BBCh 11, 2010 at RRI

BBCh stands for Bangalore Bicycle Championships. The 11th race of the year happened at the Raman Research Institute. No two circuits are alike. Some are pure concrete circuits, some are totally mud circuits, some are a mix. I was there to witness what a semi-professional cycling race looked like. As soon as I reached the venue, I took a lap around the circuit. The first thing I noticed about it was how narrow it was. Overtaking was going to be VERY difficult. There were a few other interesting parts of the circuit like a) a very very narrow part where people would almost be forced to ride in a single file b) a small mud stretch etc. It is a 1 hour long race and whoever does the most laps wins. The last few laps are supposedly very interesting. The way they keep track of track positions is also interesting. I expected people to start off slowly and slowly increase their pace towards the end like how they do it in a long distance running race. But what do I see? They are at their limits starting from the first lap! and they're comfortably doing an average of around 30 kmph on a very tight circuit! These guys are really good! After the first few laps about 4-5 emerged as the real contenders to win when an accident forced the organizers to abandon the race. The guy who fell had a bad injury on the face and he was taken to a nearby hospital (there was an ambulance ready too! nice). There were a few foreigners too. Last year's BBCh winner was a foreigner. Interestingly, there were many more girls than I expected - mostly spectators but a few raced too. There was a really pretty one (I assumed her to be European but it's impossible to tell. One of those foreigners' daughters I'm guessing. Please be there when I win!) among the spectators I totally fell for. As Keshav said, I really need to grow a pair. And finally, there was a kiddies' race (thats what they called it) which I thought was very cute.

Awesome experience overall!  I soooo wish I had taken a camera with me. RRI was so beautiful. The whole atmosphere was so cheerful. I'm definitely going to be there for the future races. Probably race too.

PS: Will post some pics as soon as they get posted.
Edit: Pics from the race. More. From the Kiddies' race.