Chennai>Aliyar/Sholayar Dams>Charpa/Athirapilly Falls>Chennai Within 28 Hours!





































After entering Kerala, the road turned out to be very bad for the first 20 km or so. The potholed road was full of gravel, which was dangerous for the two-wheelers. My original plan was to return by the same route. But, I didn't want to ride on that gravelly potholed road in the night time. So, I changed the route via Thirssur bypass and Coimbatore bypass.























This was the reading after returning home:



More to come.

Chennai>Aliyar/Sholayar Dams>Charpa/Athirapilly Falls>Chennai Within 28 Hours!

The return journey was a hell-at-loose from somewhere near Thrissur bypass, where the 4-lane NH ended and 2-lane with work-in-progress started all the way to Avinashi. The road condition was bad, traffic volume was at its peak, trucks and buses coming in the opposite direction did not care 2-wheelers and came directly in front of me pushing me off the road, even a few mm meant life-and-death.

After Walayar, the Blue Bird had tankful at BP COCOO on the Coimbatore bypass and I had stomachful at BP Ghar Dhaba Gowrishankar and we continued our ride to Chennai.

On the new flyovers at Avinashi and beyond, the construction joints were placed at a higher level presumably anticipating a few more layers of wearing coat. But, now they acted like back-breaking speed-breakers! The diversions were full of craters. By the time, I crossed Avinashi, I felt totally drained, was losing concentration and felt like sleeping. So, a few km before Vijayamangalam [Perundurai] toll plaza, I found a nice covered bus shelter, where I parked the Blue Bird at the side, locked, removed the tank bag and used it as a pillow, stretched my legs and plunged into deep slumber immediately. I started dreaming, details of which I cannot recollect now. At one stage, I was in the midst of flood lights pointed at me. Illumination everywhere. Then, I heard some voices. At that point, I woke up. No, it was not a dream. A highway patrolling policeman was pointing his torch at me! I got up, introduced myself and explained the situation as to why I was sleeping there. He warned me of unsafe conditions prevailing there. They received a lot of complaints against some groups of truck-drivers robbing a single person of his valuables including wallet, mobiles, etc. They would even take away the bike in their truck! He advised me to go to the next toll plaza and rest there. I thanked the cop. The time was ten past midnight. I had slept for more than 45 minutes or so. So, I continued my ride without any further rest other than refuelling at BP COCOO after Ulundurpet toll plaza.

My Blue Bird fully co-operated with me during this trip as usual not giving any room for any complaint. Helmet-off to my Thunderbird 500.





Thanks for reading. Travelogue concluded.

re: My Motorcycle Diaries

Too good sir, enjoyed every bit of it, cheers

Sent from my GT-P3100 using xBhp Connect mobile app

re: My Motorcycle Diaries

#RESPECT for you sir.

Which tank bag you are using and where did you order it from? And some feedback on whether it's worth buying one? Or are there other good options? Can tank bag fit at least one pair of jeans and tee along with cam?

I would like to meet you some time. I follow your posts on various groups

Are you using any puncture resistant? Like slime tube puncture resistant?

I heard very good feedback and ordered one for myself. Just want to pick your brains on this one too




Sent from my iPhone 5 using xBhp Connect mobile app

re: My Motorcycle Diaries

Thanks a lot for the appreciation, oldman.

Thank you very much, Vinit Monga.

Cramster Turtle magnetic tank bag. I bought it from their Sales Outlet:

Shop# 110A, Mezzanine Floor, Westminster Building, Cunningham Road, Bangalore - 560052

Phone: 080-41519713

Landmark: Next to KFC, Behind Blackberry Service Centre.

Timings: Monday-Saturday: 11 am - 7:30 pm (Sundays: Closed)

I find it very useful for my trips.

There are options available.

I stuffed the tank bag with all the material required for a night halt, but I did not use them as I returned without halting overnight. Yes, it can hold all the dresses, camera and other stuff required for a couple of days' stay.

Sure, we will meet. Thanks.

No. So far, I haven't tried it.

re: My Motorcycle Diaries

Amazing, sir. Nice trip with nice pictures.

Your sheer enthusiasm is truly motivational!

Wish you many more such trips and happy miles on your Blue Bird

re: My Motorcycle Diaries

Thanks a lot for the kind wishes, appreciation and compliments, kilometerkiller.

Bird's Day Out: Chennai>Kodaikanal>Chennai [1,140 km] Within 24 Hours!

Did anybody visit Kodaikanal and start the return journey within a couple of hours?

Yes, we [self + Blue Bird] did on 28 February 2014.

As per my policy of 'paragraphs minimum, photographs maximum', let the photographs do the talking!



























































We reached Shri Sangeetha, Trichy at 8:45 pm, had dinner, Blue Bird had bellyful of petrol at Trichy TVS BP pump and started the homeward journey by 9:45 pm.



Blue Bird recorded a fuel efficiency of 31.64 kmpl [36.03 litres for 1140 km]. The fuel expenses were ₹ 2,734.91.

The food expenses amounted to ₹ 264.

Entry to Kodaikanal, Governor's View Point and Pillar Rocks and tips cost ₹ 26.

The total expenditure incurred for the entire trip was ₹ 3,024.91.

re: My Motorcycle Diaries

I tried in vain to trace all the long rides of Blue Bird on one map. The second-best alternative was to put them all in one page.

Bangalore>Devarayanadurga>Siddara Betta>Bangalore

What did I get after 4 hours of riding and 2 hours of barefooted, hard-core trekking under hot sun? Physical tiredness? Nope. Immense happiness.

The route.





Today, I left my Bangalore Basaveswara Nagar home at 5:15 am on my son's Classic 500, aka Black Bull, to Devarayanadurga. I was feeling very cold notwithstanding my jacket all the way to Devarayanadurga. The sunrise was spectacular.























After clicking some photographs, I left Devarayanadurga at 7:30 am to Siddara Betta. I reached there at 8:20 am. I took one-and-half hours [including rests and photo-shoots] for climbing the hill barefooted. For coming downhill, I took half-hour only to find that my shoes and socks were stolen by some great soul. This was my first experience of losing personal effects at a place of worship. I had no regrets as the shoes were very old and worn out needing replacement. But, I was really worried about riding Black Bull barefooted after the barefooted trekking. Anyway, I did barefoot-riding all the way back home via Koratagere, where I had brunch comprsing two thatte idlies costing 20 bucks. I reached home at 1:10 pm, i.e., after 8 hours.

Re: Bangalore>Devarayanadurga>Siddara Betta>Bangalore

Great pics, sir. I admire your enthusiasm.
Devarayana Durga is an awesome place. It's been a long time since my last visit

Re: Bangalore>Devarayanadurga>Siddara Betta>Bangalore

Keep riding sir
Cool rides with some cool pics

Re: Bangalore>Devarayanadurga>Siddara Betta>Bangalore

Thanks a lot for the nice words, pcgamer.

Thank you so much for the appreciation and kind words, experimentalhead.

My Rides

With great difficulty, after many permutations and combinations, finally I could plot all my rides in one Google Classic map [old version]. Unfortunately, I am unable to save it as it shows error message due to large number of destinations/via points!

Chennai>MetturDam>Ooty>Chennai In 24 Hours

I took my Blue Bird for a long, mega ride to Mettur Dam and Ooty on 20 May 2014.

Here are the details at a glance:



The route:









































Showers greeted me and Blue Bird from Kothagiri to Ooty. I kept all my personal belongings including camera inside the tank bag duly protected by the water-proof cover. The mother of traffic jams welcomed us inside Ooty and we had to wade through km-long traffic jams all over the town. Somehow, we managed to reach the lake and clicked some pics. During the return journey too, we got drenched due to intermittent rains [including hailstorms sometimes] from Salem to Ulundurpettai and Melmaruvathur to Madurantakam. After Chengalpet, the rain stopped bothering us and we were back to sizzling Chennai exactly after 24 hours.













Now that Blue Bird's weak battery must have got sufficiently charged, I don't have to bother about it for some more time.