Consolidated post of my FUJI ToT 2014 experience - A bit long.. But hope you would enjoy the read. I was originally planning to join the team on Friday the 19th to go to Salem. I had to be in the US and took a return flight on Friday evening to reach Chennai on Sunday Midnight. As Murphys law would have it, my United flight from Newark was delayed by over 45 minutes. My transit time in Frankfurt for a connecting Lufthansa flight was 60 minutes. There was still some hope of making it, just in case the pilot could make good some lost time on the run. We reached Frankfurt 30 minutes before the deprature time of my Chennai flight. By the time I came out of the aircraft, I lost about 13 more minutes. Literally ran (with another co-passenger who was also in the same flight) to the United counter. The guy said, check at counter x for the next available flight. You guys are not gonna make it for your Lufthansa flight. Told this guy - we have about 18 minutes. Worst case, we would take another flight. Missing this flight for me would mean that I miss my Sunday morning train to Salem to join the tour. He agreed.. We both ran to change the terminal from Z to C. The skytrain just arrived and we rushed in... Reached Terminal C, Hushed through the security (fortunately no rush) and ran upto the Gates.. The last passenger was seen getting inside.. We yelled and make it to the counter. The guy was closing the flight and on seeing us.. rushed to receive us.. The other guy literally collapsed. He took our boarding passes let us in and closed the gates behind us. *poof* made it !! Back of the mind, luggage arrival in Chennai was another concern when the flights get delayed. Noneless nothing to worry since there were no valuables in the same. Thought it would arrive as an when it comes.. The guy who accompanied me kept saying that he still doesnt believe that he made it to the flight.. A mission impossible sorts !! A good flight back to Chennai, I was shocked to see one baggage arriving.. Honestly,I was only waiting for all the baggeges to get unloaded and then take a lost baggage claim form. In any case, I had to wait for the unloading of all the baggages and then finally filed a lost baggage claim. Came home, packed my things to leave for the 6 Am train. Got a OLA cab booked and rached station. Reached Salem by about 11:00 Am and the ToT team had sent a pickup vehicle to pick me up. (Nice of them). Went past all the cyclists waved at most of the known faces.... before eventually reaching Sathyamangalam at around 3:00 PM. Refreshed with chilled beer while the baggages arrived. Helped Dhurga who was volunteering sort out room wise baggages as the cyclists arrived one by one. Settled down in my room with my Roomie Krishnakumar Sridhar and slept well. 2014-12-22 - Monday Day 2 FUJI ToT - connect.garmin/modern/activity/659219106 ----------------------------------------------- I havent trained for this tour but for some running and daily office commute. The first day itself was a steep climbfrom Sathyamangalam to Coonor 80 kms with 28 kms of climb with over 1400 mts hill climb and 1700 mts gross elevation. Killer of a ride.. But Managed to complete it... The last 2 Km from Coonor bus stand to Vivek Hotel was a killer. Ive started liking these climbs these days... Tomorrow is yet another one.. 2014-12-23 - Tuesday Day 3 FUJI ToT - connect.garmin/modern/activity/659110542 ------------------------------------------------- Today our long climb Via Adikaratt, Koderi, Biketti to Ooty. A late 10 am start ndue to anticipated fog... 68 kms rolling terrain (as in Vazs definition..). Killer climbs including ine cat3 5 km climb.. Tired legs... But yeh Dil maange more.. Coonoor - Ooty. Done.. Tomorrow is a long descend with some climbs upto Kothagiri. 2014-12-24 - Wednesday Day 4 FUJI ToT - connect.garmin/modern/activity/659110583 ----------------------------------------------------- Day 4 started with a very stiff climb to Dodapetta after Vazs customary pre-ride briefing. We then rode on mostly descending via Kothagiri, outskirts of Metupalayam - Annur- - Somanur - Sultanpet - Pollachi - 159 Kms done Yeh dil ne maanga more - ToT ne diya More n More. Good long ride after a very long time In the evening, the riders were felicitated by the Tirupur cycling club and the Rotary club in a small function. It was really nice to see all the cycling communities helping each other and getting associated with each other. They hosted the dinner for the night. Thanks Sathish - Tirupur Cycling Club 2014-12-25 - Thursday Day 5 FUJI ToT - connect.garmin/modern/activity/659223500 --------------------------------------------------- Ravi Ranjan joined us from Bangalore for today and tomorrow. Valparai loop ride today. Tired legs wanting rest.. Dil maange even more since its the most Scenic route of this tour, wanted to attempt this at the cost of sacrificing tomorrows Kodai Climb. Went ahead being mentally prepared to quit of it comes to that. Got tempted by the scenic description of this place. Tough climb followed by a great snack cum pit stop. Return was with Balu, Krishna, Vaz and Ravi Ranjan in batches... One more hill conquered and am happy -- I did it.. Nice Bhajji and tea on the way back with quite some pics and videos both ways 2014-12-26 - Friday Day 6 FUJI ToT - connect.garmin/modern/activity/659110654 ----------------------------------------------- Skipped the ride from Pollachi to Palani. Started from Base (Palani side) at 11 am. Mostly a solo ride and was relatively quicker this time. Chatted, met many riders on the way and eventually reached TTDC at around 4 15 PM. Kodai Conquered.. 49.73 kms... Over 1800 meters ascend. Evening was awards nite and all participants were handed over their certificates and mementos.. Glad to hear that all the participants enjoyed the tour. Senthil Mohan, Baaskaran and Bathini Murali joined us today and tomorrow for the ride. 2014-12-27 - Saturday Day 7 FUJI ToT - connect.garmin/modern/activity/659110702 ------------------------------------------------- Last day of the Tour. Post the day ride briefing, we started our descend from Kodai towards Dindigul. Tagged along with Sanjay Karandikar and reached Hotel Pareson Court. Met Krishnakumar Sridhar and Shiva Reddy. Convinced Shiva to come along. A quick refill of water, and we headed to Sirumalai. A tough climb after a 100k and I lost shiva and Sanjay ahead of me.. Balu came along in his usual pace and over rook me towards the end. Climbed in my own pace and successfully completed the tour at Sirumalai. Sad that all good things must come to an end. An exceptionally well organized tour with some fantastic riders namely, Sanjay Kharandikar , Anjali Bhalinge, Balu Balakrishna, Ravi Ranjan, Sushma Gowda, Krishnakumar Sridhar, Vaz amonst others... Had a great time with Vaz, Rajaram, Ravee, Kaushik, Senthil Mohan, Naveen at Dindigul on saturday night before leaving for Chennai on Sunday morning. Missed our own Shingam - Mahesh on this tour. He could not make it due to some personal commitments. Shingam - Next time for sure !! Harshvardhan a nine year old boy joined us with his Mom. He has a great potential to become a good cyclist. I was really impressed by his riding skills.. Just a little more serious practice, Im sure he would rock for a champ he already is.. A few accomplishments - Manage to ride all days (but for the missed first day) and climbed all the hills. More confident on riding hills and I think, the mental barrier of climbing hills cease to exist. On the effort and post ride feeling - This time around, despite the tough climbs, I was at ease, I guess the running cardio vascular training helped a lot. Didnt feel like throwing up (as it would have been the case last year after a tough ride). The support staff namely Rehmanbai Probikes, Shekar and Lokenath our official Masseur were just awesome and helpful as always... Our volunteers Ms. Dhurga Sivanathan and Bala Sundaram were outstanding and without them, the cyclists would not have been put to ease..My sincere thanks to them for doing a wonderful job. My sincere thanks to our sponsors namely, FUJI, Probikers, Star Health Insurance, Tamilnadu Tourism, 104 Emergency services and other sponsors for supporting this tour. My Photos: - https://facebook/media/set/?set=oa.988412634519700&type=1 My Gopro Video - On its way....
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 13:56:58 +0000