Trekking in Agumbe

I couldn’t wish anything better than what has happened so far. It has truly been transcendental consciousness for me (Still pondering over how I transformed!!)

I had a long holiday of 3 days this year. Don’t laugh at me. 3 days is a long holiday when you’ve started your career 4 years ago. The first plan was to do a beach trek, but as my colleagues wanted it to be postponed to a later date, I had to heed in to their request.

When I was contemplating my plan for these 3 days, my friends came up with the proposal for the trek in Agumbe and a walk around few falls there. I was initially reluctant to go with them, as is always the case with me (For reasons unknown to me :P). Soon I decided to join them. 

Again, as is always the case with my group, nothing goes as planned. A few of them wanted the trek to be postponed by a day. This was a blessing in disguise for me. I used this free day to bike 100km to chikka tirupathi and back with my new biking friends. I knew this was test of mind over body, a test of endurance. I was ready. 

This was my trekking group and my observations about them.

1. Madhuri- Organizer and to whom I owe a lot :P 

2. Kishan- Another Organizer and a nice buddy.

3. Bhargavi- My half sister and acts double as crazy as me.

4. Deepak- Calls himself a pro trekker :P. 

5. Kiran- Oh, his never ending stories.

6. Lucky- Looks like the patient guy.

7. Vidyadhar- Speaks what is necessary and to the point. 

8. Vishak- Always ready to help you no matter what.

9. Nifa- Knowledge and experience, 2 words to describe him.   

10. Sucheta- A bird watcher and an amazing friend.  

11. Saigiri- Myself, read my previous blogs and try to decipher my character.

 

The same night I boarded the bus to shimoga, after which it’s a 2.5hr journey to reach Agumbe (Heaven on Earth).

 

We all met at the Bangalore ksrtc bus stand. I knew most of them and got introduced to rest of them. Bar (Bhargavi), with her 3 layers of clothes and with 2 big bags, came as if she was about to relocate. The next day I realized the worthiness of her extra luggage when we cooked and feasted.

I wanted the aisle seat to stretch my legs after a long ride in the sun. I was expecting to have a good sleep and rest my tired body. The seat next to mine was empty and Sucheta asked if she could sit there. Bus wasn’t mine, I obliged. I saw her big binoculars and knew she was up for something. We spoke for a while and I tried to sleep but couldn’t. As I understood from her, even she was an early bird when it comes to sleeping but found it hard to get a nap. We spoke about each other for a while and we drifted to my favorite topic, running. She had just started running and I bugged her with all the information I had and finally she was motivated enough to sign up herself for a half marathon.

3.5 hrs to go and if I don’t catch sleep now, trek could turn into a disaster. I forced myself to sleep. Within minutes, I was in a different world, deep sleep for a while and occasional bumpy ride marred my sleep. We reached shimoga bus stand at 4:30am. Temperature was humid and I expected it to be a warm day.

Soon, we changed our bus and the 60 ~ 80 km ride was amazing and I was busy drafting my plans to bike there. I was hungry by the time we reached. We had an amazing breakfast at dodda mane which is famous for the ‘malgudi days’ shooting and ‘pay as you wish for what you eat’ marketing. Thanks to Deepak for suggesting the place.We met our guide who was already high over last night’s adventures. Later, we realized that it was his energy drink and always had a quarter in his pocket.

Then we boarded our 7 seater vehicle with 13 people and our bags!!

It was a 6km beautiful ride to the base where we will be starting our trek. I loved this stretch so much that I promised myself that I would run there, no matter what. After all, it was mind over body. We carried only the necessary things and left the rest of them at the base (Guide’s place). This was my first trek after 2 years. 

Trek to Narasimha parvata:

As it was summer, we had a good trail to follow. Within a km, we were in the forest. Only few rays of light pass through this amazing rain forest. Bird watchers were behind and story tellers were in the front, I somehow placed myself in between and was occasionally talking to Deepak. I had never experienced a leech bite before. As crazy as it can get, this place is haunted by leeches. A few good tips and I was no more an amateur in removing leeches off me. 

As we moved through the forest, our guide sensed elephant movement and asked us to be cautious.  This reminded me of my muninagara trek, where people were scared of the elephant dung. Here, we spotted similar dungs and were discussing various strategies; just in case if we encounter an Elephant.

At the 6th km, we reached the barkana falls. We didn’t want to waste time there and decided to spend time at the falls during our return.

From here, next 4~5 kms was moderate uphill. We reached a point after which, we were not supposed to move ahead as we were told that there were cctv cameras on the top to monitor our movement. We made fun of it and rested there. I opened my shoe and found this little rascal.

 It was around 2pm and decided to have our lunch. Chappatis and holige was our diet. Probably, I had the most. I even ate the leftover of Sucheta :P. It was a good one hour break and then we started our return jouney. 

The view at the barkana falls was breath taking, which is the highest water falls in agumbe.We spent another good one hour playing in water and enjoying the beautiful scenery. We were told that this area wouldn’t be accessible within a month as there would be incessant rainfall. The whole area is covered by forest; it doesn’t let sun touch you. Beautiful, isn't it?

 

 

 

We started the descend as it was getting darker, 22km covered in a day. A nice tiring uneventful journey we had. Thanks to the guide, we had a rejuvenating hot water bath at his place. When I was thinking it was time to rest. The team was in full action preparing dinner, next 3 hours was like a marriage preparation. Hats off to the hard work displayed by everyone. Our pro trekker was asleep (Probably a tiring day). Sucheta too rested complaining of headache. Probably little food and less hydration was the problem with her.

 Beautiful village life

It showered a little in the night, making it cold for us. It was a nice sleep finally but managed just 4 hrs. This was 3rd straight day of almost no sleep.

Next day, I woke up with a pressure. I had to release and eventually ended up drawing water from the well quite a lot of times for the whole group and this completed my morning exercise. Sucheta was about to go bird watching and asked me to join. 

I still had an hour to start my running. So I thought of accompanying her. She showed me a bird and asked me to look at it in the binocular. I had to first learn how to hold a binocular, and then the rest. Initially, I was shaking my hand and then could concentrate on locating the bird. She was asking me the color of the bird’s beak. Well I couldn’t see the intrinsic details as yet. Thanks to her patience, I could see the features and then I could move the binocular along the flight of the bird. I never knew bird watching was so much fun. Thanks to her, I could learn a new thing.

After a little fight with bar, I was more relaxed and decided to go for the run.  My socks were still wet which made me run with just my shoes. Initial plan was to hit the main road and come back which would be a 12k. I wasn’t really concentrating on the pace this time with this tired body but wanted to enjoy the nature. First 3km was really good but it was a never ending steep down, I had to decide whether to hit the main road or not, finally decided to turn back at 5^th km. Or I will have to climb another mountain.

 

The return wasn’t as bad as I imagined it to be and was seriously thinking about that missed 1km to the main road. This made me run a km farther and make it a 6km one way. Finally in around an hour and few minutes, I was done with my 12k. Mission accomplished. I was a free man now. The landscapes are still afresh in my mind. A beautiful place to run.

A walk to the Vanake Abbi falls.

I quickly packed my back pack, thanks to the good soul who had kept all my items near my bag. Then we walked on the same route again for a good 3km where we were picked to the main road. We had light snacks at around 11am at a nearby hotel. We started our journey to another water fall in Agumbe- Vanake Abbi. The entrance was breath taking but was soon bored with the same scene all the way till the falls. This place was ‘leeched’ too much.

 

Spot the spider below.

No matter how the journey was, the destination was out of the world. 

The trekking couple.

We spent a good one hour there. Looking 90 deg down from the falls was a first in my life. I enjoyed it thoroughly and watched it many times. 

Our gang.

 

Neefa trying to measure the depth.

Another amazing view.

Bar lost in the hole.

While the rest were contemplating whether to leave; I and Deepak started the return journey. It was a brisk walk + jog. Really loved the silence while returning and enjoyed the route more this time. We were back to the main road in no time. It was 2:30pm. We still had time for our lunch and decided to try our luck at dodda mane. We were indeed lucky; lunch was available for only two of us.

When we were done, we were unlucky. We got the ire of the fellow group members for leaving them and eating selfishly. Controlling my hunger is the last thing on the list these days. Few of us decided to rest while the most went to a nearby research center to understand the happenings in the forest.

It was a boring evening, so went in search of a beer. After visiting many fast food centers and a few condiment stores, we finally found a place. Done with 200ml of local beer, refreshed and boarded the bus back to shimoga. The frequent honking made the journey terrible. We had a late night bus which gave us ample time to refresh at bar’s place. Well, this is the native of both Bar and Sucheta. We had a good dinner at a good restaurant and walked our way back to bus stand. There we meet Sucheta greeting us with jack fruit; I had just one although it was delicious thinking of the return journey in mind.I forgot to mention that Sucheta went home before we went to falls in the morning and was suppose to meet us at the bus stand. 

Overall, it was a beautiful 3 days of my life. I owe a lot to these people for tolerating me all the while. I hope I catch up with these guys sometime again and recollect all the beautiful memories we shared.

Maybe another trek? :P

My first brevet- 200km night ride to Krishnagiri.

It has been exactly one year since I started cycling. Let me use the right word- Biking :P. Why/ how I started the biking is explained here My first longest bike ride.  I will just give a background about myself, so that newbies can take a thing or two from this. 

My longest bike ride ever was 5 years back, a 76 km ride which I completed in one day and was literally half dead. After that I never rode but I got addicted to it last year. I’ve done a few 150’s so far, probably 7 or 8 but had never attempted a 200km in a single day, rather half day in case of a brevet.

I started running too last year, biking which was started as a cross training tool for my running has now found priority as equal to running. Now I use each other to cross train and mutually benefit the body. Biking is more risky compare to running. Running injuries are generally internal and Biking injuries leave a lasting physical scar or sometimes take the life itself.

Having said, I live by the principle everyday that this body is temporary and we are born to die. So these physical injuries are to your body and not you. Once the mind takes control over body, nothing is impossible. Pain is just temporary.

Coming to the brevet now, I had registered for a brevet last year but didn’t go as I wasn’t confident yet. But it was there at the back of my mind always. 

I have a rockrider 5.2 (MTB). My good friend Paul had done the recce for this route and told me that it’s doable but challenging for a first brevet and asked me to do the kolar easy brevet and then think of tougher ones. As it goes with my character, I wanted to challenge myself harder and show off. I told a couple of biking friends about this. One guy had a knee pain and so couldn’t risk it. The other one joined. 

Even till a week before the ride, I was skeptical whether to do it or not. I was dual minded, finally decided to get rid of the devil in me and registered. Still there were thoughts whether to participate. I came up with a plan, to publicize this news. I told my triathlete training group and office running group about this, wishes started pouring in and now I had the only choice to do it and keep up the faith they had in me.

N-2 days to the brevet, my friend told me that 2 more of his friends are joining us which was a good news. 

N-1 th day

I made a list of items to carry. This being a night brevet, I have only one experience of riding in the night, that was a normal ride and not timed. It was from madikeri to mysore. We reached mysore at 10pm but this is a different ball game. 

This is the list I made.

1. Helmet (With bandana)

           2. AIR no (Audax registration no)

           3. Front (2 no’s) and rear lights (1 no)

            4. Reflector

            5. Battery power bank

      6. Hydration water pack (Pick 3 lts pack from decathlon)

      7. Enerzol (2 sachets)

       8.Collect the brevet card at the start point (Don’t forget)

      9.Wallet

      10.Gloves.

      11.Water bottle.

      12.Tool kit and puncture kit.

      13.Spare tube.

            14. Dry fruits.
      15. ID proof.

One week to the ride, I was thinking of the various strategies to complete the ride. As I had understood from the recce that it’s a downhill one way and return is going to be uphill. I had planned to complete the 100km in 25kmph and the remaining at a slow pace with multiple breaks and try to make it within the allotted time of 13 hrs 30 min.

Nth day

After a very long time, I slept at 12am to make myself be ready for the night ride but habits don’t change in a day. I woke up at 5am, which is my regular time. After seeing my whatsapp messages and playing with facebook for a while, caught up sleep again, this time I woke up at 8:30 am. 

Afternoon I had a meeting with a social service organization. It rained the whole time; I got stuck in rain and was wondering if the event would take place. I called the organizer and he said no matter what may happen, the event would go and I was free to decide. I said I’ve chosen the right sport. Come what may, I will participate.

I reached my home at 6:30pm, it was raining heavily. Thanks to the list I created I packed everything in 15min except for the enerzol and left home. The rain was bad. The start point was 14km from my home. Within the first km, I lost my rear light which fell probably when I was adjusting it; I had no patience to go in search of it in the rain. I wanted to request the organizer to somehow arrange it. 

The rain wasn’t stopping, traffic jams and 2 feet water on most of the roads. I biked, I pushed, I ran and somehow did everything possible to be there on time. My shoes were almost 10 times their normal weight now. Since last February, I have been wearing power glasses. Rain made it poorly visible. I had to remove it and ride, causing stress to my eyes but no choice. 

I somehow made it to the start point and this itself was one adventure. Suddenly I remembered that I hadn’t eaten anything and now wasn’t the right time either. So I decided to eat at the 70^th km CCD.

I was the first one to reach, soon a roadie joined me. I was wondering if I will have a MTB company. As it was 8pm, I decided to start with him. Waiting for friends might cost me dearly. Finally had a word with organizer that I’ll use my spare headlight on the rear which he agreed. 

0-41 km

The rain wasn’t stopping. I understood that the roadie was also doing his first brevet but had done a lot of 200’s before. He chose this brevet for the beautiful and CHALLENGING climbs in the return. If these climbs are challenging for a road bike, what about a mountain bike? I lost a bit of confidence now.

There was a traffic signal and I moved ahead. I had to remove my glasses as it made it hardly visible. Directions were not visible properly. I asked a guy how to enter hosur road, he said it’s written so big there, go that side. Well, this was the irony. But I missed the road and entered towards sarjapura. I had been to chikka tirupathi on this route and so for once knew I had taken the wrong route. I called up the organizer and he guided me back to the main route. Probably 20min lost.

After an hour of riding, I stopped at metro wholesale store. I called up my friends to check if they had left, they didn’t receive my call. I checked my running keeper.

Time: 1 hour

Distance 16km.

I was thinking will I be really able to do it. All bad omens. Peddled another hour and found a medical shop, this rain wouldn’t stop and my eyes were straining.

Time: 2 hours.

Distance: 36km

Average speed: 18kmph

Should I quit, my confidence was at an all time low.

I rode another 5km, service roads were pathetic. The hosur road service roads are full of construction sand and stones. Half the sand was in the road. The main road was full of trucks and speeding buses. This was the last option for me and all the street lights were off, maybe because of the rain. Vehicles were coming in both ways on the small service road. There was a very high chance of head on collision. 

The fall

As I was moving through this haywire, one vehicle in the front stopped suddenly. He had to take a left. My rear brakes being bush type couldn’t stop abruptly because of the rain. I had to use the front disc which tossed me over. This was the last thing I expected to happen. One passerby came and helped me. Both the knees hurt and a small tear of skin. Chin was paining, I thought it was just a normal pain after fall and was hoping for no visual injury on the face. Mom would really get upset.

I got up and started riding again.

41- 52 km

The rain was less now but my hands, clothes everything was dirty, I couldn’t clean my glasses and I had entered a place where only trucks were parked on the service road and no sign of any shop. No matter how much I cleaned my glasses, the vision was still blurred. It was to no avail, so I kept it inside and rode again. As I was moving, only 2~4 feet was visible in the front and no matter how much powerful lights you use, potholes are very difficult to identify if they’re filled with water. I saw a big holes right in front of me. Holy ****.  One sec delay in my reaction and I would’ve fallen into it. I removed the rear spare light and put it also in the front. 2 headlights, yet the visibility was poor in this pitch darkness.

This was more like a trail riding than a brevet for me. I knew my time had gone for a toss. So I decided to go slowly and somehow try how much ever is possible. Now, I took the main road, 2 buses passed so close to me that an inch to the left and I would’ve been thrown out of nowhere.

So I had to still manage with service road till 52km. I stopped now.

Average speed: 17kmph.

I cleaned my glasses with some cloth available at a nearby place. Close to 80% visible now, at least it stopped the strain.

The rise

52- 72 km

The service road ended; there was a motor cycle lane in the main road now. I thanked god for it. I kept myself on the extreme left of the lane, to be safe. The hydration pack really helped me, I need not slow down like before, drink water from the bottle and move ahead. With the sipper, I can drink water at my will. The roads are too good but you cannot over speed as the visibility is only for a short distance.

I encountered motor cycle riders twice asking about me. Strangers talking to you in the middle of the night are scary. I didn’t want to lose my wallet and phone. The first guy asked where am I going to, I said krishnagiri. He asked whether it was the final destination. I said yes and 10 of my friends were waiting there. He asked if I was doing this for fitness, I told yes. I didn’t want to build a conversation. He wished me luck and passed. After a few km, there were 2 people on a motor cycle. He asked me where I was working; I said I’m still a student. He said amazing boy and left. Good or bad people, I don’t want to encounter anyone on a secluded high way.

 Nevertheless I was faster than on the service road. It was downhill. I was riding cautiously, fear gave away and confidence started showing up. I reached the CCD at the point. I took a selfie as this was unmanned control point. Went inside and with all the dirt over me, people were throwing shabby glances at me. I just thought that it is me going through shit, I didn’t bother. I went to the rest room. The guy in front of me gave way and stood 5 ft away. I smiled and went inside. Ok, I had a scar on my face. Convincing mom will be another task when I go home.

I took a tissue and cleaned my glasses properly. 100% visibility, this gave me even more confidence. I wasn’t really hungry, so I thought I will manage at the 100km point.

Distance: 72km

Average speed: 21kmph.

This was not bad but still a long way to go.

72-100 km

 This was a roller coaster ride, complete down hills, if it was a morning ride I would’ve crossed 35 to 40 kmph easily but as it was dark, I had to be really slow. Nevertheless I enjoyed the weather and the sky. Left and right, I could see nothing, probably there were lot of mountains. I reached the 100km checkpoint. This was manned and organizer was waiting for me. He asked me if I would like to continue as I had just crashed. I told all is fine with me. My seat was a little bent which I couldn’t adjust.

 I was very hungry; I asked him if he had food. He gave a small plate of biryani and maaza to drink. Although, I was still hungry I had to take this and leave. I refilled my hydration pack to 2.5 liters; I had consumed 2 liters of water till now. If I pour more water, the bag would get heavy and will make it difficult for me to ride.

I poured the enerzol into the water bottle as I may need it to climb the hills.

Distance: 100 km

Average speed: 21.5 kmph.

The steep down didn’t help me at all as I hadn’t improved my pace. Time was 12:45 am. I had 8 hr 30 min to complete the return. The organizer gave me a shocker; he said he took 8hr 30min to ride back in his roadie. I said maybe sun played a huge role for him. There was nothing that was going to stop me from completing the ride back.

100- 130 km

I remembered all the cross trainings, running dd hills, iron men I knew, tour de France, raam, the iron man record holder who’s planning to do 50 iron mans in 50 consecutive days and my running partners in bu. So this was nothing.

I started back, the climbs were never ending. Every km was painful, but my running skills helped me. I stood and peddled for a while, relaxing my muscles and body, then the slow lsd’s (Long slow distances). I had lot of water, probably every few meters. I had to save water too. I saw one mangled car, hill climb and seeing an accident spot closely sends shivers to your brain (When I read the paper the next day, there were details of the accident, 2 women were killed and he was sleepy when he rode it). 

As I did the climbs, there were four trucks with wind mill wings; they were huge, really huge. I had never seen them so closely. I was wondering the amount of time and efforts to design and develop them. 

I soon began to enjoy the climbs, it was very rhythmic. The places were all named giri, I saw atleast 5 giri’s there. Giri which means a mountain in kannada. I was Saigiri, climbing these giris. After some time, I saw a motor cycle fallen on the ground. I wanted to see if he had fallen just now.  Next to the motor cycle, I could see a pool of blood. Am doing a climb and seeing something like this was the worst thing that can happen. There was nobody nearby. Probably, he was taken to hospital. I continued my journey.

I reached the CCD now, the climbs were good. I was maintaining a good pace. Middle of the night, only slow moving trucks and hardly few buses plying in this route. I was relaxed. I ordered a burger and coffee. I had emptied half the water in the hydration pack. I took enerzol filled water, probably 300ml. This refreshed me. The salts I had lost was regained. I was standing or pedaling all the while, finally I sat and had coffee. I recalled my journey so far which was tough and this day would make me stronger. I would boast about this for the rest of my life. Haha.

Distance: 130km

Average speed: 19.77 kmph.

I had managed the hills really well, another 20km would have a few more hills and once I hit hosur, it will be flyovers. It was 70km to go; I was targeting to finish by 7:30 am. I was hoping not to have any more freaky instances.

130- 170 km

At 146^th km, I hit some mud which was placed in the motor cycle lane. It sent me into the main road, thank god, no vehicles were coming behind. After this incident, I slowed down even more. When it was final 50km to go, adrenaline was rushing to make it faster but I had to have higher patience. The main road was empty now, so I didn’t have to take the service lane. This saved a lot of time. I constantly was looking on the other side of the road which I used at the start. 

I was calmer and smiled for being safe at this point of time.  The urge to control when you know you’re best at it is one of the testing times. I didn’t speed up. Injured left knee started aching, I kept repeating mind over body. This worked and has always worked. The goal of life is to get detached from material world and get attached to the supreme personality of godhead which will relieve you of all the effects of material nature. Cycling and running has helped me a lot in getting detached. Well, I will write about this in some other blog. I’m attached to Bhagavad gita. So controlling is difficult.

I stopped at the 170^th km, there was a toll booth, and I drank the remaining enerzol laced water. I got some instant energy from this.

Average speed: Around 20kmph.

170-200 km

At 173^rd km, 4 dogs started chasing me. I sprinted for a good half a km. A bus guy in the back tried to help me by continuously honking at the dogs. 3 of them left, another one chased me for 100 meters more. What a day man!!

The enerzol energy was instantly lost. I kept hydrating myself throughout. This helped me a lot. I was about to reach, another 20 km to go. I felt really happy for overcoming all the obstacles. It was 10 km to go now, I was very hungry. I stopped and ate the remaining dry fruits. I thought about the next brevet and decided to shoo the thought away :P

200^th km

I reached the end point at 6:15am and called the organizer about his whereabouts. He asked me to take a selfie at that place and leave.

Total distance: 200km

Total time: 10 hr 15min

Average speed: close to 20kmph.

Mission accomplished.

I am a Randonneur now.

 I had an injured body and dirty clothes, which made me rethink on the word I gave to Amitava and Pav that I would meet them after their TCS 10K run. I decided to go home.

 As I left M G road, I saw runners there which made me instantly stop and look at them. I took a few snaps.

 Now, I really wanted to meet them. Amitava instantly called me and took me to medical camp there, can never forget his nice gesture. I met Pav, Yash and other runners. It was beautiful and energetic sight. 

I had never seen so many runners at one place.

The return home was one of the longest rides. I enjoyed home coming.

 

I thank the almighty for taking me so far and all that am going to achieve in the future..

I thank all my family and friends who have supported me and guided me.

I’m especially thankful to my triathlete training group- Bu burners. I’m who I’m because of them.