Tour de Bengal Day 2

10/31/2025 • English • 6 min read

2:30 a.m. — Alarm Again, Low Sleep

Alarm went off at 2:30 a.m. again. Another night of low sleep — fatigue from Day 1 was already showing up. I saw my teammates still sleeping hard, so I set another alarm for 2:45 a.m. and called each one. We freshened up and geared for the Day 2 ride.

Bishnupur is the land of many temples; its special attraction is Rash Mancha. I missed it because we arrived late and fatigue didn’t help. The Day 2 starting point was near it — Bishnupur High School. The local race organizer, Debashish, ran the start — without him, the start wouldn’t have been proper. Kudos to him for making a better start place.

Before leaving Bishnupur I filled water from a hand pump — damn, it was chilling to handle. With Debashish’s help I snuck a look at Rash Mancha through a closed gate and a broken wall. Snap was mandatory.

Cleats on. Bike check had been done prior. We were good to go.

5:10 a.m. — The Start

The race started at 5:10 a.m. as usual — mass start flagged off. Within a few minutes I again became the last rider. That was intentional — I was doing warm-up. Zone 2, about 21 km/h, and 84 rpm cadence even after the hard effort yesterday — a clear sign my body was healing physically (maybe not mentally). Felt good; I started riding like during training.

The Bridge Decision

Before the Jio pump at ~40 km from the start, there was a huge bridge and I was confused whether to take it. I called Judhajit and he told me to take the bridge. By that time many locals had gathered and asked what was going on; I explained and started up. Goddamn, that bridge was one of the cleanest and most beautiful I’ve ever ridden. The climb felt great — I guessed roughly a 6% gradient (based on indoor climb sessions). Beautiful experience rolling into Medinipur.

Cobblestone Chaos & Gear Failures

Roads were great until I hit Italian marble roads — cobblestone. Power sucker. Vibrations woke up dormant pains — and yep, cervical spine pain came back. Then my wireless headset started beeping low battery — rhythm breaker. Next, I tried to put my bottle back and realized the bottle cage was broken — one side snapped. Muscle memory for keeping it in place failed me. Barath and Shirshayan were ahead.

I reshuffled pockets: gels and bars in one pocket, phone in the middle, bottle in the last pocket — who knew that would create a disaster. Even a small imbalance of weight caused handling issues. Then the wheel started wobbling again.

Wobble Fix — Souvik da & Petrol Pump Repair

Luckily I still had the spoke wrench from Souvik da (I never returned it that day). Pulled over at a petrol pump after a continuous climb (about 3–4% gradient for a few km) and did a quick fix — 20 minutes. As usual, people gathered asking the same questions; I answered them and joked that I’m basically advertising cycling by now.

I left Navaz da, Anshu, and Madhurima di behind for a bit. At one point Navas da and his MTB teammate crossed me — that moment I made another Realisation video, high on josh. A few km later, Anshu and Madhurima di crossed me and asked me to join; I couldn’t catch their speed.

Cold-Bottle Trick — Cervical Relief

I improvised: filled a bottle with chilled water at a fuel pump and tucked it at the back of my neck, chilling my cervical spine. Instant relief. Pockets were lighter and balance got better. Small win.

Final 6 km — Last Gel, Music, and Finish

Took my last gel before the final 6 km. Adrenaline kicked in. Couldn’t push beyond 24 km/h, but cadence held at 80 rpm. I prayed my Bluetooth headset would hold its charge and keep the rhythm for the last stretch — and thankfully it did.

Apple Music shuffle: blessed the moment with (in order I remember):

Numb
New Divide
Heavy Is The Crown
Jump (BLACKPINK)
Takedown
Up From The Bottom

Usually shuffle is garbage, but that run was the perfect soundtrack — numb, new divide, heavy is the crown, jump, takedown, up from the bottom. Pure goosebumps.

I finished at about 10:35 a.m. (time might be close). Barath was already having refreshments. Arnab da and others who finished earlier mocked me a bit — I told them the whole saga. Sunny da came to the rescue again: he had a replacement bottle cage for sale.

Accommodation — Ananya Reception Disaster

Disappointment struck again. The Ananya Reception room we received was a 12-bed dorm with just 2 bathrooms — chaos waiting to happen. We turned on the AC and fans to cool down. I still hadn’t received my backpack — it was in the organizer’s car and they said they’d bring it once more riders arrived.

When the bag arrived, straight to hot bath treatment. (Hot vs cold debate: I choose hot — expands muscles; a mild Volini spray afterwards melts the pain. Cold has advantages too, but that’s another day’s chat.)

Shirshayan and Barath scrolled Instagram or Facebook while I headed out for lunch.

Lunch, Toto Walk & Nap

Ran into Arnab da, Priyanshu, and Mithun da and went to Kanak Durga Restaurant for the traditional chicken thali — same as last season. Carb loading, done right.

Mithun da was desperate for a toto for a 6-minute walk — classic. We walked and returned to Ananya Reception. For the first time, I had a lunch nap (brief but needed). The room buzzed with cyclist chatter soon after.

Evening — Sunny da Repairs & Bottle Mounts

Met Sunny da in the evening; he was repairing cycles. I asked about my wheel; he said it was okay for next day but to avoid speed breakers and potholes to prevent re-bending the wheel. He had bottle mounts too — another lifesaver. Bought it on the spot. Now all set for Stage 3.

Dinner Drama & Midnight Shopping

We had dinner at 7:30 p.m. at the same spot. A small thing — a rider’s rear light got turned off while stage 2 — exploded into a huge argument among them, which even spilled into the official WhatsApp group. I referenced the race website multiple times about the mentioned time but drama happened anyway. I had to stop myself for the lovely usual dinner.

We ate classics: butter naan and kadhai chicken. After dinner, we went shopping: needed bread, butter, and sweets. We already had chapa kola (banana) from Bishnupur. Finding butter in small quantity turned into a 2 km night walk — finally got it. Returned and dozed off by 10:30 p.m.

Final Thought — Fingers Crossed

All records of TdB will be shared later in another blog. A new day, the last challenge left. Everything’s prepped, body hopeful, mind pacing. Fingers crossed.