Cycling Series 2: Cycling in Bangalore

Bangalore is soon becoming the cycling hub of India. It has a very active cycling community. There are office commuters, weekend bikers, long distance endurance riders, fast roadies, trail hunting Mountain bikers. Is this too much cycling jargon? Then I guess it’s time to Google 
Bangalore Bikers Club a Google group is the best place to meet all of them.
If you want get into cycling but you are not hundred percent convinced , go online vocalize you apprehensions’, get answers and get on board.
If you have bought a cycle and are looking for some company for your rides, go online and find them.
If you suspect that there are sane people, who cycle 100-200 km, go clear your suspicions.
If you think it’s only leisure riding, think again, Bangalore also has its own amateur racing event. A monthly event conducted with points, teams and championship trophy on the lines of the Formula one racing event. It’s called Bangalore Bicycle Championships BBCh for short. You can visit their site: http://www.bangalorebicyclechampionships.com/ . They have a mix of races: time trails, MTB trails, Climbs, Road races, Crits etc. It’s a fiercely competed race where around 50 racers compete for bragging rights and a cycling jersey in every race. The wining and finishing points are accumulated for a year and every year a rolling championship trophy is awarded to the racer with highest points. It’s free event, each racer can contribute a amount of his/her choice to a Vitamin M(Money) box, which gets used to conduct the event. These races happen on third Sunday of every month. Venues differ every month and range from IISC to Nandi hills to some trails near Sarjapur road. If you think you race adrenaline is what will hook then mark 3rd Sunday of every month and come on and race.
Bangalore Bikers Club also has monthly rides which mostly happen on the last Sunday of the month, a ride of 100 to 150kms to places around Bangalore. More than 100 cyclists participate in these rides. These rides are relaxed rides where you stop at different eateries; meet up with other riders kind of rides. They are perfect to introduce you to long distance rides.
The newest buzz in the cycling arena is the Brevets.
The Wikipedia definition of Brevets:
“A Brevet or Brevet de Randonneur is an organised long-distance bicycle ride in the sport of randonneuring.
In a Brevet, cyclists - who, in this discipline, may be referred to as randonneurs - follow a designated but unmarked route (usually 200 km to 1400 km), passing through check-point controls, and must complete the course within specified time limits. These limits, while challenging, still allow the ride to be completed at a comfortable pace - there is no requirement to cycle at racing speeds or employ road bicycle racing strategies.
Randonnée is a French word which loosely translates to 'ramble' or 'long journey' (in French the verb 'randonner' originally means 'hiking', but is nowadays also used for bicycle and even motorized tours). Brevet means 'certificate' and refers to the card carried by randonneurs which gets stamped at controls; it is also used to refer to the event itself, ie: a certificated ride. Randonneurs do not compete against other cyclists; randonnées are a test of endurance, self-sufficiency and bicycle touring skills.
The classic distances for randonnées are 200 km, 300 km, 400 km and 600 km. To complete one of each during a given year is known as completing a "series". A randonneur is required to complete an Auduax Club Parisien series to qualify for Paris–Brest–Paris. Paris–Brest–Paris (PBP) is an approximately 1200 km event held on an out-and-back course between Paris and Brest every four years. Begun in 1891, it is the oldest bicycling event still regularly run. It began as a race for professional cyclists, but is now a non-competitive endurance challenge. To qualify, a cyclist must complete a series of brevets within the same year.”
Bangalore now has a certified Audax club and is conducting the series of Brevets; many cyclists in Bangalore are aiming to complete the series to qualify for PBP happening in August 2011.
The time limits for the distances are as follows:
• 200 km - 13.5 hours
• 300 km - 20 hours
• 400 km - 27 hours
• 600 km - 40 hours
• 1000 km - 75 hours
The first 200KM brevet is from Bangalore- Mandya – Bangalore on 15th January 2011. It already has over 100 registrations and is expected to cross 200. Visit http://www.bangalorebrevets.in/ for more details.
If all these events seem over the top and you just want to start by doing slow 5 – 10 km rides, you will still have company. Go Green cycling club do rides around Bangalore every Sunday morning, they meet in Cubbon Park.
Critical Mass happens every last Saturday of the month. They also meet in Cubbon Park. Inside Cubbon Park, they gather near the gate of the Bangalore Press Club at 4.00pm and it is not a demo or a mob buildup. It is simply a group of people who decide to ride around the city in the same direction. If there are enough cyclists on the ride then it'll go 'CRITICAL' - a mass of cyclists that can take over a road and ride together in safety.
You can join any of these groups initially to start off.
Recently a group of hundred people cycled 1000kms in 8 days starting from Bangalore in the Tour of Nilgiris. http://tourofnilgiris.com/ . Majority of riders were in 30 – 40 age group and 21% in 40+ age group. So if they can do it, you most definitely can.
This article is just small attempt to make you aware of the cycling scene in Bangalore.

Cyclin series 1: What got me to cycle long distances, distances more than 50km

I thought it is not possible for a normal person to cycle more than 5 – 10 km, only professional can do that. Last year when I decided to buy a cycle , my use case was to cycle to gym and back, not more than 5 km one way.
Then I saw a poster that Arvind Raman had put up in his cube, it was about a cycling trip on a weekend. The concept was similar to weekend treks organized by some groups. So the idea was if people go on treks on weekend then why not on cycling trips. The trip was in Coorg and they were doing 150kms in 2 days. I thought that was insane and forgot about it. Then I happened to be in Coorg on the following weekend and I saw them in action from my taxi, Some 30 odd people with their cycling gear and cycles on the hills of Coorg , I still thought they were a crazy bunch. But seeing them during the trip made me think that it was possible.
Now every month I would check their website to read about the trips that were being organized, 2nd weekend of every month they had a ride, different places every month. What made them even more attractive was they provided rented cycles to people who did not have one and they promised a fully supported ride. A support vehicle that would follow the riders during the trip, a rider could get on to it if and when he or she was tired. So the trip started to become really tempting. I finally had to jump onto the bandwagon when they announced a trip to Agumbe in March/April this year. Agumbe was on my must visit list and fact that I would get to try cycling in the lush green surroundings was very tempting.
I registered and paid up, but wad very apprehensive about the whole trip. Will I be able to cycle? Will I adapt to using gears? Am I crazy to be doing this? Questions like this were ringing in my head when I got on to the bus on Friday evening. The bus ride was comfortable; I soon fell off to sleep. Next 2 days were amazing fun, lots of cycling 70km on the first day and 40 on the second. I cycled the whole distance and did not need the support vehicle. It was painful yes but yet very blissful. The gang was awesome on that you would easily connect with. My body was only little sore on Sunday, hardly anything compared to what its state would be after weight training or 10km run. That proved that cycling is indeed a very injury free sport.
I have done 5 more trips with them this year after Agumbe , it’s an incredible way to relieve stress and rejuvenate.
The Group that organizes the weekend cycling trips is Cycling and More. Their December ride is just round the corner. You should go for it. Register early as their trips are quite famous and get booked soon.

A series on cycling

I have volunteered to put up articles/snippets on cycling in the office cafeteria notice board. Basically something to get people to cycle. I will also posting them here.