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It was 5 in the morning, and the E on my fuel gauge was flashing. I knew that the CBR 250 still had more than 3 litres left so I pushed on....... 10 kms..... 20 kms....... 30 kms....... Not a single petrol pump was open! Despite the morning chill, I was sweating now, after so much detailed planning, was I really going to get stranded away from home, in a different state, at 5 in the morning, all alone, just a few hours into my first solo bike ride? ..............
It all started a few weeks ago. I had to go to Kochi on official work. My parents however were in the process of constructing a house in a small village in Kottayam district. So a few days leave would provide us a wonderful opportunity to visit them and help them out a little , and thereafter proceed to Kochi for work!
But soon I realised that going with my family would not be possible as both of my children had exams that week and my wife couldn't just leave them and join me. So the germ of the idea, that may be, just may be , I could do the trip by bike.... I was very excited, but I knew I still had to convince my wife. To my immense surprise she agreed without even a fuss. What she said was so inspiring. She said " if its ur dream and it makes you happy then I will never stop you from doing what you love, all I ask is for you to remember your family waiting for you here at home, so please be safe". I was touched but exhilarated and so the planning began.
I asked around, googled and posted on xbhp for the best route. I had to reach a village in changanacherry in Kerala. I have driven down a few times via nh 66 and nh 47. And finally I realised that it was still the best route. Though the roads between mangaluru and kasargod were expected to be really bad, and roads in Kerala to be both in poor condition and crowded, it was still better and faster than having to go via any other route. So after lots of deliberation , I came up with a plan. My route would be vasco- karwar- bhatkal- mangaluru- kannur- alapuzha - changanacherry. A total of 875 kms as per Google maps.
The distance was daunting and as per Monk and rider 11's advice, I decided to break the journey into two parts.
I knew that roads in the Karnataka section of the route, while under construction at many parts was still excellent. So in order to make the best time there and take advantage of less traffic, my plan was to leave Vasco at 0100 hours on 14 Feb, ride through the early morning hours to cover as much as possible, continue into Kerala in the day, and stop by 1700h and make a night halt. Thereafter to continue the next day and reach home before lunch. The plan seemed sound especially considering the traffic conditions in Kerala.
Now a word about my gear. One has to remember that this was to be my first solo trip more than 100 kms and so I was very excited but also had a lot of kitting up to do. I already had a THH helmet which is pretty decent, so I went to the Performance store in Goa and bought myself a DSG evo jacket, Fox Knee sliders, pro biker gloves ( not a smart decision) and Rynox stacker saddle bags. I also bought an 11000 mah power bank to feed my power hungry smart phone, ORS packets, chocolate bars, pepper spray( for safety) , a mini torch among other things. I spent a lot of time preparing and finally on 13 Feb I went off to sleep at 1600h, the aim being to sleep till 0001h and then wake up, get ready and leave by 0100. He he , I can almost hear the old timers chuckling.......I did sleep at 1600h, but woke right up at 1730h! My body just refused to accept the change in my Circadian rhythm! I tried and tried, and finally by 2000h I fell asleep.
Triiiiiiiiiiiiing rang my alarm and I was up immediately, at 12 midnight. I quickly got ready and after a quick shower , meal and a prayer was saddled up , super excited and ready to leave, my nerves tingling with excitement.
It all started a few weeks ago. I had to go to Kochi on official work. My parents however were in the process of constructing a house in a small village in Kottayam district. So a few days leave would provide us a wonderful opportunity to visit them and help them out a little , and thereafter proceed to Kochi for work!
But soon I realised that going with my family would not be possible as both of my children had exams that week and my wife couldn't just leave them and join me. So the germ of the idea, that may be, just may be , I could do the trip by bike.... I was very excited, but I knew I still had to convince my wife. To my immense surprise she agreed without even a fuss. What she said was so inspiring. She said " if its ur dream and it makes you happy then I will never stop you from doing what you love, all I ask is for you to remember your family waiting for you here at home, so please be safe". I was touched but exhilarated and so the planning began.
I asked around, googled and posted on xbhp for the best route. I had to reach a village in changanacherry in Kerala. I have driven down a few times via nh 66 and nh 47. And finally I realised that it was still the best route. Though the roads between mangaluru and kasargod were expected to be really bad, and roads in Kerala to be both in poor condition and crowded, it was still better and faster than having to go via any other route. So after lots of deliberation , I came up with a plan. My route would be vasco- karwar- bhatkal- mangaluru- kannur- alapuzha - changanacherry. A total of 875 kms as per Google maps.
The distance was daunting and as per Monk and rider 11's advice, I decided to break the journey into two parts.
I knew that roads in the Karnataka section of the route, while under construction at many parts was still excellent. So in order to make the best time there and take advantage of less traffic, my plan was to leave Vasco at 0100 hours on 14 Feb, ride through the early morning hours to cover as much as possible, continue into Kerala in the day, and stop by 1700h and make a night halt. Thereafter to continue the next day and reach home before lunch. The plan seemed sound especially considering the traffic conditions in Kerala.
Now a word about my gear. One has to remember that this was to be my first solo trip more than 100 kms and so I was very excited but also had a lot of kitting up to do. I already had a THH helmet which is pretty decent, so I went to the Performance store in Goa and bought myself a DSG evo jacket, Fox Knee sliders, pro biker gloves ( not a smart decision) and Rynox stacker saddle bags. I also bought an 11000 mah power bank to feed my power hungry smart phone, ORS packets, chocolate bars, pepper spray( for safety) , a mini torch among other things. I spent a lot of time preparing and finally on 13 Feb I went off to sleep at 1600h, the aim being to sleep till 0001h and then wake up, get ready and leave by 0100. He he , I can almost hear the old timers chuckling.......I did sleep at 1600h, but woke right up at 1730h! My body just refused to accept the change in my Circadian rhythm! I tried and tried, and finally by 2000h I fell asleep.
Triiiiiiiiiiiiing rang my alarm and I was up immediately, at 12 midnight. I quickly got ready and after a quick shower , meal and a prayer was saddled up , super excited and ready to leave, my nerves tingling with excitement.
Now where be the photos 
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