Solo ride to French Influenced Land on Christmas Leave

Ahhh.. It was planned all of sudden. Dint know where to ride, but desperate to ride for Christmas Finally thought of riding to Pondycherry to catch up with a friend of mine Mr.Abhijith M.R ( XBHP -- MAKKY)

As usual i was restless the entire day and packed all the luggage and started from Bangalore at 9.30 pm on 24 Dec 2010.Filled up the belly of my thunderbird and headed off to Pondy.I took the below route.

Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Uttanagiri-Tiruvanamalai-Gingee-Tindivaman-Pondycherry total of 300 km( From Bangalore GIRINAGAR to PONDY)

Rode as usual within my limits and reached Krishnagiri past 11.30 pm. Belted hot parotas and a cup of tea. Already had several stares at me from the localites and they started asking All nonsense questions!! Where am i going? Riding alone? That too night? The roads are not safe etc etc.

Road from Krishnagiri to Tiruvanamali was isolated and i was riding all alone!! A Sole Rider in the road at mid night!!! Wow what a feeling it was!! The roads were pretty decent and was able to negotiate the pot holes which welcomed me here and there!

Had a cup of tea somewhere near a place called CHENGAM and the stares continued from a tea shop guy! Asking about the knee cap and the riding jacket and the balaclava.. Guess he was wondering whether i am an alien!

Reached Tiruvanamali and from there to Gingee is a decent road and i was tempted to open the throttle!! Maintained a god speed and within no time i was in GINGEE... I was welcomed by GINGEE Fort at around 03.00 am and headed towards TINDIVANAM.

Man.... Road from Tindivanam to Pondycherry is now 4 lane and was riding at high speeds.. The roads tempted me and i was riding at 100 Km/hr!! The cold breeze and slight fog was entertaining me and singing song along wit h the thumping of my Thunderbird!!

In between had a call from Mr.Abhijith and i did not realize at all!!! he was awaiting my arrival at Pondycherry. Reached Pondy at around 5.00 am and headed straight to Mr.Abhijith room and took rest till 08.00 am

Then we decided to ride to PICHAVARAM MANGROVE FOREST which is around 70 km from Pondy. We rode at normal speed and crossed CUDALLORE and 10 km before CHIDAMBARAM took a left to PICHAVARAM. Went for a boat ride and enjoyed and then headed to CHIDAMBARAM for a temple visit.

Visited NATARAJA Temple at CHIDAMBARAM which is very huge temple and very ancient! Enjoyed every moment at temple at by noon we were back at Pondy.

Saw here and there at Pondy including beach and i saw a SCORPIO stuck in the sands! and then busy NEHRU STREET, Visited IMMACULATE CHURCH where Christmas celebrations was going on. After a heavy dinner i called off for the day.

On 26 Dec 2010 headed to ROCK BEACH to witness sun rise and it was a great moment of my life! Then headed to AUROVILLE and had a good time walking around AUROVILLE and by then it was around 11.00 am and time for me to head back to BANGALORE!

The route was Pondy-Mahabalipuram-Chengalpet-Kanchivaram-Vellore-Vaniambadi-Ambur-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore

Took beautiful ECR(East Coast Road) to MAHABALIPURAM around 80 km from Pondy, Visited famous SHORE TEMPLE, ARJUNA's PENACE and from there straight hit to KANCHIPURAM. It was around 4.00 pm when i reached KANCHIVARAM... Stomach crying for some good food and i found HOTEL SARAVANA BHAVAN!!!.. Had good food and then to VELLORE to ride in GQ(Golden Quadrilateral)

I was in Vellore at around 5.30 pm and the super silky smooth roads were welcoming me and i was riding at a decent 80-90 km/hr. Reached Bangalore at around 9.30 pm and the SOLO ride had come to an end with a total of 1025 Km of SOLO ROAD TRIP to Pondy and back.

Enjoyed riding all alone and every bit of stay with Mr.Abhijth. We had met each other after a good 3 years!!!

It was the best solo ride of the year 2010 and 2011 here i come with lots of riding plans.

Happy thumping and safe riding.

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One more rain ride is here..









I

Rode to Moodabidri via Mangalore on 24th June 2011 and returned on 26th June 2011.

Ride details

The rider: Myself Ramprashanth
The ride: Royal Enfield Thunderbird
Route: Bangalore-Mysore-Madikeri-Sulya-Puttur- Mangalore- Moodabidri-BC Road-Puttur-Mysore-Bangalore
Total Distacne:900 Km

The energy booster for me before the ride


Started from Bangalore on 24th June 2011 at 4 pm and headed to Mysore. I was greeted with rain after crossing Bidadi.

Reached Suntikoppa at around 8 pm and stayed there for the night. This is the place where my dad stays.



Started from SUntikoppa on 25th June 2011 at 7 am towards Mangalore. Immediately after crossing Suntikoppa town heavy rain started and within no time i was drenched and i was enjoying in the rain.

After crossing Madikeri the newly laid road welcomed me

There was zero visibility and i was enjoying every minute of the ride. Rode slowly as the newly laid road was very slippery and took enough breaks in between for the photos.

I could not see the road ahead, Did you manage to see?


After Sulya i did not stop anywhere and rode non stop till Kalladka where i took a small coffee break which gave me energy and relief from the heavy rain. Had been riding in heavy rain from last 3 hours.



It was fun and treat for my eyes to see all rivers and small fountains flowing with high force and everywhere you look could see only greener forests.



Reached Mangalore at 11 am and took NH 13 towards Moodabidre. Reached Moodabidri at 12 pm and though it was a quick visit to my sister college finished all work at 3 pm and started back to Suntikoppa where i stayed for the day.



Headed to sulya and from here i was again greeted with heavy rains.

Stopped in sampaje ghat for a quick break.

My Bullet


The roads were so tempting


Another view of my bullet taking rest after continuous rain ride

River adjacent to the main road flowing in full force


Me and my bullet

After a small break resumed my ride and nearing Madikeri there was heavy rain and i was not able to see the road ahead as there was thick fog.

Let the picture speak




After Madikeri i was accompanied by a speeding tempo trax and it was crowded like hell with 17 people in it. It was raining heavily i was very sure that the driver was not familiar with the ghats of Kodagu district.

When nearing Suntikoppa i witnessed this.
It was a shock for me to witness this accident and luckily there was no death. The Trax hit a culvert and turned upside down badly injuring 7 people

Reached home at 7 pm and took a hot water bath which bought me back to life.

Started to Bangalore on 26th at 3 pm after a heavy lunch. As usual rain was waiting for a warm welcome

My Temporary arrangement for the heavy rain to protect my shoes


Me with my full safety gears

Reached Srirangapatna at around 4 pm and rode non stop as there was no rain. But in the return ride even though there was no heavy rain post mysore the traffic was killing me

Saw these sheeps heading back to their house after the entire day out

Stopped after chennapatna for a small coffee break.

A beautiful location to witness the sunset but cloud was playing its game

Suddenly i hear the train sound and tried my luck in capturing the moving train. Did manage to take a picture.

My bull


After this stop i did not stop anywhere until i reached bangalore as the traffic was heavy and reached home at 7 pm.

A weekend well spent in rain ride and rejuvenating ride for the bullet and my body.

Ride De Manchanabele --08/10/2011

Ever since i bought Schwinn Sporterra i am in love with it completely and have been using it daily for the commute and every weekend a long ride and Sunday a short recovery ride.

Did a ride to Manchanabele dam on 8th October 2011.

Some Stats:
Riders: Ramprashanth and Aravinda
Rides: Schwinn Sporterra and BMC SR 02
Route: Bsk 3rd Stage- Uttarahalli-Kengeri-Big Banyan Tree-Manchanabele
Road Condition: Awesome till Manchanabele Dam
Plus Point: Very Scenic route all the way with tree shades





Me and Aravinda decided to hit Manchanabele and he came with his new acquisition BMC SR 02. A sexy bike.


We started from Devegowda Petrol Bunk at 5.30 am and headed to Uttarahalli and then touched Kengeri. We Rode to Big Banyan Tree and reached there with in 1.30 hours approximately. The primary idea of the ride was enjoy every pedaling rather than keeping a close eye on the speed,cadence, distance covered, average and etc.

The bad batch leading to the dam

DANGER:


Took a small break at BBT and then headed towards Manchanabele Dam. As we neared the dam we were so excited to see the dam from the top and the view was a pure bliss with light fog covered around. We took the road leading to the dam and since Aravinda had a new bike and he did not wish to ride the bad patch leading to the dam. We started walking slowly and this gave us ample time to enjoy the scenery and then the photo shoot started with my mighty mobile camera.





Inviting Trails


A suitable profile pic for Aravinda?




My bike was too tempted for some off roading




Me with my bike


Inviting roads for some pure fun



After some break we decide to head back with one thing in mind. We shall ride here again and try some beautiful off roading very soon. The return journey was again in the same route and we were back by 10:00 am with total distance of around 75 km from the place were we stay.

See ya soon with more rides and more photos.. Till then happy riding