Anyone Interested in Bike training program?

[pranavnegandhi]

My first relevant post on this topic

I did a quick spin to Lavarde on Saturday morning. It was supposed to be my monthly 100, but I fell short by 12 kms because I ran out of time. I started off late at 7 because of an upset stomach. But 4 hours later, I returned with a personal best of 88 kms in 4 hours under my belt. I also bested myself on the Mutha climb, finishing it off in 15 minutes as compared to 22 minutes on my previous attempt.

I've started some late-season interval training, making the most of the delayed monsoon. I also managed to ride the flat road between Mutha village and Lavarde, a distance of 18 kms back and forth, at an average of ~26 km/h. The numbers don't speak much by themselves, but considering how bad of a climber I am, and I did this after riding up the Mutha, I'm very pleased.

The return was a whirlwind ride, where I covered the distance from the top of Mutha to home, around 30 kms, in a hair above an hour. The biggest motivation was an irate wife fuming at home because I was late!

.p

[sumitpal]

Great going Pranav. Did you ride with a backpack this time?

[pranavnegandhi]

Naaah! Just a bottle of water and some energy bars stashed in my saddle bag. Thank the awesome mausam for that.

.p

[uhk]

Way to Pranav. Used to the friction shifters now?

[deepakvrao]

Great - thats a huge shave off your previous climb timing.

[pranavnegandhi]

I had an unfair advantage which I have dubbed the 'Buffalo Momentum'.

[RNair]

7 minutes is a lot!! Congratulations Pranav. Besides training, I also feel that shedding weight has also contributed immensely. I am very happy for you.

[prabuddhadg]

If not biting, at least here is another one at least tentatively sniffing at the dust. Great going, Pranav. Riding fast seems to be almost a natural progression from riding for hours.

[RNair]

Going out to climb Blockhaus at 2062m this weekend. The ride is very similar to Mt Ventoux. It goes from 100m to 2062m in 28kms! It was part of the Giro stage in 2009. Will carry my Helmet Cam, hopefully will have something good to share!

[prabuddhadg]

Egad! That's an average of 7%! Come back alive.

Obviously, the flu is out the window.

[kk27]

nice way to make your legs into pulp

good Luck

[RNair]

It is going to be a difficult ride

[kk27]

Well Today was one of the best rides I've had in Mumbai. Me & Prabu decided to do something different from the mundane Thane or Bandra ride.

I wanted a little respite from my heavy workouts so wanted a relaxed ride, So We thought of doing a ride round Mumbai - Tour de Mumbai ;P. It was sort of mixing our regular two ride route into one & what a ride it turned out to be.

It was same old ride till Bandra, then took a turn to Sion - Eastern Express Higway..... & from here things started to really roll we felt as if riding in a Vacum.... & for about 15-16km we were cranking up.... no signals no traffic, wet roads & a touch & go rains made this stretch a bliss for us....we reached Thane almost as if we didn't know where we were going. I owed some money to Jo so thought of giving it to him.... & later we realized that we were riding non stop without a break. From there on it the same old return Godhbunder ride & I returned on that tarmac after 3 months & it gave me a welcome on the climb...I was pathetic on it. I was almost bought to a halt....post the climb Prabu gave us another break by flatting his rear tyre & thankfully it was right at a Tea Stall, fixed the flat, had a tea & headed back home... & I had forgotten our regular way & we were parted at a signal just a few kms from home... only to be greeted with almost a Thunderstrom. I reached home with 80.70kms of a blissfull ride.

This definitely called for officially adding it to our ride plans & we already have but with a few changes to add another 20odd & making it a century.

here the ride
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/8605975

[prakash]

i plan to do an expedition of 650 kms (Kasergode - Kerala to Trivandrum - Kerala ) .Can you seggest the training schedule i should adopt. Right now i cycle 15 km daily in an hour on an ordinary bsa slr. will br buying a good cycle soon

[kk27]

Well go through the whole thread & you'll know what to do & even how we all have improved based on this plan

[kk27]

Yesterday, we again decided to do the round Mumbai but taking a detour to Vashi & do a loop over Sion Panvel Highway to add that extra kms to make it a century. The only difference was we decided to take it easy this time & keep a consistent pace...sort of base building ride.

The ride started exactly as we planned, slow & steady with a few fast sections at highway(lap 2), which was blowing us back with strong headwinds...but both of us were riding chatting all the time.

an hr into the ride we hit the Eastern express highway (Lap 3) was a relief from the continuous headwinds, but Prabu suggested something both don't like....a break. we took about five mins to gobble up some water & a chocolates. Thanks to my Gamin we were constantly reminded there was a turn we need to take to Vashi, I for a change didn't want the rain today...but we were welcome with a light drizzle.... it seemed very English & just about when we were beginning to enjoy, I had a flat. quickly installed the a new tube but the hastiness must have damaged the tube, so had to take Prabu's spare, we got it right this time & pushed ahead. & moments later we were doing 40s on flat road....sort of making up for all the delay ;P. we reached vashi took the U-turn back to the highway, but began searching for a puncture repair shop since we were out of spares...... & just then BAAAAMMMM a loud noise & a blast of air on my face.... Prabu's rear tyre had blown up. Prabu looked in for a Taxi & I thought what to do????. I decided to push ahead & complete the ride...I had to ride about 60kms alone. I tried keeping the consistent pace...again on the express way I was greeted with a drizzle & then with sunshine ;P, past Thane when I hit Godhbunder, my bottle was empty.... took a break of few mins to swap with another bottle & fill it with Electral.

Lap 4 I hit the climb section of the ride.... the last time I was here the avg was 20kmph & I wanted to improve this & decided to push myslef a bit & when i finished the section hitting Lap 5 I was quite happy with myself & knew that i had done better than before, only to later find out how much to my surprise.

But the Lap 5 destroyed the avg due to heavy traffic, because the Police had blocked the road from Bahyander till Dhaisar for some blasted politician. This really bugged me & cause lot of pain in the back from constant cleating-uncleating, I even had to walk a few times our push with one leg. Though I was very frustrated, but I was happy looking at the stats here it is - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/10358066

the split data says it all... http://connect.garmin.com/splits/10358066

Lap 1 - from Start to Wes.Exp.Highway
Lap 2 - WEHg till Sion
Lap 3 - Sion-Vashi-Est.Exp.High
Lap 4 - EEH till Godhbunder Climb section
Lap 5 - Climb section till Bahyander
Lap 6 - Bahyander till End point

This ride was a bit diferrent in many repects but esp the cadence....since I got my FD working, most of my ride was on the 52 ring & it feels really good riding on it. In the end it was a fantastic ride & I'm happy I chose to continue & finish the ride... & we have it on our menu again next Sunday.... hopefully without the jinx .

[kk27]

Lap 4 I hit the climb section of the ride.... the last time I was here the avg was 20kmph & I wanted to improve this & decided to push myslef a bit & when i finished the section hitting Lap 5 I was quite happy with myself & knew that i had done better than before, only to later find out how much to my surprise.

But the Lap 5 destroyed the avg due to heavy traffic,

Correction - it's Lap 5 & Lap 6.

[anindya_911]

Nice ride summary, Kaushik!

This weekend, I visited (not by cycle) Javhar & Selvassa. The roads were completely out of the worlds and were so inviting. Almost nil traffic and vistas to die for!
I will post the details separately, but I was thinking You & Prabuddha could use those routes instead of the pothole ridden & vehicle infested Godbunder road (especially, the Dahisar stretch)

Here are few pointers

Fountain Hotel Junchtion - Manor Phata (along NH8, Ahmedabad H'way) 56 km
Manor Phata - Javhar (Via Vikramgad) (take right from NH) 50 Km, nice climbs enroute, Javhar is at 1680 ft
Javhar - Khanvel(Dadra & Nagar Haveli) 46 Km, little quaint town dotted with resorts
Khanvel - Dudhani 19 km, some awe-inspiring scenes and some hard climb and descends, you have to comeback to Khanvel for onward journey

Alternate route from Javhar:
Javhar - Mokhada 21 km
Mokhada - Khodala 22 km some killer climbs enroute
Kodhala - Kasara 29 km

Depending upon the distance, you can plan it single day or overnight trips. Except for the highway, the traffic is very less and 99% of the road are smooth as butter.

Cheers

[prabuddhadg]

Anindya, was this on a Saturday or a Sunday? Kaushik, are you thinking what I am thinking?

By the way, Kaushik, the tube that I kept in my saddlebag, the one that you tried installing but didn't work, seems to be cracked and is leaking in places. The puncture guy said the tube appeared to be old and a little dry.

[kk27]

By the way, Kaushik, the tube that I kept in my saddlebag, the one that you tried installing but didn't work, seems to be cracked and is leaking in places. The puncture guy said the tube appeared to be old and a little dry.

Funny it was the one we had bought.

Anindya... like I said your rides always intrigues me & I'm sure you'll definitely do this one someday ;P.

Anyway..... yes Prabu; I'm thinking exactly as you. Lets do one of those on Saturday/ Sunday or either. it's definitely refreshing to go touch new tarmac, & after Sunday's hundred, I've tasted blood, I'm sure I'll be thirsty by the weekend. I can map those & check which ones are more interesting.... we can then discuss it out. We've never done an overnight ride, we definitely need to do that too.... probably something like a 150+ oneside, but I feel those be done after the rains. I mean it's really looks bad to enter a hotel asking for rooms, with yourself half buried in muck.

[anindya_911]

Anindya, was this on a Saturday or a Sunday? Kaushik, are you thinking what I am thinking?

By the way, Kaushik, the tube that I kept in my saddlebag, the one that you tried installing but didn't work, seems to be cracked and is leaking in places. The puncture guy said the tube appeared to be old and a little dry.

It was both the days

If you spray talcum powder on the inner tube before stowing them, it helps to lengthen its shelf life.

Cheers

[Ren_V]

If you spray talcum powder on the inner tube before stowing them, it helps to lengthen its shelf life.
Cheers

Yes, I second that. I had cut open an old tube i had for some DIY work last weekend and found it coated with the powder. So Anindya is right.

[kk27]

Anidya - I could find a route till Jawhar but from there on there was no direct route to Khanvel apart from the highway or the way around the mountains parallel to the highway. I'm sure there must be a un mapped - route. even the road to Khanvel only showed from the Dadra side. I tried the wikimaps.... there i mapped a unmapped road but mapping one from Jawhar would take some time. But I don't know if these will reflect in Mapmyride.com so that I can upload it on the Garmin. Do you have the route mapped????

from Kandivili to Jawhar was some 120km or so don't remember exactly but I'm sure we can cover this within 5-6hrs easy - are there any hotels there to stay???

The second route was easily mapped.....till Kasara in a day could be a bit longish, but can certainly be covered in a day.

whilst seeing through the map I found it that it's very close to Triambak - famous Triambakeshwar temple.... maybe we can do a religious tour too

So Prabu.... now which one would you like to do???

[anindya_911]

KaushiK,

The google and other mapping co. seems to have a nasty habit of mapping only the major and popular routes. The best routes often lies outside them.

There is a direct route which takes you from Javhar to Khanvel, no need to comeback to highway. Just ask anybody at Javhar for route to Selvassa (it is called Selvas by the locals), plus there are many milestones at each corner to guide you towards the rightway.

Javhar has got 3-4 pricy resorts which are usually full on weekends. However, I have seen many boards of homestay arrangements (Called Gharghuti in marathi), the will be basic roof over your head types but will be available at a minimum cost. So ask locals around and you will be guided to the nearest.

Kasara is single day will be very tiring as the road goes up and down 500 ft at a drop of an hat and there are some major climbs before Javhar and between Mokhada and Khodala, where the route goes down to river bed at Deobandh ( a beautiful temple).

Trimbakeshwar will be 55 km from Javhar and the route is again very scenic.

All the best, go out and have fun!

Cheers

[anindya_911]

More details of the route are here viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3491