Cycling: Power unleashed at the Nandi race

And so went the peloton. As the race progressed, slowly but steadily there were few riders being dropped off. This was Ankush’s first ride on his road bike and I was worried about how he would fare after the halfway mark. He had also not paid any attention to nutrition and was thriving on raw power and water. Boy, was I surprised to see him not only keeping up with the peloton but doing so while being super strong and with a smile on his face – “he has finally found his sport, he has found his passion” is what I thought to myself. There were times when he was up in front of the peloton instead of being in the middle saving energy for the race to last. Each time he would display such unacceptabe behaviour, Sriram (riding the motorbike I was on) would slow down and tell him to get right back in the pack giving him real time coaching during the race. As is the case in any kind of team sport, it is far easier and more practical to stay in with the pack to conserve energy. To begin with you do not need to think and use your brain for things like thinking about the pace, maintaining it, increasing it, sustaining it etc. Secondly, as part of the peloton, the energy of the rest of the peloton rubs off and pushes you to keep going. Finally, as a leader, you need to face the winds head on while as part of a pack, the resistance is distributed and a lot lesser to handle. Each of these reduces the energy expended, conserving it for later when you will need to make the final push.

Like Hari very aptly put it – this race in cycling is the equivalent of running a Full Marathon. The actual race only begins at the 80th Km. Once the peloton took the turn off from the main road into Nandi, for the last 20K of the race, each Km saw the pace increasing and now the true mettle of the cyclists was seen. You could easily see the pros pumping themselves up and pushing themselves. I could see the grit, determination and madness in their steely gaze. Every minute saw more and more riders falling back and away from the peloton. Everyone was riding hard to hang on. And before you know it, there was the final Killer 7K of climb. The top 3 riders were, as expected, Sachin Panwar from Team Trek Firefox closely followed by Naveen Raj and Sanghamesh, both the riders from Specialized Kynkyny. As we followed the riders on the climb, it was mindblowing to see on the speedometer that Sachin was riding uphill at an average pace of 26Kmph, doing 30Kmph at easier inclines and even touching 40Kmph at the short flat section of the climb. As we stopped and looked down to see how Naveen was doing, it was easy to see that he was in pain. It was easy to see that he was cramping up and struggling with the climb. I had seen this mad monster climb the Nandibetta in a flat 24mins on his MTB not a few weeks back. Today was not his day. Bringing attention back to Sachin, this guy was going like a machine. Teeth clenched in determination and with a beautiful relaxed riding posture making this gruelling ride look so damn easy. And just like that, the 23 year old champ, Sachin Panwar crossed the finish line with a punch in the air claiming the title of King of Nandi on his birthday. He was followed by Sanghamesh and then came Naveen Raj ( fighting cramps the entire ride up ) both from Specialized Kynkyny. What a race boys – what a race – Thank You.

Honorable mention to all the finishers – this was NOT an easy race and each one is a winner. I was proud to see Vicki representing the fairer sex and hanging in there with the peloton right uptil the 90K mark. I have seen you ride before and lady, you’re only getting stronger and faster – such an inspiration!! Laura May and Sowmya Urs came in second and third place to complete the Women’s podium. The Masters podium ( over 35) saw the blue eyed Giorgio come in 1st, followed by Dr. Arvind Bhateja and Ankush Sharma ( YES!!! My brother!!!) third. I have to mention here that Rajani Kant actually came in third and due to a technical issue during registration was not awarded the podium that he actually deserves. We all know that he rode his heart out and deserves a podium in all fairness. Cat2 podium was ruled by Sukrit and Daniel of Aurovelo followed by Vishwanath Narayanaswamy. Finally, the under 18 category saw Rahul Roshan come out on top followed by Vishwesh Arya at 2nd and Lakhmesh at 3rd.

What an exhillarating morning! I would like to mention a few things that came to my attention before signing off though:

• whoever called cricket a gentleman’s sport, clearly had not been introduced to cycling. When Sachin stopped enroute for a rest room break, I saw all the pro riders had reduced their pace and were waiting for him to get back on the bike. They were all aware that Sachin is the strongest climber and they provide him with the due respect and refuse to race without the challege. Wow! I was touched!!!
• The Govt. of India really needs to reach out, provide support and infrastructure to nurture young talent so that they can untap the true potential of the sportspeople amongst us.
• We need to respect sport and sportspeople in our country.
• This is a dangerous sport. The focus required to ride in a peloton is right up there draining your energy. Add to that curious stares, inquisitive glances, loud horns and general brashness of the Indian traffic. The traffic really needs to extend courtesy and respect to these cyclists. The traffic police really needs to be supportive and provide organisers with the ability to block the roads for a few hours for an event such as this.
• Finally, the lack of women in sport confuses and saddens me. I mean, if for nothing else, come for the superfit, extremely attractive and passionate men in lycra . Trust me! Men really don’t get any better than this.

And a big shout out thanking the cheerleaders – Dharma, Shuveshek, Rahul; the photographers – Deepthi Indukuri, Con Photographer, Rolling Shutterz; the support crew; Ajjay, Balu, Vivek. Sriram – thank you for doing multiple things during this ride – clearing out the route and keeping the safety of the cyclists as primary concern the entire way, going at the right pace so I could capture some priceless moments and explaining the race as it progressed.