BBCh - Dirt Race Series - XC Endurance - May 2013

Off-Road Endurance: Can You Endure?
 Around 60 enthusiastic cyclists assembled, with their cycles, near the forest officer’s office near Chokkanahalli off Chagaletty around 6:30am. The showers of the night before meant, a relatively cooler morning with the Sun playing hide and seek amongst the clouds. It was most certainly a blessing since we'd need every bit of help we can get to endure this Cross Country(XC) endurance race of 60km on some of the most beautiful but open trails with little cover from the elements.

Racing through the beautiful trails.. BBCh XC Endrance: Photo: RollingShutterz

The Trail:
The trail was a 15km flattish and fast XC loop that cuts through forest, fields of flower plantations and mango grooves. The loop takes the shape of eight reminding a masquerade mask almost joining at the middle. The race loop had just about 500m of road section on which the race was started and ended allowing for the start line and finish line sprinting.

15km Race Loop x 4 laps.. Blue markers just a couple of sources of route confusion!

The race was flagged off with Cat 1 riders starting one minute ahead of Cat 2, U-18 and Women category riders. 

Trail Action Heats Up:
The favorites in Cat1 were the usual hardcore MTB guys, Richard McDowell of Team Trek Firefox, Craig Raynes of team Bums On The Saddle (Team BOTS) and K Kiran Kumar Raju of Specialized KYNKYNY Cycling Team(SKCT). The new addition to the cat 1 favorites for this race was Naveen Raj who usually dazzles us on road being part of SKCT. He apparently joined Wheelsports MTB team and lined up as one of the podium contenders for this off-road race. 

If anyone was missing the summer heat on the race day, it was made up by the heat of the racing action between the top favorites. It was one heck of a cat and mouse game between the top contenders. With Richard leading the pack in the first lap and Craig taking the turn in the 2nd lap and Kiran taking it up a notch after Richard dropped back with a flat in the third. The occasional MTBer Naveen did a great job sticking in there right through.  

The lead bunch of Cat1 - Craig leading the second lap.. Photo: RollingShutterz

This Way or That?:
I started with the cat2 bunch and quickly found myself in the middle of a long broken line of riders. This was my first MTB ride in about an year and my only objectives for the race were staying on the bike and not having to ditch the race because of a flat. To avoid flats I ended up putting boat anchor downhill wheels on a hard-tail MTB that I borrowed from a colleague. 

I found myself riding with Peter Moeleker and Michael Traesborg who were riding very strong. Up ahead a lead bunch had formed with the only rider on a cross bike, Oluf Kristian Højbjerg Hansen, who landed in Bangalore from Denmark a couple of weeks back, setting a strong pace. 

Around 6-7km into the race we saw, cat1 rider, Durgesh Ranadive of team Veloscope racing, coming in the opposite direction and shouting that this is not the route. Peter who was using the race route loaded on his Garmin to guide him, immediately vetoed it saying we were on course. After going down that path for about 3-4km we realized that we were on the route alright but were doing it in the wrong direction. 

Instead of taking the right near the joining where the too loops of the eight shape almost met, we ended up going straight. So, we had to back track and get on the correct side of the route. This apparently was a mistake most of the riders did until after the first lap some of the volunteers put a caution tape blocking the wrong turn.

Peter and Siddarth leaders of the Cat2 race were together most of the race. Photo: RollingShutterz

About the time we turned back to get on the right track, we met the cat1 race leaders Richard, Craig and Kiran coming in the opposite direction having taken the correct route. Naveen Raj and Oluf who went further ahead on the wrong path joined us and the race leaders on the correct course. Naveen managed to join the rest of the Cat1 race leaders while Oluf began to set pace for a group comprising of Peter, Michael, myself and a few others. 

I quickly found myself towards the end of this bunch as I was struggling to keep pace. I put my head down to see if my rear flatted or if there was a brake rub but saw none. But, this was the turning point in my race. When I looked up there was nobody. They were gone. I tried giving chase and increasingly found it difficult. 

After a few meters saw that Oluf was fixing a flat on his cross bike. That was the end of the race for him as he apparently got MTB tubes by mistake for spares. I forged ahead in pursuit of my bunch but they were no where to be seen. After sometime, I realized that I lost a turn or two and ended up going back and forth doing a 22km for a 15km first loop. I almost wanted to stop but decided to continue hoping to get in a decent ride at least before getting lapped by the leaders and having to stop. 

Towards the end of my 2nd loop the cat 1 leaders Kiran, Craig and Naveen quickly went past me. Another favorite, Richard was conspicuously absent from that group. He apparently suffered a flat tire on his tubeless tires. Since the leaders managed to lap me, I took solace in the fact that I had to do only 3 laps instead of four. 

Tubes or No Tubes, Flats Galore: 
In the third lap, I rode a bit with Michael Traesborg who despite switching to Stan's NoTubes(tubeless system for flat resistance) to avoid another DNF result due to a puncture, ended up having a flat. He tried pumping them up every lap and continued riding. He was riding really strong. The couple of times I was riding with him he quickly went ahead dropping me easily. However, his torrid luck with punctures in BBCh off-road races continued. I saw him at the end of the third lap, walking back to the finish line dejected, after the tire lost air completely.  

I managed to bridge up to my teammate Mohan Kumar and Somaskanda of BOTS in the third lap and ride with them till the end. They also apparently lost their way in the second lap and ended up riding 6-7km extra. Joining them was a welcome relief in the almost solitary ride losing way all the time. 

As the finish line approached at the end of third lap Somaskanda asked if I wanted to contest a sprint. Knowing that it was way too early for any sprint and it hardly mattered anyway, I said no. He quickly sprinted ahead but instead of turning left and going to the finish line, he took the area at the registration desk where the race was flagged off as the finish line. I smiled at him and sped towards the finish line smiling and suffering at the same time to the end a really draining ride. 

The Scottish Legend Trail Run!
Richard McDowell has been riding and parcipating in races all around India for the last 3-4 years. At the end of the last BBCh road race, after hearing about my DNF, he quipped that he is pretty happy that his record for races in India so far has been clean in terms of DNFs and he would like to keep it that way if he can. When I didn't see him with the Cat1 lead bunch which wooshed past me lapping me in my third lap and later learnt that he had a flat, I thought that he was going to open his DNF account.   

The Scottish Legend continues! One tough cookie that never gives up! Photo: RollingShutterz

But when I saw him running full steam towards the finishline lugging his bike on his side as he ran, I just couldn't believe my eyes. It sounds cheesy but it felt like he was running into enemy lines with his war cry. Only the war cry that I imagined was his panting as he ran. The sword or the war weapon of your choice was his bike beside him. Although I doubt if he would have given it even a second thought, if I were to indulge my imagination and do a pre-battle motivation speech he would've given to himself, it could be that scene in Braveheart. Only the dialogue would be slightly different, "These bliddy thorns! They may puncture my tires but not my spirit. They're not going to see me DNF. Not today! Not ever!"

His tubeless tires apparently punctured at the start of the third lap. After his failed attempts to pump it up using a CO2 cannister, he tried to give the lead bunch of Kiran, Craig and Naveen a chase for most of the third lap on very softly inflated rear tire. 3-4km into the 4th lap, when it completely lost air again, he got off his bike and ran the remaining 11k to the finish in his MTB shoes with towing his bike beside him. Take a bow, Richard! You sure are a winner! 

The Results:
The grueling 60km trail race was won by the K Kiran Kumar Raju of Specialized KYNKYNY Cycling Team, while Craig Raynes of team Bums On The Saddle finished second followed by Naveen Raj of team Wheelsports.

Cat1 Podium Photo: RollingShutterz

 Category 2 race was won by Siddarth Kansal of Team Trek/Firefox followed by Peter Moeleker(2nd) and Amarpreet Kalkat(3rd). 

Cat 2 Podium Photo: RollingShutterz

As you know, this year with the help of the lead sponsors LeapStart, a sports management company for young kids in schools, BBCh has introduced the Under 18 category to encourage participation of youngsters in cycling. The under 18 category is won by Nikhil J followed by Mukul P Rao(2nd) and Pranav Ashok(3rd).

U-18 Podium Photo: RollingShutterz

 Women’s race was won by Sowmya Urs of Team Wheelsports. She was the sole women's participant and has out done most of the male participants with her pace.

Women's Category Solo Winner- Sowmya Urs Photo: RollingShutterz

Route Selection and Marking:
The route was a fantastic selection. It was a pretty fast trail with beautiful views. Craig Raynes and Aditya Yadav seemed to have scouted the route. It is a fantastic find. Finding such a long uninterrupted trail and getting permissions to organize race there is not a simple job. The volunteers and the organizers have done a fantastic job there.

However, the general feeling after the race was that the marking could have been better. It was not just the directionally challenged roadies like me who got woefully lost, but most of the field ended up taking longer or shorter routes by mistake over almost all the laps. While, filling such a long trail with volunteers to direct or marking heavily to make it idiot proof, is nearly impossible, important turns like that at the junction where the loop almost met and where other obvious alternate trails exist could have been marked better.

Volunteers, Organizers and Sponsors: 
Thanks a ton to all the sponsors for the support and the volunteers for continuing to be so awesome and making BBCh more awesome with each passing race. Thanks to the sponsors, Tour oF Nilgiris, HASTPA Leap Start sponsors for BBCh offering prizes for all the winners. Nephrolife sponsored the ambulance support while Sufferfest continues it support with prizes for 4th place. Camelbak continues to support BBCh by offering up its goodies for prizes.  Thanks also to the photographers from Veloscope, Rolling Shutterz for covering the race. 

Photos from my camera are here. High resolution pics of the action can be seen at  RollingShutterz and Veloscope.

BBCh -2013 - Tarmac - April Road Race

You Want Action? Come to BBCh!
  

 Peloton at the start as the racing action kicked off on Hyd Highway! : Photo FlashBulbZz

It was the first flyover on the return and Naveen John(NJ) of Specialized KYNKYNY Cycling Team(SKCT) attacks. Looks back to see if any of his teammates are joining. The front of the pack responds. First, a rider from Team Wheelsports tries to follow. NJ weaves across the road shaking him off easily. Then a rider from Team Trek Firefox and another from Team Naesar try to get on his tail. 

Another snake dance ensues with the riders swinging from left to right on the highway and he manages to shut them down and breaks free. Although climbing is not really his forte for this muscular TT and breakaway artist from SKCT, this slightly steep and long flyover didn’t mean much more than gritting his teeth and grinding a big gear. He did just that and managed to put a few seconds on the peloton. 

Then it happened. His teammate, Lokesh Narasimhachar(Loki), charged off from the front of the bunch and joined NJ and lead him over the crest of the ~1km long flyover.

Loki and NJ drilling it in a break! Can they make it stick?

Unconsciously, I moved to the edge of the car’s back seat I was watching the race from. The adrenaline rush as I was watching the race unfold before my eyes was unbelievable. Are the deadly duo going to do it again? Is this two man break going to stick?

The peloton which was already going at a ferocious tempo and just upped it a bit to reel in the two man break on the downhill. It was around 20km to go to the finish line and the attacks kept coming but no one managed to go clear.

After a few minutes of relative calm from the peloton, Bhimappa Vijayanagar (Bhimshi) of SKCT attacked just before the second flyover on the return and managed to go clear with around 15km to go. He managed to put a decent gap from the peloton. While he was riding at the edge with his team director doing a Marc Midiot, it looked as though he might just manage to time trial away to victory. 

But after a few kms, Bhimshi was joined by Rajnish Kumar of Team Trek Firefox who put in a massive effort to bridge up to him. It was now a two-man break again and the gap looked big. But with others trying to bridge and the peloton itself reacting, the two-man break that lasted the longest and built the biggest gap was caught with around 6km to go.

It is Bhimshi's turn to attack..  with his team director encouraging him like Marc Madiot

More Action More Drama:  
While there was furious action playing out at the front of the peloton, there was furious action at the back of the peloton too. At around 10km to go mark on a downhill where the whole group was going at well above ~60kmph some wheels touched and Manu Balara of Team Naesar crashed hard. He suffered lacerations on his left shoulder and thigh but thankfully escaped without any broken bones.

Sreedhar Savanur of Team Wheelsports and Asif Attar of Team Naesar, two of the strong favorites were caught in this crash. Apparently Asif crashed too but escaped with minor injuries while Sreedhar went off the road and avoided crashing. This meant that they were quickly distanced from the peloton which was busy in chasing the two-man break that Bhimshi has started. Team Wheelsports’ team director, Venkatesh Sivarama(Venky) who was on a support mo-bike quickly went ahead and instructed his team to drop back to help their leader get back. With his teammates taking death pulls for him Sreedhar managed to rejoin the peloton in the last few kilometers.

With the multitude of attacks failing and all the breaks reeled in, the race was heading for a sprint finish as the peloton surged towards to finish line at tremendous pace. Being lead out by his team, SKCT sprinter Laxman Kurni opened his sprint but the strongest surge came from Sreedhar Savanur of Team Wheelsports. And it came when it mattered the most. He had the time to comply with the finish line graffiti of “Hands-Up” for his victory salute.  

Sreedhar Savanur of Team Wheelsports with his victory salute.. Photo: RollingShutterz

 

Racing And A Bit of Tumbling:

When the race kicked off, the 107 riders who lined up charged ahead at a brisk pace. Within the first few kilometers there were quite a few touches of shoulders and wheels which threatened to put a few riders in contact with the tarmac. Although riders were being ejected from the back of the bunch at ridiculous rate, the group was still quite big when we approached the flyover at around 10km into the race. A sideways movement from Sarvesh Sangarya sent Mohan Kumar of Spectrum Racing and Andrew Jerald of Team Student Foundation For Sports, tumbling into the highway railing.

Frious action in the front bunch as the race progressed.. Photo:SimpliClick

It sounded really bad and I wanted to see if my teammate was alright and since he was one of our strongest, I wanted to help him get back to the peloton if I can. So, I slowed down and went back to the crash site. Volunteers had stopped and helped them by the time I got there but Mohan had to abandon as the fork on his bike broke during the crash. Andrew also escaped with minor injuries.

At race pace, one could go down before one could say, “Oops!”. Crashes are part of racing and they happen at all the levels. But, it is really important that the youngsters like Sarvesh(and many of us oldies too) work on group riding skills like holding a line and not making sudden movements. Working on a bit of bike handling skills along with working on ones speed goes a long way to keep oneself as well as others safe.

I tried to get back on and after 2-3kms of the most optimistic chase ever in the history of bike racing, I gave up and chose to flag down Jaikanth Kumaran’s car. He was there with his photography partner to shoot the race. I figured that since my chances of being part of the racing action with the front bunch were doomed at least I could get to watch the action from a support car.

As our car went ahead, we saw more riders that were left in the wake of the speeding peloton. By the time we caught up to the peloton, they were almost at the turn around point(30km). It was still a relatively big bunch with the numbers being made up by the riders from SKCT, Team Wheelsports, Team Trek Firefox and Team Naesar along with lone wolfs, Dev Veera(Spectrum Racing), Craig Raynes(BOTS), Jehaan Panjuani(ProCycle) and Sarvesh Acharya. Riders with no teammates in the lead bunch were limited to following the wheels while those with teammates to work with were able to show much more intent either attacking or reeling in the attacks to control the race.

If the pace till the U-turn point was furious, the action became more intense once they took the U-turn to get to the finish line. It was a pleasure watching the race action so up-close. I’m sure it would have been even better if I was in the peloton to give my teammate and eventual cat 2 winner, Dev Veera(Spectrum Racing) company while watching the action from within the bunch.


Results: 
In Men's Cat1, Sreedhar Savanur showed once again why he is considered to be one of the finest of young cycling talent in India. His victory also shows why bike racing is such a team sport. He was quickly followed by SKCT’s Laxman Kurni(2nd), Lokesh Narasimhachar(3rd) and Ambi Mallappa(4th). Team Trek Firefox’s main man, Jeetharam Gat finished at 5th.

Cat 1 Winners: FlashbulbzzPhotography

Spectrum Racing’s  Dev Veera wins the Cat2 race with Sukrit (2^nd)(Aurovelo), Petrus Moeleker(3^rd), Andre Deplechin(4^th)(Aurovelo) and Michael Traesborg(5^th) following him.

The women’s category race was a show down between Spectrum Racing’s Vicki Nicholson and Team Wheelsports’ Gitanjali. In the end Vicki finished a more than minute ahead of Gitanjali who finished 2^nd despite a bad crash towards the end. She was barely able to stand on the podium.

Women's Category Winners: Photo: RollingShutterz

Team Procycle’s Jehaan Panjuani won the under 18 category with an impressive performance finishing 21st overall.

U-18 Winner.. Photo: RollingShutterz..

BBCh Keeps Raising The Bar!

With more than 100 riders the race was not just one of the biggest amateur road races organized in India, it was also one of the best organized. With the riders, who raced at both state and national levels representing all the top 4 teams, the field was very competitive and very talented.

Although there was ample police support courtesy IGP Bhaskar Rao, Devanahalli and Chikkaballapur Traffic Police, closed roads would have made it so much more perfect. But the pilot car, bikes along with the support contingent following the peloton ensured that the general traffic was kept in check.

Sponsors & Volunteers:
From this race Leap Start became the main sponsors for BBCh offering prize money for all the winners and the main force behind U-18 category. Nephrolife sponsored the ambulance support while Sufferfest continues it support with prizes for 4th place. Camelbak continues to support BBCh by offering up its goodies for prizes. Thanks a ton to all the sponsors for the support and the volunteers for continuing to be so awesome and making BBCh more awesome with each passing race. Thanks to Team Naesar which did the route scouting and marking. Thanks also to the photographers from Veloscope, Rolling Shutterz, FlashBulbZz Photography and SimpliClick for covering the race.

Photos from my camera are here and here. High resolution pics of the action can be seen at flAshBulbZz, RollingShutterz, SimpliClick and Veloscope.

BBCh - Dirt - Turahalli XC Race - Fantastic Trail Action

BBCh - Dirt Racing Kickoff: 
The day dawned with chirping birds and moo-mooing cows sizing up a rather large group of strangers that poured into their neck of the woods. Turahalli XC trail was of course their terrain and we just happened to intrude, on this particularly beautiful morning. Some hundred odd folks gathered in Turahalli for the first Dirt race of BBCh-2013, 4 loops of ~5.5km trail making it a 22km XC race. 

At the start line as the race was flagged off..

63 pairs of tires raised a cloud of dust as the race was flagged off. The start line was on a wide mud road that allowed for a spacious start. A few hundred meters and a couple of left turns later you enter the thorny forest trail. The initial burst has separated the leaders from the rest of the field. 

Craig Raynes of BOTS Racing, Richard McDowell of Team Trek Firefox Racing, K Kiran Kumar Raju of Specialized KYNKYNY Cycling Team and Sridhar Savanur of Team Wheelsports pulled away and formed the lead breakaway bunch early in the first loop. Towards the end of the first loop however, the champion road rider, Sridhar became one of the many causalities of the tough trail and took a hard tumble on a downhill stretch. A hard hit to the knee and a twisted ankle meant that the road champion was not going to be able to embarrass the MTB specialists.

Craig in the lead at the start of the 2nd loop.. You can see Richard in pursuit..

By the start of the second loop, Craig was leading the race with Richard hot in pursuit. Kiran was a few meters behind them in 3rd position. The rest of the field was more than 5 minutes away and the closest guy, Siddhu Kurani of Team Wheelsports crashed out in the middle of the 3rd loop. That meant that the three podium positions were going to be from among these three hardcore MTBeers(read EmptyBeers) unless they crash or flat out. It was now the question of who will claim which position. 

The first two loops were lead by Craig but by third loop however, the rules of gravity began to overrule the sheer muscle power that was being generated and the feather weight duo closed in and dropped him into 3rd position. It was now Kiran in the lead with Richard closing in on him. That cat and mouse chase continued between these three right to the finish line but the positions established in the penultimate loop prevailed and Kiran finished an epic race on his new Specialized Epic 29er.    

Kiran Rides An Epic Race:
The first time I noticed Kiran Kumar Raju was when we were doing a recce for an XC race route around Sarjapur around early 2011. Here was this lean guy riding his MTB with the kind of abandon that we rarely get to see. But I didn't know him or his name then. Then I saw him put in a monster effort during the Nandi race in 2011 on a borrowed bike and sneakers. That was when I knew this guy is actually a really special animal. So did Vivek Radhakrishnan who soon blooded him into his development team, KYNKYNY Wheelsports, for 2012 season. He hopped on a bike after a long gap and finished 3rd in Nandi race 2012. 

All those bad-ass performances earned Kiran the red and white SKCT kit and a Specialized bike for 2013. He is the one man army of the SKCT MTB team  that made its debut along with the Specialzed Epic 29er. 

Kiran and his Specialized Epic at the start of the 2nd loop

All the best laid plans of this Epic debut however were in serious jeopardy when Kiran crashed on his commute and did a face plant on concrete exactly one month before the race. He broke his jaw, got operated, got some titanium plates and screws in his face and was on liquid diet for better part of the month preceding the race. 

When he appeared at the start line the scars from the lacerations were fresh on his face, arms and legs. The already lean guy lost a lot of weight due to the liquid diet and looked like a ghost. Although I knew him, I wondered if he would last at least couple of loops let alone compete. But what do we know! He went ahead and won the race beating a couple of the best MTBeers to the line. I won't ask him to take a bow because I know he was struggling with a bad back after the race. Kudos Kiran! 

Turahalli Continues to Amaze: Best of The Trails Yet!
Although we have seen quite a few great trails over the years at BBCh, I thought this was the the best XC trail loop so far. It had a bit of everything in it. Loads of climbing, rocky downhills, fire roads, thorny winding trail, a bit of jeep track a lot of single track. It ejected a lot of riders out of the race with punctured tires and punctured limbs. It was one tough course testing everyone to the limits.

Opendro negotiating a fast rocky downhill bit..

The first of the hundreds of flats on the day was on my team Spectrum Racing's Mohan Kumar a.k.a The Demon, who flatted with-in 200mts from the start line. That was the end of the race for him. By the end of the race, puncture fixing appeared to be the favorite pastime for most. 

I didn't participate in the race owing to a small injury and I walked one loop of the trail taking photos and watching the race unfold. I can still feel the burning sensation all over my legs from all trail rash the thorny bushes on the course gave me. So, I was not surprised to see all the bloodied legs with various art forms etched in dark shades of red by the end of the race.

The Results:
The women's podium was dominated by Team Wheelsports. Gitanjali and Sowmya of Team Wheelsports finished 1st and 2nd while Spectrum Racing's Shilpa Deo shared the podium with a 3rd place. Sowmya reached the race venue early morning from Mysore, borrowed and rode our design guy Aditya TVM's MTB into podium. 

Women's Podium: Sowmya(2nd), Gitanjali(1st) and Shilpa Deo(3rd)

The kids race was 100% dominated by Cleated Warrior younger generation. 

Cleated Warriors- GenNext!

The Men's podium was shared by SKCT's Kiran at 1st place, Team Trek Firefox's Richard at 2nd and BOTS racing's Craig at 3rd spot. 

Men's Podium: Richard(2nd), Kiran(1st) and Craig(3rd)

The winners in both men's and women's categories were gifted an entry into the weekend edition of MTB Shimla along with a cash prize of 2k each. 

Voluteers:
The guys did a great job of marking and manning the trail. Trail scouting and marking is not an easy job. The volunteers did a great job once again in the smooth organization of the race. Thanks guys!

Volunteer power at BBCh! Thanks guys!

Photos from my camera here and here.
Photos from Veloscope here and Rolling shutterz here. Enjoy!