End Control

Update (May 2020): I am now blogging at kabhijit.net

This blog and all it's posts will stay as it is.

 

Looking back over the last eight years, it has been a long and varied ride to here. Uphill slogs and long descents; smooth highways and barely-rideable trails; lung-bursting efforts and easy ambling; blue skies, blazing heat, chilling cold and torrential rains - I can't complain about the variety. The only consistency was the camaraderie of friends, old and new; the curiosity and kindness of total strangers; and the pure pleasure of riding every ride.

But this is end control, and this ride ends here. I will be leaving IISc, (and Bangalore) soon, and will no longer be posting to this blog. (It will remain on the web as long as Blogger chooses to keep it.) If and when I start blogging again I will post a link here. I can always be contacted via the README page.

 

Although some of the info in this blog and many of the links may have gone out of date I believe this content has some value, and do not plan to remove it. You can browse through the archives for posts about rides, tours, randonees, and equipment.

If you found this page looking for information on:

• Bicycling in IISc: See the IISc Bikers' web page and Google group
• Bicycling in Bangalore: See the Bangalore Bikers group. 
• Randonneuring in Bangalore: Check out IISc Rando and Bangalore Brevets 
• Randonneuring in India: See Audax India

Sarjapura SMBR

Last saturday I did a brisk paced ride with Rachit heading southeast of Bangalore, an area I had not ridden since the Bangarpet brevet. We met up near Marathahalli, then headed towards Varthur, and then eastwards.

Beyond Gunjur

The road surface is mostly good, but there are some really bad patches in places.

Rolling roads

The terrain is rolling, with lots of small hills, and many false flats. Though the area was quite green, I imagine it will all be dry scrub in the summer, before the monsoons.

Lantana in bloom

The area was quite green throughout, but there aren't many trees providing shade on the road per se. In the afternoon, with the sun overhead, there isn't much shade on the road.

A small lake

We even came across a small lake, just before we hit Chikka Tirupathi. There is a small "darshini" just opposite the main temple entrance, and we had a quick breakfast (some of the best Idlis I have had), then turned around towards Sarjapura again. The return was noticably harder - there was a strong headwind blowing southeast and the sun had come up by now.

Decathlon - Gift cards

On the way back we stopped by Decathlon Sarjapura, which has now introduced gift cards. We were hoping to find some bargains in the end of season sale, but the sale items were out of stock or not great.

Walking up one-ways

On the way back the traffic was unusually annoying, so instead of taking the long way around with the one ways I took the shortest path and walked up the one ways. Traffic was at a standstill all the way from Minsk Square to High point, and even further towards Bellary Road.

The Art of SMBR

A Sunday morning breakfast ride (SMBR) to Kanakapura Road

I had some work on Kanakapura road, very close to the AoL campus on Kanakpura Road, so I decided to do a SMBR ride to Harohalli and back. David was free, and agreed to join me. The weather was pleasant and traffic very light as expected on a sunday morning. As we passed through the city, I noticed (because of David) many buildings and features that I would otherwise have missed.

Minto Opthalmic Hospital, Kalasipalayam, Bangalore *

Back to Hessaraghatta

Got back in the saddle after another long-ish break yesterday, and what better way to start the season than with a trip to old familiar Hessaraghatta...
Last week's rains have ended a long stretch of unbearable heat here, and the weather was just lovely.


 

The surface quality of Pipeline road was really good throughout. Many sections have been re-carpeted, footpaths have been made and even nicely painted. It remains to be seen whether all this will stand up to the monsoon in the coming months. Pipeline road also seems to be heading down the 'development' path, with lots of housing and small commercial projects coming up in the area. Some of the familiar orchards and fields had been cleared to form housing plots. The lake area had also got a facelift. The little parking area at the entrance and the path on bund had been cemented and the whole area generally spruced up. Perhaps all is in aid of the expansion of the temple at the top of the bund. I remembered it being a tiny place earlier, so I dug out some photos from earlier...

Before and after

The bund has also been fenced off, so there is no way to ride off the bund on the other side near the check dam.

And the riding season has begun! (For me at least).

Schwalbe Road Cruiser - Initial impressions

Just received a pair of new tires - 26 x 1.75" Schwalbe Road Cruisers from Wizbiker.com. With the ongoing discount the pair cost me Rs 1200, which is about the same as the Btwin slicks I had on earlier. Here are some initial impressions.

26x1.75 Schwalbe Road Cruiser ready for installation. "K-Guard" refers to the kevlar puncture protection belt, and "Active Line" refers to the 50 EPI (ends per inch) casing.

Coffeneuring 2015

I first found out about the Coffeeneuring challenge in Dec 2013, just as the 3rd edition of the challenge had ended. The challenge, in brief, is to ride (bicycle) to seven coffee-shops on seven weekends in October and November.

Hot filter coffee (Ride #4) on Karnataka Rajyothsava

Tour of Kaas and Mahabaleshwar (Part 2)

(Continued from Part 1)

I woke up just before sunrise to find the others already awake, taking photos. The view was breathtaking - the rising sun on one side, the serene lake on the other.

Tour of Kaas and Mahabaleshwar (Part 1)

I did a two day tour of the Kaas plateau, the valley of flowers near Satara in Maharashtra, with Rafi, Vidyasagar and Gautham. Rafi's plan was to take bicycles by Volvo overnight to Satara, then ride up to Kaas and camp somewhere en route to Mahabaleshwar. The second day, we would ride back down to Satara, and catch the returning Volvo to Bangalore.

The climb up from Satara to Kaas plateau

Smartphone as GPS

For quite some time I had wanted to get a GPS to log my rides, plan routes and navigate on recce rides. Although I had briefly considered getting a dedicated GPS unit like a Garmin or Magellan, I found the value of a generic smartphone hard to beat. In Aug 2012 I bought an entry level smartphone - the Karbonn A5, then a newly launched Indian mobile phone. That phone was great value for the price (Rs 5000) at the time - the GPS worked great (especially with AGPS), it had a fast CPU and loads of storage. Based on the experience, here are the reasons I'd prefer a (smart)phone over a GPS.

The Basavanabetta 200

The Basavanabetta 200 route was designed by Parag Patankar, and organised as a non-ACP ride under the Bangalore Brevets banner.

A Winter Night Ride

November is here, and the temperature has dropped noticably since Diwali. I took a short impromptu ride last night to enjoy the crisp winter air and the full moon. Despite the bright moonlight, some roads in are completely dark due to the dense canopy of Mahogany and Rain Trees. An added bonus is the sweet smell of Alstonia Scholaris flowers (near the library) filling the night.

Kottai 200 Brevet

Back story:

After an eventful fallout with the national randonneuring 'body', a number of clubs (both clubs of Bangalore included) are no longer organising ACP sanctioned rides this year. Instead, a new organisation is taking shape in Bangalore, and there could hardly be a more fitting first ride than the K200 - a scenic and challenging route with just the right mix of everything.

The K200

HOWTO: Open Chain Quick Link with Nose Pliers

My s.o.'s commuter bike has a stubborn quick link on the chain which just can't be undone by hand. There are a number of nice tools specifically for this (Park Tool and others) but a pair of nose pliers will work just as well - in 5 easy steps! Click on the pictures for full sized versions.

Step 0: Find a pair of nose pliers

Mini Velo

By a stroke of luck I happen to have on loan a small wheeled bike from Mr Pai. I had test-ridden it before, but now that I have ridden it a little more I think it deserves a post of its own.

The Mercier Mini Velo in bright Orange

Time Trialing

Some of the roadies from IBN started a bi-weekly schedule of early morning Time Trial practice on Airport Road, which I rode today. The "course" starts at Esteem Mall and goes all the way to airport and back, a distance of about 40km

Makalidurga Exploratory

Shaunak and I rode a 150K loop yesterday. Briefly, north all the way to Makalidurga and just a little beyond to Thondeblavi, then west to Alipur and then back south along some village roads, some of which I had already explored.

Gauribidanur 200 Brevet Preride

This was the first Non-ACP Brevet by the IISc Randonneurs. The plan for a brevet to / through Gauribidanur had been simmering for nearly a year before Sourav and Shaunak teamed up to put it together. Shaunak, Rishav and I rode the pre-ride since we were volunteering for the actual event. The route can be summed up in one word: scenic. (Don't try it in the heat of peak summer, though)

Just after Gauribidanur

Hoskote - Mandur

A short ride with Sourav Mondal to recce the last section of the Gauribidanur 200 (Non-ACP) Brevet.

Full Fenders - SKS P65 Chromoplastic

A couple of rides in wet conditions had me convinced I needed mudguards. I quickly got myself a pair of inexpensive BTwin Clip-Ons, but after seeing little improvement I decided I needs full mudguards. Full mudguards need some investment of time and energy, but are worth it in the long run. This post details fender selection, installation, and links to other useful stuff.

The KGF 300

After a number of missed opportunities, I finally attempted the KGF 300 BRM - a super scenic route that passes through two neighboring states - Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The ride was certainly not easy for me, being my first 300K brevet, with summer weather making things even harder on an otherwise easy route. I was riding the pre-ride with Sohan and Chiddu a week before the actual event since we would all be volunteering at the controls on that day.

Belting it on Hoskote-Malur Road