Nagalapuram cycling: A tragic tell of getting lost no where

16 June 2012: Cycling to Nagalapuram from Chennai

  • 2 AM: Cycling expedition begins from Chennai
  • 10 AM: At Andhra Pradesh border
  • 4 PM: After 14 hours of cycling, left knee trapped
  • 5 PM: Lost alone in Jungle
  • 7 PM: Rescued by a milk man

Next day News

  • Around 50 tire punctures and bursts; 30 sore asses
  • Only 3 could make it finally out of 20; 1 cyclist fainted
  • Several heat by vomiting, fever and dehydration
  • Lots of new experiences and discoveries

16 June 2012, 2 AM: Leaving for cycling from Chennai to Nagalapuram

I packed my bag with water bottles, electrolytes, camera etc and slowly rolled out my Adidas MTB. Kicked on to meet my biking group on a dark and silent night. A rousing feeling of meeting never-land was pounding inside my heart. Lost in a thought of conquering some fancy world, paddling and fantasizing, I, finally reached the meeting point.

A fully loaded MTBA fully loaded MTB (Mountain bike)

I was proud of my MTB. On any account, it was not lesser than any other bikes. It had every lovely features which I would need for a comfortable ride.

  • Tubeless tires
  • Adjustable seat
  • front and rear disc breaks
  • Front and rear gears
  • Making it not more little than a mini moving home for me.

3AM: Morning kicked off with a weary warm up

I think I was the only one who had joined a 250 km expedition without any prior practice so It was almost clear that I was gonna pay the heavy price for it sooner or later.

“Ok guys! so we are gonna have a warm up now”. And, the rubber hit the road.

What the hell! I was almost into a race. Is this what they call a warm-up?

Forrest! you are no different than others“.

Whoa! wait, wait, wait! If I were not dreaming. I was literally cycling past some motor bikes. A walk over pitches! Shift the gears and vroooooooooooooom! (Love you Adidas for such a beautiful creation!)

3.45 AM: Distance covered 30 km & first drop out witnessed

So here we encountered our first drop out within an hour of expedition commencement. “Dude! you just saw the trailer, are you gonna last for the show?” Finally our race came to a halt when another bunch of cyclists joined in. And we moved on – with a slow and steady pace. The plan was to leave Chennai city well behind before sunrise & we were running on time.

Puzhal LakeAnd we witnessed the sunrise at dry Puzhal lake

When, I heard that we were gonna cross the dry lake, I got served with tons of tasty salmon berry. It was a greenhorn turning into Dexter. Plunge above dry lake. So the nature meets the men:

26 inch tubeless cruising over hard dried mud.
– Crunch-crunch & munch-munch
Some deep and mysterious longing as an disguised and unknown but out of the world pleasure was getting satiated.
– Enticing and heavenly.

Lift the bike and cross the lake borderLift the bike and cross the lake peripherals

Crossed over the lake  perimeter wall and we encountered our first puncture. As we crossed to other side, thorny bushes had ambushed all across the road.

Confession: I still don’t know how to utilize a puncture kit.

And, if you ask me how I survived for those long 15 hours of dirt biking without any puncture, I would say those were my most favorable times.

First puncture of the dayFirst puncture of the day

In front of Puzhal lakeIn front of Puzhal lake

9AM: Red hills

The sun was getting hotter and air was more humid.
God bless Tamil nadu and its weather in June.
Sweat forming across forehead would slither gradually behind ears up to chin.
– Salty if you taste it.
We almost had covered 50-60 km by then.
Cool that we began such early morning to avoid summer death race.

Crossing Red hillsCrossing Red hills

Until so, I was easily able to catch up with other bikers.
Coming back over to AH-45, the sun was torturing. Heat waves radiating out of black tar were smelly and blistering.

10AM: Puduvoyal, 8 Hours of cycling & Breakfast time

Cycling for last 8 continuous hours had already started sucking out my vitality. I decided to take heavy breakfast and drink a lot of energy juices and electrolytes to rehabilitate myself.

Leaving behind the Higway 10.30 AM: Leaving behind the highway and entering into unknown bumpy roads

After breakfast, highway was long gone behind. It was too difficult to paddle over boulders stretched over kilometers.

Next Destination: Periyapalam at around 90th kilometer

I don’t know where we were heading to but, only thing I knew was, I was cycling through some remote Andhra village under scorching sun.
– Sweating like hell.
My physical endurance was getting deteriorated.
I started getting lagged by 5 to 10 minutes behind my group.
Sometimes on highways; sometimes crossing  outback villages; sometimes cycling by barren fields; sometimes paddling through and through jungle. I saw almost every facets of the nature.
Thanks to the frequent punctures that I was able to cope up.

some where in Andhra pradeshSome where in Andhra pradesh

Tardily I started feeling lonely. Got a feeling of aloofness like the idea of biking in a group was whining away.
A man for himself!
I did not know what to do.
I was far away from even the nearest town.
Understanding the Language was another barrier.
Sticking with my team eventually was a safer solution.
Dropping out of biking league was not gonna be any better solution.
Tried drinking a lot of glucose and electoral but, things were now slipping off my hand.
Only hope was in my mind was Peripalayam where we might take rest for sometime and then move on.

Beating the heat some where in remote Andhra pradeshBeating the heat under tube well

See a water-well or water-tube and jump in.
And again start paddling in soaked clothes.
But alas! wet clothes even did not even last for more than 10 minutes.

I sometimes used to wonder where were mine energy gone?
Why I was not able to kick so fast?
Why was I lagging so much?
No matter how hard I pushed myself I was unable to break through the threshold.
Only thing which kept me surviving was my pursuit of keeping on following my group and

“A man for himself” theory.
I knew if any thing did happen to me, I would be the sole responsible for that.

12 NOON: Periyapalam Lunch

– Almost broken; unable to eat; burning eyes; salty lips; red face.
Anyway, we took rest there for an hour, and marched ahead.

2 PM: Somewhere in Jungle at 100th KM mark

2.30 PM: I was lost and found

Eventually in spite of giving utmost efforts to be with my team, I lost them. Even so, I was paddling ahead hopefully to catch with them sooner or later.
Sore ass; fatigued knee; live mirage over black pitch road; painful back were slowly emerging around like Lucifer’s’ spirited Satan.
I had to ask lift from a truck driver and after 10 minutes, I saw my group standing beside south Ganga canal waiting for me.

Taking dip into south Ganga canal3.30 PM: Time to take dip into south Ganga canal

At long last, I had lost enthusiasm for even stepping inside water. It took me around 15 minutes to get mentally prepared and step inside.

4:30 PM: Distance covered: 120 km (At the apex of weariness)

No more villages’ road.
We were following south Ganga canal that will lead us to Uthukkottai where we had planned to drop our tents near Nagalapuram Hills
– Whilst Nagalapuram was still a far dream.
I suddenly realized that my left knee had stopped working and was trapped.
– No more paddling possible.
Some how I was managing it with hope that gradually I would reach the base.
The enthusiastic journey which began almost 14 hours ago was turning malign.
And with bad comes the worst.
It was getting darker and some of my friends started complaining of getting delayed and running behind schedule.
I asked them to move ahead. I still wonder why I did so. And, without any plans I was wondering alone and clueless.

I and my bicycle alone and lost somewhere5.00 PM: Alone and finally lost no where

Dejected and tired, I Did not know what to do.
So, I decided to stay spend night alone I cleaned up the ground around and parked my bike.
But that solution was not practical and not gonna last longer.
I stood on the bridge over the canal to see any mark of human Civilization.
An old lady was coming with bundle of woods. I tried talking with her.
– No breakthrough.
I called one of my Telugu friends but she could not understand her too
– Again no break through & hopes gone!
I was standing somewhere over earth but I did not know what part of earth was it?
After some draggy time has flied away, I saw a milk man coming on motor bike. I asked for help. He was ready to help me out but he would go home first to empty the containers.
After half an hour, he returned and believe me those half an hours were like half a day for me.
He came along with his son. I sat behind his motorbike and went to his home and got served with sweet and water.

The south Ganga canalThe south Ganga canal

Everyone’s look was double-dyed. I tried smiling at then with my weary and leery face.
The milkman pointed towards the primary school and suggested me to stay there over night and then I can return next day.
Since nearest bus stand had daily frequency of at most 3-4 buses and no one dared to drive through this area after evening. Indeed it was almost impossible to get any public transport.
But there was only one thing over my mind- “my home, sweet home”
– Plumply mattress
– Cool dark room
– Fan moving over head.
– And long sleep with curtains put on.
I wanted to reach there as soon as possible. I insisted him to drop me at the bus stand.

Bus Stand:

Only a few shops were open.
Everyone started staring at me.
Few gas lights and kerosene lights were on.

I had to find someone who understood Hindi.
And a tea-guy helped me out in finding out a Hindi speaking person.
He was a military man and had served in north India.
I explained everything to him and finally, he arranged a four wheeler.
I did not know what happened to others but only thing I came to know next day was only three could finally make it and rest must had found their ways out.

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