Onto the 300 km BRM milestone! 'Krishna Confluence'

So as soon as I was able to complete the 200 km ride to Supe in about 10 hours, the confidence soared and I felt confident that I would be able to do a 300 km. Good thing that Pune Randonneurs have organized these rides in an ascending manner for newbies like me to scale. A 200 km in Nov. A 300 km in Dec. A 400 and 600 km in Jan. Also the 200, 300 and 400 are not on a very hilly terrain either making the dream possible. The 300 BRM was scheduled for Dec 20th from Pune University to Umbraj (20 km before Karad) and back to Baner Cafe Nook. As soon as the registration opened up, I signed up and registered for the milestone ride. Again excitement, butterflies ... all sorts of feeling of anxiety, skepticism, some bit of fear and lot of excitement swelled inside me. 

The Preparation

The event was called 'Krishna Confluence'... wasnt as easy as the Supe one as on this one I would have to deal with Katraj ghat of about 4-5 km and then Khambatki ghat of about 6-7 kms. Also a lot of rolling ups and downs from Khambatki to Umbraj. On the way back as well there were a lot of small climbs all the way upto Katraj Tunnel. The climb from Satara upto Khambatki and from Shirwal to Katraj would be the killer ones on the way back as they would be on the return journey with the energy level quite low at that point. I did quite a bit of study of the elevation profile as usual to make sure I am well acquainted with the route. Also had done part of the route of about 75 km or so in the Panchgani PBCh, so knew what to expect from the climbs and from the 50 km ride between Katraj and Khambatki. 

The next step, like I had done for the Panchgani PBCh, was to go through the Strava profiles of others who had done similar routes and figure out their timings on the various segments and then determine my potential timing for the ride. As I am a data geek this was quite some exciting analysis for me. Found a few folks who had done this before. Also used my Panchgani PBCh timing as the start. Following is the expected timing I came up with. 

I had also changed the tires on my bike to 25 mm Gatorskin tires a couple of weeks back. This had given a boost of about 5% in my speed. Expensive (about INR 8000) but worthwhile investment I felt. So all set on that front as well. 

I also had attended a basic training course on cycle servicing at Decathlon. Nothing fancy .. simple things like how to change tires, tubes. Break and gear basic understanding and quick fixes etc. Gave the additional confidence of riding solo on a ride without a support vehicle. Even though I hadnt faced a situation yet to fix the bike while on a ride, it always plays on the back of your mind as to what will happen if you needed to fix something. 

Tuesday before the Saturday BRM I did a 100 km Lonavala ride. Needed that to get the confidence level high. Did it in 4 hours 15 minutes - about 10 minutes faster than last time. 

The day before the ride did the usual oiling, putting up the rider number, bicycle lights etc. preparation. Also the food to carry on the ride. Had packed 3 gatorades, 3-4 gu gels, 3 bananas, 3 Energy bars and 4 baked potatoes in the saddle bag and the backpack. Also had 2 litres of water. 

So all prepared on the equipment, training, route and food. Raring to go! 

BRrrrrMmmm 300!

On the day of the ride I had to report at the university by 5:30 am. Stepped out late though and reached at 5:45, which was still ok. Met Rakesh Kale enroute to University. He was on his Fuji roadie. Was glad to come across another rider who would be doing a 300 even before reaching the starting point. We decided to ride together. At the starting point, had the usual bike checks done, brevet card formalities. Then the 600 km riders were flagged off around 6 am. They were going to around Belgaum and back. Dr Baban Dolas, Kedar Tokekar and 5-6 other riders were on that ride. Huge respect for the experts! I met Kedar Joshi (friend from Strava) and Vivek Agrawal (who I had met in PBCh and 200 BRM) at the start.. both were doing the 300 BRM. Good now I have 3 folks I know on the ride. Most likely I will ride with one or most of them. 

At the starting line signing in and getting ready to ride into the night

We got flagged off around 6:10 am or so. Per my plan I wanted to get back within 16 hours. So around 10 pm. Discussed that goal with Kedar and Rakesh. Kedar's goal was a bit more aggressive. Rakesh's goal seemed to match with mine. As we started approaching Chandani Chowk, Vivek, Kedar and me headed to the front of the pack. I know it wasnt a race, but it always is a good feeling knowing you are leading the pack. ;-) Unfortunately Rakesh was left a bit behind by this point. Chandani Chowk till Vadgaon is mostly downhill segment and enjoyed riding it in the morning with lights on. Only dicey part was that the shoulder where we were riding had quite a few bushes with thorns so had to be careful not to go too close to the shoulder in the dark of the morning. We crossed Vadgaon at super speed - 3 of us Kedar, Vivek and me still chatting away. Kedar just recently got his carbon frame Cannondale roadie for 1.3L. He was already trying to convince me to go for a roadie soon telling his stories about how it took him a long time to make the decision but he was so glad he moved to a road bike. This was Kedar's first big ride on a roadie with cleats and he was worried he would have pain in his ITB or knees as those muscles tend to get exerted more as with cleats the pedalling force comes from the ball of the foot instead of the center arc. Hope he has a safe injury free ride. 

Beautiful sunrise on road to Katraj tunnel

We reached the Katraj Ghat and this is where I fell behind Kedar and Vivek. They are both strong riders and on road bikes. I didnt want to slow them down so I continued at my own speed and asked them to continue at their speed. Katraj climb on the bypass highway is not really a ghat, but its a climb of 5-6 kms climbing over 220 mtrs at average of 3% gradient. So not very tough. Heart rate does get into 170s near the top. I kept them in my eyesight till the top of Katraj before I entered the tunnel. Managed to finish Katraj in 25 minutes. My PR. In PBCh I had done this in about 30 so I had definitely increased my speed since then. Was tracking to my timing goal so far in fact slightly ahead as I reached top of Katraj at 7:15 instead of 7:25. Once you climb Katraj the next 30 - 40 kms are a bliss. Quite a lot of downhill here. So picked up speed and continued pedalling without any breaks. I was thinking I would take my first break just before Khambatki. I had my first baked potato and gatorade while riding. Am quite comfortable eating and drinking while riding, so definitely saves time. I crossed Kedar and Vivek somewhere along the way as they had stopped for 10 minutes for a water break. They crossed me again before Khambatki. 

Felt strong approaching Khambatki as well so didnt take any break. It was around 8:45 am when I started climbing Khambatki. Khambatki is a serious climb but not at all as strenuous as Sinhagad or even Lavasa. Khambatki is about 6.5 km of climb. A few steep turns of gradient upto 25-30% but it eases up regularly throughout so you get time to breathe. Total of 270 mtrs climb making it average of 4% gradient overall. 

Climbed Khambatki in 29 minutes which was again 5 minutes better than my previous attempt! Awesome! Reached the top of Khambatki 15 minutes ahead of schedule at 9:45 am. Khambatki onwards there is a good descent for the next 5-7 kms or so. Till after the Wai phata. Kept going here without stopping. Around 10:10 or so after I crossed the Wai phata started feeling a slight cramp in the thigh muscles. So decided to take my first break ... stopped and stretched on the side of the road. Had another round of baked potato and gatorade. All refreshed in 5 minutes I continued on. First break after 4 hours and 92 kms! Good strong ride so far! Felt very optimistic of finishing the ride well within time. 

Also was still optimistic of reaching Umbraj by 1 pm as per goal, maybe earlier. Continued the journey towards Satara. It was starting to get hot now and Satara approach has a couple of smaller but intense climbs. Around 11:15 am or so after covering 120 km spotted a Kamaths just 5 km from Satara. Was initially planning to have a lunch break at Umbraj but the sight of Kamath drained whatever energy was left in me. Stopped and decided to have brunch. I had a Misal pav, idli wada sambar and coffee. Unfortunately they took a long time to serve ... So was there for almost 45 minutes. Left around noon. Just as I was leaving Rakesh came there with Kiran Patel from Mumbai. Also saw Dr Dolas, Kedar Tokekar, and a couple of other riders moving ahead while I had a break there. Called home and told Sonali that I was safely near Satara. Shocked to see though that the battery was at 4% charge!! how the hell did that happen? Strava, runkeeper was off. I guess GPS and Moves app was the culprit ... turned both those off as well as data was now off. But how the hell will I reach home without a phone?! A huge lesson for next time to figure out ways to conserve battery.  

I was still about 33 km from turnaround point. So the 1 pm target was not possible now. Kept going though at a reasonable clip of 24 kmph or so and reached the control point at 157 km around 1:20 pm. Crossed Durgaprasad Pawar on the way who was on his way to a 600 BRM! Also spotted the Italian rider Marco who was on his adventure to complete a SR series in Asia. Inspiring! 

At Umbraj had almost missed the control point as it was in a shack on a service road. Somehow spotted a cyclist there so just about spotted it. :-) Spent almost 30 minutes at the CP. Stretching, relaxing, getting refreshed with enerzal, bananas etc. and hearing Marco's story. By the way it was good that I had eaten earlier as near this control point there was nothing to eat at all. So would have had to find something nearby. 

At Umbraj control point with the really nice organizing team.

The journey back

By the time I left it was almost 2:10 pm. Restocked my camelback water pouch and waterbottle with electrolyte from the CP. Plus got 1 banana for the road. One thing I regret not doing in hindsight was throw some water on my face and body to cool myself down and freshen up. Learning for next time. 

Rakesh and Kiran just came in while I was leaving, and they were planning to stay there for more than 30-40 minutes to relax. Also they were planning to reach by midnight with 2 hours so spare. My goal was to reach around 10 pm. So decided to leave on my own again and continue to ride alone. Hot like anything. The journey on the way back would get tougher riding alone. Was refreshed after the break. Decided to march forward and try and reach Khambatki by 6 pm. 

This was quite a monotonous and toughest part of the ride as riding alone in the Sun on a steady climb to Satara was not easy mentally and physically. It took me 1 hr 38 minutes to cover the 33 km distance to Satara (it had taken me 1 hr 24 minutes from Satara to Umbraj). No breaks. After about an hour from Umbraj I started eating the cashews I was carrying and the dates with water/enerzal. Helped pass time and refuel. 

On a side note, met quite a few characters on motorbikes on this patch who kept on asking about the ride - where did I start/where am I be going ... whats the price of the cycle ... how many gears (like that gives them some satisfaction that the more the gears easier it is to ride the cycle, so ... ;-) ) ... weirdest ones were do I get paid for this by the government ... or if there is no prize money, why am I doing it ... Mostly innocent curiosity questions so I generally take time to answer them. But always have this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I am riding alone ... and slowly. They can always come back to loot me ... hopefully paranoia, and hope that doesnt come true ever. 

Back to the ride. After the 2-3 climbs in and out of Satara, around Bhuinj, took a break of 10 minutes. Again on the side of the road to avoid any time wastage, as wasnt looking for tea or refreshment. Had tons of those in my bag. Now the end was in sight and in double digits - about 95 kms to go. Had to reach Khambatki and then a long patch of downhill would carry me to Shirwal. Then the final climb to Katraj, and then almost home. Its a mental game now. Was around 4:50 pm here. And 6 pm Khambatki was doable. I had covered up the 30 minute delay I had on the ride upto Umbraj. One thing to remember for future rides for me was that even these small 5-10 minute breaks are quite refreshing and with the stretching I do in these, I feel quite ready to get back on the saddle. 

Sun's intensity reduced around at this point so the speed also increased automatically with the cooler temperatures. The fatigue that had set in started reducing. I was thinking I would stop around Mapro shop before Khambatki for a quick juice or a shake and then continue refreshed. No such luck though. Mapro didnt have readymade juice. So just continued with my enerzal as didnt want to find other stalls where I could find some good juice. Had reached Khambatki around 6:05 pm, which was still 20 minutes behind my 5:45 pm goal. So had readjusted in my mind the homecoming time to be 10:30 - 11 pm instead of 10 pm. The average speed from Satara to Khambatki was quite slow - around 17-18 kmph only. Could be attributed to a combination of fatigue, boredom, Sun, lack of refuelling. Again something to learn for the future rides. 

Khambatki to Shirwal was pure bliss. 15-20 kms of downhill into Khandala and then into Shirwal. Full speed ahead. Light was again on now. Although had to be careful not to use it too much lest I ran out of batteries. Was hoping I would run into Pune Randonneurs organizing team near Shirwal as Divya had said someone would be there. Didnt see anyone though .. and continued on. My next goal was Katraj and decided to take a snacks/dinner break near Bhor or Toll booth. 

After the phone battery major disaster in the morning, faced another micro/mini disaster situation as the Polar V800 GPS watch said its done for the day!! Its battery ran out around Shirwal. It served me well for 12:30 hours. But I had kept it running through the breaks as well. I think i should stop it during those breaks going forward. Also have to figure out a way to make sure the battery lasts for the longer BRMs - 400, 600 etc. It was fully charged in the morning. So Polar battery dying was actually quite disconcerting for me. Anyways was around 240 kms now with another 67 to go. 

Kept on riding towards Khed Shivapur. Now the hunger was catching up with me as I really didnt have anything solid to eat after the Kamath brunch at 11:30 am. It had been 7-8 hours since of riding with only gels, bananas, electrolytes, cashews, dates, energy bars etc. I was craving for a cold coffee. Before the toll booth I came across a god send CCD sign next to Rawat furniture showroom. A sad story here as the watchman didnt let me in the campus with the bike. I wasnt willing to leave my bike outside at night though as he was suggesting although I had a lock on the bike. Very annoying and obnoxious guy, he didnt let me keep the bike inside the Rawat campus at all. Had a good 5 minute adrenaline pumping verbal fight with him where he touched my bike and was pushing it outside the property. Looking back I think there were better win win ways, but couldnt think of those in the heat of the moment. Kept on fighting with him and then left dissatisfied without the coffee. One positive outcome was that I was reenergized due to the fight and I knew the pumping adrenaline would last me for another 30 minutes at least! ;-) 

Around 8 pm or so, reached the toll booth near Khed Shivapur. Was wondering if I would find a place where I could safely keep my bike in my sight without any fights. Found a fast food joint called I think Amrut Bhel. Didnt feel like eating Bhel neither had the appetite for full dinner. So had a couple of Sol kadhis, an ice cream and a energy bar. Stretched for a few minutes again and left around 8:20 pm. I was still about 35 kms away from the destination. Here on out decided to just give it a full go and wanted to reach Cafe Nook by 10 pm as originally planned. 

There is quite a bit of a climb upto Katraj tunnel from Khed Shivapur. Had some refuelled legs and muscles and mind. So tackled that climb well. Then the Katraj to Vadgaon downhill is pure bliss. Reached Warje in no time. Now it was a count down with a couple of smaller climbs to Chandani Chowk and then mostly downhill. To my surprise it was only 9:05 pm around Chandani Chowk with 12-13 km to go. I could actually target 9:45 pm now! Rode the last kms as fast as I could just to get home faster. Finally the end was in sight as I exited from the highway to Baner. Only 3 kms. Reached Cafe Nook at 9:42 pm finally!! 15 hours and 42 minutes of almost continuous riding is what it took me to cover the 300 kms! Finished with 4 hours 20 minutes to spare!! Celebration time!!! 

The Brevet card officially showing I completed the 300 km BRM! Yes!

I was 3rd to complete. Vivek had completed around 8:45 pm. Kedar had completed around 9 pm. So all in all I wasnt too far behind those 2 throughout the ride. Later Kedar told me that he had knee pain starting around 140km into the ride and rode like that for the remainder of the duration. Quite creditable that he managed to complete the ride that fast even with a knee pain. 

Now the only thing left was last 2 kms ride home. Toughest part of the entire ride! :-) I was riding probably at 10-15 kmph in this segment. Not sitting down on the saddle at all due to the saddle sores ... just wanted to get home, meet the family, have a warm shower, dinner and sleep!! Sonali, dad were still up around 10:15 pm and were happy to see me safe as they didnt know when to expect me back as my phone was dead most of the day.

Tired with a forced smile on face after reaching home after the successful BRM 300 attempt! 

You cannot tell from the photo above, but my eyes were blood shot red when I reached. Crazy indeed.

Anyways after a warm nice dinner, sharing of success stories, warm bath and was off to peaceful victorious sleep!! Lots of takeaways for the next ride. One huge and outstanding thing of this ride was the confidence level surge I had as I completed pretty much the entire 300 km ride alone! That is very confidence boosting. Although I may not attempt this in future rides. 

Now dreaming about the big one - 400 km BRM coming up in 2 weeks!!