Showing posts with label cycle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cycle. Show all posts

Monday, August 17, 2015

Bangalore-to-Trichy - A-jolly-weekender

A sabbatical from the 'fun' rides most of this year, I couldn't decline the irresistible offer for a weekend ride. This starts with a casual meet at Wheelsports Marathahalli. The most important component for this ride to become a reality would be the 'license' to ride from the home ministries. With both my leave and license (partially approved), Shyam and I waited for Kiran's confirmation.

Thursday - The anxiety attack as usual prior to the ride. However, this time I did manage to get twice as many hours sleep than usual. Next, the bike. Due to a nasty crash during the Nandi race, the rear derailleur had gotten entangled in the rear wheel and the hanger was broken. This had been ordered by Happy Earth Enterprises but this would take a few weeks before this bike can be brought to a riding condition. Wheel at one store, frame at another, my bike wouldn't see the tarmac anytime soon. Over the last couple of years I've had my eyes on a carbon candy that caught my attention at Wheelsports Chamrajpet. Seriously considering an upgrade wasn't really on my mind until the candy was built up with Tiagra 10speed groupset and then shifted to the Marathahalli store. Every day that I visited, I was tempted just take that bike out for a spin. I finally gave in and asked Kiran (Tusker) to transfer the 105 from the Flite 300 to the Flite 750. Only then did we realize that the right shifter was not shifting down and to add fuel to the fire, the rd cage too was bent as the pulley was hitting the cage when extending. Not so good signs. Also the right shifter wasn't shifting at all. A superb stroke of luck when we found that there was a brand new right shifter available that was then installed. Next, a shiny silver 105 rear derailleur was installed. So effectively it was a brand new bike with only an old left shifter and stem :D. The chain too had to be replaced as it had gotten twisted in the crash.

Friday - The excitement continues as this is one of the rides on my list and somehow didn't see the light of the day. This turned out to be just the opportunity. The right wrist ache continues since the crash but on the brighter side, there are no fractures/dislocations which has been confirmed with an X-Ray. A maiden voyage for Shyam's  'Tusky' (XUV 500) and my Flite 750. We started a lot later than the agreed time. Met at silkboard and we drove to A2B from where we had breakfast and then started the ride. We hired a driver (Yogesh) so the support car could be with us for the duration of the trip. The plan was to catch up with the car every 20-30kms. After a heavy breakfast at A2B, we started for Krishnagiri. The heat was a killer and occasional headwinds didn't assist either. The miles rolled by on this super wide and a descending highway. Next milestone was Dharmapuri. A rolling terrain till Dharmapuri toll. We tried to paceline for a bit and then it turned into a cat and mouse game.  Shyam rode strong but he did feel the relentless heat. By the time we reached Thoppur ghat, Shyam was exhausted from the heat and opted to take the car. Tusker and I waited at the tool and once Shyam reached, we started to descend the ghat. It was a quick descent and then Kiran rode strong and was soon a few hundred mts away from me and maintained the pace. The cadence was high and but can't say the same for energy levels. We had one rider down and we were descending to the Salem Flats. Despite the heat, Tusker and I rode with high cadence and I suppose we hit the average of atleast 35kph. There were no cyclocomp to measure as mine was a new bike, Tusker was riding shyam's wheelset and the spoke magnet wasn't swapped from the wheel and Shyam was about 10-15kms ahead and waiting for us at Saravana Bhavan. The lunch was sumptuous and we then continued to ride at a steady pace to reach the Day1 rest stop which was  Hotel Estancia just before the 5 roads junction. The dilemma now was whether to continue riding to Yercaud directly or to rest at hotel for a while and then ride by 4 in the evening. I'm mighty glad that we chose the latter. You may be wondering why.

1. Heat has been a killer on the highway and on the climb it is only amplified.
2. My drivetrain had a mind of its own. Automatic transmission as if saying 'No Hill assist'.

Checking in to the hotel had its own share of problems (from a rider's perspective). An overcast sky, a swimming pool visible from the room and the mind is easily switches to the nirvana mode. However, I was most eager to test the 750 on the climb and remained adamant to ride to Yercad. Shyam had a rendezvous with his school friends so the ride to Trichy remained the critical task on his wishlist. So considering the heat exhaustion it was decided that he'll be in the support car while Tusker and I started the climb after filling water and enerzal at the base of the climb. Shyam offered his phone to be used as cyclocomp and what a lovely surprise that turned out to be. I stopped momentarily at the  start of the climb as he fired up its sensors and every 100mts or so it voiced out the distance/time elapsed/elevation gain. A superb touch to keep the motivation going. A grave mistake turned out to be the selection of cassette, Since my rear wheel was awaiting replacement of broken spokes, I had left the wheel with the cassette. The spare Ultegra cassette however it was a 12-23. This wasn't a big issue as much as the auto shift mechanism. The crank was 34-50T (compact) and  I had a hard time keeping the chain at 30 - 23 and it kept shifting to 19 and then i had to upshift to 21 which was stable. The moment I shift to 23, I hear the chain rub on the FD and after a few 10's of meters, it auto shifts to 19 :(. Very very frustrating when i'm happily settling into a rhythm of climbing. Despite these niggles, I managed a 1hr 30 mins timed from base to the last hairpin bend, closely followed by tusker with 1hr 35 mins. I'd love to do the climb again with the right ratios to keep the cadence high but that's a deal for another day. Time to rejoice for the accomplishments of Day 1. It was about 6pm and getting darker. We then decided to head to the hotel for the much needed shower and a sumptuous dinner. Day 2 was yet another exciting day for me as we head from Salem to Namakkal (60kms) and then turn off the NH7 onto Trichy (80kms). The highway ride was good till about 9 after which the heat started getting intense. We stopped at Namakkal for a dose of glucose and some Bovonto :). I must say I never was a fan of Bovonto until this ride. That pretty much propelled me all the way to Trichy with no other food stops except one for a Tea break. The roads got pretty bad so the support car did turn around to wait and pick me up. The roads for about 10kms were broken. Well I'd rather say, there weren't any. Perfect for the XUV "The Tusky" but not the KHS 750. So I gave in and we relaxed for the next 20kms. I was too tempted to ride as the tarmac got better. So we stopped again and started riding. Next stop, Trichy. The familiar sights and sounds of toll gate and traffic soon we entered Trichy crossing the Cauvery bridge. Very patchy with nasty gaps in bridge sections. We stopped for a couple of photos and then headed straight to the School where Shyam studied. Yet another lovely place and soon we rode into the campus where there was a cricket match in progress. Many kids surrounded us with bewilderment and soon the questions followed. How, what when where and the big question WHY!! As we answered them Shyam's classmates too were wide eyed about this accomplishment. Shyam had set out to finish what was planned and what an end to a great trip. I couldn't sleep but Tusker switched to slumber very quick :D. Shyam was awake so we decided to head out for a walk. The hotel (Hotel Breeze) we stayed was adjacent to the main bus stand. A short stroll and we walked into a mall soon the snacks followed. Jigarthanda. Looks like Tusker might've heard our order and he soon asked where we were. With the sound of some calorie load, he soon joined us. Shyam had to leave as he had a reunion planned. We then decided to return the same night so we reached hotel had dinner and then started by 11pm. It was a good thing the bikes weren't mounted as it rained almost constantly till Krishnagiri.

The photolog continues

Thanks to master shivraj for getting the bike ready quick for the maiden ride

At Mcdonalds near Shoolagiri (Start of our ride)

Right after krishnagiri

Former Mr.Salem

 After descending the Thoppur Ghat section

Tuskie and Bikes geting rest

Super before reaching the hotel

Hotel Estacia and the bikes


Yercaud range and the pool view from room

Yercaud lake

Dinner at Estancia 


Tusker's Ride

Shyam's ride


Day 2 - Independence Day ride to Trichy

Enroute Trichy (on the Namakkal - Trichy highway)


 An adamant rider continues 

The cauvery bridge at Trichy 

All three bikes packed inside the XUV

Awaiting the return to Bangalore



Saturday, June 27, 2015

Brevet 600 a third attempt Eureka !!

After a sabbatical from endurance rides I decided to re-open the Brevet account. The previous two attempts were a failure as i gave up at 400km on the same route. So this certainly was one of the rides where a failure was simply not an option. Another factor in deciding on this ride was to identify my strengths and weaknesses and manage the resources well. There were about 6 registrations in total and only two riders in the end. Putta and I were the only riders at the start point so this felt like a CW special (Cleated warriors Edition). Reached the start point at 2.30 and waited for Chiddu (Organizer) and Putta to arrive. It turns out that Chiddu got delayed as he was assisting an accident victim near Jayangar. We managed to then start by 3.45AM. A nice chatty ride on the outer ring road till we connected to NH4 past yeshwantpur. From here it was an all highway ride and Chiddu sped ahead as he had to attend a cycle rally at Tumkur. Stopped for breakfast at Kamat Upachar and i must mention the awesome pongal that was served. This propelled us for another 100kms and our first control was at Hiriyur. Cloudy skies and nearly empty highways turns out to be a great recipe for such an endurance ride.  

27/06/15  12:06hrs - Reached Hiriyur control with about 4hrs to spare and took an ATM slip as well as a photo by the ATM as a backup. Next stop for control was Ranibennur however our short term goal was to reach Chitradurga for lunch. Soon the headwinds and cross winds started and Putta could relate to the video i had shared a day earlier of a few riders struggling to ride in some nasty crosswinds. I was mentally prepared to take this route without any complaints. Lookup to ensure the road is clear, heads down and just keep pedaling and let the miles roll by. There are so many things to notice during any such ride. Fertile black soil on either side of the highway as we headed towards Chitradurga at many places and look like the new batch of crops have been planted and the seedlings sprouting.  The stuff of geology that i could recall and relate what learnt in high school :D. We stopped at a dhaba but he mentioned lunch will be delayed and only Dosas could be made and we just opted for a single dosa each and headed out to Chitradurga toll. However, a few more kms, we found another dhaba and stopped yet again and this time We stopped before the Chitradurga toll and had some fried rice and buttermilk. A half hour break and putta rested on the chairs to rest his back while i relished fried rice. This is one food that can't be messed up and the only issue is when half cooked rice is served. Else just gulp it down with butter milk or Chaas known in hindi. We reached davangere with some continued bout of headwinds and crosswinds. I was riding strong and Putta even stronger. Enroute we met The 1k gang, Ashok, Anup and Somaskanda. They looked pretty fresh and were on a good speed to make it a speedy return to Bangalore. We stopped 

27/06/15 21:48hrs - The road from turn off from high way till the control was a ride on a bad stretch of road filled with potholes. I rode ahead while Putta followed close. Every single vehicle was using high beam and none to use the dipper. We made it quick at the Ranibennur control and were out of the town in 5 mins. Felt great to be back on the highway. We now were glad that we were out on the highway and had a gleeful smile as we noticed the wind direction and voila Tailwinds. After the two failed attempts i get to ride and experience what it is like to ride in the tailwinds. We were hitting an average of 35 with ease. As we neared Davanagere, Putta was leading and hit a pothole pretty hard and before he could stabilize he hit another. As i followed closely i too ran over the same set. Pinch flat on the front wheel so i got ready to do an F1 style pitstop and it sure was one. Once the front was fixed only then we realized the rear too was flat. So out comes the second spare tube and while Putta manages to get the spare, i've already unmounted the tyre off the rim and taken the tube out. Inspected the liner for any debris, installed the new spare. Both managed to share the pump as we had to take it to atleast 90PSI. This took about 20 mins and we continued with an avg of about 30. The weird part was that my cyclocomp was acting funny as it continued to mention that i was rolling when i certainly wasn't. However this one was perfectly calibrated with the readings on cue sheet. The earlier Sigma 906 despite having it configured as per the manual, the reading was off by 3-4kms for every 100kms. I managed to reset the cyclocomp at Ranibennur so we could guage the distance atleast for the duration of the return or until Hiriyur after which the next control was at Hessaraghatta. I tried a power nap for 10 mins at Guilalu toll booth but a dog ensured that it didn't need guests and simply kept barking and soon mosquitoes joined the bandwagon. To our surprise, there were no shops opened considering it a busy toll booth. Then as we started to leave we found one stall open so we had a few cups of coffee and then continued riding. I thought i felt better but after maybe about 10-15kms the hallucination mode got enabled and the bike lane marker looked more like a pit rather than a line and i then relayed to Putta that i need to get some sleep and he obliged. Found the next Dhaba and i slept for an hour shamelessly as he guarded the bikes. I believe he managed to rest his back but probably ended up with intermittent sleep. I have to ensure that my buddy riders get to rest as much as i do from any future rides. After a refreshing sleep Putta woke me up and it took us a while to get warmed up again. But Putta then blazed right past the slow trucks during the uphills and i was trying hard to keep up. The average till the exit to Chitradurga would've been more than 35kph. Tailwinds continued to keep us company and just as we exited the town, we saw two riders who were doing the 400 Brevet (Chitradurga and Back). Exchanged pleantries and we continued as we wanted to be at Hiriyur as early as possible so we have enough time at hand to take it nice and easy till tumkur and Nelamangala. The pace setting continued and we rode at a very good average till about 5kms to the Hiriyur control when Putta had another flat. So out comes the third spare tube and we swap it out and get going in less than 10 mins. 

28/06/15 08:14 hrs -- ATM slip for confirmation taken and we head out back onto the highway.  Yet another flat for Puttabut this time I suspect it was a badly patched spare that i had brought along. So we again changed tube and while putta was busy refilling air, i got busy with using the pre-glued patch and keep one spare ready. I believe we still had about 30-40kms to tumkur when this happened but post this we saw some sunlight but mostly an overcast sky which made the ride so much more comfortable. The next stop was Kamat upachar right past the Tumkur tollbooth for a sumptuous meals.We loaded up and continued to head to Bangalore. For the first 3-5kms the pace was slow then putta slowly increased it and maintained visual as we drifted apart slowly. On the flyovers i managed to reduce and with downhills he sped away. 

28/06/15 16:35 hrs -- We arrived at Hessaraghatta and continued to ride at a steady pace towards hessaraghatta but there was no party waiting for us. Informed the organizer and we took photos alongside the ATM as the printer wasn't working. So we had finished this ride with 5hrs to spare which is my personal best. I think there is some special connection to the 600 Brevet as my Brevet ID is B600 and my start to randonneuring was with a Brevet 600 and i must've done about 4 of them till now. The other brevets not so much. Nevertheless, i had a great companion for this ride and I'm thankful to Putta for this ride. It was not difficult but it wasn't easy either. So the body is able to keep up with a ride of such magnitude and since i've managed the resources well i think i'm ready for the next installment. Until the next one, it is adios for now. Here are some pics captured during this ride. 

At the start point CCD MG Road


 At the Sira Toll booth

Headwinds continue and we top up on electrolytes

Mostly desolate highway but a couple of close calls with Speeding Volvo's 

Putta selfie or is it !!

The essentials kit for this trip

Lunch at a dhaba right alongside a farm and winds aplenty

Some rest for the machines as we top up on fuel

Overcast skies keeping us company 

The 1k gang (who were on the return leg to blr, Putta and i still had 35kms to u turn point




Monday, May 28, 2012

Velo Kerala - Day1 - Ernakulam to allepey !!!

Ever since I began cycling, the dream of riding the green routes in God's own country always remained a far fetched desire. The leaves from last December were still pending and now seemed to be the perfect time to utilize them. Tempting as it may seem the decision was quickly made for a week's vacation. The accommodation was booked in Ernakulam 5 days initially. This had to be shortened due to conflict with the TCS 10K.

The surge of excitement kept me on my toes till the 27th. I managed to finish the TCS 10 run under 55 mins and was contempt with the achievement. Return Tickets booked in KSRTC Airavata Club Class Mercedes coach. The boarding point was Shantinagar BS at evening 7.30. After a quick check with Ajith Jagadish ( another cyclist that I met earlier on a ride to mysore) and he confirmed his readiness for the trip. Such was his attitude about this trip that he wasn't interested in knowing the routes or destination. Just wanted to get the bums on the saddle and ride till the legs beg for mercy. That's a great spirit and certainly is a mind over matter as one gets to face the challenges during the unplanned trip. Little did we realize that there was so much more in store for us than what we had on minds. 

The excitement begins as soon as we meet at Apple istore at Raghavendra swamy mutt 5th block. A km into riding, I quickly lose sight of Ajith. Dang, he rode like a stung bee. After a couple of attempts to reach him on the phone caught up near cosmopolitan club and then we continued against traffic on the one way all the way to Ashoka pillar and then towards inner roads that leads to shantinagar bus stand. This was a quick huffy puffy ride and my T shirt was wet in no time.Only once we stopped I understood the scale of Ajith's luggage. He almost had a caravan on his back rather than a 'backpack'. As we waited for our bus we caught up on the daily lives and the BBCh races. As usual my X6 gets to show its carl zeiss magic hence out it comes from my pocket and I'm clicking away to glory. Then we see the Mercedes Benz coach that we're supposed to board and soon load our bikes and not without the fuss from the conductor who asks us to remove the pedals. We tell him that the wheels will be removed and then we'll mount them vertically. As the passengers had boarded the conductor reluctantly agreen to just push the bikes in and do we did and I secured the bikes against the side rails in the luggage compartment. Luggage cost = 330 as per ticket for two bikes. Thats all ??  Absolutely not. You've got to grease the hands of the conductor else he simply doesn't allow your bike. Add another 70 and he's satisified and I got my change for Rs.500 only at the destination. He was happy to pocket Rs.170 if not bothered. 

Here's how the bikes were loaded ::


 After confirming the PNR number we got seated and had a relaxed drive till the dinner stop at McDees on Hosur road just beyond hosur. The service at the hotel was delayed hence we were the last passengers to board the bus when one gentleman started yelling about the delay. I happily chose to ignore him as my tummy was happy and it was time to settle in to sleep like a baby as per the advertisement outside the bus :-). However Ajith had some nice rebuttals ready and after a few comments the angry businessman mallu finallys shut up and we got moving. Fast forward 9 hours @ Vytilla. We soon near vytilla junction and then head to the KSRTC Inter state bus stand. Reached the bus stand at 6 AM and we could smell the wet earth from early morning shower.  Soon it was time to get the bikes out. I headed out to collect change while Ajith managed to reassemble the bikes to riding condition again. Just had to remove the disk brake spacer and put the front wheel back on my 4300D while Ajith's bike was a simpler task of fixing the front wheels back again. Soon we consulted the GPS on Ajith's mobile and we had to reach Panampily nagar and as per GPS it was a good 4 kms away. As it looked like it might rain again, he stopped to pull out a secret weapon to protect his luggage, a secret/hidden waterproofing for his "caravan".


After about 15 mins of riding we reached panampilly nagar and started looking for the BSNL stay. A few mins of confusing directions from the caretaker we managed to locate it and secured our bikes against some pipes. It was like a duplex villa but with rooms on the inside called suites. 

The Goof Up # 1 The one booked for us was Suite 2 and we happily entered Suite #1. Once we had freshened up, we quickly switched over to Suite#2.

We then loaded our bags into Suite #2 and started a ride towards Allepey/Alapuzhzha, our first of the Trifector destinations on this vacation. Having done the extensive homework on mapping routes and checking with google street view for the road and weather conditions, he route for Day1 ran along the coast as depicted in the pic below 
The road conditions were top notch. Hmm I should use more biker friendly terms. So let me rephrase... The roads throughout were road bike friendly except 10 kms (there is a right and an immediate left about 200mts away at kanamaly) which is
super MTB friendly.

The road bike friendly streches:


The MTB friendly 10km stretch:

The humidity levels were high and we were sweating however, due to the green cover and quite a generous amount of shades time an again the hot rising from the tarmac was being cooled and was a pleasant experience. The early morning showers also were a boon in keeping the heat under control. We managed to stop at a couple of places to sip on limca/Mirinda. One tip to whoever manages to read this blog is to avoid coke/limca/thums up etc. Mirinda is probably the only drink that can be trusted. Limca and coke taste very different. To me it felt as if a mechanic had refilled the bottle. There was an aroma of grease. you might want to blame the shop for improper storage but I had similar experience in two different stalls. Halfway through the trip my urge to sit by the beach was at an all time high and soon we found ourselves at thyckkal beach. The gadgetry instinct kicked in and I started clicking pics of my bike and trying my photography skills. Soon the instagram monster arrived with his Asus Transformer prime and managed to capture video of me riding the trek by the beach onto the waves. This feat had to be repeated a few times. Why why??

1. The first time Ajith tried to capture he missed it some how. 
2. The second time he had forgotten to set it in video mode. 
3. I had lost momentum once and was riding in the lowest gear :-)

The Instagram monster :

Thyckkal Beach

My Trek by the beach along a boat.

 Experiment with new methods/modes of capture
All in all it similar to the "ride-in-beach" just like the drive in beach in Muzhappilangad and hardly any crowd when we entered but soon we could see considerable groups of people entering the waters. Though I had my trusty Nokia X6 working its magic via carl zeiss and capturing the natural colours it was no match for the Asus Transformer Prime. The video was HD and of stunning clarity. After the harsh ride on the 10km stretch the rear wheel on Ajith's Trek had a bend and the brake levers were swaying when on the move. So we tried to fiddle with the brake settings without much luck. Soon it was good enough to be on the move but with the bend still conspicuous, we decided that it will be sorted out once we were back in the room in Cochin. Nibbling on the energy bar equivalents that Ajith managed to source from abroad, we managed to reach Allepey at  3pm. Once the batteries are near-empty, a cyclists eye then assumes that it is a hawk eye and looking out for prey which then was visible to us as Al-Firdouse restaurant. Unfortunately only meals was available and nothing else and fortunately, atleast that was available :-). It was after a long time that i ended up eating Kerala rice which resembles the idly rice locally available however a new luncheon experience is never an unwelcome to a bleary cyclist. I finished my meal as quick as a woodpecker drills. Ajith on the other hand took it nice and easy which gave me more time to realize that we in fact were at Allepey or Alappuzha. We had next hour and a half at our disposal to explore the backwaters and soon we hit a small trail alongside a channel that was covered in weed. We followed the trail for about half a km after which we hit the main road which was narrow but the water was clear of weed and we hoped that we could see houseboats soon.In about 15-20 mins of riding we were at a T-Junction and our cameras were probably just bobbing in the pouches ready to swing in to action.
Action >>  Camera  >> Click, Click,  
Crossed a small bridge to ride alongside the mini-channel.
 

Off the trail and on tarmac to reach marine expressways.

WOW. So many houseboats, ferry boats, mini boats containing goods for for transit, Canoes boats resembling shikharas of the north. I was amazed and dumbstruck by just looking at the sheer number of houseboats. Wild thoughts prevailed. I recalled the 'boating' experiments of my schooldays when I used to make paper boats of which i knew only two kinds. The really standard and the knife boat (Had a protruding extension at the base of the boat). The spark to try something new was probably missing and that might explain why i didn't build houseboats that ride the rainwaters :-). Would've been a rocking houseboat at that. Soon Ajith parked his bike by a tree and we started clicking pictures of each houseboat that passed. We stood by another small boat that was used to carry some kind of a fruit that resembled mango but learnt that it was poisonous and had medicinal value. Maybe the reader can shed some light as to what that fruit is..!!

And now some houseboats... (courtesy - My Nokia X6)

This one come to park for a short while.







On the way to the market


Something like Shikara but a lot smaller

As we didn't want to miss the sunset, it was a fast paced ride avg 28kph all the way to the Alappuzha beach. The sight of the ocean is a perfect finish for the day's ride. Or was it? As we pushed our bikes on the beach sands, a thought struck us why not try riding. Ajith managed to ride for about 30mts before stopping. Then I tried but only to stop at 10 mts :-) and it was so much fun watching the wheels getting sucked by sand. Then we pushed the bikes nearer to the shore. My trek had a stand while ajith made a "Sand stand".



The bicycle 'limits'

Love this pic




At this point you'd be expecting a wrap up and end of excitement for Day 1 and head back to the room. And.... you are absolutely...... Wrong.!!! Ajith captured many pics of the sunset. After clicking he kept the Asus transformer on the handlebar over the bag. Then.. disaster, a big wave went right through the wheels of his bike as his bike was parked against one of the pillars of the pier. The tablet fell in water and what a shocker I could do nothing to rescue it as i was farther from his bike. Ajith rushed quickly and picked the tablet which was being dragged into the ocean by the waves. The next half hour was spent trying to drain the tablet off any water that has entered via the ports. There was trouble switching it off. With a dismal note we left the beach. We hit the MCR ( Main coast road) which was an NH and soon found a truck to draft which went good for about 10kms. then we stopped for dinner and had some tasty dosa. It was a quiet dinner as I was exhausted drafting the truck at an avg of 45+kph. On a roadbike it would've been a different ballgame but on an MTB there was lot more confidence just because of the disc brakes. After dinner we managed to hitchhike on a tempo traveller for the next 30kms to panampilly nagar junction. We headed to the room to catch some sleep as we had an early start for tomorrow's big adventure. How would tomorrow be like? More riding in the highly humid conditions ? More drafting? Hitchhiking? tender coconuts?

Wait for the Day 2 report..!!