4 riders started out on a warm Saturday morning at 06:15 from SavethaDental assembly point. Riding was in formation.
Goutham (lead)
Roshan
Pritam
Barani (sweep)
Cruising speed was 80km with brief bursts of 100 to catch up.The firsthalt (07:30) was at Red Chili outside Ranipet. The place was justopening and took 90 minutes to get breakfast!The next stretch was to Vaniyambadi turn off and that is when the funreally started. The WINDING road was recently tarred, smooth and withminimal traffic. Riding was at a very nice clip and the curves were apleasure to take. We breezed through Tirupattur & Harur. And thenRoshan's bike came to a sudden Halt. Turned out his rear mud guard hadcome loose and was scraping the tyre. A temporary fix saw us gettingslowly into the next town where repairs and refuelling was done.Stopped for "Lunch" at kuppanoor and of course they were out ofmeals. Had Egg dosa & parota for a grand total of Rs 86/-!!!
The right turn to Yercaud saw us take the Ghats at a rapid rate andfor me this was my first attempt at hill riding. Narrow smooth road,lots of bends, NO indications of U turns was quite a challenge. Madeit to the top without much issues and checked into the Hotel. Everyonecrashed off and woke up around 6:30pm. Dominic joined us in his Innovaat 8PM and we got ready with the snacks for the evening fellowship.Cold dinner at 1am wrapped up the day.
Next morning we were joined by Anthony and Michelle fromCoimbatore. Started at 11am and drove directly down hill which wasvery easy. Decided to do a long ride so continued non stop to pastHarur. Only incident was a bus driver who decided to join ourformation and was tailing Goutham for quite a bit.We then drove intthe heat and stopped for lunch 40km before Ranipet. Decided to headout directly to Chennai post luch. Dominic split of at Ranipet.
The rest of the team reached Saveetha Poit at 6 PM when the sun wasjust setting.
A very nice & smooth ride especially for a Recruit.
Pritam
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
V40 @ R M X 2010
V-40s ride to RM-X @ Vikramgad
Ride at first light and keep riding hard until sun down; this was our game plan for our trip to rider mania, RM-X at Vikramgad. The venue was a nature resort around 120 kms north of Mumbai, off the Mumbai – Ahmadabad highway and we planned to make the trip in 3 days. Six “On any Surface” riders from V40 had planned to make the 3,000 kms round trip.
With the exception of Dom, it will be the first Rider Mania event for all of us. For me (Ram), it will be the first big ride itself. The only other rides I have done has been the overnight to Yercaud for the photo shoot (see earlier trip report “A bridge too far...!!!... A recruit's first ride”) and a day ride to Pondy the weekend before we left for RM-X with Mahesh to help in run in his new Classic 500. I was also the only rider in this pack riding a totally un-modified stock bike. I still had issues making the curves on ghat roads and had doubts on my ability to keep up when there were rough patches.
Original plan was to jump off at first light from the usual starting point at Savitha Dental on the Poonamalee bypass on Wed 20th Jan. Since three riders, Dom, Sudeep and Sankar were already in Ranipet getting their bikes ready, we moved the jump off point to Ranipet. Goutham and I decided to ride out on Tue 19th to Ranipet while Prakash who was riding his new Classic 500 will ride out early on 20th and join us at Ranipet.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 19Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1815 Hrs.
Jump off @: Chennai, Poonamalee Bypass.
Target destination: Dom’s place in Ranipet for an overnight halt.
Distance to cover: 125 kms.
# Riders: 2; Goutham and Ram.
Route Plan: Plan to take NH 4 all the way to Ranipet / Walajapet and exit highway
I was the first to reach the usual spot on the Poonamalee bypass and used the time to get my thermal liner out of my bag and wore it. I did not realize I would need it for the night ride since it was a warm evening. However, as I approached the bypass junction, I had the chance to open up and realized that at a higher speed, the evening air hitting you could be very cold.
Goutham arrived a few minutes later and after a quick discussion on signals, we took off. Goutham led and I followed on his tail. Since I had done the complete return leg of the Yercaud ride at # 2 behind Goutham I was comfortable. The traffic was light and did not pose much of a challenge. We made it to Shankar’s workshop inside Ranipet in less than 90 minutes.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 19Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1945 Hrs.
Planned Stop: Shankar’s workshop. (En-route to Dom’s place)
Distance Covered: 125 kms
Road conditions: Good. Although riding at night, could make good speed. Usual late evening traffic. Perfect riding weather.
The next day, we were kitted up and ready to ride by 0600 hours. Prakash had already left his place in Chennai at 0430 hours and was riding towards us. He met up with us soon after we reached Shankar’s work shop.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010 (Day 1 of the ride)
Time Stamp: 0630 Hrs.
Jump off @: Near Shankar’s workshop Ranipet.
Target destination: Some place near Hubli for an overnight halt.
Distance to cover: 620 kms.
# Riders: 6; Dom, Prakash, Sudeep, Goutham, Sankar and Ram. Dom to lead and Sankar to sweep. Prakash rides from Chennai and catches up with the rest of the pack in Ranipet. All bikes tanked up.
Route Plan: Plan to take NH 46 to Krishnagiri and then NH 7 to electronic city, use the NICE Road bypass to Tumkur road and then proceed North on NH 4 towards Hubli / Pune
All the bikes were topped up. Formation for the complete ride was decided. Dom will lead, I will follow at # 2, Sankar will sweep. The other three quickly picked their spots, Prakash at # 3, Sudeep # 4, Goutham # 5 and will also share some of the sweeping work with Sankar.
NH 46 all the way to Krishnagiri is perfect for riding. No serious or challenging curves. As I took the Vaniyambadi Bridge, I checked my meters. I was clocking over 95 kmph. This was one bridge that I could not cross the last time I tried at the same speeds. I was feeling better now. Pass Krishnagiri, we took NH 7 to Bangalore. Here Dom opened up a little and picked up our pace. We were now averaging between 95 – 100 kmph and doing it with ease.
Once we passed Hosur the traffic density picked up rather quickly. Our pace slowed down a bit and we started looking for the sign boards for the NICE Road Bypass to Tumkur Road. Electronic city comes next. The new bypass road levies tolls for bikes too, Rs. 6 per bike per toll. It cost us Rs. 6 for the first phase and Rs. 24 for the second one. It will be a good idea to keep this money handy for a quick transit through the tolls.
With the exception of a diversion through Bannergatta this bypass is a boon to riders who wish to avoid the nightmare that Bangalore traffic is at any time of the day. Once we exited the bypass road, we joined the Tumkur road which transitions to NH 4. This portion of the highway is still under construction and progress was well below satisfactory. With our tanks (both bike and rider) running low, we stopped and refueled (both bike and rider).
Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1200 Hrs.
Pit stop: 40 kms ahead of Tumkur.
Distance Covered: 300 kms
Road conditions: NH 46 from Ranipet, via Krishnagiri and Hosur is perfect. Made good speed up to Electronic city. The bypass is still not complete. Good stretch for around 20 kms to Bannergatta and a 5 kms break forcing all vehicles into a single lane road. Slightly better than a dirt road. This is followed by another 30 – 35 kms of excellent stretch to Tumkur road. NH 4 north of Bangalore through Tumkur is still under construction. Road condition is slight better than horrible. All bikes tanked up and took a pit stop.
Once both bike and rider were refueled, we started our ride again. The NH 4 up to Tumkur is still under construction and is a series of pot holes and speed breakers. From the size of some them, I started to wonder whether there was a competition amongst the construction crews on who could build a speed bump that could break a vehicle if you took it at some speed. These were not the gradual rise and fall types build to road safety standards. These were concrete semi-cylinders buried in the road, covered in road dirt and dust; some of them were absolutely invisible until the last moment. We took a few of them at some speed causing quite a lot of discomfort. After Tumkur and the construction of the highway has better progressed. There are good riding patches that stretches for a couple of clicks interspersed by rough diversion patches. In this stretch we could pick up our pace a little.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1300 Hrs.
Jump off @: 40 kms ahead of Tumkur.
Target destination: Some place near Hubli for an overnight halt.
Distance to cover: 320 kms.
Route Plan: Stay on NH 4 all the way and start looking for a place to stay at around sundown.
Once we crossed Chitradurga we hit longer stretches of finished highway quality macadam. The time was 1700 hours at this point and we found ourselves riding through the town of Ranebennur. Goutham and Prakash needed to tank up and we took a stop here. Inquiries were made one a possible place to stay. Hubli was still just over 100 kms to go. We were told of a larger town called Haveri just 35 kms North on NH 4 with more hotel / motel options. We made for Haveri and started to look for a place to bunk for the night. After some searching Prakash and Sudeep came up with a motel just of the Highway with eating joints and a petrol pump close by. Our first leg of our run was mixed bag of excellent riding roads with some rough patches. We were still 60 kms short of our original target to Hubli. But the deficit was not something that we could not make the next day. We had clocked close to 600 kms on leg 1 with still another 500 kms to Pune to accomplish the next day.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1800 Hrs.
Pit stop: Haveri (near Hubli) for overnight halt.
Distance Covered: 300 kms (total distance for the day 620 kms)
Road conditions: NH 4 running north through Tumkur up to Davanegere is still under construction at stretches. Average speed drops down. Able to make better pace after Davanegere. Road conditions for this stretch are ideal for a quick transit.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0700 Hrs.
Jump off @: Haveri (near Hubli)
Target destination: Some place near Pune for an overnight halt (Road shakers are supposed to help us with this)
Distance to cover: 500 kms.
Route Plan: Stay on NH 4 all the way and start looking for a place to stay at around sundown.
Day 2 of our ride, we started at first light. The one lane old style highway turns into a 4-lane split system within a few miles and we crossed Hubli. Belgaum came up quickly and we made a brunch stop at a way side motel. I then remembered that this time I am carrying my camera and starting taking snaps. After this brief break we started our again and before we knew it, illegible and unreadable Kannada signs gave way of illegible and unreadable Marathi signs. We were in Maharashtra. The road all the way was bliss.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1030 Hrs.
Pit stop: A way side dhaba in somewhere in Maharashtra on NH 4
Distance Covered: 250 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. No issues.
By around early afternoon just when I started to believe I could keep up with the rest of the pack I had my first taste of the ghat roads. We hit the first tunnel and I was riding with my cooling shades and listening to music. I will regret this. As soon as we exit the tunnel, the road curved right and down pretty sharply. While the rest just kept going at the same pace they were riding I had to slow down, take the curves and then catch up with the pack again. I was expecting more of the same roads, but to my surprise we did not hit any more of these roads all the way to Shivpur were we stopped and called our Roadshaker friends for directions.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1600 Hrs.
Pit stop: Shivpur, 25 kms ahead of Pune.
Distance Covered: 200 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Ghat roads still a problem for Ram. Not able to keep up with the rest of the pack. Sankar falls back to keep Ram company and catches up with the rest of the pack on the straight stretches. We check with Roadshakers for a place to stay for the night.
We are directed to continue riding on NH 4, take the bypass to Mumbai and stop at Hinjewadi.
On the ride up NH4, I get some more advice on tackling curves. I unplug my music and do not wear my riding shades. This time when we hit the second and longer tunnel I heard the roar of six bullets going through the tunnel. It was a sound that cannot be described. Also we now had a simpler game plan. If we hit ghat roads, and I am not able to keep pace, I will take them at my pace and Sankar will sweep me until I catch up. This time around I was following some more advice and was able to take the curves a little faster and felt more in control than ever. Once the ghat roads were through we were now on the outer fringes of Pune with evening rush hour traffic to tackle.
We were still riding in staggered formation, despite the traffic and constant break ups.
During the last two days of riding we had seen the odd local biking champion trying to race us on the highway. They will speed up, over take the pack pull ahead, move left and let us go. The guy has now a story to tell his buddies of how he raced a bunch of bullets.
But on the road to Hinjewadi, there was this biker showing of to his female friend in the pillion. He raced us once, pulled ahead and we let him be as we had the others on the way. When he repeated this a second time, we still let him go, but when he did this a third time, Dom, Prakash, Sudeep and Prakash took off. Within seconds they had him boxed and pushed him to over 100 kmph and kept the close box formation on him. I guess this scared the shit out of him, he simply signaled that he wanted out and never troubled us again.
The sun waved good night to us waiting on the road side in Hinjewadi for one of the Roadshaker buds to turn up and guide us to a place to bunk for the night. And eventually given the evening rush hour traffic they did locate us and guided us to a pretty nice place to stay.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1730 Hrs.
Pit stop: Hinjewadi on the Pune – Mumbai bypass for an overnight halt.
Distance Covered: 50 kms (total distance for the day 500 kms)
Road conditions: Road conditions good. The usual ghat roads problem for Ram.
That night we broke bread with some the Roadshakers and had quite a grand evening with them. If this just a sample of the type of guys we will be riding and bunking with during the RM, we were going to be just fine.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1500 Hrs.
Jump off @: Hinjewadi on the Pune – Mumbai bypass
Target destination: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Distance to cover: 220 kms.
Route Plan: Stay on NH 4 all the way to Navi Mumbai and take the Thane – Godbunder bypass to NH 8 to Manor and exit right to reach the venue.
We had a late start the next day. Ride plan was to leave Pune in the afternoon and ride to the venue to reach later in the evening. Prakash’s bike needed some work on the front rim as he had hit a stone on the way. More of an irritant and a safety issue. Sudeep wanted to check whether he could have his front brake shoes cleaned. I wanted to get my bloody phone working on roaming. We went about our chores in the morning and by 1400 hours were kitted, loaded and ready to go. Santhosh from RE joined us with his Classic 500 and Easwar from the Bangalore club Fat Bastards had already joined us the previous evening. Around 30 Roadshakers were riding out and adding our 8 we were going to be quite a bunch on the road. I had no idea on the road conditions and I got ready to roll.
The first leg of the ride was over a 4-lane system with sweeping curves and I got my first experience of riding with another club. This was not the structured staggered formations I was used to with the V-40 riders. It was a bit more chaotic. They had a 3 to 5 bike lead creating a beach head like effect in the front. The rest just rode in the wake of the lead at there own pace and style. Speeding up and slacking off at their choice. A couple of riders swept the pack and kept them to as a tight formation as was possible.
After the first few clicks we all had to stop for banking business. Monetary needs taken care; we now got back to riding in staggered formation. And then, we hit ghat roads again. Not only I had to slow down and adjust, in the confusion of the larger pack and traffic I missed my club buddies waiting for on the road side for me to catch up and went past them. Prakash rode hard to catch up with me and stopped me. Tea break and all later, we rode out again. I could sense that I was responsible for the slower pace of the complete pack and was pushing my bike as much as I could and almost missed taking the exit the rest had taken. A brief correction and I was back in the pack and fortunately for me, the worst was over. It was the end of the ghat road and we were in a terrain I was more comfortable with.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 2030 Hrs.
Pit stop: Fountain plaza on the junction of Thane-Godbunder road and NH 8
Distance Covered: 200 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. The usual ghat roads problem for Ram.
If any of us were complaining of the traffic so far, we were going to be proved wrong. Once we entered New Mumbai, then onto Thane and then the Thane – Godbunder bypass to NH 8, the traffic proved to be thick. More and more bullet riders from other clubs were starting to appear on the road, adding to the confusion. Here the experience and skill of the Roadshakers came to bear. Their ability to make quick head counts, rely on their fellow riders to look out for each other and quickly adjusting the pack ensured that we did not have loose riders in our pack. We stuck together and came in as a pack when we rode into the fountain plaza on the corner of the Thane bypass and NH 8.
After dinner and some rest, we rode out again. This time our destination was the RM-X venue at Vikramgad.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 2220 Hrs.
Jump off @: Fountain plaza on the junction of Thane-Godbunder road and NH 8
Target destination: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Distance to cover: 20 kms
Route Plan: Take NH 8 north to Manor and exit into connecting roads to venue. Sudeep’s bikes seizes on the way. Sankar and then Dom tow it into the venue.
On the short spurt up NH 8 North there was a brief interruption as most of the Roadshakers tanked up their bikes. I was stilling running on main and not knowing what awaits me or how long we need to ride to the venue, chose to follow their example and tanked up. The rest of the V-40 pack had opted to wait it out and once I was done, we rode out. Due to the night, we missed making the turn into the side road leading to the venue and went sailing straight on NH-8. Just when we were wondering why we were not seeing any Roadshaker bikes ahead, Sachin caught up with us and turned us around. He led is back South on NH 8 and guided us to the turn. We formed up behind Sachin and rode through this single lane local road. Good surface and Sachin set up a good pace. Even through some tight turns and curves he kept the pace up. I had opted to trail the pack just in case I hit a curve I could not take and had to slow down.
Then without warning we heard a loud "thunk" noise and saw Sudeep slow down and stop on the side of the road. Sachin and the leading riders in the pack kept going while the rest of us stopped. It looked like Sudeep bike’s engine has seized on itself. We let the motor cool down and waited on the road side. Head count revealed that Dom had continued riding with Sachin while the rest were together along with some of the Roadshakers. After letting the engine cool a bit, a few kicks were attempted but the motor would not turn. It was decided to tow the bike to the venue. Prakash took lead, followed by Sankar towing Sudeep’s bike; Goutham will cover the pair while I took the tail. After a few clicks we realized we were lost. We parked on the road side and Goutham re-traced our route to figure out the right directions. After a while he returned with Dom who now towed Sudeep to the venue.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 23Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0030 Hrs.
Planned Stop: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Distance covered: 20 kms (Total distance covered - 220 kms)
The evening was still young and the two club members started the process of getting to know each other well. It was in the wee hours of the morning we hit our beds.
Sajan Nature resort was the venue of RM-X. There are now paved roads or any riding surfaces in this place. It is in the middle of a jungle. True to its ad line, “Be one with nature”, the facilities in this place was also pretty basic. In the two days we were there we found the facilities and services could barely keep up with the 600 odd guests who had landed of the event. But as bikers do, we did manage to adapt, adjust and ensured we had a good time in the bargain.
There were some strings pulled and we ended up bunking along with the Roadshakers for the three nights. Home away from home was the venues conference room, cleared of all the tables and chairs, with lines of mattresses on the floor. It could accommodate 45 per the organizers calculation, while I am sure it was fitting a lot more than that at times.
The venue itself was a refreshing change of pace for most of us living in the big cities. Fresh air, greenery all around and absolutely no city noises (except for the roars and thumps of bullets, of course).
The resort is primary a weekend get away for the Mumbaikars who come here to relax. Facilities included a dirt bike trail which we will put to good use, a rather nice swimming pool and excellent tree cover all around. The only draw back was the dust that covered every thing. This was worsened by the participants who took it upon themselves to ride up and down the single dirt road at break neck speeds. Made you wonder what they were hurrying to.
This edition of RM was being organized by the Mumbai based Indie Thumper club and they were sparing no efforts to ensure that the event went off well. Parking areas were well identified; riders from one large club were kept together as best as possible and general organization of events looked well on the plan.
The catch was going to be how well they could execute the plan.
The inaugural ceremony saw the MC call out the moderators of all the participating clubs. Prakash went out and spoke for V-40 and we had arrived for our first RM. After the round of club introductions the planned schedule fell apart. Almost every event had delayed starts and the organizers were obviously struggling strike a balance between maintaining the schedule and an atmosphere of relaxed attitude and fun. The schedule suffered.
I probably have not much to write about the events themselves. They were the usual RM style events, with the exception of one, which I must mention. The bike Olympics, towing event.
The other events were assembly wars, show of riding skills and a time trials on the dirt track. Sudeep from V-40 took part on the time trials and finished with a good time. But there were 5 others faster than him. Baljit Singh and Razza both from Roadshakers took 1st and 3rd place on the time trials.
V-40 did not participate on the other two events but Roadshakers did. They took 3rd place on assembly wars.
Bike Olympics, towing competition saw Dom and Sudeep from V-40. The event called for a bike to be towed over a 100 m long straight dirt stretch. The track started with a 50 m run down a very gentle slop, a flat trough of about 25 m and the rest a steep upward 30o incline to finish.
With Goutham and Prakash away attending the moderators meeting, I had the opportunity to shoot with Prakash’s SLR. He had already set it up and all I had to do was aim, zoom and shoot. I positioned myself on the middle of the flat stretch to catch both sides of the action and had been practicing some shots with the first few riders to get a feel of the settings. I observed that they were losing their momentum on the flat and faltering up the incline.
Then, I saw Dom take up position with his brake side leg on tow. The rest of the team had chosen to tow with their gear side legs. As soon as they set up I started to shoot, without pausing. As he started the run, I could see him pick speed down the gentle slope, allowing me to shoot 2 to 3 good ones. As he hit the flat I got one good shot and turned and adjusted the zoom following them on the flat. I heard the familiar grunt of his gear change and then the signature roar of his 500 as it accelerates. (I should know I followed him at # 2 for over a 1,000 kms). By the time I could turn and take the next shot he was almost 10 – 15 m away from me and within a second up the incline and had finished. The V40 team came first clearly beating the second placed team, Wanderers from Hyderabad, by a clear half a minute. Our sister club, Roadshakers, were placed a distant third.
We were also registered to take part in two more events, a bike fault finding / trouble shooting competition and a treasure hunt, both of them never took place due to lack of time.
Discussions about the trip back started and the team expressed their desire to ride to Chennai by way of Goa and Mangalore. This would mean a couple of more days to return and I could not afford not to be back at my desk on Thursday 28th Jan. Hence, I decided to ride back solo. This was received with mixed feelings, on one side, encouragement that I chose to do the solo and on the other caution that a solo trip this long required a good knowledge on fixing problems on the bike, a major area of weakness for me. However, I was confident and after Sankar did a quick once-over declared I was ready to go.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0700 Hrs.
Jump off @: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Target destination: Somewhere inside Karnataka on NH4
Distance to cover: Not estimated
Route Plan: Take NH 8 south all the way into Mumbai, catch the Jogeswari – Vikhroli link road to Eastern Express highway and take the Pune highway through Panvel. Take the Cinchawad bypass around Pune and catch NH 4 to Bangalore. Riding solo back to Chennai !!.
On the morning of 25th I got ready to ride back to Chennai. The feeder roads to NH 8 looked a lot easier to tackle in daylight. On the ride in we had done this in total darkness. I decided to keep a steady pace of between 80 – 85 kmph all through to Chennai and pace myself, a promise I will often break on this return trip.
Once I passed in to Bhayander the early morning rush hour traffic slowed my pace down and old instincts kicked in. Pass Borivili national park, it was reading an old favorite book again. With two years of commuting from our apartment here to my work place in Powai, I knew this road well. Then a lot of the overpasses were still under construction, but now they were all in place. I quickly made it to Jogeswari and took the familiar side road short cut to the link road that bypasses the initial choke points. Once I passed the Marol estates, L&Ts Powai campus beckoned. I made a quick decision and chose the feeder road to Saki Naka instead of taking the over bridge to the Eastern Express Highway. Thakur’s tea shop was still there. Thakur and his Chotu still serving their hot teas in front of Gate no 1. I stopped right in front of the shop and looked up to see a dozen of my old buddies having their pre-work chai.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0830 Hrs.
Pit stop: L&T Powai Campus
Distance Covered: 120 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1000 Hrs.
Jump off @: L&T Powai Campus
Target destination: Somewhere inside Karnataka on NH4
Distance to cover: Not estimated
Route Plan: Continue on the Jogeswari – Vikhroli link road to Eastern Express highway and take the Pune highway through Panvel. Take the Cinchawad bypass around Pune and catch NH 4 to Bangalore.
Had a lot of trouble convincing my old buddies that I had to start my ride again. One guy had the chagrin to suggest that I ship my bike by train and follow after a stay a couple of days in Mumbai. That did it.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1230 Hrs.
Pit stop: Unknown place on side of NH 4
Distance Covered: Not known
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Ghat road problems persists. Able to make better speeds than before. Guess practice makes perfect (at least a little better). Failed to take the Cinchwad exit for the bypass. Forced to ride through Pune to reach NH 4. Lost time due to this mistake.
The ride through the rest of Mumbai, Panvel and then to the Mumbai – Pune highway was uneventful. Only concern I had was that I had to avoid the Mumbai – Pune expressway on which Bikes are banned (I was told of a flat Rs. 1200 fine if caught).
Had been riding for an hour or so and lost track of distances. Should have stopped and asked for directions and failed to take the Pune bypass at Cinchwad and ended up riding through Pune. Lost more than an hour on this.
As I was exiting Pune, I heard the familiar sounds of a pack of bullets. At first I assumed it would be another club riding back to Bangalore or Chennai. Then I saw Dom and Sudeep pass me and I realized that the rest of the pack had caught up with me on their way to Panjim. We road the balance few clicks before they had to take the road to Panjim and I the road south to Kolhapur. There was a moment when I wanted to turned my bike and follow them. But work beckoned and I knew that it was going to be all ghats from here to Goa and then Managalore. I will only slow these guys down and spoil their fun. I waved to them and bore straight while they took off towards Panjim.
Once through Pune and past the ghat roads on the other end, I opened the 500 and started to ride for real. I kept reminding myself about the speed limit of 85 kmph and pacing myself. But the road was too good, the weather just perfect and traffic too light for me to keep this up. 3 hours later I was approaching Kolhapur.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1700 Hrs.
Pit stop: 70 kms ahead of Kolhapur before a NHAI toll plaza
Distance Covered: Not known
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Was flagged down by a car. Initially thought something was wrong. Met Sudhakar Patil. Was helpful.
Around 75 kms ahead of Kolhapur, I passed a Maruti car from which the driver waved to me. I had seen such waving from other drivers all along the journey and I just waved back and sped away. To my surprise, the driver speeded up and caught up with me, and started to flash his lights and continued waving frantically. Initially I though he was waving to some one else. But after a couple of clicks, I started to wonder whether he was waving to me. I presumed it was something to do with my bike. I saw a toll plaza come and pulled to the left in front of the security cabin. I was not sure what was going on, I kept my engine running, on 1st gear, clutch depressed and ready to go on the first sign of trouble. The driver also stopped the car behind my bike, came up to me and says, “Hi Ram how was the ride?”. That blew me away as I had never had met this guy before in my life. When I switched my bike off and removed my helmet and guy realized I was the wrong Ram. Apparently, the previous week, one of the riders coming to RM-X had a TN registered bike and was also called Ram. He had spent an evening in Kolhapur with Sudhakar Patil (the driver of the car) and it was a case of mistaken identity. Confusion not withstanding, Sudhakar immediately offered his help in locating a good motel to stay for the night and even arranged to have a room booked (at a discount too).
Thanks to him, I not only came away with a good experience but a great bargain on the hotel and food bills.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1730 Hrs.
Pit stop: Kolhapur for an overnight halt.
Distance Covered: 385 Kms (Total distance covered for the day 500 kms)
Road conditions: Road conditions good.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0630 Hrs.
Jump off @: Kolhapur
Target destination: Somewhere inside Tamil Nadu on NH7
Distance to cover: Not estimated
Route Plan: Continue on south on NH 4 to Tumkur road, take the NICE Road bypass to NH 7 to Hosur and look for a place to halt
On the morning of 26th Jan, my plan to ride at first light was delayed a bit due to heavy mist on the road. Not only was visibility poor, the heavy mist was fogging up my visor making it difficult to see. With my visor open, I could barely do 50 kmph with no improvement on the visibility. Located a road side tea stall and decided to wait for the sun god to do his thing. By 0800 hours, the mist had thinned out and visibility was good. Now I was riding again and to make up for lost time, pushed the bike up to 90 – 95 kmph, a pace I will do for the rest of the trip when the road conditions allowed it.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1030 Hrs.
Pit stop: Pass toll plaza on NH 4 before taking Hubli – Bangalore split.
Distance Covered: 200 Kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Start delayed by almost an hour due to heavy fog on road. Visor was misting up despite all efforts. Had to wait until 0800 hours to start riding in earnest.
After my experience with Sudhakar the previous day, I decided to time my breaks next to toll plazas. There are security and the toll plaza personnel at hand and a rider stopping alone could take a break with some confidence. I stopped taking breaks on empty stretches of the road here on.
At around 1100 hours, the wind picked up in 10-4 direction. This meant that I was riding into the wind cutting left to right across my bikes beam. As long as I was riding under 95 kmph this cross wind had no effect. However, if I sped beyond this speed on the rare straight stretches, the bike will start to shear right need constant pressure and correction of the front wheel. The decision to cap my speed at 90 – 95 kmph was made by this cross wind. But the problem was passing trucks. Eddies from the bow wind and washes of the trucks caused the front wheel to act crazy. The first time I passed a truck at 95 kmph, the crazy shaking of my wheel scared the life out of me. The next dozen or so trucks that I passed I had to experiment with slower / higher, speeds, passing them wide and even passing them to the left. I soon worked out a solution and started passing trucks wide. Avoided passing between two over taking trucks and took a few more seconds to slice through two trucks.
Along this section, I started to hear a distinct metallic rattle. When my bike suddenly started to choke, I pushed the fuel lever down to the reserve position and within a couple of minutes stopped at a gas station. After fuelling up, parked by bike with engine running and went over the bike. The bracket and crash guard weld had totally sheared. Removed the crash guard and made my first road side sacrifice to the 500s vibes.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1230 Hrs.
Pit stop: Pass toll plaza on NH 4 before near Davanegere
Distance Covered: 150 Kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Was aware of construction on NH 4 from here. Took a pit stop break, checked straps on my bag and braced for the rough patch. Past Hubli, strong cross wind on 10-4 bearing affects riding. Need to exercise caution while passing trucks, eddies from bow wave causes front wheel and handle bars to wobble. Start to pass wide. Unable to split through overtaking trucks or cut through two truck gaps. However does not affect average adversely.
After another quick stop, I realized the cross wind had lessened in strength allowing me to speed up on straights. Again the same metallic rattle started up again. Now I was a little worried. When I saw a road side dhaba come up, I stopped, parked my bike running and went over the bike again. The filter side box’s lock nut had come loose and was causing the rattle. Ten minutes with a plier and some helping hands borrowed from a friendly trucker, I was riding again. I did not hear any more metallic rattles for the rest of the trip (Thanks).
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1800 Hrs.
Pit stop: On the side of NH 4 a couple of kms ahead of the exit to the NICE Road bypass to Hosur
Distance Covered: 250 Kms
Road conditions: Construction work on NH 4. Lots of rough patches. Average speed affected severely. Unable to take the rough patches standing. Started to practice standing on my bike on good straight stretches. Could only make it to a sitting on bag position. Need to work on this.
After making the error of missing the Cinchwad bypass around Pune, I did not want to the same in Bangalore. I stopped and asked directions to be sure of the direction and the exit to take.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1900 Hrs.
Pit stop: On Bannergatta road pass first leg of the NICE Road bypass.
Distance Covered: Not known
Road conditions: Extremely good. Could keep at a good pace even though it was dark now. Directions to second leg of the bypass toll road is a little fuzzy. Truck drivers do not use this road. Got better directions from a bunch of bikers.
Once I hit the NICE Road bypass, I could maintain a good pace. The trouble is the bypass is not complete and there are no signs directing you from the 1st to the 2nd leg. During our earlier trip through this bypass, we made in day time with a lot of traffic and we just followed the flow. Again, I stopped and asked for directions. When I asked a trucker he directed me to the highway again. I realized that I did not see a single truck on the bypass and asked directions again this time from a bunch of local bikers. They were spot on and I made it to the 2nd leg and to Hosur road without any further trouble.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1700 Hrs.
Pit stop: Hosur (for an overnight halt)
Distance Covered: 60 kms (Total distance covered for the day 655 Kms)
Road conditions: Mixed conditions.
Once I hit NH 7 to Hosur and on to Krishnagiri, I started checking hotels. After checking with 6 or 7 hotels and turning up unlucky, I made a few calls and got a room fixed. Good place although a bit on the expensive side.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 27Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0630 Hrs.
Jump off @: Hosur
Target destination: Home @ Chennai
Distance to cover: 330 Kms
Route Plan: Continue on south on NH 7 to Krishnagiri and take NH 46 to Chennai.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 27Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1430 Hrs.
Destination: Home @ Chennai
Distance Covered: 170 kms (Total covered for the day 330 kms)
Road conditions: Extremely good
The rest of the trip to Chennai was routine. No major issues. One major difference was on NH 46 from Krishnagiri to Chennai. The highway has trees and shrubs on the curb sides to act as wind breakers. Even though I could feel a strong cross wind at times, it had no impact on riding or passing due to the existing of these wind breakers.
Saw this summary in another biker’s blog and felt that I had to do the same.
Total distance covered: 2,850 kms.
Fuel consumed: Not known. Just tanked up when ever needed
Total cost of the trip: Will calculate when I have the time. Currently busy planning next ride
Mileage for the trip: I ride a Machismo 500 not a “fill it forget” plastic toy
Average speeds: 90 – 95 kmph
Overall experience: One kick-ass ride.
Ride Safe!!
Ram aka Angrymon
Ride at first light and keep riding hard until sun down; this was our game plan for our trip to rider mania, RM-X at Vikramgad. The venue was a nature resort around 120 kms north of Mumbai, off the Mumbai – Ahmadabad highway and we planned to make the trip in 3 days. Six “On any Surface” riders from V40 had planned to make the 3,000 kms round trip.
With the exception of Dom, it will be the first Rider Mania event for all of us. For me (Ram), it will be the first big ride itself. The only other rides I have done has been the overnight to Yercaud for the photo shoot (see earlier trip report “A bridge too far...!!!... A recruit's first ride”) and a day ride to Pondy the weekend before we left for RM-X with Mahesh to help in run in his new Classic 500. I was also the only rider in this pack riding a totally un-modified stock bike. I still had issues making the curves on ghat roads and had doubts on my ability to keep up when there were rough patches.
Original plan was to jump off at first light from the usual starting point at Savitha Dental on the Poonamalee bypass on Wed 20th Jan. Since three riders, Dom, Sudeep and Sankar were already in Ranipet getting their bikes ready, we moved the jump off point to Ranipet. Goutham and I decided to ride out on Tue 19th to Ranipet while Prakash who was riding his new Classic 500 will ride out early on 20th and join us at Ranipet.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 19Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1815 Hrs.
Jump off @: Chennai, Poonamalee Bypass.
Target destination: Dom’s place in Ranipet for an overnight halt.
Distance to cover: 125 kms.
# Riders: 2; Goutham and Ram.
Route Plan: Plan to take NH 4 all the way to Ranipet / Walajapet and exit highway
I was the first to reach the usual spot on the Poonamalee bypass and used the time to get my thermal liner out of my bag and wore it. I did not realize I would need it for the night ride since it was a warm evening. However, as I approached the bypass junction, I had the chance to open up and realized that at a higher speed, the evening air hitting you could be very cold.
Goutham arrived a few minutes later and after a quick discussion on signals, we took off. Goutham led and I followed on his tail. Since I had done the complete return leg of the Yercaud ride at # 2 behind Goutham I was comfortable. The traffic was light and did not pose much of a challenge. We made it to Shankar’s workshop inside Ranipet in less than 90 minutes.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 19Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1945 Hrs.
Planned Stop: Shankar’s workshop. (En-route to Dom’s place)
Distance Covered: 125 kms
Road conditions: Good. Although riding at night, could make good speed. Usual late evening traffic. Perfect riding weather.
The next day, we were kitted up and ready to ride by 0600 hours. Prakash had already left his place in Chennai at 0430 hours and was riding towards us. He met up with us soon after we reached Shankar’s work shop.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010 (Day 1 of the ride)
Time Stamp: 0630 Hrs.
Jump off @: Near Shankar’s workshop Ranipet.
Target destination: Some place near Hubli for an overnight halt.
Distance to cover: 620 kms.
# Riders: 6; Dom, Prakash, Sudeep, Goutham, Sankar and Ram. Dom to lead and Sankar to sweep. Prakash rides from Chennai and catches up with the rest of the pack in Ranipet. All bikes tanked up.
Route Plan: Plan to take NH 46 to Krishnagiri and then NH 7 to electronic city, use the NICE Road bypass to Tumkur road and then proceed North on NH 4 towards Hubli / Pune
All the bikes were topped up. Formation for the complete ride was decided. Dom will lead, I will follow at # 2, Sankar will sweep. The other three quickly picked their spots, Prakash at # 3, Sudeep # 4, Goutham # 5 and will also share some of the sweeping work with Sankar.
NH 46 all the way to Krishnagiri is perfect for riding. No serious or challenging curves. As I took the Vaniyambadi Bridge, I checked my meters. I was clocking over 95 kmph. This was one bridge that I could not cross the last time I tried at the same speeds. I was feeling better now. Pass Krishnagiri, we took NH 7 to Bangalore. Here Dom opened up a little and picked up our pace. We were now averaging between 95 – 100 kmph and doing it with ease.
Once we passed Hosur the traffic density picked up rather quickly. Our pace slowed down a bit and we started looking for the sign boards for the NICE Road Bypass to Tumkur Road. Electronic city comes next. The new bypass road levies tolls for bikes too, Rs. 6 per bike per toll. It cost us Rs. 6 for the first phase and Rs. 24 for the second one. It will be a good idea to keep this money handy for a quick transit through the tolls.
With the exception of a diversion through Bannergatta this bypass is a boon to riders who wish to avoid the nightmare that Bangalore traffic is at any time of the day. Once we exited the bypass road, we joined the Tumkur road which transitions to NH 4. This portion of the highway is still under construction and progress was well below satisfactory. With our tanks (both bike and rider) running low, we stopped and refueled (both bike and rider).
Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1200 Hrs.
Pit stop: 40 kms ahead of Tumkur.
Distance Covered: 300 kms
Road conditions: NH 46 from Ranipet, via Krishnagiri and Hosur is perfect. Made good speed up to Electronic city. The bypass is still not complete. Good stretch for around 20 kms to Bannergatta and a 5 kms break forcing all vehicles into a single lane road. Slightly better than a dirt road. This is followed by another 30 – 35 kms of excellent stretch to Tumkur road. NH 4 north of Bangalore through Tumkur is still under construction. Road condition is slight better than horrible. All bikes tanked up and took a pit stop.
Once both bike and rider were refueled, we started our ride again. The NH 4 up to Tumkur is still under construction and is a series of pot holes and speed breakers. From the size of some them, I started to wonder whether there was a competition amongst the construction crews on who could build a speed bump that could break a vehicle if you took it at some speed. These were not the gradual rise and fall types build to road safety standards. These were concrete semi-cylinders buried in the road, covered in road dirt and dust; some of them were absolutely invisible until the last moment. We took a few of them at some speed causing quite a lot of discomfort. After Tumkur and the construction of the highway has better progressed. There are good riding patches that stretches for a couple of clicks interspersed by rough diversion patches. In this stretch we could pick up our pace a little.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1300 Hrs.
Jump off @: 40 kms ahead of Tumkur.
Target destination: Some place near Hubli for an overnight halt.
Distance to cover: 320 kms.
Route Plan: Stay on NH 4 all the way and start looking for a place to stay at around sundown.
Once we crossed Chitradurga we hit longer stretches of finished highway quality macadam. The time was 1700 hours at this point and we found ourselves riding through the town of Ranebennur. Goutham and Prakash needed to tank up and we took a stop here. Inquiries were made one a possible place to stay. Hubli was still just over 100 kms to go. We were told of a larger town called Haveri just 35 kms North on NH 4 with more hotel / motel options. We made for Haveri and started to look for a place to bunk for the night. After some searching Prakash and Sudeep came up with a motel just of the Highway with eating joints and a petrol pump close by. Our first leg of our run was mixed bag of excellent riding roads with some rough patches. We were still 60 kms short of our original target to Hubli. But the deficit was not something that we could not make the next day. We had clocked close to 600 kms on leg 1 with still another 500 kms to Pune to accomplish the next day.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1800 Hrs.
Pit stop: Haveri (near Hubli) for overnight halt.
Distance Covered: 300 kms (total distance for the day 620 kms)
Road conditions: NH 4 running north through Tumkur up to Davanegere is still under construction at stretches. Average speed drops down. Able to make better pace after Davanegere. Road conditions for this stretch are ideal for a quick transit.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0700 Hrs.
Jump off @: Haveri (near Hubli)
Target destination: Some place near Pune for an overnight halt (Road shakers are supposed to help us with this)
Distance to cover: 500 kms.
Route Plan: Stay on NH 4 all the way and start looking for a place to stay at around sundown.
Day 2 of our ride, we started at first light. The one lane old style highway turns into a 4-lane split system within a few miles and we crossed Hubli. Belgaum came up quickly and we made a brunch stop at a way side motel. I then remembered that this time I am carrying my camera and starting taking snaps. After this brief break we started our again and before we knew it, illegible and unreadable Kannada signs gave way of illegible and unreadable Marathi signs. We were in Maharashtra. The road all the way was bliss.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1030 Hrs.
Pit stop: A way side dhaba in somewhere in Maharashtra on NH 4
Distance Covered: 250 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. No issues.
By around early afternoon just when I started to believe I could keep up with the rest of the pack I had my first taste of the ghat roads. We hit the first tunnel and I was riding with my cooling shades and listening to music. I will regret this. As soon as we exit the tunnel, the road curved right and down pretty sharply. While the rest just kept going at the same pace they were riding I had to slow down, take the curves and then catch up with the pack again. I was expecting more of the same roads, but to my surprise we did not hit any more of these roads all the way to Shivpur were we stopped and called our Roadshaker friends for directions.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1600 Hrs.
Pit stop: Shivpur, 25 kms ahead of Pune.
Distance Covered: 200 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Ghat roads still a problem for Ram. Not able to keep up with the rest of the pack. Sankar falls back to keep Ram company and catches up with the rest of the pack on the straight stretches. We check with Roadshakers for a place to stay for the night.
We are directed to continue riding on NH 4, take the bypass to Mumbai and stop at Hinjewadi.
On the ride up NH4, I get some more advice on tackling curves. I unplug my music and do not wear my riding shades. This time when we hit the second and longer tunnel I heard the roar of six bullets going through the tunnel. It was a sound that cannot be described. Also we now had a simpler game plan. If we hit ghat roads, and I am not able to keep pace, I will take them at my pace and Sankar will sweep me until I catch up. This time around I was following some more advice and was able to take the curves a little faster and felt more in control than ever. Once the ghat roads were through we were now on the outer fringes of Pune with evening rush hour traffic to tackle.
We were still riding in staggered formation, despite the traffic and constant break ups.
During the last two days of riding we had seen the odd local biking champion trying to race us on the highway. They will speed up, over take the pack pull ahead, move left and let us go. The guy has now a story to tell his buddies of how he raced a bunch of bullets.
But on the road to Hinjewadi, there was this biker showing of to his female friend in the pillion. He raced us once, pulled ahead and we let him be as we had the others on the way. When he repeated this a second time, we still let him go, but when he did this a third time, Dom, Prakash, Sudeep and Prakash took off. Within seconds they had him boxed and pushed him to over 100 kmph and kept the close box formation on him. I guess this scared the shit out of him, he simply signaled that he wanted out and never troubled us again.
The sun waved good night to us waiting on the road side in Hinjewadi for one of the Roadshaker buds to turn up and guide us to a place to bunk for the night. And eventually given the evening rush hour traffic they did locate us and guided us to a pretty nice place to stay.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1730 Hrs.
Pit stop: Hinjewadi on the Pune – Mumbai bypass for an overnight halt.
Distance Covered: 50 kms (total distance for the day 500 kms)
Road conditions: Road conditions good. The usual ghat roads problem for Ram.
That night we broke bread with some the Roadshakers and had quite a grand evening with them. If this just a sample of the type of guys we will be riding and bunking with during the RM, we were going to be just fine.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1500 Hrs.
Jump off @: Hinjewadi on the Pune – Mumbai bypass
Target destination: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Distance to cover: 220 kms.
Route Plan: Stay on NH 4 all the way to Navi Mumbai and take the Thane – Godbunder bypass to NH 8 to Manor and exit right to reach the venue.
We had a late start the next day. Ride plan was to leave Pune in the afternoon and ride to the venue to reach later in the evening. Prakash’s bike needed some work on the front rim as he had hit a stone on the way. More of an irritant and a safety issue. Sudeep wanted to check whether he could have his front brake shoes cleaned. I wanted to get my bloody phone working on roaming. We went about our chores in the morning and by 1400 hours were kitted, loaded and ready to go. Santhosh from RE joined us with his Classic 500 and Easwar from the Bangalore club Fat Bastards had already joined us the previous evening. Around 30 Roadshakers were riding out and adding our 8 we were going to be quite a bunch on the road. I had no idea on the road conditions and I got ready to roll.
The first leg of the ride was over a 4-lane system with sweeping curves and I got my first experience of riding with another club. This was not the structured staggered formations I was used to with the V-40 riders. It was a bit more chaotic. They had a 3 to 5 bike lead creating a beach head like effect in the front. The rest just rode in the wake of the lead at there own pace and style. Speeding up and slacking off at their choice. A couple of riders swept the pack and kept them to as a tight formation as was possible.
After the first few clicks we all had to stop for banking business. Monetary needs taken care; we now got back to riding in staggered formation. And then, we hit ghat roads again. Not only I had to slow down and adjust, in the confusion of the larger pack and traffic I missed my club buddies waiting for on the road side for me to catch up and went past them. Prakash rode hard to catch up with me and stopped me. Tea break and all later, we rode out again. I could sense that I was responsible for the slower pace of the complete pack and was pushing my bike as much as I could and almost missed taking the exit the rest had taken. A brief correction and I was back in the pack and fortunately for me, the worst was over. It was the end of the ghat road and we were in a terrain I was more comfortable with.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 2030 Hrs.
Pit stop: Fountain plaza on the junction of Thane-Godbunder road and NH 8
Distance Covered: 200 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. The usual ghat roads problem for Ram.
If any of us were complaining of the traffic so far, we were going to be proved wrong. Once we entered New Mumbai, then onto Thane and then the Thane – Godbunder bypass to NH 8, the traffic proved to be thick. More and more bullet riders from other clubs were starting to appear on the road, adding to the confusion. Here the experience and skill of the Roadshakers came to bear. Their ability to make quick head counts, rely on their fellow riders to look out for each other and quickly adjusting the pack ensured that we did not have loose riders in our pack. We stuck together and came in as a pack when we rode into the fountain plaza on the corner of the Thane bypass and NH 8.
After dinner and some rest, we rode out again. This time our destination was the RM-X venue at Vikramgad.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 2220 Hrs.
Jump off @: Fountain plaza on the junction of Thane-Godbunder road and NH 8
Target destination: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Distance to cover: 20 kms
Route Plan: Take NH 8 north to Manor and exit into connecting roads to venue. Sudeep’s bikes seizes on the way. Sankar and then Dom tow it into the venue.
On the short spurt up NH 8 North there was a brief interruption as most of the Roadshakers tanked up their bikes. I was stilling running on main and not knowing what awaits me or how long we need to ride to the venue, chose to follow their example and tanked up. The rest of the V-40 pack had opted to wait it out and once I was done, we rode out. Due to the night, we missed making the turn into the side road leading to the venue and went sailing straight on NH-8. Just when we were wondering why we were not seeing any Roadshaker bikes ahead, Sachin caught up with us and turned us around. He led is back South on NH 8 and guided us to the turn. We formed up behind Sachin and rode through this single lane local road. Good surface and Sachin set up a good pace. Even through some tight turns and curves he kept the pace up. I had opted to trail the pack just in case I hit a curve I could not take and had to slow down.
Then without warning we heard a loud "thunk" noise and saw Sudeep slow down and stop on the side of the road. Sachin and the leading riders in the pack kept going while the rest of us stopped. It looked like Sudeep bike’s engine has seized on itself. We let the motor cool down and waited on the road side. Head count revealed that Dom had continued riding with Sachin while the rest were together along with some of the Roadshakers. After letting the engine cool a bit, a few kicks were attempted but the motor would not turn. It was decided to tow the bike to the venue. Prakash took lead, followed by Sankar towing Sudeep’s bike; Goutham will cover the pair while I took the tail. After a few clicks we realized we were lost. We parked on the road side and Goutham re-traced our route to figure out the right directions. After a while he returned with Dom who now towed Sudeep to the venue.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 23Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0030 Hrs.
Planned Stop: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Distance covered: 20 kms (Total distance covered - 220 kms)
The evening was still young and the two club members started the process of getting to know each other well. It was in the wee hours of the morning we hit our beds.
Sajan Nature resort was the venue of RM-X. There are now paved roads or any riding surfaces in this place. It is in the middle of a jungle. True to its ad line, “Be one with nature”, the facilities in this place was also pretty basic. In the two days we were there we found the facilities and services could barely keep up with the 600 odd guests who had landed of the event. But as bikers do, we did manage to adapt, adjust and ensured we had a good time in the bargain.
There were some strings pulled and we ended up bunking along with the Roadshakers for the three nights. Home away from home was the venues conference room, cleared of all the tables and chairs, with lines of mattresses on the floor. It could accommodate 45 per the organizers calculation, while I am sure it was fitting a lot more than that at times.
The venue itself was a refreshing change of pace for most of us living in the big cities. Fresh air, greenery all around and absolutely no city noises (except for the roars and thumps of bullets, of course).
The resort is primary a weekend get away for the Mumbaikars who come here to relax. Facilities included a dirt bike trail which we will put to good use, a rather nice swimming pool and excellent tree cover all around. The only draw back was the dust that covered every thing. This was worsened by the participants who took it upon themselves to ride up and down the single dirt road at break neck speeds. Made you wonder what they were hurrying to.
This edition of RM was being organized by the Mumbai based Indie Thumper club and they were sparing no efforts to ensure that the event went off well. Parking areas were well identified; riders from one large club were kept together as best as possible and general organization of events looked well on the plan.
The catch was going to be how well they could execute the plan.
The inaugural ceremony saw the MC call out the moderators of all the participating clubs. Prakash went out and spoke for V-40 and we had arrived for our first RM. After the round of club introductions the planned schedule fell apart. Almost every event had delayed starts and the organizers were obviously struggling strike a balance between maintaining the schedule and an atmosphere of relaxed attitude and fun. The schedule suffered.
I probably have not much to write about the events themselves. They were the usual RM style events, with the exception of one, which I must mention. The bike Olympics, towing event.
The other events were assembly wars, show of riding skills and a time trials on the dirt track. Sudeep from V-40 took part on the time trials and finished with a good time. But there were 5 others faster than him. Baljit Singh and Razza both from Roadshakers took 1st and 3rd place on the time trials.
V-40 did not participate on the other two events but Roadshakers did. They took 3rd place on assembly wars.
Bike Olympics, towing competition saw Dom and Sudeep from V-40. The event called for a bike to be towed over a 100 m long straight dirt stretch. The track started with a 50 m run down a very gentle slop, a flat trough of about 25 m and the rest a steep upward 30o incline to finish.
With Goutham and Prakash away attending the moderators meeting, I had the opportunity to shoot with Prakash’s SLR. He had already set it up and all I had to do was aim, zoom and shoot. I positioned myself on the middle of the flat stretch to catch both sides of the action and had been practicing some shots with the first few riders to get a feel of the settings. I observed that they were losing their momentum on the flat and faltering up the incline.
Then, I saw Dom take up position with his brake side leg on tow. The rest of the team had chosen to tow with their gear side legs. As soon as they set up I started to shoot, without pausing. As he started the run, I could see him pick speed down the gentle slope, allowing me to shoot 2 to 3 good ones. As he hit the flat I got one good shot and turned and adjusted the zoom following them on the flat. I heard the familiar grunt of his gear change and then the signature roar of his 500 as it accelerates. (I should know I followed him at # 2 for over a 1,000 kms). By the time I could turn and take the next shot he was almost 10 – 15 m away from me and within a second up the incline and had finished. The V40 team came first clearly beating the second placed team, Wanderers from Hyderabad, by a clear half a minute. Our sister club, Roadshakers, were placed a distant third.
We were also registered to take part in two more events, a bike fault finding / trouble shooting competition and a treasure hunt, both of them never took place due to lack of time.
Discussions about the trip back started and the team expressed their desire to ride to Chennai by way of Goa and Mangalore. This would mean a couple of more days to return and I could not afford not to be back at my desk on Thursday 28th Jan. Hence, I decided to ride back solo. This was received with mixed feelings, on one side, encouragement that I chose to do the solo and on the other caution that a solo trip this long required a good knowledge on fixing problems on the bike, a major area of weakness for me. However, I was confident and after Sankar did a quick once-over declared I was ready to go.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0700 Hrs.
Jump off @: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Target destination: Somewhere inside Karnataka on NH4
Distance to cover: Not estimated
Route Plan: Take NH 8 south all the way into Mumbai, catch the Jogeswari – Vikhroli link road to Eastern Express highway and take the Pune highway through Panvel. Take the Cinchawad bypass around Pune and catch NH 4 to Bangalore. Riding solo back to Chennai !!.
On the morning of 25th I got ready to ride back to Chennai. The feeder roads to NH 8 looked a lot easier to tackle in daylight. On the ride in we had done this in total darkness. I decided to keep a steady pace of between 80 – 85 kmph all through to Chennai and pace myself, a promise I will often break on this return trip.
Once I passed in to Bhayander the early morning rush hour traffic slowed my pace down and old instincts kicked in. Pass Borivili national park, it was reading an old favorite book again. With two years of commuting from our apartment here to my work place in Powai, I knew this road well. Then a lot of the overpasses were still under construction, but now they were all in place. I quickly made it to Jogeswari and took the familiar side road short cut to the link road that bypasses the initial choke points. Once I passed the Marol estates, L&Ts Powai campus beckoned. I made a quick decision and chose the feeder road to Saki Naka instead of taking the over bridge to the Eastern Express Highway. Thakur’s tea shop was still there. Thakur and his Chotu still serving their hot teas in front of Gate no 1. I stopped right in front of the shop and looked up to see a dozen of my old buddies having their pre-work chai.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0830 Hrs.
Pit stop: L&T Powai Campus
Distance Covered: 120 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1000 Hrs.
Jump off @: L&T Powai Campus
Target destination: Somewhere inside Karnataka on NH4
Distance to cover: Not estimated
Route Plan: Continue on the Jogeswari – Vikhroli link road to Eastern Express highway and take the Pune highway through Panvel. Take the Cinchawad bypass around Pune and catch NH 4 to Bangalore.
Had a lot of trouble convincing my old buddies that I had to start my ride again. One guy had the chagrin to suggest that I ship my bike by train and follow after a stay a couple of days in Mumbai. That did it.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1230 Hrs.
Pit stop: Unknown place on side of NH 4
Distance Covered: Not known
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Ghat road problems persists. Able to make better speeds than before. Guess practice makes perfect (at least a little better). Failed to take the Cinchwad exit for the bypass. Forced to ride through Pune to reach NH 4. Lost time due to this mistake.
The ride through the rest of Mumbai, Panvel and then to the Mumbai – Pune highway was uneventful. Only concern I had was that I had to avoid the Mumbai – Pune expressway on which Bikes are banned (I was told of a flat Rs. 1200 fine if caught).
Had been riding for an hour or so and lost track of distances. Should have stopped and asked for directions and failed to take the Pune bypass at Cinchwad and ended up riding through Pune. Lost more than an hour on this.
As I was exiting Pune, I heard the familiar sounds of a pack of bullets. At first I assumed it would be another club riding back to Bangalore or Chennai. Then I saw Dom and Sudeep pass me and I realized that the rest of the pack had caught up with me on their way to Panjim. We road the balance few clicks before they had to take the road to Panjim and I the road south to Kolhapur. There was a moment when I wanted to turned my bike and follow them. But work beckoned and I knew that it was going to be all ghats from here to Goa and then Managalore. I will only slow these guys down and spoil their fun. I waved to them and bore straight while they took off towards Panjim.
Once through Pune and past the ghat roads on the other end, I opened the 500 and started to ride for real. I kept reminding myself about the speed limit of 85 kmph and pacing myself. But the road was too good, the weather just perfect and traffic too light for me to keep this up. 3 hours later I was approaching Kolhapur.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1700 Hrs.
Pit stop: 70 kms ahead of Kolhapur before a NHAI toll plaza
Distance Covered: Not known
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Was flagged down by a car. Initially thought something was wrong. Met Sudhakar Patil. Was helpful.
Around 75 kms ahead of Kolhapur, I passed a Maruti car from which the driver waved to me. I had seen such waving from other drivers all along the journey and I just waved back and sped away. To my surprise, the driver speeded up and caught up with me, and started to flash his lights and continued waving frantically. Initially I though he was waving to some one else. But after a couple of clicks, I started to wonder whether he was waving to me. I presumed it was something to do with my bike. I saw a toll plaza come and pulled to the left in front of the security cabin. I was not sure what was going on, I kept my engine running, on 1st gear, clutch depressed and ready to go on the first sign of trouble. The driver also stopped the car behind my bike, came up to me and says, “Hi Ram how was the ride?”. That blew me away as I had never had met this guy before in my life. When I switched my bike off and removed my helmet and guy realized I was the wrong Ram. Apparently, the previous week, one of the riders coming to RM-X had a TN registered bike and was also called Ram. He had spent an evening in Kolhapur with Sudhakar Patil (the driver of the car) and it was a case of mistaken identity. Confusion not withstanding, Sudhakar immediately offered his help in locating a good motel to stay for the night and even arranged to have a room booked (at a discount too).
Thanks to him, I not only came away with a good experience but a great bargain on the hotel and food bills.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1730 Hrs.
Pit stop: Kolhapur for an overnight halt.
Distance Covered: 385 Kms (Total distance covered for the day 500 kms)
Road conditions: Road conditions good.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0630 Hrs.
Jump off @: Kolhapur
Target destination: Somewhere inside Tamil Nadu on NH7
Distance to cover: Not estimated
Route Plan: Continue on south on NH 4 to Tumkur road, take the NICE Road bypass to NH 7 to Hosur and look for a place to halt
On the morning of 26th Jan, my plan to ride at first light was delayed a bit due to heavy mist on the road. Not only was visibility poor, the heavy mist was fogging up my visor making it difficult to see. With my visor open, I could barely do 50 kmph with no improvement on the visibility. Located a road side tea stall and decided to wait for the sun god to do his thing. By 0800 hours, the mist had thinned out and visibility was good. Now I was riding again and to make up for lost time, pushed the bike up to 90 – 95 kmph, a pace I will do for the rest of the trip when the road conditions allowed it.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1030 Hrs.
Pit stop: Pass toll plaza on NH 4 before taking Hubli – Bangalore split.
Distance Covered: 200 Kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Start delayed by almost an hour due to heavy fog on road. Visor was misting up despite all efforts. Had to wait until 0800 hours to start riding in earnest.
After my experience with Sudhakar the previous day, I decided to time my breaks next to toll plazas. There are security and the toll plaza personnel at hand and a rider stopping alone could take a break with some confidence. I stopped taking breaks on empty stretches of the road here on.
At around 1100 hours, the wind picked up in 10-4 direction. This meant that I was riding into the wind cutting left to right across my bikes beam. As long as I was riding under 95 kmph this cross wind had no effect. However, if I sped beyond this speed on the rare straight stretches, the bike will start to shear right need constant pressure and correction of the front wheel. The decision to cap my speed at 90 – 95 kmph was made by this cross wind. But the problem was passing trucks. Eddies from the bow wind and washes of the trucks caused the front wheel to act crazy. The first time I passed a truck at 95 kmph, the crazy shaking of my wheel scared the life out of me. The next dozen or so trucks that I passed I had to experiment with slower / higher, speeds, passing them wide and even passing them to the left. I soon worked out a solution and started passing trucks wide. Avoided passing between two over taking trucks and took a few more seconds to slice through two trucks.
Along this section, I started to hear a distinct metallic rattle. When my bike suddenly started to choke, I pushed the fuel lever down to the reserve position and within a couple of minutes stopped at a gas station. After fuelling up, parked by bike with engine running and went over the bike. The bracket and crash guard weld had totally sheared. Removed the crash guard and made my first road side sacrifice to the 500s vibes.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1230 Hrs.
Pit stop: Pass toll plaza on NH 4 before near Davanegere
Distance Covered: 150 Kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Was aware of construction on NH 4 from here. Took a pit stop break, checked straps on my bag and braced for the rough patch. Past Hubli, strong cross wind on 10-4 bearing affects riding. Need to exercise caution while passing trucks, eddies from bow wave causes front wheel and handle bars to wobble. Start to pass wide. Unable to split through overtaking trucks or cut through two truck gaps. However does not affect average adversely.
After another quick stop, I realized the cross wind had lessened in strength allowing me to speed up on straights. Again the same metallic rattle started up again. Now I was a little worried. When I saw a road side dhaba come up, I stopped, parked my bike running and went over the bike again. The filter side box’s lock nut had come loose and was causing the rattle. Ten minutes with a plier and some helping hands borrowed from a friendly trucker, I was riding again. I did not hear any more metallic rattles for the rest of the trip (Thanks).
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1800 Hrs.
Pit stop: On the side of NH 4 a couple of kms ahead of the exit to the NICE Road bypass to Hosur
Distance Covered: 250 Kms
Road conditions: Construction work on NH 4. Lots of rough patches. Average speed affected severely. Unable to take the rough patches standing. Started to practice standing on my bike on good straight stretches. Could only make it to a sitting on bag position. Need to work on this.
After making the error of missing the Cinchwad bypass around Pune, I did not want to the same in Bangalore. I stopped and asked directions to be sure of the direction and the exit to take.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1900 Hrs.
Pit stop: On Bannergatta road pass first leg of the NICE Road bypass.
Distance Covered: Not known
Road conditions: Extremely good. Could keep at a good pace even though it was dark now. Directions to second leg of the bypass toll road is a little fuzzy. Truck drivers do not use this road. Got better directions from a bunch of bikers.
Once I hit the NICE Road bypass, I could maintain a good pace. The trouble is the bypass is not complete and there are no signs directing you from the 1st to the 2nd leg. During our earlier trip through this bypass, we made in day time with a lot of traffic and we just followed the flow. Again, I stopped and asked for directions. When I asked a trucker he directed me to the highway again. I realized that I did not see a single truck on the bypass and asked directions again this time from a bunch of local bikers. They were spot on and I made it to the 2nd leg and to Hosur road without any further trouble.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1700 Hrs.
Pit stop: Hosur (for an overnight halt)
Distance Covered: 60 kms (Total distance covered for the day 655 Kms)
Road conditions: Mixed conditions.
Once I hit NH 7 to Hosur and on to Krishnagiri, I started checking hotels. After checking with 6 or 7 hotels and turning up unlucky, I made a few calls and got a room fixed. Good place although a bit on the expensive side.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 27Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0630 Hrs.
Jump off @: Hosur
Target destination: Home @ Chennai
Distance to cover: 330 Kms
Route Plan: Continue on south on NH 7 to Krishnagiri and take NH 46 to Chennai.
Rider log:
Date stamp: 27Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1430 Hrs.
Destination: Home @ Chennai
Distance Covered: 170 kms (Total covered for the day 330 kms)
Road conditions: Extremely good
The rest of the trip to Chennai was routine. No major issues. One major difference was on NH 46 from Krishnagiri to Chennai. The highway has trees and shrubs on the curb sides to act as wind breakers. Even though I could feel a strong cross wind at times, it had no impact on riding or passing due to the existing of these wind breakers.
Saw this summary in another biker’s blog and felt that I had to do the same.
Total distance covered: 2,850 kms.
Fuel consumed: Not known. Just tanked up when ever needed
Total cost of the trip: Will calculate when I have the time. Currently busy planning next ride
Mileage for the trip: I ride a Machismo 500 not a “fill it forget” plastic toy
Average speeds: 90 – 95 kmph
Overall experience: One kick-ass ride.
Ride Safe!!
Ram aka Angrymon
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
A bridge too far...!!!... A recruit's first ride
The last chance ride for 2009 and a photo opportunity for the members too. Yercaud was on the menu and the V40 riders were ready for their "on any surface" trip. It was my first ride with the club. My first long ride on my new bike with just 600 kms on its clock and my first ride after a 12 year hiatus from riding bikes. It was time for me to find out whether I could still do it.
Eight bikes and eleven riders assembled on the crack of dawn on the 19th Dec on the jump off point on the poonamalee bypass. Prakash and Mahesh were waiting for their new Classics to be delivered and Sudip had his bike parked in the wrong town but chose to ride Dominique's second bike from Ranipet. Prakash had offered to make the trip in his car, solving the problem of transporting the non-biking riders, our photographers Lazar and Rajesh along with Shankar our mechanic and quick fixer for the trip. The rest of the pack, Dominique, Goutham, Barani, Ganesh, Venkatesh, Vijay (first time rider) and Ram - I (also a first timer) were ready to role.
The route chosen offered the best of both worlds. One the way up, Chennai – Vaniyambadi – Tirupattur – Harur – Kuppanoor – Yercaud offered good winding roads and a terrific ghat run. The road back Yercaud, - Salem – Dharmapuri – Krishnagiri – Vaniyambadi – Chennai offered yet another ghat trip, good NH quality roads and a quick & easy ride back home.
After a quick debriefing on the rules the ride started. Traffic was thin on the way out of Chennai and the ride to the outskirts was quick. First stop was at the Red Chillies near Ranipet were Dom's second bike and Shankar were waiting. Sudip stopped being a passenger and became a rider here.
After breakfast, we started out again. The day was promising to be a great one. The weather was just right, not too hot and not too chilly for a late December weekend. The pack was doing well as we crossed town after town, staying together in our staggered formations and riding at good speeds.
Lesson 1: Focus on the road and ride within your limits. Do not get distracted by your immediate pack. Well the story behind the lesson is equally simple. As we crossed Vaniyambadi Bridge the pack was doing close to 90 kmph and the bridge makes a nice right turn, not too sharp though. I was riding on the right side on 3rd spot when I took the turn along with the leaders and I found my bike slipping from under me. I had taken my eyes of the road and lost focus on the turn. Usual effect, I righted by bike, straightened and slipped out of the pack and chose to get steady before continuing on. Only problem, I ran out of road and came to a stop next to the parapet wall of the bridge and lost by rear balance and was on my back. Here comes lesson two for all riders.
Lesson 2: Always ride with proper riding gear. The club places a great deal of emphasis on this and insists all its members have to own and maintain their gear well. I was riding with full gear; upper body armor, knee / shin guards, riding gloves, et all. Except for a few scratches on my bike and some superficial score marks on my jacket and jeans, I could get up, shake off the fall and continue riding.After this brief break, we continued riding again. We had to make another stop at Thirupattor to fix a flat on Sudip's bike. I understand that fixing something at Thirupattur is quickly becoming a V-40 tradition. It was a leaking fuel tank on, guess who, Sudip's bike last time. A good chance for all to take a break and get some hot tea and much needed hydration.All along the way, our two photographers went clickety-click capturing the riders in every conceivable way. We also took pictures of riders in formation, riding solo and a few pairs along the way. Pictures will be on the V-40 web pages soon.By afternoon we had reached the foothills of the hills and the riders were eager to hit the ghat roads.
Lesson 3: When riding up ghat roads lean into the turn. Yeah I know, all ye seasoned bikers know this. But a lesson is still a lesson. I had to start slow on the ghat roads, and when I mean slow, I mean slow. Took me a while to understand the mechanics of making the turns at faster speeds. I am sure that I will probably need a few more rides up such hills to get to a decent level.But I sure had lot of practice as we rode back and forth on these roads for numerous photo shoots. This route up to Yercaud took us through some pristine jungles. We could not see the sun at any spot. The jungle canopy was complete. A cacophony of sounds from monkeys, birds and other animals I could not even see filled the trees. As we rode up, every feet of elevation made us feel the chill in the fresh mountain air.The rest of day light was spent on getting maximum photo opportunities done and by the fading light of dusk most Yercaud residents were aware of the bullets in town as our thumpers reached the lake side.Home for the night was a large dorm style room in a resort and all the weary travelers could unwind for the night.Sunday morning brought along with it a cold mist and a chilly wind. After breakfast, we started the ride down to Salem. Here is lesson 4.
Lesson 4: The rules for riding uphill is different from riding down hill. Difference, down hill is more difficult. Again photo shoots meant all riders going back and forth choice hairpins and curves for our photographers to make the best of it. And this meant some more practice for me. And by this time, I was getting a hang of riding the ghats. And I realized why my fellow riders were looking forward to the ghats so much. One has to be experienced this personally to feel it. But a close explanation will be like riding a roller coaster at high speeds with no rails or stops, only depending on your skill as a rider and your bike to take you through the next curve. All I can say is it took some ten minutes for my heart to stop pounding and come back to a normal beat after I had done the ghats.
Once the ghats were done, I believed we were going to have un-eventful ride back to Chennai. But was I wrong, and how wrong I was. On the way back we took a diversion of the highway on to an old stone quarry. A dirt track lead to the entrance of an old stone quarry, and another rubble strewn path lead up to the quarry proper, an imposing stone cliff 50 to 60 feet high. Here the bikers stood for group and individual profile pictures. Each of us tried our own mini version of off roading as we tried to ride our bikes to position for our turn to be photographed.Now, we had seen all surfaces, smooth national highways, patchy & bumpy stretches of state highways, adrenaline pumping ghat roads, dirt tracks leading to no where, rubble patch that drove us right up the cliff wall and sandy surfaces that made your bike go in two different ways and took you in a third.With all these photo shoot breaks, sun down on Sunday saw is in Krishnagiri and some good ways from home. Tea and hydration completed, we prepped up for a night ride. Visors were cleaned, riding glasses were put away and lights were checked. I was not expecting any rain this late in December, but again I was wrong. As we approached Vaniyambadi, the skies opened up on us and it started to rain. Not a drizzle or a few showers, but serious heavy, blinding rain.
Lesson 5: Ride as a disciplined pack. This is not for show or for solidarity; it helps as one rider takes cues from the other and can keep all safe. The rains only let up as we crossed Poonamallee into Chennai late in the night.Well for a first time rider, I have had the best of all surfaces, all weathers and all riding conditions. Learnt a lot of lessons (the five listed are just a selection), learnt a lot of what my bike can do and cannot, what I can and cannot do on this bike, some more learning on my gear which I will implement.
Footnote: Proper riding gear for all riders is important.
Ride Safe............Ram Srivatsan
Friday, December 04, 2009
Rajasthan through a Visor
I have seen Rajasthan before, or so I thought. My father was in the army and spent many years there. Then, we traveled by jeep/ bus and marveled at the forts & palaces. Rajasthan needs no introduction. It's no wonder the most popular tourist destination in India for it's rich culture, splendid & magnificent forts, palaces, havelis, chattris & mandirs, awe inspiring history and absolutely great food. Millions journey to Pushkar mela alone from all over the world. Before the trip I didn't know what more to expect as I spent some time gathering info from people who've been there on a Royal Enfield.
What I saw this time I had never seen & felt before. My bike had opened up a completely new Rajasthan to me, and I don't remember ever feeling so happy & excited on my last visits.Starting from Jaipur, first to catch my eye - the girls are so beautiful and dressed in their Rajasthani embroidered kurtas – irresistible!
Then there is the beautiful Hawa Mahal. At sunrise it's an irresistible sight. As I was trying to find my way through it's ornate streets – which are ruled by cyclists and have mandirs in middle of the lanes! - a rider pulls me up and offers to show me around. I guess we are brothers who just met.In the morning I set out to find a place not on any map – Mahansar. Local folk lore has it that a bottle of their wine can get an entire group tipsy. The roads I take from here have very little traffic, smooth tarmac and always were very exciting. Not a part of it ever got boring. At the end of this trip I was left feeling I had found another elusive riders paradise.
I head out to Sikar. This stretch is actually green with farming. Then I turn towards Nawalgarh. This is not a popular tourist place, yet here are the best elaborately painted havelis and chattris. From here the ride becomes even more interesting as I leave the state highway and ride roads through villages. Surprisingly even these roads have great tarmac. The roads twists and I take numerous left & right trying to find Mahansar relying on the villager’s directions. Through my ride I actually ended up talking to a lot of villagers discovering roads and places. Some of these roads aren't on any map. As I find Mahansar I check into Narayan Niwas Castle. It's actually a castle that has old style rooms befitting a castle. And Mahansar has a haveli painted in gold!
What a way to spend the night after a good ride. I happily book the castle for Royal Enfield Tour of Rajasthan.In the morning I set out to Ratangarh. I can catch the national highway that passes close by but I don't want to take that route, instead there’s a forest close by and I hope to see some deers there. As I pass through it - I do spot a few deers and guess what these roads are great too. I actually should stop saying that, but as a rider thats how happy I felt. I actually ended up cruising the entire route at good speeds, through great places and where ever I stopped the food was excellent. I hit NH11 near Ratangarh and take a short break at Desert Resort “PLEASE SILLOW DAWN”. Then I speed off to Bikaner and here's another surprise – national highways can be so fun too and here I was trying to avoid them because they have always been boring and tiring. But I don't want to miss out on the Rajasthan I never saw so I'll catch interior roads again after Bikaner.
The land scape starts to change slowly to more dry and sandy. But there are still plenty of large shrubs and some trees. I won't be hitting sand dunes for the next 2 days. As I speed off and I'm having so much fun my chain falls off! Fun is what I wanted wasn't it! Luckily it's just the chain lock that’s replaced quickly and off I zoom again. Just before Bikaner there are Camel Farms, but I don't spend much time there as I'll get plenty of camels at Sam and I can’t wait to have the famous rasgullas and sit down for a drink with Bikaner bhujia. Bikaner is also famous for Laxmi Niwas palace and Junagarh Fort which is the best in Rajasthan. One room is ornate with 32 kg of gold.Though I'm going to Jaisalmer I don't want to take that highway and instead chart a far more interesting route. First up is Karni Mata temple where devotees worship an incarnation of goddess Durga. Its more famous for its sea of rats. Best time to visit is early morning when they come out to feed on the offerings. From here it gets really tricky. I want to reach Siana and have to go right on a small road that’s unmarked. As luck has it on that very turn I stop to ask direction from villagers waiting for a truck. This route is fun, there are camels in road and it passes through many interior villages.
Here the children are actually scared to see me with full riding gear on a loud bike! That's a first! I try stopping a few times for pictures but every time they run away! No questions asked! In one village I finally found a brave boy and after a l let him use the camera, more than courage the others found curiosity. Here I managed to get a good snap. Women also move away if I try to approach them, well I don't want to get beat by these big bearded men so I stay away. Then comes the best part – Sand dunes. I found them much before Sam! Some of these dunes are still active. Here the sand covers the road at many places. At first I'd slow down and cross with a lot of caution and little struggle then I got the trick. Man that was fun. Now I'm trying to head towards a place called Kechan where many migratory birds including cranes gather. It seems
I've migrated too early but this place will be full with 10000s in October. Great. And to my surprise theres also an old haveli here full of peacocks! As I head towards Pokhran there's a 100s of people walking along the road. Well it turns out all these people are walking to Ramdewra temple . Some of them walk from Gujrat and take 2 months! Actually I've been noticing big groups walking ever since I started from Jaipur but never gave attention till now. Close to Ramdewra I get pulled up and offered lungar(food)! Shri Ramdewra is believed to be reincarnation of Vishnu after Krishna and its more famous among tourists for its army of clay horses. I pass Pokaran (the nuclear test site) and catch NH15 that is a landing strip that extend for 110 kms till Jaisalmer. I've heard aircraft suspension make more noise than my bike. Wast open land starts and cross winds start blowing as the landing strips stretches on with less vehicles than inside an airport. All of us have wished for this sometime but I never knew I could have it better. Along this route I see few deer the size of big cats! Another temple up ahead is devoted to Shri Bhadriya, a saint who spent solitary confinement for many years and transformed a village into a modern town. It has a library devoted to all religions. Then I enter the beautiful city of Jaisalmer.
What a treat todays ride was! Jaisalmeer is so beautiful with Pattuan ki Haveli, Nathmalji ki Haveli, Royal Burrial Chattris & a Fort built from Jurassic stone that we will spend 2 days here and as a treat we've booked Narayan Niwas Palace.After Jaisalmer we will set out on a historical ride to Tanot with a small diversion of course. The place is called Mondha and along this route there are plenty of sand grouses (if you manage to spot them that is) and large lizards. From Mondha to Ramgarh the great tarmac (I can't mention that enough!) roads winds along a big canal. A small dip is welcome. This route is very green and her I saw a Neel gai, large deers and the queer little one too. What else must be hiding in those trees? Advise: fuel up at Jaisalmer because for next 330 kms there's no fuel available. Ramgarh has Asia's tallest TV tower that was built after the '71 war to broadcast into Pakistan. This tower is visible from 15kms and most probably even before if we step over the greenery. That I never tried. This route from Jaipur throws up so many unexpected surprises and treats I couldn't help smile like a child.
The best ones are yet to come though! At Ramgarh I stop at the BSH HQ to inquire about permission for our group to ride along border route. Once that is in place I hit Tanot. None of the shells that fell on Tanot mandir during '71 war exploded. This mandir is run by the BSF and all of them are devotees here. As luck would have it, army is conducting exercises along the road ahead and I must spend the night here, so I get to attend the satsang. Food is available if you inform early so that’s the first thing you should do. I spend a great night on the roof with 50 other devotees and leave my riding gear in the guard room.
Next morning I start of early to Longewala and here is the big surprise. Imagine huge sand dunes that have been stabilized, now imagine a road that moves up and down and around these. Well it’s the fun that can only be felt. There are no villages here but Sheppard who live in small hut settlements called Dhonis. Since there is no water here they have built many small clay containers so that their flock can drink while grazing. Longewala is the famous battle site where a group of 300 men defeated an entire battalion. There's a memorial here erected to honor those braves. This is the only place where you can click pics. After an interrogation and prove my identity at the check post I ride on this border route. The plan is to ride this entire border route and reach Sam through a shortcut and interesting route. More interrogation at Ghotaru and Asu Tar check post.Imp: If you have a GPS, turn it off and put it in your bag before Tanot. Don't forget to check in at BSF check posts at Tanot, Longewala, Ghotaru & Asu Tar and don't jump any check post. Also stopping along the route and taking photographs is restricted. Dhonis are very sensitive about their women and privacy.After that I thought I was back well in India till a few kms ahead some villagers standing in the middle of the road stopped me and caught my bike! “What happened?”, Villagers “we got a call from check post behind to stop you”, “Ha Ha get serious”, Villagers: “We are serious, get off your bike and speak to him over phone!” They way they held on to my bike I guess they were serious so I got off, then one of them went out to get the inspector as network stopped when I wanted to speak! Fishy! Oh well, so I was offered tea and we started chatting. As the inspector arrived I understood that seeing the way I was armored up in riding gear and going “very” fast he thought I rode across the border and jumped all those dunes into India!! After some more interrogation I was let off.From here starts the shortcut to Sam. The moving sand dunes actually start much before Sam on this route with some big sand crossings on road! Even Jeeps don't ply here, only camel carts. Well I've come to far and spent too much fuel to change the plan now. I've got just about enough fuel to make it via the shortcut (or so I think because I don't really know the distance or how this route will end up)! The plan is to stick to the road and “fly” over all the sand dunes while keeping millage speed of 60kph. It worked, I reached Sam. Now these are called sand dunes! Here we camp at this amazing location overlooking the dunes. Here we also organize camel rides over those dunes followed by a gala dinner with cultural dances, singers and music around bonfire.Next stop – Akal Fosil Park – where ancient trees have turned rock hard. From here I take another village road via Sankra to Shaitrawa. This route is full of villages, Dhonis, sheep, goats, cows & camels. Here a villager waved his stick at me; I guess it's because of my great looks. Welcome back to earth. This is also a shortcut to Jodhpur which turned out to be better than I expected according to my map. After Shaitrawa here's a small surprise as I catch a brand new 4 lane highway thats lit up up like Diwali lights with my headlight. From here on there are Chilli fields till Jodhpur. What an amazing city. I ride into the heart and find a 250 yr old guest house right at the base of the fort. These streets are small and can barely accomodate2 bikes. This place is a maze with 100s of small streets and it will be very easy to get lost. Thank god for my GPS, at least I can follow my bread-crumb trail. This is a very old part of Jodhpur. In the morning I visit the Fort and Chatris that is compared to Taj.Next day starts with the beautiful Umid palace where the Highnesses still live. Today I'm off to Mt Abu but I want to go via Sardarsamand. Avoiding the highway, this is a nice back to earth ride till I take a right about 30kms and here on I see Chikaras & Black Bucks. As I reach Sardarsamand theres a great palace rising above the trees. Well I never expected that, so let’s check it out. The watch man is a bit reluctant to let me in because the Highnesses are also here, but as I inquire the palace also has a restaurant and he lets me in. And what a treat this is, I can write endlessly about it. The palace is tall and beautiful. From here I can see far. Theres a lake at its base and large forest lands. There are trophy heads from hunts and stuffed tigers displayed all over. This palace is very tastefully & lavishly done up and I've never seen a palace from inside like this before. Maybe thats because it still houses the Highness family. I'm not sure how to address them. Here I have the most delicious mutton kheema with bhakre ki roti. This is called dining with kings! (Though there aren't any sitting with me – there are probably busy somewhere).After more country roads till Sirohi (I'm still mesmerized by the Palace experience) I catch the Ahmadabad expressway till Abu road and ride the ghats. Mt Abu is going to be bursting (literally) with people from Gujrat & Rajasthan during Diwali and that should be a sight during Tour of Rajasthan. For that Diwali weekend Hotel rates are up 4 times and even then its completely booked! As luck would have it, still managed to book a heritage resort in the center of attractions. Here I hear there is a route direct to Sirohi but only a broken trekking trail. Our bikes have ridden through trails before so this should be fun. I find the trail soon enough at sunset point and realize that it's actually cemented – great. But it's got some steps in between and my bike might not clear it. Back at sunset point peanuts wala tell me that some local boys have tried it though they had to carry the bike over some steps. I'm going to do this route but not this time and not alone. It will be fun like hell. I'll come back.As I ride down Mt Abu it’s a bit disappointing that the ghats are over, then I never knew what lay in store. As I test my bikes top speed on the expressway to Udipur, I can't help notice the hill ranges extending far out - wow. What a view. Then something else takes my notice – there are huts along the road side like the Dhonis, but the entire village is on the road – WOW! Men are playing cards on the divider, children are playing on the road and learning to cycle, the women are there chatting, the dogs are there, cows, sheep, goats they are all there on expressway for many kms. I guess we are their reality TV! Slowly as the villagers dwindle away these hills turn to hills with Jungles. I stop at a place with a great view and admire. I didn't know then but it so happens that after Udaipur I'll come back here and ride into the same hills & jungles! At Udaipur there's an afternoon halt planned at the beautiful Lake palace. From there the plan is to go to Kumbalgarh. Not by the highway but through those hills. Somehow nobody can give me the right directions and I ride kms on kms trying to find the right route. I do happen to chance upon some monuments but I've seen better till now. By the time I finally figure out the right route its dark and the villagers stop me – there are panthers in the jungle. So I spend that night at a dhaba – sleeping with full riding gear close to my bike! It was well worth it – the route is a treat with single lane, no traffic ghats winding through these lush hills. I actually want more of it, so I try some routes going off and chance upon a a small fort and museum dedicate to Maharan Pratab and Cheetak. Legend has it (and our history books) that the rivers ran red with blood in battle and hence the name – Haldi Ghati. Then I try more routes; Himalayan Odyssey is a tough ride through the mountains, but these roads are so darn FUN, I haven't ridden such a route ever! Kumbalgarh has the second most important fort of Rajasthan, more than that it has Bedwal mehel that looks over these hills. There's a sanctuary where we can spot panthers and if we are very lucky we could spot them on road. They've never harmed a human till date but I can’t say them same for the live stock. Heading down Kumbalgarh I head of to the famous Ranakapur Jain temple and the route just keeps getting better! Note: if you are riding ghat roads, along a clear beautiful stream, through jungles and you see a rock that looks like our ancestor's skull – you're on the right track. After the Jain temple head straight towards the next line of hills in the distance. Don't get on the highway. Then starts the beautiful boulder hills! Films should be made here – but better leave it untouched. Here the route got even better and I saw lot of animals and creepy crawlers roaming around – it seems people hardly ever pass through. Don't forget to fill up fuel at Udaipur. My fuel level is running low again, but I don't mind getting stuck here. I catch the short highway to Ajmeer at Beawar and fuel up there. I had a great last two days. I'm coming back here sure as hell. We'll stay two nights at Ajmeer to attend Pushkar Mela. Ajmeer to Pushkar is 15kms over a hill and it will be great fun to ride that with the entire troupe.Next Day I head out to Sambhar lake via Parwatsar. Sambha lake is supposed to be a large dry salt lake and I'm really looking forward to it. I want to ride end to end of Sambhar but that proves to be very difficult, first I cross over lots of sand to start from one end then as I start off on the lake it turns out to be slushy. Well obviously because it was raining yesterday and there are salt farms here! There has to be a way though. So I get back on the road and try every path into the lake to find a possible start point. I found one and mark it on the GPS. Then I circumnavigate the lake by road (hated that - can’t even see the lake from the road!) and try to find a good exit point. That was tough – every time I'd ask a villager he'd give me that dumb look. I had to experiment and that did get me into a few tight spots! But thats that and I do find a possible exit point. Now time to fuel up – should have done that earlier! I guess it’s easy to get distracted when I'm having so much fun! So I head out towards Jaipur, fill up and time to connect the dots. Guess what? There is a mandir on a hillock inside the lake and a used path (more conservative though) leading up to it. Now why couldn't somebody tell me that! The thing about salt lakes is that it looks hard & dry but it’s very difficult to tell whats underneath. I've already learned the very hard way in Greater Rann. I manage to connect both the dots with the mandir in between. The lake is still a bit soft and tyre sinks a bit but this route everybody should be able to do plus it will dry by October. I attempt it again at full throttle and my confidence soars so I get more adventurous. Then I want more and I try to got more deeper into the lake … and then as I'm finishing my run … disaster strikes. The bike starts to sink in … the key is not to lose momentum, but it’s difficult to turn back in mud without loosing momentum. Anyway I turn long way round and as the bike slows I add two feet drive. The last hundred meters were very very tough with the bike packing up mud and my boots starting to weigh a ton. That wasn't enough either – 10meters short of dry spot we come to a full stop! The thing about this mud is that it's actually clay. Well this is a familiar situation with not a soul in sight, not even an insect, mosquito or fly in sight :). Well it isn't so bad, the bike has the power, if I can remove the clay. Because it's a dry salt lake there's not even a stick. Another thing about “dry” salt lakes is that whatever water pockets it has are concentrate acidic, they have a foul smell, emit fumes and burns on skin. I've seen blue and green before, this was dark purple and mirroring the sky! Another thing about dry salt lakes is that its a flat land that extends into the horizon and the sunset is amazing that I've only seen a couple of times. Back to my bike I painfully dig out all the clay from the tyres by hand. Theres more clay then my entire luggage just from one side of my rear tyre. Once the clay is out the bike runs those 10meters like a breeze. A watch the sunset as I wait for the clay on my hands to dry. It's a yellow sunset with a small sun that sets much over the horizon and a spectacle my camera fails to capture. Then I ride the last 80kms to Jaipur and mess up the hotel room :).What a treat this ride has been. Its just been so pure fun and exciting.
---KD
What I saw this time I had never seen & felt before. My bike had opened up a completely new Rajasthan to me, and I don't remember ever feeling so happy & excited on my last visits.Starting from Jaipur, first to catch my eye - the girls are so beautiful and dressed in their Rajasthani embroidered kurtas – irresistible!
Then there is the beautiful Hawa Mahal. At sunrise it's an irresistible sight. As I was trying to find my way through it's ornate streets – which are ruled by cyclists and have mandirs in middle of the lanes! - a rider pulls me up and offers to show me around. I guess we are brothers who just met.In the morning I set out to find a place not on any map – Mahansar. Local folk lore has it that a bottle of their wine can get an entire group tipsy. The roads I take from here have very little traffic, smooth tarmac and always were very exciting. Not a part of it ever got boring. At the end of this trip I was left feeling I had found another elusive riders paradise.
I head out to Sikar. This stretch is actually green with farming. Then I turn towards Nawalgarh. This is not a popular tourist place, yet here are the best elaborately painted havelis and chattris. From here the ride becomes even more interesting as I leave the state highway and ride roads through villages. Surprisingly even these roads have great tarmac. The roads twists and I take numerous left & right trying to find Mahansar relying on the villager’s directions. Through my ride I actually ended up talking to a lot of villagers discovering roads and places. Some of these roads aren't on any map. As I find Mahansar I check into Narayan Niwas Castle. It's actually a castle that has old style rooms befitting a castle. And Mahansar has a haveli painted in gold!
What a way to spend the night after a good ride. I happily book the castle for Royal Enfield Tour of Rajasthan.In the morning I set out to Ratangarh. I can catch the national highway that passes close by but I don't want to take that route, instead there’s a forest close by and I hope to see some deers there. As I pass through it - I do spot a few deers and guess what these roads are great too. I actually should stop saying that, but as a rider thats how happy I felt. I actually ended up cruising the entire route at good speeds, through great places and where ever I stopped the food was excellent. I hit NH11 near Ratangarh and take a short break at Desert Resort “PLEASE SILLOW DAWN”. Then I speed off to Bikaner and here's another surprise – national highways can be so fun too and here I was trying to avoid them because they have always been boring and tiring. But I don't want to miss out on the Rajasthan I never saw so I'll catch interior roads again after Bikaner.
The land scape starts to change slowly to more dry and sandy. But there are still plenty of large shrubs and some trees. I won't be hitting sand dunes for the next 2 days. As I speed off and I'm having so much fun my chain falls off! Fun is what I wanted wasn't it! Luckily it's just the chain lock that’s replaced quickly and off I zoom again. Just before Bikaner there are Camel Farms, but I don't spend much time there as I'll get plenty of camels at Sam and I can’t wait to have the famous rasgullas and sit down for a drink with Bikaner bhujia. Bikaner is also famous for Laxmi Niwas palace and Junagarh Fort which is the best in Rajasthan. One room is ornate with 32 kg of gold.Though I'm going to Jaisalmer I don't want to take that highway and instead chart a far more interesting route. First up is Karni Mata temple where devotees worship an incarnation of goddess Durga. Its more famous for its sea of rats. Best time to visit is early morning when they come out to feed on the offerings. From here it gets really tricky. I want to reach Siana and have to go right on a small road that’s unmarked. As luck has it on that very turn I stop to ask direction from villagers waiting for a truck. This route is fun, there are camels in road and it passes through many interior villages.
Here the children are actually scared to see me with full riding gear on a loud bike! That's a first! I try stopping a few times for pictures but every time they run away! No questions asked! In one village I finally found a brave boy and after a l let him use the camera, more than courage the others found curiosity. Here I managed to get a good snap. Women also move away if I try to approach them, well I don't want to get beat by these big bearded men so I stay away. Then comes the best part – Sand dunes. I found them much before Sam! Some of these dunes are still active. Here the sand covers the road at many places. At first I'd slow down and cross with a lot of caution and little struggle then I got the trick. Man that was fun. Now I'm trying to head towards a place called Kechan where many migratory birds including cranes gather. It seems
I've migrated too early but this place will be full with 10000s in October. Great. And to my surprise theres also an old haveli here full of peacocks! As I head towards Pokhran there's a 100s of people walking along the road. Well it turns out all these people are walking to Ramdewra temple . Some of them walk from Gujrat and take 2 months! Actually I've been noticing big groups walking ever since I started from Jaipur but never gave attention till now. Close to Ramdewra I get pulled up and offered lungar(food)! Shri Ramdewra is believed to be reincarnation of Vishnu after Krishna and its more famous among tourists for its army of clay horses. I pass Pokaran (the nuclear test site) and catch NH15 that is a landing strip that extend for 110 kms till Jaisalmer. I've heard aircraft suspension make more noise than my bike. Wast open land starts and cross winds start blowing as the landing strips stretches on with less vehicles than inside an airport. All of us have wished for this sometime but I never knew I could have it better. Along this route I see few deer the size of big cats! Another temple up ahead is devoted to Shri Bhadriya, a saint who spent solitary confinement for many years and transformed a village into a modern town. It has a library devoted to all religions. Then I enter the beautiful city of Jaisalmer.
What a treat todays ride was! Jaisalmeer is so beautiful with Pattuan ki Haveli, Nathmalji ki Haveli, Royal Burrial Chattris & a Fort built from Jurassic stone that we will spend 2 days here and as a treat we've booked Narayan Niwas Palace.After Jaisalmer we will set out on a historical ride to Tanot with a small diversion of course. The place is called Mondha and along this route there are plenty of sand grouses (if you manage to spot them that is) and large lizards. From Mondha to Ramgarh the great tarmac (I can't mention that enough!) roads winds along a big canal. A small dip is welcome. This route is very green and her I saw a Neel gai, large deers and the queer little one too. What else must be hiding in those trees? Advise: fuel up at Jaisalmer because for next 330 kms there's no fuel available. Ramgarh has Asia's tallest TV tower that was built after the '71 war to broadcast into Pakistan. This tower is visible from 15kms and most probably even before if we step over the greenery. That I never tried. This route from Jaipur throws up so many unexpected surprises and treats I couldn't help smile like a child.
The best ones are yet to come though! At Ramgarh I stop at the BSH HQ to inquire about permission for our group to ride along border route. Once that is in place I hit Tanot. None of the shells that fell on Tanot mandir during '71 war exploded. This mandir is run by the BSF and all of them are devotees here. As luck would have it, army is conducting exercises along the road ahead and I must spend the night here, so I get to attend the satsang. Food is available if you inform early so that’s the first thing you should do. I spend a great night on the roof with 50 other devotees and leave my riding gear in the guard room.
Next morning I start of early to Longewala and here is the big surprise. Imagine huge sand dunes that have been stabilized, now imagine a road that moves up and down and around these. Well it’s the fun that can only be felt. There are no villages here but Sheppard who live in small hut settlements called Dhonis. Since there is no water here they have built many small clay containers so that their flock can drink while grazing. Longewala is the famous battle site where a group of 300 men defeated an entire battalion. There's a memorial here erected to honor those braves. This is the only place where you can click pics. After an interrogation and prove my identity at the check post I ride on this border route. The plan is to ride this entire border route and reach Sam through a shortcut and interesting route. More interrogation at Ghotaru and Asu Tar check post.Imp: If you have a GPS, turn it off and put it in your bag before Tanot. Don't forget to check in at BSF check posts at Tanot, Longewala, Ghotaru & Asu Tar and don't jump any check post. Also stopping along the route and taking photographs is restricted. Dhonis are very sensitive about their women and privacy.After that I thought I was back well in India till a few kms ahead some villagers standing in the middle of the road stopped me and caught my bike! “What happened?”, Villagers “we got a call from check post behind to stop you”, “Ha Ha get serious”, Villagers: “We are serious, get off your bike and speak to him over phone!” They way they held on to my bike I guess they were serious so I got off, then one of them went out to get the inspector as network stopped when I wanted to speak! Fishy! Oh well, so I was offered tea and we started chatting. As the inspector arrived I understood that seeing the way I was armored up in riding gear and going “very” fast he thought I rode across the border and jumped all those dunes into India!! After some more interrogation I was let off.From here starts the shortcut to Sam. The moving sand dunes actually start much before Sam on this route with some big sand crossings on road! Even Jeeps don't ply here, only camel carts. Well I've come to far and spent too much fuel to change the plan now. I've got just about enough fuel to make it via the shortcut (or so I think because I don't really know the distance or how this route will end up)! The plan is to stick to the road and “fly” over all the sand dunes while keeping millage speed of 60kph. It worked, I reached Sam. Now these are called sand dunes! Here we camp at this amazing location overlooking the dunes. Here we also organize camel rides over those dunes followed by a gala dinner with cultural dances, singers and music around bonfire.Next stop – Akal Fosil Park – where ancient trees have turned rock hard. From here I take another village road via Sankra to Shaitrawa. This route is full of villages, Dhonis, sheep, goats, cows & camels. Here a villager waved his stick at me; I guess it's because of my great looks. Welcome back to earth. This is also a shortcut to Jodhpur which turned out to be better than I expected according to my map. After Shaitrawa here's a small surprise as I catch a brand new 4 lane highway thats lit up up like Diwali lights with my headlight. From here on there are Chilli fields till Jodhpur. What an amazing city. I ride into the heart and find a 250 yr old guest house right at the base of the fort. These streets are small and can barely accomodate2 bikes. This place is a maze with 100s of small streets and it will be very easy to get lost. Thank god for my GPS, at least I can follow my bread-crumb trail. This is a very old part of Jodhpur. In the morning I visit the Fort and Chatris that is compared to Taj.Next day starts with the beautiful Umid palace where the Highnesses still live. Today I'm off to Mt Abu but I want to go via Sardarsamand. Avoiding the highway, this is a nice back to earth ride till I take a right about 30kms and here on I see Chikaras & Black Bucks. As I reach Sardarsamand theres a great palace rising above the trees. Well I never expected that, so let’s check it out. The watch man is a bit reluctant to let me in because the Highnesses are also here, but as I inquire the palace also has a restaurant and he lets me in. And what a treat this is, I can write endlessly about it. The palace is tall and beautiful. From here I can see far. Theres a lake at its base and large forest lands. There are trophy heads from hunts and stuffed tigers displayed all over. This palace is very tastefully & lavishly done up and I've never seen a palace from inside like this before. Maybe thats because it still houses the Highness family. I'm not sure how to address them. Here I have the most delicious mutton kheema with bhakre ki roti. This is called dining with kings! (Though there aren't any sitting with me – there are probably busy somewhere).After more country roads till Sirohi (I'm still mesmerized by the Palace experience) I catch the Ahmadabad expressway till Abu road and ride the ghats. Mt Abu is going to be bursting (literally) with people from Gujrat & Rajasthan during Diwali and that should be a sight during Tour of Rajasthan. For that Diwali weekend Hotel rates are up 4 times and even then its completely booked! As luck would have it, still managed to book a heritage resort in the center of attractions. Here I hear there is a route direct to Sirohi but only a broken trekking trail. Our bikes have ridden through trails before so this should be fun. I find the trail soon enough at sunset point and realize that it's actually cemented – great. But it's got some steps in between and my bike might not clear it. Back at sunset point peanuts wala tell me that some local boys have tried it though they had to carry the bike over some steps. I'm going to do this route but not this time and not alone. It will be fun like hell. I'll come back.As I ride down Mt Abu it’s a bit disappointing that the ghats are over, then I never knew what lay in store. As I test my bikes top speed on the expressway to Udipur, I can't help notice the hill ranges extending far out - wow. What a view. Then something else takes my notice – there are huts along the road side like the Dhonis, but the entire village is on the road – WOW! Men are playing cards on the divider, children are playing on the road and learning to cycle, the women are there chatting, the dogs are there, cows, sheep, goats they are all there on expressway for many kms. I guess we are their reality TV! Slowly as the villagers dwindle away these hills turn to hills with Jungles. I stop at a place with a great view and admire. I didn't know then but it so happens that after Udaipur I'll come back here and ride into the same hills & jungles! At Udaipur there's an afternoon halt planned at the beautiful Lake palace. From there the plan is to go to Kumbalgarh. Not by the highway but through those hills. Somehow nobody can give me the right directions and I ride kms on kms trying to find the right route. I do happen to chance upon some monuments but I've seen better till now. By the time I finally figure out the right route its dark and the villagers stop me – there are panthers in the jungle. So I spend that night at a dhaba – sleeping with full riding gear close to my bike! It was well worth it – the route is a treat with single lane, no traffic ghats winding through these lush hills. I actually want more of it, so I try some routes going off and chance upon a a small fort and museum dedicate to Maharan Pratab and Cheetak. Legend has it (and our history books) that the rivers ran red with blood in battle and hence the name – Haldi Ghati. Then I try more routes; Himalayan Odyssey is a tough ride through the mountains, but these roads are so darn FUN, I haven't ridden such a route ever! Kumbalgarh has the second most important fort of Rajasthan, more than that it has Bedwal mehel that looks over these hills. There's a sanctuary where we can spot panthers and if we are very lucky we could spot them on road. They've never harmed a human till date but I can’t say them same for the live stock. Heading down Kumbalgarh I head of to the famous Ranakapur Jain temple and the route just keeps getting better! Note: if you are riding ghat roads, along a clear beautiful stream, through jungles and you see a rock that looks like our ancestor's skull – you're on the right track. After the Jain temple head straight towards the next line of hills in the distance. Don't get on the highway. Then starts the beautiful boulder hills! Films should be made here – but better leave it untouched. Here the route got even better and I saw lot of animals and creepy crawlers roaming around – it seems people hardly ever pass through. Don't forget to fill up fuel at Udaipur. My fuel level is running low again, but I don't mind getting stuck here. I catch the short highway to Ajmeer at Beawar and fuel up there. I had a great last two days. I'm coming back here sure as hell. We'll stay two nights at Ajmeer to attend Pushkar Mela. Ajmeer to Pushkar is 15kms over a hill and it will be great fun to ride that with the entire troupe.Next Day I head out to Sambhar lake via Parwatsar. Sambha lake is supposed to be a large dry salt lake and I'm really looking forward to it. I want to ride end to end of Sambhar but that proves to be very difficult, first I cross over lots of sand to start from one end then as I start off on the lake it turns out to be slushy. Well obviously because it was raining yesterday and there are salt farms here! There has to be a way though. So I get back on the road and try every path into the lake to find a possible start point. I found one and mark it on the GPS. Then I circumnavigate the lake by road (hated that - can’t even see the lake from the road!) and try to find a good exit point. That was tough – every time I'd ask a villager he'd give me that dumb look. I had to experiment and that did get me into a few tight spots! But thats that and I do find a possible exit point. Now time to fuel up – should have done that earlier! I guess it’s easy to get distracted when I'm having so much fun! So I head out towards Jaipur, fill up and time to connect the dots. Guess what? There is a mandir on a hillock inside the lake and a used path (more conservative though) leading up to it. Now why couldn't somebody tell me that! The thing about salt lakes is that it looks hard & dry but it’s very difficult to tell whats underneath. I've already learned the very hard way in Greater Rann. I manage to connect both the dots with the mandir in between. The lake is still a bit soft and tyre sinks a bit but this route everybody should be able to do plus it will dry by October. I attempt it again at full throttle and my confidence soars so I get more adventurous. Then I want more and I try to got more deeper into the lake … and then as I'm finishing my run … disaster strikes. The bike starts to sink in … the key is not to lose momentum, but it’s difficult to turn back in mud without loosing momentum. Anyway I turn long way round and as the bike slows I add two feet drive. The last hundred meters were very very tough with the bike packing up mud and my boots starting to weigh a ton. That wasn't enough either – 10meters short of dry spot we come to a full stop! The thing about this mud is that it's actually clay. Well this is a familiar situation with not a soul in sight, not even an insect, mosquito or fly in sight :). Well it isn't so bad, the bike has the power, if I can remove the clay. Because it's a dry salt lake there's not even a stick. Another thing about “dry” salt lakes is that whatever water pockets it has are concentrate acidic, they have a foul smell, emit fumes and burns on skin. I've seen blue and green before, this was dark purple and mirroring the sky! Another thing about dry salt lakes is that its a flat land that extends into the horizon and the sunset is amazing that I've only seen a couple of times. Back to my bike I painfully dig out all the clay from the tyres by hand. Theres more clay then my entire luggage just from one side of my rear tyre. Once the clay is out the bike runs those 10meters like a breeze. A watch the sunset as I wait for the clay on my hands to dry. It's a yellow sunset with a small sun that sets much over the horizon and a spectacle my camera fails to capture. Then I ride the last 80kms to Jaipur and mess up the hotel room :).What a treat this ride has been. Its just been so pure fun and exciting.
---KD
Friday, November 13, 2009
Operation Dr.Venky
Hello thumpers,
I was really excited and looking forward to the ride as a recruit of the club v40.I was impatiently waiting for the ride and when the day arrived that was it,after a good nights sleep ,i saddled up the bags on the bike and got buckled up with the riding gear.riding with the riding gear was a true bliss as this was the first time. i felt like an armoured knight ready to take on the roads.the day previous to the ride day[oct 30] we had met up at our usual spot 'wonderland ' for a briefing session by none other than our highly enthusiastic member Gautham.we had got our bike serviced and we were ready to ride.On 31 st october myself,maheshji and amar started off at 6.15 am from kilpauk and headed towards Saveetha college where we were to meet the other fellow riders.Gautham ,Prakash and a new recruit Roshan were eagerly waiting for us to kickstart the journey.Gautham and Prakash briefed us about the formation, the former was to lead the group and the latter was to sweep .We were informed that the ride master who has done Yelagiri ghats a dozen times will be joining us in Ranipet.He is none other than our dear friend and mentor Dominic.We kicked off from Saveetha college at 7.00 am .The roar of our bikes was reverberating into my ears which i experienced for the first time as we were cruising at 80- 90 kmph.We were a disciplined group on the road . The open highways were wonderful, constant throttling by all of us together made me feel we were from the army doing a parade.the synchronous riding by all of us was infact a magnifiient view.As we were closing Ranipet we stopped at the motel' red chilly' . we parked our bikes in a straight line which signifies we were there for each other.a gentleman even spoke to couple of riders and appreciated our effort.after the breakfast we were rearing to go ahead.we met Dominic in 15 mins. or so .Dominic took the lead .Unfortunately Prakash had a problem with his reliable standard. he could'nt go above 80 kmph but that did not deter him from riding.He had been to Himalayas and so this problem was by no means going to put him down so .Gautham became the sweep and Prakash became the ultimate sweep. hehehehe.The ride till the foothills was otherwise smooth except for 2 dogs which crossed the road in a jiffy without a warning sending chills down our spine.We stopped at the foothills and briefing by the members was enlightening. Never did i know how to take a hair pin bend correctly before joining this club.The view of the hills from down below , the riders and their machines was picturesque scene and worth mentioning.The hair pin bends were challenging but we bikers felt it was a piece of cake.Hats off to members though who zipped off in the ghats. Their professional riding skills impressed me.People on the way waved their hands at us, we felt we were on the top of the world .we regrouped at the hilltop and headed to ' La Auroville' our abode.we were welcomed by an eversmiling gentleman in the form of Mike.The bikers showed their skills at volleyball and cricket.the way we played was absolutely funny. cheering ,teasing , laughing and of course cheating was part of our show.By then we were tired and were served to a tasty and sumptious lunch.In the evening we were greeted by campfire and dinner.there was an interactive session, a Q & A session spearheaded by Dominic, a lot of dancing and needless to say arm wrestling competition which is famous amongst the bikers.We called it a day and went back to rooms with our heads in high spirits.The next day was even more beautiful and pleasant for the ride back.After breakfast we saddled up and left on a good note.the ride was a great one and we reached Dominics guest house in Ranipet.Bike restorer Shankar met us and showed us vintage bikes of yore . we were delighted to see BSA 's, sunbeam, matchless, jawas, lambrettas and our favourite RE STD 350 , made in England.We were happy to be riding a legend obtained from the British. The pick of the day was 750 cc Indian Scout which churns out raw american torque .I am sure you guys agree with it. Shankar gave us some tips about the maintenance of the bike which i am sure will be useful. We headed to punjabi dhaba for lunch following which we started on our way back to Chennai.We stopped at poonamallee bypass and gave each other a warm hug and parted ways.,I end this review on a happy note -
IT WAS BRILLIANT TO RIDE WITH LIKE MINDED PEOPLE UNDER THE BANNER WHICH BROUGHT US TOGETHER ' THE V 40' .I AM SURE V40 WILL ACHIEVE MANY MORE MILES IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS TO COMETHREE CHEERS TO CLUB V40 AND US THE 'V40 BROTHERS '
Thumping off,
Dr.Venkatesh
I was really excited and looking forward to the ride as a recruit of the club v40.I was impatiently waiting for the ride and when the day arrived that was it,after a good nights sleep ,i saddled up the bags on the bike and got buckled up with the riding gear.riding with the riding gear was a true bliss as this was the first time. i felt like an armoured knight ready to take on the roads.the day previous to the ride day[oct 30] we had met up at our usual spot 'wonderland ' for a briefing session by none other than our highly enthusiastic member Gautham.we had got our bike serviced and we were ready to ride.On 31 st october myself,maheshji and amar started off at 6.15 am from kilpauk and headed towards Saveetha college where we were to meet the other fellow riders.Gautham ,Prakash and a new recruit Roshan were eagerly waiting for us to kickstart the journey.Gautham and Prakash briefed us about the formation, the former was to lead the group and the latter was to sweep .We were informed that the ride master who has done Yelagiri ghats a dozen times will be joining us in Ranipet.He is none other than our dear friend and mentor Dominic.We kicked off from Saveetha college at 7.00 am .The roar of our bikes was reverberating into my ears which i experienced for the first time as we were cruising at 80- 90 kmph.We were a disciplined group on the road . The open highways were wonderful, constant throttling by all of us together made me feel we were from the army doing a parade.the synchronous riding by all of us was infact a magnifiient view.As we were closing Ranipet we stopped at the motel' red chilly' . we parked our bikes in a straight line which signifies we were there for each other.a gentleman even spoke to couple of riders and appreciated our effort.after the breakfast we were rearing to go ahead.we met Dominic in 15 mins. or so .Dominic took the lead .Unfortunately Prakash had a problem with his reliable standard. he could'nt go above 80 kmph but that did not deter him from riding.He had been to Himalayas and so this problem was by no means going to put him down so .Gautham became the sweep and Prakash became the ultimate sweep. hehehehe.The ride till the foothills was otherwise smooth except for 2 dogs which crossed the road in a jiffy without a warning sending chills down our spine.We stopped at the foothills and briefing by the members was enlightening. Never did i know how to take a hair pin bend correctly before joining this club.The view of the hills from down below , the riders and their machines was picturesque scene and worth mentioning.The hair pin bends were challenging but we bikers felt it was a piece of cake.Hats off to members though who zipped off in the ghats. Their professional riding skills impressed me.People on the way waved their hands at us, we felt we were on the top of the world .we regrouped at the hilltop and headed to ' La Auroville' our abode.we were welcomed by an eversmiling gentleman in the form of Mike.The bikers showed their skills at volleyball and cricket.the way we played was absolutely funny. cheering ,teasing , laughing and of course cheating was part of our show.By then we were tired and were served to a tasty and sumptious lunch.In the evening we were greeted by campfire and dinner.there was an interactive session, a Q & A session spearheaded by Dominic, a lot of dancing and needless to say arm wrestling competition which is famous amongst the bikers.We called it a day and went back to rooms with our heads in high spirits.The next day was even more beautiful and pleasant for the ride back.After breakfast we saddled up and left on a good note.the ride was a great one and we reached Dominics guest house in Ranipet.Bike restorer Shankar met us and showed us vintage bikes of yore . we were delighted to see BSA 's, sunbeam, matchless, jawas, lambrettas and our favourite RE STD 350 , made in England.We were happy to be riding a legend obtained from the British. The pick of the day was 750 cc Indian Scout which churns out raw american torque .I am sure you guys agree with it. Shankar gave us some tips about the maintenance of the bike which i am sure will be useful. We headed to punjabi dhaba for lunch following which we started on our way back to Chennai.We stopped at poonamallee bypass and gave each other a warm hug and parted ways.,I end this review on a happy note -
IT WAS BRILLIANT TO RIDE WITH LIKE MINDED PEOPLE UNDER THE BANNER WHICH BROUGHT US TOGETHER ' THE V 40' .I AM SURE V40 WILL ACHIEVE MANY MORE MILES IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS TO COMETHREE CHEERS TO CLUB V40 AND US THE 'V40 BROTHERS '
Thumping off,
Dr.Venkatesh
Monday, October 05, 2009
A 2666 Kms Ride .... What an ecstasy it was....!!!
It was around 7:00 on a calm Thursday evening (24-09-09 to be more specific), I was walking out of Barista holding two mugs of coffee in my hand, one for Gautham and another for me. Gautham, Dr. Venky and Prakash had come to our usual gathering spot in Besant Nagar to give KD and me a send-off for the ride. KD and I started from KD's place at around 9:00, all packed and geared up.
The ride begins...I was pretty new to long rides and most of all, this one was monstrous. Getting out of the city was the most difficult part. It was around 11:00 when we decided to stop for dinner at
We thought of making it to
It was around 4:00 am when we reached this wonderful place called "DSR Grand" in Krishnagiri. It was one amazing room that we got ourselves to put up for the night. It was super spacious/good/clean and a lot more worth than 500 Rs for the night. Meanwhile, KD asked Mahek and his wife to start their ride in the morning regard-less of we joining them. We did around 220 odd km the first day.
Day 2, Friday! I was little more exited than the first day. I was 10:00 in the morning, we geared up and started out ride again from Krishnagiri. We passed through
Day 3, Saturday! The day of the event. Started at around 7-ish in the morning. Mahabaleshwar was around 180 km from Kholapur. It was all plain, good highways again. We reached Sitara in copula hours, from there it was little bit for village roads and then ghat roads. The village road was pretty exiting with soft curves. I was keeping very close with KD to be sure that I dont miss him. All at once, the ghat roads start. The first curve, KD takes it deep and brakes a little and I just realize that I was too close to brake as I might start skidding, took it little straight, went into the bushes on the side of the road and stopped. Oh... KD was already gone, I pulled myself back onto road and started. One thing I wanted to be sure about from then, I would for any case not go so close onto KD's bike. Curve over curve, my excitement started building up. There were no hairpin-bends as such but the deep curves were great. On the curves KD zooms on, and I take my cool time to see understand the curve and take it. I havent done much of ghat roads yet, I told myself.
At 11-ish we reached this place called Swiss Country, we go park our Enfields next to 35 odd Roadshaker Enfields. At once, all of them gather around us, not a single person I knew of, apart from KD and Sachin. In no time got myself introduced to fellow riders. We then went up the room alloted for us, dumped our luggage, freshened up and gathered up at the conference room. It was Roadshaker's 8th anniversary, thats a lot of riding time. Sachin briefed up the Club's achievements over the years and the plans for the upcoming year. It was then continued with Roadshakers presentation. Well, I was totally amazed looking the the number of rides they did...Oh man! I told myself that I would need to do a lot more rides with V40 to be on the same page with them. Next in the list was V40's presentation, it kinda seemed pretty small after theirs.
Presentation was followed by lunch, a pretty good one though. Most of were in semi-sleepy state, to swirl up, Roadshakers had planned few events. Fist in the line was "figure of eights", I shouldnt call it eight though, it was a double-eight in reality. Riders were split in teams, I was in Ram's team. One thing we messed, we picked up Thunderbird for the event. Only Sachin in our team was able to make it without putting his foot down through eight. Thank God! at least he made it, I put my leg down 4 times, but I had a brother, Ram managed to put his leg down 11 times. Next event was push an
Day 4, Sunday! We planned to start with the rest of the group, ride the ghat roads and start our way back from there. I quickly had my break-fast and roamed around the place a little bit to click some photos. By the time I was back, KD was awake. We quickly geared up and started with the rest of the group. The plan was to meet up at a view point on our way back to click some group photos. First of all, the view was spectacular! Second of all, sight of all 40 odd riders in the view point was amazing! Anthony, Mishak, KD and me greeted a bye to everyone ad started our way. Now, this was one incident I would desperately wanna talk about. We stated riding the ghat roads, KD was leading, me in between and Anthony sweeping. I was pretty much exited riding the ghat roads as there were fantastic. At one point, Anthony overtook me and a bus ahead of me. Well, I tried to overtake the bus for another copula curves, was a hard thing. The next scene I remember was me siting on the side wall of the ghat road and Anthony & Mishal standing in front of me asking me how I was feeling, was I hurt, did I sleep off and skid??? I had no clue to any of those questions. I literally had no memory of what happened. I wasnt hurt at all, a big thanks to the V40 Club for the riding gear rule, first time I appreciated a rule! I got up took a quick stroll to see if I was good enough to be walking. By then they had pulled my bike from the road and KD was on it fixing. I dont know for what happened, but I skid the a stretch of 6-8 mts across the road. I asked KD and Anthony how they came back to get me, they said they had past some distance, stopped by as I wasnt there behind them, and came back searching for me. Firstly, I thought I slept off while riding, but then that seemed stupid as I was pretty excited riding and there was no chance that I could sleep off. Next what struck me was a blank-out. Oh...that was one incident I would never forget in my life. My bike was pretty much in riding condition, thanks to KD again. I was sure that I was out of the shock but I was thing back-n-fourth on what had happened that made me fall. My RPM meter was totally screwed up, tank had 3 dents, handle bar little bent and thats it. We started riding again, took some time to reach Sitara. Stopped over there to fix up my loose chain, oil top up for both KD and Anthony and food for all of us. Started at around 3-ish in the afternoon. Plan was to reach Hubli by night, around 400 odd km. It was a nice ride, with little bit of rain in few places on the way, we all liked it though. Reached Hubli at around 11-ish found place to stay, had some food and one good night sleep. That was a big day! Thanked KD, Anthony and Mishal for all the help, I dint say it to them though.
Day 5, Monday! Anthony and Mishal were planning to go to
So, that was the story about my 2666km Ride. I enjoyed it a lot!
G A N E S H
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
V40 Recruits Paradise - Yelagiri
Experience of a Recruit!!!
Passion and Flair are the key words that one could associate with the Group - on the Ride and Otherwise too!
We started off, I and Goutham, sharp at 7 AM at Savitha Dental. I being new to long rides on groups, Goutham set the rules of the road and two of us to follow. Pretty crisp for the induction. I had my apprehensions on taking speeds while 'running in' the bike. However, Goutham's brand new Mac 500 - having done 600 odd gave me the confidence to do the speed on mine too. For a start, Goutham helped the warm up to restrict at 80. However slowly he teased me up to catch up with him and of course with periodic "breathing in" on the engine. Phew! I did my first 90. By the time confidence sets in - its breakfast time guys!
We had the usual V40 joint - Red Chilly to have the eggitarian (Gautham's) delight - the Mutta Dosai. After a 45 minute break started off on the road again.
The group would probably remember - on my first meeting I having asked the question on "Proper Riding Gear". Stupid on my part to have asked given the speeds!!! Would recommend freshers to probably google on "How important is a proper riding gear". Dom, appreciate the rule.
Well, the above intro on riding gears was important. I was on skating knee guard for the time being. And the thing was hurting me after couple of hours. Yelagiri was still 62 kms off, and the pain of the stretching velcro became unbearable. I zoomed up to Gautham for the break and to loosen up the knee guard. The second break was faster. However all breaks have an important aspect - "Dum Break!!!" Made good use of it and hit the road again. The next break was predicided at the foothills - for the next breifing session.
Here was my first "going off road" experience. We turned from the NH on to the Jolarpet road. There was a pretty nasty curve just about the foothills. We were at 80 or so. I could see Goutham banking the curve with ease. However, right at the curve, I could see the loose sand on the side of the road pretty late. Instinct advised me to get off road and not to do the curve. Not to worry - only a few passerby on the road - just curoiusly looking at me as to what was I trying!!!
Going up the ghats was completely a new experience on a bike for me. Banking the curve on a Hairpin was explained by GG (oops!!! the expansion comes in later - pls read on!!!) and followed by me. The next double "dumming break" was at the view point. Here is where we get to know Dom was running couple of hours late.
Mike Bernard's Le Auroville was the most hospitable place - the way he greeted the Bullet guys! While on the tea and getting settled down, Domnic joined us with his new possession - U-Mac (I rather leave the naming in ceremony to Dom himself). We could hear the thump far away on the road.
Yelagiri had the Paragliding festival on during the same time. After lunch, we headed on for it. Unfortunately, due to brief rain, they had shifted off that day's schedule to the next. Not to get disheartened - we decide to explore more of Yelagiri. Small country roads with muddy patch were there to welcome us.
Gautham's explanations skills and "gyans" on the session is where the GG aka Gyan Goutham comes in.
The Day 2 started off after the breakfast. This was the day with my induction to greater speeds - clocking in 100 at a few stretches. I am a firm believer of team work and of course the OBAMA chant "together we can"!!! I was sharing with the groups - if I were alone, I may not have done this speeds. Dom and GG also had their brief bouts of 120 or so to chase a few santros. All in all - we were watched by all the passerby and onlookers - obviously with an awe!
How amazing would it be if all us were to join and ride in a formation - it would be a spectacle!!!
On any surface - V40 is the best!!!
V40 Mahesh
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