the mighty ride...

98 kms...4 hours 47 mins of riding time...about 5 and a half hours of total time...heavy head, sore butt, aching muscles - new definition of ecstasy...

this morning went riding with the Hyderbad Bicycling Club (HBC) on a sparkling diwali ride...the plan was to start at about 5:30 am, cover about 90kms and come back around noon....we started off on a pretty good note but soon, I realized where I have put my foot...I have been on longer rides earlier but the challenge this time was the speed, the short time in which we planned to finish the ride...I pushed, pushed and pushed myself further, only to realize that I am not as fit as I used to be a year ago...I was lingering behind the entire group by a huge distance...the ride announcement did say that we will be riding at a decent pace...I knew that the HBC guys are fast but failed to scale it up over the entire distance for today...

riding with HBC is always an inspiring and humbling experience at the same time...these guys are fast and fighting fit...I had trouble keeping up with them (couldn't do it for long)...at times, they were just a couple of arms-length ahead...you feel that you can just move a little bit ahead and tap on their helmet...that inspires you put that extra force on the pedals and catch up...but by the time you are able to cover those two arms length, they would have already dissolved in the horizon...and you're humbled. when I go with my group, I am generally ahead of others...with HBC, it was a completely different story...

this ride was an ego trip for me...for a long time I hadn't challenged myself physically...the last few treks and rides I have been too were not too demanding...earlier than that, I did go to a few and I was not quite happy with how I fared in them...so this was my chance to go that extra mile test myself...I didn't fare well today either...but I am still glad that I went for the ride...at least I did complete it within 6 hours (including breaks) :)