A Dream Ride

I started cycling in 2018 for fitness and slowly that turned into passion. During the COVID-19 imposed lockdown, I rode everyday on traffic free roads early in the morning starting at 5.30am. That gave me confidence to do longer rides. After achieving Super Randonneur batch (successfully completing Cycling brevets of 200, 300, 400 & 600 kms in stipulated time), I looked forward to Ultra Distance Riding. Meanwhile I joined Epic Riders, Thane (a cycle enthusiast informal club). We organized an expedition called R2M (Ride to Mumbai) and decided to make it an annual event. The inaugural ride was planned from Kanyakumari to Mumbai/Thane a total distance of 1,650 kms over a period of 7 days. Meticulous planning regarding route mapping, hydration points, food halts, night stays was done by seniors of the club Devesh Aggarwal, Purushottam Samrai, Venkata Rambabu, Dinesh Laungani, Kunal Trivedi and Tanya Aggarwal.

We (seven riders) started our ride from Kanyakumari on December 4, 2021 and reached Thane on December 11, 2021 in the evening with night halts at Madurai and Salem in Tamil Nadu, Tumkuru, Ranebennur and Sankeshwar in Karnataka, Shirwal in Maharashtra and finally reaching Thane covering total 1,670 kms with the total elevation of 8,548 mtrs. Interestingly, during these seven days, I burned more than 50,000 calories.

I noticed smooth, perfect roads in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka but once you enter Maharashtra the roads are horrible for cyclists. Lot of potholes, unnecessary speed-breakers, rumbler strips make cycle riding a nightmare and that too, on national highway. Inspite of this long distance we had minimal problems for the cycles, only two tyres punctured and one gear cable tear.

I gained a lot during this ride; mental toughness, physical endurance and six good friends. I feel, more than physical ability your mental strength is tested during such ultra distance riding. You have to prepare your mind to ride day after day for on an average 250 kms every day on unknown roads. That’s more than 10 hrs riding every day. No doubt, discipline during the ride, appropriate hydration and timely eating habits are the key to successful ultra distance cycling. But such rides cannot be a success without thorough and painstaking preparation done by all riders before the ride. Speaking about me, for building stamina to sustain during such long distance riding for seven days in continuity, I used to ride every day more than 60 kms, for all 7 days a week. I kept an eye on my diet i.e. eating good home-made food and getting enough proteins through eggs, dry fruits etc.

Finally I enjoyed fruits of these efforts by successfully completing our Fist R2M. But I must mention here that it was possible because of unconditional full support from my family and valuable guidance from seniors of Epic Riders, Thane.

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