MbC 200 KM League 2018 season 3- Midnight special ride
Mangaluru: MbC had its second full night ride covering a distance of 200 km league starting on 24th November 9:00 pm from Ladyhill and finishing at 9:00 am on 25th November. It was a special ride for all 15 riders & 3 support crew of the club participating with full enthusiasm. Even more special is that 13 members completed it in full style with their energy levels high up all throughout. It was a memorable 200 km ride for Gururaj Patil, Joel Fernandes, Madhukar, Raj Muranal, Srikantharaja, Sunil Mendes, Sunitha Mendes, Venu Vinod, Wilfred Pinto, Rohan and Ganesh Nayak even though it wasn’t their first one but for 4 of the participants namely Dijaraj Nair, Madhura Jain, Aakash Agnihotri and Joseph Pereira it was their maiden 200 km ride and it was all the more special. Our 3 support members Gaurav Prabhu, Ashwath Rai and Amoga Vigram were with us throughout the ride refuelling us with refreshments and inspiring us to keep pedalling to complete the league.
200 km league has been an initiative of MbC since the last 3 years and this year we made it very unique, memorable, exciting and enjoyable experience for our riders by making a few of these as full night rides.
As a club, which believes in safe and enjoyable riding for our members, wanted to ensure everything was planned right from the beginning as is the case of any of our rides, be it short or long rides. The support crew members played a very important role in ensuring the safety levels and keeping the riders energetic and motivated the whole night. Support vehicle with bicycle rack in case of emergency and breakdown, first aid kit, snacks, fruits, water and crew were an indispensable part of our plan and ride.
The starting point was Ladyhill circle and the plan was to ride till Kundapur and return to Mangalore by 9 am with a few regrouping, refreshment points in between. Every stopover points and responsibilities of each rider and support crew members were jotted down. All the members went through training regularly for a week to improvise on their endurance and build up stamina.
Our members met on Saturday (November 27 ) night at 9:00 pm at Ladyhill circle. Post clicking a group picture, we all set out on our ride.
We followed the lead and sweep method ensuring no rider is left behind at any point in time and no one rider is ahead of the group. It was made clear to all riders to ride together in a group.
We rode on NH 66 till Padubidri and then we took a detour via interior roads joining Katapadi and then back on NH66 until we reached Kundapur. The detour route was a refreshing one with good scenic views despite it being night time.
All this couldn’t have been possible without our support crew. They were extremely helpful throughout the ride and ensured all 15 riders complete the task with ease. They very well knew what exactly was required to make our attempt successful as they have experienced riders themselves and kept motivating all our riders throughout the journey.
To us cycling is adventurous, fun, a lifestyle statement, building relationships and for fitness. Such rides are a lifelong experience and end up building forever relationships. Our ever dedicated and motivated riders of the club keep us on toes and inspire us to keep planning and bringing up unique and innovative challenges for them and truly this keeps us active.