Cyclothon - Tour de Bombay, February 21, 2010

The Bombay Cyclothon was another memorable event. It was also the first time I had a flat tyre (in a race) and had to travel half the distance running/walking with my bike (I was using a regular road bike without quick release, plus i did not have a spare tube, pump).

http://mumbaicyclothon.com/ had different race categories, but the only one I was eligible for was the 24km ride (sorta the biking equivalent of the dream run), I was not really keen on participating in this 24km ride as I had just completed a 200km BRM a couple of weeks before this event. The sea link ride made it all worthwhile (inspite of the 24km distance) and I was really looking forward to the event.

The 24k ride started very well and I really enjoyed riding my bike at 30km plus, on the streets of Bandra (without any vehicular traffic), reminded me of the first time I watch Tour de France on TV and used to marvel at the way those riders rode so close to one another without ever bumping into one another and having crowds (locals) line up on both sides. This bike ride through Bandra during the cyclothon recreated that experience for me. This experience was bigger than what I experienced running or cycling on the Bandra Worli Sea link.

The flat tyre only added to my memorable experience, it will ensure that I remember this for a long long time. Not many people understood why I was running with my bike, wouldn't it be more sensible to just hop onto the support vehicle and return to safety. I have never understood how people can give up on anything, even if it looks/sounds impossible, isn't it the obvious thing to do - to just go and get what you have aimed for, irrespective the variables (internal and external) thrown at you? I have always finished any race that I have started and even those I have not been able to finish (like my 2nd Bangalore Ultra) due to time limits, I have tried to do it till the very last minute.

I hope next year the cyclathon organised have atleast a 50k bike ride for regular cyclists.


this is the nasty nail which gave me a lot of grief

#mmmm and self styled Triathlon.

I did my first triathlon last Sunday and it was a lot of fun. Since it was self style and personalised one, there was only one participant! India does not have any Triathalons (not even 70.3 ones), so you have do your own thing to train for one.

I got up at 3.30am in the morning and took a 4.15am start for my bike ride. It was a 27/28km bike ride from home to NCPA, Nariman point. It took me about 1hr 20mins, which is not bad given the road conditions. I parked my bike at a secure place in Churchgate, just in time for the 6am start from NCPA for the Mumbai monsoon mini marathon (#mmmm). This #mmmm was organised by local congress party politicians & workers, to protest against terrorism & to support peace. To my horror the planned (not publicised) start time turned out to be 7am and the final start time was close to 7.30am.

But the spirit was very good and the turnout was lot higher than what I had expected it to be, so things improved as soon as the run started (since it was a very short run of 5k, the delay did not really make much of a difference). I finished the distance in about 25minutes and then headed by to Churchgate for my swim. So I ended up doing about 8k or so that day (3k on my return to Churchgate)

I had originally planned a 1k swim as I was hoping that the mini marathon would be somewhere around 12km or so (which turned out to be just 5k). So I decided to make up for the distance by doubling my swim, to 2kms.

After that I had some yummy breakfast and then the bike ride back home (another 28km). With that I completed a 55km bike ride, 8km run and 2km swim. The only thing I need to really improve upon is the run for my next triathlon, need to take that to atleast 20km, and that will take be very close to the 70.3 Triathlon or half Ironman or Olympic Triathlon.

This triathlon has given my confidence a big boost and Ironman no longer looks so difficult. I was also inspired by a friend who recently completed his first Ironman (he did it in a little over 13hrs, a super effort indeed). Do catch his blog www.bedders.blogspot.com for more ...

Eventful day..

Its been a great day, although it had a slow and lazy start. But after that its been a totally different day, when I went shopping.

I picked up some much needed cycling gear, cycling gloves and a foot pump. The sad thing was the store selling these biking accessories and gear (Hypercity, Malad), does not keep anything specific to road cycle. They only stock Raleigh gear (a UK company having a manufacturing base in China), which is almost 'dumping' stuff in India at some really attractive prices. So the gear and accessories they stock are also produced by Raleigh (which seems to only produce mountain bikes). I wanted to pick up spare tubes, seat covers, etc, could not find anything for my road bike.

But the highlight of my shopping expedition was purchase of a pair of Reebok Road running plus shoes (one of the few specialty road running shoes in India!). I have had a couple of bad experiences when I have purchased Reebok running shoes, as the cushioning technology they use does not seem to suit me. But these specialty running shoes have the extra cushioning to help my cause and I got them at a very special price (thanks to a sea (almost every clothing brand and accessory) of 'sale' and discounts doing the rounds in the city, to boost consumption, which has taken a huge beating after the recent news of Inflation - which at the consumer level is at 16%). I personally believe that in times of high inflation its better to spend more, as savings do not really help your cause.

Now I am fully stocked up on my running, swimming (not sure if I have mentioned, I now have another set of complete swimming gear which I picked up recently) and cycling gear. The only thing left is to train on these three disciplines.

I completed the day by doing a 7km run in about 42minutes. Thank god I went for the run today, as I found the new pair of road running shoes, while I was returning after my run and coffee break.

Great week in the making

Its been a great week so far and in all likelihood it should stay the same way. I successfully managed two weekday runs with reasonable ease. I ran on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to work. I did the two 10.5km runs in about 1hr 7mins 30sec and 1hr 6mins respectively. Today's run was the smoothest (for the last 2 months) as I was able to manage it comfortably without having to walk in between, the rhythm seems to be coming back (hope I have not spoken too early). Though the in between waking does not really affect timing, it does take the sense of fulfillment out of the run.

It rained in the evening on both the days when I ran, which ensured that the run was in very humid weather. These are pre monsoon showers, the monsoons is due sometime mid June. But its a welcome relief from the high temperatures of the last few months.

I am looking forward to my first biking trip, plan to do a 20km run. I hope it does not rain tomorrow, last thing I need is a slippery road when I am riding a bike after a long long time. I have my riding gear in place, so it should not be much of a problem. After cycling, I hope to go for a swim to try and get things going and finally end the week with a run tomm., with a 13km run.

Its been a regular week. Managed the regular 2 runs during the week. The first was on Tuesday, did a 10.5km run in about 1hr 10mins. This was the first time when my backpack troubled me, the weight was straining my upper back (so I need to add another element to my list of things to strengthen).

This Sunday run was one of the toughest in a long time, could not manage anything more than a 7.5km run. I started really late 9.30am, which is this weather is not the best thing to do, plus the fact that I have not been logging enough weekly mileage, ensure that I had to give up well before the planned distance of 11km.

So I badly need to increase my frequency of runs, what better than to start off on Monday morning itself. I only wish I can sleep early, which will be possible only if the IPL final is a one sided affair!

And yes, my bicycle is looking wonderful after a complete overhaul (well everything except for the original frame seems to have been replaced!). Not sure when I will start riding again, I can't see myself riding it in the traffic, so I will need to get up very early in the morning to ride it. Maybe get up early on a Sunday morning, cycle 20km and then do a 10km run. Seems like a good idea.