24hrs-485kms.Drive'n'Ride......!!!!

I reiterate, I hate Hills and the climbing involved (from a bikers perspective). But some force keeps the strings attached. I end up head on with the arch rival.. "The Highlands" !! So you probably are wondering where did he end up this time? The title sure didn't give away the location. 

Ooty...!!!

There's almost always an overhaul of plans with every trip planned. The Saturday's agenda was to ride a new route just before Hoskote. Major Srinivas was the ride buddy this time along and destination changed to (kalatti) Ooty. We decided to start on friday night and drive to Bandipur, park the car and ride to Ooty. I had work on Friday which finsihed by 3 and then got busy with preparations for the trip. The 'preparation aspect' skipped the most important check - the condition of the car. Major reached house just by 9pm and the luggage was all packed and ready to be loaded. Just before installing the bike rack, I turned the key but no crank. Damn.. the battery had died. Not this at the last minute. But then, whats an adventure without something exciting happening and this was just the start. So Major, my brother and I started racking our brains for alternatives. 

Major :: We have an option to jump-start the car using his friend's logan. Worst case scenario was to take the Logan on this trip. Very kind of Vijay who agreed to loan us his vehicle in case we weren't able to start the car.

My brother :: Being a just dial freak, like the google for the techies he has just dial (a local search engine) :-). I hate to say this but it WAS Just dial which helped. Called in a breakdown  service (Damn..500 bucks for starting) and those guys arrived in just over half hour.Managed to jump start it with a spare battery. Once started, left the engine running while we installed the bike rack and then mounted the bikes with the wheels off. Loaded the rest of the luggage and started to Ooty finally at 2am. 

I :: We can either do a night ride with a place yet to be decided. Or make it a two day trip which includes riding all the way to ooty. Return journey was to be flexible. Ride or by bus.  

Ride was a little as usual, smooth all the way to Mysore and then I relied on GPS for a while within mysore  then followed the sign boards to Nanjangud. Nice night drive on the State highway to Ooty. Good road conditions except for the stupid multi-hump speedbreakers..!!!! Some without even a signboard or a marker. Managed to reach the Bandipur checkpost by 5:30 and tried to get a powernap. Vehicles lined up waiting for the clock to strike 6. After that it was quite a rush hour and every body wants to be the first, not us. Once the traffic cleared we started towards the Bandipur lodges. But after 3-4 kms from the checkpost we saw the roads were good, there was a climb, and elephants were seen grazing. Major quickly snipped, lets ride right from checkpost so we turned back and parked the car at a shop near the checkpost and switched to "ride mode". A quick Dose of Tea for Major and we left for Bandipur. A welcome drizzle ever so fine welcomed us as we climded the first 'mini ghat' to reach the Bandipur lodges where there is an office for the tourists willing to go on a Safari. Soon we were riding through Bandipur and it looked like it had rained a last few days. The lush greenery and pure oxygen kept our minds alert as we scanned the surroundings for any wildlife. Soon I ended up losing all air in the rear tyre and that was a bummer. I could clearly see the expression on Major's face " Dude, Tell me this is not happening again". To know why, here's a chance to review the trip report to Yercaud the first week of September 2011.  This time I was carrying a new spare foldable tyre taken from Kiran(The tusker). Thanks to that as it saved the day. Discarded the old Kenda continental ( 2500kms) and put on the new Rubino. This one sure blends well with the bike. After a 25 minute ordeal and a quick warning from the forest guard to watchout for "WILD" animals, we left for Kalatti. At Masinagudi stopped for a quick refill and I had to discard an electrolyte solution that I had bought in bangalore called "Electrobion". You have the right to wonder why...The first sip and my mind goes, did you just put the outlet hose from a washing down your throat? It tasted like soap water. So empited the rest and filled up Gatorade. I took an oath right there, No more electrolytes of new brand. I'm happy with Gatorade, so I'll stick to it no matter what, for any rides in future.  Had chappatis and aloo curry prepared by mother. Then it was a non-stop ride to the summit. The elevation wasn't that bad I thought as soon as the climb started  but about half a km later we started maintaining single digit speeds. A km later I see the marking Hairpin bend 36/36. Lovely a countdown in reverse.. !! I kept watching out for rest of the the boards. A steady pace ensured that we didn't get tired too early. Astonishing gradient, not an easy one compared to Yercaud which is twice the distance of the climb but the same height. The worst slope is about 200 mts and the going gets tough. I was searching for a lower gear not knowing that I already had hit the lowest. Stand up and pound till reaaching the top of this slope then more of the steep gradient followed. About 6-8 hairpin bends to go. Phew..!! I thought about the sipping chilled soft drinks once I reached the summit. Humming songs and weaving about I was excited when I saw the last hairpin bend and took it with quite a bit of pounding on the pedals. Then looked back if Major was closeby and he was a few metres away. You demand more excitement... here it is.. Another cleated fall where I managed to uncleat when my palm was 2cm from ground :-). No injury and I asked Major to continue as I quickly mounted and cleating in such a gradient was a pain. Soon Major was ahead and I had trouble cleating my left foot. After a lot of tries once I heard the blissful click didn't look back or stop till reaching the summit, where the gudalur and the kalatti roads meet. Time taken :: 1:38:40.

Had 7-up .. finished the gatorade and refilled the bottle with last pack of gatorade. I'd forgotten to carry the Relispray as I ended up with sharp pain in the left shoulder.Anyway it was going to be downhill now and it should be tough. I was mistaken and by a HUGE margin. I would anyday consider climbing a hill than a going downhill on a gradient like Kalatti. I was confident of the bike's braking power but not the power left in me to hold on to the levers. Most of the downhill braking was on the hood but switched to the drops as the pain in the shoulder was agonizing. I simply wanted to get to the base as soon as possible but that wasn't going to happen because I almost ended up in a small gully as a TNSTC bus going to Ooty, swerved at a curve leaving just a cm's gap and this guy wasn't considering slowing down in-spite of seeing Major and I from a distance instead he went full throttle. Damn..!! a close call..!! 

At the base in about 25-30 mins we headed to Masinagudi and there was a lot of headwinds dropping our speeds to 17-18 on flat stretches. The road wasn't in a good condition but this wouldn't last long. Hence we continued and stopped for lunch at Malabar hotel. On the back of my mind I was contemplating a sight of a cheetah/Tiger on such a "Wild" ride. Came across a board which mentioned about saving Tiger but with a picture of an Elephant on it.  5kms before the turn towards Masinagudi from Bandipur we saw a Black shiny snake about 5-6ft long. Couldn't identify the species but it crossed the road quickly and disappeared into the bushes.Major spotted the snake just in time to avoid running it over. From there it was an uneventful ride to the checkpost where we switched back to Drive mode and left by 3:30 - 4pm. Took the Kanakpura road and reached Bangalore by 9:00. The route on the return leg from Mysore to Bangalore. Just wanted a change from the monotonous Blr-Mys highway. The nature, lovely vast unending green fields on either side of the road, people from village, masala puri were some of the trip's highlights as we got lost in the inner roads which took us via Bannur then to Malavalli. If we had stuck to the NH 209 then we probably may have had an extra drive for ~50kms as per one of the villagers.

Kanakpura-Bannur detour >> http://g.co/maps/f63pr

 
So a Drive of 485kms coupled with 120kms of cycling with an elevation of 1222mts. With just an hour's sleep in the last 38 hours..!!!

The route which we rode on bikes ::
http://g.co/maps/b8f5d 
More pics here.

Quad-Nandi-10-Sept-2011

I try to figure out the pros and cons of the adrenaline rush and the excitement of hill climbs as i pen this blog. I think i've mentioned in my earlier blogs that I wanna stay away a good 6 months or maybe even a year from Nandi after a personal best timing of 28:30(mins:secs). Little did I know that the bull will get me with such fury...!!! 

As usual the rant, euphemisms of How? what ? when and where? on Facebook, 3 warriors were at Nandi on 10Sept. Another day of personal bests. Opendro clocks 40 mins on foot from the base to the arch. This came as a surprise as many cyclists struggle to make it sub-45. Kiran finished strong in an hour. As I had forgotten my running shoes, I didn't fancy a run with the cleats. First attempt to climb was in a Fiat Linea and parked the car at the summit. A relaxed downhill ride for Opendro and Kiran but I timed my descent and reached at 9:16(mins:secs). Touched 57kph at some stretches..!! Also got to experiment with aerodynamics. Opendro is faster on 23c but I got down on the drops and swooped down to reduce the wind resistance and it certainly made a HUGE difference. I no time i was ahead Opendro on the descent. But the real timing was on the way up. So puris and some bread omlettes later we started of on the first attempt. I had to clock my best and give it the beans to clock the quickest and the result 26:50. Opendro also completed the climb on cycle with 27:59. Kiran relaxed in the support car while I could see the wicked smile on Opendro (One more troops.. as he's the Vice Captain of Cleated Warriors). I was ready for more so off we go and started back again. This time it was a slow and relaxed climb or should i put it a better averaged pace throughout the climb. We made it to the summit in 35mins. Kiran was wide awake and the tender coconut was no where to be seen so we left the Nandi exploration to the monkeys. Oh yeah there was a couple on a bike and a monkey saw them holding a frooti and the girl promply handed the juice over to the guy who then with hand gesture managed to stop the monkey in its tracks. The guy almost finished the juice and as it waited patiently. Never have I seen one so obedient. Anyway time for a third climb. At the base for a snap showing the third attempt. This time again a steady average but the last 2 kms fooled me with every curve and I look up each one expecting the arch only to realize it was just a few more bends away. Saw the tender coconut being transported which was a refresher to the mind. Finished the third attempt in 33:50 and we descended yet again for lunch and the last climb for the day. Downed a fried rice and took a nice relaxed hour. Soon we saw Team shift and they were to start their 5 laps. Samim is going to attempt Nandi sub 20 and in my head ( that was way off limits and not my turf) 24-25 seems a decent target to achieve considering the fitness levels. Moreover a lot of work needs to be done to shave the couple of minutes of time). Once a threshhold is reached it takes a lot of fine tuning and consistency to beat the current personal record. The surprising fact was we started 5:30 AM and were there whole day. Reached home at 7pm.
Some snaps from today's practice. Nandi-4climbs

Green Contribution :: Some gatorade/electral for the ecosystem !!

Kiran, his first attempt to complete the Nandi, running and for me it was just relaxed drive in Opendro's car.

 Confusion as to what numbers are covered ;-). Actually Opendro and I were on the third run while Kiran was on the second run. (excluding the run).

Opendro and I sharing the personal best.

Blr-Yercaud on the most efficient machine !!!

As saying goes, one gets to "See" and feel the world in a different outlook when traveling by bike. This trip certainly was filled some ups and downs like the rolling terrain to Salem. Looked like a busy weekend for the Cleated Warriors so none of them for company. Major Srinivas agreed give me company. My initial plans were to do Yercaud with another group of 3 agreed who had planned to start by thursday evening but went to pondicherry the same morning instead. Major agreed to leave on friday night and the first good news was we could pack the luggage and keep it in the Vivek's car (Vivek is a friend of Major). That was a big relief and we could rely on this car in case something were to go wrong. After all the preparations we synced up at silkboard and handed the bags over to Vivek and set off to Yercaud. Took it nice and easy till E-city phase 2 and then drafted a truck till Bommasandra flyover when the headlights on Major's bike took a fall. With the traffic maintaining good speeds and the headlight right in the middle of the highway we lost all hopes of retrieving it in one piece. But to our astonishment, a containter truck stopped right before the the flashlight and gurading it till Major could retrieve it. The chances of this happening was second to none. One of the most bike friendly truckers. We waved a joyous thank you to the Driver who acknowledged the same. Then we taped the headlight to the handlebar which will ensure double protection. As we crossed Bommasandra, rain gods started played tricks with us. It started to drizzle and we soon stopped and put on the rain jacket thinking there may be some downpour. 2-3 kms later we realize the drizzle was gone and we were soaked in sweat ;-). A small drizzle were happy tears from mother nature, "Welcome to TN cyclists !!". This was the first  ride with the new Ultrafire lights and boy o boy they were a delight. We tried to draft a trailer but he planned to stop after we managed to draft for a couple of kms to refuel. We then continued our journey and stopped for burger at Mc Dee's. Had a sip of coffee and soon we left for Krishnagiri. We covered the initial 68 kms in 2 hours, so a sub 3hr century looked promising. My rotten bit of luck played the spoilsport and at the top of the ghats where there is a downhill for 3 kms I encountered the first flat. Great not a problem, with all the tools required to fix a flat available we soon fixed it and "Click" that's the sound of my shoes cleated onto the pedals :-). Within 20 metres, Tussshhh... tick tick tick... "Click". Uncleated and checked rear tyre again. Damn.. what did I do wrong ? Had another spare tube which I managed to change it in 10 minutes. The tyre levers from icetoolz are hopeless but the rest of the options are awesome. With Major's help we managed to pump it up to 100 and managed to reach the base of the ghats and Tusshh..!!! Yet another one. I felt disappointed at the performance of my bike, but quickly consoled myself 2250 kms without a flat on this Kenda kontender and without tyre liners was quite good. This was bound to happen at some point. We frantically tried to reach Vivek and he was supposed to have started from Bangalore an hour after we started. But he wasn't responding to the calls to his mobile. Since the cars and trucks were reaching speeds of over 80as they exited the ghats, we had to move to a safe location. I walked with the bike for another 250 mts and found a gated farm with lights on. Major thought he could get some rest inside the compound as there was a park bench by the house. The canine truly was on high alert. So Major parked his bike by the gate and lied down outside the compound to relax while I began to fix the flat. Strange part, the suspect "punctured" tube held up well when pumped up off the rim. Installed the new hopelessly short valved Btwin tubes purchased from Decathlon and Major suggested that we should reduce the pressure. So 70-80 PSI was pumped for a 125 rated 26c tyre. I, quite literally was talking to my bike in my head, please don't do this not now not anymore. The sub-3hr century was already messed up and I didn't want to return without doing the Yercaud climb. Hoping the tyres won't give way we managed to get just about 15kms in 25 mins of riding and then tussh.. Luckily we spotted a shop with some nice place for resting and the tubelights on!! There also was a broom to tidy up the place before resting. What a nice gesture by the shop/building owner. Major soon was busy tidying up for a nice rest. He soon dozed off after trying to call for the "support" car. It was 4:35AM and my mechanic role kicked in instantly disassembled the rear wheel and removed the tyre off the rim. This time there was a puncture. The glueless patches worked their magic yet again. After fixing the tube it was time for a deep dive inspection of the rims and the tyre. The tyre showed a gaping hole ~ 2mm. At first I wondered if this was the cause of all the flats encountered !!  Taking my chance against the only spare tube that I had, I cut it open and made a patch about 3x2cm and wedged it between the damaged section of tyre and the tube. Still no word from Vivek and we already started planning our return trip either by a KPN volvo or a KSRTC. Major suggested that we could carry the bikes in passenger compartment in train. I was surprised and asked if it was allowed. If we ended up taking the train then we'd take the wheels off and carry the frame separately. Being a member of the "Cleated Warriors" I remember one of my friends maintaining a low pressure on a high pressure rated tyre. You must be thinking the difference must be in 10 or 20PSI but no. My friend rode 140PSI rated tyres on 60 or 80 PSI :-). I'm happy and suprised to announce that it worked wonders. After applying this DIY mini patch and the setting the pressure at 70 PSI I waited for Major to wake up. Till then I kept gazing at the passing buses and trucks and reminded me of my childhood days. Sitting on a park bench in Erode with my Grandfather and getting excited looking at the colourful buses. ( Back in those days I was bored looking at the all RED bangalore buses). Some of the best combinations were the ones with yellow roof and shiny silver like sheetmetal. Black with white stripes and white coloured rims were equally good :-). 

Soon it was daybreak and I could see the dark blue skies and the familiar sounds of rooster waking up the village by the highway. Major woke up in an hour and started feeling cold. So we set out soon to find a coffee stop just a mile ahead and had biscuits and hot coffee. In 20 mins we left for Dharmapuri. I thought the straight stretches of highway where one can see for about a km was before Dharmapuri but this was clarified once we crossed Dharmapuri. For about 6-7 kms it is a straight monotonous stretch where the visibility is at its best. We started maintaining a steady pace on gentle slopes 20-25kph. However the headwinds picked up and we were reduced to maintain 17kph. So what do we do to cover the distance ?? DRAFT. Yep.. we did draft a container truck for a few kms till gained speed and dropped us. I caught up with another truck but there was a delay in Major going full throttle to catch up. Soon the distance increased and I planned to back off. The decision was either both of us draft, else we'd stay close and ride together. The entry to thoppur ghats was promising and I suggested that we have tender coconuts at the ghats out of experience. I used to do regular trips to Trichy. This was really good and we had two each and started to descend. At the base of the ghat there is a hotel beside the petrol bunk BP where we stopped for to recharge. After a nice round of idlis and tea we started for Salem which was~40kms away. There is a gentle uphill after which we managed to catch a container truck registered RJ and we drafted all the way to Salem. 35kms of drafting at avg pace of 48kmph. Max speed touched was about 60kmph. Most of the times the truck was at a pace which we could maintian the draft.As soon as we entered Salem city all bikers and cars that whizzed past had their eyes on us wondering why are they doing what they are doing !!!


Soon we reached the Yercaud turnoff and about a 2-3 kms later guess who shows up? Vivek whom we had tried to reach throughout the night. After a quick chat we stopped at a known hotel for a lime juice and then it was 7 kms to base of Yercaud. Vivek, parked the car at the base and assembled his bike. We started the climb. Major had done this earlier so was aware of this route. He warned that there is only elevation ALL the time. I managed to divide the distance in such an manner that I compare it with the office commute(30 kms one way). The same tragic logic I applied for the 23kms of the climb. with 20 hairpin bends. Be not fooled gentlemen. There are more than that which are unmarked. Every corner would feel like a hairpin because of the elevation profile. Inspired by the lance armstrong's video of 2003 (Lance Armstrong Climbs Luz Ardiden 2003) he constantly is on the hood and off the saddle. That was more adrenaline I could muster to stay off the saddle. After every 50 mts of being off the saddle I would drop to the biggest chainring and ride at 8-9kmph. I aimed at a non-stop ride and the only time I stopped (3 secs) was when I fell but held on to the side cemented wall. I pedaled a little too much but wanted to fallback and maintain left side of the road and Major who was leading but the rear wheel of major was overlapping half of my front wheel so if i turn the handlebar I was sure Major also would bear the brunt of my action. So instead I turned slightly right while the bike was leaning left that imbalance prompted my fall (a controlled fall). No injuries but this was inevitable a cleated fall sooner or later. There was a bus full of schoolkids who were ahead (directly above me) on the parallel road, and a few kids screamed but later they'd stopped and we waved hi-byes and continued our quest of conquering the climber's haven. I've officially completed the formalities of being a cleated roadie scum. The 20 hairpin bends don't sound bad. But the continous elevation gain is certainly going to drive one nuts and the mind will eventually give way and force you to take a break. The last 4kms were the worst pounding which my body took. The heights of exhaustion were such that Major literally started grabbing plants and eating them !!! Initially i thought it was probably some medicine but later realized he ATE them !! There also was a group in an ikon who had stopped to enjoy the view and major did check if they had some for a quick bite and they were glad to give us some chips. We nibbled on them gingerly for 1 km and soon our water supplies were out and now with only 3 kms to yercaud the going got tougher. At the 2 km I almost gave up when Major also slowed down to 7-8kph and i tailed him real close and soon we saw the 20/20 hairpin bend. After this one gets to see the GRT trails resort and then it is straigh thru to the town/city/station. The yercaud lake looked beautiful. What was even more better was the last 5 kms there is a drastic weather change. The mist welcomed us and cooled our bodies. Gluteus Maximus was begging for mercy towards the last few kms!!  The only thought once at the top was to head to some hotel as we'd turned to gluttons !! Soon found out from a local that there was Saravana Bhavan nearby and we headed right to that place for lunch.Started with a curd rice and that wasn't enough Soon another curd rice and lemon rice followed. We sat outside and after this long relaxed wait Vivek soon joined us after half hour. This climb certainly is no childs play. Nandi is a cupcake now after conquering this climb. One has to have a disciplined approach to do the climb. Standing and pounding a lot only makes matters worse. Major and I initially did that mistake. We then pounded only at the hairpin bends and then switching to lower gear to maintain momentum. Since I wanted to attempt the climb non-stop I didn't use the camera. Moreover, considering my experience to photography (using mobile) on the move I couldn't even attempt to get the camera out due to the sheer amounts of concentration that is required. A watchful eye is required to understand if there is any vehicle approaching downhill and especially the moronic Motor-bikers who rip the roads. I know it is fun biking uphill/downhill but not the cost of other innocent lives..!! The downthill was constantly on the hood and the brakes. There are two nice spots for photography one is a tree/bamboo covered road and this 50-60 mts stretch is truly a wonderful place to relax and take snaps. There are a lot of monkeys around so be cautious. Maybe Major and I suffered the climbs because we rode all the way from Bangalore and that being a 10hrs on the saddle. Hope I get to take on this famed Nemesis again in a better shape the next time. I thank Vivek in being our support car and helping us get back home in comfort after such an ordeal. What next ??


As I pen down my travelogue by this blog I am looking at the pic below and thinking of ways to repair the same.

1. Carry something to munch on like nuts dates etc. 
2. Have enough water/gatorade/enerzal.
3. The tyres should be pumped up to the recommended pressure.
4.Exercise extreme caution while being overtaken or while overtaking (unlikely).


Stats :: Total odo read 248.5kms (ride from blr to yercaud climb and back downhill.
Fuel :: 4lts of water - 4 enerzal packs, 1Mcdees burger, 4 Tender coconuts, 3plate idlis, 2 Curd rice +1 lemon rice yumm.
Kalhatti calling.. :-) Enough words and let some of the meagre pics that I managed to capture tell the rest of story.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108786458769812949648/September32011Yercaud