Re: xBhp Bangalore's 20th G2G - In the middle of Vistas

G2G log approved!

Sudden rains, chaotic traffic, regrouping later, riding through twisties, spending nights amidst hills and rivers filled with aroma - this log has it all!
The puuuurrrrrfect recipe.

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Re: xBhp Bangalore's 20th G2G - In the middle of Vistas

Flashback: One Month Before..

xBhp Bangalore folks have gathered around in a cafe, somewhere in Bangalore on a Saturday evening. Discussions are being held as to where the team would now travel for the 20th G2G? Mercury is rising fast in Bangalore and the need of the hour is obviously somewhere cold, far from the city life. Choice narrowed down to Ooty/Coonoor after fairly lengthy debates over lots of hill stations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The probable dates for the G2G ride was decided to be in the 2nd week of April because there was an extended weekend which we foresaw (8th April being Ugadi, most of the offices are shut down in Bangalore). One of our comrades, Mr. Rajesh Nikkam was assigned the task to browse through internet and look for an accommodation. Everyone went back home with a grin on their faces, mostly because of the fact that the last attempt made to organize the G2G was not successful due to last minute drop outs. Everyone wanted a longer G2G ride this time (2 nights stay instead of 1) especially because from the past experiences, it has been noticed that normally the overnight G2G rides end up with only ride and not relaxation.

Days went by, Rajesh was storming the internet looking for accommodation options and making phone calls. This is the most important task as an organizer because you need to get a probable head count given the fact there was still 3 weeks left for the event and it was kind of hard for most of the folks to give a confirmation for the ride. Anyways, slowly but steadily things started to fall in shape, people started confirming their presence in the event and hence, it made Rajesh fairly easy to confirm accommodation at Rusting River Resort in Coonoor. The resort seemed marvelous in pictures on the website with tea plantations all around it. The 15 members could not wait for the 8th April to come near so that the ride can commence.

Preparations for the ride started the day before and everyone was excited to the core. In the meantime, Bangalore had become more hot, humid, powecuts and the increase in traffic is making people difficult to stay over the weekend. The weather forecast showed thunderstorms on the 8th of April and that raised some eyebrows. The members were not at all worried but were ready to ride in the rain! In the meantime, couple of setbacks took place with me, Arnab and Sunil. Although we three are from three different organizations and with set of work, lady luck decided to show her finger to us and we got burdened with unexpected work at the last moment. It goes without saying that none of us were ready for this kind of situation and yes, it brought of wave of unhappiness among the members. Now, they were not even sure if we three would be able to make it to the G2G. We three gave assurances that whatever happens, we three would be present at the resort by 8 AM on Saturday (9th of April).

While the excitement toned down a bit, but people started preparing themselves for the ride. Next day morning I woke up and saw my terrace flooded with water; yes it had rained this morning, and it rained heavily. To my worries, I turned on the whatsapp to check on the group which had left for Ooty; only learning that there has been considerable amount of delay to the start of the ride because of the rains and traffic on Mysore road. The next thing that came to my mind was to check the forecast for 9th April because I personally did not want a repeat of what has happened today. To my relief, the weather forecast showed no signs on rain and I called up Arnab and Sunil to plan the start as early as possible, in order to be there at the resort by 8 AM the next day. Although we three were lingering in the office, our minds were outside, along with the other members who reached the resort after noon. We became more restless when Sharad had pinged in the whatsapp group mentioning that the location of the G2G is the best till date and it feels like out of the world!

Present Day - Ride started - Act 1

All three of us had decided to stay at Arnab's place for the night so that we three can start together. I forgot to mention that I did not have any bike with me so I had to borrow one from Arnab. We were carrying minimal luggage with us because it was only a night stay and there was no rain on our way. All three of us did not sleep for a bit, actually none of us tried to because we knew there is no point of sleeping with the fact that we were supposed to start our ride at 2 AM in the morning.

We left from Arnab's place at 01:30 AM towards Shell Bellandur to fuel up. I was riding the R15 of Arnab, Arnab was riding his R3 and Sunil was riding his 200 NS. Jyoti was interested to ride with us as well, but he had prior commitments and hence he decided to take U turn from Bandipur.

It was supposed to be a speed run and we wanted to be at the gate of Bandipur by 6 AM sharp (that is when the forest gate opens) so there is hardly anything worth mentioning here. We started our ride sharp at 2 AM in the morning and by 4:30 in the morning we had reached Mysore where we took our first break for tea and refreshments. We realized we have ample amount of time now in our hands so we decided to take it a bit slow now because we were intimated of road construction that is in progress between Mysore and Nanjangud. Although I made sure to ride the R15 carefully, but there were few unfortunate instances where the bike hit some rough patches. Arnab was riding just behind me and I am sure, he was not giving a smile from inside his helmet!

By the time we reached Bandipur, it was around 6:15 AM and the gate was flooded with cars, buses and trucks! The Sun came upon the horizon and although I wanted to take a small break to capture the golden hour, I had to let go of this idea given the fact that we were surrounded by a lot of vehicles. Slowly and steadily we overtook the vehicles and entered Mudumalai forest where we took our second break of the journey. Jyoti departed from this place and went back to Bangalore and the rest three of us took a quick break and continued towards the resort. Ooty was around 36 kms from this place and it was around 6:45 AM in the morning which is why we thought of taking it a bit slow and enjoy the scenic landscape around. After we crossed the Mudumalai tiger reserve, we crossed Masinagudi and stopped over for our first picture break. We were surrounded with mountains capped with clouds and mist.







We continued our way towards Ooty and once we started climbing up the 36 hair pin bends, Arnab was nowhere to be seen anymore! He cornered past rapidly while me and Sunil slowly climbed up the hills. We crossed Ooty and informed Rajesh our present location so that he can inform the other members and can also make sure the breakfast is ready. We now started following the GPS location of the resort which was off Coonoor highway. Around 8:15 AM we reached the resort and were awstruck by the location of the resort and the landscape around it! We forgot all the body pains and the exhaustion and pulled out camera to click pictures.







We received a warm welcome from all the members who were present in the resort and laughter sessions started almost immediately. We freshened up in the nice cozy resort and then headed over to have our breakfast. There was no signs of hot, humid weather anymore and we were surrounded by clouds, chilly breeze and greenary. No doubt Sharad had mentioned yesterday that this was the best G2G location till date!

To be continued..

Re: xBhp Bangalore's 20th G2G - In the middle of Vistas

This is completely wrong. I was just a bit worried if my R15 is worthy enough to be ridden by Suvra da..

I was riding slowly only taking the corners slowly one at a time.

Ahhh that awesome weather and I completely awestruck by the super cool weather of Ooty. And the resort truly is the best GTG spot B'lore chapter has gone to recently.

Waiting for the next parts and the superb pics !!

Re: xBhp Bangalore's 20th G2G - In the middle of Vistas

Present Day - In and Around - Act 2

After a sumptuous breakfast, couple of the riders wanted to laze around (especially Arnab was very much sleepy after the long and fast ride from Bangalore in the morning) while the others wanted to explore the vistas around. Earlier this morning, Saquib and his brother Sauban went out to do some photography. This time, most of us decided to go in a different direction to explore and do some photography. The temperature was not chilling but was very pleasant with mild breeze, added to the miles and miles of tea plantation which was making us wow every moment. I was sitting behind Rajesh as a pillion so that I can take some shots of the vistas as well as the group.





















We were so awwed by the greenery around us that we decided to bring the rest of the folks along with us as well (the handful who were at the resort, taking rest).Two of us went back to the resort while the rest went ahead to Coonoor where we would wait for the others to regroup. As per the plan, we wanted to have the Nilgiri Mountain Railway ride, hence me and Rajesh went to the Coonoor railway station to inquire about the timings and the fare. We learnt quickly that we were already late for the train which has just left the station, the next train would be available 2 hours from now and unfortunately all the tickets were sold off (extended weekend rush). We went back to the group to give the unfortunate news. It starting drizzling a bit while we were standing at the Coonoor junction, discussing what to do next. In the meantime, the members who were at the resort arrived as well and we quickly decided to pack some food and go back to the resort (this was a fast decision looking at the rush in the restaurants as well as the streets). Everyone ordered Biryani and took the parcel back to the resort in the car (Roshan brought car along so we have the big parcel to him so that he can bring it to the resort, Indra and family giving him company as well). We started from Coonoor back to our resort and I wanted to click some pictures now. Rajesh was more than happy and he told me to let him know where I want him to stop.







































After spending quite a time on the way behind the camera, when we reached the resort, we were expecting that Roshan might have reached already, waiting for us! But to our surprise, we were the only souls present. We made some calls quickly only to gather that the car has lost its way (due to miss of a turn) and now they are following the GPS to reach the resort. We had some more time to spare and many of us utilized this time to discuss about the future ride plans, upcoming motorcycle releases, upcoming upgrades for some of us, etc. In the meantime, the sky was overcast with intermittent drizzles so I put my camera to use as well.









Finally the lunch arrived after 30-40 minutes and we rushed to hog. It did not take much time to finish the entire Biryani which means that everyone was hungry to the core. Most of the members headed to the resort to take some rest, however, the others headed out in a different direction, again to explore a bit more. This time I sat behind Sauban with my camera.

To be Continued..

Re: xBhp Bangalore's 20th G2G - In the middle of Vistas

[MENTION=50585]suvra[/MENTION] nice writeup wow clicks, yes this was the best g2g location that we had till date and thanks to all who made it a success. Looking for many more rides like this...

Re: xBhp Bangalore's 20th G2G - In the middle of Vistas

Great to read and excellent pictures Dada. You are toh expert photographer now!

Re: xBhp Bangalore's 20th G2G - In the middle of Vistas

Beautiful captures dada!

Sent from my Xperia L.

Re: xBhp Bangalore's 20th G2G - In the middle of Vistas

Great pics, very scenic.

Re: xBhp Bangalore's 20th G2G - In the middle of Vistas

Arre he was an expert photographer before only... He just didn't say...