The MAMILs sally forth!

 AKA:  The Gold Standard of Cycling Holidays

 After suffering through a few months of... err, insufferable heat in Chennai, we were ready for a short cycling break as soon as allowed.    With the onset of clouds, a bunch of us decided to do a short riding break in Thiruvanamalai this past weekend (July 10/11):   myself, SYKO, Abhishek, AK, Saru, Siva, Milam and Ram. 

We all got in at various times on Friday evening - some of us at a reasonable time, some of who drive like maniacs (Cou*Anand*gh) way too early and others who drive very slowly a little later.   But everyone showed up, all the bikes were good to go and so, at stupid o'clock the next morning, off we went. 

SATURDAY

The day's ride was on Jawadhu Hills - possibly my single most favorite route here in the South.     I had picked a nice, smooth climb (12km @ 5%) to start with, but the savages decided to go with a 10km/7% climb to kick things off.  

Here we go!

Saru and Milam disappeared as soon as the road turned up, SYKO left soon after and soon, my fat ass was climbing the way I always go:  off the back, solo and slow.    Which is fine.  While the climb was certainly punchy, it was absolutely magnificent - a cool, overcast day, temperature in the low 20s and bird calls piquing my curiosity all along the way.

 The top of the initial climb - except the jackass who made the Strava segment didnt have it end at the arch but some point further down

This got us to the top of the hills, after which the road turned into a rolling path meandering through forests, tribal villages and small farmlands.       Being a no-development zone, there are no tourist amenities here:  no hotels, no restaurants, no "Scenic Viewpoints" (well, the entire road is a scenic viewpoint)... just serene nature.

P

Pretty!

And did I mention amazing weather?    For the first time in recent memory, I actually felt cool while riding!      A further easy hour of riding got us to the same roadside shop where we had stopped last year:   a somewhat dodgy place which served food and also doubled as an illegal bar.

 

The entire Day 1 riding plan was built around getting to this spot to eat.   That shack in the back is the restaurant/bar

Well fortified with food, the ride back was mostly a leisurely affair.    Mostly, I say - because my workout plan for that day was supposed to involve some AC/VO2 efforts, I decided to attack every climb... and in my enthusiasm, I made the mistake of attacking Saru,which pretty much ended the way you would expect it to end.

For those who dont know him - Saru set the KOM on the first climb despite not even targeting it.   And I weigh.... well, a lot more than him.      Saru is mostly Bruce Banner but attack him on a climb, and he Hulks up.    He disappeared in the distance and I didnt see him anymore for the rest of the ride. 

Saru - on a climb, this is the only perspective you will get of him if you ride with him.

To add a little bit of thrill at the end, AK played a game of chicken with a truck which ended.... well, let's call it a draw, once you factor in the size differential.    All good, no injuries and the bike was ok, except for a bent rotor.

Ride summary:   85km ride with around 1400m of climbing - all in as perfect as riding weather gets:  cloudy, cool and with a hint of drizzle in the air.  

Recovery was beer, brownies and halwa, and far too soon after, dinner was biryani, parathas, chicken 65 and, weirdly gobi manchurian (yes, you know who you are, and you are being judged for it) at Nalla's.    

SUNDAY    

Today was Kalrayan - a longer drive from Thiruvanamalai to the base.     All of us were in various stages of fatigue:  my own legs were shot from all the multiple efforts on the rollers the previous day, and we all decided to make today an easy, social day with an emphasis on photography.

 

Milam and the group - easy start to Day 2

 

 Today's climb was a lot more benign - 9km at an easy 5% or so. followed by rolling terrain on top of the Kalrayan hills.      I rode a steady low Z2 (translation:  got dropped again) and caught up with others a little further.

 

Some fat-ass barely making it up the hill

 

Since we were riding mostly fasted or after a very light breakfast, the plan was to find some food at one of the villages along the way.    That turned out to be a very satisfying meal of dosas and egg dosas.    The total for 8 hungry cyclists and 1 support car driver = Rs 400.    And the guy running the stall refused to take a tip - exact amount only.      That is something you only experience in areas not touched by tourism and was very refreshing to encounter.

 

This is why we ride

The rest of the ride was very easy, with Milam taking advantage of the soft light to take awesome "profile-photo" worthy images of all the cyclists.

 

Milam on a downhill

 

SYKO smashing up the climb

Milam finding a great composition mid-ride

On the way down, I managed to get yet another flat on my POS Schwalbe tires and got sealant bukkake all over my legs for my sins.     

 

Ride summary:   50km, 700m of climbing and not a single reference to wattage or HR (how weird is that?).

 

And thus, all too soon, the trip was over and after lunch, we headed back to reality.     Not before stopping at Nalla's yet again for more food (much to Suyin's regret, who was dying to eat at The Dreaming Tree, which provides healthy vegetarian food and also gelatos... next time, I guess!).  Way too much food.   Enough that both SYKO and I skipped dinner that night.   

The usual suspects, minus Milam, who is taking the photo

Most of the photography (especially the nice, artsy photos) are by Milam.   The rest by Abhishek and me.

And thanks to Sparsa Resorts in Thiruvanamalai for being superb at handling the needs of cyclists - from bike parking to early morning breakfasts.    They make a fantastic base for exploring the area!

Specialized and its horrendous after-sales customer service

 Actually, let me start out by saying I may be wrong when I say Specialized has "horrendous" after-sales customer service.

That would imply some level of service.   Whereas Specialized has not deigned to provide any so far.

Let me take a step back.   February 2021, Tour of Goa.   I hit an unexpected pothole on the second stage at 48kph, crashed and went off the road into a ditch.   I was surprisingly ok, my poor Venge was smashed.

I broke the top tube.   I broke the handlebars.   I broke my Dura Ace 9170 shifters.    

Yeah, it sucked.

Ok, Specialized has a crash replacement program, no worries, I will try that.  

Then the first problem occurred:   I had bought the bike from in Kuala Lumpur (because India doesnt have a Specialized dealer) but we spend a lot of time there, so that is/was pretty much a local shop for me.   Except that this store was no longer a Specialized dealer but had switched to Trek.      They put me in touch with someone else, who was, and weeks went by without an any movement.

I realize that there is a shortage of bikes and parts.     All I wanted to know was (a) what my replacement frameset would be (I was concerned that with the Venge being discontinued, it would no longer be available), (b) what color it would be and (c) what it would cost me.    Given that, I would place an order and then get the new frameset whenever I got it - I was not in a big rush for that.   But I did want a resolution and to get the process moving.

However, despite several messages, I got no info.  

Finally, fed up, I emailed Specialized in March.     After 3 weeks, I got a reply saying their Malaysian distributor would get in touch with me.     That's it.   Still no info.     

I also wanted to see if i could document the crashed frame by photo/video, so I would not have to keep the frameset lying around after that (it is taking up space).      But apparently, I need to bring it over for them to document it - which, under normal circumstances would not be an issue.   But while Covid means that Specialized can get away with taking weeks to reply to my email, apparently they will not do me the courtesy of finding an expedited solution to confirm my crashed frame.     

So as of now, it has now been 2.5 months and Specialized has not been able to even let me know what frameset they will provide and what it will cost.    I cannot make a decision on a replacement frame until I hear back from them, so I am stuck in a limbo.    In fact, in 2.5 months, Specialized has not even officially registered my crash replacement request, so my process of getting a new frame has not moved forward an inch.   And all this while, I have a broken frameset taking up a lot of space.

Let me recap the build:  Venge.  Dura Ace Di2.   Roval CLX64s.   Quarq carbon powermeter.    S-Works Power Arc saddle.  Everything top-of-the-line.     This was my dream build.    And we also have 2 Di2 Shivs in my household - one is mine, one is my wife's.    And this is how Specialized responds, by dragging its heels.

Let's be clear - they are not going to be giving me a replacement frameset for free.    I will be paying more or less wholesale rates for it.      This is also a part of their vaunted "Rider Care" package.    But apparently, they have zero interest in even communicating with their customers over this matter.

By comparison, when I bought my Factor, one part was mixed up in the box of spares.  Factor immediately couriered me the replacement part the next day, ensuring I got it before a riding camp.  We were planning to get an S-Works SL7 for my wife.   But given this atrocious lack of service, I would recommend to everyone that they get a Factor Ostro or ONE instead.    Better service all around.