Too close! Yes, we are just 6 days away from the race that changed the face of endurance cycling in India, just as it did in many other parts of this world much before! Somethings though are very different when you come from India. Finances, exposure, community support among many other things are totally …

Sam arrived in Carhaix. This section of the ride has some steep climbs both ways. He didn’t see any other Indian randonneurs even on the way back. When we reached Carhaix though we met Gagan and he said that Shreyas was two hours ahead of them. Sam thinks he might have missed him in the …

Once Sam left Loundeac and I finished my last update, headed to the next control station Saint Nicolas, which was just a pass through and not an actual control. Our ‘laila’,( ) what we call our GPS for the sheer amount of talking she does, kept taking me through small roads, which ended up being …

Loudeac control station. Sam came and went. He almost forgot to get his Brevet card stamped, until asked about it. That’s just let me know that Sam is himself and feeling good Here are a few updates: Weather was hot this morning, compared to intermittent showers the previous night. It was a bit humid too. …

Sam finally arrived at 10pm, much later than anticipated. 4 flats and he was riding on a tube that only had 70% pressure than it should! As he ate, I borrowed a foot pump and we inflated the tube to max pressure. We got to know there was a mechanic at the control station ahead …

I wrote all of this and lost it when posting So rewriting: I started to write two days before we left for Paris and never got beyond the first sentence. I think it is a ritual to have things pending till the last minute. We didn’t get Samim’s International driver’s permit and the lady at …

Kavitha here: Between training, planning and working, days have been rolling into each other despite all the good intentions to write every day and share our days leading upto PBP. Since the weekend before last, Sam rode Nandi Hills and some of his favorite routes. Week was uneventful with focus on the rides, and preparation. …

Its that time again, when we share what is happening with training, looking beyond RAAM and the next big race, PBP. Sam and I were talking about all the races we want to include in our 2012 schedule and we decided to put it off till we return from Paris. We found something while researching …

Kavitha here. November 2010 to July 2011: We spent 9 months thinking, dreaming, preparing, agonizing and worrying about RAAM. It feels like a blur now, but the days, weeks and months spent to reach the finish line weren’t quite that easy. There were more agonizing moments than reassuring ones. It was hard work all around, …

30 liters of water, 15 liters of electrolytes (Gatorade and other), 15 liters of perpeteum, 3 vitamin c doses, Nutrilite supplements, hammer gels, 20 donuts, 10-15organic bars,5-6 peanut sweet and salt bars, sandwiches, triple whoppers, pasta (when we had the luxury of Jhansi and Rajesh harass (literally ) restaurant open early and make it for …