Day 5 – RESPECT THE RAINFOREST

We were all ready for the day with bags packed and dropped for the destination change. Jabeen was feeling better today. SV with help of Sunil did some lubrication for Tabu and Jabeen’s cycle. She stunned Sunil by offering banana peel to wipe his greasy hands. 

Santosh briefed that today is the day to just maintain your cadence & there is no optional part as we were shifting from Kalsa to Gudikere (103 KM, first need to cross 13 KM reach race start and a 48KM of race section, plus additional 10KM to the lunch point).

We didn’t wait for the flag off, finished our warm up earlier than the group & started ahead of the group like fellow cyclist Govindarajulu (his 5^th GMC) always does. We had to start/cross the little ascend from Kalasa again & I got slowed down. Jabeen & Tabu were ahead of us, after Kalasa main road, we took a deviation & pedaled up. Even in small steep/slope ups, I was shifting to gear 1 (left hand), SV asked me to come in gear 2.  I replied am not able to move at all in gear 2. Jabeen & Tabu were by now way ahead and we both were pedaling together. In descends I was moving on & in the ascends SV came and caught along. At one ascend I heard some noise, SV asked me to continue as she can catch up. But for a very long time she didn’t come at all.  After quite some distance I stopped & was trying to call her when Santosh stopped by & updated SV is coming behind. Apparently, her chain had come out, couldn’t be fixed by her or Muthu (fellow rider).  SV doesn’t carry her mobile with her, luckily Muthu messaged Santosh who fixed it. By now as you can realize fellow riders were catching up with us & we reached the race starting point for our 48 KM reserved area stretch.

We met Tabu & Jabeen at race start point who wanted to maintain their pace & so left few mins ahead of me. I started off & then SV too joined. Race section had some 200m gradual ascend (in 5km). It was a long drive almost alone, surrounded by beautiful scenic views of Kudremukh forest, nice lush green mountains that often reminded me of Swiss ranges.

I believe India has more unexplored natural beauty, that’s why Mani Rathnam also doesn’t shoot overseas 😊. I was in my pace, my ride, my joy mood continuing. I saw SV stopping for a sip, I too joined her.  She gave me a whole pomegranate & asked to eat it. I blinked at her, how can you eat it just like that? you must cut open it with a knife, need a plate or some container etc., it is not like a banana. She gave a live demo & told me to eat like a monkey, open with teeth and bit straight into the fruit savoring the seeds. She had preserved it for day 5 as she remembered this day was a strenuous one from her previous GMC trip (at least one day she calls as strenuous for AP itself!). The sun was too hard on us & I cherished the pomegranate like a monkey, wow, it was juicy & refreshing. I learnt that stepping down from our process/methodical steps to a simple need-based mode was a continuous learning throughout GMC. I realized my saddle height must be increased & SV did that for me. I moved on, it was a long stretch in the sun. SV went ahead of me, but I continued, Hitender also crossed me and went. Jabeen & Tabu were nowhere in vicinity & I took some raw electral, one frooti, didn’t yet have my bread, re-filled water from support vehicle, when it crossed & moved on. The support crew would just fill water without even switching off the engine, but good planning from their side.

There was a nice & sweet descend in which I flew along but still I couldn’t spot SV or others. The unexpected ascends and descends were taking a toll on me and I realized I am not managing them well, they were killing me. Santosh once waved from the support vehicle that it was just 15more KMs for race end. In this section, the paved road was narrow, there was a considerable height difference between the mud road & the paved road. Not sure if anybody else was behind me. Lot of trucks, heavy vehicles and cars were on this 15KM stretch.

I am used to traffic & was pedaling along when one truck behind me honked continuously. Ok, I know I could manage in the paved road, but couldn’t bear the continuous honking, decided to shift to the mud road. Oh…! I lost my balance, had luckily braked, stopped but still fell down with the bi-cycle. Somehow, I couldn’t get up. The truck stopped and also the opposite army vehicle stopped, truck guy came with water, army guys too came down. I told them I am good, while they lifted my bike, I got up. I stopped my music, put my iphone inside the pouch, sipped water & felt a small pain in the knee. But sensed it was not major, I didn’t want to check it out. I thanked them and pedaled up without music now.

I was just riding alone but was fine, I wanted to catch up, I sensed I needed to eat, had a perk but didn’t want to take a longer break. Finally, was relieved to see the checkpost end, race finish point. It was 1:30 PM and I was the last and I saw none of the riders were there. Usually when you catch up with others at the race end break station, you still feel the togetherness but today since we had a long way to cover up none of them were there. Santosh told that it was still a good pace as sometimes they have people reaching this point at 3PM. Even the support colleagues were in wind-up mode, so I hurriedly had my cucumbers while Jaison was helping me to relax my muscles. Santosh updated that Ram, who was behind me had a fall, but his was an injury hands, palms and knee etc. & so was swept into the vehicle, that was bad. Anju our enthusiastic photographer & SV had raved about this day’s lunch stop point. It was cooked by some mutt (Sringeri was nearby) people enroute and supposed to be delicious. I hoped to catch the rest of riders at least there, I was in catch-up mode today and so started off.

Santosh who saw me riding from support vehicle, stopped me saying my saddle height was low & again increased my saddle height. Finally, I saw the support vehicle at the deviation for lunch point. It was approximately 2:30 PM. I saw Tabu & Jabeen resting after lunch, SV was having her lunch & little bit tired.  Jabeen served me food & said she was worried that I had a fall, I understood that the truck driver who went ahead informed about my fall to other cyclists/Jabeen etc. Since Santosh confirmed that Ram had a fall they concluded it was not me and relieved. Later Ram conveyed that nobody saw him fall, he had to brake hard due to a car coming in opposite direction & his disc brake gave away.

 Lunch was arranged in a village house; the place was too good with cow dung washed floor. Lunch was worth the wait, with delicious carrot halwa for dessert. Lot of other riders were having their nap after the nice lunch. I was jealous seeing them lying all happily in a nice shade, advantage of reaching early.

Jabeen & Tabu left early as they didn’t want to lose the momentum. Me and SV decided to leave together after some short rest. So, it was just the opposite of what SV had planned, Jabeen and Tabu were doing too good and I was slacking, SV was in her steady pace.

I told Santosh no matter how late it becomes, I will ride until Gudikerre, no sweeping today. He smiled & agreed. Padhu who was riding today even after his fall assured me, “last year I reached the lunch point as late as 4PM but still I pedaled”. His words were very comforting & promising. We finished our lunch and started at around 3 PM after some rest. It was another 42KMs to go, so even if I keep 10KM/hr, it is going to take another 4hrs, i.e. 7PM updated Santosh accordingly. Santosh said you will make it by 6.30PM.

Finally, me, SV & Padhu started off together, along with mentor cyclist Rohit. I was not in good shape struggling still, SV and Padhu ahead while Rohit stayed with me.

At one point I told Rohith even though you see me struggling now, am confident that I will be better in an hour and will manage the ride. Rohith observed & told my legs were tired, I couldn’t pedal even seemingly flat stretches. But I was able to meet Padhu and SV at some break points with Padhu motivating continuously. He told me “Just one more steep section where in you can roll & then it is all rolling flat”. Many times, I stopped and rested my head on my handle bar, was exhausted and innervated but determined to complete. At just 15 more kms we took a stop seeing Padhu, SV and support crew having a break. Padhu bought us coffee/milk & again we resumed. That was the last time I saw both SV and Padhu, it was evening already.

We resumed and here comes the turn to Guddikkere from where Rohit promised it was just 10kms. It was a slight slope down and in front of me at the end of the road a beautiful orange ball of sun was beautifully shimmering. But I couldn’t afford to stop, Anju was clicking pics & cheering me up.

Ok, another 10kms is just like from Hope farm to my house, I thought myself & I should just make it up. Rohith motivated by saying if I keep up the pace/cadence I will reach around 6.30-6.45pm. It was getting dark, but then removed my sun glasses & realized there was still more day light than I thought. That was motivating - some more daylight! 😊. I was fully tired and taking 2 mins break with heads on handle bar, only my zeal to finish was keeping me going. I was calculating how much distance I must have already completed comparing to my reference, like from hope farm I must be now near ITPL, now Satya Sai Baba hospital and Vydehi… but this road doesn’t seem to end. Santosh came in-between & told just 5 more kms, now I stopped & replied “Oh! Boss, Rohit told me the same one km ahead & now you say the same after 1 KM……”  I stopped literally to question. Santosh replied, “Janaki, He is trying to motivate you whereas I am telling you facts”. Ok, now this is not time to argue, I told him whatever it is I will pedal up.

In some time, even before I could realize it was dark & I was supported by support’s vehicle’s headlight. Ok it is like Day 2 but I am alone and will finish it today. I took breaks to catch my breath and continued. At one turning, we were ahead with no light, support vehicle (plus its light) yet to turn, I saw something crossing. As it was a descend we were moving fast when I said, “Rohit I cannot see anything”, and he shouted from behind “Mam slowdown apply brakes…it is a buffalo crossing…” luckily, I applied brake and stopped just before it. I cannot afford an injury now, that too with the buffalo. Tiny houses passed by, Rohith gave me false hope/motivating with words just around the corner, around the turn. Come on, Hopefarm to home is not this faaaar! When he said it is just another one KM, I didn’t trust him and asked, “But I don’t see the marking last 1KM”. He replied, “Only for the racing section we mark the last 1 KM”. Finally, I saw the marking to enter the homestay Wow!!

All I could hear was everyone cheering & clapping me up, advantage of reaching the last 😊. Manjesh (icycle proprietor) remarked that none got this reception. I stopped & immediately checked the time it was dot 7PM! Santosh remarked since I had aimed 7 I reached at 7 and would have made it by 6:30 if I had aimed so. Me & Rohith high fived & I went to check my knee, it was slightly bruised & swollen. Now I was limping, Jaison told me since it was an open wound no medicine except for ice pack. Oh! what a day, what an experience! Jabeen & Tabu had reached by 6PM, SV & Padhu at 6.30 & me at 7PM.

Santosh asked me why I was driving in (left) gear 1, he added “For Malnad flats you should have been at gear 2 as they are not really an ascend”. After routine refreshing I recapped, realized all my mistakes. My saddle height was not correct adjusted twice, didn’t stop in between to have my sandwich (48KM stretch), should have ate before I was hungry, Malnad ascend should have managed in gear 2, too tired legs with no rest during downhills/slope downs. In addition, I was in desperate catch-up mode, not in “My Ride, My Pace, My Joy” mode, actually Ram was still behind me (before his injury) so implies I was in my usual pace. It was just that Jabeen & Tabu were super-fast today, even faster than SV. Since Jabeen had recovered she was flying along with Tabu, GMC is full of surprises and turning points.

Ram and myself got our ice packs i.e. ice wrapped in cloth nothing fancier but that meets the purpose. The home stay was a beautiful village house tastefully set up with pillared verandas. We all 6 ladies were in one room including Anju our photographer. I went to the dining hall in the other section of the house & scanned for my beloved curd, today’s menu had dhal but couldn’t spot curd. I enquired on curd when the whole gang at dinner table turned and replied, “apart from chicken curry everything else is veg”. Of course, rice, rasam and dhaal cannot be non-veg! Being the only vegetarian frowned at them calling merciless non-vegetarians as they couldn’t empathize the need for palya/veg curry and curd.

Sunil our mentor cyclist was totally surprised by Jabeen & Tabu and named them racing sisters. He had a name for almost all of us, SV was named as “Organic lady”. Apparently, Sunil had asked if SV had any Vaseline for his dry lips, SV said yes and again shocked him by giving fresh aloe vera leaves and asked him to use the gel. He named me “Strong Words” because I was very vocal on feedback be it GMC or curd rice or anything. Camp fire was lit, and it was a nice evening with chit-chats and pulling each other conversations. 

At night I realized Jabeen had some serious indigestion issues, she was awake almost the whole of the night, walking & mostly in the bathroom. We wouldn’t do much except asking her what happened. Tabu gave her electral along with a tablet but still she hardly slept. It was very bad; her one health problem was just solved but another started. I thought her health & her will power both were being literally stress-tested. Tomorrow there was this Kundadri climb, which the mentor cyclists remark as the toughest ascend even by their standards, an ascend of 400m in just 4km, short distance & so higher gradient. Santosh remarked all ascends until now were nothing and the true climb is tomorrow. I suggested to SV, if we must roll up most of the time anyways why don’t we leave the cycle down (at least less weight) & just trek up. SV just laughed but I understood nobody except me thought it as a serious option.