Mangaluru: A few members of Mangalore Bicycle Club (MBC) accomplished a memorable ride last weekend when they completed a 170-km ride between Mangaluru and Kundapur.

As many as 12, six experienced riders and six amateur riders, joined the MBC’s elite 200-km all-night ride if which they were supposed to ride till Trasi, off Kundapur, and return to Mangaluru the next morning. However, heavy rain and a waterlogged road that was under construction between Kundapur and Trasi forced them to return from Kundapur itself, said club secretary Ganesh Nayak in a release.

MBC has been organising long rides, 100 km and 200 km, to encourage its members to try terrains of endurance cycling, which has been part of the club’s rewards programme for two years.

A support vehicle with a bicycle rack for emergency and breakdown, first aid kit, snacks, fruits, water and crew formed the support group comprising Preetham Sharma and S.M. Madhukar. Minute details, including assembly time, starting time, mapping of stopover points every 20 km for hydration and refuelling of riders, route map, and responsibilities of support vehicle, were all jotted down.

The group left Lady Hill Circle at 9 p.m. on Saturday. The ride was hassle-free until the group covered 85 km, after which they were forced to take shelter during thunder-showers at Kundapur. The support crew informed them that the under-construction road from Kundapur to Trasi was waterlogged.

After taking a break of about 90 minutes, they took U-Turn towards Mangaluru. The stretch experienced power failure and it was pitch black all over. Even with a 16-year old lad and two women in the group, no one felt uncomfortable or displayed any signs of fear, Mr. Nayak said.

After having breakfast at Mithra Samaja on Car Street, Udupi, the riders reached Mangaluru in the morning. The youngest rider was Shawn Mendoza. The other riders were Madhura Jain, Sunita Mendes, Akash Agnihotri, Gururaj Patil, Suraj Sharma, Wilfred, Srikanthraja, B. Hariprasad, Sunil Mendes, Ganesh Nayak, and Chinmaya Delampady.