Sultanbatteri to Ooty - the highlight stage!!

The day began early for me with my wife reporting at 2 in the morning that I had fever! I went back to sleep almost convinced that my tour was over. At 5.30am my alarm rang and I felt absolutely miserable and I returned to sleep. At 6 15 am I woke up again as I just could not believe that I had traveled all the way from the US to lie in bed and that too on the only day of the tour that mattered. The fear of regret took the better of me. I woke up and jumped into the shower and tried to dress up. My wife who understood me well told me to give the day a shot and she promised to support me from the car. When I came down with my bike I realized that I was the only one ready to go while everyone else had decided to take it easy after the gruesome stage the day before. Breakfast was not available and the TFN organizers were trying to arrange for it at the Windflower hotel. It was well past 7.30am and I was more than happy to buy time. After a really good breakfast it was time for the usual briefing and it was made clear that if you struggled on the first climb then just wait downhill at Gudular to get sweeped to Ooty. I pretended to listen to it  During the briefing I gave a few tips to other riders on climbing and soon I was all set. Dr Renu who had been fantastic all through out the tour made sure that I had ‘electrol’ in my bottles. It was time to go. A large crowd had gathered to look at the departure of TFN cyclists. I had a made a simply strategy for the day. SURVIVAL was the key, no halts, good rhythm and to preserve the energy for the Ooty climb. We all started as a group and the rolling terrain within the first 5 kms already broke the group and soon it looked like everybody was on their own. You could make out that you were in Kerala as the vehicles drove ruthlessly. After passing through a small strip of forestland soon we reached the TN border and with it started small climbs through beautiful Tea estates. The terrain was still rolling. The three wheelers turned from black to yellow. The roads improved along with the scenery and it had all prospects of a fantastic ride.

Within 40 mins into the ride I knew that only

 2 riders were in front of me and those were the usual suspects Samim and Dipanker. The temptation to catch them was high but my condition was playing on my mind and I kept telling myself to control any adrenalin rush. I intentionally started to look around and bask in the beauty of the landscape. I even stopped to take a photograph or two! I usually never think much when I ride but the beauty of the landscape was so immense that I was actually getting fearful of the day getting over sooner than later. The greens of the tea plantations and the blues of the sky almost seemed exaggerated! I looked at my Garmin and I was still riding at a modest 25km/hr. My HR was well settled in my zone 1-2 and the climbs did not seem as hard as it was made out to look during the briefing. One thing that was constantly bothering me was the bitter taste in my mouth, I just could not figure what it was and later I discovered from the doctor that it was the reaction of the antibiotics. I kept gulping down the electrol and at times even gargling my mouth with it. 

Soon I was on top the first climb for the day and a long descend lied ahead to Gudular. The view from top was out of this world and I kept telling myself that this was easily the best rides I had even done in my life. The mountains of Ooty stood right in front like a massive wall with the peaks covered with clouds. Are we really supposed to climb that, seemed unreal? The descend to Gudular was fast, very fast. The few hairpin bends almost caressed my knees on the turns. The few passages thru small intersections was furiosly fast. My blue Italian jersey caught the attention of the bystanders and I was breezing thru them giving the locals a few secs to glimpse

At Gudular I started to look around for Samim and Dipanker but they were not to be seen. I turned my attention to find TFN vehicles and even they were absent. The town was buzzing with Ayyappa pilgrims. The loud speakers played sacred songs and there was a festive mood in that little town. I refueled myself at a local shop, took a gel or 2. The glimpse of the peaks of Ooty almost sent a shiver down the spine. Within a few hundred meters I was already climbing to Ooty. The climb was 6-7 %. Not much but you had 40km of it! I decided to ignore the distance and focus on the altitude I was climbing. The altitude on my Garmin noted 980m.The first few kms through settlements did not give an idea of the altitude but as soon as the landscape opened up you were treated with the best views of the valley. A car appeared from behind and it was my wife and son. My son just kept shouting 'go dad go'! I gave a quick update to my wife on how I was feeling, the excitement and adrenalin was pumping in my body and feeling pretty good. My heart rate was still well settled at 70%. I ate some food on the bike and I was going to stick to my plan of not stopping till I reached Ooty. My wife told me that she would be around in the car if I faced any difficulty. The altitude was slowly but consistently getting higher and I was already up 1300m. After every few kms I would find my wife snapping away with the camera and my son still shouting at me!

Soon I reached one of the most beautiful locations thru the Eucalyptus plantations. It was just bizzare! I will post a photograph as I am not the best with words. I started to hear sounds of heavy breathing and I looked behind to find Saurabh had caught me. He was climbing well. One thing that pushes my adrenalin to extreme levels is to see a cyclist pass me. I had to eat my ego and let him go. This was not a race. There was still around 30kms of climbs left and I was going to stick to my strategy. After a few kms I saw my wife coming downhill with the car worried that something had happened to me. She was surprised to see a cyclist had passed me and thought I had either stopped or something bad had happened. I calmed her and continued with my task of climbing.

 

The scene only got better and the vast manicured tea plantations were a sight to relish. My garmin indicated that I was well above 1600m. The support vehicles started to appear. I got a briefing of who was climbing and who was not. There was Venky and iggy who had just reached the foothills and many had decided not to climb including my brother. Venky had sent the support car to get a gel from me. I passed one and instead took some almonds and other nuts in return. Pradeep told me that there was only 10kms to go and a text message from my wife confirmed it. With 10 kms to go I decided to step on the gas. Venky's car soon appeared behind me and that gave me extra confidence to have a crack at the last 10-15 kms. The last 15-20 kms was climbed at an avg of 20km/hr. The support vehicle stayed with me right till the end and at the end of the ride Giri who was driving the car was so mesmerized by staying behind my wheels that he just could not stop talking about it!! They had been entertained ☺. I thought it was so funny and I was still able to hold a laugh. I had accomplished what I came for. I was standing on top of Ooty at 2200m! 

Inside me it was not about climbing Ooty, I knew I could climb Ooty, I also wanted to do it within decent time frame. I had a set a target of under 4 hours before TFN so under the circumstances 4hr15 was not all that bad. Later Shantanu joined in and we rode together to find the hostel. I was happy, very happy. One of the best rides of my life under the circumstances! The scenes from Sultanbatteri to Ooty was unparalleled to anywhere I have ridden before.