Yes. I was desperate to do a long distance ride. With the original destination being Bangalore, I felt like doing more as I got riding on the first day. I felt like visiting the pristine hills of Ooty and feeling the winter chill. My Pulsar 180 dtsi was all serviced and ready to munch some miles.
On Day 1, I left Pune at 4:30 am. It was a cold morning. I took my first break close to Satara and watched the sunrise (it was too tempting to stop at this moment). I continued further and reached Nelamangala (30 kms outside Bangalore) just before 5pm. Not wanting to enter Bangalore, I took the outer-ring-road through Kengeri satellite town and reached the Mysore road. I continued and reached Mysore at 9pm. I stayed at one of my friend's home.
On Day 2, I got up at 7am. Got ready, thanked my friend and continued towards Bandipur. I spent very little time at Gopalswamy Betta. I took the Masinagudi route through Sigur ghats and reached Ooty by around 11pm. Rode around Doddabetta, Conoor and Pykara. I had dinner at around 7pm and slept by 8pm. I was badly in need of sleep.
On Day 3, I had to ride all the way back to Pune. Not something I had even dreamed of doing. I left at 6am and rode longer distances taking shorter breaks. I packed some fried rice near Gundulpet, and decided to eat a little at every major break I take. I also took along 5 bars of Cadbury's Perk and plenty of water. I tried taking various shortcuts in Mysore and Bangalore, and faced some trouble. I actually ended up wasting valuable time on the ring roads in hopes of avoiding the city traffic. After a long day's riding, I reached Hubli and had dinner. The sleep was really getting to me and I was bored riding on a straight stretch not having anything else to do. However, the last stretch from Kolhapur to Pune was fantastic. The skies were clear, there was no fog, visibility was fantastic, and it was cold. It felt awesome. For a change the good weather drove all my sleep away, and I made it back home by around 3am with a wide grin ear to ear.
Distances covered:
986 kms on Day 1 - Pune to Mysore
186 kms on Day 2 - Mysore - Gopalswamy Hill - Ooty and surrounding areas
1216 kms on Day 3 - Ooty to Pune - In 21 hours (around 17 hrs of actual ride time)
So much for a butt-aching trip. I reported to work like everything was normal, and slept 15 hours that evening. This is my fastest & longest ride so far .. Yippie ..
3 comments:
1200 kms in a single ride!!!! cool
good man...kashid beach picture is just superb.
Definitely one helluva ride Praveen.... wish i could join ya.... makes me miss the good ol days of Blore ... cheers wherever you are... Be safe
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