Prabhakar had posted about his planned trip to his hometown and the number there (250km) just got me thinking. I had half made up my mind to try out this route, and when Prabhakar indicated his willingness , we posted the route to the web. We got one more addition , Sudanshu , and one (kiran) who could not make it. The idea was to ride till Lepakshi, spend time at the temple there and take a call on the return journey. Google maps had told me that the distance was about 124km via the highway, so with breaks i expected to be there at around 10 or so. The idea was to start really early so that we spend as little time as possible in the Rayalaseema heat. I had anticipated the heat and the dry semi-desert weather so wanted to cover as much as possible in the early morning.
As against a planned start of 3:30 from Jayadeva flyover, we started @ 3:45 or so. Prabhakar was waiting for us @ start of Queen's road. Pr(Prabhakar Ratnagiri) was waiting for us there, and off we went(Though he needed some initial encouragement, he had some pain in his knee and said he wanted to go back). We rode in a group for a while, then me and PR went a little ahead till we reached the airport road flyover . After the flyover, we rode together till about daybreak . We must have reached the airport @ around 5:30 or so and it was pitch dark after that. Daylight appeared sometime before Chikballapur. We took the road that went through the town hoping to catch some quality breakfast. Had IVC + Onion pakodas there. The locals of course got curious about the cycles.
We must have spent about an hour for breakfast, and started I think about 8 am. We continued straight ahead . Sudanshu was building up some stamina by doing lots of revolutions @ low gear. As we passed the Chikballapur area, we could (at least i could ) make out the changing landscape. We started entering the hillock ridden region of Rayalseema with rocky terrain and mostly dryland with sparse vegetaion. It actually looks quite beautiful in the morning. Its the sun that brings out the beast in the terrain. We started asking for directions at about the 80km mark. The google maps show a road going to Lepakshi that starts from NH7 well within the Karnataka border. We, though had to cross the border and reach a place called Kodikonda. The road to lepakshi (which all the buses take) started here.
The road was quite uneventful , though there was some pleasant greenery on this road. We had done about 118 km upto Kodikonda. Lepakshi was around 15 km frm here. We reached lepakshi at about 11 am , probably about an hour behind estimated time. The cyclocomp showed 134 km as opposed to aout 124 km that online maps had showed. From the time we finished breakfast, that is about 8am , the heat had steadily increased, and by 9:30 we could really feel it. Every stop we made made us feel the heat, in the literal sense. And , there was hardly any shade on the road. We spent maybe about an hour taking photos and admiring the huge Nandi and the temple carvings. There are no major intricate carvings here, but the main attraction is the ceiling paintings which are believed to be unique. We had a snack of dates and minor refreshments and started for Hindupur at about 12:10 or so.
We reached at about 12:50 or so, had lunch at some hotel close to the crowded Market area. During lunch time, Sudanshu and Prabhakar decided to complete the remainder of the journey by bus. My cylcocomp showed about 150 km approximately at this stage. At about 1:40 or so , I took leave of the two, asked my way around, waded through a busy marketplace for half a km or so, and found the road to GauriBidanur. The road was okay , divided at first, undivided later, however with more than the normal share of potholes. A little while off the city, I chanced upon a milestone that said GauriBidanur 22km or so, and Bangalore about 100 km or so. A quick calculation showed that that meant that my place would be around 266-268 km or so. A full tummy and a hot sun combined with a pothole-riddled road meant that progress was much slower than I anticipated. I started beginning to feel pain on my shoulders and kept adjusting the seat inclination and height trying to get it right. After a period when I alternated between shoulder pain and groin discomfort, I finally discovered a position that seemed to work for me( and this is after riding on this cycle for nearly 6 months).
Once I crossed Gauribidanur , the road condition became worse, much worse. Progress was slow and painful, and I was quite exhausted by this while. The amazing thing about the son here was that it feels like its bearing down on you even when shining at an angle in the evenings. I kept taking a break almost every 5 km or so.I had packed some hydration juice with me and kept consuming that quite frequenty just to save myself from dehydration. There were many instances where I felt that I could go on no more. The stretch from Hindupur to Gauribidanur and the continuation towards Dodballapur was very scenic , despite the bad road. The railway line runs parallel almost the entire stretch and every 20 minutes or so a train goes by, giving the landscape a nice look. If only the road were a little more rideable.
About 7-8 km before Dodballapur, suddenly the road became freshly laid. My guess is , I crossed over from Kokar district to Bangalore rural. I was constantly mentally celebrating personal milestones. I crossed 190km, the previous highest I had done in a day, then 200 km. Around this time, I was beginning to feel really tired , and the road became uphill and effort stretches started coming around every corner. Also there seemed to be long stretches where there were no villages. Something remarkable happenned to me at this time. I was getting exhausted and feeling drowsy. I kept pedalling gently trying to push ahead, slapping myself, biting myself, pinching, shouting, singing, pretty much everything that I could think of to prevent myself from dozing off on the pedals. It seemed to work, when almost suddenly I must have passed out or blanked out. After cycling on the side of the road, I woke up to find myself cycling right in the middle of the road. While I was going at an angle I was pedalling steadily and not losing balance. The moment I woke up, this realization suddenly spooked me. I cycled in a dazed/shock state till I hit the first settlement before Dodballapur (at the intersection of the Chikballapur road I think). Grabbed some bakery stuff to eat , washed my face, drunk half a liter of water, and took a 10min break. My cycle showed 211 km or so, and it struck me that I could have been asleep for 3-10 seconds.
By now it was past 5 and the sun had started to take occasional leave behind the hillocks that dot this landscape. And the tree cover became much better, so cycling became much more pleasant. Also the few seconds of sleep probably helped me recover. I felt a little more confident to cycle. While the earlier landscape was dotted with occasional tamarind trees which seemed to shade away from the road, hereon the road seemed to have trees planted on the sides intended to give shade. Once I went through the road that bypassed Dodballapur town, the traffic picked up. I saw regular BMTC busses and a host of other vehicles. I took a break here for some snacks, and coffee, stretched my tired muscles before continuing. Of course, answering the curious questions from bystanders. The coffee here on a roadside Darshini still costs Rs 3! Now I started on my final leg, it was getting dark, so I put on my reflective jacket(Didn't bother with the headlights, since I figured with the traffic I'd have enough light, and the road seemed in order).I managed to cycle in the dark, enjoying what little of the tree lined highway that I could make out, occassionally munching on some dates that I kept with me. At about 7:30 or so i reached yelahanka new town and from there streetlights began and I breathed some sigh of relief. Surprisingly my homing instinct kicked in and I found enough energy to go ahead at a decent speed. I crossed the Hebbal flyover probably a little after 8. Took a break for a light dinner at the Adyar Ananda Bhavan at RT Nagar. From here on , it was rather straightforward, and I reached home at around 9:18 pm. My cycle showed 751 minutes of cycling at about 21.2 kmph covering 265.38km. Took a shower, and went to sleep.
