Muthati: My first 200km ride

Heard of the Paris-Brest-Paris? Neither had I till the Pune bicycling people starting organizing their brevet series. It's really simple: You, as a self-sufficient, self-contained bicyclist must complete a series of brevets: 200km, 300km, 400km and 600km all in a controlled fashion and within a specific time limit. If you do, you qualify for the PBP. India is new to this, and therefore there are no quotas. If you qualify, you get to go to the PBP (on your own money, of course).

Why not?

Bangalore is late to the brevet party, but plans are being formulated. And when Yogesh once again announced his monthly ride, this time to Muthati -- the "mother of all climbs", I decided to ride. Muthati is exactly 100km from the Institute, so the to-and-fro would be a training ride for the 200km brevet. It's also in the south of Bangalore, an area I do not generally cycle in. We had to start from "Merida" junction at 6AM, and there was a clear warning -- the ride back was tough and we would've have to start back at 12PM if we wanted to make it back in time and in good light.

We started at 5.15AM from the Institute. Zipping through Gandhinagar, K R Market and Vani Vilas hospital, we hit Kanakapura Road reaching Merida Junction by 6.15AM. Thankfully, we managed to catch Yogesh just as they were setting out. From that point on to the city traffic thinned, until we had finally arrived on NH 209. This is an excellent and scenic road. There are ponds, trees and hills that line the highway! We made extremely good time, reaching Kanakapura by 8.15AM. After a breakfast of IVC (Idli, Vada and Coffee), we headed out to Sathnur.



Muthati is 18km from Sathnur, and it is accessed through a beautiful narrow road (albeit potholed) nestled amongst hills. The last 8 kms are very steep descents, going from 600m to 300m on the banks of the Cauvery. I touched 54km, with my brakes used liberally for I knew not what vehicle was coming past the next turn. Thankfully, I made the descent safely to reach Muthati at 10.50AM.

And what a disappointment Muthati turned out to be. Perhaps the dirtiest spot I have ever seen. Truckloads of tourists are brought in, there is no garbage disposal, and to top it all, the villagers at Muthati slaughter their animals and what not right on the road. Thankfully, the ride to Muthati more than made up for the disappointment. After a short customary dip in the river, I decided to go back up the same way we came, even though there is a gentler (but longer) option.





And what a climb that turned out to be! I'm in much better form, but not yet up to climbing to Sathnur. Heart pounding, I had to get down and walk for quite some distance. Finally, the dreaded 8km got over, and I reached Sathnur for a simple and wonderful lunch at 2PM, taking about an hour and a half for 18km! Although the worst climbing was behind us, it is still uphill to the Institute! And we had to do it fast for national highways aren't lit at night! With a few more riders (including one on a beautifully setup touring Volpe), I hit outskirts of the city at about 7PM, struggled through the traffic before landing up back at the Institute at 8.30PM.

The 200km had been achieved, but not in the stipulated 13.5 hours! Even if I discounted the hour-and-a-half spent at Muthati, I was still over the limit by 30 minutes. Nevertheless, the average speed of 19kmph is still good enough. Maybe there is still a chance.




Newly used on this trip was my first ever "day trip saddlebag", a Carradice Barley. I can see myself using this bag a lot more often, even though it completely screws up my current climbing strategies.