Anand Krishnan BunBurner And Saddle Sore Challenge Feature Image

Anand Krishnan Shares His BunBurner And Saddle Sore Experience On Royal Enfield Himalayan

Our official inbox is constantly bombarded with travelogues as bikers share their experience behind the handlebar. One such story is of Anand Krishnan who successfully completed IBA BunBurner and Saddle Sore challenges. Anand Krishnan had shared his experience of the physically demanding task earlier this year although due to the excessive number of features, news and reviews at Motoroids, it was left in archives. But better late than never.

Here’s what he has to say about the challenge in his own words:

Being a part of a club, I came to know about the IRON BUTT ASSOCIATION, a body that conducts and certifies endurance rides. Saddle Sore (1,600km in 24 HRS) and Bun Burner (2,400km in 36 HRS) are most common in India.

In the greed to challenge myself and achieve the impossible, I decided to attempt the Bun Burner challenge. For this I chose the Kolhapur-Kanyakumari-Kolhapur route, which makes a total distance of over 2400 kms. As per the guidelines, I had only 36 hours to complete the ride.

On the final day, I started the ride from Kolhapur on my Royal Enfield Himalayan. A petrol stop of every 300 KM was mandatory. Apart from that, you can take small breaks to relax yourself.

Taking regular petrol breaks, I manged to enter outskirts of Bangalore at around 7.00 AM. By now I had covered 600 km from Kolhapur to Bangalore. The weather was cold which made it tough to ride. In an urge to avoid the infamous Bangalore traffic, I wanted to get on to the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) road as early as possible. But fate had other decision to make and I was badly stuck in traffic near NICE road.

On the way to Hosur, I tried to cover all the losses done in the city area and finally entered the road to Kanyakumari. From this point, Kanyakumari was 525 km and time was ticking fast. Without wasting much time and keeping Salem as the first short target at 169 km I started the ride. The roads where smooth with all proper markings in place. The only issue that I faced was the uncontrolled traffic.

After crossing Salem on time, the worst nightmare was waiting for me at outskirts for Salem and entrance of Madurai. The jallikattu strike slowed down my entire speed and I had to request people to let me continue the ride. About 184 kms short of Madurai and wasting almost 1 hour of precious time it was time to pull up the socks and cover the loss.

After crossing Madurai and with loads of agitation stops, the journey from Madurai to Kanyakumari started. The exit to Madurai had the worst roads. The sun had reached its peak and I was getting dehydrated because of high temperatures.

The final leg of one way journey to Kanyakumari had started and as per plan I had to begin my ride to Kolhapur to compete the Bun Burner Challenge. Keeping in mind, the road conditions and my riding speed I expected to reach Kanyakumari by 4.30 PM.

After clicking a few pictures at the farthermost southern point of India I decided to move and my first target was to complete Saddle Sore. The time left to achieve this target was 7 hours. The return ride had started and with 400 km to complete the task. Low light and heavy traffic made the return journey tough. At around 8.50 PM, I had crossed the 1,600 km mark and was very happy to successfully complete the first leg of the race.

The last leg and the toughest of them all was waiting for me. I had 800 km to cover in the next 15 hrs. As fatigue level was taking toll, I decided to take half hour break at petrol pump. But seeing the weather conditions I was forced to complete the ride. With heavy rains and chill winds, it was merely impossible to ride. By now fatigue levels had gone sky high and more breaks where required to keep myself awake and moving. The ride between Salem to Bangalore was the toughest to cover and took loads of time.

After exiting Tumkur, I was left with almost 400 km to cover in 4.5 hours so as to achieve Bun Burner. Thanks to the smooth road I manged to hit good speeds and covered as large margin to distance and finally gained the confidence that I will be able to achieve Bun Burner.

Finally, after the last stop at Reliance petrol pump I was left with 230 km to complete Bun Burner Challenge. With time running fast, I had keep myself calm and focussed so as to achieve the target. At last, the moment arrived at 11:40 PM where I finished 2,411 km in less than 36 hour. I took a digital proof of the time and jumped high with a sigh of relief. I took a moment to thank all who had played a key role in completion of the ride and a big thanks to the Royal Enfield Himalayan for being as stable as rock and not having any repair during this massive endurance ride.

Details of the ride:

  • The Motorcycle: Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 cc
  • Riding Gear: LS2 Jacket, RE Riding pants. Probiker Glover, SOL Helmet, Lee cooper Knee length shoes.
  • Tank Bag: Dirt sack
  • Eatables: Dry fruits, Red bull, Energy bars, Fruit Juice, snickers, chewing gum
  • Tools: Tool kit, Spare: Clutch, Accelerator, Break Cable, spark plug, Headlight bulb, Engine oil, Chain Spray, 3-meter wire, fog lamps,tube
  • Miscellaneous stuff: Tissue Wet and dry both, Hydration bag, towel, t-shirt, powder, Bungee Chord

Plan to take up the challenge? Here are some tips shared by Anand:

  • Prepare your bike well before the ride. Do ride your bike so as to know minor tweaks before the final day.
  • Know your bike well including general repair and starting your bike on direct.
  • Get good 8 to 10 hours sleep before the ride as in the next 36 hours’ fatigue levels might go worse.
  • Hydrate yourself regularly as this helps in reducing cramps
  • Try to keep yourself focus during the ride as these are national highways with vehicles cruising at high speeds.
  • Don’t even think of attempting the ride without complete safety gear (Head to Toe)
  • Don’t have more than 2 red bulls in 24 hrs as it might do damage to your body
  • Be well acquainted with the route before starting the ride. Use google maps and google earth.
  • Consult people who has already done the ride and get guidance.
  • Don’t publicize or spread the news all over before start of ride. This might lead to distraction.
  • Maintain complete track of the digital receipts and photos as end of the day these are ones which will help prove your authenticity.
  • When in sleep stop. Don’t over stretch as it may result in fatal consequences.

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