bangalore - bhadra - jog falls - gokarna - goa (and its my first)

[lone_striker]

hi
im looking to do a trip by myself - bangalore - bhadra - jog falls -
gokarna - goa (and its my first!!)
plan to do this in the 1st week of april.
i plan to pick up my bicycle by the end of the week. its a bTwin
riverside 3

http://www.decathlon.in//TOURING-BIKES-RIVERSIDE-3MEN-CROSS

do you think that gives me enough time to train for this trip?
i have trekked and camped out in the past - and am in pretty good
shape- play football every alternate day.
could one of you suggest a travel plan since im not too confident of
pitching my tent out in random places.
im guessing i can do 70 - 80 ks each day.
do you think this is too ambitious?

[M S Sriram]

i dont want to discourage, but i guess take some more time to ride and get used to cycling and your cycle.

I know you would be fit, but there is something called "specificty of training"- a fit footballer cannot be said to be fit for an endurance ride of this kind...i know goa plan looks exciting, and maybe you can even make it, but there is bound to be some uncomfortable aches/pains which will not allow you to enjoy...On a serious note, a ride like this can lead to injuries which will take a lot of rest later..!

--
biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)

are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
Visit www.bangalorebicyclechampionships.com for more details

[Shree Kumar]

I'd suggest you start off with smaller journeys (1 day-2 day-3 day). As you get used to this, switch to longer rides.

There's not much of water in Jog falls during this season anyway.

-- Shree

http://www.shreekumar.in/

On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 8:18 PM, lone_striker <nikh...@gmail.com> wrote:

[muralika...@yahoo.com]

+1

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from !DEA

---

From: Shree Kumar <shree...@gmail.com>

Sender: bangalor...@googlegroups.com

Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:37:41 +0530

To: lone_striker<nikh...@gmail.com>

Cc: Bangalore Bikers Club<bangalor...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: [BBC] bangalore - bhadra - jog falls - gokarna - goa (and its my first)

[Yateesh Kumar]

Awesome plan....
am a litlle skeptical about the daily 70-80km with all your luggage. I do not have any personal experience in camping anywhere between bangalore & shivamogga. OTOH Villagers after shivamogga are very hospitable & don't mind somebody camping around their places.
Other options
1. Train to shivamogga/bhadravathi/birur & start from there
2. To make your ride more memorable, plan to camp arnd jog falls, there's and nice camping spot 3km upstream from Jog bridge or you can go to youth hostel at jog & crash
3. From here, you have alternatives to reach karwar
a. gersoppa - honnavara - kumta -gokarna -ankola -karwar
b. siddapura - kumta (bit longer route but goes thru ghats) ; this is my personal favorite
c. siddapura-sirsi-yellapura-ankola if u want to avoid NH17 as much as possible

4. On all these trails you will get a camp spot almost every 20-30 km
5. would suggest to find dorm at devbagh rather than staying at karwar
6. Other spots to camp at goa... are palolem beach, colva beach, calangute, ride thru ghats of canancona is really and great experience

Have a great ride..
cheers
yathi

[Nikhil More]

@yathi

these are some great inputs! Thanks! im looking them up as we speak.

really like the idea of catching a bus/ train to shimoga and cycling it from that point since everybody has been talking about the ride till shimoga being pretty monotone and uninteresting. 

@Shree

i plan to do small trips around bangalore before i head off on this long trip.

indiranagar to yelahanka since i hav some frends ther-  stay the night and head off to nandi hills and back.

based on my state at the end of that - i think il be in a good position to take a call.

thanks for looking out for me. cheers!

--
Nikhil More
VISUAL COMMUNICATION
_____________________________
http://cargocollective.com/nikhilmore

[Nikhil More]

@georg - thanks for the encouraging response - btw im 26

i plan to do short trips around the city between mid march and early april. 

do you think 2 weeks of training will have me ready for this? 

also - what is a decent weight to carry on such trips? 

[Rohit Arjunagi]

hi nikhil,

I'm sorry but in my personal opinion, 2 weeks of training is not enough....you need to get your equipment sorted out...then you need to test that equipment(ex: rear racks, panniers etc etc) and then you should also know how to deal with any kind of problems that might arise with the bike...all this cannot be done in 2 weeks i guess (especially if you are new to cycling)

If you want to get an idea of how multi-day bike tours would be, i suggest you go through Shree's website...he's replied here and you will find the link.....

Let's say you train for 2 weeks..how much distance do you think will you cover?? when do you think will you peak and when will you recover from your training before the trip??

"indiranagar to yelahanka since i hav some frends ther-  stay the night and head off to nandi hills and back"

in my humble opinion, this not at all enough....this in no way can simulate the real conditions of a multi day bike tour...you cannot take a call based on just this...

I apologize if i sound too harsh but when i got my cycle initially, even i planned and dreamt up such trips....it took a lot of reading on bikezone and BBC to realize that i was setting up stupid goals for myself....I did the nandi trip just 3 weeks after i got my bike....then did a bangalore mysore trip the week after that and then, I was off the saddle for 4 months due to knee pain....

like some one already mentioned, just because you are fit playing football does not mean you can ride long distances... there are a lot of blogs available online about such long tours..do read them up, get an idea as to what it would take to do such long trips and then decide....

If i were you, i'd plan the trip some time in sep/oct (april is peak summer, will be cooler in sep/oct i think), take enough time to train, learn to do some regular bike maintenance stuff on your own, get an idea as to what all you need and how much weight you can carry..and then go for it :)

Cheers,

Rohit.

[Nikhil More]

@rohit

i think you have a point there.

but as yateesh mentioned earlier, i could catch a bus till shimoga and continue from there on cycle. that cuts my trip down by half almost.

so that would be - shimoga - talavata  (90ks)  (located a homestay there  - maybe i could rest for a day) and this is mostly flat land. 

from there - talavata to gokarna (110 km) i could break this up into two parts i guess since i will encounter ghats on this stretch. 

but you are right - i am so excited about getting my first decent cycle and its good to get a reality chek from ppl like you who have experience in such rides. thanks so much rohit.

any thoughts on how much weight is manageable on such distances?

[Rohit Arjunagi]

hey nikhil,

I have zero experience in such rides :) you should write to shree..he can be of more help i guess....

also your question of how much weight is manageable on such rides is very relative....if suppose i say u can carry 20 kilos on the bike easily, it only means that i am talking from my experience..i say its easy because its easy for me...the same cannot be said for you.... you will have to judge for yourself as to how much you can manage...also how much weight to carry is always a trade off...u can carry more stuff for the trip, be self sufficient and be comfortable or you can manage by carrying almost nothing and then be miserable during the trip....(I hope i managed to explain properly...)

even after cutting you journey in half, that's still 200 kms....for a guy who is just 2 weeks (or even a month) into cycling, I personally wouldn't suggest doing it (based on my experiences)....see technically you can do the trip....but the question is, how comfortable will you be during/after doing such a ride...with proper training and conditioning you can enjoy the ride...there will be no sore muscles/exhaustion at the end of the day....without training, you'll simply suffer during and after the ride....

OK i'll shut up now....i'm just another newbie like you and i might be wrong....i hope you'll get more replies from experienced riders here.....

Cheers,

Rohit.

[anilk...@gmail.com]

Nikhil,

What you can give a thought is...

Your new bike is Hybrid right? Then you will not have much of an issue as far as bike fit (subject to if it is a correct size bike for your height....) is concerned.

Now you have 2 weeks for the tour. What is that can really help is or give you some amount of an input to you is this.

Coming days at least for 3 days back to back think of doing 70 to 100 kms/day. When you do that, also look at the timing, your average speed, comfort level and level of energy at the end of each day. Especially your level energy on day 3 when you are doing last 20 kms. That will tell you where exactly you stand when it comes endurance and how fit you are? Also look at comparing it with your first day ride and 2nd day ride. In one of those 3 days make it a point to include some pretty decent climbs.

Probably it is wise to include strength/resistance training in your work out for the coming two weeks.

Wish you all the very best, safe and fun ride.

Very truly
aNIL s kadsur

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

---

From: Nikhil More <nikh...@gmail.com>

Sender: bangalor...@googlegroups.com

Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:35:04 +0530

To: Rohit Arjunagi<rohita...@gmail.com>

Cc: Yateesh Kumar<kumar....@gmail.com>; Bangalore Bikers Club<bangalor...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: [BBC] bangalore - bhadra - jog falls - gokarna - goa (and its my first)

[muralika...@yahoo.com]

As u r planning to ride in summer, I think u can manage with in 10kgs. I.e., 2 bags in the rare.

I host cyclists through warm showers and have seen cyclists are comfortable at 10kgs and not more.

A tent, sleeping bag, few garments and most importantly spares such as tubes, tires and other necessities.

If u plan to carry a stove and food ingredients, the weight goes up.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from !DEA

---

From: Rohit Arjunagi <rohita...@gmail.com>

Sender: bangalor...@googlegroups.com

Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:04:05 +0530

To: Nikhil More<nikh...@gmail.com>

Cc: Yateesh Kumar<kumar....@gmail.com>; Bangalore Bikers Club<bangalor...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: [BBC] bangalore - bhadra - jog falls - gokarna - goa (and its my first)

[Mile Muncher]

This might help you. http://akshayprabhugaonkar.blogspot.com/2010/10/goa-conquered-58773kms-and-29-hrs-of.html

Thanks,
Akshay

[Nikhil More]

awesome!
thanks a lot akshay.. much appreciated!

finally ended up ditching the riverside, picked up a bergamont helix from bots.

--

biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
 
are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
Visit www.bangalorebicyclechampionships.com for more details