With my experience and confidence in riding growing, I was ready to head out for my longest ride yet. Preparations over, I was ready to head out for the epic ride of 14 days, covering 4 states and nearly 3700 kms.
The ride would start in the state of Maharashtra and take us through the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. We would be visiting World Heritage sites such as the Sea Shore temple in Mahabalipuram, experiencing the French lifestyle and food in the laid back town of Pondicherry as well as performing daredevil adventure activities and seeing some wildlife in Dandeli.
The route was chalked out carefully, to ensure that big cities with major traffic were avoided. Also, we had to carefully plan to avoid any expressways, which do not allow 2-wheelers.
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| Ride map |
Apart from the actual preparations given in my earlier blog, mental preparation is also very critical. For this, I practiced with solo rides of up to 200 kms. non-stop. This really helped in developing my confidence to handle longer ride durations and allowed me to adjust small things to make my ride more comfortable and enjoyable.
DAY ONE:
Come January 14th, 2014 and 6 brave souls were ready for kick-off at 04:30 a.m. It was biting cold but we wanted to cover as much ground on the first day as possible. The idea is to cover maximum distances in the first few days, when you are fresh and the butt is not sore.
My brothers-in-arms were Mack, Loki, Facebook, Googlerao and Tailgunner.
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| From L to R – Facebook, Mack, Googlerao, Tail Gunner, Loki and me |
We started out in full enthusiasm but soon our fingers were frozen and it was difficult to even operate the clutch and brake. This meant an early morning stop for tea and some much needed warmth.
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Crossing the cities of Pune, Kolhapur and Satara, we crossed the border of Maharashtra into Karnataka. The bumpy, crowded highways and poor traffic sense gave way to silky smooth roads, negligible traffic and actual respect for bikers from fellow truckers and drivers. The highways of Karnataka are a memory that I will cherish life-long.
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| The curves that took your breath away |
Smooth uninterrupted riding for kilometres on end led to a problem we had not counted upon… and that is sleep. The hot sun, early morning start and a late lunch after Pune meant that we had to take breaks every hour to stretch and refresh.
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| Stay Blessed |
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| In the middle of nowhere |
Day 1 finally ended at Belgaon. We had started in bitter cold but it got easy as the day progressed. We had covered 650 kms. in the day and had made solid progress towards Pondicherry, which was our final halt before Rider Mania 2014 in Mahabalipuram.
DAY TWO:
Day 2 started bright and early with the same intention of covering maximum distance and crossing Bangalore before dark. Our plan was to stay on the outskirts of Bangalore to avoid traffic the next day.
The morning was beautiful with slight fog, flowing highways and no traffic. The day got better and I relished the chance of riding non-stop, except for refuelling stops.
Unfortunately, this day did not go as planned after lunch. Mack suffered two tyre punctures. Plus, the mechanic who repaired the first puncture accidently left a wrench in between the tube and wheel. This led to the second puncture and the tube was irreparable.
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| The first breakdown of the ride |
To make matters worse, the delay because of the punctures meant that we had to break our rule, and that is not to ride after dark. To be fair, the time was about 07:30 p.m. and it was just turning from dusk to night. Loki, one of our experienced riders couldn’t see a large stone left in the middle of the highway, probably by some truck driver whose truck had broken down earlier. Loki hit the stone, flew a little in the air and landed hard. The front tyre rim was bent and he could not proceed further, even to Tumkur, which was jus 30 kms. away.
Finally, the tyre was removed and carried to a nearby tyre repair shop, which was luckily open. The rim was temporarily repaired just enough to get us to the hotel.
The eventful day made us realize that even the best laid plans can go awry very soon. We took some well-deserved rest that night.
DAY THREE:
Day 3 started with another lesson. We decided to change Loki’s front tyre rim as this was a quicker solution to repairing the rim. But the RE showroom in the town was closed due to the festival of Pongal. We finally tracked down a mechanic and brought him from his house to his workshop to repair the rim. The repair took 4 solid hours and gave time for some more photo ops.
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| The desi way of repairing a tyre rim |
After the harrowing experiences of the previous day, we decided to restrain our plan of covering maximum distances and decided to only cross Bangalore and reach the town of Vellore by evening.
The riding on Day 3 was a mixed bag wherein we had to manage the traffic of Bangalore. But it also threw up a surprise. We reached the Bangalore – Hosur bypass and were asked to pay toll of Rs. 60 per bike. This was a surprise as two-wheelers in India are always exempt from paying tolls. We paid the money grudgingly but the riding experience on this bypass road was unbelievable. The road was like a runway and I swear a plane could land here if needed. The road was mostly straight and had just enough bends to keep us engaged. I reached my top speed of 135 kmph on this road and have to admit that I overtook many four wheelers on the way.
The bypass ended after 36 pleasurable kms. and after wading through the traffic in Hosur, we got onto the Chennai highway.
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| Reflections |
The roads continued to amaze and we enjoyed miles and miles of pleasurable riding. The day ended as we reached Vellore as planned before nightfall. The photo ops continued throughout the ride.
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| Rule the road !! |
DAY FOUR:
After 3 days of non-stop riding, we decided to take a little break and visit the famous Sripuram Temple in the city. This temple complex has a gold covering and is known for its Lakshmi Narayani temple or Mahalakshmi temple. Again, being Pongal festival, we could not get inside the temple due to large crowds but enjoyed the atmosphere and the good breakfast available right outside the temple.
The same afternoon we left for out final stop before Rider Mania, Pondicherry. The simple 140 kms. journey turned out to be a 6 hour ride as we rode through the interiors of Tamil Nadu with no knowledge of the local language. None of the boards were in English and it was quite an experience to get to Pondicherry before nightfall.
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| You aren’t lost as long as you have fuel in your tank |
Finally we made it into Pondicherry…
DAY FIVE TO SEVEN:
Reaching Pondicherry on the 4th day gave us a 3-day break before we departed for Rider Mania. Pondicherry was ruled by the French and Portuguese for a long time, and the colonial architecture and feel is still present to this day. The city offers many beaches and we had a good time in simple relaxing and enjoying the laid back atmosphere. The Aurobindo Ashram is also a must-see in this city.
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| Colonial Architecture |
This break also gave us an opportunity to service our bikes and resolve any major problems. The RE showroom in Pondicherry, Rooster Automobiles is one of the best I have seen and the owner, who is an avid rider himself, took really good care of our bikes.
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| Much needed repairs |
I must also mention the yummy French food available in Pondicherry. It is easily the best French food I have ever had. I recommend Rendezvous for it’s French delicacies and other continental fare and French Bakery for the best pastries and bakery foods ever.
DAY EIGHT AND NINE:
We attended the Rider Mania on these two days. It was my first experience of participating in a large biker gathering and delivered more than promised. The common love for riding and the brotherhood it brought amongst the riders was unbelievable For more on the Rider Mania 2014, please read my blog here.
DAY TEN:
After the Rider Mania was over, we departed from Mahabalipuram and reached the city of Vellore before night-fall. This was the same city we had stayed in earlier and we had little problems in settling in for the night.
DAY ELEVEN:
The next day we departed for Dandeli. Dandeli is a wildlife reserve in the state of Karnataka and is known for it’s varied birds and many other wildlife species can also be found here. This town is also known for its adventure activities including white-water rafting, rappelling and many other adventure sports are available for the brave hearted.
Our ride from Vellore to Dandeli was the very exciting. We rode on the main highway for most of the day and then reached the turn-off for Dandeli just before nightfall. The road was fun in the beginning with flat tarmac and lots of curves. We made good time. Suddenly though, the road disappeared and we were left slipping and sliding on a loose gravel road. With the maximum weight on the back of the bike because of our luggage, it was next to impossible to control the direction of the front tyre and somehow we managed to cover 10 kms. in more than an hour.
The road became manageable after this and we rode through a dense jungle. There was no traffic and the only lights and sounds were from our bikes. It was like riding on the moon. There were many forks on the road and all sign boards were in the local language. Finally we reached Dandeli at 10:00 p.m. after a long hard day of riding.
As it turns out, there is only one low-budget hotel in Dandeli and we were able to get only 1 room. All 6 us crammed into the room and managed to get some sleep.
DAY TWELVE:
The next day we went rafting but were returned back as the minimum number of persons to operate the ride were not there. After this we hired the local waiter from our hotel as a guide and left to see the sanctuary. I’ll let the pictures to the talking.
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| Sightseeing in Dandeli |
We also visited a small museum in the sanctuary.
On the way, we came across several interesting people, such as a local villager who offered us a giant queen ant as it can resolve all back problems, or the local snake-catcher who catches snakes and then releases them into the wild, away from the village.
On the way, we came across several interesting people, such as a local villager who offered us a giant queen ant as it can resolve all back problems, or the local snake-catcher who catches snakes and then releases them into the wild, away from the village.
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| Daredevil |
After our sightseeing tour, we decided to spend the night in a campsite, run by a local farmer. The stay promised some outdoor fun and also some great photography chances, as the campsite was located on a riverbank.
DAY THIRTEEN:
The next morning brought a spectacular sunrise and beautiful scenery.
We departed from Dandeli and headed for Satara in our home state of Maharashtra.
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| Picture Perfect Dandeli |
This time the roads seemed less hostile as it was daytime. But Loki still broke his ladkkah luggage carrier on the bad roads and we had to weld it to fix it back.
Otherwise the ride to Satara was uneventful. We enjoyed the super highways of Karnataka to the fullest and I personally felt bad to get back on the rough, busy and potholed highways of Maharashtra.
Our last night in Satara was more about reminiscing about the highlights of the ride. We enjoyed some spicy Kolhapuri food (This area is known for it’s spicy yet tasty food).
A highlight of this trip for me was to meet admirers and fans all over the country and to see the amazement and delight when people came to know of our long ride.
The last day saw us riding back from Satara to Nashik. The excitement and feeling of fulfillment kept increasing as we came closer and closer to home.
We reached Nashik at 05:30 p.m. to complete the epic ride and get back home safe and sound.
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RE Rocks !!
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Some of the lessons I personally learnt on this ride are summarised:
- Plan for frequent breaks throughout the day.
- Have small and frequent meals while riding instead of binging on a large and heavy meal. This avoids laziness and drowsiness during riding.
- Learn about the local customs, festivals and holidays before you depart.
- Never be in a hurry to reach a pre-determined place by the end of the day. Be prepared to stop before nightfall in the closest place.
- Even the best-laid plans go awry. So keep a few spare days in your itinerary for rest, repairs or simply enjoying a place you like.
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