Cycling, lots of it.

After a half-year hiatus, I'm back. I have been cycling more than ever since I moved to Bangalore. I log most of my rides at DailyMile.com and you can see my year-end report for proof that I have become a riding-machine :D

Of late, I have taken up randonneuring, which is long distance cycling. The events are called brevets. Like a marathon finish, an on-time finish in a brevet is considered an achievement. Actually it is the only thing you can achieve in any brevet because there are no positions i.e. first place, second place do not matter. Only a finish within allowed time matters. Finishers can opt for a medal from the Audax Club in Paris.

Last June, I completed a 200km brevet (BRM in short) along with 4 other members of my local cycling club. It was a wonderful feeling and such an achievement for a person like me who, just a year ago struggled at a 70km ride. Having never really won any medals in life, I opted to order the 200k BRM medal. That ride was the last of the brevet season in 2011. I was back to my regular rides, not giving much though to brevets until the 2012 season started.

I missed the first ride in November. I think I was out of town, I wasn't very motivated either. Then, in December, I got a message saying that the medal for June ride had arrived. I rode to BOTS to pick it up.



It was a thing of beauty. It was also good to see the other riders from that day, who had arrived to receive their medal. Many of them were also attempting the 300k BRM that was to happen the following weekend. My spark was back, I wanted to do it. I registered on the spot, making sure that I would at least give it a go.

I had already been riding regularly so I was pretty confident of completing a 300km ride. However, I was not sure if I would finish it in the allowed 20 hours. Too much time has passed since the event for me to do a proper ride report. The short version is that, after finding myself down and out halfway through that ride, I managed a last minute finish at the 20 hour mark. Thanks in no small part to fellow rider Sohan Sintre who motivated and rode with me for the last 100+ kms. I was elated to have finished in time, of course. I had also learnt some valuable lessons about riding in a brevet. The question was - Was I ready to step the game up higher? Did I want to attempt the 400k BRM in January?

The answer - yes, and that story is coming up tomorrow.