Back home after two back to back hill climbs during the w/e in the Eastern Ghats with Raveendran Jepegnanam and Naveen Nadig (Part 1) Saturday (28 Nov/14) - Kolli hills. We were planning this ride for a while and finally found the right time. The weather was perfect (16c to 20c), mild drizzle at times and a bit of fog in the higher altitudes. The roads were good and had very less traffic. It was a 20km climb with 70 switchbacks averaging about 4.5% grad. The thought of 70 switchbacks may seem to be scary but its actually an easy ride than many other hills around. The three of us started from the base (Toll booth) at about 10am. Have enjoyed climbing the hills non-stop @ 550m/h but its been a while since I did those non-stop climbs and had this thought at the back of my mind. Started with a steady speed of 10kmph and felt at ease. Wanted to push a little more and see if I can still do a non-stop ride. Increased the speed to 12kmph and kept going. This speed seemed to be quite fine and I felt comfortable. There werent any pitstops or shops enroute. Had two sipper bottles with enerzal / water and a peanut candy for snack in-between. Kept going at a steady pace with few sips of water / enerzal and didnt really need the snack :) Slowly the switchback count started increasing from 1 to 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60.. Enjoyed the climb with the beautiful surroundings of the trees / forest and the mild music. I was happy with the way I was climbing and I thought I can push this to a sub 100min ride. With this new target increased the pace at times and finally cracked the 70 switchbacks in 100mins :) It was a moment of joy and felt happy to see my fitness improve and get back to my older days. I was missing my roadie and the cleats during this ride, would have dropped the timing by another 5% easily. Anyways there is always a next time. Naveen and Ravi joined soon, we took a selfie at 70/70 followed by a slow descent and a drive to Yercaud for the next days climb. Avg HR: 164 / Z4 The next target is 90mins :) Greatly enjoyed the company of Ravi and Naveen on and off the saddle. Thank guys for making this one of the best w/e rides. Missed Kaushik in this ride though.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 06:32:40 +0000
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