1. Its a team event. Remember the strength of the team lies in the strength of the weakest member
2. It is essential to know each other in the team well. The team has to endure anger, hatred, irritation,nitpick,hunger,thirst etc....
3. It is essential to appreciate the uniqueness of the team mate and at the sametime identify the strength and weakness much before the event and start improving on the weaker grounds.
The Cycling leg
1. Its little to with the no. of gears and the make of cycle you have. In this case, It's not about the bike. Its about the biker.
2. Puncture mending kit is a must.
3. Road racer is a no-no. There are some treacherous dirt track downhills....
4. The small handy air pump (Giyo) sold by BOTS is more than enough. Takes 300 pumping to fill air in the tube. Take turns and each one can pump 100 times
. Cycling is for developing biceps too, you will realise it.
5. Fetch a nice Bike Box and cable ties and pack it properly for transporting. Do not pick a firefox box for a Trek, you will rue your decision (what do you say Ravi?)
6. Type "how to box a bike" in Youtube search. See the couple of 10 mins video. Put the gyan to use.
7. Deflate the tires before you ship it by air. As the flight goes to high altitudes, the tires will burst.
8. Reduce the weight of bike. Remember F=m.a (Newton's law). You have to reduce mass as much as possible to accelerate with the same force.
Remove the bell, stand and the carrier.
9. Remember that you are racing and however you tie the bag to your carrier with a luggage rope, its bound to fall and irritate you.
10. Ensure that your bottle cage is tight enough to hold the bottle in bumpy rides. Imagine running after your bottle, every time it falls.
The Backpack
1. Our bag weighed 9 kg each.
2. There is always scope for improvement. Check, recheck and cross-check..everytime you will be able to remove some wait from your bag before the event.
3. You are not allowed to throw-a-away anything after the event starts.
4. Do not carry that haevy metal hand pump or floor pump. You will have to slug it around those hills during the Trek. You cannot get rid of it. Enduro rules.
The Food
1. Take lots of Chocolates, Electral, Glucose, Chappatis, Pooran Poli, Nuts like Cashew, Badam. This should be sufficient for 3 people for 1 day. Do not ask me for the count... its your call.
2. MRP - Meal Replacement Powder gives you some 170 kCal per pack. I am taking of the standard pack from Amway called Positrim. Costs Rs.100. Very expensive. Might be required if you compete in open category for 2 days. In other words, required for superhumans.
The Drink
1. Water - 2 litres is must. MIx electral and Glucose and them sip it.
2. You will find some or ther water source like streams flowing on the moutains, fill up your water bottles there.
The mandatory stuff per team
1. Air pump
2. Punture mending Kit
3. Bike Tools Kit
4. Valve tube and the Valve itself (spare piece)
5. Rope - 20ft, 10 mm thick
6. Sleeping bag per participant.
The banned stuff
1. Mobile phones
2. GPS (so that you use your brain and instincts during Trekking)
The Winning mantra
1. Start the cycling leg fast.
2. Trek the mountains with full josh, so that you reach the waters early in the evening, which will make it easier to swim
3. Take Fantastic Torch lights with good battery life for night Trek. The night trek starts at 3:00 a.m.
FAQ
1. What is Enduro3?
Its an Adventure race which happens in Pune. The 6th Edition just got over. It was held on Feb 8th and Feb 9th.
2. What are the categories?
There are 2 divisions. 1. Open also known as Pro. 2. IT/Corporate/College/Family/Amateurs - All men, mixed, All women
3. What is there in store for Open/Pro & Other Category?
Pro Category (I coined it Superhumans)
a. Cycling - 90 to 100 Kms
b. Trekking - 70 to 90 Kms
c. Swimming - 200 metres
d. Rowing - 2 Km
e. Riffle shooting
Others (I coined it Just humans)
a. Cycling - 50 Kms
b. Trekking - 40 Kms
c. Swimming - 200 metres
If you do not know swimming, you can use the rope, hold it, wear the life vest to float and cross the river.
4. Is Cycling on Tarmac or Dirt Road?
Tarmac - 80% (Pucca - 60%, Kachha - 40%) , Dirt - 20%
5. Is it uphill and downhill mixed?
Uphill effort is like that of Savandurga.
Downhill is smooth like Banshankari to Kanakpura.
6. Where does Trekking happen?
On the mountains of Sahyadhri's. You will be always seeing the waters of Panshet dam, but its out of reach.
7. How do you transport the bike to Pune?
From Bangalore, you can take a Train/Flight/Volvo Bus.
A round about flight costed the entire team Rs.16700 for tickets + Rs.3000 for the bikes (two way. i.e. Rs.500 per bike single way).
Volvo bus ticket is Rs.700 and to take the bike they will take Rs.200.
8. Why do airways take Rs.500 extra?
Probably becoz of oversized baggage rule, though the total weight is within the limit. I have written an email to Indigo and I am awaiting a reply. Indian Airlines, does not charge extra. Read the post by 'Vodkha' in Tips and Tricks section.
9. How did we take the bikes from Airport to City?
Koramangala - Airport :- Hired a Tavera. Loaded 2 bikes on top and 1 at the back. It costed us Rs. 350
Pune Airport - NEF, Office in Parvati :- Hired an Indica. Loaded 3 bikes, one above the other on top. Paid Rs.450 for a good 15 Km distance.
Kothrud to Pune Airport :- Hire a Tata Ace. Stacked 3 bikes neatly and paid Rs.350
Blr Airport to Koramangala :- Ditched the box. Conned the car drivers who wanted to fleece us. Assembled the bike, one thunder and one trek in 40 mins and rode home.
10. How do you transport the bike from the point where the race ends to the Pune city?
We left our bike at Panshet dam. Treked the mountains. Came back the next day to the same Panshet dam and finished the race. There are 4 ways,
1. You can pay for the bikes to be transported by Army Trucks to City and you have to travel on you own.
2. You can catch a sumo and load the cycle. It is expensive.
3. Ask your family/friend to get a van/suv and load the bikes into it.
4. Ride back to Pune like we did, it is 45 kms with nice little inclines.
to be continued....
