Bengaluru cyclothon

I was so excited to join this rally that I registered very early, a month, before the D-day Oct 11th 2009.

Participating previously in Midnight marathon and completing a half-marathon of 21.95kms was quite a arduous running task!

I felt cycling is far more easier than running on foot or maybe its because I had enough practice commuting to office for past few days and dropping my cycle at Koramangala indoor stadium (for it to be transported to venue) riding it from my home near Hebbal, the day before the event took place.

Having reached the place a little late due to misadventures(?!) of the volvo buses arranged for us to the venue, I collected the cycle from hangar-2. Stretching the thigh and calf muscles and hydrating enough, We all started off from the same place. We were sent in batches and I noted my time of start to be 9:12am to be precise.

It was an exhilarating experience to be a part of this great event. A "young"old man(you will know the reason soon why i call him "young"),above 60 years of age was cycling a hero jet and rode past me when I had stopped to hydrolyze myself with electral after an hour of journey. To my surprise he was not wearing a BIB but had put a writing on his back which interested me and soon I chased him to find out what was on his back and captured it in my cell phone. It said - "I will never be an old man. To me old age is always 15 years older than I am."(See one of my pics) WOW! That one moment in my life,I enjoyed the spirit of life more than the fun ride of 36kms.

Sad part of the whole cyclothon was I saw fellow cyclists who were carrying broken chains and even pedals of the rented cycles(BSA Mach) which droped off!! after 15-20kms of ride.. There were not many mechanics(or were there any!?) who could get those fixed. And even more irritating was to see the condition of my cycle after transport to the venue. Damn! They had damaged a few parts Handle was not turning fully and freely.. but thanks for not doing any odd-tuning with gearbox.

Volunteers did a good job providing water for every 10-12 kms of ride. It took 1:40 mins to reach back to the base, after completing the 36Km ride. I met a couple of cycling clubs GoGreenGoCycling and Bangalore-bikers and joined them. Raghu Dixit's songs were rocking the crowd when elite race was going on. Actress Pooja gandhi, Actor Manjunath and lots of other celebrities were present in the occasion. BMX stunt biking was a nice attraction. Manipuri boys did great on extended studs of the wheel axle doing a 360 spin. I left the venue after getting refreshed with banana's and plenty of water. Pedaling again back home from BIEC to my place at Sahakarnagar was really cumbersome as I hit Nelamanga's "bad" traffic for the first time in riding cycle. Many cyclists were forced to choose the odd terrains off-road where even two-wheelers can't tread. But to be honest cycles are always faster than cars in such traffic. It was nice to see cycles participating which costed upto 91K(Trek fuel 5-5) INR :)

Hope to join weekend cycling in and around Bangalore. Catch ya guys. Later :)