Re: My First Climb on a cycle.

Climbing up high mountains approved

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Glad that you took up the challenge of a difficult climb. As you attach the climbs on a more regular basis, you will get better and better at it. The satisfaction of reaching the top cannot be explained, it has surely to be experienced

Re: My First Climb on a cycle.

Congrats, bro. Where's this route?

Re: My First Climb on a cycle.

The trip was to Kuttikanam, a hilly place in Kerala. I will soon post the detailed write up.


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Re: My First Climb on a cycle.

That's a good ride. Throw in some pics as well

Re: My First Climb on a cycle.

You will find a lot of pictures of the cycle along with scenic background, so please dont get offended with the number of cycle pic. Starring Scott Aspect...


Trip log From Ponkunnam to Kuttikanam
Distance map says 39.95 kms. On my cycle odo itshows 40. So its a total of 80kms ride.


Time taken first 20 kms ---40min
Next 20 KMS ---- Three and a half hours
Descend ----30 minutes

Long trips on cycle can be fun, especially forsomeone who loves cycling. So its more than two months since I bought the cycleand I have not gone for any long rides. The max I used to move around is 17-20kms almost daily. So I was planning for something like this. But the monsoonhas arrived and it’s always showering heavily so I kind of postponed. Riding inrain is not a problem for me especially after fitting the mudguards. I don'thave rain shoes and once the shoes are wet it takes days to dry. So for smallrides I use slippers but its not comfortable for long rides.
So on a Sunday,woke up a little early, breaking the usual monotony of getting late, justpeeped through the window to see a bright day. Its going to be a day, I knew.

Got ready for the ride, took the mobile phoneand some money in a small ziplock bag so that even if it rains I won’t be outof cash. Now I understood I require a saddlebag badly. I am not at allcomfortable riding with umpteen things in the pocket. So next on the shoppinglist is the saddle bag. I had blind faith in my Scott, so for the time being Idon't own a tool kit to carry around. (How I lost the so called faith, soon Iwould know in my next ride)
Started at around 9:15, en routethere is a small drive in restaurant. As I didn't had breakfast andthinking about the long ride I thought I would have breakfast from there. Anotheradvantage of getting there was, I could safely keep the bike. Had masala dosaand coffee from there.


Left the restaurant at 9:40 am. Thenext 18.5 kms was almost a plain stretch of road with occasional small climbsbut not on the hard side. The only problem was the incessant traffic and tomake matters worse the roads were not that wide. I had to be extra alertto prevent some cagers tailgating. Except for that, the ride was fun.


On either sides of road there were rubber treesarching out to the road, so its relatively shady. Comfortably reached the nextsmall town Mundakkayam. Beyond this place its the hills and Sunday though a holiday the town was buzzingwith people. Once I waded through the pedestrians and the motor vehicles theride continued in the same pace till I reached the climb. From there on thenext 19 - 20 kms, just climb.

The climb starts from here









On the way.....





My plan was to return back, the moment I feel Ican't. So started climbing, gears shifted to the lowest on my 21 speedbike. I tried to maintain a constant cadence, not fast but a little on the slowside. I knew very well I shouldn't get exhausted in the beginning itself. Beinga hilly place it’s a tourist destination, so most vehicles were packed withtourists, many of them giving me a look, as if I am a bit on the insane stateof mind. Some bikers were just giving out some random comments and twisting thethrottle to just show off who was the powerful. Climb continued at snail’space. I was riding around 5-6 KMPH. After maybe a kilometer or two I understoodits not going to be that easy, but as I climb my confidence increased.
Though I knew that my 750 ml water bottle wasnothing for these type of rides the only thing I carried was that.

The way was beautiful with greenery allaround with the road winding uphill. Truly a biker’s paradise. Though its aclimb I am sure every cyclist will enjoy this to the core. This greeneryall around reduces the sense of fatigue a little bit and I tried to enjoy thesurroundings, the greatest advantage of a cycle. More over it gives a breakfrom the continuous pedaling. Maybe after 3 kms my throat was almostparched though the ambient temperature began to drop once on the hills. Justtook a break, downed some water and the ride continued.



The breaks I took were mostly for photographsand it was a good day too. But I didn't take the camera, so had to rely on mymobile for the photography. (Again I missed a saddle bag.)The road is good withsome occasional tourist vehicles and buses Once i passed a bus or truckgoing downhill, I could sense the burning smell of their brake pads which gethot due to continuous braking. I moved on and began to getexhausted. I think, at that point I thought of going back because isomehow was feeling not comfortable even after having water.





Maybe I took rest for 5 minutes there and madeit a point to drink something cold and sugary for the depletingenergy level. So pedaling up I reached a small junction and stopped at thefirst shop. Bought a pack of chilled frooti, gulped; aha the ad of fruity isvery true its really fresh and juicy. I prefer frooty over other carbonatedbeverages, its not only refreshing but it fills the stomach too unlikethe carbonated ones, giving the stomach churning effect.




There are many small water falls all the way, in rainy season.



View on the way...





Bought a bottle of water, filled the waterbottle, there was water left in the bottle and no cage to carry it around. Soat last I had to wedge it between the top tube and down tube. Any how itworked. Felt refreshed, and the climb continued again. After a steadyclimb of 3-4 kilometers its again the same, on the way there was a smallcascade of water, got down and refreshed myself with the cool water on hands,face and head. Again headed to top, stopped at key view points to take picturesas well enjoying myself. At last I almost reached the top, just a fewkilometers before reaching; there was a waterfall, stopped there. There were afew shops that cater to the needs of tourists, had tea and vada.











Suddenly it started to rain, i didnt mind ridingin rain except for the fact that i was wearing shoes. i didn't like to wet it,as i am quite uncomfortable riding with shoes full of water. Iwouldn’t have mind, if it was on my return trip. Moved around therefor a few minutes and the climb continued once the rain thinned to a drizzleand it went on till I reach the destination. Along the drizzle fog started todecent along the valley. It's really a beautiful sight and with in a fewminutes I couldn't see those mountains and the road visibility too decreasedvery much. This was the most beautiful sight of the whole trip. All that Icould see at distance were the hazard lights of vehicles feebly. So I pedaledcautiously.
Though a small climb I accomplished what I thought I would not. After spending about 15 minutes there I started the decent which had a lot of fun factor. You can overtake the slow moving cars and bikes. The maximum speed attained while coasting was 50 KMPH, one could move faster here but the roads were winding down and if somehow your braking was not effective you would be right down there in the valley. The climb took a good 3 hours 15 minutes minus the rest. But the decent took just 30 minutes.


Some scenic beauty....





The road winds onand on....



This is the largest fall and its almost at the end of the climb






While the descend I had an encounter with none other than the stray dogs. They were around 5-6. These dogs very well know whom to attack, a motorcycle was passing and all were just lying near the road. But the moment they saw a cyclist the whole pack was charging after me. I was confident, they cannot catch me while descending. Most of them gave up after a few meters, but the smarty or leader chased me for a good 200 meters I think. The descend ended and suddenly I was pedaling again. While on plains it started raining heavily. I ignored the rain and pedaling continued and reached back my dwelling place.


My thoughts after the ride.
Climbing is fun, though it takes a lot of time. Without a geared cycle its impractical to reach the top. The fun factor is doubled while descending. I hate solo riding and need company. But its difficult to find a kindred spirit here, in a small town.

Re: My First Climb on a cycle.

A few more pictures



Fog starts to descend as i reach the top







The once clear view is obscured by the fog











The road can be seen down, winding up









Visibility is seriously reduced.....















Mission Accomplished ....




Rain on the way back....

Re: My First Climb on a cycle.

Arey Sirjee. How about posting some pics of yours with the cycle as well

Re: My First Climb on a cycle.

I was riding solo and couldn't find someone to take a picture, the truth is I didn't dare to ask someone. If I had asked someone, they would have rightly came to the conclusion that I am nuts.
Even you feel like its an overdose of Scott pics.


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Re: My First Climb on a cycle.

Great pics, man. You are sure putting that cycle to good use. Looking forward to reading about more of such rides