On monday, Venkat buzzed me on Yahoo! Messenger to tell me that Vivi was going to be in town for two days and that he would like to meet the B-PUGs.. Now since Venkat wasnt keeping well, and Ashok was busy, Venkat wanted me to coordinate with the B-PUGs to make this meet happen.. I gladly accepted, and mails were sent back and forth on the group.
The meet happened today, at Barista on MG Road.. It was scheduled for around 7 - 7:30.. I was the first to get there (this is a first for me :-D).. Then came Kailas, Amit, Chethan, Dev, Ashok. While we waited, Venkat, Vivi and Sanjay arrived at around 8.. We had a great time! One thing that amazed me about Vivi is that he doesnt look like he's crossed 40!! No way!! Had he told me he was 25, I would've believed him.. (I hope I age like him :-D)
We had a lot of laughs, pulling each others' legs.. We also discussed plans for the Annual Meet.. Kailas was kind enough to offer us free beer and a chance to view the race this weekend on big-screen TV :-). Dev kept us entertained with his antics. All in all, we had a fun time :-).. I've taken a few photos, will be uploading them to Imagestation soon and shall post the link.
I had Vivi that I'd be going to Ahmedabad sometime this year (my cousin who stays there has been asking me to come over for quite some time now), and he asked me to contact him when I got there, and that I'd get to ride his bike around town :-D. He also said that his bike would be wearing Pirellis soon :-D. How cool is that!!! Thanks Vivi!! I'll start making plans soon. :-)
Looking forward to more such meets.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Long time no blog!
Well, its been a while since I wrote here.. So here I go opening the floodgates :-p
Friday, June 25, 2004
Munnar trip log, another link
Well, the experiment with pictures looks like a big flop! Click here for the trip log with pictures. Enjoy!!
I'm off for the weekend! Catchya'll on Monday.
I'm off for the weekend! Catchya'll on Monday.
Weekend plans!
Well, finally, after a long time, I'm going on a ride this weekend. I'm going to Kemmanagundi. I hear its a beautiful place, and I just cant wait! Only thing is I hope it doesnt rain. I dont mind riding in the rain, just that I dont like to get wet :-D.
Well, gotta go home and pack, so, will be leaving early. I hope I dont over-sleep and miss the ride :-s.
Well, gotta go home and pack, so, will be leaving early. I hope I dont over-sleep and miss the ride :-s.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Why do I ride?
I started to ride when I was in the 9th standard. I remember the time in October of 1995, I think, when I got on my aunt's 50CC Luna (which she wasnt using cos she had recently bought a new Kinetic Honda) and rode around Wanowrie, Pune. (It was my aunt who arranged for me to learn how to ride a bicycle, so in a way I owe her big time :-). Thanks Reenechi.) The thrill of riding on an empty piece of road at 40kmph was intoxicating. I would've loved to do it all day, but I was afraid of getting busted by the traffic police. So my rides used to be short but frequent. And I would long to ride my aunt's Kiney. But she's not let me, not cos she was possessive of her new bike, but cos she was worried about my safety. (Isn't she the sweetest :-) ).
Well, after that, it was my cousin's Hero Puch. He'd come home some times, and I'd get him to let me ride it. It was a new experience, riding a geared vehicle, required a lot more thinking than I was capable of :-)). Nevertheless I soon got the hang of it. But it wasnt very often that I'd get to ride the Puch cos my cousin didnt come around much.
Somewhere in between I got to ride a Yamaha RX100. It was after my 10th standard exams. It belonged to an acquaintance of mine. Before I got on the bike I was warned that it was very powerful and I ought to be careful with the throttle. That psyched me out, and I ended up dumping the bike around 100m from where I started. But, hey, no wheelie!! ;-) :-D
After that I didnt ride much. Then I passed into the 12th standard, and with it came the tutions everyday. I needed a vehicle to get around. Dad was not going to buy me a bike, so I managed to get them to buy me a geared cycle. 18 gears of pure fun!! I miss that cycle *sigh* :-(. Three months after I bought the cycle, my grandpa managed to convince my folks to buy me a motorized two wheeler. I was given a choice between a Hero Puch and a Kiney. I picked the Hero Puch -- it was geared, it was not a choice of most females (ok so maybe I was a little sexist at that time), so the choice was easy. But I screwed up the bike the moment it took it out from the showroom by ripping it to 60kmph (well, I was late for my tution classes). It got back at me by giving me bad mileage for the rest of the time I had it. Still, it was a lesson well learnt.
After my 12th standard exams, I got to ride my family friend's Hero Honda Splendor. That was a fine bike! I remember the day he gave me the keys and said, "All down". I loved it! It felt better to ride than my Hero Puch (of course it did!! 7.8 horses are better than 3.15!! duh!!). Still, I did like my Puch. It was zippy and fun to ride. Four years and I clocked 9500kms on it. But I yearned for a bike, and dad seemed to understand. (I think, cos with my dad, I can never be sure).
It was around this time that my uncle got a promotion at work and was given a car by his company. Which meant that his Splendor was lying unused. I tried getting my folks to ask him if he wanted to sell the bike. Dad did ask him one day, and my uncle refused to sell. However, one day, he asked me if I'd like to use the bike for a year (I was in my final year of my Bachelors), until I bought a new one. I gladly accepted!! I was back with a bike I loved to ride. I enjoyed the 17 months I spent with the bike. I clocked around 10000kms on it, which included a ride to Chinchi Falls with the PUGs. It was my first long ride on my bike, and that did it for me! I was hooked to riding!!
Then came December 4th, 2003 and it brought the love of my life into my life, my brand new Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTS-i, or Blurr, as I like to call her. I fell in love the moment I thumbed the starter for the first time! Ran her in for 2350kms, (I actually planned to do 5000kms of running in, but I just couldnt hold myself back :-D), and then let her rip!! She's fast, steady, consistent, and a whole lotta fun to ride. I've been to Nandi Hills (thrice), Doddaaladamara (Big Banyan Tree), Ramanagaram (Sholay was shot here), Hogenakkal Falls and Munnar with her. Someone asked me if I was done riding. My answer was, and still is, "I've just started!!!" There are a whole lotta roads in this country that are beckoning. And who knows, maybe someday I will ride on foreign soil too.
Which now brings us to the question, why do I ride? Well, I cant really explain it. Why dont you join me for a ride and find out for yourself?? :-). I'm going to Kemmanagundi this weekend, join me!
Well, after that, it was my cousin's Hero Puch. He'd come home some times, and I'd get him to let me ride it. It was a new experience, riding a geared vehicle, required a lot more thinking than I was capable of :-)). Nevertheless I soon got the hang of it. But it wasnt very often that I'd get to ride the Puch cos my cousin didnt come around much.
Somewhere in between I got to ride a Yamaha RX100. It was after my 10th standard exams. It belonged to an acquaintance of mine. Before I got on the bike I was warned that it was very powerful and I ought to be careful with the throttle. That psyched me out, and I ended up dumping the bike around 100m from where I started. But, hey, no wheelie!! ;-) :-D
After that I didnt ride much. Then I passed into the 12th standard, and with it came the tutions everyday. I needed a vehicle to get around. Dad was not going to buy me a bike, so I managed to get them to buy me a geared cycle. 18 gears of pure fun!! I miss that cycle *sigh* :-(. Three months after I bought the cycle, my grandpa managed to convince my folks to buy me a motorized two wheeler. I was given a choice between a Hero Puch and a Kiney. I picked the Hero Puch -- it was geared, it was not a choice of most females (ok so maybe I was a little sexist at that time), so the choice was easy. But I screwed up the bike the moment it took it out from the showroom by ripping it to 60kmph (well, I was late for my tution classes). It got back at me by giving me bad mileage for the rest of the time I had it. Still, it was a lesson well learnt.
After my 12th standard exams, I got to ride my family friend's Hero Honda Splendor. That was a fine bike! I remember the day he gave me the keys and said, "All down". I loved it! It felt better to ride than my Hero Puch (of course it did!! 7.8 horses are better than 3.15!! duh!!). Still, I did like my Puch. It was zippy and fun to ride. Four years and I clocked 9500kms on it. But I yearned for a bike, and dad seemed to understand. (I think, cos with my dad, I can never be sure).
It was around this time that my uncle got a promotion at work and was given a car by his company. Which meant that his Splendor was lying unused. I tried getting my folks to ask him if he wanted to sell the bike. Dad did ask him one day, and my uncle refused to sell. However, one day, he asked me if I'd like to use the bike for a year (I was in my final year of my Bachelors), until I bought a new one. I gladly accepted!! I was back with a bike I loved to ride. I enjoyed the 17 months I spent with the bike. I clocked around 10000kms on it, which included a ride to Chinchi Falls with the PUGs. It was my first long ride on my bike, and that did it for me! I was hooked to riding!!
Then came December 4th, 2003 and it brought the love of my life into my life, my brand new Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTS-i, or Blurr, as I like to call her. I fell in love the moment I thumbed the starter for the first time! Ran her in for 2350kms, (I actually planned to do 5000kms of running in, but I just couldnt hold myself back :-D), and then let her rip!! She's fast, steady, consistent, and a whole lotta fun to ride. I've been to Nandi Hills (thrice), Doddaaladamara (Big Banyan Tree), Ramanagaram (Sholay was shot here), Hogenakkal Falls and Munnar with her. Someone asked me if I was done riding. My answer was, and still is, "I've just started!!!" There are a whole lotta roads in this country that are beckoning. And who knows, maybe someday I will ride on foreign soil too.
Which now brings us to the question, why do I ride? Well, I cant really explain it. Why dont you join me for a ride and find out for yourself?? :-). I'm going to Kemmanagundi this weekend, join me!
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Good Friday was GREAT!! in Munnar
Another trip log. This trip was done in April during the Good Friday weekend. Actually, Bijesh (a fellow PUG) and I were talking about riding to Wyanad. Somehow the destination got changed to Munnar. And it was totally worth it! I will be going there again! Well, read on. Its kinda longish. One more thing. I've tried inserting images in this post. Hope it works :-). Enjoy!!
Bangalore to Munnar
Date: April 09th, 2004 to April 11th, 2004
Riders:
Sameer (Black Pulsar 180 Classic): top row, left.
Dev (Blue Pulsar 180 Classic): top row, right.
Kalyan (Black CBZ): bottom row, left.
Vivek (Silver CBZ): bottom row, center.
Bijesh (Black Pulsar 180 Classic): bottom row, right.
Nikhil (Black Pulsar 180 DTS-i): behind the camera :-D
Route:
Bangalore -> Hosur -> Krishnagiri -> Dharmapuri -> Salem -> Perindurai -> Tirupur -> Palladam -> Udumalpet -> Munnar
And the same way back.
(We also wanted to go to Kodaikanal, if we had enough time, through what was supposed to be a very scenic route. However, it turned out that we didn’t get the time, and more importantly, the route didn’t exist anymore!!)
Day 1:
April 9th started for me with frantic last minute packing. My going wasn’t sure since my father kicked up a fuss about me going at the last minute. Managed to make it clear to him that I very badly wanted to go, and that I would go whether he was ok with it or not, but that I would like it if he did. As expected, he wasn’t too happy about my going, but I decided to go nevertheless. (As it turned out later, this was a good decision). Finished packing around 0030hrs and hit the sack.
Was woken up at 0330hrs by a phone call from Bijesh. Did not have any problems waking up this time, because I was really excited about going to Munnar. Did the usual morning routine, took my parents’ blessings, and set out to the meeting point – Silkboard Flyover.
I was the last one to reach the starting point. In the meantime, the others were fastening their luggage to their bikes using bungee cords, with Sameer the expert guiding them on how to do it.
A couple of snaps and we were off, at 0500hrs. We had decided to stop at Electronics City to check if the luggage was fastened properly. But Dev and me were kinda excited about the ride that we overshot Electronics City by around half a kilometer. Stopped and called up Sameer to tell him that we were ahead. At this point, Dev had taken off his gloves and had kept them on his tank. We waited for a while for the guys to catch up. When they did, we started off too, Dev completely forgetting to put his gloves back on. Result, lost gloves!
We stopped at 0600 somewhere between Hosur and Krishnagiri, to appreciate nature’s beauty and also to answer her call ;-). I’ve never seen the sun rise since god knows when!! The beauty of it was overwhelming.
The roads were pretty empty too. Not much traffic. We were riding flat out after Hosur. I was following Dev and was amazed at how steadily he was riding. We were taking the curves of NH7 at speeds above 110kmph. He was taking the curves smoothly, while I was struggling a bit. Got a lot to learn :-).
The NH7 between Hosur and Krishnagiri is an absolute delight. That’s one stretch where one can push their bikes to its limit. And I did just that. At one point, I remember the tacho read > 9500rpm. That’s 130kmph!! And Blurr didn’t complain one bit. She just gave more and more every time I twisted the throttle.
We stopped for tea after Krishnagiri at around 0700hrs. We were entertained by Dev’s stories about his friend named Krishna Murthy, aka, Pakhandi Dubey. Little did we know that by the end of the trip, we’d know enough about Pakhandi Dubey and his exploits, that we’d be able to write an entire book about him!!
Then rode on to Dharmapuri. The road between Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri is a single road with no median. And traffic was pretty hazardous. Pedestrians were walking like they owned the road. And TVS-50 riders!! God! I guess they think their bikes are as powerful as Busas. They swerve through traffic without bothering to see if there is any vehicle in their path. On the stretch between Krishnagiri to Dharmapuri, I saw as many as three accidents, one of which I guess was fatal. If it wasn’t, it was a miracle. Because the car that hit the pedestrian had its bonnet and windshield bent inwards!! I was glad that we didn’t hit anyone. But as it turned out, fate had other plans.
We stopped for breakfast after Dharmapuri, at around 0830hrs, at a small roadside eatery. Yup, that’s the one, the one in the picture. After eating some really yummy parottas, omelettes and having tea, we were off.
We reached Salem by around 1000hrs. Dev had mentioned before that he wanted to buy gloves at Salem. So once we got there, Dev and Bijesh headed into Salem, glove hunting, while Vivek, Kalyan and I headed on towards Perindurai. Sameer had gone on ahead of us, and we met him a few kilometers from Salem. That’s the road after Salem, leading towards Avinashi and Perindurai, the place from where we were to take a deviation towards Tirupur.
While we were waiting for Dev and Bijesh to return, Vivek gave us a demonstration of this time management skills :-)). As soon as we stopped, he got off his bike, put his bag under his head, and fell asleep. The glove hunt took more than half an hour so he did get some good sleep :-). The guys finally caught up with us around 1040hrs. We rode hard after that, with a few i/o interrupts (read: water intake and outflow breaks :-D).
I was glad that it was smooth sailing all the way. But disaster struck just after one of our breaks, around 1230hrs, after Perindurai. All of us had ridden ahead, and had reached a place before Avinashi, where we were supposed to turn left to head towards Tirupur, when I got a call from Bijesh. He said, “Dude, can you come back down the road”. I said, “Sure. Why, what happened?” He just said, “You come dude”. I was alarmed. Sameer asked me what was the matter. I told him. And the two of us retraced our route. We rode on for around 5 mins, but still no sign of Bijesh. That got us more worried and we moved ahead faster. Finally saw Bijesh flagging us down near a puncture shop. My first thought was that he punctured his tires just in front of a puncture shop, must be because the shop owner had a hand in it. In retrospect, I would’ve gladly settled for that. But that was not what had happened.
It turned out that Bijesh had hit a local riding a TVS-50. Bijesh had honked, and the guy had seen Bijesh, still he crossed the highway, from extreme left, to the puncture shop, which was on the right side of the highway. Bijesh braked, but couldn’t avoid a collision with the TVS-50. Damages to TVS-50 – bent rear wheel, bent saree guard, bent rear foot peg. Damages to Bijesh’s bike – bent front fork, punctured front tire (we later found out that it wasn’t exactly a puncture), a dent in the tank (which we later found out was actually a small hole in the tank), bent crash guard and a broken something (don’t know what its called, it’s the cast iron part to which the foot peg and the silencer are attached).
If you are thinking that was the entire list of Bijesh’s (and our) woes, you are mistaken. Now the TVS-50 rider was this docile chap. When Bijesh asked him why did he cross the highway even though he saw Bijesh, the guy said that he didn’t expect Bijesh to catch up to him so soon!! What a nut!! He knew he couldn’t argue with us so he brought along a “friend”. The friend was this burly chap who immediately demanded that we repair the guy’s TVS. He was talking in Tamil and broken Hindi most of the time, and what I gathered from what he said was that “We don’t want a single paisa from you. All I want is that you should repair his vehicle.” It wasn’t his fault, but Bijesh was asked to make good the damages. Sameer would have nothing of it, so he gave the “friend” a piece of his mind. The others joined in too. To tell you the truth, I was worried about the way the things could go, especially since we were outsiders there. The “friend” said, “Either you repair his vehicle, or I’ll call the cops. Then you’ll end up paying more than what this repair is going to cost.” Sameer and Dev asked him to go ahead and call the cops, assuming that we would have no problems because the accident wasn’t our fault. But it turns out that in Tamil Nadu (this is not what I am saying, this is what the “friend” said), in any accident, it is the rider of the bigger vehicle who is held responsible. (I was later told that this is the case almost everywhere!! Scary thought!!) Now, I don’t know if this knowledge gives the TVS-50 riders a false sense of invincibility!!
As you would imagine, we were stuck between a rock and a hard place! We called up Babu (Bangalore guys would recognize him from Venkat’s Auto Service), who told us what the damages should cost and stuff like that. Meanwhile, things were really heating up. As you would imagine, a crowd had gathered there. People were getting agitated. Some of us were arguing heatedly with the locals. But we eventually realized that we had no other option but to repair the guy’s TVS-50. We agreed to pay him for the damages. A mechanic was called in from Perindurai. He looked at the TVS-50 and said the damages would cost 1000 bucks!! I’m pretty sure the guy would not have gotten 1000 bucks had he sold that piece of junk! We put the guy on phone with Babu who gave him the correct estimate – 700 bucks. Paid the guy the amount. We asked him to give us a written declaration that we had paid him. He said he will, and promptly disappeared from the scene. That was the last we saw of him.
Our problems were still not over. All the while we asked the puncture guy to patch up Bijesh’s front tire. The guy kept procrastinating. I guess it was his ploy to keep us stranded there till we paid compensation to the idiot on the TVS-50. After we paid, he started to work on Bijesh’s bike. But we found that it wasn’t a puncture. The tube was torn in two places!! I guess the impact of the collision and the heat would’ve caused it to burst. Moreover, the front wheel wasn’t rotating freely. So there was nothing we could do but call for a transport vehicle to take Bijesh’s bike to Tirupur, where we were told there was a Bajaj showroom and service center.
None of Bijesh’s rides are complete unless he dumps his bike, or his bike takes a ride in another vehicle ;-). The transport auto finally arrived at 1445hrs. We loaded his bike on the auto and were off towards Tirupur by around 1500hrs.
Our ride from there to Tirupur wasn’t uneventful either. Bijesh started off ahead of us riding in the auto with his bike. Vivek, Kalyan and Sameer were off next. Dev and I were held up as we had parked in some sand, and were having difficulty pulling our bikes out of the parking. After a lot of struggling we managed to get our bikes out of there and headed towards Tirupur. By the time we reached the place where we were supposed to turn left, there was just Kalyan, Sameer, Dev and I. Bijesh had moved ahead, towards Tirupur. But Vivek wasn’t to be seen!! We assumed that he knew the turn we had to take, because we had been there earlier. That settled the debate on whether to look for him straight down the road or to continue towards Tirupur. Big mistake!! But we didn’t know that yet.
We took the turn and rode on. After riding on a few kilometers, we caught up with Bijesh. Asked him if he had seen Vivek. He said that he hadn’t. Which meant only one thing, that Vivek had missed the turn. We tried calling up Vivek but could not talk to him. Finally, Sameer asked Dev and me to ride on and catch up with Bijesh and help him with the bike, while he and Kalyan turned back in search of Vivek.
So Dev and I followed Bijesh. Before we caught up with him, on the way, nature presented me with this beautiful view. I HAD to stop and take this snap!!
So, on we went till we reached Tirupur. Bijesh had reached ahead of us. We didn’t know where to look for him. So decided to meet up at the Bajaj service center. Asked around, but people there did not know where it was. We searched around a lot till finally we stopped at a place, wondering what to do, when we saw this auto with a Pulsar in the rear. Now, we thought, that HAS to be Bijesh :-)). Followed him to the service center. That was around 1600hrs
We were at the service center till around 1930hrs. While we waited, we decided to have lunch. One big decision that we had to make was whether to ride on through the night of whether to stay back at Tirupur. Vivek suggested that we ride on till the last place before Munnar (which happened to be Udumalpet). Best suggestion ever, as we found out the next day. The ride to Udumalpet in the night was pretty spooky. There was nothing but darkness all around us, and our headlights were slicing through the darkness as we forged our way ahead (did that sound like a line from a medieval novel?? :-D). At one point we were traveling through fields of windmills. Now, we didn’t know that till at one point, there was this windmill that was on the side of the road, right after a turn. So when we turned and my headlights hit the windmill, it was really spooky to see the huge structure with its arms out stretched in the middle of the road! :-))
Three more things happened before we ended our ride that night. First was, I received an SMS, and took out my cell to read it, while riding. We were passing through a village, and so decided not to ride single handed, kept the cell in the space between the fairing and the instrument console. I rode over a bump and the cell promptly jumped and fell on the road. Luckily, no one ran over it, or hit me when I braked to pick it up. That’s one thing I’m not gonna try again. Second thing happened when we took a butt break. Call from home. Now, my parents tend to get anxious pretty easily. So told them that we were in Munnar. Made a note to tell them the details later. Third thing happened at Udumalpet. We were looking for a place to stay for the night. Someone suggested Annamalai Hotel. So, we asked directions, and were looking for the place. I was trailing the group. Suddenly this dud(e) on a cycle decided to give me a heart attack. He cut across from the other side of the road, into my path, towards the road on my left. I was probably doing 15-20kmph at that time. I applied the front brakes and found myself on the tarmac the next moment. First thing I thought was “shit, I dropped my bike!!!” Got up, picked her up, and just rode on. I don’t know why I didn’t bother to look for the idiot on the cycle and fulfill his death wish. Just rode on. This happened just a few meters from the hotel. Got there and told the guys about the accident. I was furious with myself that I dropped the bike. I couldn’t believe it, I had taken such good care of her, and then I dropped her. I knew had I applied the rear brakes, I would not have fallen. But then it was too late to think about alternatives. Harsh reality was that my bike was scarred. Did a damage assessment – scratched fairing, scratches on the silencer, right rearview mirror, right end-weight.
Went up to the room and did a damage assessment on myself. Three bruises on the right palm. My leather jacket saved my right shoulder from getting scraped.
Had dinner soon after, and hit the sack. Was really bugged about the fall. Was upset that things did not go according to plan. All in all, it was a varied day. From high speed riding on the NH7, to dumb riders on TVS-50s, to getting sun burnt, to riding in the night, to the fall. As I fell asleep, I had no idea how different I was going to feel the next day.
Day 2:
Day 2 started at around 5:30. Had bath and packed up. Then went out had tea. We had a small (nice) encounter with a pup, unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me so you all will have to wait for Bijesh’s snaps. Heard of more exploits of Pakhandi Dubey from Dev :-)).
That’s sunrise at Udumalpet, the view from the hotel’s courtyard, at around 0645hrs.
Completed all the formalities at the hotel and were out of there by around 7. That’s us, loading our luggage on our bikes.
We were around 88kms from Munnar. One would think that around two hours would be enough to complete that distance. We took around 5 hours!! One breakfast break, and innumerable photo stops accounted for that time. You just don’t feel like riding through. You feel like stopping the bike, shutting off the engine and taking in the beauty of the place. You get to experience the meaning of the word silence. All you get to hear are the birds chirping, the wind ruffling the leaves of the trees.
We had our breakfast in this small corner shop near the border check post. Crossed the check post and saw this hilarious signboard there. For a second, it did seem scary though. I mean, imagine being run-down by a half-ton animal!
The ride through the Chinnar forest was simply breath taking. We stopped innumerable times to take photos, the place what that beautiful. Check out the photos on Imagestation for proof ;-). The roads were heavenly! Nice curvy roads, with a hill on one side, and a cliff on the other.
So, innumerable photo stops later, we stop at a place some 10 km from Munnar (I fail to recall the name of the place). We had hardly stopped our bikes, when we were mobbed by locals selling carrots, pineapples, strawberries and mangoes. We pigged out on the delicious fruit. I strongly recommend the pineapple. *slurp*, yummy!!!
By around 1230hrs we reached Munnar. Now came the tough task of finding a place to stay. It was around 1230hrs when we reached Munnar. We moved from one hotel to another to try and find a place to stay. Two tries later we decided that it didn’t make much sense for all of us to move around town to find a place. So Sameer and I decided to go look for a place to stay. We went to like a million hotels. Most of them didn’t have vacant rooms, and the ones that did had only expensive rooms free. (I think they were trying to see how desperate we were to get a place to stay). During our search we went to this place called Tea County (I think that’s its name, not too sure), where Sameer had stayed the last time he had been to Munnar. The tariff, from 2200-4500 per night for two people. We told the watchman there that we were looking of a less expensive place to stay in. He asked us if we were ok with a home-stay. We said that we wouldn’t mind. So he pointed us to a house, just below Top City. We enquired there, they had a room free, 600 bucks a day, big enough for eight people. How cool was that!! Unfortunately, the room had been booked, and they could only confirm if we could have the room by 1300hrs. We couldn’t wait that long, so left to look for another place. We told the owner’s son that we would come back if we didn’t get any other place.
After a long search, we found a room, big enough for 15 people, for 1000 bucks a night. The room did not have cots, just mattresses on the floor, and a bathroom. No TV. We tried to bargain because we were just 6 people, but the guy at the reception did not agree. We told him if he would throw in a TV for free, we would take it. He agreed, so we went back to where the others were waiting, and took them back to Misha Inn. That’s the room we stayed in.
At the reception, Sameer enquired about the route to Kodaikanal. It turned out that the route that Sameer had in mind no longer existed. It was closed down some years back. We were hoping to touch Kodaikanal too. However, that didn’t look possible now.
We freshened up and lay our tired bodies down on the bed. It felt great after running around in the hot sun, looking for a place to stay. After a lot of coaxing from Sameer, we got up and went to a hotel just in front of the inn and ordered lunch. Now, this guy obviously doesn’t consider Chinese food fast food. We ordered and something around an hour later we got our orders. The food wasn’t too good either, so it wasn’t worth the wait. While we were eating, Dev, who was fasting that day, had a nice nap.
Back to the room, we grabbed our helmets and set off to see Medupatty Dam and Top Station. (Unfortunately, we only had enough time to go to just two places). Before we set off, it was hot, and some of us decided to leave our helmets and jackets behind in the room. Some were even ready to bet that it wouldn’t rain. I decided to wear my jacket and helmet anyways. Turned out to be a good choice, because we were barely two kilometers from the inn when it started drizzling lightly. By the time we reached Medupatty Dam, it had drizzled a bit.
Medupatty Dam is built across a river whose name I don’t know. But that shouldn’t matter, the place was beautiful. See snaps for proof :-).
From there we headed on towards Top Station. The rain started coming down a little hard at this time. I was glad I was wearing my jacket; it kept me dry :-). The road was nice and twisty. I was having trouble tackling the curves, as I wasn’t too keen on leaning into the turns in the rain. Thought I’d try hanging off, but didn’t quite get the hang of it (pun intended). The road was really bad in last few kilometers before Top Station, and was being repaired.
A couple of kilometers from Top Station, we stopped at a small teashop, where we met a foreigner. I didn’t speak to him much, so don’t know much about him. However, the others did speak with him for a while over a cup of coffee. Meanwhile, we noticed a milestone that read “Kodaikanal 86 km”. Asked the teashop owner. He told us that the road was closed because the forest was so dense, it grew around the road, making it impossible to use the road. He said that there was a police check post some 8 kilometers ahead, from where people were asked to turn back, in case they went that way. We were pretty disappointed, but then, there was nothing we could do about it.
Finished our tea, paid the guy and moved on to Top Station. The view from Top Station was breathtaking.
We spent time at Top Station drinking masala tea and listening about more exploits of Pakhandi Dubey. (It would’ve been fun if he could make it to the ride :-)). In fact, he was supposed to, but couldn’t make it). It was drizzling when we left Top Station. On the way back, I was struggling with the curves again, as I didn’t want to lean into the turns. So tried hanging off again. This time I managed to pull it off!! It felt great to hang off on the curves all the way back (though had a slight pain in the waist, but it was worth it!!).
Before we reached Munnar, we got to catch the sunset. That was around 1830hrs. It was beautiful!!!
We were back in our room by around 1900hrs. That’s Munnar. Freshened up, and headed out for some shopping. We went to this place run by the wives of people working for Tata Tea. I had heard a lot about “Strawberry Preserve” – strawberry preserved in honey. Tried it and bought two bottles. The others bought different varieties of tea and spices apart from the preserve.
Shopping done, we went looking for a place to eat. We weren’t able to make up our minds, and wandered around aimlessly for quite some time. Meanwhile, we called home, as none of the mobile service providers had their service there, except for BSNL. Finally after a lot of searching, we ate at some place (I fail to recollect the name). After dinner, we were back in our room. We decided to leave at around 0600hrs the next day, and set the alarm on our mobiles for 0500hr. Another dose of Pakhandi Dubey’s antics, and we hit the sack.
Day 3:
I woke up at around 0500hrs, shivering. I was sleeping closest to the window, and the window was left open. Now Munnar gets really, really cold in the mornings, so you can imagine my plight. No one was able to shake off his blanket and wake up. Around 0600, Sameer, Bijesh and I finally woke up and headed out in search of some tea/coffee to warm us up. I was shivering and my teeth were chattering badly due to the cold. Two cups of tea later, I was back to normal. While having tea, we made plans of getting back and realized that we might just be able to make it to Bangalore by around 1800-1900hrs. But like all plans, this one didn’t work out either.
We got back to the room and got ready to leave. While we packed, we also took care of the accounts. Except for fuel, it worked out to around 580 INR per head (pretty cheap huh?). Everything done, we locked up the room and returned the keys at the reception. Then loaded up our luggage on our bikes.
While loading his bike, Kalyan noticed that his right foot peg was broken at the joint. We enquired at the reception if there was a place where we could get it welded. We were given directions to a welder.
A group photo was taken, and we started our return journey.
We looked around for the welder, and found the place closed. We then realized that it was a Sunday. Nothing much we could do about it, but head on and look for a place along the way, which would hopefully be open. On the way, we again stopped a couple of times to take photos. We also stopped at every town on the way to Udumalpet, to enquire if there was a place where we could get the foot peg welded and were told that there’s a place further down. When we finally reached the place, it was closed too, and we were told that the guy would not be coming that day, since it was Easter.
There was nothing much we could do but ride on, we expected to find some workshop in Udumalpet where we could get the thing welded. However, Udumalpet was a disappointment too. So Kalyan finally resorted to this. It held till the end too :-).
We refueled at Udumalpet. It was around 1200hrs by the time we left Udumalpet. This time we got to see the windmills. There were huge fields full of them. It was an awesome sight!!
We rode on pretty hard after that, stopping only to drink water. It was really hot!! After Palladam, we spotted a sugarcane juice vendor and stopped to quench our thirst. I think the guy had the best business of his day thanks to us. Many of us had 4-5 glasses of sugarcane juice! This was around 1315hrs.
Our next stop was Perindurai where we had more water and juice. Sameer called up Venkat to update him on the trip. A little later, we were back on our bikes. We had planned to have lunch at Salem.
On the way to Salem, we were stopped by the Highway Patrol. There was an election rally, and some politician was giving a speech. That held up traffic for quite some time. We took this chance to rest a while. However, this “break” did throw us behind by around half an hour.
It was around 1645hrs by the time we reached Salem. We didn’t get lunch, but managed to get some chapattis, parottas, idlis and dosas. We set out at around 1730hrs I think, don’t remember times too well now. It was around 1815hrs by the time we reached Dharmapuri. The ride from Dharmapuri to Krishnagiri was pretty bad. Oncoming traffic was very unforgiving, not dipping their headlights, running us off the road. It was pretty irritating. Still we managed to do good time. Vivek and I were leading at this time, and he was having trouble riding fast in the night. We stopped some 27kms from Krishnagiri to wait for others to catch up. They had apparently stopped at a petrol bunk as Kalyan’s bike was running on reserve fuel. Some calls were made to home, and we were off again.
We somehow managed to reach Krishnagiri unscathed. (this was a great achievement considering that we were on a single lane road with bad traffic). Now started the most exciting part of the journey (for me). From Krishnagiri to Bangalore, the road is 4-laned and very very good. Sameer and myself took off, riding at speeds around 100-110kmph, without any problems. A little while later, we stopped for the others to catch up. While we waited, we saw Dev zip past. I decided to catch up and ride with him. A little while later, we were riding together, tailing an Indigo. We were riding at speeds of above 110 now. We maintained this speed right till Hosur, that’s around 55kms. No complaints from the bike. It was awesome!! Tailing the car allowed us to enjoy the ride without worrying about running some unfortunate pedestrian (or TVS-50 rider ;-) ) down (there were some, by the way. The road has lots of medians, at intervals of a few hundred meters). This, for me was an amazing experience, and I would love to do it again someday.
We stopped at Hosur at around 2115hrs. A couple of bottles of Sprite and Coke were downed by each of us, while plans were made for dinner. We were around 35-40 km from Bangalore. Dev and I decided to head straight home on reaching Bangalore. The others made dinner plans. A little while later, we were off again.
There was quite a bit of traffic, and we were riding pretty slowly. A little ahead there was this huge truck carrying a really wide load, and to the left there were barriers on the road. There was a lot of sand and gravel there. A moment later, Sameer was on the road, his bike had skid (on braking, I think). Fortunately, at that time, there wasn’t much damage done. (it was only later that Sameer found that he had damaged a few ligaments in his wrist, and was in bandages for quite some time).
We reached the Silk Board flyover at around 2200hrs. We were a tired, but totally satisfied bunch of bikers :-). A quick photo session later, we bid each other farewell and headed our ways.
I was back home by around 2245hrs. Total distance on my trip meter (from home and back 1125kms). Parents were relieved to see me back home in one piece. Dad did notice the scratched fairing (I was hoping he wouldn’t, but I wasn’t that lucky). Anyways, it was a great trip, enjoyed it through and through. Can’t wait to go on a long ride again!!
Dilemma solved
Ok, I didn't go. Lots of reasons.
And the presentation didnt go too well either.. Well, it wasnt much of a presentation.. I spoke for not more than 5 minutes.. And I hadnt the slightest clue about what I was talking. I was "bailed out" by a colleague who knew what I was supposed to talk about :-(
And the presentation didnt go too well either.. Well, it wasnt much of a presentation.. I spoke for not more than 5 minutes.. And I hadnt the slightest clue about what I was talking. I was "bailed out" by a colleague who knew what I was supposed to talk about :-(
To go or not to go, that is the question
I wonder how Hamlet would've gotten himself out of this dilemma. Ok, so I spoke to my team lead about going to the reception. She wasn't too happy that I would not be giving my presentation today, cos that would mean a slip in the entire study group's schedule. Nevertheless, she asked me to check with my Team Manager, who was ok with my going.
Now, the dilemma I face is, evident from the subject. If I go, team's schedule slips and more importantly, my schedule slips too. If I dont go, ex-Team Lead will misunderstand. (He might think this has something to do with the last review he gave me ;-) :-)) ). And I'm not even prepared for my presentation, else I'd have given it right now and left. Come to think of it, I dont think I'll be ready even by 5pm.
Excuse me, while I pull out my hair and scream out loud, and think about what to do...
Now, the dilemma I face is, evident from the subject. If I go, team's schedule slips and more importantly, my schedule slips too. If I dont go, ex-Team Lead will misunderstand. (He might think this has something to do with the last review he gave me ;-) :-)) ). And I'm not even prepared for my presentation, else I'd have given it right now and left. Come to think of it, I dont think I'll be ready even by 5pm.
Excuse me, while I pull out my hair and scream out loud, and think about what to do...
I feel the need, the need, for speed
Ok, so there is this bunch of people from office going to the reception in a Maruti Omni. Came to know this when one of them came to ask my cubicle-neighbor if she'd like to go. And I saw his eyebrows disappear into his hairline when I told him that I'd be joining them, on my bike. Why is it so hard for people to understand that I love to ride!! Still, I wont be riding alone. Need some company. Still waiting...
PS: Gotta ask present team-lead if I can escape the dreaded presentation
Monday, June 21, 2004
Caffine, music and very little learnt
Its been an hour since I got to office, and I've read not more than three lines of info regarding XML DOM. And I'm supposed to make a presentation at 5pm. Plus, having an argument with a good friend is not helping the concentration either :-(
Well, my only hope of getting out of this task is to attend my ex-team lead's reception. Its in the evening, and better still, its in Dharmapuri!! That stretch of road between Hosur and Krishnagiri!! I love that road! Now, if only I get some company...
Escaped!! Or have I?
Well, I was asked to talk about what I've learnt today.. But thanks to an over-excited team-mate, that was avoided. And I was breathing a sigh of relief, when I was given the task of talking about XML DOM tomorrow!!
Given the fact that I know very little of XML, that sounds like my DOOM.. :-S. Time to bury my head in the monitor!
Given the fact that I know very little of XML, that sounds like my DOOM.. :-S. Time to bury my head in the monitor!
Ranting in XML
<rant>
Arrrgghhhh... At this rate I'll really go bald.. Nothing is entering my head.. And I have a "discussion" to attend in like 2 minutes.. I guess I'll just sit there and nod my head intelligently again ;-). Looks like another long night studying! :-(. And I thought things like this would stop after college!!
</rant>
PS: see how badly I've learnt XML? There must be some XML guru out there who can write this in some incomprehensible form! I'll get there someday!!
Arrrgghhhh... At this rate I'll really go bald.. Nothing is entering my head.. And I have a "discussion" to attend in like 2 minutes.. I guess I'll just sit there and nod my head intelligently again ;-). Looks like another long night studying! :-(. And I thought things like this would stop after college!!
</rant>
PS: see how badly I've learnt XML? There must be some XML guru out there who can write this in some incomprehensible form! I'll get there someday!!
What happened to those childhood dreams??
I cant help but think about the times when I had decided that I would become a "train driver" when I was a kid.. Why suddenly, you ask? Cos instead of sitting in a train, wind blowing through my hair, I am sitting at my desk, pulling out my hair, trying to "study" XML.. What would I not give to be a child again!
Are we "driving" ourselves to extinction??
Ok, so things aren't as bad as the title suggest. Its not like we are driving off cliffs, or head-on into each other. But you gotta admit, we do live on the edge when it comes to our daily city commuting.
I for one commute when the traffic is comparatively sparse. Two reasons for this
1) There wont be anyone running into me or scraping against my beloved bike (oooh, I'd really hate that!!!)
2) It allows me to ride freely.
So, I leave for office at around 11am, and leave for home after 11pm. So, I am used to riding without braking for kilometers together.
Which is why saturday was a rude shock! I had to go out with family to a place called Tejaswini Nagar, which is somewhere off Bannerghatta Road. I wonder why it is called Bannerghatta "Road" -- cos there is no road there dammit!!! I felt like I was riding on some other planet!! There were more potholes on that road than on the moon! Actually, the whole "road" was one endless pothole!!
Now, as if the road wasnt bad enough, we had people riding like they were in a hurry to get somewhere. Well, if it wasnt for their good fortune, they would've gotten to a hospital in a hurry, thats for sure! Lots of close calls. Lots of small accidents! I'm glad I didnt get to see any bad ones.
We really need to learn how to ride properly. Before that we need to learn how to be courteous and friendly to other people. That will help us get somewhere in tackling road rage. Riding should be a pleasant experience. *sigh* cant wait for the day when city commuting will be a pleasant experience.
I for one commute when the traffic is comparatively sparse. Two reasons for this
1) There wont be anyone running into me or scraping against my beloved bike (oooh, I'd really hate that!!!)
2) It allows me to ride freely.
So, I leave for office at around 11am, and leave for home after 11pm. So, I am used to riding without braking for kilometers together.
Which is why saturday was a rude shock! I had to go out with family to a place called Tejaswini Nagar, which is somewhere off Bannerghatta Road. I wonder why it is called Bannerghatta "Road" -- cos there is no road there dammit!!! I felt like I was riding on some other planet!! There were more potholes on that road than on the moon! Actually, the whole "road" was one endless pothole!!
Now, as if the road wasnt bad enough, we had people riding like they were in a hurry to get somewhere. Well, if it wasnt for their good fortune, they would've gotten to a hospital in a hurry, thats for sure! Lots of close calls. Lots of small accidents! I'm glad I didnt get to see any bad ones.
We really need to learn how to ride properly. Before that we need to learn how to be courteous and friendly to other people. That will help us get somewhere in tackling road rage. Riding should be a pleasant experience. *sigh* cant wait for the day when city commuting will be a pleasant experience.
Friday, June 18, 2004
Valentine's day ride to Hogenakkal Falls, with the love of my life -- my bike!
I love my bike. I love to ride. I'll post more about this. What follows is the trip log of my trip to Hogenakkal Falls along with Bijesh.
Hogenakkal Falls Trip Log
Destination : Hogenakkal Falls, Tamil Nadu
Starting Point : Bangalore, Karnataka
Riders : Bijesh K - Classic Pulsar 180
Nikhil B - Pulsar 180 DTS-i (Blurr)
Date : 14th February, 2004
Route planned : Bangalore -> Hosur -> Krishnagiri -> Dharmapuri -> Hogenakkal Falls
13/04/2004
TGIF!!! Go out with coupla friends for dinner. Eden Park. Service sucks (Why am I mentioning this here?? Read on, you'll find out). Back to office. Call up Bijesh and confirm and fix place to meet. Work.
14/04/2004
0030 hrs : Home!! No time to watch TV (I'm usually up till 0130 catching repeat telecasts of programmes that I missed). Hit the sack. No sleep.
0130 hrs : Fade to black
0445 hrs : First alarm rings. Wake up and put it off.
0450 hrs : Second alarm. Gets the same treatment.
0455 hrs : Third alarm. Ditto
0500 hrs : Fourth alarm. I dont bother. Alarm gives up.
0515 hrs : Wake up with a start. Ride today!! Consider calling up Bijesh and cancelling (he doesnt know this, yet :-D). Change my mind. Get out of bed. Morning routine follows. Bath. One slice of bread. Suit up. Ready to go.
0625 hrs : [Trip Meter : 000.0] Start Blurr up. I'm off!!
0645 hrs : I'm near the meeting point. Confused by new flyover construction. Ask someone for directions. Follow them. End result -- I'm nowhere near the meeting point.
0655 hrs : [Trip Meter : 021.5] Stop at Bommanahalli. Call up Bijesh. Tell him where I am. Luckily, its on the way to Hosur. So he agrees to meet me there. I'm waiting on a service road off the main road, just opposite this cross road, where there's a break in the median, and one of the smaller roads joins the main road. The scene -- utter chaos. I cringed as I saw motorists get themselves into situations that could've gone really really bad. Why arent people careful on the road?? Also realize that I am guilty of that sometimes.
0717 hrs : As I watch the traffic go by, Bijesh arrives. Hi! Hello! And off we go!! As we ride out of town, the traffic is pretty sparse and the motorists well-behaved. Truckers too. Nice guys. :-). Cross the border into Tamil Nadu. Slow moving traffic at this point. But it clears up. And a riders paradise opens up!! So does my throttle. Bijesh keeps a cool head and cruises along at around 90 - 100 I guess. I on the other hand just break off the shackles. Hit 120kmph. Then hit the brakes as I notice some sort of thing on the road (dunno what is called, will try to describe it) Concrete slabs laid along the width of the road, gaps in between. Pretty unstable to ride on. Luckily both of us hit it at managable speeds. A few meters ahead, I notice a place to eat. The only thing on the roadside. Its called "Forest Dhaba". Wait for Bijesh.
0805 hrs : [Trip Meter : 065.5] Decide to eat at this place. The owner is this very simple and humble chap. He stood in front of us with his arms crossed across his chest in a very humble way, and spoke very humbly too. Led us to a table. Took our order. Remembered the previous night, at Eden Park. I had to ask atleast five times to get a table. And the service was nothing great either. Had this guy set up shop in the city, he'd make quite a bundle in tips itself :-). Two hot and absolutely yummy chapatis later, we are all set to go. Bijesh was talking to the owner of the place. Told him that we were on our way to Hogenakkal Falls. The guy suggests a different route to what we were taking. Said that it was much shorter compared to the route we were planning to take. The route was not part of the highway, and was through a few small towns, the names of which I forgot the moment I heard them. I wasnt very sure about taking this route, cos I had our original route memorized. Bijesh agrees with me to take the current route. So we get going.
0845 hrs : We are off. Bijesh had mentioned that he thought his tyres were over-inflated, so we stop at a petrol bunk. Bijesh checks air pressure in his tyres. And we are off again.
NH7. The new and improved NH7. It opens its arms and beckons. And I gladly oblige. But wind resistance made speeds above 100 difficult. Blurr was starting to sway cos of the wind. In a moment of inspiration, decide to crouch. And voila!! she moves on effortlessly. Manage to cross 120kmph at least 6 times. I think I did 125. But no way to be sure, cos there was this voice in my head that kept saying "watch the road dude, not the speedo". (I *have* to get myself a Sigma!!). Now, Bijesh wasnt gonna ride faster than around 90-100. And I didnt wanna hold back on such an amazing road. Solution -- I let go for a few kms, blasting away. Then ease off the throttle, riding at around 65-75 till Bijesh catches up and goes a bit ahead. After which I blast off again. Did this and we were able to ride together. One thing that happened during this ride was that I fell in love with my bike all over again. She was biting off huge chucks of the distance effortlessly!! And in style too. Pass Khrishnagiri. Toward Dharmapuri.
1001 hrs : [Trip Meter : 133.0] (Input/Output interrupt :-D) Stop at a small road-side tea shop in a place called Karimangalam. Bijesh had tea, I Sprite. Glifford had messaged. Reply. Take a leak. Take snaps of the bikes. We off again. Pretty uneventful ride. Riding at a reduced pace, cos there's traffic and the road's pretty narrow. At Dharmapuri, ask for directions to Hogenakkal Falls. We are pointed in the right direction by a helpful motorist.
1056 hrs: [Trip Meter : 172.6] Some 30Kms from Hogenakkal Falls. Messages from friend. Reply. Take snaps. Drink water. General gup shup. Minutes before we stopped something happened that made my heart stop. Riding at around 80. Notice this thing fall across the road, inches in front of me. Takes me time to realize that it was a stone. From the corner of my eye, see these village kids trying to knock something off the tree I just passed. Thought of stopping and blasting the kids. Then realized that I did not know any Tamil. That plus I was really happy cos of the awesome ride I was having. (Riding does have a very calming effect on me. Whatever mood I'm in, two minutes on the bike and I am calm. No road rage after I got Blurr, cos I know, a momentary lapse of concentration, and she's on the ground, damaged. And I love her too much to let that happen to her :-) ).
1120 hrs: We are off. As we approach Hogenakkal Falls the roads get twisty. Such a pleasure to ride. I thought, if Glifford loved the twisties at Nandi Hills, he'd cry with pleasure seeing these. But the road got pretty bad later. At some places, the road was being repaired. Still managed to ride at around 50-80. But when I nearly hit the other side of the road at one of the turns, decided to cool it.
1145 hrs: [Trip Meter : 201.7] We are there!!! Hogenakkal Falls. But thats when the excitement died (for me atleast). The moment we reached the place, we were mobbed by people -- some asking us if we wanted a massage, some telling us to follow them to their boat. We said we just wanna look around. One of the guys said "People come here to see where the movie Roja, Ashoka, etc were shot. The only way to see that place is if you go by boat. Come with us".
Now, I am not a big fan of force-fed tourism. I like to move along at my own pace, take my own time, take in the scenery, and so on. These guys followed us all the time, pestering us to go by their boat. Now, I cannot swim, and the boats did not inspire any confidence in me, so I wasnt too interested. Thought I'd just walk around and see what ever could be seen with my feet planted firmly on the ground. Bijesh agreed. We walk away from the boats, but the guys continued to follow us. All I needed was to be left alone. I tried to discreetly tell them that we wanted to be left alone. Told them that we wanted to look around, and we'd go to them if we change our mind. But they scoffed us saying "there is nothing to see on foot. you have to go by boat. we can take you there." They were really bugging us. We walked a bit and sat down near some rocks, some water flowing by. After a while, they got tired of pestering us (or so we thought) and went away. We sat on the rocks for a while, with our tired feet in the cool water. It felt great. I was just beginning to enjoy the moment, when one of the guys came back and started pestering us again. I told him again that we are just gonna sit around for a while, and if we make up our minds about going for the boat ride, we shall go to him, cos we know where his boats are. The guy agreed after quite a lot of persuation and left us.
Took a few snaps. We then moved towards the place where we had parked our bikes. On the way, we decided to try out the fish. Stopped at one of the small hotels by the roadside and ordered fish. The guy asked, "and meals?" We said, "no, just fish, thank you". The guy must've thought we were nuts ;-). But it was just 1235, too early for lunch. So we had some fried fish (which tasted good!!) and left.
The walk back to our bikes was even worse. The guys were back, pestering us to take the boat-ride. One of them was saying "people come here all the way just to see the falls, what was the use of your coming here, if you aren't going to see the falls??". Little did he know, that for us, it was as much about the ride as it was about seeing the place ;-). We just said no thanks and walked away. I could hear the guys grumble and comment about us, but I didnt bother to notice. That was the worst part of the trip. I wish that the place wasnt so commercialized. It ruins the pleasure that is meant to be experienced on seeing nature's beauty.
1305 hrs : [Trip Meter : 201.7] We start off on our return journey. Its really really hot by this time. Bijesh leads the way out of the place. This time, we decide to take the alternate route back. From this point I dont remember the names of any of the places. Maybe Bijesh can fill in. We didnt ride all the way back to Dharmapuri. Somewhere in between ask someone for directions to Palacode. Take that route. Ride on. The road isnt as good as the one we came by. The max we were riding at was around 70-80.
1400 hrs : [Trip Meter : 249.0] Butt break. Take a few snaps. Stretch a bit. The road was taking its toll on my back and neck. In a few minutes, we are off.
1420 hrs : [Trip Meter : 259.5] We stop for lunch at a place called Vellichandai.
Lunch was tastier than expected. :-). Bird flu be damned!! The chicken and mutton biryani we had tasted yum.
1505 hrs : We are off. Ride on. Everytime we come to a fork in the road, ask for directions to Hosur and go on. No more breaks. Ride on till at last we are in Bangalore. Bijesh and me part ways at the place we met in the morning. It was at around 1645 hrs I guess. Not too sure. We both were tired and sleepy. Settled bills and headed our respective ways.
1716 hrs : [Trip Meter : 363.7] Back to office. Hands are all black cos of the grip. Back aching. Arms too. Thought I'd write the trip log when the details are fresh in my mind. Check mails. People in office are playing Quake 3, so I join in. Before I know it, its 1900. Too tired to write the trip log. :-D
1745 hrs: [Trip Meter : 372.6] Back home. Tired but very, very pleased. Cant wait for the next trip!!!
Hogenakkal Falls Trip Log
Destination : Hogenakkal Falls, Tamil Nadu
Starting Point : Bangalore, Karnataka
Riders : Bijesh K - Classic Pulsar 180
Nikhil B - Pulsar 180 DTS-i (Blurr)
Date : 14th February, 2004
Route planned : Bangalore -> Hosur -> Krishnagiri -> Dharmapuri -> Hogenakkal Falls
13/04/2004
TGIF!!! Go out with coupla friends for dinner. Eden Park. Service sucks (Why am I mentioning this here?? Read on, you'll find out). Back to office. Call up Bijesh and confirm and fix place to meet. Work.
14/04/2004
0030 hrs : Home!! No time to watch TV (I'm usually up till 0130 catching repeat telecasts of programmes that I missed). Hit the sack. No sleep.
0130 hrs : Fade to black
0445 hrs : First alarm rings. Wake up and put it off.
0450 hrs : Second alarm. Gets the same treatment.
0455 hrs : Third alarm. Ditto
0500 hrs : Fourth alarm. I dont bother. Alarm gives up.
0515 hrs : Wake up with a start. Ride today!! Consider calling up Bijesh and cancelling (he doesnt know this, yet :-D). Change my mind. Get out of bed. Morning routine follows. Bath. One slice of bread. Suit up. Ready to go.
0625 hrs : [Trip Meter : 000.0] Start Blurr up. I'm off!!
0645 hrs : I'm near the meeting point. Confused by new flyover construction. Ask someone for directions. Follow them. End result -- I'm nowhere near the meeting point.
0655 hrs : [Trip Meter : 021.5] Stop at Bommanahalli. Call up Bijesh. Tell him where I am. Luckily, its on the way to Hosur. So he agrees to meet me there. I'm waiting on a service road off the main road, just opposite this cross road, where there's a break in the median, and one of the smaller roads joins the main road. The scene -- utter chaos. I cringed as I saw motorists get themselves into situations that could've gone really really bad. Why arent people careful on the road?? Also realize that I am guilty of that sometimes.
0717 hrs : As I watch the traffic go by, Bijesh arrives. Hi! Hello! And off we go!! As we ride out of town, the traffic is pretty sparse and the motorists well-behaved. Truckers too. Nice guys. :-). Cross the border into Tamil Nadu. Slow moving traffic at this point. But it clears up. And a riders paradise opens up!! So does my throttle. Bijesh keeps a cool head and cruises along at around 90 - 100 I guess. I on the other hand just break off the shackles. Hit 120kmph. Then hit the brakes as I notice some sort of thing on the road (dunno what is called, will try to describe it) Concrete slabs laid along the width of the road, gaps in between. Pretty unstable to ride on. Luckily both of us hit it at managable speeds. A few meters ahead, I notice a place to eat. The only thing on the roadside. Its called "Forest Dhaba". Wait for Bijesh.
0805 hrs : [Trip Meter : 065.5] Decide to eat at this place. The owner is this very simple and humble chap. He stood in front of us with his arms crossed across his chest in a very humble way, and spoke very humbly too. Led us to a table. Took our order. Remembered the previous night, at Eden Park. I had to ask atleast five times to get a table. And the service was nothing great either. Had this guy set up shop in the city, he'd make quite a bundle in tips itself :-). Two hot and absolutely yummy chapatis later, we are all set to go. Bijesh was talking to the owner of the place. Told him that we were on our way to Hogenakkal Falls. The guy suggests a different route to what we were taking. Said that it was much shorter compared to the route we were planning to take. The route was not part of the highway, and was through a few small towns, the names of which I forgot the moment I heard them. I wasnt very sure about taking this route, cos I had our original route memorized. Bijesh agrees with me to take the current route. So we get going.
0845 hrs : We are off. Bijesh had mentioned that he thought his tyres were over-inflated, so we stop at a petrol bunk. Bijesh checks air pressure in his tyres. And we are off again.
NH7. The new and improved NH7. It opens its arms and beckons. And I gladly oblige. But wind resistance made speeds above 100 difficult. Blurr was starting to sway cos of the wind. In a moment of inspiration, decide to crouch. And voila!! she moves on effortlessly. Manage to cross 120kmph at least 6 times. I think I did 125. But no way to be sure, cos there was this voice in my head that kept saying "watch the road dude, not the speedo". (I *have* to get myself a Sigma!!). Now, Bijesh wasnt gonna ride faster than around 90-100. And I didnt wanna hold back on such an amazing road. Solution -- I let go for a few kms, blasting away. Then ease off the throttle, riding at around 65-75 till Bijesh catches up and goes a bit ahead. After which I blast off again. Did this and we were able to ride together. One thing that happened during this ride was that I fell in love with my bike all over again. She was biting off huge chucks of the distance effortlessly!! And in style too. Pass Khrishnagiri. Toward Dharmapuri.
1001 hrs : [Trip Meter : 133.0] (Input/Output interrupt :-D) Stop at a small road-side tea shop in a place called Karimangalam. Bijesh had tea, I Sprite. Glifford had messaged. Reply. Take a leak. Take snaps of the bikes. We off again. Pretty uneventful ride. Riding at a reduced pace, cos there's traffic and the road's pretty narrow. At Dharmapuri, ask for directions to Hogenakkal Falls. We are pointed in the right direction by a helpful motorist.
1056 hrs: [Trip Meter : 172.6] Some 30Kms from Hogenakkal Falls. Messages from friend. Reply. Take snaps. Drink water. General gup shup. Minutes before we stopped something happened that made my heart stop. Riding at around 80. Notice this thing fall across the road, inches in front of me. Takes me time to realize that it was a stone. From the corner of my eye, see these village kids trying to knock something off the tree I just passed. Thought of stopping and blasting the kids. Then realized that I did not know any Tamil. That plus I was really happy cos of the awesome ride I was having. (Riding does have a very calming effect on me. Whatever mood I'm in, two minutes on the bike and I am calm. No road rage after I got Blurr, cos I know, a momentary lapse of concentration, and she's on the ground, damaged. And I love her too much to let that happen to her :-) ).
1120 hrs: We are off. As we approach Hogenakkal Falls the roads get twisty. Such a pleasure to ride. I thought, if Glifford loved the twisties at Nandi Hills, he'd cry with pleasure seeing these. But the road got pretty bad later. At some places, the road was being repaired. Still managed to ride at around 50-80. But when I nearly hit the other side of the road at one of the turns, decided to cool it.
1145 hrs: [Trip Meter : 201.7] We are there!!! Hogenakkal Falls. But thats when the excitement died (for me atleast). The moment we reached the place, we were mobbed by people -- some asking us if we wanted a massage, some telling us to follow them to their boat. We said we just wanna look around. One of the guys said "People come here to see where the movie Roja, Ashoka, etc were shot. The only way to see that place is if you go by boat. Come with us".
Now, I am not a big fan of force-fed tourism. I like to move along at my own pace, take my own time, take in the scenery, and so on. These guys followed us all the time, pestering us to go by their boat. Now, I cannot swim, and the boats did not inspire any confidence in me, so I wasnt too interested. Thought I'd just walk around and see what ever could be seen with my feet planted firmly on the ground. Bijesh agreed. We walk away from the boats, but the guys continued to follow us. All I needed was to be left alone. I tried to discreetly tell them that we wanted to be left alone. Told them that we wanted to look around, and we'd go to them if we change our mind. But they scoffed us saying "there is nothing to see on foot. you have to go by boat. we can take you there." They were really bugging us. We walked a bit and sat down near some rocks, some water flowing by. After a while, they got tired of pestering us (or so we thought) and went away. We sat on the rocks for a while, with our tired feet in the cool water. It felt great. I was just beginning to enjoy the moment, when one of the guys came back and started pestering us again. I told him again that we are just gonna sit around for a while, and if we make up our minds about going for the boat ride, we shall go to him, cos we know where his boats are. The guy agreed after quite a lot of persuation and left us.
Took a few snaps. We then moved towards the place where we had parked our bikes. On the way, we decided to try out the fish. Stopped at one of the small hotels by the roadside and ordered fish. The guy asked, "and meals?" We said, "no, just fish, thank you". The guy must've thought we were nuts ;-). But it was just 1235, too early for lunch. So we had some fried fish (which tasted good!!) and left.
The walk back to our bikes was even worse. The guys were back, pestering us to take the boat-ride. One of them was saying "people come here all the way just to see the falls, what was the use of your coming here, if you aren't going to see the falls??". Little did he know, that for us, it was as much about the ride as it was about seeing the place ;-). We just said no thanks and walked away. I could hear the guys grumble and comment about us, but I didnt bother to notice. That was the worst part of the trip. I wish that the place wasnt so commercialized. It ruins the pleasure that is meant to be experienced on seeing nature's beauty.
1305 hrs : [Trip Meter : 201.7] We start off on our return journey. Its really really hot by this time. Bijesh leads the way out of the place. This time, we decide to take the alternate route back. From this point I dont remember the names of any of the places. Maybe Bijesh can fill in. We didnt ride all the way back to Dharmapuri. Somewhere in between ask someone for directions to Palacode. Take that route. Ride on. The road isnt as good as the one we came by. The max we were riding at was around 70-80.
1400 hrs : [Trip Meter : 249.0] Butt break. Take a few snaps. Stretch a bit. The road was taking its toll on my back and neck. In a few minutes, we are off.
1420 hrs : [Trip Meter : 259.5] We stop for lunch at a place called Vellichandai.
Lunch was tastier than expected. :-). Bird flu be damned!! The chicken and mutton biryani we had tasted yum.
1505 hrs : We are off. Ride on. Everytime we come to a fork in the road, ask for directions to Hosur and go on. No more breaks. Ride on till at last we are in Bangalore. Bijesh and me part ways at the place we met in the morning. It was at around 1645 hrs I guess. Not too sure. We both were tired and sleepy. Settled bills and headed our respective ways.
1716 hrs : [Trip Meter : 363.7] Back to office. Hands are all black cos of the grip. Back aching. Arms too. Thought I'd write the trip log when the details are fresh in my mind. Check mails. People in office are playing Quake 3, so I join in. Before I know it, its 1900. Too tired to write the trip log. :-D
1745 hrs: [Trip Meter : 372.6] Back home. Tired but very, very pleased. Cant wait for the next trip!!!
Hello, world
Now, all the IT people out there would immediately realize that I am an IT guy too (the subject line says it all). And what better thing to post first up other than a "Hello, world" post ;-).
Well, watch this space for more..
Well, watch this space for more..
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