Rendezvous

This Christmas, me and Guru had been on a trip to Yelagiri. We did it by bike. He is now a proud owner of a black Unicorn and I own a Pulsar 220 ( Guess you know ). We started at 5.30 a.m. and we kept riding very tentatively in the first part. The safety first thing had got too much into our head and I find it to be pretty good as it helped us settle into a proper rhythm. I was hungry and wanted to drink a cup of tea. But then we decided against it and we kept on riding upto Vellore where we had our breakfast. On the way, we stopped for a few butt breaks and then managed to click a few pics. I was wondering where I was. The highway was completely covered in thick mist and the visibility was kind of poor even when it was around 8 a.m.. There were a few places where we could see almost nothing along the highway. We decided to keep up a constant speed of about 70 kmph and reached Vellore by 8.30 a.m..

I was enjoying riding my bike as I had to keep it at 70 kmph knowing that it was very well capable of more than that. To be frank, it was kind of hard to keep it at that speed for I wanted to open the throttle for atleast a small distance. But the fuel budget and the fact that the Unicorn was yet to be given for its first service made us keep up constant speed. We had already done a Vellore ride and even then we had enquired about the distance to Yelagiri. So we had some idea what it would take. The highway on the other side of Vellore was as good as the previous section. Infact it was much better. We still weren't able to see what was along the road.


We kept cruising at constant speed. We reached the foot of the hill quite soon than we expected and we started riding slowly through the twisted road. The road was pretty good and we rode really slow to enjoy the scenery. Guru was trying to capture a few videos while riding and it did come pretty well. I wish that he had did it using a higher resolution in my cam. We reached the top at around 11-11.15 a.m. and had plenty of time there. We actually thought we would reach there only at around 1 p.m. when we started in the morning. Though we had time, we didn't have enough places there. We went to the lake nearby and inspite of me dead against boating, Guru wanted to do it as he felt that the climate was too good to ignore boating. Yes, I agree the climate was good with the sun shining bright along with the chill breeze but I felt that it would have been better to just sit by the lake and enjoy.


We gave boating a shot and finally Guru felt that I was right. We then took a seat by the lake and ate some gorgeous plum cake that I had taken along. We were actually enjoying the climate with some good bird watching ( @Guru : Am talking about the blue bird [;)] ). We made plans for the rest of the ride and left the lake by 1.30 p.m.. We planned to have our lunch somewhere down the hill. I ate one of my favourite fruit which is available only there ( I guess and they call it the "Star Fruit" because of its shape). I somehow like it a lot and Guru didn't. It tastes kind of tangy and sour and it tastes crispy and very good specially when you eat it with the salt and chilly powder. It is something that you have to try out there.


We then started riding downhill with our engines turned off. I was initially hesitant with this idea, but then Guru convinced me and we did what we called Eco-riding. We then soon hit the highway and Guru wanted to try out the Ambur biriyani. Ask him for his experience with the food. We took loads of butt breaks in between and clicked a few pics. The mist had cleared up and we were blown over by the surrounding. We then rode back to Vellore where we reached at around 4.45 p.m.. We (Yes, even Guru!!) had our lunch at the same hotel where we had our breakfast.


We again hit the highways and then rode at good speeds so as to avoid driving in the dark as much as possible. Guru felt that his head-lights won't be effective enough. We covered quite a distance in the available sunlight and then took a long butt break again. The darkness had set in and we thought it would be really tough to get home soon. Once we started riding, we got into the groove and started experimenting few things with our headlights. Even before we realised, we started maintaing decent speeds and did well to reach home by 7.45-8.00 p.m.. I realised one thing after the ride. I had completely fallen in love with my bike. It felt amazing all the way through. I was very excited to complete this ride as it was one of my dream rides that I wanted to do. I also fine-tuned my driving skills on the highway.


We had done a total of 450.1 kms ( according to my reading and 442.4 according to Guru's reading ) i through the day. The best part was that we didn't swap bikes and hence it was a personal achievement for both of us with our bikes. I am so very happy with the way this ride went on. One of my friend found me too very excited and happy and that person felt that Yelagiri had worked magic on me. Well, I'm still trying to find out whether it was Yelagiri that worked the magic on me or was it my bike!!! Hoping to do a few more rides like this in the times to come.


Trip Log :

Total Distance : 450.1 kms
Total Fuel : 10 litres ( + may be another half a litre or so )
Mileage : ~ 42 - 45 kmpl
Total Time : ~ 14 hours and 30 minutes

Cheers!!!

P.S. : Wondering what are butt breaks? Well then, experience a long distance bike ride to know what it is exactly.

Posted by Venkat at 8:56 AM |  

Labels: Bike ride, Pulsar 220, Road Trip, Trip Log, Unicorn, Vellore, Yelagiri Trip