Query : About Bangalore to Karkala on a cycle

[Adithya Kini]

Dear good Folks this is my first post even though i joined the group couple of months back , but i have been a silent reader benefiting from all the wonderful experience you guys bring in to this forum, Thanks so much.

I plan to cycle from Bangalore to Karkala http://goo.gl/maps/AtTJV on Jan 25th. below is some background info you would need before you could help me.

ride will be : Solo, i like it that way

Cycle : Rockrider 5.0

Expertise : cycle to work everyday 10Kms (each way) @ 20Km/hr and have been cycling for over an year now and in the last year i did close to 8k kms

longest ride in a day : To Nandi hills on Jan 1st 2014 (the peak) and back ~140Kms did that in 10 hours which included a 1 hr break for lunch and 1/2 hour for BF. was extremely exhausted at the end of the day but the very next day was able to go to work again cycling with negligible knee pain.

guidance i am looking for is I plan to do the above segment in 3 days. 

    Day 1 - Bangalore - Hassan - 200 Kms

    Day 2 - Hassan - Mudigere - 74 Kms (this i am making a calculated guess will be pure uphill because at this point we are climbing the western ghats)

    Day 3 - Mudigere - Karkala - 109 Kms (this would be more downhill than up because at this point we are getting off the ghats to lower areas.) 

My questions.

1) am i being too ambitious on Day 1 ? 200 Kms is a lot i know (atleast for me) but i am thinking since the entire stretch is tolled and excellent roads plus Bangalore being 900 mtrs above sea level and Mangalore is at sea level i am making a calculated guess that the road to Mangalore will be more down slope than up and since i have done 140 Kms including a category 2 climb in Nandi hills pushing a little harder to 200 Kms should be doable . Please comment.

2) i will be super exhausted at end of Day 1 . will 74 Kms the very next day which is purely uphill be possible at all ?

3) shall i break my journey to 4 days? which i would rather avoid , 3 days sound so much better than 4 days. ha ha

[suman paul]

Adithya

I think you can do this. However few thoughts. 

1. If you want to do moderate climbing then I would suggest to avoid Mudigere. Because to go to Mudigere you have to climb after Belur. Instead you can cross Sakleshpur and go till Nellyadi which is a downhill and from there go to Belthangady and after that reach karkala via Naravi. Only bad part in this stretch will be Sakleshpur stretch but since it is a downhill, can be managed. 

2. Doing 200 km on day 1 will not be an issue if you are determined. But since you are going alone, you might find the road a bit boring and little longer. Road is throughout excellent with proper shoulder till Hassan and proper rolling with lots of winds from all directions mostly from sideways. I also did my first century ride on this stretch along with two Hari(s) 😄. Try to start from Bangalore as early as possible - say by 3 am or so and that will get you to Hassan by sunset otherwise it will be tough at the end of the day. 

But do a practice ride of at least 200 km in a day with part of it in dark before you embark on to this journey as you will be riding alone. 

All the best and keep us updated 😄

thank you & regards

suman  

+91      9886300685

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[Kumar Gaurav]

Hello Adithya,

Sounds like a fun plan except for the 200km in a day part. 

I have plotted the route you intend to take on strava so that you don't have to guess the elevations: http://www.strava.com/routes/120362

Cheers

[Adithya Kini]

Excellent tips Suman and you seem like you really know what you are saying so i shall blindly make a note of it and follow. in fact i was in 2 minds between shiradi and charmadi and selected charmadi because shiradi is my regular route when i go driving and i wanted to avoid the bad stretch (that you mentioned) but if that's mostly downhill i think its worth taking another look, another reason was that i have been on charmadi only once and it was prettier than shiradi so thought a new route will keep me relaxed by taking my focus away from being occupied with an endurance sport to peacefully appreciating nature. Thanks so much for your inputs really appreciate you taking time out to help.

[Adithya Kini]

WOW ! Kumar you just blew the whole smoke away the blurry vision is crystal clear now. God i was so wrong with my guesses on the elevation, i started using strava recently and i did not know this was an option available at all, i guess i will take shiradi as Suman suggested leave at 3 am too, but will break before hassan because i see its slightly more uphill to hassan than down plus its 200 Kms plus its a boring stretch. This is brilliant , my first post and i already love this group. Thanks guys, made my day !

[Blackmamba]

how about this route

hassan-belur- aldur-balehonoor-kalasa-kudremukha-karkala

roads are good, scenic, lots of green and shades, bit of climb from balehonoor- kalasa-, downhill from kudremukha to karkala

[Arvind P]

you might want to do the 200km brevet on 11th jan as a practice ride.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/bangalore-bikers/-N76IeQBvxw

On Friday, January 3, 2014 6:13:53 PM UTC+5:30, Adithya Kini wrote:

[Sudhir Pai]

Adithya-

My thoughts on your plan: (I have done BLR-Kunigal-BLR earlier in Oct-2013)

 

Day1: BLR - Hassan: The stretch between CR Pattana to Hassan is mostly uphill with 4-laning work in progress. You will be doing this difficult stretch after riding almost 160Km. My suggestion is to take a halt at ChennarayaPattana, next day continue further towards Hassan. This will add about 30/40Km for Day2.

 

Day2: Few of my friends did rides around Belur, Mudigere etc in Dec, per them the roads are very good till Mudigere. (They diverted towards Aldur, Balehonnur which is not of your interest, BTW  Aldur Balehonnur road is in bad condition.) Make sure you plan to reach Mudigere before 5PM as it is risky to ride solo after dark.

 

Day3: You should be able knock this out. Enjoy the scenery!

After Charmadi, it may be roller terrain rather than a flat stretch. Be prepared to switching between 3rd, 2nd and 1st gears n in quick frequency!. I don't have info on road quality. Be prepared to overcome humidity.

 

Preparation: (Based on my experiences of long rides.)

1. Utilize all remaining weekend days till D-day to train. Try different combinations like 100k+30k, 80k+70k, 40k+90km on sat & sundays.

2. Learn to fix punctures/flats (with minimum light!) as you are riding solo.

3. Better to have two bottle holders.

4. Must carry Headlight, Tail lamp, hand-pump, tool kit, puncture kit, spare tube. (Apart from other must have safety gears.)

5. Use evening/night time effectively to recover and have quality sleep. (Including Night0 & Night3)

6. Carry a set first aid items.

7. Carry cash (Combos of 10s, 20s, 50s, 100s).

 

Eat well & drink small gulps of water regularly.

 

BTW which bike your are riding?

 

Good luck and share your experience!.

[Adithya Kini]

Pai Maam thanks so much for sharing your experience i can certainly learn from it, for example i had not factored the "after 5PM" thing you mentioned and now come to think of it i need to re work some of the plan to factor that in.

1) I want to but I am not sure how to take your advice and break at CRpatna instead of Hassan since the route i have finalized on is "hassan-belur-mudigere-hornadu (eat and sleep at the annapoorneshwari temple) - kudremukha - Karkala and breaking at CRpatna would def move my plan to a 4 day trip instead of the 3 days that i intend to do it in. You are right though the stretch is purely uphill. http://www.strava.com/routes/124142

2) The preparation part - i am all set with all the points except point 1, which i shall take and follow. I have 2 more weekends.

I have been riding a Rockrider 5.0 , well its not the best but saw me through nandi hills 5 days ago with fair ease and i am confident i wont be let down.

[Anil Kadsur]

Adithya kini,

If you are planning to start at 3 am, even at 15 kmph (including rest) by 2 pm you will be covering the first 160 kms. I feel for the rest of the 40 kms even if it is climb you need not worry much you have lot of time with you.

all the best, wish you safe and fun ride with lot of tail winds!!

anil s kadsur

http://kadsur.blogspot.in/

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[Sudhir Pai]

Adithya- Unless your goal is home-to-home in cycle, I would suggest another plan considering the route, distance and your time limitation.

 

1. You can remove BLR to Hassan ride from your itinerary (Its just an effort than riding pleasure in my opinion) and take a bus to Hassan and start riding from there.

2. Use the other 2 days to ride the places around Belur, CKM, Mudigere, Kudremukh, Horanadu etc.

3  Day2 EOD reach Karkala.

 

Hope I haven't caused confusion with these choices :-).

[santosh]

Hi Aditya,

The plan is good and perfect. You can do it comfortably for all the 3 days for your determination. You are regular in cycling. Upto CR patna it's a cake walk with good roads. From there to Hassan it's bit of a uphill ascend.

I was as much regular as you in daily cycling. When I did from B'lore to Dharmasthala on a Hero Octane solo. 

I started by sharp 5AM.

Reached Kunigal town 8AM breakfast.

Reached bellur cross 9.30AM.

Reached CRpatna 12:00 noon sharp.

Reached Kamat hotel 1.15PM lunch.

With uphill climbs reached Hassan by 3.45PM.(Your destination).

Reached Gundya by 7.30PM.(Was dark and halted).

I shared my ride experience coz you too will be with only little more or less with the same timings. You have tails winds to help you.

I was hydrating myself regularly. Carried snacks, redbull, getorade etc....

Don't worry for 2nd and 3rd day. You will have a bit of negligible pain. Once get started body warms up you won't feel much.

Suggestion: Drink before you are thirst, eat before you are hungry. As you are doing it solo.

All the best. Happy cycling....

Regards,

Santosh

[Shree Kumar]

Hi Aditya,

This mail thread reminded me of earlier rides, specifically one of my first rides to Mangalore . I have attached a snap of the relevant page from my diary - note that it is dated 1 May 2003. Roads then were OK, but not as wide as they are now-a-days. I was riding a hero Ezy DX. Heavy bike, but geared ! Approx 230 km to Sakleshpur in 15 hours.

Stopping at Sakleshpur has one benefit : you can then ride down in the morning mist. Makes a world of difference after a hard day of riding ...

Whichever way you choose to ride, have fun !

-- Shree
http://www.shreekumar.in/

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