KarthiK S

This ride was a rerun for me after failing in previous attempt (my first brevet ride) due to silly mistakes I did. To list some, not carrying stuff needed for long rides (not even a water bottle - resulted in myself almost fainting once due to thirst), not wearing proper cycling gear, riding a brand new bike (hardly ridden some 3 km before) for the longest and challenging ride till then, etc., I had to drop out when I got a flat after 195 km where I had only 35 minutes remaining to cover rest 10 kms. To recall the experience then, I started around 0615 hrs, reached Magadi control by 0800 hrs, 'getting tired + 1 hr wastage to get back to normal' drama happened in Koppa - Maddur stretch, reached Maddur control by 1305 hrs and Chandrappa circle control by 1700 hrs, got back into Magadi road when it was getting dark, and the flat when reached Outer Ring Road (ORR),... I Had to brave rain for initial 30 min, mud road after Huliyurdurga, headwind in Maddur - Ramanagara stret...

He conquers who endures....  - Quote on a t-shirt I came across. Pre Ride Preparatons :- As it happened for me to miss the last two Brevets ( Chellakere 400 and Tristate 600 ), from march I was waiting for a longer Brevet. I well knew the facts that I ride an MTB, and maximum distance I had done previously was 300 km only. But the factors I always trust is, confidence on self (my confidence that time was such that I registered for 1000 km, and planned to do that on MTB, but somehow dropped the idea later as whomsoever I came across thought it insane and lack of sleep 2 days before ride decreased my confidence), practice well before doing anything I dreamed high, and a bit of luck. So, putting altogether, I considered following things. On MTB, I would have to ride more time in less speed compared to fellow riders who would be, for sure riding only roadbikes. So, I might have to compromise with number of breaks (including sleep breaks - I might not get to sleep) as we...

Highly inspired by the previous ride , Gokul and I planned to ride again 170 kms around. Place, as we decided earlier, was Devarayanadurga. This time, out of curiosity, I framed a route , starting with Tumkur road upto Tumkur, reach Uradigere from Tumkur, loop around Devarayanadurga hills after a climb to the peak, return back through Madhurekere and Hessarghatta. Gokul also came up with two routes, but as they were 210 km loops (give or take some) and I had to return back before 1700 hrs for farewell function, we chose the shorter loop. As Gokul says, it really was a killer ride. We planned to start early in morning last sunday. Gokul prepared rava upma (with coconut oil, I liked) and boiled eggs to carry along. We set out for the ride by 0435 hrs. We sped up in Tumkur road, as we were fresh and felt interesting to ride in dark, in smooth highways. We took very early breakfast after TBegur, and soon reached Dobbasapete. Here, to reduce the distance, we planned to skip Tumkur a...

Through these weeks, I got used to a fact that, I plan rides with somebody, they drop out a day before ride day, or the ride day morning, and if I am still serious about riding, ride to Hessarghatta, else simply continue morning sleep, one of the things I am passionate about. Last saturday also was not an exception for this. Also, having Bangalore - Ranebennur - Bangalore Brevet in mind, I was a bit worried too, as if this continues, I might end up riding the brevet without any practice, considering my last long distance trip, which happened at beginning of march. In these conditions, when I saw the mail by Gokul about his plan of exploratory ride for a route, no second thought, I just decided to go for it. About Gokul, a super randonneur from institute, he is one of the best riders I had come across, to ride with. He made up a populaire route for 174 kms (yeah, a bit long populaire) through some towns north to Bangalore and wanted to explore the route. I joined him this sunda...

Last saturday, IISc Randonneurs had organised a randonneurs reunion for distributing the medals for the randonnees of the season, preceeded by Hessarghatta 55 km populaire to celebrate the moment. I participated in the ride, and got my medal and homologated Brevet card for the Kolar Gold Fields 300 km Brevet, later, in the function. It was nice to see some well known randonneurs around. @ first control, with Vijay About the populaire, the route is familiar, ridden umpteen number of times, so nothing new. I just wanted to have the taste of ride and come back earlier, and did so. Started around 0605 hrs, with Dheeraj, Sohan and Vijay, gradually increased pace, rode mostly alone, I reached end control by 0836 hrs, making this my fastest ride as of now. I felt happy to meet Dheeraj and Vijay in a ride, after long time. After breakfast in mess, I reached students amenities centre (or SAC), for the randonneurs reunion. Soon Kalpesh and Jitendra joined and we had awesome snacks a...

Welcome to KarthiK's blog... About myself , I am from one of the nice villages in Tirupur District, Tamilnadu.  I completed my M. Tech in CEDT, IISc Bangalore and now battling with noisy and smoky city life.  Inspired by IISc Randonneurs, especially,  Alex ,  Gokul ,  Mustafa , Nirmal and Sreepathi, I started Randonneuring from end of July 2011. I just want to cycle to every possible place around Bangalore, which is clean and green (not inside the city - I hate riding in a concrete jungle filled with noise, polluted air, and ofcourse heavy traffic and signals). Currently my goal is to explore all greeny locations within 200 km radius, with Bangalore as centre.  Initially I used to ride to previously ridden places only, such that I need not worry about missing the route back (I was geographically too bad then). But one day, I got a funny thought like, I am an emperor and which ever the place and route I ride, they come under my kingdom. Inspire...

Yesterday, Jitendra and I rode to Hessarghatta, spent some time riding in the trails of grasslands, and looped around the lake. Yet another ride to Hessarghatta, but the visit to grasslands made the difference. Jitendra wanted to do the 150+ km month end ride planned in BBC, yesterday, and I wanted to ride with him till Magadi, and return back, making a 100 km trip. All was set, but yesterday morning he had to drop the ride. Then we discussed, and planned to ride to the usual place, Hessarghatta (where else?).