Intuitive Fitness and Health Enthusiast: My 1st 150 km Bike Ride

The plan to go for a long bike ride after the Nandi Hills ride has finally been accomplished yesterday, when I covered a total of 160 km alone. The ride was very smooth without any hiccups I had in the past like punctures, due to excellent highway roadway.

Greeenary on the side of Highway

Traversing through the rocky hills

I woke up early morning yesterday (20th Dec, 2015), and after having few bananas and dark chocolate. The weather was cool and cloudy and fresh. I put on my helmet and hand gloves for the long ride. I packed few bananas, Glucon-D, electral powder, puncture kit, spare tube and power bank in my backpack. I started from IISc at 7:30 a.m, along with my Runkeeper app which gives me audio feedback about my pace every 500 m. After traversing through the Outer Ring Road, I navigated onto the NH-7 Highway towards Hyderabad. I was maintaining a decent pace around 2:20 min/km, and enjoying the swift ride over the flyovers. I reached the toll gate near Kempegowda International Airport, Devanahalli and headed towards Chikkaballapur along the Highway. After covering around 40 kms, stopped for re-hydrating and had few bananas. I continued my ride towards Bagepalli, and still the weather was quite cool and cloudy, I hoped it does not rain.
The roads throughout were good and traffic was sparse, making the ride very smooth away from the busy city roads. I crossed Chikballapur and headed towards Bagepalli. I took a U-turn after crossing Battalahalli village at 80 km mark, which I finished in 3 hours 23 minutes. I slowed down on the return journey as it became quite sunny and warm.

Clear sky hovering above the road

After 84 kms, I stopped for having coconut water and rehydrated along with electrol and glucose. I had put on my DCH song playlist as I got bored and little fatigued. I took quite many pics while riding and enjoying the solo ride. I crossed the 100 km mark in 4 hours 50 minutes, further journey was little slow. I stopped for a fruit salad and again for coconut water to keep myself rehydrated. The highway was quite sparse with few trucks and buses. The music kept me going on the highway. It felt like we feel on a different journey, a new high while riding on a highway. After crossing the airport I speeded up as I the series of flyovers to be traversed on. There is different kind of thrill while riding on the flyovers, especially the effortless ride on the downhill. Finally, I finished the 150 km mark in 7:36 hours, which shows I slowed downed considerably after the 80 km mark. I am slowly gaining endurance for cycling longer distances. And solo rides are quite good in a way that you are independent and maintain your own pace and take random pics wherever you like. Going with like minded friends is also a good experience, where we will not get bored and get the motivation during tiring times. My hybrid bike carried me quite well for 150 kms. I rode back to IISc as I entered the city. I had some sweets at Kanti Sweets, New Bel Road, had a late lunch at Biryani Paradise at 4 p.m. Came back to my room and had a nice nap for 3 hours after a cool bath. My bike was in a good condition after the long, except for a small creaking sound from the crank, which got fixed at Pedals and Wheels, Malleswaram. The problem was the bottom bracket became little loose which was fixed. I think I need a road bike or a better hybrid bike for longer distances. My detailed activity is logged at Runkeeper link