The MLK 2011 Tour
Shortly, all of us were huffing and puffing due to reduction in Oxygen as we gained over 5000 feet of altitude and our Garmin Watches showed us that our Pulse Rate was over 145. But the fresh legs and the adrenaline push ensured that all of us completed the route easily. At Marhi, we had a short break and then loaded the Cycles in the Support Vehicles and we crossed Rohtang in vehicles and reached the first camping site at Sissu. Rohtang is the lowest of all passes crossed in the entire journey.
Typical routine, after finishing the cycling for the day, from now onwards would be Tea at 5 pm, Dinner with a short discussion meeting on the next day at 7:30 pm and almost all were in bed by 8:30 pm to prepare for the battle next day. After dozing off at 8:30 pm, a lot amongst us would wake up after a few hours thinking it is time to wake up and prepare for the ride. We would look at our watch in the dark and the time would be around 10:30 pm. It was only later that we learnt that ‘Sleeplessness’ is also one of the features of being at High Altitudes. Most of us would wake up at least 5-6 times in the night, before wake-up time at 5:30 am.
The second day of the ride on 29th August was from Sissu to Jispa (10400 feet). As we gained altitude the greenery around us kept reducing and was replaced by the harsh but massive and colorful mountains. As we headed onwards, there was hardly any vehicular or human traffic on the roads, which were partly good and partly broken. We had only the pure air, the beautiful blue sky, the cool weather for company with a beautiful terrain all around us. Learning from day one, we had decided to slow down our cycling speed and Harsh,
Once a ride was completed on each day, all of us would freshen up and then relax outside the Tents. It would be impossible to stay inside the Tents, since during the day they would heat up due to the harsh sun. We would lie down, chit chat and enjoy the view of the sky and the clouds. Atul & Gaurav were fascinated by enjoying the changing shapes of the clouds and had a constant discussion on it. For the moment, each one of us would forget what we do, where we were and became kids again for that moment.
The sixth day involved crossing one more Pass, the Lachulung La (16700 feet), before heading to Pang where we were to Camp. On this day, we crossed the Lachulung La at 16700 feet, reached Pang and decided to push ahead for another steep climb of 7 Kms to the Morre Plains Base.
The seventh day started by shifting the Cycles from Pang to the start of the Morre Plains by vehicle since we had already completed this part of the route, a day earlier. The changed view, due to the overnight rain/snow was outstanding, beautiful and massive.We started cycling on the Plains and kept pedaling and pedaling and the end would not be in site.
There was good tar road for the first few Kms and then the road gave way to plain kuchha road. In fact, there was not road and you could cycle wherever you wanted, as long as you kept the end point in sight. The Morre Plains ended by a right turn which took us to Tsokar Lake, which is one of the 3 large salt water lakes at height above 14500 feet.
The other two more popular being Tsomoriri and Pangong Lakes.The stay of Tsokar was unique since there was a clear blue lake on one side and stark mountains on the other. Here we met a local person, who had no qualms about walking 2.5 hours to a nearby village to make one local call and then comeback. The simplicity of life, of the local people, was unnerving.
4th September 2011
Today, was the 2nd last day of the ride where we would reach Leh. The route from Tsokar to Tanglang La ( 17600 feet ) and downwards was again damaged and not cycle able due to heavy rains/snow and so we had to put the cycles in the vehicles and cross the Pass and reach a place called Meeru. Here we unloaded the cycles and then cycled all the way to Leh.
Both sides of the roads were covered by huge dry mountains which were extremely colorful and we were cycling the valley with a river flowing by our side. Soon all this gave way to greenery, monasteries etc and Leh approached. We were back from the dry mountains lacking vegetation to the greenery of Leh which is at around 11500 feet. Checking into a Hotel at Leh (11500 feet), with beds and warm water was a welcome change from the Tents that we had stayed in for the past one week.
The final day, the ride from Leh – Khardung La, from 11500 feet to 18380 feet, a climb of almost 7000 feet over 38 Kms over broken roads, cold weather and very high altitude. Though none of us would say it, the anxiety of the ride was on everyone’s face. Some kept a cheerful front, some were somber, but each one of us knew the difficult task ahead.
To end - Cycling, and most other endurance sports, not only improves physical fitness and gives a high to that person, but Tours such as the MLK are a battle between the physical strength and the mental strength. On day 1 of MLK, it was 20% mind and 80% physical strength. On day 5 its was 50% mind and 50% physical strength. On the day of the Khardung La climb, it was 20% physical strength and 80% mental strength. The body was drained of energy at the end of 9 days, but the mind never gave up.
The Warriors – Atul, Gaurav, Harsh, Haresh, Jaikrishna-Aparna, Satpal, Tushar & Vivek
Before the Tour began, a lot was talked about it for the past two months, as the riders trained for it, climbed bridges in Ahmedabad and the mountains at Abu. As the departure day approached, a tingling feeling started within, the packing process began and the reality sunk-in that we are finally heading into an unknown harsh terrain and the ride is finally ON. The ABC send-off at the Ellisbridge Gymkhana saw the enthusiasm of the ABC members who wished all us well, and the smiles from the riders hid the tension and tingling within…
25th-27th August 2011
Finally 25th August came, and all the riders met up at the Airport, were wished off by some ABC members who also came to the Airport and the journey began… We landed at Delhi, went to a Sports Store ( Adventure18 ), picked up some useful stuff, had lunch and reached the Bus Departure Point. The Volvo was decent, not fitted for 6 feet tall persons, and at 6:30 pm the long journey to Manali began. After a dinner halt at around 10 pm, we dozed off and reached Manali in the early morning. We were picked up by the Organizers who put us up at a place called Silver Birch at Prini just outside Manali. The Hotel was good and we spent 26th August in checking our cycles, and trying them out. On 27th August, we undertook a small ride of about 12-15 Kms and got used to the mechanism of the cycles and then just relaxed for the day. Frankly, relax is a funny word, since next day was D Day, the Starting Day, and though everyone tried to relax, there was this underlying tension of what lay ahead…
28th August 2011(The first day)
On 28th August, everyone got up between 5:00 – 5:30 am, adorned their battle dress including the tight padded shorts, the T-Shirts given by the organizers, the Blowfish Hydration Back Packs, the Helmets, the Gadgets had a quick breakfast and emerged from the Hotel with their Trek Cycles… The weather was cool, foggy with very light rain… Perfect weather to start-off… The first day ride was from Manali to Marhi, since reports had come in that Rohtang Pass was not cycle able due to very heavy slush on account of rain/snow/mud etc. We gained a lot of altitude and the adrenaline push of the first day of ride made us cycle a little faster.
Shortly, all of us were huffing and puffing due to reduction in Oxygen as we gained over 5000 feet of altitude and our Garmin Watches showed us that our Pulse Rate was over 145. But the fresh legs and the adrenaline push ensured that all of us completed the route easily. At Marhi, we had a short break and then loaded the Cycles in the Support Vehicles and we crossed Rohtang in vehicles and reached the first camping site at Sissu. Rohtang is the lowest of all passes crossed in the entire journey.
Everyone relaxed at Sissu, settled down in their Tents. Satpal showed off his hydration contraption of water bottles fitted with PVC Pipes, with one bottle each fitted on either side of his backpack. The rest relaxed and joked around since one needed to keep doing something to keep the tenseness hidden. Though none would say it, everyone had the anxiety of AMS ( Altitude Mountain Sickness ) in mind. Everyone knew that they must not over exert even while walking around, keep taking deep breaths of fresh air and drink at least 3-4 litres of water/fluids per day. This was essential to avoid AMS and almost everyone reminded each other to drink fluids or carried a bottle in hand.
Typical routine, after finishing the cycling for the day, from now onwards would be Tea at 5 pm, Dinner with a short discussion meeting on the next day at 7:30 pm and almost all were in bed by 8:30 pm to prepare for the battle next day. After dozing off at 8:30 pm, a lot amongst us would wake up after a few hours thinking it is time to wake up and prepare for the ride. We would look at our watch in the dark and the time would be around 10:30 pm. It was only later that we learnt that ‘Sleeplessness’ is also one of the features of being at High Altitudes. Most of us would wake up at least 5-6 times in the night, before wake-up time at 5:30 am.
Even more interesting was the urge to ‘Pee’ in the night. By around 10 pm, the weather outside the Tents would be freezing. The temperature would be around zero degrees and taking even 10 steps would be an effort due to the low oxygen. One would huff and puff, but one could also not hold back the bursting sensation in the Bladder. We would take 10 steps outside the Tent, ‘Pee” off and take the steps back to the Tent. It would take another 10-15 minutes before your breathing would come back to normal and then one could go back to Sleep.
29th August 2011
The second day of the ride on 29th August was from Sissu to Jispa (10400 feet). As we gained altitude the greenery around us kept reducing and was replaced by the harsh but massive and colorful mountains. As we headed onwards, there was hardly any vehicular or human traffic on the roads, which were partly good and partly broken. We had only the pure air, the beautiful blue sky, the cool weather for company with a beautiful terrain all around us. Learning from day one, we had decided to slow down our cycling speed and Harsh, 
Gaurav, Vivek and Atul cycled at a similar pace to maintain the pulse rate around 130. They were followed by JK, Haresh, Tushar and Satpal.As we moved into the mountainous terrain, the mere size of the entire region humbles you. It is stark, yet colorful and beautiful. It is massive to a scale that you loose sense of scale and distance.
Once a ride was completed on each day, all of us would freshen up and then relax outside the Tents. It would be impossible to stay inside the Tents, since during the day they would heat up due to the harsh sun. We would lie down, chit chat and enjoy the view of the sky and the clouds. Atul & Gaurav were fascinated by enjoying the changing shapes of the clouds and had a constant discussion on it. For the moment, each one of us would forget what we do, where we were and became kids again for that moment.
30th August 2011
The third day of the ride, i.e. 30th August, was from Jispa to the base of the Baralacha La. La means Pass, and this day was a relatively easy riding day, though the altitude was now over 14000 feet. On most days, the wake up time would be 5:30 am, breakfast at 6:00 am and Cycling begain at 6:30 am.There was no bathing time, since it was impossible to bathe in that terrain. In the 9 days of cycling, most of us had bath once or twice.
31st August 2011
The fourth day, 31st August, was a day of uphill climb. We had to cross the first of the many passes, i.e. the Baralacha La (16140 feet), and head towards Brady Nallah which is now more popularly called the Brandy Nallah.
The ride down from the Pass was quite steep with completely broken roads with big stones.Harsh had a fall on this day, and reinforced the importance of the Helmet, since it was the Helmet that saved him from serious injury.
1st September 2011
The fifth day, 1st September, was another tough day involving the Gata Loops which are 21 Looped Roads on a single huge mountain which you cross and reach another high pass called the Nakeela Pass. Though all of us had been very careful about the effects of AMS and did all that was possible, JK and Satpal developed symptoms of AMS including severe headache and vomiting.
For their own safety, they were shifted to lower altitude to reduce the symptoms and to ensure that they rejoin us for the balance part of the Tour. After crossing the Nakeela Pass, we camped at Whisky Nallah at a height of 14250 feet.
2nd September 2011
The sixth day involved crossing one more Pass, the Lachulung La (16700 feet), before heading to Pang where we were to Camp. On this day, we crossed the Lachulung La at 16700 feet, reached Pang and decided to push ahead for another steep climb of 7 Kms to the Morre Plains Base.
We were to do the Morre Plains next day, and they are supposed to be treacherous and so we decided to finish the climb portion a day ahead. When we reached the Morre Plains Base, from where you see the Morre Plains, the sight was unbelievable. At their height of over 14500 feet, the Morre Plains is an expanse of about 38 Kms in length and about 12 Kms in width and it is a complete flat land with partial roads.
You might see a mountain and feel that it is close to you, but actually maybe a few Kms away. Even more fascinating as the fact, that when we reached the start of the Plains on the sixth day, all the mountains were stark and dry, yet colorful and beautiful. When we camped at Pang overnight, there was a lot of rain and snow in the night and when we reached the Morre Plains next day, most of the mountains that we had seen on the earlier day were covered with snow. The view was stupendous and the change overnight was just awesome.
3rd September 2011
The seventh day started by shifting the Cycles from Pang to the start of the Morre Plains by vehicle since we had already completed this part of the route, a day earlier. The changed view, due to the overnight rain/snow was outstanding, beautiful and massive.We started cycling on the Plains and kept pedaling and pedaling and the end would not be in site.
4th September 2011
Today, was the 2nd last day of the ride where we would reach Leh. The route from Tsokar to Tanglang La ( 17600 feet ) and downwards was again damaged and not cycle able due to heavy rains/snow and so we had to put the cycles in the vehicles and cross the Pass and reach a place called Meeru. Here we unloaded the cycles and then cycled all the way to Leh.
5th September 2011(The Final Day)
The final day, the ride from Leh – Khardung La, from 11500 feet to 18380 feet, a climb of almost 7000 feet over 38 Kms over broken roads, cold weather and very high altitude. Though none of us would say it, the anxiety of the ride was on everyone’s face. Some kept a cheerful front, some were somber, but each one of us knew the difficult task ahead.
The riders started early, when it was dark, and the first halt was at 22 Kms, at a place called Southpullu. The road was good up to here but was almost all incline. The Noodles/Wafer combination that we had at this point was a welcome break. After this, it was all bad roads, bad weather and even a more steep incline. By the time we were about 3-4 Kms from the final point, Harsh slowed down knowing that he was tiring, but with the full intention to finish.
Gaurav kept the pace with Vivek and Atulbhai, but experienced how the mind games are played at the point of extreme fatigue. He would explode at any point that he found irritating and the recipients of the anger were the other two riders. We huffed and puffed, grunted and tired, but at the end of the day, reached the final frontier, the top of Khardung La.
Till this point, the mind was just pushing and punishing to complete, and the moment the top was reached, the drive and exhilaration gave way to fatigue and tiredness. Vivek commented,“ Gauravbhai, I have never seen you so tired in your life “. Little did he know about the euphoria within.
The final frontier was breached, the ride was over and all of us hugged each other and a special bond was tied on that day between the 9 ABC Warriors who rode together and stayed together in those 9 days of cycling.
To end - Cycling, and most other endurance sports, not only improves physical fitness and gives a high to that person, but Tours such as the MLK are a battle between the physical strength and the mental strength. On day 1 of MLK, it was 20% mind and 80% physical strength. On day 5 its was 50% mind and 50% physical strength. On the day of the Khardung La climb, it was 20% physical strength and 80% mental strength. The body was drained of energy at the end of 9 days, but the mind never gave up.
The euphoria that one will get, when the body completes a Tour where both the mind & body emerge victor can only be experienced, and not written.
We would want each and every ABC member to experience this euphoria. Do not let your mind or body let you down, challenge your mind and body and you will gain a different level of self-confidence while cycling, and in life…
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The MLK Riders from ABC |
