60 kms to Nandi Hills from Whitefield, on a single speed bicycle. Good idea?

[Baidurya Bhattacharyya]

Hey cyclists!

I'm new to this group and to Bangalore as well (only 4 weeks). I'm in such love with the city that I should probably abstain from talking about it... It won't end.

I'm planning to go to Nandi Hills on a weekend from Whitefield on a single speed Hornback bicycle. It's quite heavy in itself and pedaling it through regular sloping roads (like here in Pattandur Agrahara) itself is quite strenuous.

The trip will at least be 60 kms.

Do you think I should try?

What would be a good time to make the trip? I can set out after Friday afternoon, and have to be back by Monday night. Will the roads be safe?

I'm sorry, I should probably not be asking this on this group, but also, do you know if Nandi Hills has accomodation around itself? Will I be able to safely park my cycle also over there? I'm thinking I should break the trip in between, reach Saturday, put up somewhere and catch the sunrise on Sunday. Then set back out on Monday.

Thanks! 

Baidurya.

[Parag Patankar]

Hi Baidurya,

Welcome to Bangalore, and thank you for cycling and not adding to the traffic.

The ride to Nandi base is doable on a single speed, but the final climb will be harder, but if you are ok with dismounting and pushing for some stretches, it is doable. 

There is accomodation at the top, ask Google baba or your favourite AI tool.

Traffic is quite bad on airport road, so try and map out a back route if you can. 

Hope this helps, and keep us posted on how your adventure goes.

Regards,

Parag

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[Ali Poonawala]

I second Parag on that completely. Reminds me of my first Nandi ride on my ladybird ..way back in 2010-11. 

Part of a Vodafone ride. (I still use the water bottle they gave to riders.) Fatima dropped me and Ladybird in her Maruti 800 to start point at Vidhan Soudha !

Didn't have any clue about nutrition or hydration...remember having coconut water near Shanthinagar bus depot in return journey, around 5 o'clock .and simply flattened down on the foot path there itself, completely drained, exhausted.

Such wonderful careless escapades..

Baidura.. Hope you pack more sense between ears !!

Ali Poonawala 

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[db]

The deleted post was from me , I think.  Can the admins clarify why it was deleted?  

[Baidurya Bhattacharyya]

Dear Bangalore Bikers,

I hope all of you are doing well and are taking care (if not, may this message encourage you to). I write this message sitting in Kolkata, which is near but not exactly my hometown. With almost 3 months and 1800 kilometres of separation between me and my lovely but distant memories of Bangalore, everything feels like a dream. Bangalore is one place I long to come back to and understand better, definitely someday in the future.

I realized I hadn't updated you all with what I ended up doing finally, so here I go. But before that, I want to thank everyone who lent me valuable advice and what to do and what not (including not making the trip at all!). Thank you for taking such passion in cycling, actively conversing in this group, for making a newcomer like me feel a little more at home in an unknown city, and for sharing your honest wisdom.

Now what happened:

So I was severely discouraged from making the trip to Nandi hills by literally everyone I talked to, because of my previous unacquaintance with cycling such sheer lengths and continuously varying elevation, like in Bangalore. Also, road safety was a concern, however minor. However, the final nail in the coffin of my cycling fantasy was really my father's shouting on call (I could hear him even without the phone). Retrospectively, he was right - Nandi hills isn't for beginners. Anyways so I decided to cycle to the North of Bangalore instead, around 20 kilometres from my place, to my cousin's.

It went fine... mostly, as I cycled without stopping... mostly, on quite heavy (18+ kilo) a single speed cycle. When I finally reached his place, my knees, calves and wrists hurt, but it was fine... mostly! I got back the following day cycling around 17 kilometers. Upon reaching back home I proudly shared a screenshot of my phone health app on the family group to which my father's reaction was a facepalm emoji.

Within 2 days I fell sick. It began with joint pain and developed into a full blown 103-degree fever. People suspected it was something viral, but dengue tests came negative. I missed 3 days of work, fainted once and grew frail like I hadn't in months. Maybe it was the cycling - maybe it was my bad eating and hydration habits before and after the trip - maybe it was some rogue virus - who knows. But it was a draining illness that would not heal until I came back and rested amidst the comfort of home and family. That episode of sickness in a faraway city singlehandedly taught me more about the importance of family than the past 22 years. (I'm sure I will unlearn and relearn more as time passes.)

So I suppose the moral of my story is: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. OR AT NOT-HOME, for that matter.

Lastly I have some (pretty dull) pictures - some from that trip, some from others, for you to enjoy.

Hope I did not overshare,

Gratefully,

Baidurya.

      

[Parag Patankar]

Hi Baidurya,

Sorry to hear of your illness, hope you recover speedily.

Lovely pictures, once you are back, you can restart your cycling adventure again, maybe start with shorter rides first to build endurance and saddle fitness.

Regards,

Parag

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