[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Brilliant race and congratulations for completing it successfully. I can't even think of such brutal, not one or two but four climbs back to back.

Thanks Amol. Such races need rigorous practice and we had practised enough, so we were confident that we could make it. However after doing 2 ghats when the clock struck 12 (noon) and we had still the longest ghat (17kms) to climb, it did send shivers down our spine. But having good protection from sun, keeping ourselves hydrated and good tree shade through major part of the climb, we could conquer the Medha ghat comfortably.

Great sporting spirit. A good deed goes a long way. Its comforting to know there are such helpful people out there. Kudos my man!

Races will come and go but we get life only once. How could have we proceeded when seeing a fellow cyclist lying unconscious on the road? It could have been me or any of my friends in his place.

This is really scary. Not an expert but any injury related to back/spine sends shivers down my body. Hope he gets better without serious aftereffects.

I am trying to get more information about his latest condition from Dr. Aditya Ponkshe. I am just hoping & praying that his spine injury is not that serious or life threatening.

On a side note did a short ride today morning to fetch some vegetables. The weather was simply awesome and couldn't stop myself from taking these pics even on such a short ride.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

The Arkade Sahyadri Classic - Ultra Climbing Challenge was my first cycling event/race in which I have ever participated & after completing it I am speechless.

Congratulations AutoIndian!

Climbing is not my favorite when it comes to biking, and you went ahead and completed a challenge fully on climbing! Awesome achievement indeed

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Congratulations AutoIndian!

Climbing is not my favorite when it comes to biking, and you went ahead and completed a challenge fully on climbing! Awesome achievement indeed

Thanks dear vb-san. I, on the contrary, simply love climbing the mountains, be it walking, running, biking or driving. The breathe of fresh air, the all round panoramic view and being on top of the world feeling is something priceless. But yes to climb these you need strong legs and even stronger lungs

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

But yes to climb these you need strong legs and even stronger lungs

And loads of practice. Loads and loads of practice.

I'm on the same page as @vb-san - my pace, endurance and overall condition goes for a toss every time I climb instead of a flat route. Even though I have spent years living and cycling around Pune. But I wonder if the mountains of Pune are a better bet than the rolling hills of Bangalore (both are no where close to my area of comfort). A long ride in and around flat Chennai easily gives me averages around 24kmph compared to ~20kmph in and around Bangalore. Congratulations on your feat btw!

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

And loads of practice. Loads and loads of practice.

I agree 100%. There is no alternative to that. Remember the saying, "Sweat more in practice/training, so that you bleed less during war"

I'm on the same page as @vb-san - my pace, endurance and overall condition goes for a toss every time I climb instead of a flat route. Even though I have spent years living and cycling around Pune. But I wonder if the mountains of Pune are a better bet than the rolling hills of Bangalore (both are no where close to my area of comfort). A long ride in and around flat Chennai easily gives me averages around 24kmph compared to ~20kmph in and around Bangalore. Congratulations on your feat btw!

Pune being more close to the Western ghats than Bangalore, you hit small hills within 20kms of moving to the west of Pune and within the next 40-50 kms you come across bigger ghats that take you down to the Konkan region (like Khandala, Tamhini or Varandha). Then there are smaller ones like Diwe ghat, Pabe ghat, Bopdev ghat, Mutha ghat etc. And how can I forget the famous Lavasa & Sinhagad. When we mentioned to the organizers of the event that we have done these ghats for practice, how would you compare the Ultra Climbing Challenge with these ghats. The organizers were quick to respond that if you have done Lavasa and Sinhagad, then you can easily overcome the Ultra Climbing Challenge and really we did. On the ghats, going downhill is more challenging than climbing up because the kind of speed the bike picks up in no time is crazy. The tiny brakes are not enough for emergency stops at that speed. You have to be very mindful of the smallest pebbles or craters on the road as these can throw you out of balance within no time (as happened right in front of us during the recent race).

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

The Arkade Sahyadri Classic - Ultra Climbing Challenge
.
.
25kms into the race and we were at the first pit stop, Nirvana Eco Resort. Very nice arrangements were done here for breakfast (poha, upma, sprouted moong, tea, coffee etc).

Fantastic stuff and congrats to completing the challenge. I was driving from Mumbai to Pune recently (I think last Sunday if I’m not mistaken) and saw a couple of cars with bicycles inside them (two Yetis and one Seltos). I think they were returning from the Sahyadri Classic because in one of them was a friend of mine - Brit chap, great cyclist and superb at bicycle fits who mentioned he was returning from Sahyadri Classic with some friends.

I stayed at this Nirvana place earlier in March this year and its a nice sweet place with a lovely view of the valley. I had also gone for a short 8 - 10 km run when I was staying there and those roads are really steep. I was totally knackered running up them - I can only imagine how tough those ghat climbs must have been. But more than that, those ghat roads (specially going up to Nirvana) are quite narrow and I can imagine a steep descend to be quite terrifying. Hats off to all you riders to pulling off that route.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Fantastic stuff and congrats to completing the challenge. I was driving from Mumbai to Pune recently (I think last Sunday if I’m not mistaken) and saw a couple of cars with bicycles inside them (two Yetis and one Seltos). I think they were returning from the Sahyadri Classic because in one of them was a friend of mine - Brit chap, great cyclist and superb at bicycle fits who mentioned he was returning from Sahyadri Classic with some friends.

Thanks mate Axe77. You are right, there were couple of foreign nationals who participated in the 4 ghats challenge. I guess one was a Brit & one was German. They were ahead of the pack. They must have surely enjoyed the challenge.

I stayed at this Nirvana place earlier in March this year and its a nice sweet place with a lovely view of the valley. I had also gone for a short 8 - 10 km run when I was staying there and those roads are really steep. I was totally knackered running up them - I can only imagine how tough those ghat climbs must have been. But more than that, those ghat roads (specially going up to Nirvana) are quite narrow and I can imagine a steep descend to be quite terrifying. Hats off to all you riders to pulling off that route.

This is a very beautiful place. The uphill ramp just before this resort is a killer one. Fortunately the road surface is very good and we thoroughly enjoyed doing this section.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Thanks mate Axe77. You are right, there were couple of foreign nationals who participated in the 4 ghats challenge. I guess one was a Brit & one was German. They were ahead of the pack. They must have surely enjoyed the challenge.

Nigel and Michael.

The latter is the original godfather coach of the Pune Wolfpack racing team. He was there in our Poona race and won the 35+ category.

Cheers, Doc

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Nigel and Michael.

The latter is the original godfather coach of the Pune Wolfpack racing team. He was there in our Poona race and won the 35+ category.

Cheers, Doc

You are right Doc. This guy NIGEL SMITH came second behind MAHESH IYER in the 4 Ghats Mens Masters challenge.

MICHAEL LEHNIG stood 8th in the 4 Ghats Mens Open challenge. Hats off to this guy.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

You are right Doc. This guy NIGEL SMITH came second behind MAHESH IYER in the 4 Ghats Mens Masters challenge.

MICHAEL LEHNIG stood 8th in the 4 Ghats Mens Open challenge. Hats off to this guy.

There was a guy from Belgium too, from Terrafit. Phillippe I think.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by ebonho

There was a guy from Belgium too, from Terrafit. Phillippe I think.

You are right here too. PHILIPPE VAN DE CASTEELE was in the same category as NIGEL, 4 Ghats Mens Masters challenge. NIGEL lost the podium to Mahesh Iyer (would you believe) just by 1 min and 12 secs, over a distance of 197kms and 5 ghats. They were so close to each other throughout the race. No wonder then when Mahesh was being felicitated we wanted NIGEL to be in the same frame. Both seemed to gel well with each other.

[Axe77]

That's right. I was referring to Nigel. He's a lovely chap and really strong cyclist. I think he was associated with Team Scott in some form as a coach or something.

[vb-saan]

Weekend morning ride (55 km)– started around 5am, and back home by 8:30am

[ebonho]

Day 1. As Tyler says with such articulate wisdom(!), "Embrace the SUCK!!!"



My team gave me a pleasant surprise and dropped in for a quick tea today morning after their ride. Lovely to meet all the boys after a long time!



Cheers, Doc

[ebonho]

The COB K2K Challenge Awards ceremony was held at Cyclogen last evening. Various awards and categories based on mileage, elevation and bonus points earned along the way.

The medals were beautiful and had the name of each winner engraved on them. A super nice touch!









Cheers, Doc