Headwinds from Hell : My first 400km Brevet

On the 15th of December I attempted and completed 400 km ride on cycle (brevet)!! We were a total of 15 riders of which 6 were going to do the 200 km ride and the rest 9 would do the 400. Started off at 6.20 from UoP. The first check point was at 100 kms at Supa. Was first to reach there with Sunil Chatekar. He's got a faster bike but I manage to keep up with him. Completed the first 100 in  4 hours and could have done it even faster but it took a while for my muscles to warm up in the morning. After 20mins and a misal pav later, I left the first check point (CP1). This was where the 200 km riders turned around back from Pune. It was about 10.30 now, the sun was high. I wasnt at my optimum yet, still a bit sore n uncomfortable on the bike. It was only after about 20-25 km crossing Ahmednagar, that I got into my zone. No more sore calves and being uneasy.

Me with Sunil (in blue) and Rutwik who helped volunteering at CP1.

 With Kedar Tokekar (in black) and Mayur at CP1

Gotta admit it was the worst terrain ever. Mostly flat with periodic ups n downs and arid with sparse vegetation. After about 150km milestone I stopped at a CCD (khospuri phata). It was literally in the middle of nowhere but a welcome site. Did not want to stop but Sunil insisted that we have a drink. Many ppl stopped to talk to us about our bikes n our rides.They even asked for our pics with their kids n all, hahhahaa, closest I got to be a celebrity. Had a Frappé with Ice cream, this worked like magic because after this we were riding constantly at an average of 35 km/hr for about 2 hours. And all this with the most killing headwinds. Since the route was through vast plains , headwinds were expected but me not having experienced these winds before, I started cursing n swearing to the 'Pawan devta'. There were huge ass windmills all over the route, no wonder. I persisted though, never stopping after the CCD break. Got lead over Sunil (who was busy having "chikki" breaks). About 10 km before the 200 turn around point, I got real tired n hungry. Reached the 2nd checkpoint (CP) at about 3.10pm. This was abt 30 km before Aurangabad. I was only 300 km from Indore, imagine that!!!!! 

Had varan bhat there and after a break of 40 mins left back for pune. Here on the last 200 km was gonna be a lonely ride for me. Sunil gave up just after this check point due to severe shoulder pain. So no one was gonna catch up to me (Was actually disappointed as it meant riding alone for the next 200kms) . Saw the other guys heading to the CP, cheered them on. Cycled non stop until CCD. The sun was just setting, I was happy with my progress as I wanted to do as much kms under me before the night set in. Again had the same magical Frappé with ice cream. Here I met some chicks from Mumbai, n boy were they hot. wasted some time chatting with em. Was at the counter when I saw 2 chicks behind me ogling at my dirty but awesome calves. :-). They asked if they can touch my thighs n calves (cheeky). Hahaha they gave it a poke. Got my s**t together before it was too dark as there was a ghat to be climbed right after CCD. But no use, it was already pitch black, no street lights. Had 2 torches taped to my bike. But it was my first real experience at night riding n it scared the shit out of me due to 2 reasons, 

1.The oncoming traffic had high beams on which blinded me n i almost ran off the road 2-3 times. No use of my lighting system.  

2.The traffic coming from behind used to honk loudly right behind me even if they had lots of room,this led to swerving and losing balance which led to more honking. Such impatient bas***ds. 

Still i persisted, the magical affect of the frappé disappeared earlier than expected. Got used to the blinding lights after about 2-3 hours of riding. I began contemplating all the horrible ways of dying along the way. Also the periodic sights of overturned vehicles n dead dogs did not help. At one point a rickshaw in front of me was chased by dogs for at-least about one kilometre  I was scared the dogs might turn on me any second but fortunately they got tired. (Forgot to mention, I was carrying a 2 feet sugar cane in my backpack to use in such cases). Rode very close (pacing) behind that rickshaw for almost 30 kms until Ahmadnagar. Nachiket had told me about this technique, helps reduce the wind drag.

Reached supa by around 8.30, had dinner. Now just 100 km remained. The most difficult part starts now. Called up the volunteers to ask about the positions of other riders. They were still about 50 km behind me. I realised the support car was way behind with the riders behind me, if something happened, I would have to deal with it with no help. As if all the tiredness and wind resistance wasn't enough, these drunk 2 wheeler riders took upon themselves the job of chatting with me all along the ride. (one of them thought I had an engine in my cycle). Then the most unexpected thing happened, I was going through a village when a group of villagers came running and caught me. They were shouting "bomb, bomb".....pointing at my red blinking rear light. They even called the police, who soon cleared up the matter. They asked for my ID and asked why was I cycling at 10 pm in the middle of nowhere. They even offered me a lift until Pune, I said no it was against rules. Had to explain them all about Randonneuring, wasted an awful lot of time there. But was on my way soon. At about 10.30pm I found another CCD which was still open!!! Time for another frappe, but alas its magical powers had waned  I was now going at a steady pace of about 25-30 kms/hr which is still pretty fast and I realised even after about cycling 350 kms, none of my muscles were aching , sore or cramping up. Everything was running perfect. 

This thought was encouraging, and before I realised I was only 35 kms froom Pune. And my target of reaching Pune by midnight seemed possible with an overshoot of half hour. I should have reached Pune by 12.30 but at the 375km mark my body had hit rock bottom in its reserves of energy. I got hungry, nothing was open as it was already 11.30. I just could not pedal. Every km passed slowly, I could hardly maintain a pace of abt 15 km / hr. Still persisted, reached UoP by 1.38 am. This last CP which was an ATM was unmanned. Had to do a transaction to get a receipt which proved that I had reached at 1.38. 

Sat at the ATM for abt half an hour, the watchman was welcoming and offered a chair and water. Asked him If he had anything to eat, he dint. Pressed home tired, hungry and battered to the core by the "hell winds" but also satisfied by this monumental achievement (atleast for me). Managed to go home, showered, ate cold varan bhat and dozed my ass off.      

  

                            

                        Rode like this for most of the ride. Helps reduce the wind drag.

It took me 19 hr 10 m on a MTB (Cannondale sl5 29er, 16 kgs, with broad tread tires). The most important thing that kept me going was maintaining hydration levels.Alternated between a sip water and gatorade every 20 minutes.

Thank you Randonneurs Pune (Divya Tate) for getting me hooked to rando, Cymour and the volunteers for managing the Brevets!! Taking cycling to a whole new level. Nothing better than to challange your limits; physical or mental. And also to High Spirits for giving away free beer the next day (another important thing that kept us all going). Looking forward to the 600 km ride.   

Just sharing my experience to get more people into cycling.

Cheers