My first MBC 200kms league ride

Every avid cyclist dreams of enduring a long ride to push himself beyond the comfort zone and so was I. For a starter, a ride of 20 kms is quite an achievement and as we keep honing our riding skills we want to do better and endure more and nothing satiates our quest for greater challenges and laurels, which is a natural human tendency.

So after achieving smaller milestones of 50kms, 100 kms, the Kudremukh hills climb and then the great Kundadri hills climb and 5 months of cycling experience, It was time for the 200 kms challenge. I used to hear from the veterans of cycling club that 200 kms needed different set of riding skills. So I was a bit apprehensive at the beginning but was up to the challenge.

So on a lovely Sunday morning, Sept 04, 2016, 8 riders from MBC including myself started from lady hill circle at 4.15 am. The weather was just fine to start a long ride and the first stopover was at Katapady for breakfast. Next stop was at Manipal where one more rider joined us on our onward journey to Hebri. The route between Manipal and Hebri was simply breathtaking with loads of greenery and very little traffic. The warmth of the lovely air caressing our faces as we sped down the lovely rolling roads was beyond words can express. It was so blissful that the 3 hours ride till Hebri was like a walk in the park.

After a small regrouping, we resumed our journey towards Karkal. Even this route was quite a green stretch, but the sun had begun to show its lovely glow on the riders and we were up to it. By 12 noon we had reached Karkal where we stopped for a well deserved lunch. By now the sun was shining in full glory with no signs of rain. We had done 120 kms by now and I knew the last stretch between Karkal and Mangalore through Moodbidri & Bantwal would test our endurance and it did without fail.

The last 80 kms was really laborious with some real peaks to climb and with our body showing signs of fatigue it turned out to be a real challenge with a bit of muscle cramping to add to the drama. By 4.30 pm in the evening a few of us after 9.5 hours of moving time, had finally conquered all our fears and triumphantly overcome the heat, cramps and fatigue to become the members of the Elite 200 kms club.

Really looking forward to more such lovely rides from the club in the future.

The MBC 300 kms league is beckoning in the near future..