Random Thoughts

New year comes early to Maiya's

2011-12-30T07:09:00.000-08:00

Just finished enjoying a packet of Kodebales from Maiya's. Only later did it occur to me that I should looked at the expiry date. Surprise - I had just opened a pack that was packed in the future.. Jan 2012.

Have emailed the address on the packet (contactus@maiyas.in). Waiting for an response.

Is it even legal? Or is there a accounting funda that I am missing here? Coz, remember seeing similar packing date issue on packed cashews in Reliance Fresh.

BSA - Tour of Nilgiris - Day 8 - Ooty to Kodanad View Point

2011-12-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

Day 8 can be renamedas a Photo Session - Day. Chill out. But a few very serious riders gave it apass. Some had to hop on to Tour of Tamilnadu (ToT). Some others had to go on aNandi climb so badly. Those who did not search for a reason, stayed back to wakeup to a wonderful Ooty Morning. For once, the baggage truck was made to wait.Because, by the scheduled departure, none of the riders were out of their bedyet ;-) No one can blame them, it has been a tough week of incredible rides.And today is a just a joy ride. (or at least that is what they were made tobelieve).

Akshat - On top of the Nilgiris

As soon as we gotout of Ooty, we were greeted by giant uphills and the now infamous rollingterrain. We had to pass through some winding roads of Kothagiri to enter theKodanad Tea estates owned by you-know-who. The roads, fences, plants instantlyget a wonderful face-lift. Just what the riders wanted - and excuse to stop andtake photos with their fellow sufferers over the last week. In any other weeklong trip, two strangers would meet and never would want to see them again. Butin TFN, bonds are made... Some times life long.

Chenthil Mohan needsa special mention here. He usually smokes cigarettes... But today he was adifferent kind of high. The sky was clear, lighting perfect, all apparatus insparkling conditions, riders willing and cheerful, every one was wearing theirTFN jersey - No better conditions to get some stunning pics. He recruited Vasuas his light boy (could not have imagined that happening) and was clicking awayto glory. You may want to see his photo stream if you don’t believe.

To give respite tothe riders, there were a quite a few down hill sections also. On one such fastdown-hill sections Chacko found himself face-to-face with a tempo. There wasvery little he could do but to time and control his collision well. Boy was he lucky- he walked out of it with just a scratch on his index finger. The bike wasless fortunate and needs a fork replacement. Everyone started taking mucheasier after that and made sure that the tour ended on pleasant note. Slowly,all riders reached the view point taking their own time.

Vishnu - Very happily sporting his Livestrong jersey.

Another round ofphoto frenzy happened on Kodanad view point. The star of the hour was our ownmarker - Kiran Raju. He showed off his skills on Ritesh's58K-full-suspension-downhill-bike. Hespent over 30 minutes on the bike going from one end to another doing wheeliesand stoppies to amuse the photographers without ever setting his foot on theground. This kid has talent.

Time for Prizedistribution and speeches. A very nice gesture from TFN to give a prize toRishi Goyal - youngest rider and was it not for TD's decision that preventedhim from riding on Day-7, he was looking very good for a Top-20 finish. Vanditfrom DiveIndia announced a special prize of 3-days-2-nights @ their resorts inthe Andamans for him and his family. Way to go!! Rishi and Vandit. The winnerswere awarded a Montra Jazz each. They could not thank the volunteers andorganizers enough for a truly well run show....

Will leave you withthe link for flikr photo-stream of all the un-official photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72935399@N06/

Have a great 2012!!

BSA - Tour of Nilgiris - 2011 - Final GC Standings

2011-12-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

BSA - Tour of Nilgiris - 2011

Bib No.	Name	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 6	Day 7	Total	Final Position
51	Rajesh Nair	00:35:27	00:38:31	00:25:18	00:17:46	01:13:54	03:10:56	1
39	Mark Anderson	00:33:56	00:38:55	00:25:06	00:17:11	01:18:30	03:13:38	2
32	Jeff Schmidt	00:39:58	00:48:08	00:27:30	00:18:18	01:14:09	03:28:03	3
41	Mark Hemhauser	00:38:02	00:43:35	00:28:24	00:19:05	01:21:23	03:30:29	4
63	Shankar Jayaraman	00:38:03	00:42:11	00:28:52	00:19:01	01:24:38	03:32:45	5
69	Sumit Pal	00:36:23	00:41:35	00:29:16	00:19:43	01:26:06	03:33:03	6
72	Vicki Nicholson	00:38:20	00:43:23	00:28:44	00:19:26	01:24:30	03:34:23	7
20	Arvind Bhateja	00:39:01	00:44:09	00:29:31	00:19:21	01:24:05	03:36:07	8
71	Venkateswara Rao Navanasi	00:40:33	00:44:47	00:28:47	00:18:52	01:24:32	03:37:31	9
13	Akshay Jaitly	00:36:28	00:42:47	00:29:20	00:20:46	01:30:08	03:39:29	10
31	Hari Menon	00:37:32	00:43:51	00:29:01	00:19:41	01:32:05	03:42:10	11
29	Gaurav	00:41:31	00:44:19	00:31:51	00:19:45	01:28:54	03:46:20	12
16	Amrish Kapoor	00:43:32	00:50:34	00:31:39	00:19:54	01:21:53	03:47:32	13
100	Sreekanth Gupta	00:43:45	00:50:30	00:35:16	00:24:19	01:43:48	04:17:38	14
62	Saurabh Kumar	00:44:05	00:52:09	00:36:48	00:24:28	01:47:01	04:24:31	15
77	Vishnu Navda	00:50:59	00:53:30	00:38:07	00:22:54	01:52:01	04:37:31	16
30	Gokul Krishna	00:49:59	00:55:35	00:38:52	00:26:26	01:47:00	04:37:52	17
66	Siva Sai Nellore	00:43:56	00:55:26	00:40:42	00:26:06	01:54:06	04:40:16	18
11	Abhilesh Gupta	00:45:16	00:54:37	00:38:04	00:24:20	02:00:53	04:43:10	19
14	Ameet Bhide	00:38:30	00:45:34	00:33:20	00:22:01	02:26:22	04:45:47	20
56	Richard Joyce	00:39:57	00:46:49	00:33:55	00:19:46	02:30:32	04:50:59	21
27	Erik Yeh	00:45:50	00:53:08	00:44:22	00:27:11	02:04:19	04:54:50	22
73	Vijay CP	00:44:01	00:54:34	00:41:35	00:25:25	02:09:27	04:55:02	23
23	Chacko Cherian	00:56:07	01:06:53	00:44:07	00:24:23	01:48:28	04:59:58	24
19	Arun Marc D'Silva	00:47:54	00:50:02	00:41:47	00:25:51	02:17:35	05:03:09	25
54	Ramasubramanian Balu	00:50:17	01:01:44	00:40:28	00:24:06	02:07:43	05:04:18	26
17	Aparjeet Nakai	00:49:38	00:57:45	00:43:23	00:28:15	02:08:26	05:07:27	27
46	Muthu Kumar	00:51:20	00:58:03	00:44:49	00:29:57	02:04:50	05:08:59	28
15	Amit Sarkar	00:50:15	01:03:29	00:43:52	00:26:25	02:10:12	05:14:13	29
75	Vinay Dev	00:56:01	00:59:25	00:47:09	00:27:03	02:10:47	05:20:25	30
74	Vikram Naik	00:53:14	00:57:17	00:47:22	00:26:09	02:18:58	05:23:00	31
55	Ranjith Sajja	00:48:06	01:00:40	00:47:04	00:25:45	02:25:45	05:27:20	32
58	Ritesh Goel	01:13:19	01:09:03	00:56:18	00:24:38	01:47:27	05:30:45	33
37	Maninder Singh Dhingra	00:52:58	01:04:44	00:47:52	00:30:30	02:28:40	05:44:44	34
42	Meera Velankar	00:57:59	01:10:28	00:57:24	00:32:32	02:34:37	06:13:00	35
36	Mallikarjuna MV	00:59:47	01:11:18	00:52:08	00:30:24	02:48:16	06:21:53	36
18	Arun Thakur	00:58:29	01:06:23	00:54:37	00:35:20	03:01:29	06:36:18	37
61	Sandeep Reddy	01:05:01	01:05:50	00:51:21	00:39:25	03:22:32	07:04:09	38
35	Kumar Kuppuswamy	00:52:54	01:09:33	00:58:39	00:34:32	05:36:10	09:11:48	39
70	Vandit Kalia	00:36:36	00:43:26	00:43:45	00:22:19	-	-
57	Rishi Goyal	00:53:48	00:50:55	00:33:41	00:24:17	-	-
53	Raman Garimella	00:51:02	00:57:51	00:40:32	00:22:37	-	-
52	Rakesh Nair	-	00:43:13	00:32:03	00:20:01	01:34:45	-
67	Sreekanth V	00:41:45	-	00:35:59	00:22:45	01:37:44	-
22	Balakrishna S	00:50:49	00:58:31	-	00:23:13	01:48:47	-
45	Murali Iyer	01:01:48	01:12:15	-	00:33:54	02:38:30	-
12	Akshat Jain	01:11:58	01:11:32	-	00:31:08	02:36:05	-
38	Manoj E G	01:01:59	01:18:56	-	00:36:26	03:04:14	-
60	Sampath Rapaka	01:08:20	01:28:24	-	00:31:49	03:01:14	-
64	Sharat Chandra MB	01:08:15	01:11:28	-	00:35:30	03:22:40	-
76	Vineeth Katarki	00:41:33	00:47:55	00:31:09	-	-	-
40	Mark Ellison	00:44:25	00:51:33	-	00:27:53	-	-
34	Kishore Samanuri	00:43:43	00:50:14	00:35:59	-	-	-
47	Narayanan Vaidyanathan	00:46:58	00:54:45	-	00:33:04	-	-
44	Mohan Kumar K	00:48:28	01:07:47	-	00:29:47	-	-
43	Mohd. Arif	-	01:12:05	-	-	-	-
50	Pradeep Madhavaraju	-	-	-	00:39:35	-	-
59	Saikat Guha	01:00:39	01:11:02	-	00:35:36	-	-
28	Phaneendra	-	-	-	00:45:27	-	-
65	Shruti Saha	01:06:35	01:23:02	-	00:43:35	-	-
25	Deepak Patro	01:10:05	01:29:51	-	00:31:33	-	-

BSA Tour of Nilgiris - 2011 - Say 7 - Climb to Ooty

2011-12-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

Rishi Goyal (57) leading the riders out of the hotel

Today can be called as 'The Drama' day. Events right from breakfastwere very emotional. TD decided to rest Rishi Goyal due to the exhaustions theprevious day. Poor Rishi was devastated. He is just 14 years old, but showedenough maturity to hold back the tears that only a few could see. Finally, itwas decided that he would lead the pack out of the start line till they get outtown limits of Bathery. After the usual ooty-climb-speech by Vasu, the packleft the hotel for their final tryst with the mountains this year. As the firstfew motor cycle support crew reported back, there was a border check pointwhich was collecting toll - how much? What for? Were all arbitrary. Themoney-man of Deepak rushed to spot to enable free passage to all the TFNvehicles - cycles, motor-bikes, cars and the support vehicles.

Srinath - liaison with the local police

Next drama got unfolded when another set of motor bikers relayed in the newsthat Gudalur and adjoining areas like Devarsholai were observing a day longbandh in protest against Kerala Government on the Mullai Periyar Dam issue. Therewas utter confusion as to how severe was the bandh. Were they burning tires?Stone pelting? Will cyclists be safe? All questions were answered one by one.Cyclists - per se were acceptable. Although there was no violence reported, itwas not safe for the Kerala Registered vehicles. Our video crew was in one ofthem. Our TD and the entire operational crew started exploring alternatives -alternate route, cancel CS, mass float till after Gudalur... So on. .. This iswhere the 'request for cooperation' letter from Bhaskar Rao, IGP (ATC) helped.The local police after getting in touch with their SP offered us full support.Srinath from the LeapSky wireless was asset due to his language and experiencein dealing with officials. He was a pro at it. We got a police escort vehicleall the way till Neduvattam. Each police station on the way handing us oversafely to the next. Thanks TN police.

Rajesh Nair (51) had a bad fall ahead of the last CS

Another drama that was developing was that of Rajesh. Those who knowhis association with previous TFNs do recollect that his Ooty climb in any TFNis jinxed. This one also started out to go the same way. Couple of Kms beforethe Devarsholai climb his tubeless tire came off the wheel ... And threw hisoff the bike for dirt testing. Result was a badly bruised hip, elbow, knee and shoulders. Anyone else may haveentertained thoughts of withdrawal. But having seen him suffer last eveningafter the race, I was sure he was not going to give up. He waited for theambulance and got his bruises dressed and got on his bike again. The delay ingetting the police escort helped him since every one else (esp Mark A) alsowaited for the time. It was a fresh start for all the cold legs again.

Balu in CS

TheDevarsholai tea estates were very enchanting... But there is little any ridercan enjoy when he is being escorted by police vehicle for security purposes.Somehow, everyone reached the SS2 (start of the CS section) safely. The last ofthe CS is a 22Km long climb. This climb has an unrelenting 4% gradient throughout and kicks up to 8% at certain sections. To add to the woes of the riders,there are some patches of really bad roads. This CS is all about pacing oneselfand riding in your zone and not bother about the inclines. You try to hard, youcould bonk. You take it light, you could go backwards in GC. This CS also hadSupport Station - 3 in between. For those riders who are not bothered abouttheir GC standings can opt to take ample rest in SS-3. Many of them did notmind the time hit and took a nap at SS-3. The Gudalur bandh gave the muchneeded solitude for the climbers with very less traffic. The canopy provided bythe Nilgiris (eucalyptus) trees was also very inviting for many to stop, restand move on.

Solitude during CS

Asthe riders started crossing the line one by one, the suspense for the winner ofthe tour was getting tense. Rajesh Nair had finished and Mark Anderson had leftthe start line a minute behind him. This meant that if Mark came home any fasterthan 3 minutes after Rajesh, he would have defended the lead. Those must havebeen the longest 3 minutes for Rajesh. 3, 3.5, 4, and 5 minutes passed andstill no sign of Mark. Rajesh Nair had won the tour. He can now rest the Ootydemon to rest once for all.

The duel betweenMark and Rajesh is just one part of the story. There have been many such dueltoday since it is the last chance for anyone to climb up the leader board. TheMTBs had a competition of their own and many others just wanted to remain in GCwithout getting disqualified. Once the race got over, every one was relieved.From then on, the journey is mostly downhill. After lunch people took reallylong breaks and had hot chai. As they were sipping various flavors of tea, theyapplauded every incoming rider to pump in a sense of huge accomplishment.Indeed it was.

Pykara Lake

Weproceeded towards Ooty after a couple of cups of tea ourselves. On the way wevisited the Pykara lake. It is a very silent place compared to the rest of thetown. The boat service there uses LPG instead of gasoline - perhaps moreenvironment friendly. After a brief photo shoot we headed to the YWCA hostel inOoty. The place is very colonial and also has a chapel in its quarters. Theamenities are very Spartan, but the leisurely setting makes up for it. As wefreshened up, the MTB riders came on one by one. Boy-o-Boy, you can notdescribe the joy in the eyes of the finishers. Actually, the MTB riders haveput in about 50% more effort than the roadies. Kudos to all those who havefinished this tour standing shoulder to shoulder to others on better fittingmachines.

High tea and dinnerserved. Winners congratulated. All finishers recollecting their toughestmoments. Rajesh and other old timers recollected how the first TFN shaped.Akshat Jain celebrated his anniversary... All huddled around a warm campfire.

Cold night ahead oftomorrows joy ride.

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BSA - Tour of Nilgiris 2011 - Day 6 - Kannur to Sultan Bathery

2011-12-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

The instructions forthis day was simple. Drink Drink Drink . Water of course. Drink water beforegoing to bed. Drink water as soon as you wake up. Drink water while on thebike. It is going to be a long hot sultry day with Sun sucking all the energyand sap you have left in you. The only way to get through it is to hydrate asmuch and as often as you can. The breakfast was again not something to lookfor. But first time on the tour menu wasDosa with chutney. Chola Batura, eggs, cereals, and bread complete the list.

Today was all aboutstrategies. Mark Anderson was trying to see how best he can defend his 79seconds over Rajesh Nair. He knows that Ooty is a tough climb and he needs allthe buffer he can get against Rajesh - coz he is a much heavier rider thanRajesh (+15 to be precise). Lighter riders can climb fast - even if they getspent by the time they reach the summit. He left the hotel at the earliest tobe able to do the CS when the Sun has not warmed up yet. Rajesh Nair on hispart was playing a team game. As an honorary member of spectrum, the whole teamgave their services to pace him to the CS keeping him fresh all along. Buttheir efforts were hampered by strange mechanical problems (missing 8th cog. How often do wesee such problems?) just yards after the start. Team spectrum want to pushShankar up the leader board - perhaps to a podium position. Towards this goal,they have deiced that Siva will swap his Scott for Shankar's Trek. It is notjust the top 5-10 who are worried about their positions. Every one below istrying to get past the one above them and a lot of battles are taking shape.Amidst all this, young Rishi Goyal is knocking a top-20 spot. If you have any doubts about this tour beingcompetitive, drop them now. Things have got way too much serious now.

Arun Thakur - happy to find well paved stretches

The roads in Keralaare generally well paved. Today seems to be an exception. Bad roads rattledevery bone on the body - even of those MTB riders. Riders encountered somepatches of good tarmac when joy knew no bounds for these speed junkies. Thereis another problem with Kerala. There is no gap between villages. Where oneends, another begins. Its not like that in Karnataka. There one can find longstretches of fields, forests or plantations between human settlement. Solitudeis rarity on Kerala roads. Those who share the road are also not decent. Busdrivers are always a menace. They honk once in a 'please' tone. Second timethey honk in 'caution' tone... Warning. The Third time, it’s a war cry. They goall out to mow you down. Riders had to hear a lot of choicest words from othermotorist - some for not letting them pass, some for being different than them,some for being a woman and some for minding one's own business. Amidst allthis, our happy riders reached the first Support Station. This is where most ofthe serious contenders shed all their extra weight - second water bottle,saddle packs, pumps, gels, rider docket etc... Soon, Siva's car became courierservice to the top of the climb.

Bikey "Fixie" Venky chasing a tempo during CS

After the supportstation, there is 6 Kms of flat terrain. Then, there is a sweeping right-handturn. That is where the climb starts. The CS start line is less than a Km fromthere. As the rider's left one by one, the tension in the legs (and minds) of thosewaiting for their turn increased. 3..2..1.. and Go. Every one was chasing theguy ahead of them. The climb is strong and every rider had some or the otherstory to tell about it. Mark Anderson 'cooked' it in the first 3 Kms and soonwent into the red-zone. If he continued, there was every chance that he wouldbonk. Wisely, he spent the next kilometer just spinning at 16 Kmph to recoverhis breath. He again came good in the last two to regain whatever he lost whilespinning. Rakesh Nair was obstructed by a lady alighting a bus. Both the ladyand him were surprised at each other's position on the road. Being on cleats,Rakesh fell - the lady just walked away. Rakesh - 0: Bad Luck - 2. Rajesh onthe other had got caught in a traffic jam just before the finish line. Whilethese were going on, Jeff announced how good a climber he is by posting a 18'18" ride to the top.

Kumar and Mohan at our resting joint. (pic: Srinath)

CS finish line (alsosupport station - 2)is not the end of the climb. The climb continues foranother 6-7 Kms before giving way to flatter terrain. For those who spent alltheir energy during the CS, this is no less an ordeal. For about half an hour,I opened a small resting joint for theriders where the only refreshments that were offered were small talk and heartylaughs. Some of them keen on seeing the climb through passed it, while otherstook a breather. Calculations of sweep timings were made. Every body got goingtowards the lunch point which was at SS-3 (Varayal). Pasta was served for lunchwith tomato and chilly sauce. After a leisurely lunch the riders pedaledtowards a promise of ice-cream caravans at SS-4. The road to SS-4 was muchbetter than most of the day. We passed a lot of coffee and tea estates on ourway. But, they have become such a cliché.

From SS-4, the routegets a little easy but through towns and villages. Every climb looks like it isthe last, but small and smaller climbs kept on coming all the way up to SultanBathery city. Only 2 riders got swept today. Quality bunch this. Special mentions:Rishi Goyal, the teenager managed to stay ahead of the sweep truck on such agrueling day. Applause all around when he came by!! By about 5:30 in theevening all riders made it back to Hotel Isaac's Regency. It’s a nice drivethrough hotel where the lobby is the parking lot. High-tea and dinner aresubsequently served.

Results of CSsection today:

Men:

Mark Anderson: 17' 11"

Rajesh Nair: 17' 46"

Jeff Shmidt: 18'18"

Women:

Vicki Nicholson: 19'26"

Everyone has thelast CS of the day in their mind - Climbing up to the queen of the hills. It isto be seen who is crowned the King at the end of it.

BSA - Tour of Nilgiris - 2011 - Day 4 - Madikeri to Iritty

2011-12-20T08:42:00.000-08:00

Day - 4 istechnically a picnic. You just have to get to it safely after negotiating the15 Km of technical descent that follows after 20 Kms of bad road. The breakfastarrangements at the Solitaire Exotica of Madikeri was not too great. The breadwas a big fail. But, they adapted quickly to give poori-sagu to all riders.Well, that is all what one needs for a down-hill trip ;-)

Bone rattling ride on 'patchy' roads

After a'light' breakfast it was time for a quick daily briefing. The riders wereappraised with the latest state of the roads until Virajpet -' bad in patches'was the Official description. The TD cleverly missed out how big and how oftenwere these patches. Rajesh gave a 'standard-down-hill-check-list' instructionsto all the riders and wished them all a good safe descent. Tour leader Mark A.told every one to keep their eyes on road - 20ft ahead of you. The bike goeswhere your eyes go. If you look at something off the road, then you go off roadtoo. Rajesh added the importance of braking well before the turn and keepingthe bike straight during the turn. Another announcementwas the photo-shoot plan soon after the first support station. All came out intheir best jerseys.

Vinay zipping through

Sincethere is no CS today, the was not hurry and the only strategy was to get downwithout tasting dirt. The bad patches made group riding or drafting verydangerous. The late start however meant that the riders had to share the roadwith the Monday traffic. The MTB's especially with suspension, were finallysmiling as the road condition alternated between 'bad' and 'worse'. Now I haveto extend the 'bad in patches' ... to 'worse in the rest'. So went the ridelike this until Virajpet. According the morning briefing, the road from thenwas to be smooth. It was better, but far from smooth. When the riders came to anice bridge across a stream, they stopped . Some of them thought it was thephoto-shoot point and the group grew.

Richard Joyce waving at the welcome committee

Morerolling terrain followed with comparatively better roads. Just before Keralaborder, we were welcomed by a bunch of pre-school children. Their teacherthought it would be a good exposure for them and sent them to cheer our riders.The kids in this area speak either Kannada, Tulu, Malayalam, Urdu or Kodava intheir home. With five languages around them, they look too confused and when astranger speaks to them in English, they just get petrified. Still, as cyclistspassed them one by one, they got more confident and started clapping handsjoyously. I even taught them to count 1 rider, 2 riders and many riders.Cheers!!

Photo Point @ Support Station 1

A fewKms after the school was the photo shoot lake. What a back-drop for the ride!!!Words any way can't do justice... I will not even try.

This is where thetechnical descent starts. All but two riders got down safely. Those two riderssuffered some bruises. At the bottom of the descent, the mood was much ofrelief - of getting down in one piece, of completing half the tour, of lookingforward for the rest day.

Rest day tomorrow - one can wake up late.

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BSA - Tour of Nilgiris - Day 3 - In pics

2011-12-20T05:14:00.000-08:00

Amit Sarkar: making the most of the downhills.

Mark Ellison - Cruising along

Arvind Bhateja: fast approaching Coorg.

BSA - Tour of Nilgiris 2011 - Day 3 - Hassan to Madikeri

2011-12-19T23:44:00.000-08:00

Today is the longestday of the tour. 180+ Kms on the saddle is an insane endurance tests. Toprepare you well for the endurance, Hotel Southern Star lined up their mostelaborate breakfast buffet - Fruits (Papaya, Pineapple), Cereals with warmmilk, eggs (boiled and scrambled), chicken sausages, toasted bread with twotypes of jam and butter, pongal, idli-chutney, vada-sambar, kesari bath, upma,hot tea, coffee or milk. With breakfasts like these, I would not like the tourto end... Well it has to, and will leave me a couple of kilos heavier.

Every body isexcited at the start. The riders are pumped up about the distance and the climbat the end. For many, the initial two days was just warming up for themountains to follow. Now the real tour begins. The photographers and video crewwere happy that it was the first time that the riders are riding into the Sun.They can take their shots at will today. Expect a lot of high quality imagesuploaded by Centhil and Adithya on their Facebook pages.

Day - 3 for thefirst half involves retracing the same road till Bilikere Junction. Well theysay that the road does not look the same when returning... For one, for all thegruesome uphill sections become breezing descents (sadly vice-versa too). Theperspective of the road also changes. It better be true, other wise re-tracing90 Kms would be ultra boring. Those who missed the paddy fields had ample timetoday enjoy them in the pleasant morning Sun.

Riding thorough the Paddy fields

The long day aheadprompted people to forge alliances and ride as teams and form a fast train. Wefollowed Team Spectrum train for quite some time. The Mamils were also on atrain of their own. Some independent riders tried to hop on to the trains butcould not sustain the pace and were dropped soon.

Spectrum Train

Capt. Ritesh Goyal on Jazz

One man was veryhappy today. Captain Ritesh Goyal traded his new heavy mountain bike for abrand new Montra Jazz. He was a changedman. He says, it felt as if Obelix is relieved of the weight. He feels he couldnot have been handsomely ahead of the sweep truck if not for the Montra. Theinclines were effortless and he confidently negotiated the descents. On a flatroad, the bike just flies. There wereother riders who tried the Montra, but faced niggling problems with the geartrain and went back to their old bikes.

Never before has thesweep truck been so inspirational. The sweep times for today was very tight -10:30, 12:30, 2:30 at the support stations that are 40Ks distant. At the startline of the competitive section the cutoff was @ 4:30 PM. Determined riders were breathing a huge sigh of relief eachtime they beat the sweep truck to the support station. Re-fuel and get readyfor another duel with the sweep. Ultimately, only 12 riders got swept. On a180+ day only 12 of 70 riders were swept. TFN has a bunch of strong riders -mentally and physically this time. Respect!!

Just before thecompetitive section got underway there was high drama. The race crew hadsynchronized their watched and let the first rider - Abhilash through. Vasu hasto rush to the finish line in a car. Vasu has a standing promise that "ifthe car breaks down, he will run the finish line". And, it did. The car carrying the TimeStation-2 crew just stalled couple of Ks into the race. If they do not reachbefore Abhilash, his efforts would go in vain. No thinking too much, Vasu camegood on his promise. Starting running towards the finish line. After about 400mts, he hopped on a truck wan carrying wood in a full filmy style and reachedthe finish line in time to record Abhilash's time.

The CS was hard fought and resulted in every body pushing themselves the the ultimate limit. Pick-up van was waiting at the finish to ferry the riders to the resort. The highlight of the day was Manoj finishing the day with no flats. Happy man today.

Results for the day:

Men:

Mark Anderson: 25' 06"

Rajesh Nair: 25'18"

Sumit Pal: 29'16"

Women:

Vicki: 28' 44"

This tour is allabout enjoying the ride and who you ride with. Tomorrow is practically apicnic.

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BSA - Tour of Nilgiris - Leader Board (Day 3)

2011-12-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

BSA - Tour of Nilgiris - 2011
Bib No.	Name	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Total	Position
39	Mark Anderson	0:33:56	0:38:55	0:25:06	1:37:57	1
51	Rajesh Nair	0:35:27	0:38:31	0:25:18	1:39:16	2
69	Sumit Pal	0:36:23	0:41:35	0:29:16	1:47:14	3
13	Akshay Jaitly	0:36:28	0:42:47	0:29:20	1:48:35	4
63	Shankar Jayaraman	0:38:03	0:42:11	0:28:52	1:49:06	5
41	Mark Hemhauser	0:38:02	0:43:35	0:28:24	1:50:01	6
31	Hari Menon	0:37:32	0:43:51	0:29:01	1:50:24	7
72	Vicki Nicholson	0:38:20	0:43:23	0:28:44	1:50:27	8
20	Arvind Bhateja	0:39:01	0:44:09	0:29:31	1:52:41	9
71	Venkateswara Rao Navanasi	0:40:33	0:44:47	0:28:47	1:54:07	10
32	Jeff Schmidt	0:39:58	0:48:08	0:27:30	1:55:36	11
14	Ameet Bhide	0:38:30	0:45:34	0:33:20	1:57:24	12
29	Gaurav	0:41:31	0:44:19	0:31:51	1:57:41	13
76	Vineeth Katarki	0:41:33	0:47:55	0:31:09	2:00:37	14
56	Richard Joyce	0:39:57	0:46:49	0:33:55	2:00:41	15
70	Vandit Kalia	0:36:36	0:43:26	0:43:45	2:03:47	16
16	Amrish Kapoor	0:43:32	0:50:34	0:31:39	2:05:45	17
100	Sreekanth Gupta	0:43:45	0:50:30	0:35:16	2:09:31	18
34	Kishore Samanuri	0:43:43	0:50:14	0:35:59	2:09:56	19
62	Saurabh Kumar	0:44:05	0:52:09	0:36:48	2:13:02	20
11	Abhilesh Gupta	0:45:16	0:54:37	0:38:04	2:17:57	21
57	Rishi Goyal	0:53:48	0:50:55	0:33:41	2:18:24	22
19	Arun Marc D'Silva	0:47:54	0:50:02	0:41:47	2:19:43	23
66	Siva Sai Nellore	0:43:56	0:55:26	0:40:42	2:20:04	24
73	Vijay CP	0:44:01	0:54:34	0:41:35	2:20:10	25
77	Vishnu Navda	0:50:59	0:53:30	0:38:07	2:22:36	26
27	Erik Yeh	0:45:50	0:53:08	0:44:22	2:23:20	27
30	Gokul Krishna	0:49:59	0:55:35	0:38:52	2:24:26	28
53	Raman Garimella	0:51:02	0:57:51	0:40:32	2:29:25	29
17	Aparjeet Nakai	0:49:38	0:57:45	0:43:23	2:30:46	30
54	Ramasubramanian Balu	0:50:17	1:01:44	0:40:28	2:32:29	31
46	Muthu Kumar	0:51:20	0:58:03	0:44:49	2:34:12	32
55	Ranjith Sajja	0:48:06	1:00:40	0:47:04	2:35:50	33
15	Amit Sarkar	0:50:15	1:03:29	0:43:52	2:37:36	34
74	Vikram Naik	0:53:14	0:57:17	0:47:22	2:37:53	35
75	Vinay Dev	0:56:01	0:59:25	0:47:09	2:42:35	36
37	Maninder Singh Dhingra	0:52:58	1:04:44	0:47:52	2:45:34	37
23	Chacko Cherian	0:56:07	1:06:53	0:44:07	2:47:07	38
18	Arun Thakur	0:58:29	1:06:23	0:54:37	2:59:29	39
35	Kumar Kuppuswamy	0:52:54	1:09:33	0:58:39	3:01:06	40
61	Sandeep Reddy	1:05:01	1:05:50	0:51:21	3:02:12	41
36	Mallikarjuna MV	0:59:47	1:11:18	0:52:08	3:03:13	42
42	Meera Velankar	0:57:59	1:10:28	0:57:24	3:05:51	43
58	Ritesh Goel	1:13:19	1:09:03	0:56:18	3:18:40	44
52	Rakesh Nair	23:00:00	0:43:13	0:32:03	1:15:16	45
67	Sreekanth V	0:41:45	23:00:00	0:35:59	1:17:44	46
40	Mark Ellison	0:44:25	0:51:33	23:00:00	1:35:58	47
47	Narayanan Vaidyanathan	0:46:58	0:54:45	23:00:00	1:41:43	48
22	Balakrishna S	0:50:49	0:58:31	23:00:00	1:49:20	49
44	Mohan Kumar K	0:48:28	1:07:47	23:00:00	1:56:15	50
59	Saikat Guha	1:00:39	1:11:02	23:00:00	2:11:41	51
45	Murali Iyer	1:01:48	1:12:15	23:00:00	2:14:03	52
64	Sharat Chandra MB	1:08:15	1:11:28	23:00:00	2:19:43	53
38	Manoj E G	1:01:59	1:18:56	23:00:00	2:20:55	54
12	Akshat Jain	1:11:58	1:11:32	23:00:00	2:23:30	55
65	Shruti Saha	1:06:35	1:23:02	23:00:00	2:29:37	56
60	Sampath Rapaka	1:08:20	1:28:24	23:00:00	2:36:44	57
25	Deepak Patro	1:10:05	1:29:51	23:00:00	2:39:56	58
43	Mohd. Arif	23:00:00	1:12:05	23:00:00	1:12:05	59

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TFN - prepares you for life

2011-12-18T01:07:00.000-08:00

Lessons people learnon TFN comes in handy. This was proven even while on the tour. On Day-2, whenthe support crew were busy sorting the supplies out for the next day, a localmotor cyclist rammed into a cow. The cowendure the trauma with just minor bruises. But the motor cyclist had multiplefractures.

The TFN crew couldnot be a by-stander. They gave him first-aid - by the procedure (concussion tests, stilts, sling etc...). They even had the nearest hospital list and sent him to that in an ambulance. Thanks to SitaBhateja Hospital's first aid workshop. Abig thumbs up!!

Now you know whythere are two waiting lists for TFN - one for riding, and another volunteering.

BSA Tour of Nilgiris - 2011 - Day 2

2011-12-18T00:48:00.000-08:00

The Tour directortoday decided to do a late start since the distance was 120 Kms only.(Seriously? only?) It was a 8:00AM start. This meant we had extra time for a luxurious breakfast. Even if onetasted every item on the buffet, he would be full before starting. Cereals,Cranberry juice (??), cornflakes withwarm milk, bread with butter and jam, idli - chutney, vada - sambar, kara bath,kesari bath, boiled eggs, tea and coffee... By the time I finished, I thoughtof skipping lunch. In hindsight, it was a +1 for the organizers. Not sure ifthis was part of the plan, but since it was a short day - people may find themselves at no man's land during lunchtime. Crossing SS3 (support station 3) early would mean skipping lunch - andthat is what most of the fast riders did.

Day-2 Starting line

Today's start was organized since it had race leaders - Mark and Vicki. Along side was the guest of the day - RavirankanKumar, Co-founder of the Tour of Nilgiris. He will be riding on this tour for 3days and bringing back memories of TFN08.

Mysore is a nicecity. Traffic at 8 is not maddening yet. So, the riders got out of the citywith ease. We hit the Hunsur Road prettysoon. Wonderfully paved road and well landscaped too. Flowering plants on thedivider, paddy fields on either side of the road providing much needed sceneryboost to the tour. But yesterday's race section has put seeds of ambition ineveryone's mind. Every rider wanted to ride easy on the initial section. Somewere doing it intentionally... But some were slowing down since their body wasnot cooperating. Both groups had to battle with the wind to pedal ahead. Siva'ssecret antibiotic (which he is taking for a cosmetic wound) gave him enoughpower to reach Hassan without stopping in any support station. No one remembers seeing him after day start.

Day-2 Support Station 2

Support Station 2soon became a resort. Riders who were not tired were in no hurry since theywanted to save the best for the race. Those who were tired took their time torecover. I wandered off to do some updates to the blog from beneath a lonetamarind tree - made possible by LeapSky wireless. The riders left one by onewith a minute interval. It was a 24 Km trail with rolling terrain. It was notas hot as yesterday, but the wind was not willing to help the riders. Ridersgave their best shot at what could be the last flat time-trail. The rest of thedays belong to the climbers.

The story was alittle different at support station 3. It was the lunch point for all theaverage riders who are not on antibiotics and feel tired once in a while.Physio Dhananjay has been a busy man on road today. Those who paid him a visityesterday can't thank him enough. Words about the magic in his hands spreadfast and bring him more followers. Veg Biryani was served in lunch - yummy. Itwas just right spicy and the raitha made it feel like heaven. I am sure riderswould have appreciated the detailed instructions given to caterers to keep thefood less greasy and less spicy.

From SS3, Hassan isjust 30 odd Kms away. But these 30 Kms are slow uphill sections. The motivationfor riders to get to Hassan was clear (not the non-alcoholic welcome drinkserved by the hotel). At the hotel a pleasant surprise was waiting. A very niceparking lot was created the cyclists after clearing all the cars in theenclosure. Hope more hotels in Bangalore would do the same. After refreshing,high tea was served - sandwiches, milk shake (chocolate, pista) and biscuits.There was no tea though.

With the whole evening for themselves, some riders went to Belur to appreciate the beauty in the soap stone carvings. Some others just hit the bar. Some more just slept through.

Results of Day-2 CS:

Men:

RajeshNair: 38' 31"

MarkAnderson: 38' 55"

Sumitpal: 41' 35"

Women:

Vicki: 43' 23"

Overall standingafter Day-2:

Men:

MarkAnderson: 1h 12' 51"

RajeshNair: 1h 13' 58"

Sumitpal: 1h 17' 58"

Women:

Vicki: 1h 21' 43"

Tomorrow promises tobe a beautiful ride - misery and joy in equal proportions.

BSA - Tour of Nilgiris - 2011 - Day 2 - Purpose served

2011-12-17T02:21:00.000-08:00

One of the mainobjectives of RACF is to make youngsters thing cycling is cool. What better waythan a grand tour like TFN? I consider that the purpose is served.

3.. 2.. 1.. Go!!

Who cares about drag? Style is what matters!!

Hundreds of peoplegather at every support station to ask what's going on. While the elders areinterested in how costly the bicycles are, the younger ones are keen toimitate. They throng the sites with their cool bikes and show off theirdexterity. Cool quotient of cycles went up a notch in every village we passedby.

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BSA Tour of Nilgiris - Day 2 - Quick Post

2011-12-17T02:00:00.000-08:00

Car Parking blocked to make way for cycles. Super Like. Southern Star Hotel, Hassan

Day-2 ends inHassan. Just got here minutes ago and was surprised to see this. Big LIKE.

BSA Tour of Nilgiris 2011 - Day 1 Leader Board

2011-12-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

BSA - TFN11 - Day 1 Leader Board


Position	Time	Bib No	First Name	Last Name
1	00:33:56	39	Mark	Anderson
2	00:35:27	51	Rajesh	Nair
3	00:36:23	69	Sumit	Pal
4	00:36:28	13	Akshay	Jaitly
5	00:36:36	70	Vandit	Kalia
6	00:37:32	31	Hari	Menon
7	00:38:02	41	Mark	Hemhauser
8	00:38:03	63	Shankar	Jayaraman
9	00:38:20	72	Vicki	Nicholson
10	00:38:30	14	Ameet	Bhide
11	00:39:01	20	Arvind	Bhateja
12	00:39:57	56	Richard	Joyce
13	00:39:58	32	Jeff	Schmidt
14	00:40:33	71	Venkateswara Rao	Navanasi
15	00:41:31	29	Gaurav Replacement
16	00:41:33	76	Vineeth	Katarki
17	00:41:45	67	Sreekanth	V
18	00:43:32	16	Amrish	Kapoor
19	00:43:43	34	kishore	Samanuri
20	00:43:45	100	Sreekanth	Gupta
21	00:43:56	66	Siva Sai	Nellore
22	00:44:01	73	Vijay	CP
23	00:44:05	62	Saurabh	Kumar
24	00:44:25	40	Mark	Ellison
25	00:45:16	11	Abhilesh	Gupta
26	00:45:50	27	Erik	Yeh
27	00:46:58	47	Narayanan	Vaidyanathan
28	00:47:54	19	ARUN MARC	DSILVA
29	00:48:06	55	Ranjith	Sajja
30	00:48:28	44	Mohan	Kumar K
31	00:49:38	17	Aparjeet	Nakai
32	00:49:59	30	Gokul	Krishna
33	00:50:15	15	Amit	Sarkar
34	00:50:17	54	Ramasubramanian	Balu
35	00:50:49	22	Balakrishna	S
36	00:50:59	77	Vishnu	Navda
37	00:51:02	53	Raman	Garimella
38	00:51:20	46	Muthu	Kumar
39	00:52:54	35	Kumar	Kuppuswamy
40	00:52:58	37	Maninder Singh	Dhingra
41	00:53:14	74	Vikram	Naik
42	00:53:48	57	Rishi	Goyal
43	00:56:01	75	Vinay	Dev
44	00:56:07	23	Chacko	Cherian
45	00:57:59	42	Meera	Velankar
46	00:58:29	18	Arun	Thakur
47	00:59:47	36	Mallikarjuna	MV
48	01:00:39	59	Saikat	Guha
49	01:01:48	45	Murali	Iyer
50	01:01:59	38	Manoj	E G
51	01:05:01	61	Sandeep	Reddy
52	01:06:35	65	Shruti	Saha
53	01:08:15	64	SHARAT	CHANDRA MB
54	01:08:20	60	sampath	rapaka
55	01:10:05	25	Deepak	Patro
56	01:11:58	12	Akshat	Jain
57	01:13:19	58	Ritesh	Goel

BSA Tour of Nilgiris - 2011 : Day 1 in pictures

2011-12-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

The official vehicle of rural India

Well... provoking.

BSA - Tour of Nilgiris 2011: Day 1

2011-12-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

L to R : Maj. Gen. AK Pradhan, Rajesh Mani, Dr H Sudarshan, Sri Suresh Kumar, Rajesh Nair, Brig. SK Dutta

The Flagofffor the tour could not have been better. For once, the people on the dias justified theirpresence by their achievements.

Deepak Majipatil,trustee RACF welcomed the riders, supporters and the distinguished guests on the dias. Rajesh Nair,co-founder of the Tour of Nilgiris was the first to address the cyclingenthusiasts. He described how long a way the Tour of Nilgiris has come from itsfirst edition in the winter of 2008. Now, the tour is bigger, better andtougher.

Ministerfor Urban development, Sri Suresh Kumar is not an every day politician. He isknown for his Spartan upbringing and to continue it while he holds power. Hefinished is speech in just 2 minutes drawing attention to the need for acycling culture and not any of Government's accomplishments. He recollected thehis days of cycling - 36 years ago when the distance of Bangalore toKanyakumari was done in 4 days - on a Hercules (fondly called by many asdoodh-wala cycle). He apparently had bought it for Rs 200/- in an installmentscheme.After getting off the stage, he spoke with some encouraging words to the youngest rider - Rishi Goyal. Later he inspected the Montra bikes and was pleasantly surprised how light it was.

Padmashri Dr HSudarshan from Vivekananda Girijana Seva trust wished BSA-TFN well, stressed onhow much important safety is for cyclists and motorists. He drew the ministersattention to non-implementing the helmet rules. RACF is associated with thetrust since 3 years and honored to help. The trust is making a lot of progressin providing the tribal people an equal opportunity at success.

The Army wascourteous to provide the flag-off venue continuing their tradition ofsupporting adventure. Major Genral AK Pradhan (Seva Mandal, GOC, Karnataka,Kerala and Goa.), was happy that such an event could be organized right here inBangalore. He said that the army will continue to provide support and promoteany event which celebrates the spirit of adventure in public. Also sharing thedias was Brigadier SK Dutta (Deputy GOC, K&K subarea).

BSA-Tour of Nilgiris 2011 got underway to the roaring cheers of "Bharath Mata ki Jai!!" by all the Army men assembled there to send us off. Thanks to the ArmyPilot vehicles, the cyclists zipped through the streets of Bangalore before the trafficcould get to them. Ashok Kheny (of NICE road fame) opened the road forBSA-TFN11 free of charge. Thank you. The guarantee of a well paved path pickedspeed even further and I had tough time catching up to the leaders even in thecar.

Mark Anderson, Winner day 1

The 'Race' sectionof the day started soon after we got out of Kanakapura town. The first ridersdeparted at around 10:30. But even before that, couple of riders had mechanicalfailures to make their day tougher. Akshat had flat @ 9:00 AM - fixed it himselfand moved on as if nothing had ever happened. Others were not fortunate to continue. Rakesh lost a pedal and has towait till tomorrow for a replacement. He could not complete the 'race' section.Ergo, he is out of GC contention. Hence now a serious contender for all dailyfinishes. He promises to pick his days in the mountians and dish out pain toevery one else. Good luck Rakesh. Manoj, perhaps had the most miseries - 5punctures which lead to discarding 2 tubes. The man has the sense in him tosmile through the evening without cribbing. Respect.

The race itself wasfought very hard with riders riding their hearts out and giving it all.Although the Roadies posted the best times, the MTB/hybrid guys did not let the effort drop even a bit. Ultimately, victory went to the man who was cycling home. Now you know thesecret of the 50 Kmph effort.


Vijay CP

Arvind Bhateja

Rajesh Nair

Here are the resultsof the first day's competitive section:

Men:

MarkAnderson - 33' 56"

RajeshNair - 35' 28"

SumitPal - 36'28"

Women:

Vicki- 38' 20"

Congratulations tothe winners. Don’t get complacent, this will only inspire the close seconds.

There were quite afew sore muscles at the end of the day and Dhananjay was a busy man.

BSA Tour of Nilgiris 2011: Day 0

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Pre-tour briefinghappened in Ramanashree Brunton. It was a moment to remember all our sponsors and introduce the riders.

BSA talked about thenew bicycle brand they are introducing - Montra. It is an all carbon and indigenous designed. Guess what, riders on the tour are accompanied by 5brand new Montra bikes that they can test ride - on the mountains.

MyTVS and Excelforeintroduced their brand new GPS tracking system that are used to track fleetsnationwide. MyTVS has a 30 member call center team which is monitoring themovement of most of the cyclists. The GPS update is provided by the Excelforedevices using which the riders can do a one-touch-SOS call to the back-office.The back office can alert the nearest support vehicle to respond - all in amatter of minutes.

Rest of the sponsorsare also riders on TFN... In that way, it’s a self organized tour. Vandit fromDive-India explained the prizes - Week-long diving holiday in the Andamans.Arvind Bhateja and Dhananjay from Sita Bhateja Super speciality hospital outlinedthe medical arrangements for the tour. However, they honestly hope that theirteam will use-less. Siva from LeapSky introduced their latest product (stillhot out of the oven) that liberates you from the astronomical data-roamingbills.

Then came the timeto introduce some of the riders who shared why they are riding. A few funnyones.

Jeff: It’s the bestway to let some one else find all the good roads and you get to ride.

Meera: There are notmany women riding cycles. Someone has to.

Wise words from a 14year old - Rishi Goyal: I once read a poem where the poet is 100 years old andsuddenly realizes he has not done so many things in life. I don’t want to AfterTFN, I can say 'I have done TFN'.

Mark Anderson: Considers thisride as a reward his wife gave him for taking care of her during the toughtimes of knee surgery.

Special mention:Vishnu Navada is riding this TFN to raise funds for Vivekananda Girijana SevaTrust. His target was to raise Rs 2 Lakhs. With generous pledge to equallymatch his effort by his employer - Microsoft Research he could reach the targeteasily and looking good to surpass it easily.

We are fortunate tohave two fine army men amongst us on bikes. Captain Ritesh Goel is on adeservedly hard earned vacation from guarding borders at Kupwara. He thinksthis will be a connection between the two worlds that he has to manage. ColonelAparjeet Nakai picked up cycling as a hobby after a horse ride with ArunD'silva. I have no idea what Arun said, but Nakai is hooked to the sport sincethen.

Francis, the TourDirector did the boring task of briefing, Jerseys distributed and dinnerserved. At 11:30 PM, Most of the support crew headed to the Manek Shaw ground.For them, the day had just begun.

Why is BSA-TFN not just another bike tour?

2011-12-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

People have oftenasked 'why is the annual tour of Nilgiris different?'. Isn't is just bunch ofsuper rich bikers pedaling through fairly good roads with rest of the worriestaken care of by super efficient team? Isn't MTB-Himachal, or GMC, or theEnduro-3, or numerous private tours on Manali-Leh route much more tough anddemanding from the rider. Why then does BSA-TFN claim to be the best andattract the best riders?

My reasoning... Youare free to re-interpret at will ;-)

Charity riders: There is lot of effort being put in to make this tour famous and a permanent fixture in Indian Cycling calendar. This means a lot of eyes on this . Why not put the publicity so generated into good use by raising money for some good causes? The causes chosen are not the city based ones which have large PR teams to design and mail mass fliers. Arun D'Silva is riding for Arohi (www.arohi.org). Among other things, this NGO is focused on improving living conditions and giving good education for the people in the hills of Uttarakhand. If it strikes a chord with you, please visit the site and help Arun raise funds. Spread the word. Thereare three more charities which are featured on the main site of BSA-TFN. Pleasehave a look (www.tourofnilgiris.com).More on them later.

The professionalism of the organizing team: When you see the entire operations team - you don’t see any event provisional organizers, no fund raisers, no copywriters or no high profile PR agencies. These are good people with strong work ethics in their day-jobs. That work-ethic rubs off in what ever they do even outside work. They are meticulous, transparent. They want to get better year after year. I have seen them brainstorm for hours together to get the minutest detail right for all 8 days of the tour - right from the support station supply, daily menus - breakfast, lunch, high-tea and snacks, sweep timings, support vehicle communications and so on. This week-end saw the volunteers attend a first-aid workshop followed by a bike maintenance work-shop. They have managed to convince BSA to generously send a pack of 5 brand new Montra bikes to help any rider who has a mechanical problem. This definitely shows that the riders and tour itself rests in good hands.

Training of the riders: TFN has become an annual goal for most of the riders. For a couple of them, it could be a serious life goal too. The BSA-TFN challenge on daily -mile is on ever since the registrations opened on 01-June. These guys take cycling and especially TFN way too seriously (http://www.dailymile.com/challenges/3335-tour-of-nilgiris-2011-challenge/leaderboard). No other race/ride in the sub-continent can boast of such hard core preparation.

The Doers: The volunteers are the real guys who make the tour happen. It gets me thinking many times... What's in it for them? They have to sleep late, get up early on all days of the tour. They are forbidden from riding a cycle on the tour even if an opportunity presented itself. They are available almost 24x7 (actually 8), which means they can not lose themselves a serene viewpoint. So, why do they let themselves through this ordeal? Why is there always a rush to be on the volunteer rooster? I guess, the answer is very personal to each one of them. Some may have a point to prove to themselves (or others). Some may be in it for the learning - there is way too much to learn on a 8-day tour. Some may be in it for the networking opportunity. Some may be booking their spots for TFN 2012. Nevertheless, it is a awesome bunch to hang around.

I think there is ahealthy competition among the patrons of all the tours to be the best. It ishelping create a wonderful cycling ecosystem in India. RACF (http://rideacycle.org/) and BSA-TFN will go a long way in proving tothe world that India can host a good amateur level 8-day-bicyle-tour. The daysto come will only be better.

Little TFNers

2011-11-30T08:57:00.001-08:00

TFN has always liked to have children around - after all, they inherit the baton. In the first edition of the tour, we had Sukhdev who created headlines by attempting to ride 2 full days of TFN when he was barely 11. Sukhdev actually came from no-where ;-) His parents, though supportive, were not cyclists themselves. Next year a chance cancellation from TFN made it possible for Rishi Nair to ride most of the course that year. This year it is the turn of Rishi Goyal.

Rishi Goyal, 14

Rishi is a 14 years old kid from Ahmedabad, Gujrat. He is all set to ride his maiden TFN this year while his father Shailendra will follow him on the tour in a car (like me). Shailendra has been cycling in and around Ahmedabad for recreation for the past 25-30 years. Just about couple of years ago, he introduced Rishi to the pleasure of cycling - as a father-son sport. Rishi, on his very first trip showed a lot of promise. He never gave up even when he was drained of all his energy. He did not seem to even mind the flat tire. After the first trip, Rishi encouraged Shailendra to go for longer rides... And that is how their cycling turned from being a recreation to an endurance sport.

Soon, Rishi was going places... Literally. He joined the ABC (Ahmedabad Bicycling Club) started by Dr Harsh Shah and Gaurav (Both of them are former TFNers). Under their guidance on nutrition, fluid intake and riding techniques, Rishi started riding much longer and harder. Shailendra could not catch up... And now is contend to be a very happy support crew. Its a proud moment for any father when his son overtakes him. Lucky him. Earlier this year, Rishi completed his first century ride and many followed soon after.

As some one said - In cycling, Its just not the distances but the climbs that matter. Rishi is no stranger to that. He has climbed Mt Abu (4-5% over 18Kms) many times in the last year. On one occasion, he has climbed it 4 times in just 2 days. Extraordinary for a teenager. This Divali, when children his age were bursting crackers and feasting on sweets, Rishi and family was training in the Kumaon Hills at Nainital. Those legs will definitely come of age during the TFN.

Training:
The little boy is damn serious about his cycling. Imagine a kid of that age having the determination to give up oily food, and have just eggs and sweet potato for breakfast every day... All this so that he can suffer for a week among the pristine mountains of the Nilgiris. He rides for 20-30Kms every day and 60-100 Kms on week-ends. Does skipping as a cross training exercise.

The ride:
He has a Schwinn Sportera Hybrid - (Sport version). He plans to shift to a road bike once he stops growing ;-) (So that he can ride the bike for years to come)

Tour of Nilgiris is back

2011-10-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

Cycling all day is fun. Hanging around old friends is more fun. Clean air (served chilled) and misty mountains are super fun. A week away from work (the boss actually) is something to kill for. What if you can get all of the above? That is the Tour of Nilgiris for me.

This is the fourth edition of the tour. In some ways the tour has come a long way since the first tour. Every year has been learning in its own right and helped revise and refine the arrangements - accommodation, routes, food, publicity ideas so on... So, after three years I am coming back to totally new scheme of things.

Competitive Sections:
Believe it or not, 7 days of too much natural beauty also can be boring at times. So, in order to keep oneself motivated there are sections of the tour that are timed. Winner wears RED the next day. This will keep the fitness freaks interested all throughout the tour. Yes, they will claim the bragging rights during the camp-fire. Those who opt out need not worry at all. They get the bragging rights of the rare birds, butterflies or the lone elephant they spotted on the way. Truly a win-win innovation.

Charity Rides:
RACF understands that goodwill is best paid forward. The TFN route touches so many people who clearly are on the rougher side of the rich-poor divide. Unknowingly, unintentionally tours like this can increase the divide. Actually, tour organizers cannot control it. Hence they came up with this idea of compensating any such unintended excesses by helping local NGOs sustain their good work. The chosen charities for the year (and the riders championing the respective causes) are here:

http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/partners/aarohi/

http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/partners/vishwa-bharathi-vidyodaya-trust/

http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/partners/vivekananda-girijana-kalyana-kendra/

http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/partners/viveka-tribal-school-of-the-swami-vivekananda-youth-movement/

http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/partners/wayanad-girijana-seva-trust/

Please feel free to support the cause you identify with the most.

The Route:
What a sigh of relief to see that Bangalore-Mysore highway is out of the race. This year has more climbs than ever before and a cyclists’ paradise. Hope that the road conditions remain the same till the tour begins. The fact that it takes you so close to the sea is another plus. The icing on the cake is that it is a mountain top finish.

But some things simply do not change. You may find many people with "Can Do" attitude. There are fewer with "Should Do" attitude. These are people who know what is the right thing to do and possess the goodness in their hearts to do what is right. Then there are yet fewer of the people who have the "Will do" attitude as well. These are the actual doers. RACF is thankfully filled with such people who are ever hopeful of the future, aware of their social responsibilities, have perseverance of seeing it through.

Cycling is just a medium.

Bumper Bonanza

2011-01-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder who enjoys bumper-to-bumper traffic? Now you know. You must take your hats off to these entrepreneurs... they can create an opportunity out of any hopeless case.

In case you are still wondering what it is, it is a truck load of mutilated bumpers.

Most dangerous parasitic creeper

2011-01-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

We continue to find more and more ways to abuse trees... Asphalt at its base does not let its root spread. Electric wires on top do not allow its branches to spread. Now these cables do not allow its trunk to grow strong.

Are we the only species that is dumb enough to destroy its own habitat?

Fitness obsession?

2010-05-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

Is this obsession with or what? In a series of Low-fat, Low-transfat, Low-Cholesterol, Low-Sugar, Low calorie, No-(added)MSG... these companies have gone a step ahead of their competitors. They have reduced Sodium in Sodium Chloride and call it healthy?

Seriously, is it even possible to have salt (NaCl) without Na? or with less Na? Or is it chlorinated salt? Can they not leave something as simple as salt alone?

I was perplexed with this chemical mystery. Some searching on the Internet showed that for some people, it is sometimes good to avoid Sodium in their diet - and salt is half sodium any way. So, they replace NaCl with some other "salts", that taste like salt but is not salt (NaCl). The effects of these alternatives are yet to be seen though. It is the illusion of being "in control" that these companies are exploiting. That's it.

"Charities are experiencing the toughest year"

2009-12-23T00:28:00.001-08:00

This is totally true. 2009 was tough. 2010 does not look promising either.

"Charity" is considered as an optional-nice-to-have expenditure by all corporates and individuals. Needless to say, it becomes the first casualty of any frugality drive - either at home or corporate or global level (countries giving money through UN).

Frankly, $20 mil is too less for the size of Google. But I do assume that it is in addition to what it is already doing... via google.org $20 mil is just an additional Christmas gift. Hope it is true.

in reference to: Happy Holidays from Google (view on Google Sidewiki)

Why lacking conviction is sometimes good?

2009-05-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

India is surrounded by neighbors with problems - big ones. As usual there are two sets of people - powerful and powerless. The powerful get greedy and forget that "with power always comes responsibility" (quote by Uncle Ben of Spiderman). They pick on the powerless. Encouraged by their dirty/easy success, they push the powerless to a corner.

In China, the powerless (Tibetian theocracy) dealt oppression with Gandhian non-violence. Whether they had any other choice is left for the historians to dissect. But Gandhian non-violence makes some basic assumptions - the oppressor has a conscience, the oppressor cares for his image in international politics. Attaining moral high ground was in itself the greatest weapon. for the oppressed. Unfortunately in this case, neither assumptions hold. Result: total failure.

In Srilanka, the powerless (Lankan Tamil) cornered themselves in the north and carved their own territory and exercised their God given right to equality. In guise of exercising their right, they violated the the Lankan right of national sovereignty. Perhaps, this was situation for which Gandhian non-violence was a tailor made solution. A democratically elected government was there. There was tamil representation in the electoral process. Yet, things got out of hand. There powerless we quite resourceful too... and hence became powerful in their own back yard. There started a new problem with in the bigger problem. The LTTE (the new powerful) estranged themselves from the common tamilian (still powerless). There are two powerful groups fighting against each other while the real powerless suffers. Result: total failure.

In Pakistan, the 3 groups of people are the cunning, the stupid and the intelligent. The cunning are running the government (and hence powerful) and intelligent are all in jail (physically or ideologically). Those who are neither counted as cunning nor as intelligent form the biggest group - the stupid who are stupid enough to repeatedly vote the cunning (either this one or that one) into power. They (the stupid - technically oppressed) have chosen the path of indifference to deal with their problems. They don't care if their own go hungry as long as they can see Indians in trouble. The rogues (the cunning) have managed to evoke such strong emotions among the stupid. Result: laughable failure

In most of Africa, there is very less differentiating the oppressor and the oppressed. In the grand scheme of things (world wide), they are both oppressed. The rest of world (developed world) is looting the continent of its resources with out it even realizing it. Immediate annihilation of perceived enemy tops the agenda of every warlord - leading to frequent violence, stagnant development. If every body involved just step back about 200 years and find reasons for their present state - they would all unite against the common enemy. The industrial world. Instead, their solutions (or even approach towards it) have always been short sighted and shows evidence of tunnel vision. Result: Pitiable failure

Putting that in perspective... in India, we have all sorts of problems - small ones. But none of those problems have grown out of proportion. We have all the makings of a colossal screw up. Yet, we do not fail. We are one of the success stories of recent times. One reason I can think of for this failure to fail is the lack of conviction. Indian rogues lack the conviction to do substantial evil and thank GOD (everybody's) for that.

NTSE / NMMS results - Karnataka - held on November, 2008

2009-03-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

The NTSE (National Talent Search Examination) results for the state level exam held in the month of November, 2008 are out. Finally!! These pertain to students from 8th standard only.

You can find them here http://dsert.kar.nic.in/NTSERESULT.htm

The NMMS (National Means cum Merit Scholarship) results are expected by the end of this March 2009.

The NMMS results for 9th standard held in August 2008 is sent to their respective BEOs (Block Education Officers). Please contact them.

PS: Why I posted them here? Because google search is not picking up the DSERT site. Hoping that the right kewords will help pick this up.

===============

Update: 07-April-2009

1. NMMS results are delayed apparently to some Delhi bureaucracy (Min of HRD). Expected by the end of this week (11-April-09).

2. NMMS students are not considered for NTSE second level exam even if they score more than NTSE cut-off. I urge the Head of schools to write to DSERT about it. More on this after analysing the NMMS results.

3. Some NMMS candidates were counted as if they appeared for NTSE exam. At least 2 cases found. Heads of schools and parents need to urge for more transperancy. At least for next year. Again, more on this after this year's results are out.

===============

Update: 23-May-2009

DSERT keeps the best interest of students in mind. However, they are exhibiting acute "once bitten - twice shy" syndrome. Here goes the possibel (wink wink) explanation:

The cut off marks for this year's state level NTSE exam was 119. There are a handful of students who appeared for NMMS that have scored more than that. It makes good sense in order to provide them with most opportunities to be allowed to write national level NTSE exam also. So far so good.

If the students who sat for NMMS and got better marks also qualify for interview and get the NTSE national level scholarship - well and good. But if not, then they have to fall back on the 4 year NMMS scholarship amouting to Rs 24,000/-. Other students who get through only state level NTSE get approximately Rs 4800/- as scholarship over the period of 2 years. Hence the fall back mechanism is good.

Problem now is, untill the NTSE final results are out DSERT will not know the exact people who have to be given NMMS scholarship in each district. Hence the long wait.

Possible solutions:
Declare result for the rest - If lets say a district has a NMMS quota of 200 and 5 students have qualified to write national level NTSE, then declare result for teh rest 195 - say results of 5 people are pending. If 2 of those 5 go on to get NTSE notional level scholarship, then at that time announce results for the remaining 3 and 2 more students (who will be pleasantly surprised).

But I guess, the DSERT does not have confidence in its staff to pull out such a mechanism without goofing it up some where. If it goofs up the results it will be bad PR. Hence they are taking the safe route of doing everything at once... albiet very late.

No need to worry about amount:
AFAIK, the arrears scholarships will be given. No need to worry that if the results are delayed, you will get lesser amount.

PS: Keeping fingers crossed so that Mr Veerappa Moily gets HRD and not the other guy with white hair.

===============

Update: 07-June-2009

DSERT claims that the NMMS results are finally dispatched the respective BEOs. Please check ASAP. However, the grape wine suggests that any body who got 36 marks in GMAT and SAT - all get the scholarship. Still, only 780-odd students qualify. While, the allotted scholarship for Karnataka is about 4 times that number. As ever, only successful students are intimated of the result - another BAD practice of DSERT.

The main reason for this poor show by Karnataka was the "out-of-sylabus" questions that came in the SAT paper. ~15 of them. These account to 16% of the marks. Hence, IMHO, the passing marks should be 20 and not 36. This exam was supposed to help the rural students - However, it has precisely avoided doing so.

Possible measures parents/head-masters can/should take:

1. File a RTI at DSERT to know the exact marks their child has got.
Cost: Rs 10/-

3. File another RTI to know exactly how many more scholarships are going waste this year.
Cost: Rs 10/-

2. If the marks >30 and Number of scholarships pending > number granted - then file a writ petition @ High Court of India requesting DSERT to remove the "out-of-syllabus" questions from the valuation so that the 40% pass-marks should be calculated only on the remaining questions.
Cost: I have no idea.

May you live in interesting times

2009-03-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

It is an old Chinese saying... never able to categorize it - a curse or a blessing?

I always felt nothing much is happening in India since Emergency. Perhaps my ignorance of the situation in Punjab and Kashmir in the 80s and 90s makes me make this statement. There was this economic boom of late 90s... An occasional riot - an Ayodhya, a Godhra, a Singur, a Kandhamal... Regular scams - be it fodder, coffins or petrol pumps. We have won two cricket world cups, couple of medals at Olympics (bronze mostly). There is the mobile phone revolution. Satellite TV brought the world into our living rooms. Yet, it is still not interesting enough. There has been nothing that has captured the attention of our entire country. Even IPL failed to a get a decent response from the Incredible North East. Even after all these prosperity, it is not interesting... I do not have even one story that I can narrate to my grand-son.

We are so deprived of interesting things that our news channels today are obsessed with interesting things rumored to be happening in neighboring democratic state of Pakistan. It seems it is really getting interesting there. The Honorable President (erstwhile Mr 10%) is out of the country visiting the only country US fears in the whole Arab world - Iran (for a change, the fear may be reasonable). Doing what?

The Chief of Army (who happens to be the ISI chief. Some say he is retired... But I don't buy it.) meets the Prime Minister and secretly tells him that the Honorable President is plotting to remove him from government. Just like the way he removed most of the judges. All the judges and lawyers (Gosh, I never knew Pakistan has so many of them) have united (really, lawyers can stick together) and are siding with the opposition leader and marching to the capital.

Men in camouflage (read: army) have been reported to have fenced the capital with barbed wire. The present judiciary (he he, a joke) issues warrants against the only philanthropist in Pakistan, who is now gone into hiding. Those poor cancer patients would be wishing their grandfather had never got out of the attic in Amritsar 62 years ago.

In the mean while, somebody advises the Honorable President not to come back home for security reasons. TV channels report that the adviser is none other than The Chief of Army. (you slimy double crosser!!) The Honorable President follows every other Honorable President before him. Decides to enjoy the hospitality of the city of Dubai. I hear they have a indoor ski resort there... Even after much resistance the "Nero fiddling..." idiom comes to my head... Well then, Pakistan in spite of all the feudalism and warlords, is not much of a Rome any way. As if none of these happened, the Taliban are partying (in their own psychedelic way) in Swat Valley. Rave Party?

Across the ocean people in Langley and Arlington County are spending sleepless nights trying to figure out "Who is in charge of Pakistan?". Across the border though, Indian politicians are worried only about the upcoming elections. They perhaps know that Pakistan can wait until August to get India's attention. (yes, I know results of election will be out in May... I gave 3 months for the coalition drama to settle down)

In an unrelated incident, a man in Alabama, US went on a killing spree wiping out his entire family. This was not an single shoot out... he killed all his victims in different ways. Another teenager in Germany opened fire in a school killing 16. My analysis is that these are direct consequences of living in a boring country for too long. Guess what!!! The entire international media is covering these two boring random killings. In both cases, the killer is already apprehended or killed. Case closed. But this intriguing puzzle in Pakistan does not even appear on CNN's front page. So much so for East meets West.

PS: The Pakistan commentary my understanding of the situation from watching IBN live@7. Some fiction may have crept in. Believe at your own risk.

PPS: The only philanthropist is cricketer Imran Khan. He has built a cancer institute cum Hospital in loving memory of his mother - whom he lost to cancer.