Day two: Vellore to Bangalore

Early in the morning at 3:45, the alarms began to ring. It was time. This day was big for both of us. Firstly, we were to cover around 215kms, and secondly, there would be some tough climbs on the way. Also, this would be the first of the many 200+ km days to come. If we failed today, a re-scheduling of the trip would have been in order.  We were ready by 4:30, and were out of the lodge soon. For breakfast, we had bread that we’d bought the previous night, along with some tea.

In the dark, we rode

It was a bit cold, and yes, for the first few kilometres, the legs did feel a bit tired from yesterday. From the lesson we learnt yesterday about speed against wind, we took turns for taking the lead. We’d keep switching the lead after about every 5kms, so that we maintained a good average speed, while the other conserved energy drafting. Also, we planned to stop for half an hour after every 50km, just to make sure that we finished the 200k strong!

We had our first stop at Ambur, around 48kms from start. After about a break of half an hour, we left again. The ride till here had been wonderful. Contrary to our expectations, we hadn’t really come across climbs. All the while we’d been cruising at 32+kmph and the wind wasn’t really against us. Our first proper halt was to be at Krishnagiri. My dad’s friend resided in Krishnagiri, and we were to meet him, as was decided yesterday. So after about 120kms from start, through the city’s noisy and dusty traffic, we reached his residence. His grandmother had cooked some wonderful food for us. We devoured food, almost like pythons, and then there were gulabjamuns! Too yummy, but we made our first mistake there. 

Somewhere on the road. Setting the perspectives.

Too much food made us drowsy, and the sugary gulab-jamuns kept us thirsty. We simply couldn’t quench it!  And it sure was tempting to just sleep there. I bet that sleep would have been wonderful. But we had to go, so about at about 2 in the afternoon, we left. Grandma had packed some lemon rice and juices for our journey, so we weren’t really worried about taking another major stop.

Too good, isn't it? In the pic: Varun

As we went ahead, surprisingly, we didn’t feel sleepy and tired as we’d expected. Maybe because it was a bit downhill, or because the food was assimilating inside but we sure were on a roll. Very quickly, we covered 20kms or so and in no time, and soon, were on the flats again. Right when we were to take our 3^rd stop for the day, the scenery began to glow. Hills, roads and the climate were simply beautiful. After a while, we started again. Soon, the most dreaded part of the journey arrived.

The beginning of the grind

 It was a long, steep uphill, and we could see it going right between two hills. And what even more dreadful was, that the way ahead wasn’t visible. What if it were still steeper? But we didn’t really have a choice of circumnavigating the hills so we trudged up on the bike. Starting from a combination of 3-7, going down all the way to 2-2, we moved at a snail’s pace of 12kmph. 

The dreaded climb

Biking uphill is so different from any other form of cycling. Unlike a flat road, you don’t keep going ahead if you take a break from pedalling; you just stop then and there. Every crank feels like going upstairs. You feel the push as if someone is pushing you by hitting you with a pillow. The music from the earphones falls on deaf ears. All you are listening to at that very moment is your heart beating, nothing else. Sun was high and hot, and we could feel our skin burning. That’s what happens when you forget to apply sunscreen.

But going uphill has its benefits. The downhill ride, that ensues, is an experience like no other! Here’s where I touched a speed of 59kmph, even though for just a few seconds. Riding downhill poses new kinds of challenges. On an MTB, the top speed you can attain is limited by the cycle, even though you may be strong enough to push some more. Aerodynamics plays a crucial role. You can’t really go beyond 50 if you are in an upright position, so you tuck yourself as close to the frame as possible. Even then, you touch 54. After that point, it’s all up to you. The pedals feel as if the chain has been derailed off the gears, and your cadence is well above 200. Yes, at that point you are pumping more than 200 revolutions per minute on the crank! So if you are adept at going faster than that, you go, maybe a kmph faster. You don’t really look ahead; you just see the road below you passing by. The rate at which the cat-eyes pass below you give you an idea of how fast you are going. You don’t really get to see the speedometer at this point. You breathe out hot, moist air, which because of your posture and speed, like a thin film of fluid, you can feel passing out from your mouth, along the throat, some into your t-shirt and some along the arms. After a while, once the downhill is over, you get back to the upright position, you see the speedometer showing you the max speed and smile at yourself. 59.1kmph. 

Around 180kms from Vellore, we pulled over after another gradual climb and finished the lemon rice and juice that we’d brought along, 2kgs off the backpack, and into the engine. Soon we were past Hosur, and reached the Electronics City. The velo read 200km. The feeling was epic, 200k and we were going strong. After only 17kms, we reached our guest house, but that distance took close to an hour and a half. That is the intensity of the rush hour traffic. But nevertheless, we weren’t all dead when we reached our place, and that was enough of a confidence booster for the journey ahead. But before that, we had a day off in Bangalore. And Deva would be joining us soon.

Day’s Stats: Distance covered: 217kms in about 9hrs and 30min on the saddle. Almost 14hrs on the roads.

The following day, we met Poorna, one of our college’s ex-aquatics team captain at her home for lunch. Later in the evening Varun’s friend came to meet him at our guest house and I went out to meet mine.  Soon Deva also arrived. The wolfpack was complete. After stacking up breakfast for the following day and tuning up our cycles, we crashed.

Link to the previous day's ride

Chennai to Mumbai!

Day One: Madras to Vellore

Early in the morning at 5, Varun and I started for Vellore, the first leg of our journey. But before we hit the roads, we had a quick bite at the Krishna gate. A Pongal, mendu-vada and tea, and we were ready. But just then, Varun realized that he’d forgotten his jacket, so again we went back to his hostel. Once all the final checklists were ticked off, the journey began! 

Google maps led us out of the city and placed us on the highway to Vellore. And before long, we were on the outskirts of the city and cruising along the road. It was still dark, and a bit cold as per the Chennai standards, but when you are cycling at around 30kmph, little is the concern that cold creates.

Varun on his bike. Notice the head lamp.

Cycling, with a backpack weighing around 6kgs, the handle bag, two bottles mounted on the diamond frame, an attached pump, a saddle bag right below the seat and with a helmet over your head is an entirely  different feeling as compared to cycling freely on a city road. Brakes don’t exist when you are cycling long distance. Gear combinations below 3-5 or even 3-6 tend to rust for their lack of use. And you feel free. You scream, you laugh, you smile, you even sing when you feel the freedom you beloved cycle offers. You wave at every tide of school kids that you come across, and they wave back. Flat roads, varying gradients, the vehicles passing by all add to the pleasure. You stand up on the pedals, take your hands off the handle, and scream again, as if embracing the way, but then you realize the magnificence of the environment, and humbled, you get seated again. But well, this was the first day. What, did we know then, of saddle sores and fatigue?

Then came the patch, where we surged ahead at a pace of 36kmph! 36 might not be a figure of much bewilderment to a road-biker, but on a 26er mountain bike, it sure is a surprise. And to our surprise, we weren’t really exerting, we were just getting warmed up! By now, the sunrise had begun and there was no need of the headlights. After about 60kms, we stopped at a roadside tea stand. Tea, minute-maid, some hydration, some stretching and we were off again.

At our first stop

He he. Shades not really required, but new toys, well, will always be irresistible.

If there is a factor, that people often take for granted on such trips, is dehydration. Yes you feel fast, you feel energetic, and you are merry making on the go and you are not sweating. But what you don’t realise is that, all the sweat you are supposed to be accumulating evaporates without you realizing. And that, slowly but surely, shows later on, on the ride. 

No, we didn't stop here. What if the food was bad?

No matter how much water you drink, your lips tend to feel dry. You don’t really feel like eating anything, and cycling even at 26kmph suddenly begins to feel a task. The sun begins to feel hotter than it really is and after a point, you just start feeling tired. Discomfort begins to set in, and you feel like pulling over and calling it quits. And that almost happened. After our first stop at 60km, we had to stop again at around 80, and then at 100 and then at 120 again. 

See, the thalaivar's dehydrated!

The sun was getting hotter and hotter, living up to its name, and yes, hunger was catching up too. And this, is when, snickers came to the rescue. A bar of clean, delicious energy, and bam! Off we were, green again. Soon we reached the outskirts of the city. 

We had contacted a lodge beforehand, and a local was kind enough to guide us for 2-3kms to the place, but we found a better accommodation before we reached there, and for 250bucks, we managed a room with two beds and the permission to keep our cycles inside. 

Our humble lodge. Surprisingly clean, and supplied.

It was around 1 in the afternoon, and we were 140.5km from our beloved campus. A lunch at a “Punjabi daba”, a stroll around the place, a little stocking up for the next day, an evening dinner at a Saravana Bhavan and we were set. But somewhere on the last half a mile, Varun lost his bike computer. And so, now we were with just one velometer.

Link to Day two: Vellore to Bangalore

Pilgrimage 2: The Journey Home

15 days, including 4 days of rest,
1920 km, 3 guys.
Deva
Varun and
Me

Chennai to Mumbai, cutting right across Southern India via the Western Coast and ghats.

Might we see you somewhere along the way??
Let us know!
Reach us at +91-9962247454

Bunny Hopping

My first comic! 

How engineering affects your vocabulary

The other day, a friend of mine had some kind of seizure. After the first few reflexive first-aid actions , I gave a call to the ambulance. And when the person asked me to describe the symptoms, to my horror, I said "she is vibrating"! I immediately realized then, the effect that all these years of obsessive engineering had had on me. And then when I sat down one day to scrutinize my lexicon, I realized that well, vibrating was not even the tip of the ice-berg. 

Here are a few from the list

1. Infinite, Infi: Probably the most common of them all. Used to describe a feeling of extreme. "I am infi hungry!", "Infi bored", "Infi Assignments!" , "Infi pain!" "Infi peace!"

2. N: Synonym for infinite, the above statements might just as well go with n. Maybe they are just too lazy to say all the four syllables of infinite or just too much saturated from coding or linear algebra. "It was n easy da!"

3. Random: No, they won't call you crazy or mad, they won't call you weird. They will call you random or arbit (short for arbitrary).  This word goes for anything that doesn't connect the dots for them. "He is one random fellow!" "It was such a random paper (question paper was nothing what syllabus would have dictated)" "Random Intern" "Random presentation"

4. Function:  Not as popular as the above, but I have definitely seen a lot of people using that. e.g  "Your response to deciding the menu would be a function of your hunger, taste and budget". Mathematics professors love this word the most!

5. Put: This word is like a chameleon, different meanings in different contexts! "Put treat" "Put cash!" "Put eminem!"

6. Crash: We love this word, and most often end up doing in lectures. "Crash" our engineering synonym for "sleep", is what most of us need / want the most, but we end up doing infi-random philosophizing when it's time to crash!

7. Pack: We don't say, "Ok let's get over with it", instead, "Let's pack". "Pack the movie!" "Pack that girl!". I don't know where we derived that use from, but nonetheless, it fits very well in our daily interactions.

8. Pained, Loaded: Shakespear would have used troubled, bothersome, or any of the old archaics. A polished engineer would use stressful. But in a college, this part is an integral word of almost every sentence of a pessimist nerd, and on the night before exams, pretty much everyone! "Pained in life" "Pain prof!" "Pain assignment!"

9. Threshold: When Joey, in one of the episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S tells a beautician before she does his eyebrows, that "Hey lady, my threshold for pain is very high", I couldn't stop grinning and had to include that word in this list.

10. Light: No, not the light from Bibles 'Let there be light'. When we say light, we mean that the problem is not going to be a pain. Think of it as an antonym for pain.

I will add what Norman Lewis says after the end of every few chapters in his book Word power made easy "Now you will consciously see more of these words every day", and you'll say, "Hmm, there you go buddy!"

I know these are not the only reincarnates out there, but these were the only ones I could recall. 

Let me know of more!

Never Be Nice!

You've been there every single time they needed you.
You've been their guiding beacon, in times of adversity, rejection, destitution!
You've been their source of inspiration ever, if not anything less.
You've understood their implicit expectations, and satiated those before they realized they wanted it.

And what happened after all that?
You were tagged nice.
You were friend-zoned.
You were expected to take care of yourself when in agony.
You were expected to get things done for yourself, without the slightest hope of any help from anyone.
And no matter how explicitly you implied your expectations to that someone, all you got was a cold, subtle denial.

You helped people and they clung on to you for more.

You were taken for GRANTED!

You respected people and you were taken for granted.


You tell me, why would being nice be a motivation for anyone?

Kerala December 2011: Day Six

Early morning 6, I packed my bags, readied up the cycle. Again, it was humid and hot even at this time. It took me almost an hour before I got out of the city.

Kanyakumari

Kanyakumari: Far View of the temple

 But once I was on the National highway, I managed to keep a constant pace. Reaching Kanyakumari felt a lot more peaceful than yesterday’s ride. Anything would be easier than yesterdays, I kept telling myself all along.  I reached Kanyakumari quite easily. Since I was more worried about my bike than being interested in  Kanyakumari, I just took a quick tour around the beach, snapped a few pics.

My bus reservation was from Nagercoil, so after a quick lunch, I headed back for Nagercoil. It was 20 km from Kanyakumari, but I couldn’t understand how I had missed the scenic beauty here.

I rode as slow as possible, taking in as much of the surrounding as I could.

My dear cycle, Shreya

As I waited at the bus stand, I couldn't help but smile looking at my dear cycle. She had been faithful to me all along the way. Never once did I have any problem because of her. No flat tires over the 750km ride, no crankiness, nothing. What else could I ask for.

Finally took my off from Nagercoil for Chennai at 6 in the evening.

The Crux of the expedition, why did I title it 'The Pilgrimage'

Wikipedia defines pilgrimage as 'A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. typically, a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith.' 

Well, it was no different for me. I took up the challenge of doing this because I wanted to prove to myself that I can. Just like a pilgrimage, it often made me question my motivation and incentive all along the route. It often pushed me to the brink of giving up, but I held on. And when I reached back Chennai in one piece, without much damage to me or any damage to my cycle,  I knew I had succeeded, and i still cherish the journey and will keep doing so for the time to come. After all, I DID IT!

Kerala December 2011: Day Five

I woke up early in the morning at 4:45 and freshened up. Trivandrum was 170 km from here, but I had secret ambitions of making it to Kanyakumari today itself, if I reached Trivandrum before 12. Having had the special tea made by Uncle, he came to drop me off till he was sure I would not get lost in the town. From here I was to reach Changanacherry, and then take a route to get on to the NH47. But some misguiding and a wrong turn took me 10 km away from the actual route, and took another 10 km to get back on.

At the Coconut Vendor's open shop

Finally I found a board which said that Trivandrum was 150 km. it was 8 am already, and the roads did not really allow me to go faster than 20kmph. After lots and lots of tiring turns and uphills, I finally reached Kollam. I had covered almost a 110 km from my starting point, and had another 80 to go ahead. I had my brunch here at an 'Asian Cafe', two parottas and horrible tea and left. But moving ahead of Kollam wasn’t easy, it was already 11 by then. Never before I had faced stronger winds, and combined with constantly varying gradients, generally uphill, I was tired before I was within the 40 km of the city. I halted at a coconut vendor’s shop, relaxed for a while, and then moved on for the remaining journey.

The last part became tougher, with the winds building up, and still climbing. I cursed every downhill ride, because I knew, that once the fun was over, it’d be followed by another long and tiring climb.

Three in the afternoon, I finally reached the city, found a lodge and just crashed the moment I was allotted my room. I couldn’t sleep, the constant worrying about the cycle safety didn’t allow me to fall asleep. I went back, made sure the cycle was safely fastened to pillars, and came back. I fell asleep by 9 in the night.

So far, this day had taken the biggest toll on my health. My knees were feeling a bit weird by the time I had reached the lodge. I couldn’t stand for long without running out of breath, and was extremely drowsy. I had covered 190 km today, cycled on for marathonic 8hrs and 30 min, had spent the largest amount today on electrolytes, water and food so far in the entire journey. I wasn’t mentally prepared for the following day’s journey. I even looked around a bit to see if could go to Chennai from here directly, but ended up deciding against it in the end. I would finish this, no matter what.

Day Six: Trivandrum to Kanyakumari

Kerala December 2011: Day Four

On the way to Allepey

After a delayed start, I moved on towards my next destination, Allepey. A day of rest had charged me up, and the effects showed on the road. After the first 5 km within the city, I entered the national highway. Miles flew, before I realised, I had covered 40 km in less than 90 min! this won’t sound like much to a biker, or for that reason maybe even a cross-county cyclist. But for a hardtail MTB rider, this would definitely be stunning. I grew conscious after this realisation and it trickled down to the remaining journey. I reached Allepey in hardly two and a half hours. I reached the boat jetty, and was supposed to take a boat ride to Kottayam, from where I’d reach my destination in a kilometer or so. But the boat I planned to get on was cancelled, and the next boat wasn’t until next two hours, and it would take another two hours for the boat to reach Kottayam. I did not have the patience for all that, and so, decided to cycle instead.

Too much tempting to tread, isn't it?

So I cycled to Kumarkom, around 35 km from where I was. Reaching this place was difficult because of the road, which was difficult to find among the potholes. Reaching Kumarkom also opened my eyes to some saddening features of some of the less developed provinces of this state. I stopped once to get directions from a lady walking by, and she literally ran away, maybe fearing me to be a bad guy. Somewhere in the next village, again I had to stop for directions.

Crossing the bridge towards Kumarkom

I stopped a mother and a daughter, and the mother pushed her daughter away and rudely gestured me to get lost. I had similar experiences with the males as well, but somehow managed even though my GPS was malfunctioning. Kumarkom and then Kottayam. By the time I reached, I was exhausted and after all these days, totally tanned!

The house I stayed here in has to be the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen! Normally I do not use such adjectives for architectural feats, but this was different from anything I had seen before. Housed right in front of a paddy field, the home was compounded by four walls made of stones. The building was a single floored structure, with the construction along two adjacent sides of the compound walls. The rest of the portion was all gravel, with a well centered in the compound. There were two entrances, with some vegetable farms around outside the compound walls. The entire building was white, with white marble corridors. Entering the compound immediately soothed your mind, and you felt peace, the kind of which makes you want to retire and settle somewhere in a similar establishment.

I had the traditional Keralite red rice for lunch, along with some other  curries.

Mr. George Podipora, and aunty, whom I stayed along with were wonderful hosts, I immensely enjoyed their company.  In the evening, uncle took me out to show his fields.

The day ended with almost 6 hrs of cycling and I had covered nearly a 130 km.

Day Five: Kottayam to Trivandrum; The day of extremes

Kerala December 2011: Day Three

Kochi Chalo!

After a heavy breakfast in Ponnani, I headed towards Kochi. It was sultry in the morning, and was a bit warm. The roads in the beginning weren’t exactly what you’d call expressways. Cramps from my yesterday's  feat humbled as I warmed up. The distance today was only 115 km, and I did not want to take up more than four and a half hours for this (Though I had begun with an ambitious 4 hrs.) The backache from yesterday hadn’t exactly faded, but it regained its composure after the first hour. I stopped 4 times in the first 80 km, and those 80 seemed more than 150. The scorching sun over and above the fatigue from the last two days was already taking a toll on me. A jeera soda on the way eased much of the pain, but the guy told me that Kochi was 100km. Rubbish, I knew he was incorrect, but it was already 11 in the morning and temperatures were just going up, and even 50 km would look insurmountable.

The Varapuzha Bridge

After another two hours or so, I reached Varapuzha toll, which I thought to be on the outskirts of Kochi, but the package has its own set of surprises you. Once I got in, I reached a junction. It was almost 2 now, and I was totally drained out. I was a bit lost too, not knowing where to go, so I just stationed myself temporarily in shade somewhere nearby. I finished off whatever dates I was carrying along with me, and finally decided to use my GPS.

There are some moments in life, when you feel accomplished, satisfied, thinking that your goal is a whisker away (a km away in my case), when you are jolted into reality by a rude margin. 19 km, read my GPS! I don’t know whom I was cursing, the internet? Or the roads? Google maps? Anything that confronted me passed by tainted by plethora of imprecations.

You call these dangerous?

And then the traffic. I tell you, if there is anything that can eclipse the haphazardness of the Chennai auto-drivers, it has to be the bus drivers in Kochi; twice they forced me onto the footpaths, and countless times forced me to screeching halts. And building up momentum on the cycle after you are exhausted is frustrating. It was 3:30 by the time I finally reached my destination. Worn out and frustrated, a day’s stay was in order.

The true color or Danger

There is one thing annoying about the highways in Kerala, there are no milestones for the big cities!

There will be milestones for the the smallest of the colonies, but none for what lies ahead. I didn’t see a board for Kochi till I had reached there.

5hrs and 30 min, an hour more against my target, 125 Km, the day finally came to an end.

Day Four: Kochi to Kottayam