21st on India Cycle Challenge for June - 30/6/13

Woke up in the morning to see that my cycle tire had a flat.   I couldn't find any puncture and has to take it to Decathlon workshop.   From there rode through SH207 to Hoskote to finish 326km for this month.    That is 21st for this monthon India Cycling challenge.

Best 50km ride - 29/6/13

Today is the best timing for a 50km ride. Improved by 7 minutes. I took the road to chikka tirupathi, Sarjapur, then to Dommasandra and finally Varthur and back home.

42km ride Gunjur-Dommasandra-Camelram - 23/6/13

Not a great ride.   Too much traffic on the route.   My legs also seem tired from y'day's ride.  

Took the Varthur Dommasandra road.   Then rode towards Decathlon and then Camerlram back to Gunjur.

2nd Place on SH207 - 22/6/13

Using STRAVA for biking more regularly.    I am really liking the Segments feature.   It is a nice example of how Gamification can motivate people.   You might agree that it is very boring to go through the same route everyday.    Not with STRAVA though.   It breaks your route into segments (logical units within the route).   It compares your ride speed with others who rode on the same segment within the same route.     Then it ranks you against those who rode the segment earlier.    

Looks like not many ride 207 between Koralur and Hoskote.   I am currently at 2nd place in this segment.   

Today I had a great ride.   I clocked an average speed of 20kph +.    Wind drag was there, but not as much as it was last week.

Rode on SH 207 to Hoskote - 16/6/13

Along with Monsoon came lot of wind.   Never thought Wind could be such a problem when riding.   On my return ride from Hoskote to Kadugodi wind drag really troubled me.  

BTW, today I used Strava app on my phone.   It is beautiful and has some cool features.  I really liked the segment features and Gamification around it.   I made to Top 10 in one of the segments.  I am not sure if I will switch from Endomondo.   I have invested way too much there.    Probably I will use both.

Short Ride - Whitefield Main Road - 15/6/2013

I was on a business trip and back to Bangalore on Thursday.  Feeling lazy after a week's break.   Hoping to resume my bike riding to earlier levels.

50km ride Whitefield-Devangonthi-Malur/Hoskete road - 2/6/13

Plesant weather in Bangalore today.   Fortunately no rain in the morning.   Lot of clouds though, very little sunshine and of course chilly wind.  

Since my ride got spoiled y'day though will do a 50km ride today.    Chose the Soukya road towards Devangonthi HPCL terminal.  My first.

Roads were small and a little rough at places.   No problem for  my MTB though.  

Continued beyond Devanagonthi towards Hoskete/Malur road.   Got this pic of village god's procession from Devashettahalli cross.   For full video scroll below.

Took the Kadugodi-Hope farm road from NH4 to come back home.

Monsoon arrived - Short ride 20KM 1/6/13

All prepared for 50+ plus ride today.    As I was about came out of my home, Lalitha told me it is drizzling outside.   The weather is outstanding, wind is chilling.   As I started riding, the roads were pretty wet due to rain last night.  It rained heavily friday night, total of 10 cm rain, apparently a record rainfall in June in Bangalore.    Finally decided to do short ride through whitefield main road.

Soukya Road & SH207 - 32 km - 26/5/13

Beautiful morning today.   What better way to start the day than riding through beautiful Soukya Road.

This is the first time I took Soukya road. It is named after famous Soukya health resort.    Soukya is in papers for its high profile visitors like Desmond Tutu and Camilla.   Seems like this road is the destination for all the big warehouses.   I found warehouses of Flipkart, Max, Safe Express and so on. It has zero traffic today.

Joined SH207 on my way back to Whitefield.

Short ride compared to what I have done y'day.  But enjoyed it. 

SH207 towards Devanahalli - 63km ride - 25/05/13

Weather is very pleasant today.   A bit of clouds here and there and a cool breeze.     I took the usual SH207 towards Hoskote.   Upon reaching Hoskote, I felt like going further and continued on SH207 towards Devanahallli.   Quite a bit traffic on this stretch of the road.

Continued on the road till Kammasandra and then took a left towards Gangavara to join Sivas Road at Budigere.   Lot of heavy vehicles plying on Sivas Road, made the ride difficult and tiring.   Had a small issue with bike, as the chain is slipped while I changed the gear.    Joined NH4 Old Madras road and then took the Whitefield road from there.    Stopped couple of times atleast to buy water, as I ran out of water.  After 4 grueling hours finally reached home.

Update:  For some reason Endomondo stopped tracking the trip while I was on the road to Whitefield.   Hence the route on Endomondo is not showing my ride till home.

Gunjur - Dommasandra - SJP Road - 19/5/13

I wanted to buy a saddle bag for my bike, hence planned a visit to Decathlon on Sarjapur Road.   What can be better way than go by my bike.   I chose the Gunjur road for the ride.      The road is great for a ride, except the heavy vehicles moving by the side.  Lots of schools on the road; TISB, Greenwood High, Oakridge and more.

Saw this Krishna Temple with strange architecture near Dommasandra.   I guess this is a Kerala style temple.

On my way back home, Karmelram - Gunjur Road

First 50km ride - Whitefield - Chikka Tirupathi - Varthur - 18/5/13

Very excited today as I planned my first 50km ride.    Got started slow and steady, but few problems with my GPS and lost some time after the first 5km.     After crossing Hope farm junction, took the road to Chikka Tirupathi via my favourite SH 207.   SH 207 towards Chikka Tirupathi lot more busier compared to the one towards Hoskete.    I didn't exactly enjoy the stretch, but the road is quite good.   Soon after I lost my way at Dudda Dunnasandra junction, and entered Lakkur road.

Luckily the road is quite good and continued my road hoping to get back to SH 207.    Travelled through picturesque and sleepy Hosahalli, Narayana Kere villages.   The kids in these villages are quite excited to wish me as I passed through.    Took Google Navigation's help to took a right into a rather small and bad road for about 2km to join back SH207.   Relived to reach Chikka Tirupathi.   Small but a busy village, famous for Lord Venkateshwara temple.  

I was disoriented a little bit as I try to figure my way towards Varthur.   Literally no directions on the road.    Continued on SH 207 towards Sarjapur and then took a right onto Varthur Road after Mugalur.  Probably should say no road.    Road is nothing but stones till Kamanahalli cross which is about 4km.

From there on, the road is quite good all the way to Varthur.     By the time I reached Varthur, completely exhausted and somehow made it back to home.




V

Longest raid so far, through scenic Whitefield Hoskote SH 207 road - 12/5/13

Yesterday there was persistent rain till late night.   Waking up early today, I expected the morning to be pleasant.    Started the ride at 7 am.   Route choice was obvious.  I have been through Hoskete state highway SH 207 earlier last week.    Picked the same route today via ITPL.    Lost some time at few points, because I entered into busy market roads to explore few localities in Hoskete and Kadugudi.    Otherwise it was a pleasant ride.   On my return I met a biker at Hope farm circle, who just finished 55km ride on Chikka Tirupathi road.   That reminded me, I am still a newbie.   

Here are some pictures of SH 207 taken from my N4.

     

Short raid on a working day through office going traffic - 9/5/13

I woke up at 6 AM today, with a guilty feeling that I haven't touched my bike for a good 5 days.   Decided to go for a short ride and was hoping to touch 20 km/h avg speed.    I took the ITPL road and then to Whitefield and then back to home via ITPL.   Too much traffic and over ambitious use of higher gear made me exhausted sooner than expected.   In the end touched an average of 19.4km/h and a distance of 18.61.