Mount Diablo Challenge

Results of the Mount Diablo Challenge are out and I clocked 1:19:43.8 and stood at 437/607 participants. The timing for the leader was 47:08:06. I had wanted to do it under an hour but the practice and motivation were not enough to accomplish this.
Here are the results.

My Best Timings

Event/Activity Details	Activity Type	Timing	Distance	Date
Half Marathon in Hyderabad	Running	1:55 hrs	21 km	Nov 21, 2009
Half Marathon in San Francisco	Running	2:20 hrs	21 km	April 2008
Pagemill Climb (from Arastradero to Open Space Reserve)	Cycling	0:54 hrs	7.2 mile	May 2012
Mount Hamilton Climb (from Alum Rock Ave to the top)	Cycling	2:01 hrs	17.84 mile	Sep 30 2012
Mount Diablo Climb (from Athenian School to the top)	Cycling	1:25 hrs	11.2	July 2012
Mount Diablo Climb (from Athenian School to the top) During the Mt. Diablo Challenge	Cycling	1:19:43.8 hrs	11.2	07 Oct 2012
Saratoga Climb (from Pierce Road to the top)	Cycling	0:46 hrs	17.84 mile	2012
Fremont School Pool in Sunnyvale	Swimming	-	260 mtr	Oct 3, 2012

Cycling in hyderabad

After a long time did a long ride along with Anitha. She on her Merida and I on my Specialized. Got up early and started at 6.15 am from our house in srinagar colony and went all the way to Gandipet lake (a.k.a Osman Sagar Lake). It's around 28km one way. It was a little cold on the way and roads were empty and the road through Artillery center was very good. It was a pleasant ride to Gandipet. It got hotter on the way back though and the traffic at Mehdipatnam was a spoiler. Were back at our home by 9.45 am. Here's the Google pedometer map of the route : http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4329901 . Good to be back on the bike after quite some time. Both of us enjoyed it.

Participating in AIDS Lifecycle 8

It's been a long time since I posted anything. I am doing the AIDS Lifecycle ride
this year too. Look over here:-
http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/dhiraj

And this is the video I created in preparation for the ride:-



Prepared it using Microsoft Photo Story 3. Used the pictures that we took on the previous years ride and some others from www.jeffbrockstudio.com.

Tour oF Nilgiris

I am happy to see that organized long-distance cycling events are starting to take place in India. Stumbled upon the link to "Tour of Nilgiris", 7 day 919 km cycling event from Bangalore to Mysore. The culture of cycling is spreading to India...one good effects of globalization ;-)

It's all about Biking (Bicycling)

4000 miles on my bike and still going. Little did I think that I would do so much of cycling when I bought my road bike in May 2007. Thanks to biker-friendly California and the sport of Bicycling itself, it has become my passion. Sometimes I even foolishly think of becoming a Pro.

It was in the month of May 2007 that I first rode on my bicycle, a mere 12 miles. But it wasn't until Oct 2007 that I seriously started cycling. I have been commuting to office on my bicycle since then, 17 miles a day. At around the same time Sudhir and I decided to participate in the annual AIDS LifeCycle'08 event, in which we had to cover 545 miles from SF to LA in 7 days. It was in that event that I did my first century on the bike. That ride increased my interest in cycling even more and nowadays I spend some of my weekends going on long rides on my bicycle. For the first time I watched Tour De France 08 and also started keenly following the Pro races. Had I been into this a little earlier, I would have followed the AMGEN Tour of California where most of the Pro teams around the world complete. Hopefully my wish of watching a Pro race with my naked eyes will be fulfilled in Feb '09. That's when the Tour of California will begin.

Road Cycling is a wonderful sport. You can enjoy it in solo, no company required. You can go to far away places and enjoy the natural beauty along the way, as if riding in a car with an open-top. It's a nice way to keep you in shape. Unlike Running, there isn't so much of impact on your legs and knees. And if you commute daily on bike then you are being very Green and also saving a lot of money on Gas. For e.g 4000 miles would mean (4000/30)*4 ~ 500$ of savings in a year.

Thanks to America for bringing me into contact with Biking. Hopefully I will be able to continue Biking throughout my life, irrespective of where I will be.

AIDS/Lifecycle Practice 1

Now that the event AIDS/Lifecycle is just 6 weeks away, and now that the California Summer of 2008 has arrived (Forget the afternoon, but the evenings are amazingly refreshing), I shred my lethargy and went for my first practice ride from Cupertino to Stanford and back a total of 24 miles at a stretch. Did it in 2 hrs, my usual speed. I know it's very less and I feel the pinch every now and then when somebody overtakes with ease :-(. This is a good beginging and if I keep commuting to office on my bicycle that should serve the minimum training. But I need to build my lower-back muscles so that they are strong enough to keep in the riding position everyday for 80 miles for a week. My back started aching towards the last quarter of the ride today. Time to go to gym.
Here's the map from Google Pedometer
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1790162

AIDS Lifecycle : Cycling for a cause

This summer (June 1-7, 2008) I will be cycling from San Fransisco to Los Angeles (a total of 545 miles in 7 days) to raise donations for fighting AIDS Worldwide. I will be one of the ~2500 people participating in this tremendous event. It's a tough physical job but I hope to complete it successfully with months of training and support from near and dear.

Visit my personal page for details and donate/leave a note of support.
http://www.aidslifecycle.org/6691