6/22/2008

Yercaud conquered! -a ride with Xbhp


It is my longest ride so far and Vicky's too.We rode to Yercaud along with Xbhpians on June14th 08 and returned on June15th 08.We started from Chennai along with 13 other Chennai Xbhpians and met Banglore Xbhpians at Vaniyambadi and proceeded to Yercaud.On the whole 30 bikes were zooming to the destination in formation.Heres my trip log!

:::::Day 0:::::13:06:08

On this friday morning I was already excited with just 24hrs left for my longest ride.Wanted to service my bike before the ride.So as told by my mechanic I went to him in the evening for a 2 hr service.Before that I had collected iPod from Ashwin.Once the servicing was done I collected my bike and rushed back home to pack my stuffs.While packing Karthik and Vignesh came home to say good wishes for my long ride.After chatting for sometime they left.Once I was done with my packing Aashish arrived to wish a safe ride for us.Then I went tanked up my bike with Speed petrol and hit the sack.With all the excitement I was struggling to sleep ;) .

:::::Day 1:::::14:06:08
I had kept alarm at 2:30 am,but woke up at 2 am itself.Then I made a call to Vicky to wake him up.Had a shower and was all set to leave my home.Tied my bag to my bikes rear seat and left to a nearby temple for prayer.After that zoomed my way through the vaccant streets of Chennai to meet Vicky at a petrol bunk near his house.I was waiting for him and there came his roaring KnN fitted black 150.After he tanked up we headed for the meeting place,CTC,to meet the fellow riders.After waiting for everyone to arrive for almost one hour ,we started off finally by 4:45am.We were split into 2 groups-fast and slow.Myself and Vicky were among the fast riders.As we hit the Golden Quadrilateral our bikes started to hit 3 digit figures.Trying to cope up with the 220s and Zmas we were ripping our bikes.We were speeding on the highway until the mosquitoes began to bother us.Our visors were like war zone with blood stains and mosquitoes dead all over.We stopped cleaned the visors with water.Then came the rest of the gang,after a small photoshoot and break we headed to Vellore.Again started to hit the 3 digit mark on the speedo.While approaching Vellore we were surprised to see Anand and Srini(in Zma) to join us.They had started 1 hour behind us.Then the whole gang parked our bikes at the Saravana Bhavan,Vellore for breakfast.Seeing so many bikes together with the men all geared up the locals were stunned.

This is where we came to know the John's(Banglore Xbhpian)220 had fuse problems,so they were way behind the schedule.So we relaxed at hotel for a while and started off.Though we could have cruised our way till Vaniyambadi(our meeting point with B'lore Xbhpians) the GQ made us to accelerate hard.Once we reached the diversion to Yelagiri, we stopped to tank up our bikes.Went to the nearby BP Petrol bunk which was some 7 kms from the diversion.When my bike gulped 9 lts of petrol(even after tanking up the previous night!)I was shocked to see that I had got a mileage of only 28ltys on my 180:((((.Then I decided not to cross 80kmph.We had a nice time at the bunk relaxing and having fun.We spent nearly an hour there.After the fun we started off to the point where the board said the diversion to Salem from the GQ.We decided to wait for the Bangy guys there.En route we had sweet coconut water(Elanir).

There came the Bangy boys.First to arrive was Krishna's 220 with John as his pillion.Few minutes later rest of the gang arrived in style.After a small intro session we started to ride to the next town for lunch.Now the number of bikes has grown.Wow this was the first time I was riding in a group of so many bikers.It was like train of bikes.We were crusing through the pretty descent State Highways.With children waving hands at us it was fun to ride like that.We reached the next town and came to know there wasnt any good hotel so the gang decided to push off to Salem for lunch.The train of bikes zoomed through the villages with green fields on both sides of the road.Some 40 kms before Salem there were two awesome curves.They were perfect for bending to the max except for the on coming vehicals.The guys stopped there for a photoshoot as the place was surrounded by Bamboo trees.I managed to scrap my footpeg in that curve and it almost came off.

After this stop we headed to Salem.On reaching Salem we halted at Saravana Bhavan(again!)for lunch.Here we had missed our fellow rider Prajwal on his Unicorn then after Praful guiding him he reached the hotel.

Now we were heading to the ghats.I was all excited to ride through the ghats.We were not maintaining any formation as it would be difficuilt in the ghats.The hills were awesome and the curves were perfect for the bikes to bend hard.I enjoyed every km of the ghat roads except a few places the roads were fine.I stopped seeing Krish and others for some photos.


On reching Yercaud we had superb chukku capi.Then we headed to our hotel which was on the way to Pagoda point . The place where we booked rooms was MM holiday Inn.It was a good place.All the bikes were parked in style at the Inn.We refresshed ourselves and headed to the Pagoda point.We had a nice view of Salem lightened up.Spent some time there having fun.I should say we became close with each other at this point.

Then we went back to our rooms,while Praveen and others went to buy food for us.After a very long wait near the camp fire our food arrived.After dinner we had a Intro session(more of a mocking session ;) ).Then I left to sleep while some went for the Drinking session ;) .Steve and a few(including me) planned to wake up early next day to catch up with the sunrise.With alarm set at 5 am I went to sleep.

:::::Day 2:::::14:06:08

With such a cold climate outside the alarm at 5 didn't serve its purpose.No one woke up for the sunrise.I woke up at 7am and many others too.Only Praful and Arun had been out early in the morning.We had our brakfast at the hotel where we were staying itself.Again lot of fun!!!

Then we went to a lonely underconstruction road for the mega photo session.After spending sometime the bikes were arranged in a 'V' shape.And it was time for the cameras to play their role!


Steve had to leave us as his mother was ill so he headed back to Chennai.After the photoshoot we went back to our rooms to pack our stuffs and start our ride back.We reached Salem in a few minutes and went to the same Sarava Bhavan for lunch.At this point the Chennai and Bangy guys had to split up to take different shorter routes to their destination.So it was time to say good bye to Bangy guys.It was a nice experience riding with you guys!I enjoyed every moment of the ride!


We Chennai guys took the Vaniyambadi route.We were just tem of us riding back home now.For some part of the journey I was trailing everybody.We were maintaining the one behind other formation and it was a treat for my eyes to see all the bikes in front of me going like a train.On reaching GQ we started to blast again.Six bikes-2 220s,2 Zmas,one 180(mine)and1 150(Vickys) were ripping through the butter smooth roads.Thanks to Anand's HID on his Zma.HID helped us to maitain speeds of 110 with confidence.Had a small break at Vellore for some snacks and started at 8pm.We were riding so fast.6 bikes going one behind each other overtaking cars,buses and trucks with ease in style.This was the best part of the ride.We reached outskirts of Chennai at 9:25pm.It was quick!!After a bye bye session I hit home.Saw my odo reading 804kms -it is my longest so far and biggest ride in all aspects!

Some more pics.....





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