BJ17 - Day 17 - Mon May 31 - Ahemdabad to Ratanpur

BJ17 - Day 17 - Mon May 31 - Ahemdabad to Ratanpur

6.30 am/7.15pm/7.30 pm/125/15/60%/1860 /7L /30-39-42-43

nice and pleasent rides - entered rajasthan

did two rides - with a nap break at himatnagar

nice road - 4 lane with a nice shoulder - low traffic - during the
first ride there were fields on both sides - tree lined too - but not
the shadey variety but the thorny kind - pleasent rides both ones -
road had a overall laid back feeling - one of the best patches

not good sleep last night - room hot due to not using ac - feeling
sleepy in the first ride - all other params ok - electrlyte/ potass
bal almost restored - decided to take a nap break at himatnagar -
slept from 12.30 to 3.00 - like a log - felt very refreshed

started at 3.30 - aimed for shamalji, a religious town right near the
border - temp was 46 stationary but riding temp at 42/43 - roads empty
- heat loss at peak shape - did it at a nice pace - farms becoming
less and less and landscape becoming arid -hill range towards the end
- maybe the mewar hills - stopped at shamalji - rooms available at
hotel mangalmurthy - saw the rooms - nice ones - got info that lots
of hotels there at ratanpur also and falls in rajasthan - 10 km away
so decided to go thr - feeling pretty refreshed at ride end also -
room temp without ac around 38 but feeling much more comfortable today
- if discomfort then will put on ac but keep temp at 30

overall capacity significantly up - not bothered by inclines / head
winds - incline/ head wind tech has got fairly finetuned - much
higher cruising speeds - the ralco nylons are also making a
perceptible diff - stopped at one of the amul factories and half litre
of buttermulk - only unsalted

hotel kingfisher - ac 950 - neat and clean rooms - marble flooring -
beer avlble - lots of folks from gujrat seem to come here for that
since gujrat supposed to be dry state

pretty much flat road / slight decline for first half - 2nd half was
slightly rolling - foothills kind - but overall
decline

wind remained cross / diag tail - will prefer that to a tail - good
for heat loss - tail aids speeds but seems to impair heat loss

continued with bell/ arru a few times a day - first few botls plain
and then with pinch of salt - had a botl of electral at himatnagar and
then 2 botls at ratanpur at ride end - had food immedietly

food was nothing grt today - maintained food and water discipline -
mini meal every 2 to 2.5 hrs - tea break every hour or less - water
intake at just a wee bit above exact - well stocked munchy bag with
juices, buttermilk, buscuits, energy bar,tofee - will restock again on
the way - speed not compromised as cruising speeds are higher - long
range tours will need a diff op rhythm

tomm going towards udaipur 110 km away

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BJ16 - Day 16 - Sun May 30 -Baroda to Ahemdabad

BJ16 - Day 16 - Sun May 30 -Baroda to Ahemdabad

6.00 am/4.00 pm/4.00 pm/110/14/50%/1735 /6L /30-38-41-44

nice and comfortable ride

good recovery - started early - room temp was 35 - outside temp in
morning was 30 - felt like ac - kept up a good pace througout

most of the route was just 2 lane but with a decent shoulder - first
60 km or so was tree lined - felt nice - some 35 km from ahbad
expressway started - was a nice road - low traffic - traffic picked up
near the city

tea and bikis in morning - kerosine flavoured - kerosine burps - had
nice misa pav - dal bati - uttapa and masala dosa as soon as i checked
in and kathiyawadi lasoniya batata for dinner which was not good

sensing some gap in recovery - seems mostly like nutrient imbalance -
electrolytes - had not taken any electrolytes the first ten days - no
fruits and fresh veggies too - no tomato juice/ chavanprash as in blr
- most likely to be potassium defy plus misc other things - sodium wud
have got replenished but done nothing for potass - decided to have
bananas, cucumber, tomatoes as in between snacks while riding - also
picked up chavanprash, fruit juices and buttermilk - started to have
water with a pinch of salt while riding - rounded that off with 2
botls of electral bottles in evening - planning to continue this
routine - diet will need to be more well rounded in longish tour with
special emphasis on electolyte bal due to loss in sweat and urine -
water intake keeping at near exact values and not overdoing as earlier
to contain loss due to urine

sweat non salty in morning - turned salty as soon as i started with salty water

kept the ride pace easy and at touring pace like in first week - had
started doing hard rides the second week - will keep it easy

continuying with bell and arru to aid recovery

hotel sohail palace - right on highway cum ring road - 750 - nice
place - good vfm

experimenting with not using ac - afternoon room temp at 40 -
uncomfortable - enjoy rides at 45 but lying still at 40 is
uncomfotable and not used to - might have to tweak that piece a bit

tomm will take a halt halfway between here and udaipur - could be
either side of border depending upon pace and accomodation

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BJ15 - Day 15 - Sat May 29 - Break at Baroda

BJ15 - Day 15 - Sat May 29 - Break at Baroda

a day of rest and catching up on pending items

yesterday night sleep not good - feeling hot - prespiring a lot which
was good - prespiration response seems to have got impaired with
staying in ac rooms - slept again in afternoon and good nap inspite
of heat and humidity but felt comfortable - good presp. again

in the morning bot misc items - vaseline, bandages, hand sanitizer,
etc - also restocked on homeo meds - last batch had leaked out/
evaporated - did some cycle maintce - had not done any the last time

in the eve took care of train canellations, mobile pyt, route checks
- not using the cafe here for card pyt due to sec isu - took Poulomi's
help for that

planning to rehydrate with electral end of every day - 1-3 botls
depending upon need - getting a feeling electrolyte balance likely to
be out of sync - will need to monitor

feeling good but somehow not getting a feeling of full recoup - today
night should do the trick - will come to know by tomm - planning to
take it easy and monitor parameters closely - might consider riding in
two rounds with a break in afternoon - feels good to hit the place of
halt in a refreshed state

jaisalmer plan is cancelled for this tour- those kind of roads will
need a diff tech and prep - distance coverage wud be reduced to two
thirds - might just do a rajasthan/ desert tour some time later

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BJ14 - Day 14 - Fri May 28 - Bharuch to Baroda

BJ14 - Day 14 - Fri May 28 - Bharuch to Baroda

7.45 am/12.00 pm/12.30 pm/45/18/80%/1590 /3L /35-38-40

3.45 p/5.45 pm/6.00pm/35/20/20%/1625 /3L /41-41-43 /

a fantastic recovery ride

as expected, not fully recovered in the morning - a little funny
feeling still there - a light ride should help - kept all options
open incl backtrak on veh if yellow flags

was rehydrating with electral since the night before

first ride kept light - tail wind made easy

within the first hour realized dehydration thr - probly becos of all
sodas and electrolyte imbalance - continued with electral - felt a
little better - by around 11 pm when temp started touching 40 and
direct sun, realized that heat loss not working - yellow flags thr -
decided to take a temp halt or go back - put ac on full blast -
stopped at palej - restocked on electral - no lodge thr - continued
with full ac on - wanted to check out karnej- seemed like lodge town -
with cash at sbi atm - found a restaurant cum lodge - truckers cum
family kinds - non ac rs 250 - hotel moti mahal - room ok - was taking
belladona since the night before - continued - cold compress with
socks - tried to sleep - light sleep - but in just two or so hours
felt nice and recovered - started browsing for baroda hotels /reviews
- decided on ginger

bot ittar at the restrt shop - for destinking in public areas - small
bottles and strong fragrance

2nd ride - shade temp 40 - outside temp 43 - had felt good enough to
catch the peak of the peak heat cycle so decided to leave at 3.30
instead of 4.30 - knew that peak heat cyle steeper at the edges this
side - within the first few mins realized that recovery was near
complete - all lactic gone- all funny feeling gone - feeling fully
charged up by the sun and the heat - avg temp at 41-42 consistent peak
at 43 - fair amt of humidity - heat loss kicked in and was at peak -
picked up tune and whistled all the way to baroda - strong tail wind -
just had to sit and point - and watch the landscape and the ppl trvlg
wrapped up from head to toe - 25 km in an hr and was on outskirts -
resisted temptationto sprint and to go alittle more towards abad -
dont want to risk recovery - the navsari ride must have been around
30 - next 10 km city ride took an hr - looked around the city - lot of
cultural stuff - middle aged lady in car waved to stop - gave a
granola bar

ginger hotel - ac 2500 - washed up and had cold cofee and sandwich -
started feeling funny again sitting in the ac lounge - then it stuck
that ac not suiting me high temp rides post pune - and hindering with
heat loss mech and recovery - prespiration supressed - room windows
sealed up - reqst and got them opened - in the meantime went out for
walk and felt better - non ac room feels good - chilled cold drinks
from the room fride taste better

maintce guy for ac fixing asked if i m the cycle wallah - hv seen this
grapevine thing happen all the time - one guy find and everybody in
hotel and restrt gets to know

buffet at ginger - nothing grt - will stick to guj/kathiwadi thalis

guard at ginger from jslmr - took info shortest route via mehsana -
palanpur - only 2 lane route and many palces only single lane- lot of
padyatris this time - lot of bus and truck traffic also - very strong
south to north winds and dust storms - 1/2 lane doesnt sound appealing
- unlikely to go - will mostly continue on udaipur - ajmer - jaipur
route -

might take a full break tomm -a week now frm the last break - felling
fully charged up to go non stop - but need to take care of metabolic
imbalances - internal systems going wonky past few days - opertg
outside the nornal range - better to play safe and ride strong the
last week than risk cutting the tour short

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BJ13 - Day 13 - Thurs May 27 - Navsari to Bharuch

BJ13 - Day 13 - Thurs May 27 - Navsari to Bharuch

7.00 am/3.30 pm/3.45pm/115/14.5/70%/1545 /10L /30-35-39-42

a day of learnings and broken discipline

not fully recovered in morning - thot will do a recovery ride till
surat 45 kms - figured out that co2/lactic issue was actually low co2
due to hyperventilation due to consistent fast paced ride the day
before - significnt increase in stamina but co2 metabolism turned out
to be lagging

broke food dicipline - and paid for it later - had first meal after
2hrs - glucose bikis, a samosa and a tea - started feeling a little
better - had a litre of soda slowly to take care of co2 - immedietly
started feeling better - overdid the soda bit and consumed 5L of soda
/ cold drinks - feeling full and feeling good so didnt have any meal
throughout the ride - passed surat - continued to ankelashwar -
decided to continue to bharuch as there was tail wind and feeling good
- started to hit the wall due to food issue near bharuch - had the
remaining glucose bikis - heat loss in grt shape but used ac to reduce
calorie consumption for heat loss - found a good hotel and checked in
- didnt have food asap as per rule - major weakness happened - took a
couple of hours to recover after food - felt better only towards late
evening -

went down and had a kathiyawadi thali - not as good as the previous
kathiyawadi food

barring the food issue, the ride was an easy one with diag tail / full
tail and a strong one that too

given the wind direction i.e westerly and the upcoming route direction
till baroda, expect to have full tail/ diag tail - baroda to ahbad
could be difficult with diag head/ full head - post ahbad if wind
direction remains same then the ride all the way till jaipur/ delhi
would be easy - with a bit of climbs around udaipur around mt abu area
- keeping jslmr open types due to likely shortage of days and becos it
is not connected by a golden higway but a regular NH - will need to
recce or be prepared for abortable rides / backtracking

good roads overall today - most of the way with well marked shoulder

hotel nyayamandir - ac 800 - ok room - old rooms - hotel getting
getting renovated - new ones are really nice but not yet operational

overall gujrat very religious - lots of larg temples and maths on the
way - nearly all restaurants have a small temple like areas

overall more prosperous also - very few of the dark, dingy truckers
kind of dhabas as in mah / kar / tn - truckers dhabas of the standard
of family restaurants - neat and clean - and the family restaurants
pretty classy

tomm will keep as a recovery ride - maybe till baroda - 80 kms - try
and start early and end early so that in top shape for the baroda
ahbad patch - might also consider a break day either at bharuch or
baroda or midway - will take a call tomorrow - dont think complete
recovery by tomm but dont forsee that as a constraint as long as
food/water discipline maintained

overall the ride till belgaum seemed to be an incline with mostly
cross winds / head winds and 1.5X of kanyakumari - while post belgaum
seemed to be an overall decline with combination of cross and tail
winds and similar or easier than kanyakunari - however the blr to
kanyakumari road has by far been the best till now with all 6 laning
over and well marked shoulders almost all the way

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BJ12 - Day 12 - Wed May 26 - Manor to Navsari

BJ12 - Day 12 - Wed May 26 - Manor to Navsari

6.30 am/5.30 pm/5.45pm/160/18.8/50%/1430 /16L /30-35-39-42

fast paced ride

feeling in top shape - last day good sleep helped - fully recovered in
morning - fast paced throughout the day - valsad was the destination
but came at 2 - continued to chikhali 25 km - came at 3.30 - continued
to navsari - 28 km - halted thr - fastest ever cruising till chikhali
- aerobic firing within 30 mins of start - compared to 2-3 hrs the
past week - due to good recovery - should have halted at chikhali -
navsari stretch very slow - felt funny - seems like co2/acid imbalance
due to prolonged fast pace

heat loss at peak - afternoon temp 39 avg - didnt feel a thing - near
watery sweat right since beginning - drank lots of water

low cross wind till valsad - valsad to chikhali was tail wind - esp
the last 15 km - due to change of route direction - didnt have to do
anything
- cycle went on its own - till chikhali was the easiest and the
fastest paced ride / crusing ever

another day of good food - vada pav in morning - tamata pe eedo at
hotel ahura - bhareli baingan kathyiwasi style - mcdonald - masala
uttapa with potato mixed - ended just now with a kathiyadi thali with
surti undhiyi, sev tamata, alu plak and nice sweet and spicy kadhi -
lots of good food places on the way - most serve alcohol - decent
places too - good places to hv a chilled beer at some othjer time -
will probably put on weight

hotel supreme - super dlx ac room - just 850 - grt value for money - new hotel

roads better in gujrat - 6 lanes and being concerted to 4 lane it
seems from all the work going on - irb doing all of it in todays
stretch - at a massive scale

keeping destination open for tomm depending upon co2/acid balance recovery

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BJ11 - Day 11 - Tue May 25 - Panvel to Manor - part 2

Nice garden at rear - grt view of farmlands and hills nearby - got a
hammock - blogged lying on hammock with a nice strong breeze

rehydrating every day with a couple of glasses of lime and soda -
feels grt after a ride

going for dinner - will try another gujrati dish - the hotel owner
seems to be parsi / bohri

On 5/25/10, Amar Harolikar <amarharolikar@gmail.com> wrote:
> BJ11 - Day 11 - Tue May 25 - Panvel to Manor
>
> 7.0 am/4.0 pm/4.30pm/125/17/50%/1270 /12L /35-37-39-42
>
> nice fast paced ride
>
> overall a decline - with low wind / tail wind
>
> day of good food - morn sample pav and vada at a homely ladies shop
> little before thane - then fulka and lasuni alo at a kathyiawadi dhaba
> - for free - appreciative of yatra - said didnt charge for yatris -
> gave a tip to stay overnight at kathiyawadi dhaba - next meal at ride
> end at hotel vegas - bajra roti and baingan bharta
>
> panvel to thane was a crowded ride - couldnt recognize - new stations
> at koparkhairane etc - new bldgs - city has expanded - road wider -
> belly of flyovers cleaner
>
> passed via thane talav pali - connected to ghorbunder road - new one -
> like an express way
>
> nh8 is not as nice as nh4 - shoulder not there or not marked at most
> places - but adequately wide - overall ok - need to focus a little
> more due to no shldr - kathiyawadi guys said gujrat patch is far
> better
>
> tail / diag tail most of way - overall decline esp after nallasopara
> - seemed like a slight incline till then - easy ride - new nylon
> tyres with full inflation working out grt - makes for an easier ride
>
> foot palm rt leg issue much better - vaseline on butt/ groin as safety
>
> humid all the way till ghorbunder - then humidity started coming down
> fast - temp comfortable - intermittantly it was direct burning heat -
> peak at 42 - was 35 at 6.30 am and 40 by 10 - therafter remained betwn
> 38-40 on avg - heat loss in top shape - sweat v.low salt right since
> morn
>
> was planning to go till kasakhurd, but had misjudged distance -
> decided to halt at manor - planng to ride end by 4.30 going fwd as far
> as possible - tomorrow maybe valsad depending on terrain and timings
>
> start early - sleep all ok - but getting up early morning diff - shud
> hv trained for it
>
> hotel vegas - ac 1500 - nice place - hot water - lots of lodged/
> hotels in manor compared to apparant size of place
>
> --
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>

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BJ11 - Day 11 - Tue May 25 - Panvel to Manor

BJ11 - Day 11 - Tue May 25 - Panvel to Manor

7.0 am/4.0 pm/4.30pm/125/17/50%/1270 /12L /35-37-39-42

nice fast paced ride

overall a decline - with low wind / tail wind

day of good food - morn sample pav and vada at a homely ladies shop
little before thane - then fulka and lasuni alo at a kathyiawadi dhaba
- for free - appreciative of yatra - said didnt charge for yatris -
gave a tip to stay overnight at kathiyawadi dhaba - next meal at ride
end at hotel vegas - bajra roti and baingan bharta

panvel to thane was a crowded ride - couldnt recognize - new stations
at koparkhairane etc - new bldgs - city has expanded - road wider -
belly of flyovers cleaner

passed via thane talav pali - connected to ghorbunder road - new one -
like an express way

nh8 is not as nice as nh4 - shoulder not there or not marked at most
places - but adequately wide - overall ok - need to focus a little
more due to no shldr - kathiyawadi guys said gujrat patch is far
better

tail / diag tail most of way - overall decline esp after nallasopara
- seemed like a slight incline till then - easy ride - new nylon
tyres with full inflation working out grt - makes for an easier ride

foot palm rt leg issue much better - vaseline on butt/ groin as safety

humid all the way till ghorbunder - then humidity started coming down
fast - temp comfortable - intermittantly it was direct burning heat -
peak at 42 - was 35 at 6.30 am and 40 by 10 - therafter remained betwn
38-40 on avg - heat loss in top shape - sweat v.low salt right since
morn

was planning to go till kasakhurd, but had misjudged distance -
decided to halt at manor - planng to ride end by 4.30 going fwd as far
as possible - tomorrow maybe valsad depending on terrain and timings

start early - sleep all ok - but getting up early morning diff - shud
hv trained for it

hotel vegas - ac 1500 - nice place - hot water - lots of lodged/
hotels in manor compared to apparant size of place

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BJ10 - Day 10 - Mon May 24 - Pune to Panvel

BJ10 - Day 10 - Mon May 24 - Pune to Panvel

7.45 am/5.30 pm/6.15pm/130/16.5/40%/1145

easy ride - easier than pune one

overall descent 20% - small inclines / hill tops on the way

felt good to know the way about a big city and how to connect to the highway

having quick meals every 2 hrs or so - need to keep that discipline
for a comfortable ride

new tyres really smooth - can feel the diff - also kept it fully
inflated - new threads helped on rough patches / rubble - should have
got tyre / tube changed bef only - pune mechanics grt - a 10 yr old
kid fixed up my cycle - got the chain adj rigt at first shot - a
little tricky given the frame out - the guy didnt take extra money -
even the mechanic who fixed up the hande today morning didnt take the
extra money

restarted keeping a tube as backup - fully inflated tyres and heat -
tube bust possible

the golden highway from satara onwards not as nice as the one in
karnataka - small shoulder - lot of rubble there - but still
comfortable and nothing like the 63 - need to see how the #8 is

descent till kamshet - kamshet to lonavala seemed like an ascent - the
khopil ghat descent is a long and steep one - and is the expressway
itself - super fast descent - small tunnel on the way - no need for
night rig - probably 200 mts

lonavala was a plesent 35-37 - khopoli was direct heat - peak at 41 -
heat loss was in top shape - didnt feel anything - lots of water -
sweat low salt in morning and by end of ride was near zero salt -
panvel humid

peak heat cycle changing - quick up and quick down

wind direction west to east - consistenty from blr - so when road
direction becomes west wind becomes a head wind - other wise cross -
got used to wind - slows speed but helps cool down

glove lost on way - jamun lady pointed that tucked in side

dal roti dhaba charged 50 rs - probably diff rate for diff ppl

stopped at a shady bar for water - didnt realize - made a quick exit -
guy appreciative - gave free watermelon

all previous aches / pains ok - rt leg lat pl fac pain there though -
slight one - need to fix and work on foot position - was more careful
today with the foot position - slight abrasion starting to happen on
groin side - vaseline helped

roamed around in panvel town after check in - cant recognize from
previous bombay cycling trips - bustling town - lots of wholesellers
-very few eating joints / hotels compared to size of city

panchavati hotel - ac room - 1100 - ok types - a little dingy feel -
lodge converted to hotel

tomorrow will cross bombay and pick up #8 near bhayander - will need
to halt near gujrat border

leave early hopefully - so that eve is relaxed and time to roam around

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BJ9 - Day 9 - Sun May 23 - Satara to Pune

BJ9 - Day 9 - Sun May 23 - Satara to Pune

8.00 am/5.30 pm/7.45pm/125/16.5/60%/1015

nice easy ride

overall low wind - overall decline 10%

temp 40 by 1 - peak 43 - normal peak heat cycle - but drop faster
starting 3.30 - dry burning heat - heat loss sub par initially due to
improper rehydration day before - but picked up little later

near the end katraj ghat - small and easy incline - followed by a long
decline which continued right till swargate

had another puncture in morning - near pachwad village - got it
repaired - got both tyre tube replaced with ralco's tube and nylon
tyre- gulabchand closed but their son - rattan - gave ref of a
mechanic

hotel woodland - 2500

went to king burger and some burgers parcelled

felt funny cycling into pune - from highway

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BJ8 - Day 8 - Sat May 22 -Kolhapur to Satara

BJ8 - Day 8 - Sat May 22 -Kolhapur to Satara

7.30 am/7.15 pm/7.45pm/125/14.5/60%/890

easy enough ride - good steady robust cruising - long breaks took up time

had nice poha at hotel for bfast - good tea also - last day had lots
of mutton /tambda rassa

rolling terrain - overall decline 10% - cross wind all the way -
sailboated - 2.5 km fairly steep incline at end followed by a long
decline straight into city

puncture - old one got bigger - patch didnt work - went to village
nearby to get tube changed - need to reconsider backup tube - need to
lighten up even more

kashil village - nice folks - felt comfortable even with their ques -
good mechanic

misal pav for meal one - after that a meal every 3 hrs - last few hrs
on glucose bikis

fast paced towards end to ensure city before dark - got before dark -
nice bustling city

all aches pains ok - crotch stuff healed -wrist and butt - didnt feel
anything after ride end - next level of adaptn setting in - knee fine

hotel maharaja residency - non ac - 1500 - got hot water for the first time

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BJ7 - Day 7 - Fri May 21 - Break at Kolhapur

BJ7 - Day 7 - Fri May 21 - Break at Kolhapur

productive break

took day off in kpur - lost licence issue - had decided to think abt
it on morn - remembered in morn that kittur guy taking licence -
decided to go there - also take care of other misc stuff

hired car for day - went to kittur - licence there - tipped

interesting driver - 30 beedi story - construction story - punj lloyd
- police story - materials course chennai - dumper - 120 wheels -
moving villagers on highway - villagers buying dumper stuff -cement
vs. Dambar rd - hill cutting

calendula - cycle spares - and misc other items - got hair cut - got
both side pouches stiched (urgent basis - urgent fee)

all the usual aches etc got ok

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BJ6 - Day 6 - Thurs May 20 - Kittur to Kohlapur

BJ6 - Thurs May 20 - Kittur to Kohlapur

6.00 am/8.45 pm/9.15pm/170/13.5/60%/765

nice long ride

subdued temp throughout due to a bit of cloud cover - sub 35 till 12
and between 35 to 40 thereafter

fair amt of incline till belgaum - with strong head winds - at one
point had to walk for a km or so - steep incline + strong head winds -
even walking was an effort

post belgaum it was an overall decline - rolling terrain - winds
remained strong throughout - but now they rotated between head - diag
head - cross - for half an hour it was a tail wind - was able to pick
up a bit of speed post belgaum

starting to get used to head winds and ride intensity

meal every 2 -3 hrs - last couple of hours did on glucose biscuits

intense ride due to rolling terrain and strong winds - sailboated mostly

can feel some strain on knees and palm of foot - intermittent sharp
pain in left foot lat pl fc - seems bone / tendon kind - gets ok with
change of posture will need to monitor

got dark by the time i reached kolhaur - had rigged myself up for night ride

sweat significantly non salty compared to bangalore rides /
kanyakumari - adaptation response
kicking in - took a long time - had stopped taking electrolytes since
the chennai ride

heat - fluid - electrolyte balance in grt shape - ride intensity a new variable

hotel sony palace - 1100 ac room - nice room

had a chicken thali at rasika palace nearby - good stuff

figured that i had lost my licence - need to call the previous hotels
- and also double check if photo debit card will work for flight -

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BJ5 - Day 5 - Wed May 19 - Gadag to Kittur

BJ5 - Wed May 19 - Gadag to Kittur

6.15 am/6.15 pm/6.15pm/125/12.5/50%/595

nice and comfortable ride

great roads - strong head winds througouht - speed reduced to a crawl
- never cycled so much with such consistent head winds - felt nice
since in the first half it was cool - had to sailboat most of the way
- need to keep at easy levels for the first half of the tour to avoid
risking an injury and for the adaptation response to be fully in place

subdued temp - cloud cover throughout - had rained the night before -
went up to 35 by 1 - peak at 38 - remained 35-38 second half -fist
half was sub 30 - pleasent

having food every 2-3 hours

nh63 till hubli was nice and low traffic - got lost in hubli trying to
connect to golden4 - landed up on sh63 - went to dharwad via that -
eta dharwad 3.15

was thinking of halting at dharwad since belgaum still 100 km away -
decided to first see the connecting route to nh4 - was a 7 km descent
- not too enthused to make that ascent back - decided to halt at
kittur - largish town as per the atlas i picked up at hubli - missing
my escorts maps where i can clearly gauge acco availibility from the
city lettering

the golden4 was as beautiful as ever - rode till kittur 25 km away on
the shoulder as usual

had taken the ease of cycling on the golden quads as granted -
realized the value only after experiencing the wild west highways

was running short on water - but skipped the first few shops just
becos they were on a decline, and when i was picking speed - time for
food also, but skipped many of the places becos they were not exactly
right - the golden quads spoil you -

mentally less taxing too - the wild west ones need immense focus and
concentration compared to goldens - like debugging an automated
reporting code written by somebody else - goldens are like no
brainers comparitively speaking

the last food stop owner suggested this hotel - hotel gajraj - ac 800
- neat and clean room

could hv gone the 40 odd km to belgaum but would have got dark

bot a lots of soda, water, nimbuz for rehydration - but realized wont
need so much - the sugar in homeo pills in the sack had melted in
yesterday's heat

beginning of ride the pain in that one inch crotch area had gottten
worse - on verge of becoming a wound - used vaseline laced with
calendula - adjusted the seat angle down - caused the pressure to trfr
to wrist and knees - was a little worried - but by end of ride the
knee and wrist held up well and the sore had nearly healed - will need
to monitor knee/wrist for a for a few days - slight strain on left
foot lat. Pl. Fac. - getting better with coorg oil and change in foot
position - seems like a minor one - not a constraint - the other minor
aches and strains have also healed up with the coorg oil - zero butt
pain even with the local seat cover - the extra fat deposits of the
past few months + training with the seat cover seem to be helping

low stock of calendula Q - had not checked the bot before leaving -
might need to take a break in one of the larger cities to pick up
these kind of essentials and also get the cycle fixed - maybe in pune
- lets see

feeling pretty strong - capacity up by atleast 30%

overall till now the ride has been 1.5x tough compared to kanyakumari
- combo of inclines / rollling and head winds - had expected to be
around 1.25x due to inclines but had no idea of wind - all the long
distance speed rides in peak heat in bangalore, with full tour gear,
helping

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BJ4 - Day 4 : Change of route

Changed route - old route was via bijapur - solapur - aurangabad -
indore - ratlam - udaipur onwards

new route - wil stick to the nice golded quad highways - nh4 to bombay
and then nh8 to udaipur via ahemadabad

didnt realize that the non golden highways could be so bad - primarily
from cycling point of view - most of the long rides have been on
golden quads - new experience

the old highways quality seem to range from average to bad - no
shoulder - poor facilities on the way - water issue - heavy truck
traffic on arterial highways - used to wonder where are all the trucks
which are supposed to carry the significant portion of the country's
cargo - found out now- only small villages on the way - surprisingly
found most of the truck driving fairly disiplined - two types of honks
- gentle reminder vs. Get out of the way - from a hundred or so mts
away - anyways dont need that since have gotten used to it - cardinal
rules never of highway cycling never fails

have got spoilt with the golden - 2 to 3 lane each side - wide
shoulder for cycling - plenty food and botteled water - police patrols
- NHAI patrols - largish cities on the way - emergency phone booths -
dunno if they work though - hospitals - comparitively far lesser truck
trafic - maybe due to tolls but lot of commuter traffic - i find that
more unpredictable though - they almost seem to be made for cycling

decided to connect to go on to hubli and connect on to nh4

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BJ4 - Day 4 - May 18th - Chitradurd to Gadag

BJ4 - Day 4 - Chitradurd to Gadag

7.30 am/5 pm/5.30pm/100/13.3/60%

nice ride

planned to go to hubli - decided to halt at gadag - 50 km before hubli
- late start + initial traffic + puncture + slow speed due to heat

overall 5% incline - gentle rolls - medium head winds

temp reached 40 by 1pm - 45 by 2pm - remained 43-45 till end of ride -
warm head winds in afternoon

late start - disturbed sleep

first 30 km took 3 hrs due to bad roads and heavy truck + commuter
traffic - mostly riding off road

meal 1 at 8.30 - upma - nice

puncture + valve fail at 9.30 - took 45 mins to get back - tube and
inner tyre has lots of scrapes and gashes + rim slightly out - due to
the rough ride the day before - will need to fix next day or two

koppal at 30 km - then onwards till end of ride good road - single
lane for each side - but near zero traffic - nice ride - felt good to
cycle on tarred road

meal 2 at 10.30 - poha - bad

just a one or two shops with botteled water throughout the last 70 km
- and only one with branded at lakundi - did the route with low water
but lots of cold drinks - cold drink doesnt feel too good - used
unbranded water - tried to forget the TERI report on undesirable
contents

meal 3 at 12.30 - dal rice - nice dal - spicy

meal 4 at 3 - upma at roadside place - bad

from 1.30 onwards till end of ride was high heat - peak heat as usual
from 2.30 onwards but seemed to last longer - probably becos of warm
winda - warm winds after 1 - comfotable with heat but had to slow
down due to water issue - didnt have to use ac

gadag a surprisingly large town - had a bit of local culture to it -
tumker mostly a trasport hub - chitradurg had a nice cultural feel -
hospet a pure truckers town - felt like wild west - very rough feel -
zero culture

hotel shivani - right next to highway - 800 + tax - neat - ac slow -
nice overall

meal 5 at 6 at hotel - good dal rice

rehydrating with lime and soda - onion flavoured - must be the knife

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BJ3 - Day 3 - Chitradurga to Hospet

BJ3 - Chitradurga to Hospet

7.30 am/6.30 pm/7.30pm/140/15/60%

a little toughish ride - due to inclins and water shortage -
especially the last part

- NH13 this patch is pretty bad - single lane - one for each side - no
shoulder - only truck traffic - potholed road - very diff from the
golden quads

95 km -20% incline - gentle rolling / 45 km - 10% decline

meal 1 9 am - fried rice - tea -flavour of used tea leaves and kerosine stove

temp 30 till 9 am - 35 at 10 - no cloud cover - 40 at 2.30 and -
remained that level for long- peak at 42 - 36 at 6 pm

strong cross wind the first 50 - diag head the next 30 - full head the
next 40 - nil the last piece - sailboat tech for most

thru the hills first 50 km
scenic road - few shops - desolate- sourrounded by hills and greenry -
lots of north indian dhabas - meal 2 at one of them at 11.30 - dal and
roti - very nice - truckers curious - trucker happy to get call from
ashok leyland - beautiful lang

next 45 a litle barren but a light decline -used momentum riding to gain time

hardly any shops in this 95 km and only one shop selling bottled water
- very desolate road - but with lots of north dhaba - good that i had
started with 3.5 L water

next 25 from khudilgi even more desolate - not a single shop or dhaba
- running out of water and hungry as delayed food - first shop had no
bot wat or cold drink - local cold drink - need to carry water
purification stuff - had tea + bisc

next shop had cold drink - lots of drunk guys around - and getting
curious - quick exit

last 25 odd km had lots of shops - but no branded bot water and only a
few had branded cold drkl - but all of them had beer and all filled
with drunks - last patch was a bad one - ppl on road drunk and those
driving also drunk and driving like maniacs - and road was like
village road - broken and potholed

figured latet that grampanchayat elections and supposed to be dry day

hotel priyadarshini from lonely planed - ac room 1000 + tax - very neat and nice

first 50 km was the best part - had left a little late - sleep issue -
truck traffic - cardinal rule of highway cycling helpd

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BJ2 - 16th May - Tumkur to Chitradurga

BJ2 - 16th May - Tumkur to Chitradurga

6 am/4.30 pm/5.30pm/135/14/50%

comfortable ride - overall 7% incline - was doing 20 kmph initially -
but slowed down as slight strain on knee - need to keep the first week
as warm up

20 km - 4% inc / 40 km - 2% dec/ 60 km - 5% inc / near the end 5 km of
steady 25% inc

temp was cool in general - cloud cover till 1.30 - temp ranged from 24
to 35 during that time - peak heat at 42 after that - felt a little
recharged after the cool weather in the first half - cool breeze also

slight palm strain - put a padding

can feel the beginnings of butt pain - will use vaseline and reinforce
with seat / butt padding if needed - holding pretty well given that
its a thin seat cover -the extra fat deposits over the past few months
seem to have helped - anyways, had trained with the same seat cover

had alu paratha for breakfast - parceled from last day - meal 2 at
9.30 near Sira - khushka (sort of fried rice) with daal both steaming
hot - meal 3 at 12.30 near hiriyur - same thing but with an additional
chicken gravy - both cost rs 10 and had more rice than - could eat -
meal 4 after check in - masala dosa - ok types

took an hour to find hotel - got room in aishwarya fort non ac - rs
575 - very neat and clean

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Day 1 - 15th May - Bangalore to Tumkur

BJ1 - 15th may - blr to tumkur
8 am/3 pm/3.45pm/95/13/40%
sri krishna deluxe - ac - 1600

easy ride - first 50 km till UB factory bad traffic - after that ok
with 4 lane highway and a broad shoulder

toe pain due to uric acid - took homeo + lots of water - got better in a few hrs

room has ac but no current - getting hot

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