"The body achieves what the mind believes,with the right training"
45 days back Hubballi Bicycle Club declared BRM 200KM to Goa on 28th November which falls on my marriage anniversary day. It is a timed event in which we have to complete 200Km distance within the stipulated 13.30 Hours. I have done every goa brm from the past 6 years but this was different. It was falling on my 16th marriage anniversary which is a very special day for me & my wife.
I took it up as a challenge to make my wife ride along and make it a memorable day in our lives & she complimented by agreeing to give it a shot. But she had never ridden beyond 20Kms till date ! It was an uphill but achievable task.
The training started by waking up as early as 4.30 every day and riding a distance of 30-40kms everyday followed up by a strict food routine of juices, large amounts of water & healthy home cooked food only. Occasional 50Km & 100km happened in these 45 days.
Lot of hurdles came our way making us feel stronger about achieving it by the day. The day she completed her first 50km, mind was set on getting her a brand new cycle. Unfortunately the cycle we purchased was faulty from day one and had issues with the hydraulic brakes. The disc was all the time hardpressed by the brakepads making it tougher to ride. Multiple times the cycle was sent to service and came back with one or the other issue. This went on till 3 days from the day we had to ride the distance….
Eventually we had to settle by reducing the braking & stopping power of the cycle. I told my wife that the cycle is absolutely fine now and ready for Goa. If this thought was not planted , ending would have been different and I would not be writing this post. Psychology plays a very important role in riding long distances.
During this time I was not sure if the ride would happen as wife’s cycle was not ready and I cannot ride alone either on my marriage anniversary day leaving her behind at Hubballi. Friends kept calling and asking as to why have I not registered till now..Infact I registered 2 days before the event when I got a very strong premonition of us completing it successfully.
One day before the event, I messed up with my cycle too by applying two different kinds of degreaser leading to powdering on chain & other parts…I was super worried and rushed to my sankatmochak Chintan and got it fixed by his superman technician Amir bhai. The thought of chain getting cut was paramount but was calmed once amir did his magic on my cycle and announced “Abhi aaram se goa jaa ke aao sir,kya bhi problem nahi hota apko” Man I was relieved !
Eventually, the day arrived and we started our most memorable journey towards Goa on cycle. We Started 20mins late as we arrived exactly at flagoff time of 6AM. All the riders were lined up and raring to go. Once the flagoff happened, we completed our registration formalities and had delicious Uppitt & Tea. We were accompanied by Rajkumar Khot sir till Dharwad as he was riding towards Kittur & back. Had a very fruitful discussion with him after which he shot off at his pace towards Kittur. The climate was most favourable for anyone riding a 200KM tough BRM. It was drizzling just enough to wet our faces and cloudy till 2PM. We reached 2ndCP Kittur (50KM point) listening to evergreen songs of Kishore humming them all along. We were the last to reach Kittur CP. Had sumptuous breakfast and headed towards Next CP Rumewadi cross(96Km) . Here again we were the last to reach although 45 mins early to closing time. The next CP Mollem was 50+ kms away at the 150KM mark of the journey and was the most exciting part of the entire 200Km ride. It had all a cyclist & a nature lover yearns to experience. The downhill of 15 Kms from Anmod to Mollem was breath-taking and felt like a pay check after hard labour. During these 150Kms multiple times chain fell down of my wife’s cycle. But it was taken care off. We were again last to reach Mollem CP4 but were 30 mins before closing time.
Last 50Kms were most confusing as it went through towns & villages of Goa with multiple twists & turns. We reached Next CP5 (160Km) few minutes before closing time and had a sigh of relief. Now we had to ride 40Kms within 3 hours else the dream would come shattering down on us. Normally 40Kms takes 2+ hours for us to complete, but this time we were already drained and fatigued having ridden 160Kms. Apart from this, multiple turnings made it look more difficult.
Fortunately markings were made at every single crossing where we would get confused with an arrow & HBC painted on the road. This made it easy for us to navigate. It was getting dark by the minute and we put on our lights & reflector vests. I kept on pushing my wife to ride on higher gear now as we were running short of time…not knowing that here fingers had become totally numb & she almost lost sense of surroundings keeping only one thing in mind “ to reach before time”.. She kept on telling, bcoz of her I will not be able to complete. But I was determined and sure that we will complete before time..
We finally reached 5 mins before the cutoff time at 19.25PM with a grand welcome by all present there…A small dream had come true and our efforts were paid off. It felt like magic when both of us took that pic near the finisher standee. To top it all we witnessed Bioluminescence on the beach where we reached.
It was like god’s way of telling “Good work guys ,now enjoy the show I have put up here”
I thank Anandsingh Mokashi & Kishore Raiker for organzing such an amazing brevet, Chintan Shah & Karthik V. Irapannavar for their support during the entire 45 days of my training. Special mention for Shettappa Pirangi Sachinsingh Bangalorekar Shrikant Mayyannavar & Prasanna Joshi who were manning the control points without whom the event would not be successful.
I have set a precedence(record of sorts) of riding with my wife on marriage anniversary day for 200Kms. I want you to take it up as a challenge
The purpose of this post is to awaken the cyclist in you and experience the good life !
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