4th October 2020 was announced for BRM 200;hubli- sirsi -hubli . wonderful route to cross mungod , it so happened that i had decided to join the wild life cyclothon ..but something's doesn't happen as we think. A call from Chairman Anand baid made a difference, then i gave a thought to join the Brevet . i rushed my cycle to service to keep it ready for brm .
Tried to sleep previous night but the thought of finishing within time kept me curious as i would be entering the challenges first time!
at last ! reported the apsara venue ten mins early, and was checked with all the accessories then I felt it's so professional! omg Sd was a keen observer ,he saw that all the cyclist were with rear lights ,front lights ,helmet and a reflector jacket! but luckily i had florescent reflector jacket picked at Singapore,! i was happy as it was so helpful .
flag off at 6 .15am was on time with not a single minute delay . our journey started but as usual all the cyclist started i was last to start . in a moment i realized all are going ahead, In a rush i asked a fellow cyclist to wait for me ,so that i could approach gabbur cross the dwd cyclist was none other than Shushrut ...were I got paired with him n set our journey to complete 200km !
i always thought ,a group of cyclists will be there to motivate each other but never realized they all are in a challenge, why would anybody wait for a lady cyclists. As i crossed 15km most of the cyclist disappeared much ahead ! i could see one cyclist lacking behind and that was Shushrut from Dharwad ! it gave me immense happiness that his pace was not faster like others and it was his first brevet too as mine , we acquainted ourselves n started moving together ! Shushrut started getting tired by unnecessary peddling the moment he sees elevation ! haha that made me laugh at his struggle ,at times we need a advice that's what i did to him ,asked not to look at the road n panic .i saw the improvement in him after 50 km ! reported the first check in point around 8. 10 am ,to kishore, anand ,mokhashi and srikant deshpande were at the tea stall reporting us with water and chikki ..they were happy with our timing and expressed it ! i was happy to see Joe n Noor at the same point ,we set the journey towards malgi and our Shushrut with Joe and Noor began . hardly 5km away our Shushrut gear derailed , oops i thought how will i be helping him ,as i have not trained myself to any of the cycle breakdown . luckily Joe was helpful to the boy and cycle was all set . how i wished all along that nothing should happen to our cycle as there would be none other than we two on the lonely roads .what a relief his gear was back on rail . saw Joe and Noor disappear after few km . the route was very scenic but had decided not to waste time unnecessary stopping n halting to take pictures and selfies 'but yes for brm memory hv taken few pics .
these Challenges is all about your mindset and time sense .yes ! i took precautions not to rest more . reached 75km, malgi ,we gobbled some food ,had to force to eat !! Shushrut was always ready to eat something to get the energy . it was around 11 am i guess .
it was a u turn point for 150 brm ! but none had participated wished that our ladies cyclist could have made it as it was a compulsory 150km ride for the hbc quarterly challenge. a thought of it made me sad , what a day they have missed .It would be a day of celebration if they had attempted 150 brevet !
okayyy.... here is another 25km to sirsi rns polytechnic college ,we set on the saddle but the road was much elevated than the earlier road . every elevation i turn back to check Shushrut is not left far behind but this boy sways the cycle this way and that way. but then he is full of enthusiasm to finish 200 ,we felt so happy to see the road downhill , that was the moment we smiled and sped the cycle as fast as we could so that we get time to rest at u turn point . It was 10km away we sighed each other and hurried to reach the second reporting point at sirsi ,crossed the paddy fields lush green scenery and to our amaze kaustub and his friend , we see two cyclist returning ! we waved each other giving hopes that u-turn point is very close ,we greet n proceed to finish 100 km ride !
hardly few metres and we missed the turn and entered the city market ! Shushrut following gps showed a long route and i had to follow him because he is from sirsi ,at last we reached rns polytechnic at 12.45 ,kishore and sd waiting patiently ,first thing we asked is are we late !to our surprise we were not .......oooolala all my thirst vanished , we stretched and relaxed for 10,mins here i realised i had not worn the hand gloves ,and then in a hurry at sirsi i wore one on one hand as another was lost on the way . Shushrut uncle came with a food pack ,but we were not hungry, packed the lunch and off we set to head back to Hubli. we had 6hrs 30 mins to cover. another 100 km !! we were not so tired at this point. And here we return to hubli to cover another 100km ! we had decided to ride 25km and then halt to have our lunch ! we reached malgi , we wanted to have a break to have food but there was no place ,we had a refreshing lime juice at a hotel ..then proceeded towards mundgod! it was 140 km we had covered and i badly wanted to rest for few minutes, i was tired as the afternoon sun had made us weary , Shushrut said. ...why the hell we wanted to do this 200km ,why are we troubling ourselves like this , that made us laugh .
Shushrut had gained the energy ,as we had stopped to have our lunch beside the road .but i was tired of elevations, they were small but yes when you are tired they appear to look long . this time Shushrut motivated me saying i cant be behaving like this as i had pushed him all the way - yes his words were helpful.
calmed myself and wanted to take rest for a few minutes to regain our energy, then Shushrut realized there is a check point at mungod ,yes we were 8km away then i said let us report and rest there ,reached the check point at 4 .11 pm , u have just reached on time ,this is what kishore expressed ,and cheered us !!! i was very happy to see Sd and kishore cheering us ,and making us more strong to finish another 50 km !! put all your efforts and be there within the time,u both can do it !!! these words were very motivational wanted to give up on Shushrut and go-ahead to finish within 7.0 pm , i told kishore and sd to take care of Shushrut as my speed was cutting down !
i left him and started towards tadas ,but i couldn't go faster as ,my heart did not allow to go alone without Shushrut, i slowdown so that Shushrut can join me hardly few kilometres i went but to my surprise the Bijapur cyclist passing me ,they were much behind ,i. waited for Shushrut to join me, i was once again happy to see him far behind ,then i thought ,if we finish it will be together !
Happy to see each other we started towards tadas and then Highway, once we reached highway we lit our rear& front light on as it was 6.0 pm and was getting darker ,from here we started pedalling as fast as we could ... to reach gabbur ,we were so happy to reach entrance of Hubli ,hardly 4 km to apsara theatre ,were our finishing point was but our speed breakers were the market full of crowd with autorickshaw,scooter,, walkers all kind of crowd but what do they know we have no time, crossing the old Hubli crowd was another challenge ! at last reached the koppikar road and then apsara !!!!!
finally we made it 7.13 pm ,just within the time limit ,
what a joy it was seeing our Hbc waiting and welcome us made our eyes filled with tears!!!
at last i made it !!!!!
or to say
we made it