Ride to tirupati

[sanket12]

I have been riding on our roads since 1998, and have traveled all the way to Kargil up north & Chennai down south.
Each of my rides has given me invaluable experience and memories for lifetime.
I ride down to Udupi so often that the ride is more of a commute than a journey But all of my rides have been without any major incidents, till my latest ride.

I had been planning to visit Tirumala ever since I won the gypsy category in the INCR. But whenever I decided to start for the journey something invariably would come up and I would have to postpone the visit.
Finally on the 25th of this month at around 11 am I decided to start, I packed my bags, checked the oil level, tyre pressure etc. etc on my bike (which is a royal Enfield 500 btw :-))
I decided to ride via Bangalore and then take the road to Tirumala. I started my journey at around 11.45 am from Satara, I crossed Belgaum by 1.30 P.M. and at around 3-30 I was on the Dharwad Hubli bypass,
There I checked my GPS for an alternative route to Tirumala, where I could bypass the traffic madness of Bangalore.
The shortest road to Tirumala from my current position was to turn left to Gadag, Hospet then continue to Bellary, Gooty then go to Kadapa and then join the road to Tirumala. At around 4 I had lunch somewhere on the Hubli Gadag state highway.
By the time I reached Hospet it was already dark, but decided to continue. (It was not a wise decision as I would later find out)
The road from Hospet till Guntkal is non-existing thanks to the mining trucks which ply on those roads.
I crossed Bellary at around 9.30pm and at 10.30 had a flat rear tyre, then I pushed the bike for around a km back to a small village and got the puncture repaired and then I was back on the saddle again heading towards Gooty, till Gooty the journey was at a snails pace but without any incidents, I reached Gooty at around 12.30 1.00 midnight, I wasn't feeling sleepy and had enough fuel to take me for another 200 kms so I continued. The road from Gooty till Tirumala is smooth except for the small bad patches near the villages that you cross on the way.
I would have been riding at around 85-90 kmph when 15 km before Tadpatri there is a big ditch on the road that you cannot see, and I unfortunately hit the ditch at the same speed, and the next thing I know the bike is all over the place. Fortunately I managed to stop without falling off took the bike to the side of the road to check for damages, sixteen broken spokes on the rear tyre, I knew pushing the bike 15 kms was out of the question as my arms were still sore from pushing the bike 1 km earlier , so I just parked the bike on the side and tried sleeping (It was bloody cold ) woke up at am and tried stopping the few truckers who crossed me, but they were carrying load so could not help me, at around 8.30 a empty minidor came my way and boy was I delighted. I never realized how heavy the bullet is till the driver of the minidor & I tried loading it into the cargo bay :-)
I reached Tadpatri by 9.00 am and then started getting my bike fixed. It took me till 12-30 pm to get the bike on the road again, but with a wobble on the rear tyre. So I took it easy for the next 300 kms till I reached Tirumala.
30 kms before Tirumala my butt started hurting so I started standing on the foot pegs whenever I came across a speed breaker or a ditch, not a wise move as my cell phone fell on the road somewhere when I stood up :-(
I reached Tirupati at around 6pm checked into a hotel and crashed out. Woke up at 7 the next day and headed towards Tirumala, I got the darshan ticket for 27th afternoon, so I came back to Tirupati to change the rear rim on my bike, I checked with the local dealer who told me the rims would arrive only on the 30th and not before, the rims were also not available with the local vendors, so I thought of changing them in bang lore on my way back.
I took darshan on the 27th and by the time I got out it was already past 8.30pm, so I went back to the hotel had dinner and went off to sleep.
The next morning I woke up at 6. And was on my way back to Satara by 6-30, I had breakfast at Kolar and crossed bang lore by 11am.skipped the idea of changing the rims and continued with the wobble. had lunch at the a1 plaza in Chitradurga at around 2pm, From there it was a non-stop journey back home at a constant 90-100, (with a tyre wobble ) I only stopped for fuel.
I reached Satara at 9.30 P.M. went home had dinner took a hot water bath and slept like a log.

The total distance I covered on this trip
2000+ kms
Fuel consumed
Aproxx.82 lts
Average kms per lit
24.40kmpl
Time taken from Satara to Tirupati
Distance - 975 kms 30hours 30 mins
Average speed -32kmph
Time taken from Tirupati to Satara
Distance - 1025 kms 15 hours
Average speed - 68.35 kmph
Ps.
I would recommend Camster tank & saddle bags to everyone who plans to ride long distances on their bikes & after this journey would definitely recommend the bullet as the bike to tour on as I don't think any other bike would take the abuse of our roads :-)

[Surprise]

Doing such trips in bike requires tons of passion for driving. Initially I though it was a trip in car & was taken back when I read it was an Enfield. I could not even do such trips in dreams.

Nice report.

[pugram]

Great guts! and a good experience.

Those potholes are always there to give you an (un)pleasant surpirse, particularly when you are trying to gather speed and consciously trying to make up for lost time.

But 2000 kms on a Bike...

Good luck

[Suryam]

Sanket,

A nice travel report.

Hats off to your passion and enthusiasm for driving on bike on unknown roads at night period.

Many thanks to god for safe trip -- though with some damage to your great bike.

[Mpower]

Wow, that was some ride, its kinda scary to not have a spare wheel. (we were just talking about the 3 series).

What did you think of the drive up the hill. Its a one way road and its like a race track. India's very own Nurburgring if you ask me.

[rr_zen]

Hey Sanket, that was cool. And to imagine you went through this just yourself with no company is mind boggling. Personally I think it would have been better if you had one more soul with you to share the odds. Nice report !

[theMAG]

Sanket - a very candid experience shared. Great spirit!

[sanket12]

thanks guys :-) @rr zen i personally feel the pillion is a liability on most rides... so i prefer travelling alone ;-) @ m power i parked the bike in tirupati & walked up to tirumala... but yes it is a race track with all those hairpin turns + one way... now am planning a trip to the northeast some times in feb.. actually have been planning it for quiet some time now.. keeping my fingers crossed & hoping i do it:-)

[mobike008]

Sanket,

That was one helluva experience you had. I salute your passion for such a long ride! It does not just take passion but also loads of guts and patience to do a trip like that and that too ALL ALONE

Well done

Mobike008

[sanket12]

thank you mobike..... not to brag my own tail like a donkey but most of my rides almost 95% have been alone till date & i enjoy every moment of it