So after a long wait, here is the report of our ride which took place on the first weekend of October (2nd-3rd Oct).

It all started here : http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/503297-post3563.html

After exploring all the places around bangalore within a 150 kms radius, the only place left to ride to was Kanva dam.

I had never been to Kanva dam inspite of numerous rides on the Mysore road. This time I thought - "why not ride to Kanva? Its only 50 kms away and we can have breakfast on the way back". Little did I or anyone know what was in store for us.

A few members confirmed for the ride. I was expecting only 2-3 riders apart from myself. That was to change. In fact a lot was to change much to the amusement of all.

On saturday morning while I was heading out I got a call from hifisharu. Informed him about the rendezvous point and proceeded to get there myself. Got a call on the way but couldnt answer as I was riding. As I reached the meeting point i was in for a surprise. Rahul aka Bluevolt, our very own DIY guru had decided to join us. Alok and Pradeep (prad.cs) already were at the meeting point. Ramkumar (scorcher) and Gautham (gd76) were waiting at the NICE road exit on Mysore road. Killer Instinct was to join us and I had forgotten to give him a wake up call. Managed to wake him but instead he replied that if he could wake up fully he would join us. So that said I felt a little guilty about not being able to call him earlier and we proceeded towards the NICE road. Got another call on the way from neoakshay and asked him to hook up with gd and scorcher on the NICE road exit.

We hit the NICE road and a quick blast later we were at the NICE road exit. It was nice to see Akshay after so long and I was glad he joined us. Incidentally both Ram and Akshay joined us for a ride after working the night shift. I was concerned as I didnt want lack of sleep to hamper their riding skills and reaction times.

At the exit, we pulled over and exchanged pleasantries with each other.

We decided to proceed to Vasudev Adiga's (A south Indian resto) on mysore road for breakfast first and then head back to Kanva dam. (LOL).

Rahul hooked up his GoPro camera on the ninja and we proceeded towards Adiga's. We reached the resto a little while later, parked our bikes and went inside to munch on dosa's and idli's and sip on coffee.

I had a clear view of the bikes and saw a few people crowding around the ninja's. Gobbled up the dosa and ran to the parking lot. It may sound crazy but i did the right thing. One of the guys was fiddling with the GoPro mount on Rahul's bike while another was wringing the throttle off another bike.

So i shooed them away and just stood around guarding the bikes while the others ate. A few mins later i heard a familiar whirring sound... It was Killer Instinct who finally managed to drag himself out of bed and joined us for the ride.

Here is a list of the riders.

1. Scorcher (Ramkumar on his white RTR)

2. Alok on his green 250R

3. gd76 (Gautham on his red 220)

4. Neoakshay (Akshay on his red R15)

5. Prad.cs (Pradeep on his 6 month new black ZMA)

6. hifisharu (sharath on his blue R15)

7. Bluevolt (Rahul on his Green 250R)

8. Killer Instinct (Asim on his Green 250R)

9. Myself on my green 250R

After some breakfast, someone mentioned heading to Chamundi hills in mysore as it has nice sweeping curves. We agreed. I suggested we head over to Coffee Day on the way back (always a customary visit to end the day's ride before we entered bangalore) and thats when everything changed. Alok suggested we ride to CCD on the way to Ooty. Few shot him down saying "All that far for a cup of coffee?" while few others said "OK, its only 150kms away".

We decided to reach Chamundi and then decide on the CCD enroute to Ooty.

A nice ride to Chamundi, some pics and some chit-chat later we decided that it was going to be a ride to Ooty after all... Not just to the CCD on the way, but all the way to Ooty with an overnight stay tucked into the plan.

We had no change of clothes, no charger, no toothbrushes, nothing except the regular necessities like a puncture kit and some basic first aid. Called our respective home ministers and informed them that we would be doing an overnighter at Ooty.

gd76 and Akshay had to return to Blore so they dropped out of the Ooty ride.

We rode on to Ooty and just before Bandipur we got stuck in torrential rain. We stopped by the side of the road for a bit for the rain to stop but after 30-45mins later it was still raining, not very heavily though. A little further we stopped at the much discussed CCD and refueled on caffeine and sandwiches.

It was 3pm. We had to get back on the road and cross the bandipur checkpost before they closed the gates at 6pm. So we rode on and got stuck in another downpour. All of us got drenched to the bone, while Rahul was the only one dry. His BMW Motard rain suit kept him as dry as a block of wood. It was raining pretty heavily and I couldnt exceed 80kmph. The other riders managed to ride ahead while Ram and me stayed together. We regrouped at Mudumalai, just after the Karnataka border where the others had stopped for coffee. All of us (except Rahul of course) were soaking wet. Our leather gloves, cramster jackets which were built for extreme snow, wind and rain protection could do little to keep us dry.

Finally we reached ooty at 7pm. It was raining all the way and the ride up the ghats was awesome. Rain, thick fog and slick roads limited our speeds significantly. We regrouped at Barista and after some hot chocolate and sandwiches we decided to split into 2 groups for some shopping. Not for chocolates but for dry clothes. While one group went shopping for the said necessities, Alok, Sharath and I went to find a hotel.

We found one near Dasprakash hotel but they had only 2 rooms which could accommodate 4 people. But we were 7 riders in all. The guys at the lobby were nice enough to check some other hotels in the vicinity and we finally found a family room with 10 beds and 4 bathrooms and a private parking area for our bike. Safe parking for our bikes was the main requirement.

We relayed the hotel booking to the others and while they were on the way to the hotel, Alok, Sharath and I ordered dinner for everyone.

A few mins later the rest of the riders joined us. All of us were tired and wet so after a shower we ate our dinners and hit the sack.

We planned to leave the next morning at 6am...

More to follow. Enjoy the pics for now.