Tracking Nishanth on his TABR 2018

[Opendro]

For those who want to see updates on his track : http://trackleaders.com/transam18

http://trackleaders.com/transam18i.php?name=Nishanth_Iyengar

He told me that he is doing more of a touring than racing. So, please be patient with him and wish him the best elements.

[Prashanth Chengi]

Feels wonderful to see another Indian hitting the TABR trail; I'm back to dot-watcher duties again. Nishanth is carrying a lot of gear, and he has a proper tent, and cooking equipment too, so he'll certainly have some wonderful experiences, and hopefully without blowing a hole in the pocket. Having a tent is sometimes seen as a bit of a luxury (on the weight to speed tradeoff), but some places in the US, particularly near Yellowstone can be insanely expensive, where motel prices can be as high as 300-350 USD per night, and when it is raining or has rained recently, you'll be super happy to have a proper tent. There is no dearth of places you can pitch a tent for free, and many designated free camp-sites, and some which are paid, but very affordable. It'll be very interesting to track Nishanth, on his quest. I join Open and  the others in wishing him the very best of fortune!

/Prashanth

--
Biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
bangalorebikersclub.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bangalore Bikers Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bikers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Prashanth Chengi]

Nishanth seems to have stopped for the night at the Woods County Campground; clocking close to 100 miles on Day 1; he seems to be in good spirits, but I think he realizes he's taken a little too much gear. He intends to ship some stuff back from Newton, but I think shipping stuff back from a USPS shop nearer to him would be a better idea perhaps. He's planned really well for a long ride, and if he can stay away from saddle-sores, he'll surely grind this one out.

/Prashanth

[Prashanth Chengi]

Nishanth has been making steady progress, and though he's already encountered a few rises along the way, today, he's started out on one of the first major climbs, the McKenzie pass, climbing more than 2000m over some 200 km, including the bulk of about 1200+m within some 55 km. Temperatures on top of McKenzie are also expected to be quite low. I'm unsure if Nishanth has a big enough cog to help him spin through the steady climb, given how much of gear he's carrying (his rig weighs in just under 30 kg, without additional food and consumables), but he's determined to do it, even if it means having to walk up (I hope it won't come to that). Do send him your good vibes and wishes.

/Prashanth

[Opendro]

Looks like, he couldn't reach Sisters before night and had to halt about 3 hours in the forest after the peak. There would still be some snow left at the peak, which would mean zero degree temperature. I remember my day when water and food ran out, everything in Sisters were closed. I didn't have internet phone and had no idea of when the next town would come.

Lets hope that he has enough supplies. Since he has tent, he can stop wherever he wants.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bike...@googlegroups.com.

[Prashanth Chengi]

He seems to have made it to Sisters, Open. It is the beginning of Sisters, where the tracker shows his location, 4hrs ago. 

For the benefit of the others, Sisters is quite nice; has two big bike stores, a superb ice-cream parlor, and other things (which he probably didn't get to enjoy as he might have rolled in late). He might have forgotten to turn off his tracker, as it's not showing up as 'paused', but he seems to have been stationary for 3+ hrs, so he's probably holed up there for the night. When he resumes, he can have a nice breakfast/brunch and wouldn't even have to pack a lot of stuff, as he'll not have any dearth of resupply options on the way, as he will roll through Redmond and Prineville, on the way to Mitchell, climbing the Ochoco Pass on-route there. Michelle has the unique Spoke-n-Hostel, which I'm sad to have rolled right past, without realizing it, but Nishanth will probably pay them a visit. Mitchell might be his next stop.

/Prashanth

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bikers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Prashanth Chengi]

I'm doing a daily post about Nishanth's upcoming day on FB; I can intersperse my own experiences at least till he gets to Colorado.

Nishanth Iyengar has made it to Mitchell, and is staying at the Spoke-n-Hostel, I presume. It's a fabulous place to recharge. He has a stiff climb that hits him as soon as he leaves; it's fairly steep, and it seems to run on forever, but after he gets to the top, it's pretty much smooth sailing. He'll get to hear and read the name 'John Day' to the point of puking over the next couple of days! Everything is John Day something or the other, including a town itself called, what else, John Day! First up is the John Day fossil-beds national monument, which is simply stunning. It kind of feels like being inside an Indiana Jones movie or something, to be riding through the canyon, with prehistoric rocks on either side. It's beautiful, humbling, and energizing at the same time. Nishanth will also have plenty of resupply and stop options, starting with Dayville, which has a very well-stocked mercantile store, where there's also a visitor book for transam racers, which he should add his signature to. I prefered to keep going after a quart of buttermilk and a warmed-up burrito, and if Nishanth chooses to go on for a bit more, there are other nice places up the road; next place is Mount Vernon, and a bit further up is John Day, all nice places with supply options. This phase of the ride is where Nishanth can safely stretch his legs and push himself a bit, because he's really got a lot of options, allowing for a lot of Plan-Bs. Ride on, Nishanth Iyengar!

/Prashanth

[Opendro]

Nishant is off course. Anyone has news on him? No update on his fb page too. Please update if anyone has news.

This year is going to see a new TABR course record - less than 200 miles for the leader and still 2 days more to the course record time. This is going to be one heck of a record.

[Prashanth Chengi]

I would not worry; he seems to have made a ride around Dillon, looking for a place to stay, and they were probably full, so he's tried to find an okay place to pitch his tent, is my reading. He'd started later than others he's biking around, so he was alone. If he'd been with them, he could have probably shared a room or something. I'm guessing that his dot will be stationary for a bunch of hours now, before he eats and leaves.

/Prashanth

[Opendro]

Nishant is in Colorado now. The final parts of the cold mountains. He is covering more distances in the last couple of days... getting seasoned I suppose :-)

[Opendro]

70 miles away from the highest peak of Hoosier pass, which is at an altitude of 11539 ft. In comparison, Ladakh is 9800 ft and Leh is 11562 ft. It is 21 days over now. 300 more miles to go to reach the mid point. Days will get warmer from Kansas onwards and riding through nights will be easier.

Nishanth, bring us a lot of nice stories to tell :-)

[Prashanth Chengi]

He's quite active on instagram, but I think one needs to sign in to be able to view his pictures. His account is nishanth.iyengar. I've been doing daily ride projections for Nishanth and the folks he's riding with, on facebook, for those of you who may be interested. Most of my TABR posts are public. 

/Prashanth

[Ali Poonawala]

Open and Prashanth...

Just curious...

How is Nishanth's journey compared to yours ?

Ali

[Prashanth Chengi]

I think we are quite different, as bicyclists. Open actually went to USA to try and crush TABR, and come back with a top 10 finish or so; he had some health scares, and despite finishing, he wasn't too happy, as he was not pushing for a 'just finish'. I went in with an open (no pun intended! :)) mind,  to try and demonstrate that one doesn't have to be a super athlete like Opendro or Anil Kadsur, to finish TABR, but my mental preparation wasn't adequate, and my lack of outdoor camping/bivvying skills was a big disadvantage. Open overcame that disadvantage by simply biking faster and longer. Nishanth has a ton of experience with long grinding rides, and probably of the three of us, he has the most experience with camping, and that's coming in very handy for him, and that's also the reason why he's taken a touring approach to TABR, as opposed to racing.  I have every confidence that we'll see the second Indian TABR finisher this year. I really hope there will be more participation from India, but the finances and ability to take the required time away from work/studies etc will be the biggest impediment, more than physical abilities. 

/Prashanth
 

[Opendro]

I can compare his with mine. I think, he is camping most of the time, stops are planned very much well in advance (considering that he hasn't got stranded in the middle anywhere). He already told me before he left that he was planning to go as a touring mode. As far as progress is concerned, his is at half the pace as that of mine. I did roughly 155 miles per day. He has so far done at 76 mpd. I think, he will cover more miles in coming days.

Most important thing is either to face no major obstacles or to be able to stay on track in spite of obstacles. I think, he is doing good on that front.

[Prashanth Chengi]

I'm also getting much better as a dot-watcher, these days! I'm playing fantasy league TABR, by looking at averages, some weather updates, and trying to predict where people will try to get to. It's been fun.  Looking at the dots of riders, you can see where they stop, and sometimes find places/services you'd not realized were available. I hope to gather and aggregate this info and organize it in some way. 

/Prashanth

[Opendro]

I did a similar thing last year for the RAAM riders from India - looking at wind speed, direction, elevation, when the riders would sleep, when their speed would fall, etc. Yeah, it is quite captivating once it gets into the head.

[berkeleydb]

Open, Any update on how is Nishanth doing? The tracker shows he is in Kansas, close to Wichita.

Best wishes to him for his continued progress.

-{db}.

[Opendro]

I don't have any direct feedback from him. I'm also just a dot watcher. From what I see, I bet he is enjoying the country side quite well :-) Assuming that he does not have any time constraints, he will slowly and surely finish this.

I'm more curious at the places he camps. So, I often view the map in satellite mode and I can see all kinds of places. He camped opposite a Church yesterday and he is just outside someone's house tonight :-) Also, it needs a mindful eye to spot the places he camped. They are not always on the road. I don't remember anything along this route where he is right now. But just a bit of left and he found this nice village where he probably could get supplies too.

[Deepak Mhasavade]

Wow!! Nishant is at 2732 Miles! Another 1300 miles left. Superb. I hope he is having fun. Remembering Opendros victory over this route. Looking forward to see Nishant crossing finish line as a dot watcher :) 

Cheers 

Deepak

--

[santosh kumar]

@opendro, @Prashanth, is it safe to say that Nishanth has crossed the toughest sections of the trail?

Were there any encounters with wildlife (or even dogs) for you guys out there? How did you escape?

Cheers
Santosh

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bikers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

Biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
bangalorebikersclub.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bangalore Bikers Club" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bikers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Opendro]

Weather-wise: yes. Less harsh from now on. Head winds are insignificant. Cold nights are over. Hot days are still there though. Chances of rains are also higher, but not challenging.

Terrain-wise: no. Missouri, Kentucky and West Virginia have nastiest elevation gains at significant gradient in places. My legs were tested in these parts as I gained some energy after days of sickness. The climbs can really test your legs here.

Kentucky has the nastiest dogs. There is no way one wouldn't face them. Many people got bitten in 2017. I had a good race with many of them. Bears are over though I still saw a three of them in two occasions in the Appalachian mountains (all in the day time and on the road). I waited till it went into the bush in one occasion as it was slight uphill and there was no way I could beat it in a chase! I zoomed past them in another occasion as I was on a slightly downhill.

People carry sprays which are easily available in convenient stores.

On Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at 2:02:28 PM UTC+5:30, Santosh wrote:

@opendro, @Prashanth, is it safe to say that Nishanth has crossed the toughest sections of the trail?

Were there any encounters with wildlife (or even dogs) for you guys out there? How did you escape?

Cheers
Santosh

On Tue, Jul 10, 2018 at 9:54 AM, Deepak Mhasavade <biker...@gmail.com> wrote:

Wow!! Nishant is at 2732 Miles! Another 1300 miles left. Superb. I hope he is having fun. Remembering Opendros victory over this route. Looking forward to see Nishant crossing finish line as a dot watcher :) 

Cheers 

Deepak

On Wed, Jul 4, 2018 at 2:56 PM Opendro <ope...@gmail.com> wrote:

I don't have any direct feedback from him. I'm also just a dot watcher. From what I see, I bet he is enjoying the country side quite well :-) Assuming that he does not have any time constraints, he will slowly and surely finish this.

I'm more curious at the places he camps. So, I often view the map in satellite mode and I can see all kinds of places. He camped opposite a Church yesterday and he is just outside someone's house tonight :-) Also, it needs a mindful eye to spot the places he camped. They are not always on the road. I don't remember anything along this route where he is right now. But just a bit of left and he found this nice village where he probably could get supplies too.

On Wednesday, July 4, 2018 at 12:39:28 PM UTC+5:30, berkeleydb wrote:

Open,  Any update on how is Nishanth doing?  The tracker shows he is in Kansas, close to Wichita.

Best wishes to him for his continued progress.

-{db}.

--
Biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
bangalorebikersclub.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bangalore Bikers Club" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bike...@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
bangalorebikersclub.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bangalore Bikers Club" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bike...@googlegroups.com.

[Opendro]

Nishant seemed to have rested yesterday. Anyone knows if he is well?

On Friday, June 1, 2018 at 10:58:17 AM UTC+5:30, Opendro wrote:

[Prashanth Chengi]

He was posting on FB and insta, and nothing mentioned anything untoward, so I'm guessing it must have been just a 0-day. There is a heat-wave going on, and they might have been close to a hot-pocket too, which can be quite dangerous if you are on the road. 

/Prashanth

[Deepak Mhasavade]

Nishant Is at 3087 miles! 

[Prashanth Chengi]

Nishanth seems to be handling the temperatures, and indeed everything TABR has on offer, pretty well. He appears well poised for a successful finish in perhaps ten days or so.

/Prashanth

[Opendro]

He covered 90 miles yesterday. He has another 1000 miles. Max 14 day more days I guess.

[Prashanth Chengi]

Nishanth is apparently targeting a finish by July 28. He's now upped his mileage to nearly 100 miles a day, and has been riding alone. Don Harter, the gentleman he's been riding with, has no such time restrictions, so continues to ride at a more sedate pace. 

/Prashanth

[Opendro]

He is in the Appalachian mountains. Once he crosses this, it is all downhill and flats :-) Within 500 miles from finish point. 80 miles a day should take him within his 28th target.

[Prashanth Chengi]

He's ridden within his limits, I think, and has rested well and taken good care of himself, and of his ride too. Now that he required to push harder, he's been able to up the mileage. It's been an extremely well-executed plan. Whether he'd planned everything exactly like this and stuck to it meticulously, or everything happened on the fly, full credit to him. He is now at Damascus, having started on what I've calculated to be the hilliest 100 miles of the TABR course, from Honaker VA, to Wytheville VA. Though there are no big hills, there are many, many, rollers, and one has to use the downhills well, to accelerate up the rises, and do it over and over again. If you don't carry enough speed down, you'll have to struggle hard on the short and punchy climbs, which means less speed as you hit the next downhill, so yes, it's all about momentum management and energy conservation, and yes, hydration will be key, to keep cramps at bay. It's been a nice experience to dot-watch him. Wish I could have been at the finish or something, to greet him, when he arrived.

/Prashanth

[Opendro]

It is a long downhill till Charlottesvile. This downhill stretch was where I saw a bear couple. Beautiful stretch. I ran out of food and water when a family came to receive me to offer free food, shower and bed. I took the shower and food and I cleaned my gears. I finished in the next 24 hours from this point. The last 200 miles is completely flat and through many fields, completely desolate, but beautiful.

[Opendro]

My bad. The steepest climb of the route is ahead in Lexington. That will be the last climb. Initial part is very steep and then eases up the slope.

[Opendro]

Let me give an idea of the terrain around Kentucky and Virginia. Here is an actual 400 km I logged during my ride, with 7245m gain: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/9745418, which is 1.8% gain (not average gradient). In comparison, BITH is 1200km with 1400m gain, which is 1.16% gain.

He is current on this one : https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13763249  and next/last https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13763250 (not a ride log, but just a route I used for navigation).

[Prashanth Chengi]

Something seem to be off, with your numbers for BITH, Open! It surely can't be 1400 m over 1200, as just the 509 km of BITH that I rode had 5174 m of climbing. 
https://www.strava.com/activities/737449602

/Prashanth

[Opendro]

Are you suggesting that it should be less than 1400m? or more? Any brevet route which has more than 1% of the distance as gain is going to kill you. You rode 509 km and gained 5174m which is still 1%. Anyway, the route is here and you can be assured of it : https://ridewithgps.com/routes/25645416

BTW, the toughest 200k Bangalore brevet has 2080m gain, which is still about 1% : https://sites.google.com/site/iiscrando/2012-brevets/june-2013-anchetty-200 or https://ridewithgps.com/trips/25934928

Basavanabetta 200k is about the same : http://www.bangalorebrevets.in/2014/11/basavana-betta-200-november-29-2014/

[Opendro]

Jaye corrected me on the BITH gain, it is 14000m, i.e. 1.16% gain, not 1400m.

[Prashanth Chengi]

Is 1400m the net gain, ignoring the climbing and descending that's done in the course of the ride? If so, that metric paints a very incomplete picture. If it's something else, it's probably not as apparent to others including me, as it might be to you. Is the 1400 m the tallest climb? What I pointed out was that it surely cannot be the total climbing done, because 5174 is much higher than 1400, and it's the total climbing over just 509 km. 

/Prashanth

[Venky]

This it is just a case of missing zero, I think, Open! :) You are saying 1400m while it is likely to be 14000m over 1200km or BITH.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bangalore-bikers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

Cheers,
Venky
bvcoaching.in

[Opendro]

Just 22 more miles. He will be there at finish in less that two hours.

Congratulations Nishanth, in advance. Will wait for your report on your journey.