I’ll never do BRM again…

This thought made me smile this time. I had the same feeling in earlier BRMs too, when extremely tired with continuous rides, but registered for the later ones again :). BRM (Brevet des Randonneurs Mondiaux) is a long-distance, free-paced cycling event.

It’s 2:30 pm, the sun at its best, making it one of the hottest days of this season — at least I feel that. I’m standing on the side lane of the Khaniwade Toll-booth, this being the only shade I find in the last 5 km. And, I don’t have any energy left to move on. The thought keeps resonating in my mind – I’ll never do BRM again…

Every passerby is watching me while they cross the toll booth. Nothing new though, on my prior long trips too, we met many people curious about cyclists, their bikes, and their attire. I’m getting this attention even when I look horribly tired and exhausted. I look — sorry, I actually am!

Checking the watch again, it\’s been 10 minutes since I stopped here. I take a few sips of water and pour the remaining over my head; have some salted dates I\’m carrying with me. Re-energized, I walk to a nearby shop to refill water and have a glass of sugarcane juice. As always, the break has done its magic and I start again…

It wasn’t the same back then, in the morning. After having bread with milk, I started from home at around 5:20 am. It was calm and cold, signaling the beginning of a delightful winter in Mumbai. While riding to the starting point, I got a call from Vineet. It was Vineet’s first BRM and we decided to do it together. Due to some confusion, he went ahead crossing the starting point. After some time he came back and we started with the formalities. It was 8 minutes past flag-off when we began to ride.

There was a constant sound coming from Vineet\’s bike; we tried but couldn\’t identify the issue. It was so loud that the fellow cyclists 15-20 feet away heard it. He was a little troubled with it, thus riding cautiously and slowly. Getting any help was out of the question at this early hour of the day. Yesterday evening Vineet got his bike repaired, but I guess the mechanic has not done a good job.

I\’m worried about my bike too. As it was riding fine, I had skipped the checkup this time and yesterday evening went to a local shop to just tighten the loose breaks. He had informed me that a spoke in the rear wheel is broken, due to which, the wheel is out of alignment and the rim is rubbing the break-pads. This is blocking the free movement of the wheel. None of the local shops knew how to repair it and all the known bike service centers were closed. There was no other option but to take a chance and ride.

After an hour of the ride in the morning, we crossed Kasarvadavli. I noticed that the sound from Vineet’s bike is reduced a lot. Well, it didn’t turn out to be a piece of good news though. Vineet told me that the crank arm got loose thus he is not able to pedal properly. We tried fixing it but didn’t have the necessary tools. Also tried our luck at a couple of flat tire service stations but they also couldn’t.

Even with the issue, we managed to reach the Fountain Hotel. The crank arm is so loose now that only a pull can take it out. Vineet decided not to go further. It\’s really a tough decision to make when your mind and body are completely aligned to complete the BRM. I moved ahead alone.

Lesson learned 1: Before every BRM, we should always get our bikes checked, that too few days prior. This gives us a chance to take small rides, thus any issues can be rectified.

After 1 hr 30 mins, the climate was still good, with decent traffic conditions. I started riding with a little higher speed, leaving behind all known landmarks, targeting to cover the first 100 km before 11:00 am. Nearly after 75 km, I stopped for breakfast at Kamat Hotel. Ordered Upma & a bottle of cold water and had it as quickly as I could.

I started again only to find out that the rear tire was flat. While I was fixing the tire, many people and kids were watching me out of curiosity. They were all surprised to know that we were riding 200 km on the bike. I gave them some information to inspire them to ride.

I started again to reach the halfway mark by around 11:35 am. I decided to quickly return and have a meal later. Got my card stamped, refilled water & salted lemon juice. Started again at 12pm…

I covered another 25 km in a little more than an hour and was happy with my speed. As the day progressed, it was getting hot and tiring. After a few more km, I started feeling hungry and thus took a break. This break lasts for about 30 minutes, a little longer than expected. I’m happy though as I haven’t had any sugar in my ride. And secondly, till now I didn’t get any cramps. I guess the salted lemon juice is the reason. Started again fresh, to ride ahead in the extremely hot climate, with almost no shades.

Lesson learned 2: Drinking lemon water with black salt helps in preventing cramps. It also gives a nice cool feeling during hot climate conditions.

I was tired like hell and it was burning hot as if I was sandwiched between a super hot sun and an equally hot road. I’m losing energy very fast, and it almost becomes impossible to move ahead when reached under the shade of the Khaniwade toll booth. I rode 20 km since the last break. Took a short break again.

Careful, shouted a man, and it broke my thoughts. I realize that I’m riding in the 2nd lane with many vehicles passing by.

Riding is becoming more difficult with time. Even at 3:00 pm, the sun is showering heat strongly. Though there is nice shade on the other side of the road but it will be dangerous to ride on the wrong side of the highway. Every time I check Strava, it just adds a couple of km. In frustration, I switch off the mobile’s display. I passed Virar and Vasai to enter the city traffic. My speed dropped to new lows.

Reaching near Bhajanlal Dairy, I skip the flyover to have sweet chilled lassi. Looking at the shade below the flyover, I put my bike on the stand and lie down on the footpath, right below the flyover. The footpath is too hot but I don’t have enough energy to get up. After around 10-15 mins rest, I get up and enquire about Bhajanlal dairy. It’s better to give it a miss as it’s a km away, rather I choose to have some sweets from a roadside joint.

Lesson to learn 3: I\’m not sure if it was a good idea to not have any sugar (though I had dates, not any processed sugar). If any expert reading this, please advise the best way to keep away from sugar. I guess another mistake was to not have bananas.

Reaching back at Fountain Hotel Junction reminds me of Vineet. The temperature is dipped to a comfortable level as it’s around 5:00 pm. The green stretch of Sanjay Gandhi National Park made the elevation easy to climb and a nice long descent after that is a pleasure to ride. Though there are many vehicles on the road, the traffic isn’t too bad. The rest of the ride to the finish line was a cakewalk with the excitement of finishing it once again.

A group of people cheering across the finish line doubled the joy of completing the BRM.

Riding back home, I promise to practice better for the forthcoming 300 km BRM.

Different experiences/experiments with this BRM:

1. It\’s my first solo BRM. Missed you, Rahul, fun is more riding together.
2. No Enerzal, no energy bars, and very little food. Though I had some sweets/chocolates towards the end, to give my body some instant fuel.
3. had a lot of lemon water with added black salt (no sugar) and salted dates to beat the cramps.
4. My First 200 km ride in such a hot climate, looks like need to read more to improve
5. Keeping a separate mobile for Strava worked best. It ensured both the mobile worked till the end and easy to take calls and pics on the way.

PS. This blog post covers my experience of 200 km BRM held on 4th Nov 2018 (Mulund to Charoti and back). 160+ participants are riding that day.

Some pics of the day :

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