Off to Pondicherry

The annual ride to Pondicherry was a tad delayed due to work commitments, but made up for it for a good ride.It was planned to be a evening ride to Cuddalore - our eventual destination for the night at my friend's home.Hence packing was done by morning, saddle bags, tools, rear back rest, everything..Came back home around 3:30 from office, even Aparna was home by then.
This was a quite anticipated ride not for the fact that i was going to pondicherry but that i was donning (to be interpreted as flaunting) my new ride gear.All set and kicked off at 4:15 sharp with my new Fieldsheet apollo pants and joe rocket gloves.

Within 10-20 min of the ride, the benifits of a proper ride gear became evident, the vibrations were isolated off my palms and wrists, the gauntlet made sure that wind dint gush into the jacket sleeves and my knees felt more secure within the armour.Its better to buy a riding gloves which is slightly tighter coz they tend to stretch upon usage. Initially the little finger was cramped for space but not now anymore. Perfect ingridients for lesser tiredness resulting in longer unbroken rides.

Hosur-Krishnagiri went in a flash and was in no mood to stop, tackled bad roads and reached chengamby 7:20. 190 KM in 180 min.. not bad for a slow moving fully loaded 350CI chugger.Had sumptous early dinner and hit the roads by 8. Enquired the locals abt the road conditions of Tiruvannamalai - Tirukkovilur stretch.Hitherto nightmarish even by bus standards,I used to travel by bus on this route and not even once i could take a peaceful nap for 5 mins.But now it is transformed to a real beauty. smooth glider for 35 km without a single hump or a ditch. Completed in 20 min flat :)Took a left towards Cuddalore cut through the Trichy highway and reached Cuddalore via Banrutti.This route is in good shape compared to Dindivanam - Pondy route and 25 km shorter too. I couldnt believe my eyes when i did Bangalore - Cuddalore in 5.5 hrs flat.Reached my friend Shan's home and had good time talking to his parents and rounded up the day.

Got up the next morning lazily coz of a sore ass after riding 325 KM with only one break. packed up and left to Pondy.The intent of visiting Aurobindo Ashram on that very saturday coincided with the Mother's birthday. The entire complex was a frothing sea of humanity. Faith, help, kindness was all pervasive. Sat quietly in the ashram remembring those good ol times with my friend, we used to sit at the very place where i was sitting alone.
After an hour, faded away from pondy towards ECR on the ever enchanting ECR. Ride to chennai was a breeze intercepted by a roadside beach break.

Trust me, Chennai traffic sucks nowadys ala Bangalore. It took me more than an hour to negotiate through south chennai to central which used to consume less than half an hour couple of years ago.And theso called pleasant weather made me gunning down to my aunts house at frantic pace, the rest of the day was the next day morning was spent on family commitments.

Left chennai by 2 in the afternoon and reached bangalore by 9 surviving the chennai chillness and a brief stopover at chittoor.The roads after entering karnataka at mulbagal is undergoing road expansion all the way to bangalore, a bit uneasy for night ride, but will nbecome a beauty in the coming months.Riding time 5.5 hrs
Overall a satisfying and a fast ride by my standards.

Raid de Western Ghats

Super ride last weekend.
A trip that was overdue for one year materialised over 2 days!
Riders : Murali riding his Skud (electra 4s) and Pratheef : Full time pillion.
My cousin Pradeep a.k.a Anand and my bro Ravi on Pradeep's Plastic P 150 :D

April 4, 2008 - Day 1 : Left Bangalore Sat morning at 4:30 am sharp, early morning truck traffic encountered till Nelamangala.
Easy casual riding averaging 80 through out made us reach Dharmasthala by 11 AM
Shiradi ghat roads is 60% redone. the rest 40% makes up for a offroading/ dirt track experience.
Nevertheless, u can reach mangalore faster than through charmadi ghats even at this state.
Had darshan and lunch and left at 11:45 towards Udupi.

Ohh man, south canara is crazy hot after the rains stopped over the past one week, my tourmaster jacket became a check dam!!!!! ripping session resumed and we cruised into udupi by 4. had another peaceful darshan of SriKrishna and we sailed towards maravanthe beach, 14 KM after Kundapur.

A welcome breather with awesome scenery and a pleasant sea breeze, chillax at the beach till and reached Kollur around 8 PM hitting 34 KM ghats flatout in 45 min.
Day 1 ki samaapthi, 527 KM clocked.

Booked 2 neat rooms in the temple math's guest house , had darshan of Sri Mookambika and crashed out.

Highlight : Pratheef's ass fuse blew out after sitting pillion for the first time on a long ride. Bugger couldnt even afford to sit on a bed of flowers :D

Day 2 : Got up early at 5 AM, had another round of darshan and hit the road by 7:30,
one hell of a ripping session through one of the most amazing forest ghat roads to agumbe.
Route : Kollur - Vandse - Haladi - Someshwar. We hit 73 KM in 75 KM flat on narrow single lane roads swaying up and down, left and right through the thickest of the jungles in South Canara.
Climbed up Someshwara Ghat and got a panoramic view of the ghats at Agumbe. Continued further to shringeri. Had darshan of Sri Sharadamba and now we had two options of reaching Horanadu.
1. via Balehonnur - Kalasa
2. Kudremukh - Kalasa , though a touch longer.
Kudremukh is easily one of the best locales in Karnataka whose views are unsurpassable. As we ascend towards Kudremukh, the air gets chiller and the mountains greener. Once on the top, u are engulfed with flowing grassland top mountains crisscrossed by thich jungles. The tarmac is sexy, that u can take leaning sweeps at 80s. Not even a single pothole, kudos to the NH maintainance folks.
Now Kudremukh is a ghost town after the KIOCL shut down after ravaging the mountains for decades. I heard that the Guest House is still functional for which we can reserve to stay.
I think we SBers need to plan a ride there once.
Continued further to Horanadu to make our reverence to Sri Annapurneshwari.Had sumptous tasty food at the temple and hit the return leg of the journey to Bangalore.
Tiil this point there was not a single hint of rain, but crossing Kottigerehara, we were suddenly enveloped with such dark clouds ala Lord of the rings settings.
We switched gears, ripped hard to reach home by 12 midnight ass busted!!!

2 Days :
Ghat roads : ~ 450KM
Total : 1070 KM
Unlimited charging after riding the ghats!!!

Ride 2 Mantralaya

Hi Folks,
Here's a brief account of my Exodus to mantralaya.

I had decided to go to Dharmasthala the last saturday (alone) catch some fresh air & enthu.However my better half had some other plans, spontaneously came up with Mantralaya as the Destination and that she would be the pillion!!!

Hmm, sounded good to me and preparations were done on friday evening .. everything except the bike.Suddenly remembered that the chain was rattling and that its death was imminent.The sprocket teeth was worse than my grannys (just kiddin)However i remembered it a tad too late and 10:30 in the night and i am about to leave at 5 AM the next day.

Just got a bout of strong nerve, decided that let the hell (or chain) break loose, i am getting along with the ride.
Accordingly, got up at bang 3:30 had a hot bath, packed my saddle bags and started at 5:20 AM.
The ride was mundane till we entered Chikkaballapur, damn those 6-lane highways.. no fun.. just keep a rigid accelerator at 90 kmph.Reached Bagepally in no time by 7:10 AM.
KM done : 110

After Chikkaballapur, u get to see the real indian Highways (2-Lane) where the oncoming lorries will literally put you off the road when they are overtkaing another lorry / bus.Need to be very cautious in that highway as it is not too wide.

Had an excellent black top road all the way till Penukonda.Had a breakfast at the only manageable hotel in the town and swiftly road on to Anantpur reached at 9:15KM Done : 235
The unforgiving heat started to show its true colours once we crossed Anantpur. Gooty came and went in a flash and we headed towards Adoni.Its really admirable in Andhra that even the state highways are well maintained and are of top class.Hats off the ChandraBabu Naidu era. He has made sure that even the remotest areas of the state has good roads connectivity.

The real Rayalaseema unfolds after crossing Gooty, flat barren lands, black soil and hot rocky hillocks in the Brown Black Due only to be torn into 2 halves by a dream road.Riding through the virtual desert like conditions, the mind is at atmost peace not worrying abt anything, it helps to scratch the inner souls.

Did I mention that I hadn't cared to rectify my bull's chain before leaving.Ohh yeah, it started to create a menace only we crossed Aspiri. The chain started a deathly rattle which incessantly kept threatening to rip off the sprocket.Stopped at the next immed mechanic shop and got to tighten the chain only to get the shock that the mechanic condemned the bike not to last more than 10 KM uproad

Damn......

Anyway, no other way to go except to carry on forward we reached Adoni only to find our hopes shattered that no Bullet's spares are available in the radius of 100 KM!!
Only possibilites are Kurnool / Bellary.

PS : Bulleteers planning to do this stretch are fore warned to carry enough spares like spare tube, spark plug, clutch - brake cable etc

What to do now.. Its 12:30 in the afternoon, my butt's baked in the heat and wandering aimplessly on the roads.Just prayed once to God and decided .. to Hell with the chain. we are going ahead come what may...

We progressed at a steady 60 KMPH without reducing the acceleration at any time for the fear of the chain ripping off the sprocket.By the holy grace we reached Mantralaya at 1:30
Route : Bangalore- Chikaballapur - Anantpur - Gooty - Adoni - Yemmiganur - Mantralaya
KM - 405

Got ourselves a very decent room adjacent to the temple and hit the bed only to wake at 4 well in time for the darshan.Had an excellent darshan, roamed aimlessly on the town streets before the sleep beckoned us.

Next day morning , again had a good darshan and started off at 7:30.Had an uneventful, calm and serene ride all the way till Bangalore as I couldnt speed up more than 60 KMPH. Atleast my wife is happy that here back ain't hurting of the smooth 60 ride.

Total : 810 KM

Anyway, a satisfying ride for me, a new experience for her, a breather of a life for my bull.

Photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/53409431@N00/sets/72157600002487914

Ciao