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In life, there are many surprises. Some are because of external factors and some you can gift to yourself. My SaddleSore 1600 attempt came as a surprise while I was preparing for a long bike ride.
It is always fun meeting new riders and hearing stories of their rides. One such opportunity is meeting riders from neighbouring states. I recently missed such a meeting and that made me unhappy. I also observed that riders from Hyderabad and Bangalore never had a big bang inter-state meeting. Due to this, I planned to ride down to Hyderabad to catch up with some riders, to understand them and see the feasibility for a ride.
Meanwhile I had been reading about many saddle sore success/failure stories on xbhp.com. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had a thought about attempting one myself. With my fellow Harley riders completing it just a few days before I took delivery of my new bike, the enthusiasm to do such a ride just multiplied.
The start day: It was a Friday afternoon and I was planning to ride to Hyderabad for meeting up with riders there. I went to a nearby shop and picked up raingear and also a waterbag for hydrating myself during the ride. Suddenly a thought came to my mind. Why not continue to ride till Adilabad and make it a SS1600???? I knew that the road till Hyderabad is superb, but there is some 60kms of bad roads between Hyderabad and Adilabad. I took prints of witness/log forms and decided to take a final call after reaching Hyderabad. I messaged a rider in Hyderabad (Jacob) and noted down his mobile number for any help.
The start night: It was around 9:45pm. My wife and two sons were wishing me a safe journey. This was my longest ride ever and even I was very enthusiasic. I had completed 2000+ kms on my Little Ashley (Harley Davidson Iron 883) over the past two months and was very comfortable. So, I din't have any tense moments and was very confident of making it till Hyderabad. The start button was pressed and my Little Ashley started roaring. Potato Potato, Thud, Vroooom, she took off saying bye to my family.
(Pic1: Things to carry)
(Pic2: The beginning)
The start moment: It was around 10:30pm. I reached a Shell Petrol station in Byatarayanapura on NH7. I had informed my relative to meet me there at around 10:30 and he arrived in few minutes. I tanked up with Shell Super and finished the formalities of witness forms, snaps and taking receipts (time was 10:54pm). It was 11:00pm and I realised that I was losing time! Immediately said bye to my relative and hit the highway.
(Pic3: With my relative at Shell)
The night ride: Riding at night was actually fun. Since I was used to being up till late in the nights since my college days, it was not tough. Soon I saw 200kms in my tripmeter and Anantapur was the fuel stop. It was around 1am and saw just one station on the service lane. I had to take u-turn and filled up at BP. The attendent was half asleep and took his own sweet time to get things moving. I did not push him much as I was happy to have covered 200+ kms in around 2 hours and a break of 5 mins was infact a relief. The ride continued and I realized that there is difference in fuel quality from Shell to others when my low fuel started blinking quite early. I stopped for refuel at Dhone and then again at Mebhoobnagar. While it takes additional time for every fuel stop, it also makes you get down from the bike and take a few steps to loosen up.
The incident: It was absolute dark and I see green boards listing the toll for various vehicle types. As usual, there was no toll for bikes (hurray!!). This incident happened at the entrance of one such toll areas. After seeing the toll area, I slowed down and was doing around 70-80 kmph. Suddenly a road hump came in and I was flying in the air for couple of seconds. Because of the weight of my little Ashley (and also me), we landed safely. I stopped to watch out for the road hump sign and I saw it hiding behind those huge green boards. It was such a freaky moment, it made me slow down to 30-40, and take more precaution in all the other toll booths.
Welcome to Hyderabad: I continued to cruise between 120 and 140 kmph and soon entered Hyderabad. I was taken aback with the activity happening in the city at 5:00 am!! There were lot of people around and medium traffic. I didn't expect such a situation and took almost 1 hour to reach the other side of Hyderabad. Unfortunately, bikes are not allowed on the Outer Ring Road. So was not able to avoid the city ride. It was my first ride/drive in Hyderabad, but was not difficult to get out of city by asking locals for direction. Strangely, a couple of people who appeared to be natives didn't know the direction. Appears that lot of migrants would have moved to Hyderabad in recent times.
The upward journey: By 6:00 am, I reached Mechal, which is on the Northern outskirts of Hyderabad. Did my calculations of distance covered and stress levels too. It was absolutely fine and decided to carry on riding North. I was now entering an unknown zone (never travelled beyond Hyderabad) and withdrew some money from a nearby ATM for any emergencies.
The bad roads: Soon, the bad roads started. It was early morning and my mood was good and continued to be the same. After almost 50 kms of bad roads, I decided to take a small break. Pulled the bike under a tree and had my first snicker bar. Also checked the water level in the bag (it can hold max of 2L). I asked a local about road condition and was happy to hear about good roads after 10 kms. I continued my journey. Riding on my Little Ashley over bad roads was not a problem. She handled quite well and with ease.
(Pic4: Resting somewhere on the bad roads before Armur)
The beautiful stretch, with rain: The twisties around Adilabad area was simply awsome. With rain playing hide and seek for 3 hours, it was an amazing ride with plenty of greenery around. The rain gear bought earlier proved to be helpful as I cruised between 100 and 120 kmph.
(Pic5: Taken from other side of highway to see the distance covered)
(Pic6: 60kms before Adilabad)
The mistake: As I cruised along the beautiful terrain, I was tempted to continue till Nagpur instead of turning back. I continued riding and encountered bad roads once again. It was a mistake and should have turned around at Adilabad itself. I was not able to stop and turn back as I needed some proof at the turn around point. So, I continued till Hinganghat. I came to know that the roads ahead are good and decided to proceed till Buti Bori.
The turnaround point:Rain Rain here again: The journey in rains continued. My Little Ashley was sliding now and then and after some time, I was able to control the bike very well inspite of cruising between 100 and 120 kmph. May be, I had learnt the art of riding in rain...
The bad news: At that pace, I was actually thinking of completing 2000kms in 24hrs, which looked realistic. Soon, I crossed Adilabad and saw a message from Jacob. Called him up while biting another snickers and the shocker came in. There is going to be peak traffic in Hyderabad in the evening and there is no way to escape. Remember that ORR (Outer Ring Road) doesn't allow bikes. I made up my mind that if I encounter too much traffic in Hyderabad, I would settle down with 1600 and will not worry much. After all, not everything can be predicted.
The monster: As I entered the outskirts of Hyderabad at around 5:00 pm, I realized that I should now take it easy. As I starting riding through the city, I noticed that I was near Ameerpet (slightly wrong direction). Thought to myself that "all is well" and turned towards Banjara Hills to have a view of the Harley showroom. I entered the Harley showroom and had a Hi/Bye for a couple of minutes and then proceeded towards NH7. It was absolute nightmare and I reached the traffic free part of NH7 only by 8:30 pm. While I was confident about covering 1600 in 24 hours, I still wanted to reach Kurnool by 11:30 to obtain a computerized receipt.
The final encounter:The finish: I had informed my relative in Kurnool and about my arrival. They had prepared some authentic Andhra food. But I had not yet finished my ride to be able to pluge into dinner. I needed a computerized receipt with my finish time. It was a small search and finally got a fuel station which accepted credit card. This was sufficient and my ride officially finished at 10:44pm with 1753 kms in odo and 10 mins left for 24 hours.
While it was a very nice surprise to gift myself with a saddle sore ride, there was one great mistake. I delayed to call up my family for around 6 hours and my wife was not happy at all with tense moments at home. It took couple of days to come back to normal. She supports and understands my riding passion and I am still allowed to go on long trips with some terms and conditions. I am now strictly instructed not to ride alone and need to call home once in every couple of hours.
I would like to credit XBHP (xBhp.com - India's Most Popular Motorcycling/Biker's Community | India's First Motorcycling Biking Lifestyle Magazine) for all the inspiration for me to be a biker from past 6 years.
Ride Hard, Ride Safe
Cheers,
Sridhar
-------
It is always fun meeting new riders and hearing stories of their rides. One such opportunity is meeting riders from neighbouring states. I recently missed such a meeting and that made me unhappy. I also observed that riders from Hyderabad and Bangalore never had a big bang inter-state meeting. Due to this, I planned to ride down to Hyderabad to catch up with some riders, to understand them and see the feasibility for a ride.
Meanwhile I had been reading about many saddle sore success/failure stories on xbhp.com. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had a thought about attempting one myself. With my fellow Harley riders completing it just a few days before I took delivery of my new bike, the enthusiasm to do such a ride just multiplied.
The start day: It was a Friday afternoon and I was planning to ride to Hyderabad for meeting up with riders there. I went to a nearby shop and picked up raingear and also a waterbag for hydrating myself during the ride. Suddenly a thought came to my mind. Why not continue to ride till Adilabad and make it a SS1600???? I knew that the road till Hyderabad is superb, but there is some 60kms of bad roads between Hyderabad and Adilabad. I took prints of witness/log forms and decided to take a final call after reaching Hyderabad. I messaged a rider in Hyderabad (Jacob) and noted down his mobile number for any help.
The start night: It was around 9:45pm. My wife and two sons were wishing me a safe journey. This was my longest ride ever and even I was very enthusiasic. I had completed 2000+ kms on my Little Ashley (Harley Davidson Iron 883) over the past two months and was very comfortable. So, I din't have any tense moments and was very confident of making it till Hyderabad. The start button was pressed and my Little Ashley started roaring. Potato Potato, Thud, Vroooom, she took off saying bye to my family.
(Pic1: Things to carry)
(Pic2: The beginning)
The start moment: It was around 10:30pm. I reached a Shell Petrol station in Byatarayanapura on NH7. I had informed my relative to meet me there at around 10:30 and he arrived in few minutes. I tanked up with Shell Super and finished the formalities of witness forms, snaps and taking receipts (time was 10:54pm). It was 11:00pm and I realised that I was losing time! Immediately said bye to my relative and hit the highway.
(Pic3: With my relative at Shell)
The night ride: Riding at night was actually fun. Since I was used to being up till late in the nights since my college days, it was not tough. Soon I saw 200kms in my tripmeter and Anantapur was the fuel stop. It was around 1am and saw just one station on the service lane. I had to take u-turn and filled up at BP. The attendent was half asleep and took his own sweet time to get things moving. I did not push him much as I was happy to have covered 200+ kms in around 2 hours and a break of 5 mins was infact a relief. The ride continued and I realized that there is difference in fuel quality from Shell to others when my low fuel started blinking quite early. I stopped for refuel at Dhone and then again at Mebhoobnagar. While it takes additional time for every fuel stop, it also makes you get down from the bike and take a few steps to loosen up.
The incident: It was absolute dark and I see green boards listing the toll for various vehicle types. As usual, there was no toll for bikes (hurray!!). This incident happened at the entrance of one such toll areas. After seeing the toll area, I slowed down and was doing around 70-80 kmph. Suddenly a road hump came in and I was flying in the air for couple of seconds. Because of the weight of my little Ashley (and also me), we landed safely. I stopped to watch out for the road hump sign and I saw it hiding behind those huge green boards. It was such a freaky moment, it made me slow down to 30-40, and take more precaution in all the other toll booths.
Welcome to Hyderabad: I continued to cruise between 120 and 140 kmph and soon entered Hyderabad. I was taken aback with the activity happening in the city at 5:00 am!! There were lot of people around and medium traffic. I didn't expect such a situation and took almost 1 hour to reach the other side of Hyderabad. Unfortunately, bikes are not allowed on the Outer Ring Road. So was not able to avoid the city ride. It was my first ride/drive in Hyderabad, but was not difficult to get out of city by asking locals for direction. Strangely, a couple of people who appeared to be natives didn't know the direction. Appears that lot of migrants would have moved to Hyderabad in recent times.
The upward journey: By 6:00 am, I reached Mechal, which is on the Northern outskirts of Hyderabad. Did my calculations of distance covered and stress levels too. It was absolutely fine and decided to carry on riding North. I was now entering an unknown zone (never travelled beyond Hyderabad) and withdrew some money from a nearby ATM for any emergencies.
The bad roads: Soon, the bad roads started. It was early morning and my mood was good and continued to be the same. After almost 50 kms of bad roads, I decided to take a small break. Pulled the bike under a tree and had my first snicker bar. Also checked the water level in the bag (it can hold max of 2L). I asked a local about road condition and was happy to hear about good roads after 10 kms. I continued my journey. Riding on my Little Ashley over bad roads was not a problem. She handled quite well and with ease.
(Pic4: Resting somewhere on the bad roads before Armur)
The beautiful stretch, with rain: The twisties around Adilabad area was simply awsome. With rain playing hide and seek for 3 hours, it was an amazing ride with plenty of greenery around. The rain gear bought earlier proved to be helpful as I cruised between 100 and 120 kmph.
(Pic5: Taken from other side of highway to see the distance covered)
(Pic6: 60kms before Adilabad)
The mistake: As I cruised along the beautiful terrain, I was tempted to continue till Nagpur instead of turning back. I continued riding and encountered bad roads once again. It was a mistake and should have turned around at Adilabad itself. I was not able to stop and turn back as I needed some proof at the turn around point. So, I continued till Hinganghat. I came to know that the roads ahead are good and decided to proceed till Buti Bori.
The turnaround point:Rain Rain here again: The journey in rains continued. My Little Ashley was sliding now and then and after some time, I was able to control the bike very well inspite of cruising between 100 and 120 kmph. May be, I had learnt the art of riding in rain...
The bad news: At that pace, I was actually thinking of completing 2000kms in 24hrs, which looked realistic. Soon, I crossed Adilabad and saw a message from Jacob. Called him up while biting another snickers and the shocker came in. There is going to be peak traffic in Hyderabad in the evening and there is no way to escape. Remember that ORR (Outer Ring Road) doesn't allow bikes. I made up my mind that if I encounter too much traffic in Hyderabad, I would settle down with 1600 and will not worry much. After all, not everything can be predicted.
The monster: As I entered the outskirts of Hyderabad at around 5:00 pm, I realized that I should now take it easy. As I starting riding through the city, I noticed that I was near Ameerpet (slightly wrong direction). Thought to myself that "all is well" and turned towards Banjara Hills to have a view of the Harley showroom. I entered the Harley showroom and had a Hi/Bye for a couple of minutes and then proceeded towards NH7. It was absolute nightmare and I reached the traffic free part of NH7 only by 8:30 pm. While I was confident about covering 1600 in 24 hours, I still wanted to reach Kurnool by 11:30 to obtain a computerized receipt.
The final encounter:The finish: I had informed my relative in Kurnool and about my arrival. They had prepared some authentic Andhra food. But I had not yet finished my ride to be able to pluge into dinner. I needed a computerized receipt with my finish time. It was a small search and finally got a fuel station which accepted credit card. This was sufficient and my ride officially finished at 10:44pm with 1753 kms in odo and 10 mins left for 24 hours.
While it was a very nice surprise to gift myself with a saddle sore ride, there was one great mistake. I delayed to call up my family for around 6 hours and my wife was not happy at all with tense moments at home. It took couple of days to come back to normal. She supports and understands my riding passion and I am still allowed to go on long trips with some terms and conditions. I am now strictly instructed not to ride alone and need to call home once in every couple of hours.
I would like to credit XBHP (xBhp.com - India's Most Popular Motorcycling/Biker's Community | India's First Motorcycling Biking Lifestyle Magazine) for all the inspiration for me to be a biker from past 6 years.
Ride Hard, Ride Safe
Cheers,
Sridhar
-------
Hats off to your endurance.
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