Algorithms and Bicycles

The scenery was beautiful for the most part. So was the weather, except the last 30 miles when there was a stiff head wind. But the overall experience was downright poor. Why? See my letter to the organizers below. I will post their reply if and when I get one.

Hello,

My name is Sanjay Velamparambil and I participated in the 2010 Desperado Dual (Century option).

My experience in this event was dismal, to say the least. There are several reasons for this, which I will discuss below. The purpose of this mail is to make you aware of my disappointment with the way the event was conducted with the hope that you will take appropriate measures to improve it in the future.

PS: I will be posting this letter to my blog and also any reply that I would receive from you.

According to the legend, Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating under a bunyan tree. Well, while riding up the nasty Cedar Mountain recently, I realized the Four Noble Truths of climbing:

1. There is Suffering: every inch of your body is crying out loud “stop!” and yet you continue to pedal.
2. There is a Cause for the Suffering: you chose to ride up the gnarly hill/mountain in the neighborhood to satisfy your own ego and for the bragging rights. You put your Ego ahead of reason.
3. Cessation of Suffering: yes, there is an end to the suffering and you can realize it in this life time.
4. The Eight Fold Path to end the suffering: Before you choose the next ride
   • Know that you are not a Marco Pantani or an Andy Schleck
   • Know that you generate only about 175 watts and not 350 watts, on the average
   • Know that riding up the steepest hill does not necessarily make you a stronger or better rider
   • Ask yourself: what is the purpose of this ride?
   • Know that gears are there to be used
   • Know that the Wind is not really your friend on a long winding climb
   • Know that the pain may not go away even after you stop pedaling

   and the most important of all

   • Forget the Four Noble Truths; Ride Anyway!

About 15 miles to the north of our house in Cedar City, there is a semi-developed mountain called Braffits Mountain. There is a paved road that goes all the way to the top, a rarity in this part of the world. The very first time I saw this road, while driving to Cedar on I15south, I thought of riding it up. Except, at that time, I had no idea how difficult it was.

After moving, a friend of ours told how difficult it was. So Carol and I drove up one day. It turned out to be very steep indeed. Here’s a route map.

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Well, nothing more to be said. It was about 45F with slight winds from the north. There is still a lot of snow on the ground, especially on north facing regions.

Since I was using the touring bike and since my bike computer ran out battery, I had to use Carol’s. For a techno-geek like me, it is a little amusing and shameful to say that I didn’t know how to use her gadget. So ended up not having any significant numbers to record, other than the distance itself which turned out to be 14.2miles.

Not too bad for the new year.

BTC-2009, or the Bicycle Tour of Colorado is a privately run, multi-day ride in Colorado. This year, it started from Glenwood Springs and passed through the towns of Hotchkiss, Grand Junction, Montrose, Crested Butte and Buena Vista to loop back to Glenwood Springs. Altogether, a distance of over 500 miles with well over 25,000 feet of climbing. This was supposed to be a hard ride, and hard it was. Every single day, except the third, there was at least one major pass/climb to ride over. We faced rain, head and cross winds, hot and cold days. For me, it was also a test of physical and mental strength.

There were about 1700 riders, of which a majority were above 50 years old. People of different ethnicities, from different places and countries and of different backgrounds. The only thing bound us together was the passion for the sport of bicycling. And, that was good enough.
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In the first part of this drama, I described the experience at the Cochin International Airport in India while traveling with bicycles. In this second part, I will describe the mostly hilarious conclusion to the whole episode.

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I never finished reading Arundhati Roy’s “God of small things”. Mostly because I never really liked spaghetti; much less the noodles in time. But I know that the story of the book is set in Kerala, a southern state of India, of which the locals refer to as “God’s own country”. It seems to me, however, that it is also a place where God, if that entity exists, plays 20/20 cricket — that abomination of a noble game. While creating the land, greenery, birds and other living beings, he seemed to have been very focused and purposeful. But when it came to the beings to be created in his own image, he seems to have chosen the most callous, indifferent, cynical and morally corrupt (in the sense of Ayn Rand) ones to be the inhabitants. The best explanation of this contradiction seems to have  been given by Al Pacino’s John Milton character in “Devil’s Advocate”: “God likes to watch. He’s a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do, I swear for His own amusement, his own private, cosmic gag reel, He sets the rules in opposition. It’s the goof of all time.”

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The ride was supposed to be easy — at least according to the map/elevation profile provided by mapmyride.com. Nothing could have been farther from reality. Seth, Kara and I rode from Pine Junction, CO to Deckers, CO, yesterday (07/20/2008).

The first part of the ride, from Pine Junction to Deckers, was moderate. It was cool — we started around 8:00AM — and the route was very beautiful. The road parallels a creek and so the greenery was most pleasant to the eyes.

It was during the return trip that things became difficult. There’s a four mile long climb, at 8% grade, out of Deckers. By the time we left Deckers, it was already quite hot (10:00AM). I suffered on this climb badly. What was worse was that I was running short of water.We had hoped to refill at Pine.That didn’t happen. There were no general stores or gas stations in Pine to refill. So, when we started climbing out of Pine, I was left with just half a bottle of water. The climb was 7 miles long.Two miles into the climb, it was over. And things began to worsen.

To make it short, I began measuring the progress first in terms of half miles and then down to one-tenth of a mile. There was no power/energy left in me. I stopped every half mile, sometimes even before that. Also, I was getting cramps — on both legs. As it progressed, clipping out became an exercise in itself, because of the cramps.Finally, about three quarters of a mile from Pine Junction, I stopped. Unable to move any further. I could not stand straight because both my legs were cramped. So I leant on to the bike to support. I stayed like that for what seemed to be an eternity.

Then I heard a voice behind me: “Are you alright? Do you need anything?” I turned around and found my angel. It was a kayaker, possibly headed out for her day in the water. I said “Do you have some water?” She said, “yes, of course.” She could not have stopped or turned the car around at that point. So she drove down further and came back a minute later.She came up to me and asked what was happening. I explained the situation. She went back to the car and came out with several bottles of gatorade and water. I gladly accepted a bottle of water from her. It was surreal.

I didn’t ask her name; neither did I tell her mine. It doesn’t matter. I know that her kindness will forever be etched in my mind. Thank you, my angel.

I finished the ride a few minutes later. While clipping out, the cramps finally completely overpowered me and I collapsed. Kara came over and helped me to get up. Seth had by then brought back more water and gatorade. Anyway, in a few minutes time, I felt better. Seth also offered to drive, which was very kind of him. Thank you Seth and Kara.

In the end, everything was fine. I was safe. Only due to the kindness of the unknown angel and my friends Seth and Kara.

So, I am back in Boulder. Returned from Calgary on 22nd April. The drive from Calgary was uneventful, except for the first day when it was cold (15F), windy and with snow drifts all the way.   Today I went for the ‘first’ ride after my return, with my riding buddies Brendan, Seth and a few others with who I have ridden before. The plan was to start from the Table Mesa shopping complex and ride to Ward via Old Stage Road and Left Hand Canyon.  I knew that my legs were not ready for this, which became abundantly clear when we hit the first climb on Old Stage Rd. To be fair, the Old Stage Rd is pretty steep, with grades going up to 16% or so. Anyway, I dropped the plan to go to Ward and instead rode to Jamestown. Even that was hard work.  While returning from Jamestown back to Superior, I rode over the Old Stage Rd again — I have no idea why. To summarize, by the time I got home, I had had enough of ride for the day. The ride details are here: The verdict is clear: I better put on some serious, quality miles, and that too fast. On the other hand, I am glad to be back!