On the holiday of 15th August I had planned this training session with Sushil my Rugged Sahyadri team-mate. Will be competing along side with him for the first time. So we had to do a rigorous ride to get size each other up n gel as a team. Was carrying a 12 kg bag to simulate race day. All this in preparation for the Rugged Sahyadri; an enduro style race in Kolhapur.
We met en route to Sinhagad. Started off steadily for about 40 minutes till we got warmed up then I took the lead and started hammering. Time to show Sushil my prowess for sprints and flats.
There are 2 types of cycle racers,
1. Sprinters (like me) who are heavy and powerfully built, we are fast on the flats and long easy climbs. We can go super-fast on downhills as we remain stable due to our weight. What we suck at are the climbs.
2. Climbers (like Sushil and Sid) are small n weigh very less. Due to their lightness they can go up those steep heavy mountains as if it was a nothing. They can gain a lot of lead if you let them easy off on the flats. They suck just as much while coming down and cannot keep up during long flat sprints.
So I hammered him until Pabe ghat. A very very deadly Category 2 climb. As soon as the climb started Sushil hammered up and I lost him among the hairpins. He was on a much lighter hybrid cycle plus he was a climber. Beat me by 3 minutes to the top. The climb was killer, an indication how merciless today's session was gonna be. It was extra hard with that heavy bag on my back.
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| Archive photo of Pabe Ghat |
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| Hammered through the beauty of Pabe Ghat |
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| Pabe Ghat |
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| Pabe Ghat top (Archive) |
The descent was sweet and the flat road towards Velhe (base village of Torna) acted as a nice recovery patch for us. A small breakfast at the village. We were just in time for the flag hoisting ceremony where the entire village had gathered. Sang the national anthem. And then up we went towards the Fort. Cycles we locked up in the village.
We were practically running up the steep n slippery slopes. Another killer workout.was covered in sweat and pain in 10 minutes. And on top of all this me and Sushil were wearing 1Kg ankle weights on each of our feet. Man every step i took I wished I had never gotten out of the bed. My heart was ready to explode any minute. Everyone we overtook was amazed and we heard comments like, "crazy army people" "look at their legs" "but we started way earlier, how did u reach so fast?" "we overtook u while cycling on our motorbikes" etc etc. was so out of breath to even reply to them. Almost gave up, but then I saw Torna's main door. Couldn't slow now. Sushil who was always one step ahead of me and slightly faster kept egging me on. Reached the top and almost puked blood. I could taste is at the back of my mouth.
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| Steep climbs of Torna |
Jacked I was. 10 minutes recovery walk n jog on the fort and we started going down as fast as we could.
Passed a lot of people who couldn't believe our timing. Some thought we dint even reach the top. But we egged on as fast as the slippery terrain would allow us. Lost my balance n slipped twice n fell on my soft bum. Dint hurt myself (fortunately), reaching down took us same time time that we took to go up. had a real nice chicken thali at the base. Hogged like a pig. One hour break, before we had to tackle the other side of Pabe ghat, which was longer and steeper than the side that we climbed while coming.
Me and Sushil hogging after climbing down from Torna
So full we were (2 extra helpings of rice) that the climb was next to impossible. Plus the heat was also unforgiving. No cloud cover. Legs were protesting and stomach too. felt like the chicken was gonna come out with every hairpin. Kept on however till I reached the top. This time I almost was able to keep up with Sushil. This had taken everything out of us. The rest of the ride back home was slower. We were too tired to hammer. kept a steady pace till we reached Sinhagad base. And then we had another short but fast interval ride where we were speeding at 40 kmph until our legs hearts and lungs gave up and we couldn't take anymore.
Reached home battered and completely done. Achieved our our aim of getting "jacked like a work horse". A nice 12 hour sleep and I am feeling strong!!!
Total-
90 kms of cycling and 10 kms of trekking in 6 hours. With one hour of rest. 2790 feet of total altitude gain.
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