At the time of writing this, I have wrapped up my first ever Super Randonneur series, and have also added a successfully completed 1000 BRM to the list of my rides this year, but if I were to think about the hardest ride I've ever done, the ride that really gave me the confidence to go on and attempt bigger rides, it was the 400 BRM I rode in Västerås, in May, 2016. I arrived on Friday, 6th May 2016, at Västerås, ahead of the 400 brevet on Saturday. Arriving at my hotel, I found Jonas, the organizer already waiting for me, with a translated cue sheet and an extremely helpful list of additional notes about possible lunch stops and easy to miss changes of direction.

My Pika Packworks bike bag is extremely helpful to transport my bike on trains where dismantled and bagged bikes are allowed, not unpacked bikes. I quickly reassembled my bike and took it for a check-ride, riding to the start point for the brevet, to ensure there was no last minute surprises with finding the location. The weather was rather warm when I arrived, but had cooled considerably by the evening, so the small spin was pleasant.

Saturday: 0445 hrs

I reached the start point and picked up my brevet card. I also realized that the rider who was supposed to be slower was only relatively slower! He averaged 28s, he told me, which is well beyond my individual average speed. The four of us,Jonas, a second Jonas, Anders, and I, started. There was some tail-wind at the start and we were soon pushing hard.  It wasn't long before I realized that I was proably pushing too hard to stay with the rest, so I told Jonas that I'd be doing the ride on my own. We'd notched up some 15 km by then, in rather quick time.

A few miles later, I started picking up faint traces of pain in my right ankle. I quickly zeroed in on the cause; my saddle was slightly off to the left. I corrected it and resumed and did not feel any discomfort for the rest of the ride.

As I was closing in on Ludvika, the first control point, I spotted a rider in the distance. It couldn't be Anders, I thought, and slightly upped my pace to close in. Within a few minutes, I caught up with the rider who wasn't Anders after all, but a woman rider.  Brevet rules prohibit drafting riders who are not fellow participants, so I couldn't slot in behind her. When I passed her, I realized that I wasn't strong enough to cleanly leave her behind; she was drafting me quite closely, and when I tired, she passed and offered me the draft. I told her that I couldn't (not sure if she understood) and tried falling back, but realized it was harder that I imagined, as we were pretty much biking at similar speeds. My electrolyte bottle was spent, and I stopped really to get some distance between us, while replenishing my drink. I never saw anymore of her, after I restarted. She probably turned off somewhere, or had turned on her afterburners and had zoomed off.

By the time I reached Ludvika, the first control point, at 113 km, I'd done reasonably well pace-wise, but was having trouble with saddle sores. I'd started the ride with a slighly tender butt, after recovering from a bout of loose motions, and I was a bit worried how the rest of the ride would play out. At ICA (a local supermarket chain), I got my card stamped, bought and ate a large pasta salad and also used the loo to give the butt the benefit of some cold water and gentle drying, and it was a good thing. The pasta meal would be the only store-bought meal on Saturday, with me sustaining on fruits and my self-packed sandwiches.  I also bought bananas to replace the ones I'd consumed, topped up my bottles and filled a bottle's worth of water into my till then empty hydration pack (I had not filled it as I didn't want to carry weight unnecessarily) Upon restarting however, the GPS went bonkers and wouldn't tell me where to go, at the roundabout. No matter which path I chose, it would pop up the 'off course' alarm. After 15-20 minutes of going around in circles, I pulled up the brevet map and used google maps to navigate me in the right direction. The GPS, after some time, found its bearings and all was well again.

I soon got to the first set of big climbs, and I found myself getting sapped by the strong sun, in the absence of the cool wind one gets when riding fast. My butt was also protesting, so I decided to take a power nap by the road-side. Though I was bitterly regretting the decision to stop a half-hour for the stop, in hindsight, it was probably a good idea. During the climbing, I stopped to peel off the foil from my Nutella-peanut butter sandwich which I proceeded to eat as I rode. The peanut butter was very dry and stuck to the roof of the mouth and even throat, inducing a gag reflex, but was able to hold it in. Ate it for the energy rather than the taste, which was really less that what I'd expected. These sandwiches were supposed to be my real meals, so this meant that it could be a problem. I now know that the problem occured as I took big bites; it's best to take tiny bites, and chew completely before swallowing. Bigger bites cause the peanut butter to stick to the sides and roof of the mouth.

The next stop was Fredriksberg at km 171. Drank a nice cup of strong coffee, refilled my spent water bottle, filled up the hydration pack to capacity, and gave my butt some more cold water therapy. The sun was still bright, but not quite as hot, and that was a welcome change, as I rode on to Lesjöfors, the next stop at km 203. It was a short stop; got the card stamped at the grocery store, ate one of my sandwiches and moved on.

The next control point was a gas station and convenience store at Grythyttan, at km 250, but I wasn't warned that it closed at seven. Apparently, it stayed open for longer, earlier, so Jonas had made no mention of it. I was hoping to buy a sandwich or salad for my next meal. When I pulled in at 1930, I was greeted by a signboard that it closed at 1900. Since I would reach the next control point at Frövi (km 316), well after the stores closed, this was very, very bad news. This meant that I had nothing to eat other than my sandwiches which I was now averse to, and the fruits. I really wanted a substantial meal, and this was now not an option. I was beginning to feel quite hungry and made an attempt to eat the PB sandwich, purely for the nutrition. I was feeling quite low on spirits and was questioning myself whether it was prudent to attempt the remaining 150 km on my substandard supplies.

I took my shoes off, flexed my toes for a bit and lay down on the grass, spending the next 20 odd minutes relaxing and turning things over in my mind.

This was the first time I seriously contemplated quitting the ride, though it seemed a terrible waste. The stoppage also meant that I was feeling cold, as the sun had gone down and the temperatures now started to drop quickly, making me feel much worse, even feverish. I called a cab company for a quote; their response? A sum of around 3000 SEK for the ride from Gryththan to Västerås! This made me want to at least ride on till I ran out of water and supplies. As I was about to start, I suddenly remembered something; My friend Marcus had mentioned that a fresh T-shirt and/or a fresh pair of socks can make a huge difference to one's morale on a long ride, and I'd heeded his advice and packed a fresh T-shirt! I quickly changed, and instantly felt much better. Mentally thanking Marcus, I left for Frövi. On the way there, I found a church on the route. Now, one thing that's very valuable to bikers in Sweden, are churches, as they have taps in the garden which provide drinking water! There are a few which use recycled waste water, but those taps have clear warning signs mentioning that it's not fit for consumption. The one I found though had good water, and that meant that another of my major concerns was taken care of. I filled up my bottles and the hydration pack to the fullest, meaning that I could now ride all the way to the finish, without having to worry about water.

I was riding on with enhanced spirits and vigor and making good time, when my Garmin Edge 500 emited a low battery alert. Since I had carried an external battery pack, I stopped by the roadside, near a bus stop, and plugged the battery pack into the Garmin, but to my horror, the device simply switched off and went into charging mode! I tried to switch it back, but to no avail. Removing the charging cable would allow me to start it up, but it was too low on battery to continue, and when I connected the battery pack, it could not function. I did not know about this limitation of the Edge 500 till then. I had used an Edge 200 in the past, and that would happily continue working while it was plugged into a battery, and I'd simply assumed that the 500 would work similarly too. Since I had no GPS, there was simply no way I could estimate distance either, so even using the cue sheets to navigate was not practical. The temperature had dropped to below 5 degrees at this point, and I was now beginning to shiver a lot, as I was now stationary. I called Jonas and told him my predicament, and announced my decision to quit the ride. He was sad, but understood the difficulty I faced, and wished me a safe return home. I called the cab company and told them the bus stop I was at, mentioning that I needed a ride back to Västerås; I was having a hard time making myself understood, as the operator spoke very little English, but I finally got them to understand. They said they were on the way. I now sat down, waiting for them, trying to rub some heat into my cold arms and legs, while I waited. Presently, after some 20 odd minutes, I got a call again, from the cab despatch, asking me my position again. When I told them, they realized that I was not at the city center, as they'd mistakenly believed. They told me that I'd have to get to the city center, if I wished to get a cab ride. I told them that it was pointless, as if I could ride to the city center, I didn't need them at all! I told them to cancel the cab, and I rechecked the status of my GPS. To my great relief, I found that my GPS battery had now charged to over 55%. A quick calculation told me that I could easily make it to the finish, with that much juice in the device. I called Jonas again and told him that my GPS was now functional, and that I'd ride on. Because of all of the unplanned stops, I'd lost a lot of time, but I still had enough to make it to the end, if I didn't lose more time. With renewed determination, I pushed off again, to close out the remaining distance to Frövi.

I reached Frövi, the penultimate stop, when everything had already closed down. I took a selfie opposite a gas station that also had a digital time display. Having done this, I started pedalling hard to complete the last 85 km. I knew that a local bistro stayed open till 0430 hrs, about 30 km to the finish, but it seemed just a bit too much for me to do, low on energy as I already was, by then. There were times when I felt very, very drowsy. I'd been saving up an energy gel with caffeine for just such a need; I drank in the gel and washed it down with some water and felt much better. The sleep was conquered for just a bit longer. In the meanwhile, I could see the faint glow of approaching sunrise, and knew that things would be okay after all. When I reached the city outskirts however, it was 0450 hrs, and the local bistro had also closed down. This was a bitter blow to swallow. I was really, really low on energy and had been hoping and wishing that I'd get something to eat, on which I could go on. The prospect of doing the last 30 km, against stiff headwinds, with a time limit that was fast catching up, now seemed like mission impossible. I was biking around, going around the streets, looking for a place that might have something open for business, when I saw a teenager walking down the road; in his hands was a coffee cup from McDonald's!! I was so happy that I could have yelled out in happiness. I asked him where the McD was; he told me that it was some 4 km away, in the opposite direction, but what's 4 km to a hunger-crazed biker doing a 400 brevet, at 0500 hrs? Off course or on course was the least of my worries! I rode to McD. I have never been as happy in my life to see a McDonald's, as I was, on that cold Sunday morning. I ordered a large burger, with large fries and a large strawberry milkshake. All of the stuff which is terrible for health in general was exactly what my body wanted then! I devoured it all like a man who's not had a decent meal in weeks. With my strength recovered, and the sun having come out, everything seemed great again. What had seemed like a depressing situation just moments earlier, was now totally different. Though there were very stiff headwinds that caused my speed to drop to just over 17 kmph, I knew that it was more than enough for me to make it. Every time I overcame the winds to hit 20s, I celebrated as if I was doing 40 kmph or something.  Before long, I'd ridden out the distance and I was able to see the gas station up the road, just a little further. I was having so many emotions running through my head; this was a ride that had taken so much out of me, and yet, here I was, on the verge of completing it. I had almost quit, not once, but twice, but had managed to overcome the odds and stay on. As I pulled into the gas station, I knew something inside me had changed forever. I was now a rider with a strong sense of pride and self confidence that I could tap into, whenever the going got really tough. I'd ridden the 400 BRM, solo, and completed it in 26 hrs and 10 minutes. I had prevailed. Link to Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/570074906