The Nandi Showdown: The BBCH Nandi Race - 2015

HRL pace setting

HRL at the helm of affairs right through. [Image credits: Veloscope]

Team Hyderabad Racing League's red kits were prominent at the head of the peloton right through the race. They were setting the pace and were nullifying any attacks. They were doing a brilliant job of controlling the race for their skipper, Jetharam Gat. Spectrum racing's new addition Gaurav Duggal was doing domestique duties for the team and was animating the race from time to time. The Pune Wolfpack was right in the thick of action at the front of the group sitting behind HRL.

They were working for their young climber, 17 year old, Rhishabh Hattarki. The other contenders, the Spanish pocket rocket, Enautopoulus Gonzalakis, SKCT's Kiran Kumar Raju and Naveen Raj, the tiny climbing package from Hyderabad, Anubhav Karmakar, Manchanabale Machas' skipper, Rajanikanth Puttabuddhi, the Belgian workhorse, Ronny Schrijvers, Spectrum master's contenders Arvind Bhateja, Mohan Kumar, Shankar Jayaraman, Spectrum Elite bet Rishav Mallick and Gaurav Dwivedi were all there in the thick of things.

There were a couple of huge digs from HRL and the Wolfpack riders during the return leg to force the pace and distance a few contenders if possible. But those infusions of pace only managed to drop a few more passengers. All the contenders were able to stay in the bunch as we approached the base. Water was dumped from the bottles to make the bike lighter for the climb. Furious shifting of gears to get into the right gear for the climb happened as we took the right at the bull statue at the base of the climb. Wheels to follow were chosen and all hell broke loose!

The Grand Finale: Nandi Climb

The group hit the base and immediately got shattered into pieces. A peloton of about 8-10 disappeared around the first bend on the hill at a furious pace. Some groups of two or three riders formed behind them which quickly became groups of two and eventually of one each. It was each on his own for the riders behind. The screaming muscles in the taut legs, the heaving breath and the pounding heart, the pouring sweat and the burning eyes were ample company as each rider fought gravity and gradient on the famed hills.

I found myself with Ronny after the steep first bend and rode with him for a minute. I forced the pace a bit and went ahead for a few meters. The legs were feeling the effects of the earlier effort to chase back to the peloton. I was grinding unusually higher gear but kept at it as the legs refused to spin faster in a lower gear. Ronny got back and passed me. I stayed with him for a few meters and then slowly went past him grinding the same high gear.

I kept seeing the lead bunch disappearing at a distance and saw that my teammate Rishav was at the back of it. That gave me some heart as I wanted him to do well in this race. He had been very disciplined with training right from the start of the year and had been unlucky with earlier races ending up with a couple of DNFs.

It was a race made for the climbers! Rishabh finished 5th and Anubhav finished 6th! Pic: Veloscope

I kept going and was going past Naveen Kumar of Team Kinshi when he asked if I had any salts with me as he was cramping up terribly and had no liquids on him. I shared my bottle of energy drink and he took a couple of swigs. He felt a bit better and I moved ahead. I kept grinding as the sweat poured into the eyes. Savoring the burning sensation in the legs and the eyes, I eyed the wiry youngster, Vishwesh Sangarya ahead of me. I bridged up to him and stayed with him for a while. Then I slowly moved ahead. He was on my wheel as we made it through the 4km mark and then 5km mark.After the steep section of curve 33 was done I increased the tempo a bit and didn't hear the rhythmic breathing behind me. I kept seeing the red jersey of a HRL rider a few meters ahead of me and that kept me focused as I suffered through the last km or so. I went past a couple of more riders from the Amateur and elite races but the red kit kept evading me.As I approached the final hairpin curve the entire road was jammed from both sides with vehicles trying to make their way up and those that were trying to come down. May be my daily commutes through traffic have helped as I somehow managed to sneak through without having to stop. I got out of the saddle and crossed the Nandi arch and stopped there relieved that the suffering was finally over after spending exactly 26:00 on the climb.As I was crouched on the handlebars and was catching my breath, someone came and told that the finish line was up ahead beyond the arch. I was confused and ran with the bike to cross the wires so that the transponders pick up and register my time. It was later clarified that ProElite was not allowed to set-up the finish line near the arch as they needed to park the car with the timing equipment nearby. It was later clarified that the positions at the arch were considered final as they were taking the positions at both the points.

The Results

Elite Category:

The Spanish rocket, Enaut managed to clinch the victory on his final race in Bangalore before he goes back to Europe after two years in India. It has been a great joy having him here. He showed us how to race aggressively and smartly at the same time. He had great things to say about BBCH. Kiran Kumar Raju of SKCT finished a close second after a brilliant climb while Jetharam Gat of team HRL finished third. The furious pace on the climb by these guys have left others behind. The top 3 finished the climb in 21 mins and a few seconds.

Elite Podium!

Master's Category:

Rajanikanth of Manchanabele Machas' finished first in Masters. But, registering in elite category by mistake and not clarifying with the registration desk before the race start, costed him his first win at BBCH. Nonetheless, he had a brilliant race and finished in top 10 overall. Spectrum Racing master's contenders Mohan Kumar and Shankar Jayaraman took two steps on the podium while Vivek Radhakrishnan finished a few minutes behind them.?

Master's Podium!

Women's Category:

SKCT's Fariyal Jamadar took the win in Women's category with Carola of Velohanka finishing second in her first race in India on only her third day in the country. Lena Robra of Team Crankmiester finished third.

Women's Podium

Amatuer Category:

Karan Kumar of Team Giant-Just Buy Riders finished first in the Amateur race with PBS Mahapatra finishing second and Santosh CS finishing 3rd.

Amatuer Podium!

U-18 Category:

Ghajendran of Giant-Just Buy Riders finished on the top step of the U-18 podium while Sharath M.V. Jamadagni of Cyclopedia Mysore finished second followed by his teammate Tharun Shiv at 3rd.

U-18 Podium!

Volunteers And Sponsors!

Thanks a ton to all the volunteers and organizers who were there and made this race happen. Thanks a ton to all the sponsors including the nutrition partner Yoga Bars, Medical partner Sita Bhateja Hospitals, Physio partner Spectrum Physio, professional timing sponsor ProElite and photography team at Veloscope. All you guys make it happen! Thank you!

This brings an end to the road season at BBCh. Hopefully the same energy and enthusiasm continues through to the MTB season that starts next month!

P.S.: With the crazy traffic that turns Nandi hills into MG Road every Sunday these days, it is better to move the race to a Saturday next time!

PPS: I had a great time training for this race for the last three months or so with the goal of a top 10 finish in this race. I didn't quite meet that goal. But, boy! Did I have a blast trying! The process of the disciplined and structured training with my teammates was itself a great learning and probably worth more than the goal itself. Thanks to Rishav Mallick, Gaurav Duggal, Arvind Bhateja and all of my team members at Spectrum Racing for the constant company and motivation to get better!

Photos: Here are a few awesome snaps from Veloscope. Keep an eye on bbch.in for complete results which will be out soon.