rantlust

Posted by riyer on July 22nd 2007 in Health & Fitness, Outdoors, Roads, Sports, Trivia
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When I was studying for my BSc, undergrad to you ‘mericuns, my friends (a very colorful bunch - I must add) and I, had some hilarious - albeit crass, expressions. These were expressions you would dub as “poly” (i.e foul) in kannada and they indeed were, but I am convinced that we made some of these up on the fly. One that I had reason to remember yesterday is “niN tHeega karGathe” ( i.e. arse will dissolve or reduce). Another Hindi expression also came to mind yesterday- “gaanD phategi” less chemical than the Kannada expression and a tad more pathological, it simply means “arse will rip”.

Why was I remembering these yesterday? Actually I can Google map the exact spot at which I remembered these expressions..but I am getting ahead of my story. Over the last 10 years, every year, I have set myself a physically challenging goal to accomplish. There were a couple of trips up Mt. Whitney, a few up Half Dome, and a few backpacking trips etc. Most of these goals I successfully accomplished but there have been a few failures, the most notable one being Mt. Dana. A few frequently tell the story of my stupidity that cost me the mountain, but I attribute it to chivalry (yes, it is not dead, long live and all that rot). Turns out I gave my gloves to someone and as I continued my way up the summit, the wind-chill was so brutal it was dangerous to continue which forced me to turn around.

This year has been like none other. I started off in May by doing a 3 day backpacking trip along the Lost coast (will do it again, anytime). Ran a 10K and next week is the opportunity to go back to Mt Dana - (I have given adequate caution to my hiking partner about warm clothing and gloves). I have been telling my buddies that given my fitness this year I will whistle my way to the top of this 13,500 feet mountain. We start hiking at Tioga pass (which is at 9000+ ft). It looks simple but the wind-chill and the elements make it one of the toughest mountains I have hiked.

Meanwhile another mountain has caught my attention. This mountain is only a few miles from where I live and I have hiked it many times, but I have never gone up the mountain on a bicycle on roads that cars mostly use. Most of you will know it as Page Mill Road. On Saturday I took my first crack at this mountain on my bicycle. This ride climbs 2000+ feet over 8 miles and there are some sections that break your spirit if you don’t keep your sense of humor. Which brings me to the “tHeega karGathe” expression. With sweat poring down in buckets and despite Peter Gabriel (Album : Passion) in my ears, I still needed something to keep my spirit up while stamping on those pedals. I was well past the 1/2 way mark but some of those gradients were just brutal. A technique I have adopted when I am pushed to my physical limits is to think of something funny (typically it is one of those silly jokes my daughter tells me) - but today those lovely Kannada and Hindi expressions came to mind. Anyway my destination was the summit (where Skyline meets Page Mill Road) and these expressions brought a chuckle and let me overcome some of the toughest gradients. To complete the story - about 2 miles short of my destination I discovered that my rear wheel was bent and the brakes kept rubbing the rim. I aborted the summit attempt and turned around. Coming down the mountain is when the expression “shitting bricks” came to mind. Most people bomb down the mountain in full speed, but at speeds of ~40 mph I was not at all confident of my control and it scared the daylights out of me -I found myself riding the brakes most of the way downhill.

Anyway, these mountains have not seen the last of me yet. I am looking forward to my date with Mt. Dana next Saturday. After that I will get my bike fixed and go up that mountain in a few weeks…and then there is that backpacking trip down the Grand Canyon on Thanksgiving weekend with 9 other friends. Looks like this will turn out to be a banner year for physical challenges and hopefully - accomplishments. Yeee Haaa!