Rugged Sahyadri Day 2 : Getting lost is no fun

In continuance to Rugged Sahyadri Day 1. 

Got up real early the next day by about 5 am. Was feeling really good. No sores, no pain nothing. Went out for a stroll. The sun wasn't up yet. The moment I stepped out of my room, I saw the most amazing night sky ever.  The moon was shining away in its half crescent glory. And stars, so many stars!! Just stood there in the cold with a dropped jaw looking at the heavens. My morning couldn't have been better. Went and checked out our cycles, the most crucial thing. After a satisfying check I went for a little walk down the road. The resort was almost in the middle of a forest on a mountain slope. Then another amazing thing happened, a big peacock blocked my way. I was like why have I not come to this beautiful place before. Swore to come back in leisure. It started to get real cold and with just a single layer on me I went back and woke up Sushil.
  

Watched the sun rise as we had a big breakfast of bread and jams. Nothing better to load up on all the carbohydrates we'd need for the day. We oiled up our machines and went for a short warm up ride. The machines worked perfect and so did the bodies and with a morning like that the mind was way ahead and raring to bring down the house.  

The start was delayed again. The volunteers who got up same time as us had to be placed along the route which went right up to the historical Pawan Khind. So we had while our time. Me and Sushil sat in the Sun getting baked but it kept us warmed up for the race which could begin anytime. Of about 124 (15 open category) teams starting on Day 1 only 5 teams were starting on day 2.  

We were flagged off by around 9 am. Our plan was to stick with the Karad team as finishing with them ensured our total lead. The road started out good for about 3-4 kilometers, on which me and Sushil had to take the the lead and pull the whole group. Kept a steady but hard pace, so that only 2 teams were left on our tail. There was this one time when Sushil was hammering up ahead and the group was struggling to keep up. We were passing through a sleepy village and onto our path came a herd of buffaloes. The bigger ones moved to the side and gave us way, but a super cute little calf, never seen a peloton coming in at full speed panicked and kept running on the road away from us. But we were too fast and no one wanted to stop. Sushil and I avoided it easily, but just as Kshitij Belapure ( from the Karad Team) was about to overtake it, the poor beast slipped and fell flat right in front of him. He just about managed to stop before trampling on its legs. All this happened in about 3-4 seconds parallel to me. Disaster just averted, but we got some earful from the villagers. But the beast was fine (except for a touch of cyclist phobia at such a tender a age). After that we hit the suckiest of the off roading patches. The road was bad,but not bad enough to get down and run with our bikes. So we pushed on praying against a flat tyre. The speed which was breakneck, was now almost down to zero as we negotiated our way through big rocks and ankle deep mucks. It was on this patch I had felt the most urgent need to relieve myself. Although many pro riders relieve themselves while riding, I however had no such inclination. Stopping meant losing a lot of ground on the group which was not letting up. Told Sushil that I had to stop, who told me not to but I dint listen to him. I slowed down and got to the back of the group. Stopped (and never felt so good before) did my thing and started off again. Was back into the group in 10 minutes. No one even knew I stopped, otherwise life would have been hard if they had attacked (i.e they would have hammered and prevented me from getting back into the group). Another disaster averted. 

Refer to the map above for control names

Our first check point was near Khotawadi school which was present on the other side of the Masai plateau. This meant we had to climb up towards it. The climb wasn't too tough, so all of the lead bunch i.e 3 teams and 6 riders reached at the same time. After this we took a jungle path down from the side of the mountain where half of the time we had to carry our bikes through some thick shrubbery. Never was I scratched so much by thorny plants before and little did I care for the scratches. We just kept on hammering. Slipped and banged my head on my bike, got a nice lump for that. The woods began to thin out and we came across a flattish countryside with the mountains on our left. We kept to the same path which went to a village. All six of us lost our way for a while where we could not see any marking/flags/volunteers. But luckily someone spotted a flag and we were back on track. Then we approached some dense woods again. The jungle was so beautiful and peaceful and there we were bashing our ways through it. Reached the second control, an old temple situated deep in a jungle, surrounded by huge trees complete with a creek running beside it. Its rustic beauty seemed to be straight out of a book on ancient India.

Me waiting for Sushil at a control point in the woods

Me and Sushil reached there just less than a minute earlier than everybody. We got the stamp and thought that this was the best opportunity to attack, and attack we did. I was in the lead. Took Sushil on my wheel and went crazy. Caution-less riding, getting off only if it was impossibly rocky. Built up a lead of about 2 minutes on the chasers. Now with the lead everything was looking good until there came a fork on the road. Left one climbed up the mountain into a jungle and the right went down the mountain to a village. There were no marking or a volunteer there. So me being in the lead took the right one which was more prominent and well trodden. And in couple of minutes our doubts were cleared when we saw yellow arrows (as opposed to white one that were used all throughout the race) along the route. Our suspicions cleared we raced down the mountain, skirt a village take a paddy field way into another jungle. This is where we get our first puncture. Sushil's rear tyre had gone flat. We put on a new tube in about 5 minutes and I still couldn't hear anyone following us in the quiet of the jungle. All through our way we keep seeing the ubiquitous yellow arrows. We push on asking for Ambewadi while completely forgetting about the unnamed TC-8 in between. About 45 minutes later we reach Ambewadi only to find that there's no control or any sign of a race going on. Sushil tried calling the Race director, no coverage in this wild corner of the world. It was right there in Ambewadi that it dawned to us that we were lost. I realized soon enough that where exactly we lost our way. Sushil was clueless. Amidst all the frustration It was my turn to get a flat. Again I changed the tubes asap as Sushil chatted up a villager asking for directions. We just traced our way back, i knew exactly where to go, but Sushil kept asking some villagers who pointed us towards the main road instead of the jungle path we were looking for. Had a brief falling out moment right there in the village, but we just about maintained our cool and he followed me. And we soon got back on to the fork where we got lost. We had lost almost two hours due to this detour.

Desperate to reduce the the lead we started to hammer, and we hammered like our pants were on fire. Reaching the 3rd control was a little relieving; TC - 8 which was right in the middle of a jungle. Tall thin trees everywhere. Hardly any sunlight reaching the forest floor. Right after that I get another flat, this time in my rear tyre. We don't stop, just fill it up again and keep hammering. Soon we cross Ambewadi checkpoint which is no where near the real Ambewadi. They tell us that we will be on a tar road soon. Another crazy bout of hammering and we reach the road. I step up and pull Sushil who looked a bit stuffed towards Malewadi our next control point. All the while we stop every 20 minutes to fill up my rear tyre. At Malewadi we had to leave our bikes and begin our trek towards Pawan Khind. We were told that the lead team is about an hour and half ahead of us. Both me and Sushil knew we had lost the race, but we did not let up. The trek towards Pawan khind involved us going through jungles, crossing knee deep creeks, climbing up small hills and we ran through all this. Sushil being the better runner kept egging me on. We keep pushing, never slowing down for almost 8 kms to reach Pandhar Pani which was where the organizers decided to prematurely finish the race. Losing finally sunk in when I saw the boys from Karad clapping us as we crossed the finish. It was 2 pm when we finished, and the Karad group had finished an hour before us.

Team Cosco Fitness from Kolhapur who finished third overall

 Just as how there are no words to describe that winning feeling, similarly there aren't any to describe "to dominate and then lose a race". The word disappointed is not enough to describe how I felt. Just took off my shirt and sat in the cold stream of water near the control. Washed away all the dried blood and sweat. I wasn't even sure if we had made it in enough time even to be second cause we had a lead of only about 45 minutes on the third placed group.

The boys from Karad (Sangam Health Club) who beat us to finish first. 

The end control was in the middle of nowhere, with just 3 car full of people. Ate everything my hands could fall on  4-5 chapatis, 2 sandwiches (one of which had a little mold), an apple, biscuits, chocolates and still was not enough. Me and Sushil then borrowed a motorbike from some volunteer to check out Pawan Khind. We dint want to miss out as we both hadn't been to it before. We got lost again on our way to it, obviously not a good day for us.

All those volunteers then joined us at the Khind. Which at first glance doesn't seem much. You have to go right down a about a 100 set of stairs to reach the actual spot where the legendary Bajiprabhu Deshpande had held off the Moghul hordes. Luckily we only had to deal with hordes of water falling down the Khind. Yeah there was a huge water fall. Danced and took pics with all the awesome volunteers who did a very nice job. The race director Akash Korgaonkar was also there. 

By the time we left back to Kolhapur it was dark. And we were about 70 kms from it. Our string of bad luck still hadn't run out yet, about 30 kms from Kolhapur the vehicle that was carrying us had a flat. Another hour wasted there, when we were sitting there in the cold, hungry and tired. Finally reached town by 9.30, went straight to a hotel and had mutton in heaps!!. Sushil's relatives who had joined us will never invite me to their place after they saw the damage I did at that restaurant. Then got dropped home and was about to sleep when my cousin drops in and starts an avalanche of questions. I brush him off and slid off into the void. Not caring that its my birth day in another hour, I just shut off my phone and drop dead.

Me and Sushil with the trophies

Gotta love that Medal

The race was really very well organized and had a truly classic setting to it. The race true to its name gave us a very very rugged experience. I would recommend this adventure to all the thrill seekers out there. Get out and experience the truly Rugged Sahyadris. 

Cheers

Rugged Sahyadris Day 1 : Scratches, Worms, Snakes and Being Rugged

The gathering point of the race was at the St. Xavier School in Kolhapur. We were given race bibs and a map before the start. Wearing the black synthetic bibs was compulsory in the hot Kolhapur sun. I knew it was gonna be a hot day. 

There were some lame celebrities who gave some lame speeches and we were off. It was a neutral start, meaning the race hadn't started yet but we were gonna do a ride around the town to the actual start point which was outside near the base of Jotiba hill. 

They let us go in group starts. Me and Sushil were in the first bunch. Our main competitors got to start 10 minutes after us. This was bad because they would have the advantage of knowing our speed across the whole course. They would be able to check our arrival times at each of the check points on the route. There were around 13 checkpoints on the first day 70 km route. 

Route Map of Day 1
Note - Refer to this map while reading for ease.

Right after flag off me and Sushil pushed on the accelerator so that most of the crowd was lost on us. Only 2 teams kept up with us. The college kids on roadies were fast, we barely managed to keep up with them. But soon enough we hit the dirt. We had to go off roading around a small lake. There were huge grass growing on the paths so going was slow. Sometimes the bikes came to a jarring halt after encountering a boulder. One of our pursuers tumbled head over heels after bumping onto a huge rock. Some patches required us to carry our bikes and walk through deep mud. We went steady never going too recklessly fast or too slow and were the first to reach the first control. After the control there was another 2 kms of heavy off road tracks. There were volunteers at every turn so getting lost wasn't a concern. 

Off roading along the lake

Soon we got back on the tarred road which was a relief only to get hit by our first climb. The famous giroli ghat that goes upto Jotiba temple. It was nothing as compared to some of the ghats we trained on. Soon we crossed the second check point too. The roadies zoomed past us on their lighter bikes. Thank god they weren't in our category. After more climbing we reached the top (3 darwaze) and started our decent from the other side towards Panhala.        

Me and Sushil leading the way on Giroli Ghat

The Steep climb to 3 darwaza entry of Panhala fort

This is where the off roading section began. We had to climb down steep rocky terrain along with our cycles. Nothing was easy. To maintain our lead we were pounding all the time. No stopping to take a breath. The terrain was so rocky me and Sushil both twisted our ankles at least 10 times each. My ankle is still a bit sour. Plus the pedal of the cycle kept banging against my lower calf. Man it was painful. About an hour of descending, we finally came onto a proper road. Never felt so good to see a road before. Rode for about another hour over rolling terrain towards Masai resort, which was going to be our end point for Day 1 but not we had pass it twice before we finish. Again We were the first to reach. After passing that control we had another big ass climb which put us on the most beautiful plateau (masai plateau) I have ever been on!! For a while all my pain vanished, the scenery was just unreal. Vast plains covered with beautiful white n blue flowers. It was a pity I couldnt relish it properly. We had to ride through these beautiful field of flowers for about 1-2 hours towards the other end of Masai Plateau towards Masai temple. It was here that I found a small worm wriggling inside my shoe. Dunno how it got there, but we did go through ankle deep mud and water.

Riders on the Masai Plateau

 After crossing Masai mandir we had to descend down the plateau towards a village called Kumbarwadi. Mind you all this was off roading, not a hint of asphalt or tar anywhere. Felt myself getting hungry, gulped down a couple of sandwiches while still riding hard. The road after kumbarwadi was worse!! Couldn't cycle at all. had to hoist the cycles on our shoulders and trek for at least a couple of hours. Man!! my shoulders took some banging that day. Just outside Pishvi village which is cradeled in a dense jungle on a mountain slope a huge 5 feet jet black cobra slithers way too fast on to my left leg and then away from me. The snake was gone before I could say "Aichya Gavaat" (which I did shout out). My heart beat had shot up like anything. One of the most scary moments of my life. Without stopping we reached Pishvi and reported at the control. I had then started to doubt myself. Why am I doing this? What if the snake had bit me? But the bumpy road down from Pishvi to the main road made me forget those stupid doubts.

Off roading section

Another moment of euphoria to reach the main road!!! But this wasn't the end of woes for us, because by now we were pretty much tired with all the constant hammering and we thought that we'd have had a comfortable lead on the others. We also could not observe anyone else following us. After another hour or two of riding we reach Khotawadi school. Refill our water rations and get going, no rest. This is when the going got tough. Both of us were winded. Now stood before us a huge mountain that we had to climb all the way back again to get onto the same height as Masai Plateau. All that descending now hard climbing!! It wasn't easy. I wanted to stop and rest with every pedal. I just kept saying to myself that losing wasn't an option and beared away the pain. My back, my lungs, my ribs, legs neck they were all protesting. Our pace was as slow as a snail in that ghat. It was very demoralizing that last ghat. Every time you thought you had reached the top there was more to climb. What could have been 40 minute climb in normal state took us about one and a half hour. We were stuffed. To my surprise Sushil the strongman too was showing cracks. A small descent after the climb and we were on a flattish road towards a village called Sanjivani. I recovered real quick, however Sushil was stuffed . I had to pull him all though all the flat road till we reached one last off road section. We had to climb all the way up-to the plateau. Another hour of trek with cycles of our shoulders. Every step was hard to take. Very low on energy we were. At the top we had to take a tar road which led all the way down to Masai Resort. But this wasn't the end yet. We had to drop our cycles here and trek up a hill report at its top and come down to end our first days race. So we run up the hill at least for 10 minutes (relieved to get rid of the bikes) till we got stuffed. Then we crawled our way up to the top got the stamp and descended to another side of the mountain. Had to run towards Masai resort check point to stop our clock. Did that and just sat there on the road. Resting, breathing, cursing ourselves back to recovery. It was in exact 11 minutes did the second team arrive. They were the Karad boys. They had started ten minutes late. So we had just one minute separating us from the, at end of Day 1.               

We were disappointed as even after all that hammering, led to a lead of only one minute. Those boys were real tough. Keeping up with us even after 3 flat tires.  We fortunately had none. Did some stretching and then laid down with my feet up against the wall. This helped in recovery of my leg muscles. Then had the most epic dinner of all time. They were serving masala rice and curry. Only if hunger could be described in units!!! I was hungry in the range of a 1000 tons, a million kilometers, 1000 megawatts. I have never eaten so much before , surprised myself with my appetite. Must have eaten at least 1.5 kg of rice in a period of 2 hours. Don't ask where it went. Cleaned up the bikes, had a talk with our fellow racers. Lots of cycling tales were exchanged, it was fun. Everyone was tired and slept off early by around 9. 

Cheers

Rugged Sahyadris : Prelude to the Race

Was really excited about this race. Its a very high profile race. Imagine India's second biggest adventure race. Athletes come from all over the state to compete. This was only their second edition. But there was a lot of hype around the race.  

The Poster

Due to all this I was really nervous about my own performance. It was gonna be tough to just complete the race , let alone win it. I had doubts creeping at the back of my mind, whether my training was enough or not. But I was determined to show my sponsors (Lifecycle) that they were investing in the right men. They even gave me and Sushil matching bikes for the race.

It was decided that we'll go to Kolhapur by a Volvo bus, but changed it 2 days before the race, and we hired a pickup car for transportation provided by Cymour. My team along with another 40+ team ( Kedar Tokekar and Sashikant Soman) along with the cycles left from Pune on Friday morning. The driver drove real fast, a little rash too, reached Kolhapur in 3 hours, just in time for lunch. And what a Lunch it was!!! So much mutton!!! Omg , it was heaven!! Kolhapuri Mutton!!

With Sushil and the bikes

Bikes packed and ready

Mutton at Hotel Opal in Kolhapur

Then went to my relative's place. We were gonna crash here tonight. Did the final packing of bags that we were gonna carry for the race. It took a lot of time than we expected. Had to go and buy few stuff (compass and stuff). At about 3 pm we went off to check out the route of the race in the vicinity of Panhala fort and Jotiba temple. It paid off, we found a lot of off road markings which gave us an indication of the route. This gave us a little advantage. Then we returned back to Kolhapur for our pre-race meeting. 

With cousin Venky on Panhala for the Route Recce

Me and Sushil were both wearing Lifecycle shirts. It was a grand entry with matching shirts, bikes and big pickup in tow with Lifecycle flex. What a site we must have been!! hahaha. Turned Heads!!. Recognized some friends from Pune; fellow cyclist who were participating as well. Then met the defending champions, a group of athletes from Karad (Team - Sangam Health Club). There were people from all over the place. Hyderabad, Delhi, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bangalore, etc.

Then we took our bikes for a short test run. And that's when calamity hit us. One of my gear shifter wasn't working. It had got damaged in transit. And getting a replacement of such an expensive part in a place like Kolhapur seemed impossible. We were very close to panic. We tried all we could to get it to work, but it was beyond repair. 

Called up a few contacts in Kolhapur and we were told to check out Parmale cycle stores , the biggest cycle store in town. They were also sponsors for the Rugged race. We reached there just before closing time. They did not have the shifter we wanted. But the owner was so kind that he took one out from a brand new cycle and fit it onto our bike. Just because we told him we were from Lifecycle!!( He also knew Sushil) Kolhapur people are awesome!! My cycle was all good in no time!!

Plans to have an early dinner and sleeping was out. It was 10 till we reached home. Had dinner and by the time we slept it was almost 11 pm. Not a good buildup to the race.

Continued...

Cheers