There has been always a group to deny your capabilities and family turns out to be a part of the clan - constructive criticism. After a long hustle at home for a certificate of approval I finally clicked on "Register" for the gruelling Brevet 600K run on April 15th. After contemplating which bag to carry and what things to pack I was almost packed by night of 14th. Though I could've gotten a good 7 hours sleep, I managed to fall into slumber only by about 1AM. at 4 AM the alarm goes off and I wake up all excited. My first long ride on my road bike bought 2 weeks ago. With earphones plugged in and Maroon 5 - She will be loved playing I started my 600km journey that would put my body mind and soul to the ultimate test. The first one to reach CCD at MG road and I just waited for the rest of the Breveters to arrive. Next was Sreekandh from the organizing group met him and got the thought of being rejected for the ride. With a heavy heart i waited. This is encouraged only for the members who have completed the other qualifiers liek 100'200/300 and 400. I probably was the first one in the group to attempt the straight away.at about 5:30 the other members attempting the brevet filled out the Brevet card and were almost ready, I went up to Rohan Kini to confirm my position in the ride and finally got the green signal. I also understood that there are many who try but fail to complete due to mechanical issues or physical fitness. The only long ride i've been is the blr-mys. After filling up the the Brevet card there was a "feasibility" check to verify that I had headlights + taillights safety vest. Since this is a self supported ride all the accessories had to be carried by the rider. After a pre-ride briefing, I set off with the second batch of guys about 6-8. headed towards domlur and then a right to the inner ring road. Just before sukh sagar I got my first shock, Saw a rider whose Trek road bike had a flat tyre. This gave me jitters but I was all the more excited after pedaling for a few more kms as it is a part of being a randonneur. I had only known "Break fix" in theory i guess it was time to gets a hands on experience.
Following is what the route planned with the Check points which were to be reached within a particular time frame.
I did have company till electronic city then it was pedal to the metal and I headed straight to the first checkpoint. Almost all the riders did stop before Krishnagiri at some point for breakfast but I skipped and reached the 145th km for breakfast at Mufasaa's just after Vaniyambadi toll booth. Reached by about 10AM and relaxed for a while and collected the bill for proof of time @ first time station. Next stop it was the uturn point at 302.5th km at Suguvarchatram. But this time I got two friends for company, Opendro and Harisha. As we maintained a good pace of 25kmph, the chatting and long conversations kept mind off the tarmac and the dreaded slopes in the hot sun. Soon we reached Vellore and it started drizzling, It was a surprise drizzle. As the sun set for the day, the ride just got better. Switched on the taillamps and headlights (headlights were hardly of any use). Opendro had the best headlight Sunfire 900lumen with 18650 batteries. The cool breeze did give me more energy and one more rider (Shreyas) joined us to we tried to maintain a paceline and it did work to some extent. A few kms before the Uturn point we halted for dinner. We sat in AC refreshed ourselves and feasted on curd rice. Shreyas by this time had crashed on the sofa and the hotel was almost about to close. So woke up shreyas, back on saddle we left to visit the ATM (rendezvous point) where we were to swipe our card and get the receipt as proof. After taking the receipt we left the station and now headed back to time station 3 which was again 150 kms away ( Mufasaa). After we travelled about 50 kms we reached vellore and decided to catch a nap for about 2 hours. Shresyas already fell back and he would complete the ride maybe later. His dreary eyes didn't feel confident enough to ride thru the night. Found a string of shops which were closed at Vellore. We locked the bikes and I managed sleep for 2 hours. I woke up and we left vellore at about 3AM. From here it was a nice power through session as Harisha led the convoy, Opendro and I would try to keep up as close as possible. The bad luck was Harisha encountered two flats. One flat on the way to the U-turn point and another flat on the way back to Mufasaa. I had two spare tubes and gave one to Harisha. Since Harisha was maintaining a slow pace Opendro and I sped ahead and there was a gap of a few kms. Then Harisha calls up Opendro to wait, so we took a short break. After regaining energy Harisha sped ahead and reached Mufasaa early. Opendro and I maintained constant pace and reached Mufasaa in the morning 8. Time to give enough time for the muscles to relax and regain the energy. Killer climbs await krishnagiri-hosur. Took the first climb pretty good in the second gear. Top speed acheived was 58.6kmph. Stopped at A2B for sambar rice. Then sambar power is what got me back to bangalore. By the time we reached the CCD @ MG road it was 6:30 in the evening. What a relief it was to look at the Coffee Day. Cheers and a hearty welcome by the Brevet organizing team was rejuvenating. Time to handover the Brevet card and the Time station receipts to the organizer to mark the sucessful completion of the ride.
Route Statistics :
Elevation Gain: 1,925 m
Elevation Loss: 1,928 m
Min Elevation: 60 m
Max Elevation: 930 m
Pics on facebook ::
Set 1 :: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.208294019200542.59757.159290930767518
Set 2 :: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.208527112510566.59842.159290930767518
Set 3 :: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.209026342460643.60087.159290930767518
Set 4 :: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.209080095788601.60106.159290930767518
Date :: March 18 2011.
Destination :: Mysore
Route :: SH 17 Bangalore - Mysore Highway.
Distance :: 146 kms according to google maps.
Distance as per Decathlon DC4 bike computer :: 143kms
Start kms on ODO :: 286
End kms on ODO :: 429
The saga of trips and adventures continue with the next episode titled Mysore, now added to the arsenal of randonneuring experiences. Finally made up my mind on anyone going against this decision. I'd saved a 1 liner for them " Yenna Rascala... Ride it !!!
Anyway as usual the alarm sets off and you must be thinking 6 AM or 5 or maybe even 4:30. Absolutely not, Ajay gladly agreed to start early to beat the midday heat. So 3:00 AM near Banashankari temple was the rendezvous point. A snap of the DC4 Odo at the start ::
But we got to start only by 3:30 and took road towards kanakpura and turned right at the next signal (beyond banashankari veg market) which leads to mysore road. Once on Mysore road it was like a point of no return and all calf muscles in my leg were mooing away to glory. We took no chances and stuck to an avg 20 kph speed limit. I was carrying the BTwin headlight and the tail light. It was very helpful at some stretches there were no streetlights and occasionally no vehicle on the either direction. Pitch dark and my Btwin battery decided to give up on me. Spare is always helpful and so did it turn out to be waited for about 5 minutes as I had trouble in popping the top cover open. Somehow managed to get it off and replace the batteries and the new ones were a delight.
We stopped for breakfast at Ramanagara where Ajay opted for Idly sambar and I wanted something new and different so Rava Idly. I repented that decision. Why ? Firstly too much ginger and secondly there were TWO idlys, when i'm used to only 1 in bangalore. ( IF there was no ginger the second idly would;ve disappeared in no time.). As i don't waste food I gulped it down quickly. Here's the hotel we stopped ::
Next milestone Maddur/Mandya. In between Channapatna and Maddur we stopped to empty the tanks and also refuel. There were a group of guys probably in their early 30's and had quite a lot of questions of the usual stuff. How? when? Where? Why?. Weightlifting test of the cannondale by a few guys and they left happy after hearing the price. Two tender coconuts and banana's we left for Maddur. I simply love the attention I get on a roadbike. The cruise early morning with the click n clack of gears was a treat to the ears. It was like loading a rifle. The soothing romantics and soft numbers on my phone helped me keep a steady pace. Since Bangalore is at a higher altitude almost 70% of the route was downhill or flat. As we entered Mandya it was about 10:30 and the green fields around kept the air cool as we ate up the miles.
I also got a chance to test the top speed on my hawk on a down slope and could manage only 56 as I had to hold the camera on the other.
I could have touched 60 I vouch. Saw a few paddy fields with herons all over. Beautiful sight indeed.
As we neared Mysore the temperature soared and the speed dropped and we were now averaging about 12. Entered Mysore city and thought of heading straight to Mysore Palace. Traffic police in Mysore are so polite and happy to help. But both of us had growling tummies we headed to a hotel where the waiter seem to have a tendency to mix up what was ordered to what was not. After lunch we left for palace and were disappointed about teh parking. The parking fee collector pointed us to park the cycles out which we were highly confident that it was the safest. So we decided to head back to Bangalore even without entering the palace. But to get a proof of "Been there Done that" here's the snap captured by a pedestrian.
Mysore Palace
Reached the Main bus stand and a Volvo conductor gladly agreed to transport our bikes for a small fee of Rs.35 only. What a comfort traveling by Volvo. In fact the original plan was to stay and return the next day (maybe cycle back via Kanakapura road.) This ride has given us saddle sore to keep the Bums off the saddle for about a week.
But the randonneurs will be back on track soon with a new destination and the distance is sure to raise eyebrows... So only time will tell..... Until then Adios..!!!
One heck of a week it has been with all work. Couldn't manage to sleep last night as I had been thinking about nandi hills.. the route conditions.. whether my hawk could manage it and all the repair kits that were needed. Ajay and I were the riders. We agreed to meet at Krishna Rao park and headed towards KR Market Avenue road and straight to Windsor manor ...all the way till just a few kms beyond new airport to turn left to Nandi hills. In true 127 hours style Aron Ralston style I switched on music, headlight, tailight and a hankey to cover my nose and mouth.(air filter) The excellent roads were like a cherry to an ice-cream. Stopped on NH-4 to capture some pics. Hardly any stops were made till the base. I was quite confident that the climbs could be taken with stride... A huge blow to confidence when I made the first stop within 10 mins of start of ascent. Someone from Bikezone forums had completed the nandi ride from base to hilltop in under 30 mins..I wanted to finish by 40 but was able to manage by 1hr as I HAD to stop many times gasping for breath. The hairpin bends were full of scrapes on the tarmac indicating some serious stunts by bikers. When we neared the last hairpin bend I did manage to catch a glimpse of a watch tower/doom which marked the entry to Nandi Hills. A couple of delicacies to the eye were 3 bullets modified as chopper with high profile wide slick tyres with loud exhausts. And 3 Intruders which had awesome exhausts cruising one after another. also saw 2 R1's with REPSOL decals. A foreigner joined the Nandi ride from the base of the hill. He unloaded a lovely bike the innova which looked like merida. And soon left us behind. While we were about 2 kms to the summit he was descending at quite a good speed. This sight just added more namak to thoughts.... I am already in a dilemma whether to opt for a BTsport 1 or Trek. The competition was beaten to the bushes by just looking at black beauty. Hmm couldn't tell you how much road bikes inspire me. There were a few more foreigners who were preparing for an offroad journey but I couldn't spot a trail. Maybe the local guide knows about it. An exhilaration ... celebration with two sweet tender coconuts and our batteries recharged we were ready to descend.. You might be wondering at this point. what ?? you guys didn't enter nandi hills or visit the view points inside?
NOPE .. Absolutely not. This was all a test of strength stamina and endurance. I'm quite happy with both our performances. Maybe if i had to leave head faster I'd have shaved off a few minutes from the 1 hour for the climb but I'd be twice as tired and dehydrated. Anyway, we did start our journey by about 10AM and I had to be very careful as a few strings from the rear brake cable had cracked at the start of the journey. I totaly relied on the front brakes and the moment i see a curve ahead the braking started. But Ajay zoomed way ahead of me and reach a lot faster than I and waited at the base for a quick dose of refreshment. Thought about the return miles that lay ahead and we had to kill this thought as it was getting our morale down and making us think about our saddle sores. Solution :: Listen to music. This seemed to work great till we hit the NH-7 back again when the heat started to take a toll so the number of stops increased and so did the the tender coconuts..!! I saw a lady on a on a road bike which looked like a fomas road king but it wasn't. Damn.. didn't capture the name yet again. Anyway she just waved a quick hi and was on her way. As Ajay's beast ever so slowly ate up the miles I slowed down as much as I could to match up. We were at the Nrupatunga circle by about 1:30. A quick round of thank you's TA TA's we were parted ways and headed home for a much needed nap for the tired body and adrenaline pumped soul :-)
Odo meter :: 140 kms round trip from Jayanagar 5th block to Nandi hills summit. Route Taken :: Jayanagar 5th Block >> Basavanagudi >> Avenue road/KR Market >> Windsor Manor >> Mekhri circle >> Yelahanka >> Devanahalli >> Nandi Hills.
Average Speed from Blr - Nandi Hills :: 22kmph Average speed on return trip :: 20kmph (strong headwinds) Total time taken 9 hours including all breaks.
Fastest ~58kmph by Ajay's Cannondale F9. ( My hawk @ 50kmph) Cadence :: Some body help me with this !!!!
Fuel consumed :: 5 Tender coconuts 2 Munch bars 1 Center fresh bar. ~6 lts of water 2 plates of lemon rice 5 Idly ( The super soft idlis were simply superb) About 5 PSI of air by Ajay's cannondale F9 and 10 PSI by my hawk
The cycle "Fever" had set in and hard to fathom the lengths one can go to fulfill desires. So is my case. After becoming a member at Bikeszone forum, I posted a request for a ride to chikka tirupati and the plan for 25th. No reply for a couple of days. Probably because I had planned the ride on a Friday morning. Anyway, I managed to tighten the nuts n bolts that were loose and checked air and also tested the new BTwin mini hand pump. With another 12 hours to spare I managed to get a PM from Ajay from Bikeszone forums that he'd give me company. Alrightie then, spoke to Ajay and we decided to start by 5:15 in the morning. Woke up by around 4:45 and finished the morning chores and was ready by 5:15. Met Ajay who was waiting at the 5th block bus stand. A quick round of intro and we kicked off the ride at 5:30. Quite a cold morning start and we cycled at a normal pace, chatting most of the way and were averaging about 28kmph as per the GPS on my nokia. As we reached Decathlon the cold air started hurting our fingers but the thin faint light gave us hope that dawn would break the night skies and we'd no longer need the torch that was being used as headlight. The first stop was at the deviation to the left at Sarjapur. A quick stop for banana's and a photoshoot session. After 10 mins we were off to the destination which was 11 kms away. The morning sun over the fields was really a treat for our eyes. Butter smooth roads to add to the beauty of the trip. Another half hour of riding got us to our destination. We relaxed for yet another 15 minutes and started the return leg. Stopped on the way @ Sarjapur for breakfast. 3 Idlis per plate for Rs.15. Weaving in and out of the Silkboard - Jayanagar traffic we reached by 10:00 AM. This I consider another prep ride for the big one ahead. Will be posting about that in the next travelogue. Until then ... ADIOS..!!!
Pre-requisites for the next trip ::
1. Headlight and taillights.
2. Proper high energy foods.
3. Lime juice (Salted).
4. Extra holder for water bottle instead of carrying it in the bag.
Start time :: 5:18 AM
Start point :: Jayanagar 5th block.
Finish Time :: 8:45
Breaks :: First at BETL lay-bye for a quick photoshoot. Next stop @ Bangalore Toll booth. Both for 5 mins each.
Hosur Hawked - My first Century Ride !!!
The
Cycling Bug had bitten me hard... when I say hard real hard and this
trip marks the first side effect :-P. I was surprised that my mother
nodded along with my plan. As usual the thought of the long ride kept me
awake late night and I finally dozed off after setting up everything
necessary for the ride. A list of items i took include ::
1. Portable hand pump.
2. A quechcha torch.
3. Puncture repair kit.
4. Extra brake wire.
5. A multi-utility tool from btwin (with torx/allen key and regular bits).
6. Water bottle that came along with the hawk ( 1/2 ltr)
First aid kit ( A little turmeric powder + cotton).
All
this in the goodie bag that I got from the cyclothon ride just over a
week ago. Set the alarm for 4:00 so I could start by 4:30. Zzzzzz!!!!
Trrrring..!!!
My alarm was sounding weird i woke up and then realised that it was my
office cab waiting. Informed them it was my week off and looked at the
time 3:45AM reset the alarm for 4:15 and due to my head succumbed to the
forces of gravity. Alarm went off again and this time it 'was' the
alarm tone and woke up, finished the morning chores or .. should i say
Early morning chores and was ready by 5:15. Strapped on the new BTwin
gloves (nice soft n comfy) and soon i hit the silk board junction. Then
it was NH7 all the way. Started cruising on the BETL and just before the
toll gate changed my cycle to the main stretch (didn't want to face any
condescending questions early morning by the toll gate employees. A
smooth ride till old chandapura. Time to reflect on my earlier regular
trips to electronics city had made me strong and given enough strength
to endure this ride. During the last E-city run I had pain in the right
knee but no signs of pain during this trip. Spending some quality time
on the bikezone forums did help me a lot. I raised the saddle height
after which the ride became more of a pleasure. Got to understand what
cadence is all about and better experience at shifting gears at the
precise moment so you don't pedal slow stressing thigh and calf muscles
or pedal fast n wasting precious energy. Touring is all about utilizing
the energy to the optimum levels as distance to cover is more imporant
than the time taken. Crossed the bangalore Toll Both after a 5 min
break. Little did I realize that the water was Icy Cold.. The first sip
and my mind opened up. It was all yellow rickshaw's and tamil hoardings
which marked the "Welcome to Tamil Nadu". Plan was to have breakfast at
the Hosur Bus Stand but once I reached I didn't feel hungry so I took a
quick tour of the newly constructed bus stand (well maintained) and
stopped for about 10 mins for another sip. Then off to Bangalore. There
were some gradual steep stretches of gradient 5Degrees were to be taken
in 3rd or 4th gear. Tried to draft one of the trucks but was able to do
so only for about a km. I am not sure whether to call it successful or
tiresome. Either I was trying a bit too hard to cope up with the truck
getting tired a little to quickly or maybe i was a little too slow on
the up slope. Took the BETL tollway again and this time it was mostly
down slope to get me in top gear pretty quick. Reached home by 8:45.
Marked the completion of the trip by a couple of snaps from my mobile.
Enough of the text and let some pics do the talking..
It has been long since I've established myself as a Go Green enthusiast and here was a chance to prove it in public. So here goes my 2 cents on the deal....
The adrenaline cycling really caught up only after buying a Hero hawk. My cycling days started with a rented avon blue for about Rs.2 an hour. Those 2 Rs. certainly meant a lot. Then I graduated to a BSA-SLR ladies cycle given to be by my uncle from madurai. At this point you must be wondering hehe... a ladies cycle what an idiot but i was in about 7th/8th STD and this cycle was quite fast as it had thin tyres and I had the experience of stopping it sideways by using only the rear brakes and kick up some dust. The next cycle in the list was HerculesMTB Canon Barrell. This I'd say was a lovely cycle. (any cycle being owned by a cycling enthusiast is the best ;-) for him ). When I say lovely, I meant the ride quality the smoothness. With 6 gears it was tried and tested on almost all possible terrain in bangalore. Anyway the next and current cycle turns out to be my m-hawk (thats my Hero Hawk which had naming ceremony even before the purchase). I must have easily clocked about 800 km on this bike in all.
I see an article regarding the BSA cyclothon in paper and also the website(i dont know how I ended up there but what the heck.. I'm contributing to a go green program so its all good). The next thing I did was called Deepak as he is go Green guy ( AS green as Jim Carey in "The MASK" :-P ). Sure as it turned out to be he was registered in for the corporate ride. I missed the due date by 2 days else I'd have checked with my manager for sponsorship for the ride. As last date to register online was 20th, I registered with the BIB no # 1749. Since the distance between my home and the start point was 27 kms I decided to leave the bike a day earlier at my colleagues house in whitefield. This morning I started from my home at about 6:40 and reached my friends house in about 45 minutes. A quick inspection of the cycle and a strange noise while pedaling. My heart missed a beat..!!!. I quickly leaned down to check if the derailleur had some issue but i was able to figure out someone had fiddled with the front derailleur and shifted to the top gear. Shifted down and everything was "Tested OK". Left my friend's house and reached the entry spot just in time. I did get a chance to follow the professional cyclists in the elite racing. After the ambulance followed the last cyclist I tried to keep up with them but I was no match. I met Deepak at the site who was all pepped up and game for a start. There were quite a few Hawks that I spotted but they were overshadowed by the huge number of meridas, firefoxes, BTwin and Hercules MTB treks. As I was an individual participant, I started with the first batch which kicked off the non-competitive marathon. What a feeling to be at the start line with the crowd cheering and two cameras pointed direcly at you. (1 overhead and other still) With a ... Woooo..hoooo!! we left the start line at 8:40. I was able to maintain a good pace and kept overtaking quite a lot of cyclists. There was availability of water enroute at 3 stops and I managed to gulp in a couple of bottles. A sea of yellow helmets leading and trailing me looked like construction engineers on the run. The helmets were strong but no thermocol inside and the neck strap was too tight. One might actually choke as they are only elastic without any adjustment. I managed to finish the two laps in a comfy 50 minutes. The thrill of entering the finish line is indescribable. I imagined the professional cyclists who get to experience the thrill from the crowds cheer and support. I would count myself in the first 100 who finished the marathon. All in all a hearty experience with about over 5000 participants. Attached are some Pics I managed to click at the event.
Date :: 1st August
The travel bug had bitten us all and we were on a roll. We had the
choices for wayanad chikmangalur etc. Due to monsoon chikmangalur and
almost any part in kerala would be a wonderful place but we'd be
confined to the hotel due to torrential rains. After a small chat we zeroed in on Pondicherry.
The hottest place where you sweat even without moving a muscle. One
would expect cool air sweeping pondicherry's terrain due to the
proximity of the ocean but the humidity has the upper hand.
Booked
SRS 10:30pm airbus with madiwala as the rendezvous point. All
were on time and so was the bus. It turned out to be a new bus from
Tata's Stables. The journey was very comfortable. The real test was
beyond krishnagiri when the smoothness cease to exist. The suspension
took the real beating when travelling over ~ 2 foot potholes. We reached
Pondicherry by 7 and took an auto till the beach road and we started
walking along the beach for about 20 minutes. Time to decide if we were
to go to kalapet for booking one of the beachside huts for stay or to
stay at a guesthouse about half km away from governor's palace. The
latter was the one to choose as we were there only for a day. Checked in
to Sri Krishna guest house and were ready in about an hour. Rented two
pulsars for about Rs.250 each and we were off to auroville beach and
auroville (Matri Mandir). The ride from ECR road to auroville is a
beautiful one as you are covered by greenery all around. We didn't visit
matri mandir because the vising hours were nearing closure time ~ 1 pm.
The boys were hungry and headed back to guest house. We had lunch at a
hotel nearby and off to an aftnoon nap. I headed out for a walk to shop
for chocolates and cakes then headed straight to the beach. Sunday's
scene at the beach is like a madhouse .... just too many people. With
the three musketeers awake by 6 pm it was time for an evening stroll and
lazing in the beach. Chats prevailed about the current job market and
the need for EJP's. by about 8 pm it was time to return the bikes.
Finished dinner at a chettinad hotel. Where surprisingly we had
chettinad chilly parota and kothu parota. I (the veggie of the group)
did the goof up of ordering kothu parota which actually was prepared
with egg. With a cheeky grin I swapped with Geet who was happier with
kothu parota. :-) I had booked the tickets for the return journy while
the musketeers were recharging their batteries through the evening.
Boarded the KSRTC Volvo by 8:30 and reached bangalore in 7 hours.
Another trip added to my picasa.arsenal .... Yippeeee....!!!!
Weekly offs in common, the spirit of adventure, and the ecstasy of appreciating nature is all it
takes to hit the pedal to the metal and gobble up the makhkhan miles.
Here’s how it all started. As my offs for the week are
Friday and Saturday, Friday was wasted –
basking in the balcony of my new quarters.
The same evening was dedicated for a rendezvous with friends. The
uncanny presence of Kingfisher ignites the deep dark insides of the brain!! Or
so did I think. I expected to be back home late night after dinner. After
dinner I could hear talks of a road trip to Yercaud. Though no shots of
kingfisher were taken but I certainly did feel the kick. First off, I got to
convince my mom about this ( I could already see the rainbow that might unfold)
and secondly I had to go to office sunday morning. I guess it had been a long
time since the “Bull” from Bajaj’s stables had been taken by its neck and
shaken to life. Sam was all set in no time. I had to return home to leave my
loyal Boxer ( serving its notice period) because it’s no longer got the
get-set-go juice in its veins.
We started from Jayanagar by 1:50 AM. The highway is always
a treat and considering the fact that
there is no Toll fee for Bikes. What a joy it is when you glide past all
those cars who stare at you thining “Hey we’re waiting in queue and so should
you” ………and I’m like “Scrooo u” and Vrooom past the the toll in a jiffy. We
reached the first pitstop on our journey just a little beyond the Krishnagiri
flyover. Time for a breather and quick sip of tea to alert our senses. Calling…Rider
swap. I immediately took over and the smiles just got wider. The open tarmac
called for some good speeds but that was limited by the high beam from a those
nasty trucks and buses. The 4 lane highway is definitely a boon to the night
travelers. We reached Dharmapuri in about 90 minutes and stopped for a ‘leak’
and also our Gluteus Maximus heaved a sigh of relief. To give you a perspective
of what a short break must mean for long bike rides.. consider this.. What does
a Truck/bus/lorry do when they stop for a break after a long drive
………..CHUSHHHHH!!!!!!..... I’m sure you must be familiar with that sound but
that’s exactly how we felt.
Next we headed to the thoppur Ghats and straight through to
Salem. Another toll and a huge grin on my face…!!!!! Miles rolled by and we
stopped a few miles before the diversion to yercaud for another T-Break and a
Rider change. Sameer took over and it soon became clear that we have reached at
a precise time to take on the Ghats. Beautiful curves invited some sleazy
riding but we enjoyed every stretch of it. Could feel any loss of power in this
long black beauty. Soon we reached the summit and now comes the truly fun bit
of our journey. Both had to empty our tanks and our brains didn’t quite repond
as it normally would. So my mind was ready to take any damn hotel/resort.
Thanks to Sam’s patience I kept my mouth shut. After a search of all the major
hotels and resorts there we found that all were full and booked well in
advance. Holy moly.. the only option was to get to the Sterling resorts which
has been constructed on the edge of the cliff so when you open the balcony door
you get a breathtaking view. Charge for this Wowwiness – 2400 + tax. The lodge
owner took so much pride in saying Plus
Tax as if he was throwing in a bonus with the package. It wouldn’t make sense
opting for that because we would be staying for hardly 10 hours. So as we stopped at another Home-Resort just
at the entrance to yercaud and checked out a few hotels there and one of them
was in the woods. PERFECTO… Time to empty our tanks…. After being eco friendly
with nature we were happy to quench the thirst of two trees. Now we can search with
empty tanks and idle brains. Just as the decision was about to be made to book the
Sterling resorts my eyes preyed upon a Homely stay resort – The Royal Resorts
in Nagalur Road. Looked good from the outside but we were soon laughing once we
saw the room. There was a double bed and an upper berth. The toilet was more
like Alcatraz kinds. Anyway, this was sufficient for a day’s stay.
Quickly refreshed and got ready for breakfast. Headed
straight to Hotel Malar adjacent to Shevaroys Resorts. The unmistakable aroma of drumstick sambar,
dosas was refreshing to us weary
travelers.
With the tummies loaded we headed out to the Kiliyur falls
but we got to know from the locals that there wouldn’t be any water during this
time of the year. So we decided to walk down that path as it covered with thick
undergrowth. We returned to the lodge as
we found no point in walking all the way to the falls and also the temperatures
were rising. Time for a nap. Zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!
Woke up by 4 and it was time for lunch. Checked out a
different hotel and god it was full to the brim. So we went back to Hotel Malar
and to our disappointment there were only two options , Parota or veg Biryani.
We settled for Parota and it was goodie good with the tasty “kurma”. It was then time to visit the viewpoint at
the “Lady’s Seat”. Ride to the view point was just perfect with a mild welcome
drizzle. One gets a full view of salem city and the sight is best seen late
evenings. We started the journey back to bangalore by 6pm and stopped at the
restaurant Meenakshi Bhavan in Dharmapuri. It is known for its “Sambar saadam”
Sambar rice. It turns out that it is available only during the noon. So we had
to settle for a “Paper Roast” and “Chilly Parota”. Sam savoured every last bit of sambar so it was more like dosa was the side dish. Reached Bangalore by 11:30 and off to bed. I hope to take on Kanyakumari or Mangalore the next time .... and I hope to do it in a bullet probably by June or July,....
