CEPTIAN at Sabarmati Cyclothon 2013 and TFN 2012
28.02.2013
Shravan Shah, student from Faculty of Geomatics and Space Applications, CEPT University, participated in Sabarmati Cyclothon 2013 and TFN (Tour of Nilgiris) 2012. This race was organized by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation jointly with Cycling Federation of India and Ahmedabad Bicycling Club. It took place on 27th of January 2013 at Ahmedabad. More than 5000 cyclists from all over India have participated in this event.
The Sabarmati race started around 7.10 am. He was in the leading breakaway and came at 6th rank overall. He completed the race in around 85 minutes with an average speed of 37 km/hr. The last sprint of 400 meters was the best part in the race in which they reached an excess of 60-65 km/hr for a short span of 400 meters.
The other categories were ‘Century Race’ and ‘Dream Ride’. He raced along with some of the national elite cyclists from India. It was a good experience, which did get him to fix his goal. His dream is to race for one of the Pro Cycling teams in the Tour De France in the coming years. This was the first step in making his dream come true.
And TFN Tour of Nilgiris 2012, the journey started in July 2012, when he did registration for the tour. He started his training for TfN around July after he had received an email from the organizers that he was selected out of 11 from Ahmedabad. Training schedules were set and they practiced a lot till the day. He was delighted when his dean considered his application favourably to participate in this tour. The practice sessions comprised long distance cycling, swimming and running with occasional Mt. Abu climbs. It was an eight day long tour. It started from Bangalore. The course of the 2012 tour was from Bangalore to Ooty and back. The distance was 850 km. It included the twin climbs of Ooty and Upper Bhawani. The course passed through the three sanctuaries of Bandipur, Nagarhole and Madumallai.
The tour started on the 16th of December. First day he had to cycle from Bangalore to Mysore. It is a 186 km. stretch, which he covered in less than seven hours. It was fun, although the heat made it difficult in the last stretches. It was the only flat stretch in the whole of TfN 2012. The second day he cycled from Mysore to Madikeri. The ride on this day was a bit hard, as he had to encounter lot of undulating terrain. Back here in Ahmedabad he trained himself on flat roads. The distance was about 100 odd kms. From Madikeri on the third day he cycled till Sultan Bathery. This was one of the best rides as the landscape they cycled through was one of the best India has to offer. The ride ended after 100 km. of cycling on the meandering roads.
The fourth day was called “Le Clasique’. It involved a climb of 42 km. The ride on this day took him to a new level. He had never competed in climbing 42 km, which he did on that day. There were tea estates on either side. The scenery was breathtaking. He reached Ooty around two in the afternoon had fresh, special made tea and was ready to ride again. One rest day before sixth day “Suffering day” - he had to climb one of the highest peaks of the Nilgiris, which included 27 hairpin bends to be climbed twice. This was the day he will cherish the most. The breathtaking scenery and never visited places made his day. The seventh day called “Gravity Sucks you” where he had an initial climb of 14 km and then it was all the way down from Ooty till Metupallayam for the next 78 odd km. This was the best day as the speed with which his fellow cyclist and he were going down was phenomenal. He exceeded the speed limits on some stretches! The last and eighth day he had a climb again. He cycled through deep forests till Chamrajanagar for 105 km.
The tour was over. He was overjoyed. He had never done such thing in his life and it was his first national level cycling event. He stood 21st and was youngest of the lot. On this tour he had many experiences. He met a lot of professional road cyclists. He made some new friends from all around the world. He had never cycled continuously for seven days covering a distance of 850 km. The tour was very well organized. The tour organizers provided accommodation, food, medical facilities and mechanics as well..!!
