Namma Nandi Race 2022

So, I had just gotten back from Vagamon - In fact, a couple weeks prior to that I had consulted with Ankush ( my cycling coach) about participating in the Namma Nandi Race. Since I had started putting in some mileage on the bicycle since I wrapped up TCS, I thought that it would be a good way to do a 100K as well and just see where I am in my fitness on the bike. At that point Ankush had told me that we will decide on how well I recover from Vagamon and it will only be a training ride even if we did decide that I would participate in it.

Now, when it comes to training - it is imperative to trust your coach. Firstly, get yourself a coach who inspires confidence in you and secondly, once you have signed up with a coach - surrender to him/her. Have faith that they want the best for you and know you well enough ( sometimes possibly even better than your own self) to guide you to bring out the best in you.

The other consideration to keep in mind ( for me) is that in the triathlon - the longest leg is that of the bike - so you can be a swell swimmer and a great runner - but if you don't pull your weight on the bike - nothing can help you. And the only way to get better at something is to put in the work! Sadly, there is no other secret - you want the results, you have got to put in the work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is only hoodwinking you.

So, once I wrapped up Vagamon, I was quite clear that running will not be on my radar at all until the weekend. I finally got a good nights rest only after a hectic Monday - then it was about some restorative yoga, spending sometime in the pool and regaining some energy. I added some strength sessions and eventually got on the bike on Thursday. I had a decent ride. After a discussion with Ankush, I decided to sign up for the race. Reached out to Sunil PV and he was more than accommodating to give us last minute entry into the race.

Ankush is in the process of forming a new cycling team - "Inner Roads" and a racing team - "Old Goats (OG) Racing" - and this was to be our first unofficial outing as a team. Ankush, Vinay, Charan, Rushab and Ashish would be participating in the Men's Category and I would be racing in the Women's Category. This would be Ashish's longest ever ride - Rushab is basically a superbike racer and rides with us as cross-training on a hybrid bike - his bike handling skills are just next level! Vinay and Charan are also training for Ironman 70.3 and just like me, they are working on improving their bike skills. Ankush grabbed all of our bibs on the Friday. Since it was a training ride for me, I stuck to my routine and got a 20ish Km run in on the Saturday. I headed over to Ankush's place on Saturday night and crashed early. Next thing I knew it was 5:15am as I popped right out of bed. To my surprised Ankush was already up and being extremely hectic with the setup of the bikes. 4 of the bikes to be used were being setup by him. At first I was a bit alarmed that I maybe late. But after I double-checked - I realised he was early.

Then I settled into my routine - making chai and starting off the morning, making my customary peanut-butter and cheese sandwich. Before I had even woken up properly, Ashish was here - I was like wow - cyclists sure are a hyper lot!! I got on with the routine and went on ahead to get ready to leave. By the time I emerged, Bharat ( a kid who travels 100km one way to ride with Ankush) and Rushab had also reached. We all took our respective bikes and headed out. The Race start point was barely 3-4Kms away from Ankush's place. The lot of us rode together to the venue. I was really surprised to see the number of riders at the start point - I was not expecting such a big bunch. I have barely been riding since 2017 and more recently my focus was on running before I start focussing on improving my riding. It was really heartening to have so many familiar faces in the riding peloton. We were welcomed by very warm hellos and handshakes. First things first, was to head on over and

sign the indemnity bond. The next thing was to head over to the start line.

Before we knew it, the countdown had begun. I was hanging with Bharath & Vinay - while the rest of the gang was dispersed across the entire peloton. So, this specific event is a 100K Ride with a 66K race segment. What this means is, that the entire peloton starts together, and rides out 16K as an easy warm up, until the start point. Here we again regroup and then start the 66K race segment which is essentially 33K out and back on the Bangalore-Hyderabad Highway. Once we cross the finish line, we again ride back the 16K to the finish point as a cool-down/relaxed ride back to the venue. So at the word go, we all started moving. Now, there is no point in really putting in much effort at this point because if you reach the start point too early, you will end up cooling down as the entire group trickles in. I rode a little further up and caught up with Ankush who was chatting & riding with Harsimran from the Velo racing team. Eventually the bunch of us all chatted and rode together to the start point.

Next thing, we were all excitedly chattering away at the start point. I was given one instruction only - just stick to the women's peloton and cross the finish line. And that was the only goal in my mind as I stood at that start line. Vinay was going to ride with me and Charan, who was not feeling very well, decided to pull out of the race in the morning and said he would just do his regular morning ride. As luck would have it, he also reached the start line at the same time as the countdown began. And now began the race. The main criteria in mass-start events is "SAFETY". Since it's a whole bunch of people, many of whom do not know how to ride in a peloton, it creates a huge safety risk with a high possibility of crashes. As soon as we were flagged-off, the men's peloton just swooshed away! I too moved ahead to the best of my ability and was riding close to Vinay. About 2 minutes post the flag-off, I started looking for the Women's peloton so that I could go and join them. I already know Priya and Blossom fairly well and the two others Glarish and Swati had introduced themselves to me at the start line. As I started peering ahead, I saw no one and then I glanced back to see Priya and Blossom almost at my wheel. So I relaxed a bit and decided to just enjoy the ride. Vinay and Charan were about 100mtrs up ahead and riding away in efforts together.

Over the next 15K odd, the 5 of us rode together - with me right up ahead. Now this is not the best behaviour to adopt since riding up ahead requires possibly 30% more effort since you are taking the winds head-on but I was just like, "what the hell, ow that I am out, I might as well put in effort." 15K into the race, we reached a climb and as we started coasting on our way down there was a huge blast - it was a puncture and as luck would have it, that puncture was my front wheel. I realised this as the front wheel veered and I had a hard time controlling the bike. I was disappointed - I have been plagued with punctures in the last month or so, with the highest record being 6 in one ride. This is the one thing I was really dreading and here it was, my worst nightmare coming true. With the puncture I thought my ride was over, I pulled over to the side and jumped off the bike, turned my garmin off as I watched the women's peloton ride away, saw a lot of other riders heading right past me as well.

I thought I would wait for the support vehicle and then throw my bike in, as I jump in as well and these were the thoughts running through my head when I saw Charan riding towards me. I was perplexed! He rode upto me and jumped off his bike - He said, "Take my front wheel and go finish the race, I'll fix the puncture"

I responded, " Everyone has already ridden away, I won't even be able to catch them, its easily a 5-7minute lead!"

Charan said: " You can do it! GO!"

And just like that we swapped wheels and I jumped on the saddle and rode away. As I moved further, I saw that Vinay had also taken a U-turn and was coming to get me. I screamed - "Turn around, we gotta go catch the girls" as I kept riding. I kept talking to myself trying to keep the morale high and focussing on the chase - I was just amazed that Charan had unquestioningly swapped his wheel and sent me on my merry way - I didn't know if I would be able to even catch up with the peloton but I sure as hell was going to try. And so I did; I put my head down and rode a Time Trial effort - fuelling accordingly on the way. I kept glancing to the right to see if the peloton had taken a U-turn and try to sus out the time difference I had to cover. I saw the breakaway boys followed by the Men's peloton flying by and then there was the chase group - It seemed to be an interesting race going on for the boys. I sped by Rushab who was riding really well and a few other cyclists until I saw the women in the distance moving towards the right of the road - they were getting ready to take a U-turn. I could not believe it - I was going to catch up with them. I powered through until the U-turn and then put in a last effort to catch up with them apprx. 100mtrs from the U-turn. Priya had slowed down once she saw me, I rode upto her and sat on her wheel as she took me appx 20 mtrs to join the peloton.

I was ecstatic - I had done better than what I expected. I took the next few minutes to sit in the peloton and recover. Soon, I was ready to pick up the pace again. So, I rode upto the front of the pack and started increasing the pace. The next strategy was the carrot strategy. Most of the cyclists all know each other so what we would do was catch the guy riding up ahead - I would then scream - "baba, take us to the next person up ahead if that works for you" and then they would put in the effort and we would all sit on his wheel - I have to mention Navaneeth - He put in a really good hard effort pulling the entire womens peloton and picking up the pace. We spoke for a while as we rode together and he shared with me his plans for the Ironman 70.3. Thank you for the lift Navaneeth - He burnt himself out as he led us ladies for almost 10K in the second half of the race.

We rode like this until the final climb, when there was ( as expected), an attack on the climb by blossom. She surged past me. As I shifted the gears getting ready to sprint, I saw Priya and Swati responding to the attack. I was blocked in by a vehicle in front and Swati on the right. So, I slowed down to let her pass. Post this, I put in all my effort as I left the saddle for the final sprint to the finish line surging past Swati and trying to catch up with Priya in front of me. I saw Ankush waiting for me at the finish line screaming - " Chala Chottay!"

Priya crossed the finish line first with me following right behind and Swati came in third with a 5 second difference between her and me. Ankush told me I was sprinting on too high a gear and it looked like I was moving my legs in slow-motion. He also said he didn't expect me to even be in the peloton with the puncture - Charan had already filled him in. We were chatting about the race when we saw Vinay sprint through the finish line. After hanging at the finish line for a while, we all made our way back to the start point for breakfast, coffee, pictures and podium announcement.

All in all, it was a pretty satisfactory experience for barely a month's training on base miles, zero efforts in terms of speed and racing on tired legs. The race was safe, with no injuries and incidents - and safety is always priority number 1. Everyone from the OG Racing team did a really good job and off course, the entire incident with Charan just reiterates the beauty of being part of a team. Charan keeps saying that he learnt this from Ankush - and that is true! Ankush does these amazing, self-less things all the time and it really feels good to know that this spirit rubs off and spreads through all those lives that he touches. Thank you Sunil PV & Life is Calling for this experience. Until next time!