Photoblog: Yercaud with the Open super-fast-deluxe express

The trip as always starts with a long list of planning. Multiple locations shortlisted, check for confirmation from many. I just wanted to get back to saddle after a year of hardly any training rides. Never have I missed riding with team more than this year. Opendro gladly obliged my request to accompany me to Yercaud. However, this was not going to be just a 23km ordeal. Oh No..!!

A couple of days earlier.

Checked with so many folks but none ready to ride due to commitments. Plan was to park at CCD Dharmapuri and ride to Yercaud and back. So this would account to 160kms as per google maps via the NH44.

1/Apr/2018

Opendro reaches on time as always. 04.10 to be precise and I had the bikes dismantled to be loaded into the car. Had prepared a checklist of things to carry and yet missed a couple of them. We started by 5 and we were at CCD in an hour. Time to unpack, re-assemble and start. Ordered a couple of spinach corn sandwiches to fuel us to Salem and started the ride. Made the terrible mistake of picking up ORS as Enerzal was not available. So if anyone is planning to pick an alternate for Gatorade/Electral/Enerzal, remember to stay away from this one. Or one called Electrobion.

We settled down into a very good pace taking turns to lead and what a ride. It is a gentle downslope from thoppur to Salem and made it to yercaud base 60kms in less than 2hrs. We did stop to have the famed bananas right at

Hasthambatty roundabout. The road to Yercaud is the first left but the fruit market on onto the right corner. Just one is enough to get to full. And so the ardous climb started. Yercaud and arduous in the same statement. You must be kidding!! Absolutely not. With the commutes stopped over a couple of months, a maiden voyage on the newly upgraded components something had to be off and I realized this within the first couple of kilometers. The first blip in the map as you climb and I settled into a snail pace and I already was at the lowest possible ratio. HR at 180 already and a quick sneak peak onto Opendro's bike and I knew it was the ratio. He was riding 34x24 and I was riding 36x23. He still had two more to cogs!! With my right hand looking for more gears, I knew the next 20km aren't going to be easy. Stopped after about 4km and asked Open to go on as he was in a great shape and would've easily rode up and escorted me again halfway back to summit. I ended up slowing down the overall climb time due to 3 stop with one for a boiled corn and a lime soda. A true sufferfest this, but a realization of how much I need to get back to shape. Looking forward to a more positive 2018. This ain't the end of the story. The return was a sweltering 20km ride but we were rewarded with a fine drizzle that kept us cool and some overcast skies as we neared Thoppur ghats. However, before we could reach the ghats, disaster! The seat clamp holder threadings got stripped on Opendro's bike :(. The screw was never removed fully all we did at the CCD was loosen it lower the seat post and tighten it. We tried in vain for about 20 mins trying the material nature had on offer, some cotton, a plastic strip, some thread to put onto bolt like a teflon coat but the screw had no threads to grab within the seat post so it didn't work. I suggested that we take a pickup / truck to get back to CCD but Opendro had different plans. With the seat post all the way down Opendro rode the next 40kms including the ghat with the 'power saddle' mode. He may file a patent for a new product due to this flash of genius moment. Do remember to ask about this experience when you meet him.

At CCD Dharmapuri