Mountain Biking - Bhakra Dam Naina Devi Ji Track

When entire Himachal was showered with fresh snow, I, sitting in foot of Shivalik hills and starving for skiing in fresh snow of Manali and Kufri, made a plan to explore interior tracks of Nangal Dam, Bhakra Dam and Naina Devi Ji temple on the peak of hill.

8th Jan 2012 Sunday, I started off with my cycle, gloves, Jacket with cap, a bottle of water, a Chocolate and some money. The temperature was as cold and windy as 4 degree celsius and clouds were wandering from one mountain to another taking sun often beneath it.

One thing I have always noticed is that whenever I take my Trek Cycle out on road, every one crossing through me gives a strange look towards my cycle and some are kind enough to stare at me also as if I am some alien from different planet. To confess, I enjoy that kind of attention.

When I still had not come to full fledged action, I diverted from Nangal Chandigarh Highway towards my track by crossing Nangal Dam. This dam is situated on a height of around 740 feets and this place is quite a common for me as we frequently spend time in Restaurant (only restaurant in Nangal worth visiting) situated exactly in front of Dam.

After crossing Nangal Dam, the main task was to cross first check post of Bhakra Dam. Somehow I was skeptical that Police at check post wont allow me to go on cycle towards this track. Two key reasons came into my mind, one that no one goes on cycle on this track and second the continuous rain from last two days had made this track landsliding prone.

A Khaki dress borne gentleman was standing firm on the side of the check post but he was too busy reading newspaper when I crossed along some locals crossing on cycle. My main hurdle had passed by.

Immediately after check post, the steep uphill with blind curves track began. Trust me when I am on Royal Enfield, these terrains looks so fascinating to pull the throttle but on cycle it really proved hard. Above all, I was prepared for all this. In process of acclimatization, I took small break and sip of water. I pulled my cycle few steps and rode again.

After riding uphill for around 5 kilometers when I was completely sweating and breathing mouth and nose, I was at the border of Punjab and Himachal wherein I had to enter into Bilaspur Distt of Himachal. Few young kid's curious looks at my cycle made me push pedals hard.

When I reached at first check post of Himachal, police stopped me curiously. They asked my where about and checked my Identity Card. Finally questions came on to my cycle like from where did you buy this, why its tyres are thick and how the gear system works etc etc.

After satisfying Himachal Police of their queries I headed towards the most amazing track of the day. After entering into Himachal, the roads looked wet and slippery with fresh rain. Almost no vehicle and no people around, I found myself riding steep downhill for at least a kilometer when I could see a canal flowing out of Bhakra Dam. Riding along Green calm water made my day.

After a point, downhill steep ended abruptly and a steep road going endless started again. A tough uphill cycling of a kilometer was worth it as I could see Bhakra Dam above me and I could make out in my mind in terms of efforts I needed to reach there.

A narrow track up on a hill with no one around you and deep down aggressive flow of water was fascinating experience to count for. When I reached on the top of the Dam, I had already covered 15 kilometers of cycling. After Nangal Dam, this was my second milestone of the day.

Once I crossed third and last check post of Bhakra Dam, a breadth taking view of Gobind Sagar was spectacular. I have seen it many times but everytime it looks more beautiful and breadth taking than earlier. Calm Green Water spread across hectares, you can see water all over till sight goes. I stood for a while to soak in fresh air and energy.

The distance from Bhakra Dam to Naina Devi was 22 kilometers which is situated at a height of 4000 feet. I started from a altitude of 740 feets and was standing there at 1500 feet height and had to reach 4000 feet altitude in 22 kilometer distance. That was not the only challenge but track had also begun to become narrower from narrow.

With slow pace I kept pushing hard. The track had become really narrow and scary as I gained height. Almost non existent traffic on roads, I could hear the ignorable noise of cycle's chain.

I was riding in my rhythm when I heard some noise in air of a car cruising behind me. I diverted cycle from narrow track onto mud. As car crossed me, I turned my handle bar softly to come on to the track and there I met with first fall from my Trek Cycle. I hurted my Right knee badly and palm. Only monkeys all around on trees and road side could enjoy that fall.

I headed up and counted every mark reading "Naina Devi Ji ..... KM". Almost I remember all of them and these landmarks were put on a every KM distance. God knows from where that energy came which pulled me from Bhakra Dam to Naina Devi Ji, 22 KM and altitude gain of almost 2500 feet.

Among other things, the best part was my Chocolate, It tasted heavenly. It proved to be a life saving for me. It gave energy at every step.

Once I reached Naina Devi Ji temple which is situated on top of the mountain I had to start steep downhill for next 15 kilometers when I would reach Anandpur Sahib. The traffic on this side of the hill was exceptionally high but wider roads made my ride easy. I just let cycle roar on road. But some extremely steep downhill curves forced me to rub breaks occasionally.

At Anandpur Sahib, I got merged with Chandigarh Nangal Highway, again back to crowded life, pollution and noise all around. Next 20 kilometer was the most boring part of the ride with highway and traffic. But I had no choice than to complete it.

After a Lunch break at Anandpur Sahib I rode towards Nangal and it took me an hour to cover flat distance of 20 kilometer. 

By the time, I entered Nangal, the happiness in mind overwhelmed me in such a passion that I forgot the tiredness of full day.

When I embarked on this track, I had lot of apprehension about it, but this proved to be the best track I have ever explored in a day. The track is blend of adventure and natural beauty.

Total distance I covered was 82 kilometers in 6 hours 28 minutes in 4 degree temprature, cold winds, cloudy weather and at some places light rain.

2011 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon - One step ahead

2011 Delhi half marathon was scheduled on 27th November. My left knee had not yet recovered from consequences of toughest ever half marathon done in Shimla on 25th Sep 2011. But my stubborn pulse did not let me drop out of this marathon.

This was my fourth marathon ever and I had not done running at all after Shimla half marathon. There was an uncertainty about finishing Delhi Half. Moreover I could not even adhere to food intake completely.

I made a strategy to go slow in first 10 kilometers so that I am able to adjust my fitness levels and then catch up speed.

27th Nov was a cold morning in Delhi with thin layers of fog untill 06:00 AM. Marathon started from JN Stadium with thousands of enthusiast runners. First two kilometers of Delhi Marathon are always entertaining with different groups of live bands performing on roadside to cheer runners.

I was pleasantly surprised that in first 3 kilometers I did not even feel that I am running after a gap of more than one month. Moreover my knee also supported a lot. Keeping all this in mind, I made changes in my strategy and increased the pace to move ahead of lot of runners.

My run uptill 10 kilometers went quite well with almost no pain in knee. However as I finished 11 kilometers distance, I felt lot of pressure on knee as well as feet, that was the time when I forcibly reduced the pace and took minor break by walking rather than running for few seconds.

The fear of finishing more than my last record time started hammering me somewhere back in mind. I had kept a target of finishing the run in 1 hours 45 minutes but this was ruled at 11 kilometer distance itself. Now I was fighting to protect my last year record of 2 hours 8 minutes.

Untill 15 kilometers I could not believe that I will be able to finish less than last year record. But as I crossed 15 kilometer mark, a ray of hope encouraged me to run faster to finish at least less than 2 hours.

I took three small breaks at 16, 17 and 18 kilometer mark by walking few steps than running. It helped me relaxing the knee a lot.

As I finished 18 kilometer mark, a zeal to do it better than last year made me run faster. My pace kept on increasing untill end.

I was really happy to read timing of 2 Hours 3 Minutes when I crossed the Finish Line. A learning for lifetime to go one step ahead just with determination to do it better every time.

The experience of this marathon ignited a fire in me to test my physical strength more and more.

Shimla Half Marathon 2011 - It took my breath away

25th Sep 2011, a day for Shimla Half Marathon, which I was waiting for last few months. Running half marathon was no big deal to me but running at the altitude of 7,500 feet and elevation of almost 70 degrees, that is what made my curiosity to touch skies. Out of excitement I had planned three days long weekend starting 23rd Sep untill 25th evening. Last minute developments made my plan really hectic and I reached only on 24th midnight.

My day started at 4:30 AM and one hour before the big bang I was at Mall Road Shimla. The race was to start at 6:30 AM and early morning weather was really cold and was working like teaser for people who had come from lower altitude and hot climate. Interactions with running enthusiast made all mood to run as crazy as I could think.

Half Marathon started with down hill run, as the event progressed with around 300 meters, the track suddenly became narrow and extremely steep. The strategy to run here was to go steady so that blood circulation of legs does not gets affected as run ahead was extremely tougher than this. I made my run as steady as I could make it and stuck to same rhythm until the steep downhill. The downhill track went up to 4 kilometers and this distance was good enough to disturb blood circulation.

Next 1 kilometer was relatively flat track and most of the runners looked to be taking benefit of this track. The serene landscapes and tracks surrounded by pine trees caught everyone's attention. It felt like a dream run in the middle of heavenly valley.

The toughest part of Shimla Half Marathon came after 5 kilometers, when the track seemed disappearing into dense forest with steep climb of 80 degree and altitude gain of 1,000 feet in a distance of 1 kilometer. I could see people walking up and disappearing into the forest one by one. This was the stretch of two kilometer which forced everyone not let them make this marathon as an opportunity to set best self record. 

Shimla Half Marathon, made me realize that this distance running is rhythm less. Down hill, Steep uphill and flat tracks ensured that we do not stick to one rhythm. No matter how many marathons you have done at flat tracks, this one stand out among all others.

When I ended, steep uphill track, lot of people had gone ahead of me. The kilometer mark read, 9 Kilometer. That was the time when most of people resumed running. It looked really a big task to complete 21 k run at that stage. The track was still not flat and slow uphill was still on and my fight with pain in legs started here. Due to different pace at different time, down hill run followed by flat and uphill walk disturbed full rhythm. Above physical strength, but makes long distance running possible is mental strength. That is what I made sure that I do not give up mentally.

It was hardly half a kilometer track when downhill steep started and that added all the spice to run. Now the strategy of Running and Walking had to come in. This way I could preserve some energy and utilize it at flat track.

Pine tree dense forest working as blanket was protecting runners from Sun.The sad part was the water arrangement, there were hardly three places where water was available. Above this photographers (hardly two places) were carrying tiny cameras and some of them were trying to click photographs from mobile phone cameras.

Last 9 kilometers were too soothing with no runners around and calm forest. Tracks was too attractive and reduced my pain. My walking and running strategy went until finish line.

The learning from this marathon was that this is perhaps the toughest, the most beautiful marathon and the rhythm less long distance run.

Another toy I added to my kitty - TREK 3700 Cycle

My new TREK 3700

My plan to move out of Delhi to Himachal on new project ignited the zeal to purchase a Cycle to explore thrilling treks in Himachal Pradesh. I googled all the brands of cycle available in India and decided to buy the best brand with moderate price range. Finally I concluded to buy Firefox based on reviews written by Firefox owners and price range of few brands which I had selected on internet were between INR8K to 10K.

 I visited the Firefox distributor in Gurgaon on 13th April 2011 in Plaza Mall at IFFCO Chowk. There the Firefox cycles did not appeal me much and the one I found quite exciting was of INR 30K which was not the value for money for me. I happen to meet a cycling enthusiast in his early forties, who helped me with pros and cons of various models available. We came across selected range of TREK cycles with the same distributor.

Trek 3700 on a cycling terrain

TREK's sturdy looks attracted my attention towards TREK 3500 with a price tag of around INR 16K. Then I learnt about Trek 3700 which is the upgraded version of Trek 3500 with front shockers. The price I told was INR 18.5K. I had come with a budget of maximum INR 10K and an extravagant devil inside me was taking me towards INR 19K now. Trek 3700 on display was of Pearl White color, the moment I saw Black color model with little shade of military color, I made up my mind to take this toy home.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
Trek 3700 came to me the plenty of features which are :-

1. Aluminium black frame with sizes as per riders height. I bought 18 inch frame. The another frame available in this model was 19.5 inch.
2. Bontrager 550 tyres are the real beauty of Trek 3700. Ideal for off road mountain biking
3. 21 Gears from Shimano. Quite smooth to change but I read lot of reviews wherein people are not comfortable with its Gears, I am liking it because I have not tried any other cycle with Shimano gears.
4. Mechanical disc brakes makes the ride comfortable.
5. Seat design is beautiful and comfortable. Moreover its height can be adjusted as per comfortable level.
6. Front tyre shockers are the real soldiers for off road biking.

As I rode the cycle out from Plaza Mall I felt the difference of riding Trek 3700 and a normal cycle. Its thick tyres with Shockers makes the ride smooth and comfortable. Even it rides well on mud and off roads.

The only thing I did not like about Trek cycles is that you need to add some basic accessories to it such as side stand, a lock and bell. All comes at extra cost.

To Sachin Tendulkar - The cricket legend of century

I received a forwarded email from a friend last week when India lost the World Cup Cricket League match from South Africa. A true Sachin fan wrote his heart so superbly that I could not stop myself sharing this over here. Here you go.

"Dear Sachin,

I feel sad. Even after 22 years of playing for the country, you are still expected to win matches on your own. We forget that apart from you there are 10 more players in the team. You have been the run machine in World Cups with an average of 60. Even today while you yet again proved your class with a 111 the others around took it easy. You chased the ball in the outfield and ensured that your throws landed on top of the bails. Others preferred to drop catches or go back to the dressing room for a 'rest' while a substitute fielder came in.

Sachin, the current Indian cricket team doesn't deserve you. They don't know what it is like to give one's blood and sweat for this nation of a billion people. For them fame and money has come to easy and undeserving - not commensurate to the 'supposed talent' that they posses. Do you remember what you had said to Tom Alter in that interview in 1989? "I just want to play cricket".

Sachin, let me also not hide the truth - you are not my favorite cricketer - but one plays favorites only with humans - not with Gods for they are revered, emulated and looked at in awe...

[We expect Sachin to win this cup for us. But what about the other players? Are they supposed to be playing ludo in the dressing room? I hope that the rest of the team wake up and realize that they are not there to 'play' in the tournament, they are supposed to 'win' it - not for themselves, not for India but for the greatest Indian to have lived - Sachin Tendulkar.

P.S: In the 1992, Hero Cup semi-final in Eden Gardens Kolkata (India Vs. SA), SA needed 6 runs to win off the last over. Tendulkar snatched the ball from Azhar and bowled a magnificent over to win that match for us. (He gave away only 3 runs). Maybe our team needs to watch that over to know what guts and glory are all about.]

Sachin, I hope we win the final in Wankhede. If we don't a billion people can only hang their heads in shame and ask for your forgiveness.

Regards,

One of your undying fans who:

1. Still goes crazy when you hit that straight drive and show us the manufacturer's name on the bat.

2. Stayed awake late into the night before my end terms to watch that 100 in Sharjah in the midst of that sandstorm.

3. Relished every shot that you played to decimate Warne in 1998 and then Shoaib Akhtar in that 2003 World Cup against Pakistan.

4. Will stop watching cricket after you retire."