Enduro3 - 1 day to go

I am just going for upgrades one after the other. I upgraded from Sunday Morning rider to Daily Commuter and then soon in good company I got addicted to long distance cycling tours. Now, its time to add a bit of racing and adventure to cycling and see where it takes me. Enduro3, happens on Feb 8th and Feb 9th in Pune. Organised by NEF (National Educational Foundation) in the NDA Campus (National Defence Academy), this yearly event claims to put Indians on endurance test. Cycling (70/140 km), Trekking (40/95 km), River Crossing at Night and Riffle Shooting are the events lined up for 48 hours. To give mental shock for the participants, the organisers have said no food and water will be given during the race and the participants have to plan and organise on their own. hmmm, it means I cannot leave my saddle to cool off and have a chai in the tea shop with bun in the other hand or stop at a hotel in the noon and let my senses loose over the food. Hi-tech thinking in me says.... I will have to buy MRP (Meal Replacement Powder). I heard it for the first time and I am yet to taste it. Later common sense prevails, and says nuts, biscuits, dry fruits and chappatis with jam should be enough. Idea of MRP goes down the drain. Whether it is sense or non-sense, it will be known in a couple of days. :-)

I will ride a Trek, Manjunath has bought himself a new Hero Thunder while Sandeep has decided to stick with his Hero Hawk road racer. We had mixed opinions on using a road bike for this event. I called out some good souls who had participated last year, but none of them were able to give a clear idea. We decided to take the gamble after spotting 1 or 2 guys riding a road bike in the You Tube videoof last year's Enduro. But, whether these guys reached the finish line is not known :-<. Sandeep was comfortable using his own bike rather than dust his friends bike parked in the garage. Instincts say that should be OK. In the gear up for enduro, I have covered 50 Kms of running in 2 weeks (missing a few days). My routine has been to cycle for 5 kms.... run for 4 or 5 kms and then pedal back home for another 5 kms.

To top it at all, when Bangalore Bikers and Bikeszone Janta decided to have duathalon I joined them as it sounded to be a good thing to drainout the body and then load it with carbos just before the event. I was happy to cover a distance of 48.5 km with a personal best speed of 26.5 kmph. Route being Banashankari - Kaggalipura - Near Yogavana hills, a U turn - Kaggalipur - Banshankari - Lalbagh. Reaching lalbagh, we started a gentle run in the park. I just had strength for 3 kms of run (mixed walking with it, shamelessly though) and caught up with other bikers who had finished their run for a chat. Ravi n Donald did 2 laps (6.5 kms). Only Balu, Gaurav, Rohan and Sriram did 3 loops of Lalbagh and completed the 10 Km run. Running after Biking was not easy, as I had thought. hmmm throws up another challenge. We have packed the things, not sure how much the bag weighs... I intend to stuff bare minimum clothes... and intend to have a lighter backpack for the Trek. We are participating in the IT Challenge category. Wish us luck and a place on the podium. photo courtesy : abhi, rohan