Anchetty

The toughest 200k was daunting but I never expected to be on my knees.
Have no doubts, the route is beautiful. Passes through reserved forest or country side for most part where the morning sights and sounds are far more beautiful!
Some villagers were amused, some in awe and some even concerned for the swarm of cyclists in their colourful attire. Kids were super excited and there were requests for wheelies, skidding along with the extended little hands for hi5 and chanted “Uncle bye”, “Akka bye”.
I made to CP1 and CP2 well ahead of my planned time. After CP2, the heat made its presence felt. A stretch of bad roads and increased elevation gave a glimpse of why this has the reputation of being one of the toughest rides. I was looking forward for the food and rest in CP3 so even though exhaustion was closeby I wasn’t worried about it.

But I was worried about time, so passed up on eating breaks to create buffer for climbs.

But, downhill on bad roads is worse than uphill on good roads. So reached CP3 Anchetty Govt High School about 40min late than my plan. As I had seen few cyclists, I thought lying down will help with recovery so scored a bench in one of the classrooms once i finished eating. It must have worked because the side kicks, aches and pains, didn’t join the main villain exhaustion.
As we started from CP3, told Sandy to carry on — as I kept telling him multiple times before, so I was riding alone. At 2pm the heat was at its peak. And we were riding the steepest part of the route. I could see cyclists lying down at every small shady place I passed through. Saw Sushma for the first time in the ride. I was walking and riding alternatively. Eventually, found sandy resting under a tree.
24Km distance to Denkanikote with similar terrain worried me a Lot. At some point my whole body was hot as in fire and we decided to rest under a bus stand. I was worried about time but knew that I need to get that burst of energy to restart the ride. The whole scanerio was very similar to minchina ota, the previous 200 i had done. I started feeling tired at km 85 (cp3) and felt completely exhausted when I reached cp4 at around 120km but after the food and a longer break, could ride back with renewed energy. That was missing this time. So tried a second break. We had only covered half of the 24KMs. The next CP was on Hosur Road at 170km that looked too far away.
We started slowly after the break. Restrooms were hard to find and when there was one I reluctantly decided to stop though I hated to break so soon again. I think that was the deciding moment. It wasn’t that noticeable on the cycle but walking showed how exhausted I was. As it is, sandy thinks females belong to a different species and was really worried seeing me and asked if I have any other “complications”. My reassurances weren’t helping. When I told him, I may not be able to make it, he should carry on. It was just a possibility in my mind, but Sandy jumped to the proposal of both of us quitting. I remembered all those behind us who aren’t catching up and was getting used to the fact that DNF can happen. I called SKD to see if he gives me some hope. He just asked me how will I go back. So quitting seemed real.

Sandy let me convince him to carry on and finish his ride after he introduced me to Shreyas who has quit and was waiting for a tempo. I kept going thinking I will get on once the vehicle arrives. The heat was unbelievable. At some point, while adjusting my buff, I lost control and drifted to the middle of the road and almost fell. An approaching car, far enough to be of any danger, honked. I felt my body balance may not be fit for riding anymore and decided to walk. Acceptance of DNF was more solid. I was joined by Meera who had also decided to quit. First she tried to encourage me to go forward but soon we were talking about logistics. Shreyas joined as the tempo never showed up. The 3 of us walked in search of a local shop. I just followed them still in daze. We found a place, sat down on the floor, my mind was not registering the dirty floor. They ordered a bottle of cold water. I downed almost the whole litre in one go. Sandy was saying the toughest 4 Km climb is ahead. Meera said it’s over. SKD kept asking me how much I had finished. Since i forgot to start my Garmin when the ride started I didnt have an answer. As they were talking about declaring DNF to the organisers, I decided to look at details of the task at hand. Read through the route details, Bike GPX showed I had 70Km to go in 4 hours. 11 more kms of hard rolling followed by 30 more of not so hard but still rolling and highway after that. SKD had posted he had done 145KM few minutes ago. If he is only 10+KM ahead and not quitting. Why should I? I decided to try. The water had cleared my mind.

It was still steep and rolling and most folks had ridden away and I could only see 5–6 riding. I had no hopes of finishing on time but I decided LF is more honourable. I remembered those kids hi5-ing, Grinny and Sushma telling me I am riding strong. Ragi laddus that Shalini came home to give, Divya asking me how she should wish so I feel confident. They dont expect me to just give up without a compelling reason. I had to walk few times when climbing became too hard. It was inconsistent with my theory of 70Km in 4 hours but what to do.

I was counting to ensure I ride at least for 100 rotations and if the uphill is still not over, I will walk for 100 strides. Shreyas called out from a bus to check if I want the ride. I declined. I remembered the podcast that Asha had shared — at least know you have tried everything before you quit. I tried to come up with my 3 words. Kept myself busy to not let doubt creep in. I forced myself to break for a sugarcane juice even though i hated to waste time.

Finally, I found the energy burst that I was waiting for. The sun was not so harsh anymore surely must have something to do with it. But I am grateful that all those positive vibes from friends, strangers and the universe in general kept me going until then.

After that, it was just me and race against time. Saw someone stopping a truck. Another 2 going in a tempo with their cycles. Couple of times someone resting in shops to eat or drink. I decided to look at the 2 who were going in front of me. They had brevet numbers higher than me so probably rookies like me and in sequence so probably friends who registered together. They were riding similarly in front of me near harohalli, later in the forests. There were 2 more solo guys that I passed few times gave me sense of not being the only one after a fruitless pursuit. As predicted, after Denkanikote, elevation was not so troubling.

Sunset was beautiful! The Sun for some reason was double the size, Red and half hidden and peaking through the clouds like a picture. Too tempted to take a picture but didnt want to stop.

Hosur had traffic jam too. But I was high on adrenaline. Soon I was on the highway and at Chennai silks CP. One of the non-give-upper rider was there. It was the first time I actually used the app and sent a picture. It was 6:27pm. It was tempting to hope. Realist in me said no. There was no time to take either side.

The highway riding was such a rush. Nothing could stop me or slow me down. I ran out of water on my bladder bag before I reached Chennai silks but decided not to stop to refill. It was dark and I still had my Oakleys on. My light was falling off my handle. My battery was going low and I had to switch off data.

Soon I was in the Silk Board traffic. The honking was relentless. The traffic came to stand till for minutes together. When possible I tried to walk between vehicles. I saw a cyclist lifting his cycle above his shoulder and walking. Sandy called. He was pleasently surprised that I decided to un-quit and 8KM away. I saw the time as 10min to 8. Any small hope I had was dashed. And then my chain got stuck!! I couldn’t figure out how to fix. For the last time I jumped to the quitting option. In my mind when I reach Jayant probikes, nobody would be there. 8km didn’t make a difference. So sent sandy the location and asked him to come pick up. When I found a place to peacefully stand, I decided to give another try and could fix the chain. Cursed myself for wasting those 10 min and started riding again.

3km left. Distance to Ramaiah hosiptal. 1.6km left — one round around the boulevard park. But traffic didn’t ease and I had to walk, get on footpath, wait for signals and finally reached the end. I was totally surprised to see Mohan sir asking for the brevet card. The medal is for finishers and I finished!!