With the first team excursion on 6th May 2016done and dusted, we discussed on the possibility of 'when next' during the return drive. Kalhatty is a climbers delight. The urge to repeat started a couple of days after the body and mind had switched back to Bengaluru mode. Checked the feasibility of one more resource joining the ride, the plan was confirmed by mid week. Now the painful process of wait starts and there wasn't much planning to do nor packing as it was just the two of us so logistics wasn't an issue . More good news awaited as I got the confirmation from Putta that we could start by thursday night thereby getting a chance to drive to and fro with least disruption from the crazy traffic on the Bangalore - Mysore highway. Come thursday, we started by midnight and the first pitstop was at Cafe Coffee day after Maddur and an uneventful drive till Gundlupet CCD. We stopped for a nap for about an hour and started for the Bandipur checkpost. There was a long line of trucks and cars waiting for gates to open at 6. Then the madness starts and cars trying to overtake trucks with the incessant honking. I pity the truck drivers as most are helpless due to the heavy loads they carry, narrow roads and usually oblige one's request to overtake with just a honk from cars trying to pass. The Mudumalai checkpost had a considerable line of waiting traffic. However, not as bad as the one we experienced the earlier trip (a weekend). Like a moth that is amused by the light source, we roadie scum are quite similar when it comes to hill climbs and Kalhatty in particular stands out. We park at CCD, order a double Espresso and finish it off with bread butter and orange marmalade. I thought it was perfect considering an all night ride and caffeine should help stay awake for the entirety of the climb. But the beauty of nilgiris is rather experience best than put in words. Right at the first couple of kms, the heart rate shot upto the 180's and stayed there for a good bit and slowing down to try and reduce. There are no flat sections for recovery at kalhatty which made matters worse. Yet I wanted to attempt a non-stop so continued the climb. I was so tempted to stop for a masala tea at 4kms to the summit. Yet spurred on with a few thoughts and the music that kept me good company for the last few kms to maintain tempo. The bread butter and jam vanished in thin air. I waited to Putta sipping sprite and considered riding down to accompany him. Rode down and he was just a few hundred mts away. Reached the climb and the customary photoshoot started. As the Viper (Polygon Helios 500) cooled Putta too chilled at the summit. Since our only task planned was complete we decided not to enter ooty and just ride to the nearby lake Sandynulla. The winding road are road bikeable towards Gudalur. We stopped for a couple of photos by the lake and continued to ride on to find nature's balcony. Found it 2kms on a left curve right opposite to a small church. Unlike the ride on 6th May, this ride was a hard one and surprisingly the cadence computer did record and the stats are uploaded to Garmin and Strava. Garmin activity https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1166601375 :: Finishing the Kalhatty :: https://youtu.be/741OA2-jTrA
A good amount of wildlife was spotted with this trip and the list includes: Birds, Peacock Robin Kingfisher Myna
Barking deer Wild boar Indian Bison Herd of Deer Herd of elephants
Waiting for gates to open by 6AM - Bandipur
Enroute Thepekadu
Gate timings
Lovely roads to Thepekadu
Kalhatty Backdrop
A Selfie with Lord Gans
Putta finishing the climb
At Sandynulla lake 2kms from the gudalur - ooty- kalhatty junction
The road on the right is the Gudalur - ooty highway
Basking in Natures Balcony a mighty relief from the climb
A few FAQ's to understand this blog better. What is a Brevet? A brevet is a non-competitive cycle ride on a fixed route to be completed within a specified time. It is not a race. Why 'Bliss in the hills' ? 'Inner Peace' .. 'Inner Peace' I hope you can spot more reasons to the 'why' below:
Bliss at Kalpeta Control
River crossing Bliss just before Iritty
The Chikki Bliss
Training Plan: Preparation for this Brevet started many months ago and I strongly relied on commute miles to work as a key training. Each day riding about 56kms rain/shine. One specific training was an over nighter at nandi with 4 repeats between 11pm to 4AM. But just a little over two weeks to the start, I caught pneumonia and in a pretty bad state. It was none other than Major Srinivas who put me on the expressway to recovery. So all my training plans down the drain and with some mild cough persistent a couplet of days before the start I wasn't so sure if I should even make it to the start point. This ride was supposed to have been attempted last year but had to cancel for an emergency. So not riding it this time would linger for many months until I attempted the same. So I managed to prep the bike a day in advance and it was almost ready for the road trip. A long brevet checklist was followed and I managed to pack most of the necessary stuff and the rest went into the backpack that was to be dropped with the support car and we'd get to see the same only at the halfway point at Kalpeta. Here's the Rubie all set to roll for over 1200kms.
The start was delayed by 20 mins. Dodged crazy city traffic which is the norm. Once we hit Nelamangala we turned onto the Hassan highway. Menacing cloud cover as we head towards Hassan. But luckily no heavy rains and we did away with some super fine drizzle. A comfortable reach to Belur. Relished the packed/parceled fried rice from the earlier dinner stop to propel us to the next leg, Belur to Balupet. It was midnight when we were crossing the section Attempted to rest at a temple early hours of the morning but sleep wasn't a choice due to mosquitoes and tiny tree frogs. The roads were road bikeable with surprise patches appearing all of a sudden. Soon we reached the turnoff at sakhleshpur highway and we stopped for Tea and masala bun. The rest of the bunch feasted on boiled eggs either to recuperate for the climbs or prepare for the ones that lay ahead :). A rolling terrain via shanivarsanthe, sowmvarpet. Targets/milestones were set for every next town as per cue sheet so reaching the same was a priority made easier rather than look at the entire route or the distance. Breaking things down to smaller goals felt way better. We didn't spot any wildlife but many curious people as they see lycra clad, colorful riders wondering 'motorbikes struggle at places and these guys are on cycle'. The silence, low traffic, good tarmac turned out to be a very good combo for that 'Inner Peace' that I mentioned earlier and this was the start of project "Transformation Bliss".
Sowmvarpet/shanivarsanthe road
Towards Madikeri beautiful Twisty roads
Opendro checking to see that the group is intact
We reached Virajpet by late afternoon and the idea was to head to Iritty and clear the downhill section and the next target was to clear the panamaram mananthavady and Kalpeta to rest. The night was dark with orchestra by crickets and it looked like it had just rained a short while ago as we were still riding on wet roads. Periya climb was a long and steady one. All the while we could hear what sounded like rapids beside the valley and the clouds had cleared so a view of stars boosted confidence that we could expect a rain free climb. Post the climb we stopped for the pics at the control. The Hotel Highway served meals and i was content with the same. However, the next section was to be the worst when we expected a fast descent. We struggled hard to figure a path to ride and utilize the downhill but my vision was distorted by intermittent fogging and the headlight from oncoming traffic only amplified the effect. Putta and I rode much slower compared to Opendro who just rode way faster and was more like on a second recce mission on bike. After this dreaded descent, we started riding towards Kalpeta. By Panamaram Putta started struggling due to some issue with food served at Periya. Opendro too seemed to have issues with bowel movement once at Kalpeta. I felt fine as my engine seemed to have just burnt any food ingested. The pace got way slower and Opendro and I had to take a quick call whether to slow down for Putta or ride like mad men to make it to control. We decided on latter as he could rest at Kalpeta. It sure felt bad to drop Putta at that time in that condition but reaching control was just too tight. The speeds at which Opendro pulled we made it to the control 2 mins to closing time. The sight of familiar faces was truly welcoming and they soon took our bikes so we could then get refreshed and catch up with some sleep. After a refreshing shower and change of clothes i just hit the bed for a 3hr sleep. Precious time and precious little sleep. By the time I woke up I got to know that Putta had been rescued by organizers as they had to find him about 8kms away from Kalpeta in the dark. I managed to get more packs of Enerzal from Putta's stock and stuffed in the Decathlon's handlebar bag. Batteries replaced, we were now ready for the second half of the journey. We bid adieu to organizers and Putta. He was now to just get rest and take a bus back to Bangalore.
The superb team of organizers. Kudos to you guys to make the stopover a luxury
We proceeded towards Peravoor and then turned towards Gudalur section. Here's where the scenery changed yet again. Beautiful misty mornings and winding roads through many plantations. We stopped to have tea and finish the cream buns purchased last night at Virajpet. The lady at the stall offered sweet appam. We gladly loaded our tummies for the long and arduous (so we thought) climb to ooty.The ride was beautiful and the roads were very good. Once we reached Gudalur we stopped for lunch at a hotel specializing in Parota. Hot and delicious, we also managed to pack a couple of them so we didn't have to stop enroute for another break till mettupalayam. Soon we were joined by Chidu, Deepak and Major. We bid adieu and started the climb at our own pace. My intention was to listen to music during the climb and mp3 player was sitting snug in the bag and remained there for good. Opendro and I had a chat for the entirety of the climb and before we knew it the climb was over. It passed through some beautiful eucalyptus forest.
Gudalur to Ooty section
The Eucalyptus forest
Enroute Gudalur - Major and Opendro enjoying the twisty roads
Deepak and Chiddu mashing it to Gudalur
My tourer
Putta's Sidewinder
Deepak Mhasavade's fully equipped Tourer
We reached Ooty comfortably and now had the task of reaching Kotagiri. Many reviews from cyclists was that it was very steep. Nah. Not even close to what i had on mind. So that took another short while to clear and then it was mostly downhill to Kotagiri. Not as crowded as Ooty and lot of beautiful views all over. If you've been following my earlier blogs then you must be missing the climax. Yeah.. where is a flat Mr.Flat Pandian :D. 10kms to Kotagiri the front tube decided it didn't like air anymore. Time to remove the liners from the front one too. Inspected the tyre, put the new tube and pumped it up to bout 60PSI. then coasted all the way to the town where Opendro was waiting on me. Our next target was to finish the downhill stretch to Mettupalayam in daylight. So we quickly took snaps and headed to clear the stretch. The speed was way too good and the cornering was superb with 60PSI. More traction. We were only held up by other slower cars/bus. It was a fast downhill to the base of the clim and we stopped to finish the packed parota to propel us to the next control towards Avinashi. We took it at a brisk pace till Annur and stopped to have a lime soda. Suddenly, Opendro asked about control closing time and it was 8.36. and the watch revealed 8:02. So we had 20 kms to cover in 34mins. So we quickly gulped down the soda and it was back to time trial mode. Heads down and mash at a high cadence. The average would've certainly been >35kph on this flat highway with hardly any winds to disturb our momentum which sure was a saving grace. We did make it about 2 mins to control close. Only after we passed this point did we realize ther still was 20 mins added as a buffer. This was due to the roads switching to a non existent stte at Periya when compared to the recce that was done just weeks ago. We had Tea and continued our journey to Salem. We tried to rest at a couple of bus stops but due to mosquitoes we simply couldn't get any. So we decided to continue riding. The pace was increased and we tried to reach Yercaud base as early as possible so we get to climb in the pleasant morning weather. After having a couple of bananas we started the climb where we noticed a lot of people walking the initial 5-8kms . A steady pace was set and we continued riding. We managed to make it to the Yercaud control well within time. We stopped for breakfast at Hotel Shevaroy. I didn't fill up my tummy even though we'd been informed that it was all down hill till Kuppanur. But there was a nasty nasty surprise. There were some steep walls to climb before the actual downhill starts to Attur. Opendro mentioned that in a car one fails to realize the gradient and we were laughing at the thought of other rides who must have topped up their tanks to the brim considering the "downhill only" sections. Yet another fast and speedy downhill only to be slowed down by a 'Small bus' that wasn't really small. I had to stop to top up air in the front tyre as i felt them very low. While cornering i felt the tyre almost give way. Opendro did agree that it was less so we continued to the base where we had to change the tube due to a flat due to a stone hitting the tube due to super low pressure. Swapped the tube yet again and we continued. It was noon and I didn't want to ride anymore after looking at the road condition from Attur to Uthangarai. It was a sufferfest for the sore back, neck and wrists. After riding for about 5-6kms I had to stop for some cold drink and found Citra. Didn't know that this was still in production. Refreshed and tired, we continued till uthangarai for lunch. We stooped once more for a power nap for 10 mins which worked wonders. We continued to Uthangarai where we stopped for lunch. Great meals at a small hotel was just needed to replenish and prepare us for the climb to Yelagiri. We started climbing late evening and soon we had drizzle and short bouts of rain as we headed to the summit that was 11kms ahead. The last climb of this journey and we were very excited. An undramatically slow climb but we managed to reach the top and while searching for ATM, we ended up running into Slush. This clogged up the brake pads, soiled the rims and the braking only worsened the situation. So Opendro ot a 20 ltr can to help clean the bike and also top up on supplies before we head down and continue riding to Vaniyambadi where we turn towards Krishnagiri. Enroute we stopped for a power nap of 15 mins that turned out to be a powerful nap of 1.5hrs :). I simply followed Opendro until we could clear the nasty pothole ridden section. Oh, and did i mentioned that I veered off the road into the gravel due to hallucination? :) I regained control and we soon connected to the highway. We had T and i was now refreshed and took the lead for the next 50kms. This was by far the fastest leg of the journey as we were riding it like a time trial. High cadence workout and It worked perfect for both. 50kms covered in 1hr 40 mins that included 2 breaks of 15 mins. When i gestured Opendro to take over I thought he'd set a relaxed pace but that ws never to happen. He too mashed at nearly the same pace and i only just held on to his wheel and managed to rest on flyovers sections. Once at Krishnagiri we stopped for another dose of Tea and Opendro suggested that we take it slow so we reach just in time when there are volunteers and friends and family waiting at the end control. The only other stop was at coffee day for some Cafe Americano where Opendro had a powernap while i was chatting with some mobikers. 1200 kms in 90 hrs... did I just complete it? I had goose bumps we rolled into the end control. And the best part was that it was a comfortable finish and I relived my first Brevet memories with my brevet buddy Oepndro. I dedicate my finish to this Superhuman Samurai with a never say never attitude.
My brevet buddy. What a superb ride it turned out to be !!
The finishers from Cleated warriors
End credits: Major Srinivas -- This ride wouldn't even have seen the light of the day had it not been for your help in getting me recovered from pneumonia 2 weeks prior. Putta Narasimhaiah -- Thank you for the timely assistance and the training for BITH with hill repeats. One of the good times where I thoroughly enjoyed the training sessions despite breaking a lot of sweat. Opendro -- You truly are an inspiration to many and to me this 1200 was more than double the fun and a great learning similar to our first Brevet 600 back in Apr 2011. Rajesh (My team manager)-- For approving leaves. Hadn't mentioned the reason behind the same but it sure will be a surprise one when he gets to read this blog :). Thank you Rajesh. Shivraj (Wheelsports) -- Who toiled long hours on my bike to get it back to glory, the Flite 300 with 2300 groupset. Compact crank with a 11-32 casette. Pretty much the perfect one for this ride. Kiran (aka Tusker) -- There's a whole lot more to just this ride as the assistance I've been getting doesn't pertain to this ride or just this bike.
Organizers -- Saying you've done a great job is an understatement. You were simply superb and the efforts taken to ensure riders are at ease and comfort I suppose is partly the reason for the renewed motivation and energy levels to ride the remaining miles. Kudos folks !!
Elevation 13887 mts
Event
Brevet of 1200km
Start
Bangalore, BTM Layout Pizza Hut
End
Bangalore, HDFC ATM, BTM layout
Location
Bangalore
Start Time
Time Limit
Organizers
Bangalore Bikers Club (601002)
Fuel: Fried rice, Parota, More fried rice, Bananas, Enerzal/Gatorade in generous quantities, superb meals at Uthangarai and most of all, the motivation from fellow rider Opendro.
The entire route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10555502
Plans brewing over weekdays isn't something new and with so many being cancelled at the last minute, i only worried about getting some mileage prior to the big day. So the commutes on the single speed started. I couldn't replace that for mountain terrain training but something is anyday better than nothing. Spinning higher (cadence) just kept the muscles in a state so they could spin atleast to some extent on the day of the sufferfest. It started with Putta and I thinking about a ride from Bangalore to Ooty, staying there for a day and returning by Monday morning.
Ze Participants Finally : 5 participants ready for a mundane monday :). I wonder if it could've gotten any better. Really? A monday? Oh Yeah!! Bring it on !! Who?
Kiran aka Tusker >> Non-stop on an MTB with hardly any rides that might give him a chance to consider seeing the summit. Putta aka Tiger or BlackMamba >> Conquer the toughest the south has to offer. Anantha aka Dreamer >> Music on, pistons on !! Krishnan >> The beedi body cyclist aiming for a non-stop. Finally me Gans/Gana >> Music on and aim to finish non-stop hopefully taking less than the first attempt (1hr 45mins). Ze Plan: Rendezvous at Jayanagar (my house) at 11.30 on Sunday. Krishnan and Putta were on time but tusker waiting for Anantha turned up only by 1. Ended up watching the documentary Haute Route 2012. Motivation for the mind.
Ze Automobili: Mahindra Scorpio with Thule roof rack and Saris bones 3 rear rack.
Ze start: We managed to start only by 1.30 as we struggled to get the Saris Bones rack installed/setup and we got it nearly right.
All hands on deck to get the rack righly fit
Until we hit the mysore road, with every undulation on the road, all heads turned back checking on the rack and mind was content knowing the rack held up very well. I managed to get a few hours of sleep that evening so i was good for another 8hrs. The first stop was for a coffee and Anantha hadn't had dinner so this was a short one at a CCD after before Mandya. A little beyond Maddur I took the wheel and there were talks of taking the outer ring road, and it was a good thing we didn't as the roads were nearly empty. My second time with scorpio and very impressed with the overall package. The body roll as mentioned is evident and since it was loaded with bikes for a good cause, i think it was lesser than when the vehicle is empty. Drove through Bandipur, spotted many deer, peacocks, boar and some tamed elephants. Langurs and some bird resembling myna absolutely weren't scared of vehicles and refused to move from road. So we had to navigate around them for a safe passage. We made it to thepekadu at about 7-7.30 and stopped for a short break as Putta wasn't feeling well. Ended up puking and thats attributed to the constant body roll. I think i'd put it this way, the body roll in this one is more like a gentle rocking, enough to put the passengers to sleep :). Kiran took over and we headed to masinagudi. Thanks to Putta we had a contact who guided us to the Greenpark Resort about a km to the right after the police station. (lane opp to Masinagudi bus stand). The place was good for stay and great for someone considering riding up to ooty early in the morning and possibly a repeat in the evening for the not so sane minds :D.
While the bikes were being umounted, we requested for breakfast be prepared and hot puris and idlis with sambar and chutney. I wondered what was the best before a hard riding session. Anything oily and high in carb. So 3 puris and a lot of potato gravy (sagu) was the fuel needed for the climb. We managed to unload the bikes and prep them for the ride ahead. Started at 09:00hrs and took it an easy till the base.
At Thepekadu for a short break
Loaded Scorpio
As one descends from masinagudi towards the base and climbs for short stretches, Tusker felt the pinch and did look worried. Accompanied him till the base with the mighty kalhatty looking down upon us. Krishnan, Anantha and Putta had switched on the nitrous and started the climbs already. As soon as we reached base, i informed tusker that i'll time my climb and do a non-stop may not be a fast one. My playlist:
1. Naan Nee (Madras 2014) 2. Downtown Abbey cover - Repeated atleast thrice on the climb 3. Many songs from collection soulful Arjit like Tose Naina and Samjhaawan 4. The cinematic orchestra - the flight of birds 5. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera, Divinere
Spinning at a steady pace and matching the tunes whilst sipping gatorade lime every km was bliss. This is my first and only ever climb where i was disappointed as the number of hairpin bends kept decreasing. Skeptical, nuts, crazy, weird isn't it. !! Well but i was ready for another climb at the same pace but time constraints ensured that we descended on time to reach home by 10-11pm. Krishnan blitzed kalhatty at 1hr.29mins and i managed a 1hr.33mins. Now the wait and watch game began as to whose head would pop up around the apex of the last curve and lo behold it was Tusker on the new Polygon MTB, followed by Anantha and then Putta. A serious feat by Putta considering his first climb, tusker and his will power proven as he did a non stop climb too an an MTB that i probably would never even think of attempting. Anantha ended up with some mech issues so he had to stop to correct before restarting the pace and the chase to putta and tusker. How can this end without some selfies or groupies. So here goes:
The first lot to reach the summit
The state after the climb(Haiyyu.. haiyyu)
Jubilant Warriors
We were considering on visiting Doddabetta but we had started too late to even think of riding 32more kms of rolling terrain (from kalhatty top to dottabetta and back). So all were happy to descend down the same climb. I knew this was gruelling as i'd done it earlier and it was taxing on the shoulders as one has to be constantly on the drops for better braking power. However, the descent was made pleasurable by capturing many videos and pics of some 'pro styled cornering' and a stop for chocolate Tea and chocolates. We stopped for a good half hour relishing the different flavors of chocolates and the Tea was especially very good. I could have tried another variety but i didn't want to lose the taste of chocolate. So Kalhatty again for masala tea anyone? :P.
Towards the last hairpin putta had a blown tube and a kind mobiker from Palakkad agreed to help putta and carry the MTB till masinagudi. We unfortunately couldn't get more info or a photo as we were riding and Putta had sped away to reach masinagudi early but if he ever reads this blog, A mighty thank you from the Team Cleated Warriors. You are invited to join our pace line during our trainings (whenever we train) and (IF we train) :).
Putta managed to replace the tube replaced and we scouted a few 100mts to try and look for a place to pump air. We kept getting redirected to cycle store and they failed to understand that it is the bike valve. After a few minutes, we located the puncture repair shop and filled up the wheel (INR10). All of us were carrying pumps that support only presta. Even the polygon had a presta. Soon we reached the hotel and on enquiring, the cook was not available so we agreed to have food en-route bangalore. We stopped at a hotel before Nanjangud. 'Gulp and Thulp' was the motto with protein and carb load with biryani. I stuck to parota and dal so i don't feel drowsy during the drive. The single lane highway with potholed roads was doing no good and almost 95% of the traffic drove with high beam. Very Very frustrating drive till we reached mysore ORR. Tusker took over and i wanted to rest my eyes until we stopped at CCD near Channapatna. A hazelnut coffee to replenish my senses and i was awake for the rest of the uneventful drive till home.
Something I did forget to mention is that Anantha ended up being late and the reason ?? ...... ... Chased by non-vegetarian dogs while he was riding to Tusker's house :). When he mentioned this to us on the way to Kalhatty, there was a strange silence for a few seconds and then everyone burst out laughing !! It then dawned upon us that the species of 'vegetarian' dogs hasn't probably been found by Discovery or Animal Planet yet :D. Even more amusing was Kiran considering to do the climb in 3/4ths rather than lycra stating it is 'just' 12kms :).
An dose of entertainment long due since the weekends were spent rather as race days or a team ride. All it takes is to ignite the spark of adventure onto similar minds and the ride is on. With the original plan of a ride to yercaud and returning, i was skeptical of attempting this as the rides that i had done prior weren't even close the levels of preparation needed. However, I managed to get off work by about 3.30 and reached home in time for ensuring endurance ride checklist was followed and the bike ready on time. The rendezvous point set to silk board for 6.30, only anantha reached by 7 and we started riding together and the Chiddu later joined us at Attibele. The ride was on superb roads NH44 certain sections had cones kept to warn the traffic that the culvert is yet to be installed but it is easy to miss as there is more than a feet drop between the service road and the new flyover that is being constructed at hosur. We stopped a few times to empty tanks and gaze at the sky. It sure has been a very long time since i've looked at the night sky with so many stars. This gets better when there are no lights around you to distort your vision. Bangalore is at 2991ft and we manage to go downhill till krishnagiri at 1607ft and Salem at 938 feet. The Yercaud climb is 20Kms from the base to the last hairpin bend (20/20) and the elevation at the summit is 4634ft so an elevation gain of 3694ft in a span of 20kms. The first break was at McDonalds where we had sumptuous dinner. Some fried rice, biryani and protein rich paneer gravy. This was exactly the point when Chiddu's rear derailleur broke and he had to call off the 600 brevet. about an hour later, we started towards Krishnagiri after which we decided to form a paceline which worked intermittently about 20kms beyond Krishnagiri, we stopped for a coffee break which was quite refreshing. We rode along for a few more kms and decided to get some power nap at a truck laybye. The odomos was missing after the earlier break and we mosquitoes ensured they held their territory well. After updating stats on the social network, we left for the toll booth. Chiddu had to change the battery to ensure a safe descent at the thoppur ghats. There was a very mild drizzle right after we crossed the tollbooth which certainly was refreshing. It looks like the road has been scraped away by bulldozers and it was rough as a sandpaper. Anantha and I sped downhill and we waited for Chiddu. We started riding together and the next milestone was the Salem toll booth. We tried stop one more time to catch up some sleep and a closed shop with an open patch under the roof looked ideal but there were too many 'fans' there too :). So we started riding yet again. The next plan was to ensure we eat atleast an hour prior to climb. So we entered the byepass and stopped at Hotel Annapurna. Being the first customers, we did get some great vegetable soup to revitalize the senses and idly vada for the reserves. About 8am Anantha and I started the climb. However, Chiddu had stopped at an lbs to attempt to fix a wobbling wheel due to a loose cone moreover, he ended up with a broken spoke So he managed to fix the same and started soon. Usually i listen to songs on any ride but this time i used the mp3 player only for the climb and it worked its magic very well as i settled into a rhythm, enjoying the scenery and as the numbers on hairpin counts increased, i payed close attention to the weather change. Upto hairpin 10 it is a steady climb and beyond that cool breeze keeps the engine cool as you pound. At about 16th hairpin bend, the scenery changes as you're surrounded by tall trees and some beautiful view all around. A selfie at the yercaud board and the clock indicating 1hr 45 mins, i returned to stop at hairpin 20/20 for Anantha. I relaxed for about 10 mins then i decided to start on the downhill when i met Anantha at the 19th hairpin bend. The weather was pleasant and we decided to ride downhill and wait at the halfway point where there is only one stall serving watermelon, pineapple cucumber and figs. Feasted on those and chiddu soon joined us. We decided to wait at the base at some hotel and we had hot parotas and curry and this sure was enough to keep the tummy happy till the return to bangalore. We decided that it was better to start to bangalore so we could return and get rest. Messaged chiddu that we are starting for bangalore. We reached Salem new bus stand and found that the KSRTC bus was only for evening/night. So we boarded the limited stop Bangalore express and paid 310 for the ticket and lugguage per person. All we could remember is the stops that the bus made at dharmapuri, kaveripattinam, krishnagiri, hosur and finally Silkboard. Took us about 5 mins to unload the bikes and soon we were on our way back home. At Salem Toll
