Mountain Terrain Biking Riders were all set on 1st Oct, 2011 at Ridge and actual riding started just after flag-off at Ridge ground of Shimla... Before we start PHOTO JOURNEY, let's have a look at this video...
Here starts the PHOTO JOURNEY...
All the riders start from Ridge ground... Move down to Mall road from HPMC shop near Park Cafe and move towards CM Residence...
After Falg-Off there was a free ride of 15.5 kilometers, which means timings during this stretch will not be noted and riders can go with comfortable pace without any time limitation...
Nepali gang on main highway, crossing Sanjauli !!!
It's time to take rest after free ride of 15.5 kilometers through Ridge, Mall Road, CM Residence, Governor Residence, St. Bede's Chowk, Sanjauli Chowk, Tunnel, Dhali Bazar, Dhali Bifurcation, Mashobara.... and finally Bakshi Farm was assembly point from where first stage was to start...
Marshals all set to assist riders at various points on the route... Few of them note down timings when they start and reach final points... and some of them stand on main routes to assure that riders are moving in right direction without any problem....
Ohh yeah, it's the right time :) ... Otherwise wrong timing may spoil the game....
Officials and Marshals all set to note down timings of riders for accurate results on 8th day of MTB Himachal 2011 !!!
Some kind faces smiling for my Camera :)
First stage of 17.2 kilometers completes at Bekhulti after Dak Bunglow...
A Nepali rider reaching final of stage-1 of day-1 at Bekhulti !!
Rider Number 108, Mr. Darshan, an interesting person posing specially for the final point of stage-1 of first day of MTB Himachal 2011 !!!
Somehow this fellow was much relaxed just before the final point of Stage-1, while he should been more aggressive (in my opinion :) )
Did this Marshal say the same thing ???
Mr. Sudhir Chauhan reaching final line of Stage-1 of first Day in MTB Himachal 2011 !!!
Actions are important while getting clicked :) ... Everyone has his/her own style and there is no harm in showcasing the same.... Some of the riders chose to stunt in front of Cameras...
Bekhulti was Lunch point as well and after that there was a small uphill of 2 Kilometers to Kathalri...
Did I forget to mention about my Lunch... How can I :)
On First day I was with officials in their jeep who had to go ahead to plan things on stage points... For the same reason, we crossed beverages cab and had no lunch on Day-1 !!! But this was not new to me, as I have seen all such things in MTB 2010 as well :)
More riders joining for Lunch at Bekhulti station where Marshals were ready for flying finish of Stage-1 of Day-1 at Mountain Terrain Biking Himachal Pradesh 2011 !!!
Here is the point at Bekhulti where all Marshals were appointed to note down correct timings of each rider, offer them drinks, snacks... Snacks and drinks on the way were only allowed for riders and Marshals couldn't dare to have a single piece of it...
Since Stage-1 is over, now it's time to move towards Stage-2 before riders start from Kathalri !!!
Day-1, lot of chaos... No one was clear about their duties... Few were clear, but they were confused by over confident people around...
At least three bike Marshals were appointed in a Stage of 15 kilometers... Apart from Marshals, Rescue vans also kept track of Riders...
Kathialri : Stage-2 : Day-1 : MTB Himachal 2011
Second stage started after some delay, as Marshal's team was not very well prepared for smooth start... During the last minutes, some of the riders were really bored of waiting for their turn... Anyway, everyone started and second stage on first day was too much.... Downhill was very challenging...
Here is the landmark from where Stage-2 started ....
Second Stage was a real test of riders and some of the weekend riders quit after Stage-2 ... Weekend riders are those who join MTB Himachal for two days only and go back on second day evening, which is Sunday !!! Basically they don't participate in the challenge where timings are noted to conclude winners of different categories... Non weekend riders can't take any help during 8 days and if they do, they are disqualified... I guess, in worst cases, they can get lift during free rides....
'The Old FYogis' - this is what I only know about these folks :) ... I hardly got a chance to interact with these folks, who were there in a group of 6-8... Extremely passionate folks with smiles on their faces :)
Amitabh who is on left, is winner of Masters... Amitabh Pandey scored 1st position leading Dattre Pandit Patil with the time difference of 6hrs
Health checkup of your bike is extremely important and that's what these riders do whenever possible....
Riders regularly get snacks and drinks to keep the energy high during the day... This time HASTPA was able to manage sponsors like HPMC Juices, Gatorade, Nature Valley etc... So riders were regularly provided juices, energy drinks/snacks with water... At times water was not available, which was most critical but it was all due to chaotic movement of vehicles carrying beverages...
Kathalri is a wonderful village under blue sky with lovely weather... I hope that colors in above photograph are enough to explain about this beautiful village...
Lady on hill top of Kathalri village... She was in cabbage fields and after some time of work in the fields she decided to enjoy the Mountain Terrain Bikers who were about to start Stage-2 from her village...
Here is a photograph with lady on hill top and all the riders waiting for Marshal call...
Getting appropriate eatables on the way is must... Riding on such difficult terrains really needs lot of energy...
Popesco Andre Deplechin - MTB Himachal 2010 winner in Master Category... A Very passionate rider who can be seen talking to each n every rider in the troupe... Do watch his dance steps, keep watching this place... It was camping site on 4th night @ Kullu Sarahan, where we learned Himachal Natti an performed really well !!!
Nepalies, Army riders and few from professional category used to run so fast that others couldn't digest... How these folks can go so fast even in first lap of the stage... But that was the truth... Especially weekenders were lot worried to see this folks who fly...
Can you imagine the speed which is making the whole environment full of dirt... I was travelling in car and if Nepalis and Army rider go 1 minute ahead of us, it was impossible to catch them during the stage... So to click photographs of Nepalies, I had to be ahead of these folks to catch at right place...
Another Photograph from Kathalri where Mr. Boon is restarting Stage-2 with all official formalities...
Stage-2 on first day of MTB Himachal was very difficult and one has to be technically very strong to complete on this stage... One of the rider was not able to control his bike after a steep downhill... After steep downhill, he had to turn right and he couldn't manage to do so... Above photograph shows the place where he had fallen... and we were not able to see him or his bike...
I reached at this point after 20 mintues and by looking at this valley, my first reaction was - 'Where is the rider' ... And BIG thanks to rescue team who recovered him in few minutes after the accident... Another good thing is that all the rider in MTB Himachal needs to wear helmets, which proved as a big life saver for this rider !!!
Here is a photograph of rescue folks getting his bike up... although it was end of biking for him but he assured to come back next year and complete Mountain Terrain Biking in Himlayas !!!
12.9 Kilometers - Kathalri :: Sarog School with a little water pond on right :: Bus Shed on left after few kilometers :: Walnut Tree and a House was final point of Stage -2 on Day-1 MTB Himachal 2011 !!!
Starting of Stage-3, which was sort of very aggressive and riders were quite unhappy with the decision of Stage-3 on Day-1 and even after a very difficult downhill in Stage-2 !!!
Before Stage-3, there was a free ride of 14.3 Kilometers... It was a uphill on Tarmac road and a bit of downhill...
Stage-3 :: 14.1 Kilometers
Gadha Kufar - Camping Ground !!!
After having no lunch during the day, it was time for me to have some snacks and early dinner... As I was done with dinner, I started finding person who was allotting tents ... And as I met him, he had nothing for me :) ... I was not surprised as all ... Good part was that I was not alone.. There were around 10 marshals who had no clue of tents that night... All of us spent some time near bonfire and then Mr. Aneesh arranged one tent where most of us relaxed during the night...
Overall mismanaged things spoiled Day-1 for me and even I was not sure if I would be continuing after day2 or not... But my commitment said NO to that thought !
Anyway, keep watching this place to know about next 7 days of Mountain Terrain Biking Himachal 2011...
More Photographs of the event to come... So keep watching this place and get in touch at VJ@travellingcamera in case of more information about this event !!!
FOR MORE PHOTOGRAPHS OF MTB 2011 :-
Please keep in mind that I was not a rider in this event and can't comment anything about the difficulty level of these stretches... If I have mentioned anything about the same, that's my personal opinion and feel free to correct me...
Please leave your comments about this post and share suggestions for future postings...
To know more about this event, I can be reached at VJ@travellingcamera.com
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