Bangalore-Chamundi-Bangalore....

It has been quite a while since the blog saw some keystrokes. The mania starts 24hrs before the ride date (Oct 27th) and comes as a surprise from Opendro. He has been the best buddy to ride with, ever since I rode with him my very first endurance 600 Brevet back in 2011 April and this was too tempting an offer to resist. Had to cancel my badminton plans for 27th and started prepping the bike for this run. To my mind it was just like a Brevet 300. I wanted to take the outer ring road while Opendro suggested a route via Kathirguppe. Kathriguppe won the bid and the rendezvous point was cool joint in Jayanagar. Why does the excitement kick in early. I can hardly get any sleep the night before and this was no different. Hit the bed by 12.30 and woke up by 4. Your mind at this point probably screaming from a well, heck.. that my daily routine.

Downgraded from an X6 to an M2 from micromax. But love its simplicity. Incoming, outgoing calls and SMS's. That's just about defines a phones purpose. The human mind works in crazy ways and wants a whole lot from something then you might want to check out this site and you sure will go nuts. I sure am going to miss the 5MP camera on the X6. The speaker on the M2 is real loud. Loud enough to wake up even my neighbors next door :-). After the irritating sound of the alarm, I get ready in no time and reached Cool joint signal where Opendro felt the rear tyre needed some more air. So we pumped it up a little and set on our journey to Mysore at 5.40AM.  We took the JC road, KR market flyover and continued on the mysore highway. The road was in tatters and we managed it slow till we reached a little before NICE road junction. As dawn broke we were invited by lush greenery and cool breeze. We set a blistering pace as it was predominantly downhill. This reminded me of my trip last year on Hero Hawk where I rode with a friend till the palace and returned by Bus. And I thought nothing could beat the excitement the way it had happened. The cycling bug bite effect is still profound and I'm happy to have met most of my targets set this year. The prime target being a Super Randonneur. As I eagerly await my set of 4 medals and 1 Super Randonneur medal, there's quite a lot more that can be done in less time and the tightly packed weekends are a pure example. 

Flashback - April 2011 and earlier.....  :: Almost every other weekend trying hard to lay my hands on a Royal Enfield 350cc or looking for a replacement for my car. Somehow make a trip once a month to some place mostly by car. The diesel-head factor was slowly weaning away while the cold air from outside rejuvenated my senses. Change is inevitable and the flash of genius that decided the turning point was when I read my friend's father-in-law do a Bangalore-Kanyakumari and Bangalore-Mumbai on his road-bike. The Hero Hawk served me well for a year as I ended up riding at-least 15 kms every alternate day. Looking at my passion towards cycling, I soon became the proud owner of 'the Rubie' and the very first year clocked 4000kms.

Fast Forward present Day.....
Here I am, already through a set of tyres, a nearly worn out chain and a loose cassette and raring to go full throttle. Opendro and I meet at the rendezvous point and we navigate our way via JC road and then on the mysore road going over KR market. The stretch from the end of the KR market flyover till about NICE road junction is in tatters and if your bones are brittle or you teeth aren't white then you might want to consider riding rather slowly on this stretch. :-P. A suggestion is you may avoid this horrid stretch by taking the outer ring road (nayandahalli/deve gowda petrol bunk) which cuts the misery by half. The better alternative would probably be the Uttarahalli route that joins mysore road very close to the NICE road junction. Once we crossed NICE road the bikes rattles disappeared and the body soon settled down to a smooth rhythm. We picked up pace gently and were able to maintain a higher average due to the cool breeze (caused by speed) and a mild tailwinds. To add to the glory, Bangalore is at a higher altitude than Mysore. Hence the overall profile is a downhill. The first break was for bananas and I managed to eat 2 and stored the one for en-route nourishment. Opendro seemed quite pleased by this decision as he is more aware of my plans.. actually there are none. Ride hard, bonk, curse yourself for not deciding on supplements. But this time I was determined to eat at regular intervals. So the second break just before Mandya I ended up having a Nutribar and after about 10-15kms we stopped for tender coconut. We set a blistering pace and I suspect an average of nothing less than 35kph. We started at 5.40 from Jayanagar and reached mysore by 10.30am. One gets to experience the feeling of the crowd by just looking at their reactions. Some thumbs up... some go Ay!!! ..and others sneer, (in kannada) Cycligey helmetaaa? (a motorbiker riding without a helmet and he was amused looking at cyclists wearing one). A few riders on Royal Enfield's were all thumbs up on seeing us and that put a widened the smug grin on our faces. At one point as we stopped for bananas. Opendro halfway into eating, looked in disbelief. You might be wondering why? The banana didn't get peeled in the normal manner and there was an uneven cut on one side which opendro thought he might have consumed more calories than intended :-). Soon we hit the overhead canal that marks the entry into Mysore but we took the left (ring road) that bypasses Mysore town. 8 kms of headwinds and just a couple of sips left in the bottles. We had to reach the main road soon if we were to recharge our batteries. Soon we spotted a bakery to feast on dil-pasand and mango juice. After about half hour we were ready to take on the chamundi climb. This can be called a prelude to Nandi the gradient is gradual and there isn't any steep section. For a newbie it might be a tough one but for a rider who's climbed nandi, Chamundi climb would be relenting.

Idle Musings of a Super Randonneur...!!

Hello to one an all. If you've reached this blog in error and 'your-world' is fueled by petro/diesel heads, then the rest of this trip ain't for you. You might wanna click the 'x' button on the top right corner of this pagebefore you get a sneak-peek into the velo world. 

Statutory Warning :: There may be some velo-jargons in this blog which will be is bound to go over your head so just chill ;-)

Becoming a super randonneur was a persistent entry in the 'to-do-list' and the 8 month itch now satisfied with the latest attempt, the Tri-State 600 Brevet that was held on 28th July 2012. Work life had taken a toll the whole July and managing a meagre 3-4 hr sleep every day!! But should I do this... hmm... maybe not. 'Why the sufferfest?'.. that's what you're thinking but in my head 'Why not ride out than lazing in couch comfortably and watching movies'. Did I want to do this .. Heck yeah..!! Just as any other Brevet, I started out partially organized and never completely ready. Two weekends ago I attempted the Brevet 400 in Chennai (documented here). For those of who don't know what a Brevet is, is just a self supported ride to be completed in a specified time span. For the Brevet 600, 40 hours is the limit. The distance of a ride seems to be indirectly proportional to the number of participants. With about 12 riders registered, we were to start from IISc gymkhana gate. I did invite Pradeep Chandar from chennai whom I met while doing the 400 Brevet. Though I had registered, the final confirmation whether I was riding wasn't available until a day before the ride. Sunday is usually a work day and with that taken care by one of my colleague who agreed to cover on my behalf, I was relieved and confirmed my participation to Pradeep who then started the prep work for driving to Bangalore. A supporting velo family I should say as his parents also came along to offer moral support. Very thankful to Pradeep's father who offered to use the Innova to drive to start point rather than ride till there. My preparations only started at 10 at night and finished by midnight. I had 4 hrs of sleep at my disposal with which I was supposed to manage the rest of the 40hr ride. 

05:00hrs -- This time my funky alarm tone wasn't there as my mobile's (Nokia-X6) camera glass had broken and the headphone socket wasn't working. Thanks to Dhilip from my office who agreed to swap my phone with his 5800 Xpress which is not so different from the X6. Carried MP3 player wasn't at any point during the ride. Yet another reason to complete the 600 -- my Brevet ID number is B-600 :-).  I've got ready in no time and Pradeep soon was waiting. We quickly had curry noodles and protein substitute so we don't ride on empty stomach. Loaded bikes in the dikki of the innova and soon we left for start point. Looked like Pradeep and Driver had a mini tour of the nearly asleep namma-Bengaluru. Thanked the driver and he headed back to the hotel where his parents stayed. Meanwhile we prepped our bikes for the inspection. A must when any part of the ride occurs during the night are, headlight, a red taillight, a helmet and safety vest. We were waiting for Deepak, Rajanikant and Harsha who were traveling to the start point together in Deepak's car. With the bike inspection complete and the brevet card stamped we started to ride. Pradeep and I started with the group as I wasn't too sure of the route for the initial 10kms. In about half hour riding we reached the outskirts of Bangalore, Merida junction and continued to ride at a good pace and confident that Deepak would catch us enroute. Pradeep was happy with the long downhill stretches till the first Control at Sathanur. From Sathanur it was uphill for about 15-20kms till the turnoff to Harohalli-Jigani. As it had been raining intermittently over the last few weeks there was lush greenery all around and some lovely tarmac to complement our rides. Joshua, Vikram and I took the climbs at jigani to reach the hilltop where Deepak, Rajanikant and Harsha were waiting. We finished lunch in about half hour and then headed to Anekal and then to Attibele. This turned out to be a fast paced ride and pace lining worked its magic. After collecting the ATM slips in Attibele, we entered the highway NH-7. From here we had to be extra careful as we had exactly about 1ft shoulder from the passing trucks and buses but it wasn't as busy as I expected. The first stop was at CCD for some coffee and evening snack. A much deserved stop for refueling. This helped in surging through the evening atleast till before Vaniyambadi tollbooth. Then we ended up stopping at a restaurant or more of a dhaba for truckers. The amount of oil in rice (drippin) and the quantity (A heap on a plate) confirmed that it was designed for the hungry truckers :-P. After quite some struggle to finish the plate all of us started for vellore and the target to reach was about 3-4which we did make it on time. As per the velo-gurus prediction the going only would get slower from the halfway point onwards. Velo-Rajani wasn't spared by the wrath of Rajanikant jokes unleashed by Harsha. All had a lighter moment as we stopped for coffee and buns. Sleep deprivation is the single most bummer with such long rides and normally it's caffeine to the rescue. With two climbs on this route the organisers sure must've gotten a fair share of nasty blastings from riders while riding but there has always been a complementing second half as was experienced during the Brevet 300. The first 100km was a test of bones of both the rider and the bike. After the sufferfest one gets to ride through beautiful flat stretch lined with lush green trees. Sublime !!

However, the till Vellore, it was mostly downhill and then it was a steady climb all the way to Bangalore. Deepak started to ride slower and Harsha rode like a rocket with solid boosters strapped to his back. I was shuffling between the two maintaining visual contact and then decided to push Deepak and let him set the pace as I tailed him till Mulbagal. Quite a busy town where Deepak managed to drop his garmin which was promptly picked up by the Hawk-eyed Harsha :-). Deepak and Harsha stopped for Biryani and I just grabbed a bite of veg puffs and a litre of mango juice to propel me till chikaballapur or atleast I thought it would ...!!

Then the sleep deprivation took its toll on me. I was supposed to be the navigator and somehow missed a turn and we headed 4kms in the wrong direction and battled headwinds on the 4-lane highway. I was happy that we were on highway and disgusted at 2 reasons. Firstly the horrid headwinds and secondly Harsha was enlightened somehow and said this didn't look to be right. So we turned back and then found the correct turn towards chikaballapur. Never had I seen Deepak all charged up but also frustrated that we'd lost a precious half hour because of my folly. From this point on Deepak rode like a monster at speeds averaging 30kph on flats battling headwinds. Harsha was struggling with the btwin lycra and found it hard to stay on the saddle. I was able to keep up for about 15kms after which I dropped then Harsha too dropped but Deepak just kept at it. Truly admire his spirit and sheer explosion of energy. Biryani POWER!!!  Never were we so silent on the entire trip except on this stretch until we reached Chikaballapur. I thought the sufferfest was over but the worst was yet to come. The moment we entered the national highway the monster in all of us just woke up for one last endurance sprint and we pedaled real hard. The Average would've been easily over 35kph and some stretches seeing 45+. No-one cared to complain about to horrid traffic as we managed to be a part of the 'road rash' club :-). Soon we caught up with almost all riders. The first one we overtook was Sandeep who seemed calm and composed even after finishing 500+km. We on the other hand were weary tired and panting. Managed to get a breather till we crossed the Devanahalli toll booth and then it was full attack mode again. We overtook Rajanikant (no no not the actor but yet another accomplished rider who is riding this route the second time ... just for fun!!!), who tried to keep up with us and said we still have lots of time My mind went, Nay....!! I'd better keep the engine in full throttle. It was an undramatic ride till Hebbal when we hit traffic and slowed down to get on the ORR. From here the pace was reduced and we rode easily till BEL circle and turned left towards MS Ramaiah college and just about a half km ahead was the finish point. Seeing familiar faces is such a stress buster. Been there Done that !! The joy of achieving a goal is simply indescribable. Now that I'm a Super Randonneur, you might wonder what next? It will be touring mode for the rest of this year. Exploring new territory, meet new people, try different cuisine....With all these thoughts on mind and paper, I sit back at office desk and charting routes for the next adventure.  
Until then ADIOS..!! 

All the pics of this trip are available here :: 
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Vanakkam-Chennai-Velo-400 !!!

 

A brevet isn’t a child’s play. But it’s not unachievable either. Every Brevet ride demands care and attention to great detail if one doesn’t  want to quit due to the inherent Brevet feature known as ‘bonk’!! With quite a few chapters of experience from earlier rides and precious feedback from my team members CW (Cleated Warriors), it was time to put at-least some of that into action. There comes a time when the mind’s fuse just blows out and gives way for excuses. Suddenly the bar gets raised on one’s innovation levels. The excuses become abundant and one gets spoilt for choices. Sounds like mind over matter? With 14^th of July looming around the corner I had to decide if I should travel to Chennai and ride it out in the ‘HOT’ city. After a failed attempt at 1k ride earlier in June, mentally I had decided not to quit at any point. As per the original plan Kiran and I were to attempt this 400. As he was suffering from IBTS, (Hamstring stiffness) it would take longer to recover and if this recurred during this ride then it would spell disaster as we have aimed at completing the Brevet series. Since I had a busy following two weekends, doing the 400 on 14 would give me time to recover as soon as possible and aim at finishing the 600 strong on the 28^th. On Friday I decided to start by afternoon as my colleague was a native of Chennai and planned to stay overnight at his residence and start early morning. After a sumptuous dinner, Bhaskaran and I went for a stroll by the Marina Beach which was just a 2 minute walk from his house. This explains why he works from Chennai often. :-)

Bhaskar and his josh machine with a hint of the bike in rear seat !!

4:00 AM :: The usual siren on my X6 is good enough to wake up an entire dorm. Surprisingly, I managed to wake up just before the alarm rang and then managed to snooze it twice only to wake up Bhaskar. Time for morning chores and was ready in about 15 mins. Truly glad that Bhaskar agreed to drop me till the start point in his car else it would have been a 13 kms ride to the start which is no big deal but gives me the precious extra minutes of sleep. 

5:00 AM :: We overshot the target and take a u turn head back about 3-4 kms to take yet another u turn to come back to the BSA showroom which was the start point. With the bike assembled, it was then time to complete the formalities and get the bike inspected by an independent adjudicator or the RTO officer as I would like to call it. There seemed to be a generous number of participants. ~15. 

Sundar sir at Registration Counter @ BSA Showroom 

 

We started riding on the OMR road towards Kelambakkam where the first control (ATM) was located. I don’t know why but I could sense something was not right and this turned out to be that the receipts weren’t working. Took photos with atm as the background and took right to ride via vandalur zoo which then connects to the trichy highway NH45. The route for some part reminded of the Siva’s road mostly good tarmac and some green cover to keep the mind busy. I initially was riding with the BSA showroom owner. Then I switched to ride with the faster group (Partha, Neville, Pradeep) for a while till the first stop or control after which I was planning to ride easy.  At Chengalpet toll all riders re-grouped for a  tender coconut break.  That’s when we realized that Aditya’s bike had a flat. Soon we got a surprise visit by Premgi Amaren who is the comedian in movie Goa. Well known for his quote “EKSI (short hand on facebook), enna koduma sir idhu”. All riders were at ease as he too had stopped for a smoke and a tender coconut break. Most of the riders had a “brown stripe” on their backs as it had been drizzling ever since we started riding the NH-45.   Soon the drizzle stopped but the climate stayed fantabulous. Partha mentioned that he hasn’t rode in such an awesome weather in Chennai in a long time. Soon we stopped for breakfast and proceeded to catch up with folks ahead. Road-bikeable tarmac and some gentle headwinds and cloud cover to ensure a smooth ride. We were able to maintain a steady average of 28kph.  About 50kms before the u-turn point is when I met Pradeep Chander who was chugging along at a slightly higher average. Somehow caught up and the rest of the route till the U-Turn point was pacelining. Surprised at Sundar sir’s fitness levels. We reached Vedantha college where we found Partha and Aditya waiting to get the card stamped. They said they were waiting for about an hour and there was no sign of vehicle. The indica with organizers arrived after the 10 riders made it to the u-turn point. There were some heated arguments they left in a hurry. 

The pitstop at Vedanta college (U-Turn point).

  

All set to ride back..!!

 

 

Never dehydrate, a key factor on such rides..!!

Bandit Gana rides the highway.. :-)

 

While we topped up water and feasted on glucose drinks, bananas chikki’s, the cards were stamped and a short photo session later we started to finish point(start point).  This is my favourite part as the ultrafire’s worked their magic through the night. I was happy to be leading the paceline sometimes speeding and sometimes slowing down. Dropped the lead and had other riders set the pace and I’d follow along. This worked for about 50kms after which we stopped for dinner. Fried rice and curd for me. The complaining factor simply vanishes as one has food for thought more than food as fuel. We reached Acharapakam ATM control by about 10pm and relaxed there for about half hour.  There were a total of 4 riders , Sachin, Pradeep, Ramesh and I. After this break we were able to maintain a higher average ~30 for most of the trip till chengalpet tollbooth and then it was a non-stop ride till the kelambakkam turnoff.  This stretch of 15kms till kelambakkam was supposed to be tricky or dangerous bit. So we rode a lot slower and stopped enroute to ‘empty the tanks’. A few cops had to do their bit with how what and why’s which were answered by Pradeep and with both satisfied we  headed to the ATM control at the kelambakkam junction. Another round of pics to confirm our presence within the control open and close timigs we now were just about 15-20kms to the BSA showroom.  Reached about 4.5 hrs before the finish time and got the much deserved rest. I had a chance of taking the 6am bus to Bangalore but then found that the bus was cancelled as there were only 2 seats booked. So the only option ws to take the 10am or 2 pm bus and no other bus in evening had free seats left. Pradeep was kind enough to invite me to his house to freshen up and get some sleep before departing to bangalore. This was such a big relief. Respite from all the muddy spray from trucks, my legs were covered in a layer of fine sand as if I had just walked out of a beach. In less than half hour I was fast asleep only to be woken up by 11 for breakfast. I had booked the bus tickets for 2pm. This time the luggage ticket was only Rs.100. But from Bangalore it was 200. A sumptuous or should I call it a mammoth lunch settled in to my tummy. Pradeep’s mother had prepared lunch exactly to a cyclist’s nutrition needs. Never felt away from home as the taste of home food still lingers fresh.  The perfect amount of carbs, proteins and fibre content in lunch was enough to keep me happy till I reached home. With the bike loaded in the bus I was all set to return to Bangalore. The Volvo had a flat near the ksrtc authorized stop and the start was delayed by another half hour. It looked like the tyre was retreaded and here’s the damage. 

 The tooshh.. moment.....

How to load a bike in a volvo

  

The Chennai -Belgavi (Belgaum) Gold class volvo

Over the years I've come across a lot of encouraging and discouraging comments about cycling which almost every cyclist is prone to get a dosage. I maintain my firm belief, its the passion that binds man and machine and cycling is no different!!

TCS.run - The surreal second 10k !!!

Something kept me awake till about 1am and finally managed to doze for about a couple of hours only to be woken up by thunder and lightning. The next thought was, will the 10k run happen inspite of the prevailing weather conditions? Will the event be postponed? Will I be able to run all of the 10k and not walk for any of the distance? Too many questions and a sub-conscious mind and I fell back into the power nap mode for yet another 2 hours. Thanks to Eddie George (A consistent RFL runner) who is one of the reasons that I've managed to participate in the TCS 10k. 

Flashback - (1 month ago) :: Originally, the registration for this event was to run along with a colleague. Not aware of any other HPite running this 10k, I thought individual participation as my colleague had missed the last date for registration. Then Eddie mentioned why not have Kiran register on my behalf. So Kiran got us registered, bib and goodie bag collected on time. A part of my thoughts were against this event as the I had travel plans the same evening as the TCS 10k. With all the logistics and practice in place, I excitement and the anticipation doubled due to the combo package on 27th the wait had begun...!!

The 27th May :: The fresh showers early morning was a promising factor for a great superb show. Entered Kanteerava stadium for the first time and a mad crowd was almost certain just by looking at the sheer BIB numbers (#27000 is the highest that I've managed to see on any runner).Soon made our way to Gate C and entered the stadium. Group A and B had hardly any crowd. This was segregated based on the timings of the runners. Fast and medium fast runners were put in Cat A and Cat B. Cat C pretty much was the general compartment :-). People who've never run before, runners from last year's Majja run graduating to 10k. Soon the CM and Puneet Raj kumar made their presence felt and surprisingly just in time as mentioned on the website. The event started with an official BMW car with timer board leading the elite runners. Then it was a flag off for the elite women. Followed by group A and group B. The group C was so huge and the start so crowded that my friends an I decided to start once the track was clear of the crowd and this happened only half hour later. Then Venkatachalam, Kiran (tusker), Venkat Mackintesh and I started at a slow pace and then settled into rhythm 1km into the race. The crowd was such that one couldn't find a straight line to keep the rhythm. Time to apply some pin ball machine tactics and of course without bumping into other runners. When the NH-7 wasn't ready I remember the two lane stretches between krishnagiri and dharmapuri the roads were potholed and to find a smooth line to drive was certainly a lot of work. This run was almost similar as I was in the switchback mode weaving across the crowd and sometimes running small stretches on the pavements. The route chosen was fantastic as there was plenty tree cover and the weather keeping the sweat in check. The start line or should I say the entire track in Kanteerava stadium. Group A and B started after the elite runners. Group C was the most crowded. The cleated warrior runners decided then to start towards the end when the track was near empty so we wouldn't waste time due to the crowd for the first 200 mts. The sheer number of participants for 10k alone would've given many the adrenaline boost to complete the run. I grabbed two bottles of water enroute but didn't stop in-spite of the crowd at the water stops. As I entered the Cubbon Park via Vidhan Soudha there was a slight downhill and I increased my pace to overtake as many as possible only to realize that there still was 1km to the finish line then reduced the engine speed and set to cruise mode for another 800mts then increased the pace back again and heard the familiar beep of the official timer at the finish line. There were so many runners that instead of a short beep
for any one person crossing the line the machine went nuts..!! Itwas a constant tone :-P. Here are some official stats ::

Overall Rank    564
Category Rank    374
Gender Rank    556
Net Time    00:54:36 at an Avg Speed of 10.99 Kmph


Credits :: 
Special thanks to Kiran who registered on my behalf and collecting goodie bags and bib kit. Thanks to Ajith with whom I tagged along in an Innova to reach the venue. The return trip was a comfortable one too. Thanks to Sri Ram who gladly obliged to drop me home.  

What next?? May be KTM !! The mind's funny, finicky and deceptive.

Velo Kerala - Day2 - Ernakulam to Munnar !!!

It has been over a week that the blog has been dormant and I hardly got the time to finish the first one. So here goes the next chapter in the Kerala chronicles. Our plan to start early was delayed as we woke up late set about truing the rear wheel on Ajith's bike. 

The tablet put to dry

Truing the wheels using the spoke wrench a part of ICE toolz kit.

Once the wheels were back in good shape, I was ready in no time and we headed out for breakfast. After a sumptuous dose of idlies, appam and peanut chutney we were ready for the arduous 120 km of riding. Since it was going to be hot day and we started only at about 10am we rode till the highway and then found a truck carrying gate grille's for painting and the owner was glad to drop us till (Muvattupuzha)a point that was 30kms away. He refused to accept any money but he obliged to take pictures. 

Shah Jahan (Driver/owner) and Faisal

The happy campers on the back of the mini-truck

After over a day's frantic search for tender coconuts in the "land of coconuts" we found one about 10kms into riding and we immediately stopped to utilize the golden opportunity. Next point on the way was Kothamangalam and from this point Munnar was still a 90kms ahead with a 60km climb. With the tummies topped up with the 'tender' recharge we then kept a nice pace through the rolling terrain with a smooth tarmac. Crossed kothamangalam and then we hit this Neriyamangalam bridge under which the great Periyar river flows. 

The Neriyamangalam Bridge

Periyar River as seen from the bridge.

About a km ahead is where the a climb starts and there a 60km of the lovely ghat stretch. The gradient is gentle unlike the kalhatti climb with 36 hairpin bends nor the yercaud climb. Came across yet another tender coconut stall and without having the need to apply brakes our bikes gradually stopped near the shop and we feasted on a couple of tender coconuts. There was a sudden increase in the density of the forest cover and this was evident. Somehow the bridge seem to be the bridging gap between the flat-lands and the ghats. After about 10mins we were to start riding so we reach munnar before dusk however the prying eyes of ajith then fell upon the fruit juice. Needless to say, a shot of mosambi(sweet lime) juice went in and it is worth a mention that the juice was way better than the tender coconut. Tender coconut tasted like it was injected with electral :-P.
I welcomed my old nemesis (the hills) as this time it was an MTB to face the 60km route. The high humidity was certainly felt but the soothing breeze from the trees ensured the engine stayed cool. About 10 kms before adimali we stopped for a break. In went a couple of bottles of mango juice. That is when we met another cyclist. Mr.Ravi from Cherai. He has been riding for a couple of days and his destination was Adimali. So he wasn't far. We exchanged plesantries and he had some queries about our bikes. Something to notice was the DIY chain guard and an extra handlebar prop to aid in climbing. Simple and neat.

He took leave and we soon had to start and thats when we found the rear tyre of Ajith's bike flat. Removed the tyre and tube in no time and then realized that the tube was filled with slime and had we give it more time to heal it would have sealed itself. However the nail might have done more damage. So removed the metal piece and replaced the tube with the normal one. We also discarded the slime tube as it had a lot of patches. Another problem surfaced, the wheel was out of true again and Ajith set about setting that right. Half hour later we got started again and in about a couple of kms we hit a waterfall that resembled the silver cascades of Kodaikanal.

The traffic now getting thinner and thinner and the surroundings greener!! Just what we expected. Humidity levels then dropped and we felt the winds of change. Next stop Adimali for lunch. Just in time to catch up with folks protesting against the price hike. Looked like we were indirectly giving them a hint - Ride a bike..!!! We stopped at the newly opened restaurant called "The Cardamom". A pep chat with the manager and we got to know that the owner was from Taj group. The price and the taste was justified as the food disappeared into the hungry tummies. Simply put, a well deserved sumptuous lunch. 

That mustard sauce...!!!

5.30pm - We start from this hotel and back on saddle for just about half hour and we encounter the board "Welcome to Munnar". The moment Ajith gets to know there is still 30kms of it left here's what happened. (you might have to zoom in to see it).

Yet another hour into riding and the darkness sets in. The ultrafire was raring to go. We got the flashlight onand the two vioo lights on fork of Ajith's trek was impressive and they looked even better when they switched places from fork to the handlebar. It looked like a jazzy UFO following me :-). Soon the winds got colder and at about 7.45pm we reached the periphery of munnar town. But we still had 8 kms to go to reach the town. After a quick stop, a few snacks and an enquiry about the buses to take us back to Ernakulam we then started to ride as quick as possible. We rode till the misty mountain resort and its sure lived up to its name. Lot of mist just went past us as we just continued our journey towards the town. Soon we found a tata mobile (207) and just held on to the rear cage on either side. Since it was a narrow path we had a few cars following this carrier and they just wanted to overtake. But if we let go of this then there was no way to catch up. So we held on for as long as it was safe and about 2km away we left the dropped off and started pedaling again. A mad rush to the bus stand  was in vain as there were a lot of confused folks around. One said the last bus to ernakulam was at 9.30. The local were glad to give us the news - All buses had left for the night and we had to wait for the first bus to Ernakulam scheduled to depart next morning at 5.30am. Holy-Moly..!!! Now we were exhausted from the tiring climb up and a sprint towards the bus stand. So we were trying hard to spot any carrier/tempo that could carry us at-least till muvattupuzha or some place enroute so we could hitchhike the rest of the route. Time to satisfy the tummy and we headed to a parota stall. The smell was so tantalizing. Parked the bikes nearby and sat down at the local roadside stall. (unfortunately no energy to take the mobile out for a pic). We enjoyed the parotas + peas gravy. Nourishingly delicious. There were a few agents who were on their night stroll to look for any new comers to munnar and offering them places to stay. So we seemed to be at their mercy. A twisted dilemma, is it better to take a room, stay for the night and then take the first bus next morning? Probably the best solution. Other plans included ::
1.  Ride back in the night (60kms of downhill) in utter darkness..!!
2. Hitchhike a truck or a carrier. 


What did we do ... How did we return? Did we return the same night? Did we book an accomodation? 


Just when we were about to give up looking for a vehicle to hitchike and book a room for about INR500, (Just 1 room and no restroom) we spotted a truck stop on the other side of the road. So quickly we scooted and enquired with teh driver as to his destination and we were darn lucky. He said Kochi and exactly the place where we were headed. He agreed to load our bikes and we were the happiest bunch as we got the bikes properly tied using the ropes. This truck was carrying the top quality premium Tea (not available to the indian market) for export from port Kochi. Also made a new friend Jomit George who is from Adimali and an engineering student. Every day for him could be a vacation @ Munnar. Lucky soul. We got a lot of topics to discuss and I ended up talking with the driver Sendhur Pandian of Tirunelveli but mainly into truck driving hauling goods from and to Kochi, Munnar and Goa. The truck is like a second home and he said he had all the basic supplies and he normally just have to buy vegetables in order to prepare food. Hmm, talk about camping and adventure on road. He did mention that it was not going to be a direct trip but he'd stop on the way probably at Kothamangalam to catch some sleep as he hadn't had sleep in about 3-4 days. PHEW.. and here I am thinking I get only 4 hours sleep every night..!!  There was a lower berth and an upper berth. As we approached adimali we stopped for black tea more discussions followed about the trucking experience and life on road. You get to meet new people and make new friends. Absolutely exciting. Had I been on a motorbike or a car none of this would've ever happened. I settled in the upper berth and slept like a baby once we stopped for the night halt. I only woke up about 10kms from Vytila junction. The upper berth was such that you could enter only in one direction and exit the same. One couldn't even turn around :-) But I didn't care as I was fast asleep and so was Ajith. He too woke up from the parota hangover. The cost of the room expense was then transferred to Sendur pandian and all three of us were happy. He got a chance to make a quick buck we got back to kochi the same morning. The expense of staying back at munnar and taking the next bus would've been a costly affair. In fact Mr.Pandian was about to return me change and my response, you've been a godsend to us when in time of need so this was the least we could do. We exchanged phone numbers and soon our bikes unloaded. 

Sendur pandian, The weary rider (me) and the trusted Ashok leyland 1612

Secretly, I always wished to hitchhike a ride on a truck and never dreamt that it would be realized in this trip. Half hour of riding got us from vytila junction to Panampily nagar. Time for morning chores and then breakfast at the usual keralite roadside dhaba. 

The world goes by at a slow pace once on a bicycle. One gets the time to understand and take in the essence of time with it.  In any motorized transport the world whizzes past and you miss quite a lot. The spectacular photo opportunities, a stop every now and then to munch on something, the looks at the rest of the world when they see you on a cycle on an expressway or a village. I sometimes do think about defining or understanding time - For humans the world is at its own normal pace but the same world for a housefly might probably be 4x times slower. And for an elephant our world might be twice as faster. This is just one of those instinctive thoughts that crop up while on the saddle. To reinstate, I am truly happy to be a cyclist. Though the public might think I have saved hundreds of litres of petrol/diesel. None of the statements above is aimed at demeaning the petro-heads or diesel-heads. Adventure can take any form its just the passion that binds man and machine. Same theory applies here that binds me with the most ingenious invention of all, "The Bicycle"....!!!