I put my head down and stepped on the pedals. 20k to go! It is time to dig deep and create another separation. Sangram and Saru were on my wheel. Saru came forward to pull and asked me to hold his wheel. I had other ideas. I had Sangram on my wheel. I sat up and let Saru go. I had no intention of taking one of best sprinters in the old men category to the line and be humbled. I sat on his wheel instead and let him pursue my teammate who’s fast creating a gap.

Did I force my teammate on a suicide mission? Probably. Would he have earned his podium spot if he were to stay away going 20km solo at the fag end of a 160km race? You bet!

The Planning!

The plan started forming a couple of weeks before the race. We decided to make the race hard for ourselves and others. No point cruising along slower than our Saturday group rides. The plan was to have 2 or 3 of our strongest riders go on a long range attack and let the group chase us. How long should that long range attack be in a 160km long race? It was always going to be a gamble. Even if we were in the best shapes of our lives, it’s a big risk. Anything can happen in a race that long.

We arrived at two possible points where we could attack to create a breakaway! One was at 90km mark with 72km to go. The other was at 4km before the last U-turn with 24km to the finish line.

We decided it was going to be either Milam Saxena and me or Milam and our skipper, Dr. Arvind Bhateja. We thought we could invite our friend Rushit from team Crankmeister to join us to improve the chances of making the break stick because he’s a strong engine who doesn’t shy away from suffering. I proposed the plan to Rushit and he was game.

On the race day morning I told Arvind it was going to be him to go with Milam. He was apprehensive about his ability to last that long in a break with his history of cramps in races. I suggested that he should take a conservative approach even in the break and let Milam take a bit more load and he should be fine. He is in best shape in years and has best chance to break his jinx with cramps if he measures his efforts.

The Field

From Spectrum Racing, we were 6 of us towing the line. Milam, Arvind, Saravanan Sivaraman(Saru), Vivek Bhateja, JyotiVenkatesh M(MJV), and myself. Rushit from Crankmeister is a solo operator. Team BROS had 5 riders- Sangram Jena, Abhishek Priyadarshi, Debashish Mahapatra, Sibabrata Patnaik (Siba), and Ravi Mehta. Venky Wheelsports, Rishi Bhatt and Raghesh Nair were others flying solo.

I thought we could organise the group to do a smooth rotating paceline till 90k. We tried to organise the group but it wasn’t happening. So, initially, Rushit and I ended up taking on the domestique duties to keep the group pace high. MJV, Saru and Vivek from Spectrum and Siba and Abhishek from team BROS came forward from time to time to contribute.

My goal was to keep Milam and Doc as fresh as possible until the 90km mark. So, I kept sending them back as soon as I saw them anywhere close to the front. I didn’t want their noses in the front at all.

The first 20k of the 80km loop is with tailwind. We feel like supermen. Once you take the first U-turn(near the toll towards Hoskote), 40km worth of headwinds smack you in the face along with reality of your meagre abilities on the bike. The 20km after the 2nd U-turn (towards Dobaspet) again turn the headwinds into tailwinds towards the start/finish.

With Rushit sharing a bit of load at the front, I was not sure he would be able to join the break. So, I asked him if he was willing to sit back and let others chase if he could not join the break. He looked puzzled but agreed. He later told he wasn’t sure why I was asking him not to join the two in the break while I proposed the plan before the race. I guess in the crazy winds while riding, only part of my message got through. I should have been more clear.

At the 90km mark, as planned, on an incline, Milam put in a dig with Arvind on his wheel. I  slid back and watched the plan unfold in front of me. They disappeared in the distance with Sangram, Venky Wheelsports following them. My Spectrum teammate, Saru was trying to chase to join them. I shouted at the top of my voice asking him to stop. I knew he was feeling strong and could have probably joined them. But, I didn’t want him to end up taking someone else along with him. Also, I wanted to have a few more cards to play with if our move with the two were to backfire. I asked him to join MJV, Vivek and me sitting on the wheels while others chased our break up the road.

After another couple of kms Rushit lanched his own attack with the intension of bridging up to the two ahead without dragging the group with him.

I asked my spectrum teammates to not chase him and let others do the job if they are interested. Rushit ended up spending quite a bit of time in no man’s land dangling in front of our group. I was surprised that he wasn’t able to go further. I later learnt that he ran out of water and had no one to support him with hydration. It was too long a race to survive without support.

We had Sangram join back to our group after getting separated from the break and we saw Venky Wheelsports cramping up and stopping after the 3rd U-turn. That meant, Milam and Arvind succeeded in making the 2 man break. Would it stick?

At the pace our group was going I felt more and more confident with each passing kilometer. Siba, Deb and Abhishek were working to chase but the pace did not bother us. I was sure our two guys would be going faster. At about 120km mark, we heard the gap they built was already 4 mins. I knew then that barring anything dramatic, we almost had the top two spots on the podium sealed. But, it isn’t done until it’s done. Anything could happen in the sport.

By then Rushit joined back to our group and took on some water from the guys in the group. I kept checking how our guys were doing as we were getting close to the final U-turn. MJV and Vivek were complaining of cramps while Saru looked like he was at the start of his Sunday leisure ride. I asked him if he was willing to attack and go after the U-turn with 20km to go. Although he was feeling fine, he thought it was too long to be going solo. I promised him I will look to set it up and hopefully join him along with Rushit so that he doesn’t have to burn his matches. For that he was game.

I asked Rushit if he was game for another attempt to break. He never says no to suffering. That didn’t change. With 4km to go for the U-turn, I put in a hard dig to see if I can create that separation. I went cross eyed with effort but the entire group was right on my tail. I sat up. I knew the second breakaway plan wasn’t going to be that easy to execute.

The Second Move!

As soon as we took the final U-turn, I put in another attack. I put my head down and stepped on the pedals. 20k to go! It is time to dig deep and create another separation. Sangram and Saru were on my wheel. Saru came forward to pull and asked me to hold his wheel. I had other ideas. I had Sangram on my wheel. I sat up and let Saru go. I had no intention of taking one of best sprinters in the old men category to the line and be humbled. I sat on his wheel instead and let him pursue my teammate who’s fast creating a gap.

Saru looked back to see if I was joining him. I shouted, “Go, Saru, go!! Vo2!!” He put his head down and didn’t look back again.

Did I force my teammate on a suicide mission? Probably. Would he have earned his podium spot if he were to stay away going 20km solo at the fag end of a 160km race? You bet!

Sangram started chasing with me glued to his wheel. It was tailwind and we were flying with Sangram intent on not letting the 3rd spot on the podium slip by. I was worried if Saru would last the distance, especially when Sibabrata bridged up to us along with others and started helping Sangram with the chase. We began to see Saru about 500m ahead.

After a while it was Sibabrata and Sangram from team BROS and Vivek and me from Spectrum surfing their wheels. I kept looking into the horizon from behind Sangram to see how far Saru was. I was praying that he wouldn’t get caught. Everytime the road turned upwards the gap seemed to increase until eventually, I couldn’t see him anymore. But I wasn’t sure if it was my myopia or if he was really out of sight.

As I saw the 1km to go sign on the road, I began to celebrate silently in my mind. There is no way they were going to catch him. As we crossed the line I had my arms in the air while Sangram and Vivek Sprinted to the line. Sangram pipped Vivek to finish 4th and confirmed my faith in his sprint strength. My celebration was not because we lost the sprint for 4th place but because we earned the top 3 spots on the podium through gutsy moves, executed the plan to perfection, even improvising on an already solid plan!

The Elite, Amateur and Women’s Races!

The Elite field was as evenly poised as I’ve seen it in a while. With Indian team selections taking Naveen John away and Tamilnadu state trials taking the likes of Joel Sundaram, Sreenath Lakshmikant out, the major contenders were the CBR Elite boys, Neil Dsouza, Saurabh Singh and Kiran Raju.

MTB champ Dhananjay of Velo Studio racing team was on the road as well. A big representation from the Bangalore Saturday Nandi Train was there with the likes of Ajinkya Bokde, Vinayak NS(Spectrum Racing), Aswin Raj just to name a few. Shrinidhi Urala, Venkat VV of CBR and Vincent Godai from Goa are among the strong riders in the field.

With 2 laps of 80km, the first lap of the Elite field was a conservative sleepy affair but once the second lap started, the attacks and counter attacks started until a break of 5 riders formed with Dhananjay, Neil Dsouza, Vincent Godai, Vinayak(Spectrum). Around 125km mark, Vinayak flatted and had to abandon the race. The break struck and Dhananjay took the win with a long range sprint followed by Vincent and 2nd and Neil taking the 3rd.

The amateur field was one of the biggest we have seen with nearly 100 riders towing the line. It is also the most unpredictable with no clear contenders.

The Hyderabad U-18 sensation, Ansh Mantena of SL7 Racing and our Bangalore Nandi Train and SRDC representative Sai Kaushik were among the strong riders in the field. Kaushik took the win with Parameswaran taking 2nd followed by Ansh at 3rd in a closely contested race.

Women race was dominated by the tri champ from Bangalore, Tim Tim Sharma taking the win with her trademark solo attack countering an attack from others in the last 20km. The podium was completed by Saraswati Murugan if SL7 racing and Tressa Philip of Racefit coaching team.

U-18 win was taken by the talented rider from Hyderabad, Shashwat Singh of Wattbombs Elite followed by Saksham Dalal and Lahar SS.

A Race to Remember!

The BBCh Classic always carries a dreaded reverence in riders across the country because of the 100 mile distance and the strength of the field it brings together from across the country.

This year’s edition lived up to the reputation despite a slightly thinner field in a few categories due to various state and national level events.

For many of the time crunched amateur riders, overcoming the fears of the distance and the suffering the race entails and towing the start line itself a is a victory!

The organizers did a fantastic job despite a few hiccups in the Amateur field. The community driven platforms like BBCH needs a lot of volunteers to run the events at this scale safely and smoothly.

Those of us who are passionate about cycling should make it a point to come forward and volunteer as a bike marshal or in some other form when we are not able to race. Only our active contribution and not a commentary from the sidelines can make platforms like BBCH sustain and thrive in the long term.

Let us come forward and support the fantastic racing scene we have and make it bigger and better each year!

Thanks to all the volunteers and the organizers for another fantastic event!