Cycling training cycle

1. Pedal,
Sweat,
Breathe,
Relish
The Tour of Friendship 2017
in Thailand pushed me to my
limits and an experience that has
inspired me to do it again next
year, says Siva Sai
Thailand beckons
We landed in Thailand three days in advance to
acclimatise to the riding conditions there. We
did 3 days of riding in Bangkok before the event.
I put some slight pressure on the pedal and we
were riding at 40 kmph.
Day 1 of the event was an 18 km flat as a pan-
cake individual time trial at an air force school.
It was an amazing setting, closed roads with no
traffic, fully shaded with trees. During the warm
up, I wondered why I was struggling to even stay
at 35km/h. I was already fatigued. Post warm up,
chit-chat with team mates made me realise that
it was the density of air due to high humidity
that was slowing me down. Another humbling
learning was that doing an ITT on a flat terrain is
much harder than doing it on rolling terrain, like
Bangalore, as in a rolling terrain you get a slight
respite when it is downhill.
Day 2 was a 115km flat commute from
Bankgok to Kanchanaburi—the location of the
famous bridge over river Kwai, which we never
saw as we were dead by the end of each day.
This was a big day. The terrain was mostly flat
but it was going to be the first time that I would
be riding on a peloton and I would have to
learn how to ask for water bottles from support
motorbikes, have half a bottle of water, pour the
remaining on my head and throw it away safely
while riding 3-4 inches away from other bikers
at over 40 kmph.
I
t was on a rainy day in June 2016 that I
decided to sign up for Tour of Friendship,
known as ToF-R1 that was scheduled to
start on 28 March, 2017. I even booked my
flights 9 months in advance. Also, about 10 of my
teammates had already signed up and booked
their tickets as well. ToF-R1 is a 5 day, 500+
KM stage race in Thailand, during what can be
described as the hottest period of the year. This
was little too intimidating for me.
I have done the famous Tour of Nilgiris (TFN)
(http://tourofnilgiris.com/) five times in the last
nine years, since it started. It’s a 900km tour over
7 days. I have also done Giro Delle Dolomiti
(GDD) in Italy (http://www.girodolomiti.com/)
once and climbed the Nathulla pass in the
Himalayas for fun with my teammates.
Many ask me: why do you do this to yourself? Here’s the reply: I
spent most of my life in front of computers and had grown unfit by
the time I was 35. It was then that I started cycling. Signing up for
events that require months of hard work just to survive and not put
up an embarrassing performance is a great way to stay fit. There
is no other reason that would jolt me out of bed at 5:30 AM on
weekends when my body is craving coffee in bed and the Sunday
morning newspaper with homemade pongal.
This challenge was the toughest I had ever signed up for
and I was going to need help. So I signed up for formal
coaching with BV Coaching (http://www.bvcoaching.com/).
They provide workout plans that are customised to your level
and goals, monitor your performance, talk about strategy for
pacing oneself and generally make you sick. Some of these
workouts are dreadful and I sometimes just crumble
from my bike and limp to the sofa in pain, unable to
complete the workout.
Bikes taking a rest
Gathering before starting another day
Single file riding and in packs works well
Photos: Siva Sai
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Training

2. Safe riding is important,
especially when it is in a
competitive sport and long
stretches.
Biking kit: Keep proper
clothing, shoes, helmet,
tools, a water bottle and other
accessories handy. Always
make sure straps are adjusted
for a good fit
Riding basics: Ride on the left
side of the road, which is the
correct side and ride in a single
file. If you do ride along side
some one else, if you hear or see
another vehicle, please return to
single file so the other road user
can pass safely.
Signals: Use proper hand
signals when approaching road
or track junctions by making a
clear signal which way you are
turning so fellow bikers know
which way you are turning.
Bike handling: Ride carefully
and make sure you have the right
cycle, with proper brakes and
use the gears carefully.
Safety: Drink lots of water
to stay hydrated and use lots
of sun protection. Familiarise
yourself with the location and
environment in which you will be
essentially riding
Essential checklist
About 30km into the ride a traffic event out in front caused my
wheel to overlap with the rider in front and nearly caused a crash,
I was lucky and got away but it caused a pile up for five riders who
were little behind me. At about 50 km, my heart rate redlined twice
and I decided to let the lead group go. The next 50 km I rode in the
company of riders from Hong Kong Holiday Racing team. The last
15 km was done solo and that felt like forever in the heat and wind.
This was the first time I had done a ride of over 100 km distance
without putting my foot down.
Day 3 was a 125km ride with a bit of climbs. The race started
from the hotel and I lost the main bunch in the very first 500m.
Later that day I learnt that we need to warm up before the race
because the pace picks up right after the hotel. I completed the
distance non-stop too with great company of riders from Hong
Kong, Bangladesh and Denmark and finished with a sprint to the
finish line. A couple of riders from my team who are usually much
faster than me, finished just with me or much after me, I was
surprised and later I learnt that they had burnt themselves to put
Russel Bell, a 72-year-old on the Podium that day. Although many
imagine the contrary, cycling is a team sport and it takes team
work to put someone on a podium. Respect!
Day 4 was the queen stage. They had cut the stage from 130 km
to 100 km due to road conditions. But it still had nearly 2000 m of
climbing. I warmed up before the ride and stayed with the bunch,
but eventually dropped out. The climb started at 40 km mark and
when it hit, I had no idea what lay ahead. The gradients that day
were steep; regularly going above 10 per cent and at one point
going to 21 per cent. To add to it, I had a mechanical issue, the
gear wasn’t shifting into the 28 cog and I was mashing the 25 for a
while. I had to stop and fix it before I bust my knees. After riding
70 km of the 100 km, few of us decided to throw in the towel and
get into the car to head for lunch. I did not finish the race that day.
Day 5 was a 90 km plus ride with a slight climb in the middle.
By then I felt fatigued and my tummy was cramping due to all the
on bike nutrition consisting of gels, tablets that feel like chalk and
capsules consisting of electrolytes. By now the goal was just to finish
and I took it easy, dropped off from the main bunch and rode with
my some of my team mates and riders from Holiday Racing in Hong
Kong. Shankar Jayaram, Vivek Bhateja and I crossed that finish-line
together that day to mark the end of the great tour.
While on the tour, when I was barely hanging on to the wheels
in front, suffering along on climbs, or riding alone to the finish line
on day 2; I was cursing myself and wondering why I was doing this
and promissed myself that I would never come back. Yet when the
tour ended, I realised my life ahead in the cubicle,
it felt sad. Perhaps, that made us look for the next
big thing as soon as we landed in Bangalore.
Would I go back to this? It’s been over a month
since I came back from the tour and I have done
more than a few rides since then, as I write this.
Maybe the human mind has a strange thing for
erasing all the painful events from memory and
only keeping the good parts; ToF-R1 2017 does
not feel so terrible after all.
The saddle sores and chafing from Thailand
has barely healed and I have signed up for the
Tour of Nilgiris 10th Edition for December 2017.
The 2018 summer plans are open as of now. But
Shankar, who does not take to heat very well, has
been joking about Iceland for the next summer.
I have been doing some research on this and it
does look tempting to ride what they call “hottest
and freshest dirt on earth” on the glaciers of
Eyjafjallajökull, the temperamental young volcano
in Iceland. Time to sign up for BV Coaching once
again and let the suffering begin!
The writer is computer science nerd,
specialising in innovation, design and
management. He is a cycling enthusiast,
credited for a famous cycling stretch
named on him Siva’s Road in Bangalore.
Keeping the bikes safe Sundown meeting and exchanging riding woes We finally made it for this picture
I look more relaxed than I was
Waiting for others from the group
Long way to go before I reach the end
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Training