harikeshpk

The ride is a courtsey visit and long overdue, for me it a revisit having done the same while in school and college, (1970-1980 )by bus many times, by foot once and that too taking the forest track from the foot hills. and with my royal enfield bullet . Just 50 kms from Thiruvananthapuram it is a short journey. On 26th Aug 2011, 9-30 pm before bed I told my wife, next day morning we are off to ponmudi. And she said okay. So much for the planning part. It was good night till the buzzer went off at 04-30 am on 27th Aug 2011.

The plan was to start early by 6-00 am. Had breakfast at 5-30 am, better as there are not many eateries enroute till you reach the hill top so your body doesn’t run out of fuel half way into the ride. The road condition was not good( not bad either) from Thiruvananthapuram till Negumangad ( about 18 kms )after that it was good all the way till the hill top. Whew on bad road’s ninja takes it toll on my back,with the race grade sus counts each deformity in the road quite faithfully. We had hit the good roads by 7-00 am and after that the ride and the wayside scenery was good. Reached the foot hills by 7-30 am, and we were ready to roll up. Yes the roads were wet from the rains. To tackle the 22 Hair pin bends with wet tyres and better half as pillion I warned my self to be on the side of caution as ponmudi is notorious of not having safety walls on the road sides facing down hill. Had the first pit stop at the 3rd / 4th hair pin bend with no one for company it was a beautiful experience for us . just we the forest and birds singing the morning songs.

After some time the first hawker lady came to take the best spot to display her items for sale, and we started our climb. Some rain / cloud/mist/fog/ with ninjas both lights on we mad it to the top by 8-00 am. Went to kerala tourism motel. Some guys were making merry at the time with drinks just out side the entrance to the hotel with the booze inside their cars, so I was suddenly lost in old memories of ponmudi being a notorious place for everything unofficial. After seeing the ninja and that too with a lady pillion the party stopped for sometime and we made our way into the restaurant. We were informed that breakfast was not ready but tea was on, so we thought of having tea and go up the hills to the top point. The tea was really good after a wet ride and both of us enjoyed it sitting with a beautiful view of the hills.

After tea we were out to ride up, after placing order for our breakfast and paying some advance as food is limited so we did not want to miss the grub if we get late to come down . we met some guys who had come on Bullets to photograph the morning sun rise. They had to miss the event as it was cloudy and raining. Said hello to them, and we rode up the hills. Took entry tickets rode up to the top parked the bike and took a walk around the hills for some time. By the time we came back at about 9-00 am, the booze party at the entrance was still on went inside and our breakfast was ready. Had a long breakfast break, took pictures and we were ready to roll down. It was much faster on the way back with the sun up and roads were dry. By 11-00 am we were back at my home after a wonderful ride. Having tasted yercaud,yelagiri,ooty the ponmudi hills were having a charm of its own I simply loved the atmosphere. Riding the bike from Thiruvananthapuram to ponmudi was no cake walk either with a twist every 5 seconds almost on the road, my fingers/wrists were tired like hell by changing the gear every 5 seconds during the 100 kms ride. Part of the kerala story I may say of having roads thru the mountains and valleys.( except NH 47 some part) . climbing and coming down the hill especially with wet roads , calls for caution .the right gear, right throttle, and right amount of turn for each curve. With the power of ninja on tap when you are in first /second any undesirable twist on the accelerator may see your back wheel off the ground in no time with the connected consequences. I normally ride hills in first second while negotiating turns “ just to make sure “ you don’t stall and I don’t want to demonstrate my riding skills taking sharp turns with feet up at the parking lot, which may result in a dropped bike. After all its my bike. So there sums up our ponmudi ride. Hope you like the story and pictures.

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Mountain biking on impulse with my wife and our bike goes down in water

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Noor

Thread approved

The pics are missing, please re-post them.

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ridermax

Nice little ride there Hari ! Nice to see you've done another ride (after quite a while ?). Great to see you both do a ride together.
The pictures are lovely.

Kudos ! Ride Safe !

aargee

Your Wife is very brave & adventerous to have sat in the rear without a grab rail; I'd a little dose with Vishwas Ji's rear seat last weekend

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harikeshpk

thanks both. for the ninja the pillion has to be in good sync with the rider.hope the post gives some direction to couples on bikes.

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Mountain biking on impulse with my wife and our bike goes down in water

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/tourer/2...own-water.html

my saddle sore 1600k is official - the story

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/tourer/2...ddle-sore.html

my space
www.harikesh.com

dual disc 200

You are one amazing guy sir, not to forget your better half too! I've been silently following most of your threads right from your Induction thread and it's amazing to read every time. Hats-Off to you, ur wife & the Faithful Japanese guy.

Btw. this is one mean looking Ninja pic. Loved the stance.

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Whenever there is a Rainbow in the sky, I know it's u mastering the art of Cornering. U will always be remembered brother, R.I.P Arun.

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harikeshpk

thanks arun

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Mountain biking on impulse with my wife and our bike goes down in water

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/tourer/2...own-water.html

my saddle sore 1600k is official - the story

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/tourer/2...ddle-sore.html

my space
www.harikesh.com

Sarvajit

Another cool ride by you guys...keep it up-you are really utilizing the bike the way it is meant to!
I am waiting to do one of these early morning breakfast rides too-my bike needs new rubber to tour again. Once that is on, I will begin with an egg-burjee/tand0ori roti on our very own Nagpur Highway!

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harsha645

congrats on the ride.
you both are amazing sir

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