enjoy" Panchagni and Mahableshwar points but started immediately for home.

Reached home at 5:30 PM where a hot bath and Idli Sambar awaited me with Sona and Siddhant :-)

Route Map

Friday, March 13, 2009

Sea of blue - 50 weeks

An unprecedented response to the 50th No Vehicle day week call.
And the T-shirts that we managed to get in the nick of time.

People, as individuals, make a conscious effort when they see a group following a valid cause. The cause has to be convincing and close to their heart. And practical.

Is commuting without your own personal vehicles practical ?
Say only the sceptics ... The group pics and people not in the picture are proof enough.

But we don't need to prove anything to anybody. Follow your conviction and do it for your satisfaction. And it results in an NVD movement followed by our colleagues and friends.

Cheers