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

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

Today can be called as 'The Drama' day. Events right from breakfast were very emotional. TD decided to rest Rishi Goyal due to the exhaustions the previous day. Poor Rishi was devastated. He is just 14 years old, but showed enough maturity to hold back the tears that only a few could see. Finally, it was decided that he would lead the pack out of the start line till they get out town limits of Bathery. After the usual ooty-climb-speech by Vasu, the pack left the hotel for their final tryst with the mountains this year. As the first few motor cycle support crew reported back, there was a border check point which was collecting toll - how much? What for? Were all arbitrary. The money-man of Deepak rushed to spot to enable free passage to all the TFN vehicles - 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 news that Gudalur and adjoining areas like Devarsholai were observing a day long bandh in protest against Kerala Government on the Mullai Periyar Dam issue. There was 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, it was not safe for the Kerala Registered vehicles. Our video crew was in one of them. Our TD and the entire operational crew started exploring alternatives - alternate route, cancel CS, mass float till after Gudalur... So on. .. This is where 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 experience in dealing with officials. He was a pro at it. We got a police escort vehicle all the way till Neduvattam. Each police station on the way handing us over safely 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 know his association with previous TFNs do recollect that his Ooty climb in any TFN is jinxed. This one also started out to go the same way. Couple of Kms before the Devarsholai climb his tubeless tire came off the wheel ... And threw his off the bike for dirt testing. Result was a badly bruised hip, elbow, knee  and shoulders. Anyone else may have entertained thoughts of withdrawal. But having seen him suffer last evening after the race, I was sure he was not going to give up. He waited for the ambulance and got his bruises dressed and got on his bike again. The delay in getting the police escort helped him since every one else (esp Mark A) also waited for the time. It was a fresh start for all the cold legs again.

Balu in CS

The Devarsholai tea estates were very enchanting... But there is little any rider can 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 of the CS is a 22Km long climb. This climb has an unrelenting 4% gradient through out 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 oneself and riding in your zone and not bother about the inclines. You try to hard, you could bonk. You take it light, you could go backwards in GC. This CS also had Support Station - 3 in between. For those riders who are not bothered about their GC standings can opt to take ample rest in SS-3. Many of them did not mind the time hit and took a nap at SS-3. The Gudalur bandh gave the much needed solitude for the climbers with very less traffic. The canopy provided by the Nilgiris (eucalyptus) trees was also very inviting for many to stop, rest and move on.

Solitude during CS

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

The duel between Mark and Rajesh is just one part of the story. There have been many such duel today since it is the last chance for anyone to climb up the leader board. The MTBs had a competition of their own and many others just wanted to remain in GC without getting disqualified. Once the race got over, every one was relieved. From then on, the journey is mostly downhill. After lunch people took really long breaks and had hot chai. As they were sipping various flavors of tea, they applauded every incoming rider to pump in a sense of huge accomplishment. Indeed it was.

Pykara Lake

We proceeded towards Ooty after a couple of cups of tea ourselves. On the way we visited the Pykara lake. It is a very silent place compared to the rest of the town. The boat service there uses LPG instead of gasoline - perhaps more environment friendly. After a brief photo shoot we headed to the YWCA hostel in Ooty. The place is very colonial and also has a chapel in its quarters. The amenities are very Spartan, but the leisurely setting makes up for it. As we freshened up, the MTB riders came on one by one. Boy-o-Boy, you can not describe the joy in the eyes of the finishers. Actually, the MTB riders have put in about 50% more effort than the roadies. Kudos to all those who have finished this tour standing shoulder to shoulder to others on better fitting machines.

High tea and dinner served. Winners congratulated. All finishers recollecting their toughest moments. 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 of tomorrows joy ride.

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

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

Today was all about strategies. Mark Anderson was trying to see how best he can defend his 79 seconds over Rajesh Nair. He knows that Ooty is a tough climb and he needs all the buffer he can get against Rajesh - coz he is a much heavier rider than Rajesh (+15 to be precise). Lighter riders can climb fast - even if they get spent by the time they reach the summit. He left the hotel at the earliest to be able to do the CS when the Sun has not warmed up yet. Rajesh Nair on his part was playing a team game. As an honorary member of spectrum, the whole team gave their services to pace him to the CS keeping him fresh all along. But their efforts were hampered by strange mechanical  problems (missing 8th cog. How often do we see such problems?) just yards after the start. Team spectrum want to push Shankar 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 not just the top 5-10 who are worried about their positions. Every one below is trying 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 being competitive, drop them now. Things have got way too much serious now.

Arun Thakur - happy to find well paved stretches

The roads in Kerala are generally well paved. Today seems to be an exception. Bad roads rattled every bone on the body - even of those MTB riders. Riders encountered some patches of good tarmac when joy knew no bounds for these speed junkies. There is another problem with Kerala. There is no gap between villages. Where one ends, another begins. Its not like that in Karnataka. There one can find long stretches of fields, forests or plantations between human settlement. Solitude is rarity on Kerala roads. Those who share the road are also not decent. Bus drivers are always a menace. They honk once in a 'please' tone. Second time they honk in 'caution' tone... Warning. The Third time, it’s a war cry. They go all out to mow you down. Riders had to hear a lot of choicest words from other motorist - 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 all this, our happy riders reached the first Support Station. This is where most of the serious contenders shed all their extra weight - second water bottle, saddle packs, pumps, gels, rider docket etc... Soon, Siva's car became courier service to the top of the climb.

Bikey "Fixie" Venky chasing a tempo during CS

After the support station, there is 6 Kms of flat terrain. Then, there is a sweeping right-hand turn. That is where the climb starts. The CS start line is less than a Km from there. As the rider's left one by one, the tension in the legs (and minds) of those waiting for their turn increased. 3..2..1.. and Go. Every one was chasing the guy ahead of them. The climb is strong and every rider had some or the other story to tell about it. Mark Anderson 'cooked' it in the first 3 Kms and soon went into the red-zone. If he continued, there was every chance that he would bonk. Wisely, he spent the next kilometer just spinning at 16 Kmph to recover his breath. He again came good in the last two to regain whatever he lost while spinning. Rakesh Nair was obstructed by a lady alighting a bus. Both the lady and 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 on the other had got caught in a traffic jam just before the finish line. While these 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 (also support station - 2)is not the end of the climb. The climb continues for another 6-7 Kms before giving way to flatter terrain. For those who spent all their energy during the CS, this is no less an ordeal. For about half an hour, I opened a small resting joint  for the riders where the only refreshments that were offered were small talk and hearty laughs. Some of them keen on seeing the climb through passed it, while others took a breather. Calculations of sweep timings were made. Every body got going towards the lunch point which was at SS-3 (Varayal). Pasta was served for lunch with tomato and chilly sauce. After a leisurely lunch the riders pedaled towards a promise of ice-cream caravans at SS-4. The road to SS-4 was much better than most of the day. We passed a lot of coffee and tea estates on our way. But, they have become such a cliché.

From SS-4, the route gets a little easy but through towns and villages. Every climb looks like it is the last, but small and smaller climbs kept on coming all the way up to Sultan Bathery 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 a grueling day. Applause all around when he came by!! By about 5:30 in the evening all riders made it back to Hotel Isaac's Regency. It’s a nice drive through hotel where the lobby is the parking lot. High-tea and dinner are subsequently served.

Results of CS section today:

Men:

Mark Anderson:  17' 11"

Rajesh Nair:  17' 46"

Jeff Shmidt: 18' 18"

Women:

Vicki Nicholson: 19' 26"

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

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

Day - 4 is technically a picnic. You just have to get to it safely after negotiating the 15 Km of technical descent that follows after 20 Kms of bad road. The breakfast arrangements at the Solitaire Exotica of Madikeri was not too great. The bread was 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 were appraised 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 often were these patches. Rajesh gave a 'standard-down-hill-check-list' instructions to 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 goes where your eyes go. If you look at something off the road, then you go off road too. Rajesh added the importance of braking well before the turn and keeping the bike straight during the turn. Another announcement was the photo-shoot plan soon after the first support station. All came out in their best jerseys.

Vinay zipping through

Since there is no CS today, the was not hurry and the only strategy was to get down without tasting dirt. The bad patches made group riding or drafting very dangerous. The late start however meant that the riders had to share the road with the Monday traffic. The MTB's especially with suspension, were finally smiling as the road condition alternated between 'bad' and 'worse'. Now I have to extend the 'bad in patches' ... to 'worse in the rest'. So went the ride like this until Virajpet. According the morning briefing, the road from then was to be smooth. It was better, but far from smooth. When the riders came to a nice bridge across a stream, they stopped . Some of them thought it was the photo-shoot point and the group grew.

Richard Joyce waving at the welcome committee

More rolling terrain followed with comparatively better roads. Just before Kerala border, we were welcomed by a bunch of pre-school children. Their teacher thought 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 in their home. With five languages around them, they look too confused and when a stranger speaks to them in English, they just get petrified. Still, as cyclists passed them one by one, they got more confident and started clapping hands joyously. I even taught them to count 1 rider, 2 riders and many riders. Cheers!!

Photo Point @ Support Station 1

A few Kms 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 the technical descent starts. All but two riders got down safely. Those two riders suffered some bruises. At the bottom of the descent, the mood was much of relief - of getting down in one piece, of completing half the tour, of looking forward for the rest day. 

Rest day tomorrow - one can wake up late.

---

BSA - Tour of Nilgiris - Day 3 - In pics

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

Today is the longest day of the tour. 180+ Kms on the saddle is an insane endurance tests. To prepare you well for the endurance, Hotel Southern Star lined up their most elaborate breakfast buffet - Fruits (Papaya, Pineapple), Cereals with warm milk, eggs (boiled and scrambled), chicken sausages, toasted bread with two types 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 tour to end... Well it has to, and will leave me a couple of kilos heavier.

Every body is excited at the start. The riders are pumped up about the distance and the climb at the end. For many, the initial two days was just warming up for the mountains to follow. Now the real tour begins. The photographers and video crew were 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 images uploaded by Centhil and Adithya on their Facebook pages.

Day - 3 for the first half involves retracing the same road till Bilikere Junction. Well they say that the road does not look the same when returning... For one, for all the gruesome uphill sections become breezing descents (sadly vice-versa too). The perspective of the road also changes. It better be true, other wise re-tracing 90 Kms would be ultra boring. Those who missed the paddy fields had ample time today enjoy them in the pleasant morning Sun.

Riding thorough the Paddy fields

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

Spectrum Train

Capt. Ritesh Goyal on Jazz

One man was very happy today. Captain Ritesh Goyal traded his new heavy mountain bike for a brand new Montra Jazz.  He was a changed man. He says, it felt as if Obelix is relieved of the weight. He feels he could not have been handsomely ahead of the sweep truck if not for the Montra. The inclines were effortless and he confidently negotiated the descents. On a flat road, the bike just flies.  There were other riders who tried the Montra, but faced niggling problems with the gear train and went back to their old bikes.

Never before has the sweep 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 start line of the competitive  section the cut off was @ 4:30 PM. Determined riders were breathing a huge sigh of relief each time they beat the sweep truck to the support station. Re-fuel and get ready for another duel with the sweep. Ultimately, only 12 riders got swept. On a 180+ day only 12 of 70 riders were swept. TFN has a bunch of strong riders - mentally and physically this time. Respect!!

Just before the competitive section got underway there was high drama. The race crew had synchronized their watched and let the first rider - Abhilash through. Vasu has to rush to the finish line in a car. Vasu has a standing promise that "if the car breaks down, he will run the finish line".  And, it did. The car carrying the Time Station-2 crew just stalled couple of Ks into the race. If they do not reach before Abhilash, his efforts would go in vain. No thinking too much, Vasu came good on his promise. Starting running towards the finish line. After about 400 mts, he hopped on a truck wan carrying wood in a full filmy style and reached the 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 all about enjoying the ride and who you ride with. Tomorrow is practically a picnic.

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

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