[Part 2] CCU-HYD|30 Hours in TOYOTA Innova

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by btirthankar

stoppages are harmful...rule of thumb... every hour of stoppage increases the distance by 100 kms.

I'd say no matter what u do within the journey other than driving.(photos, food, pee breaks),.. they all expand the journey time on total like an elastic and u may end up driving the last leg in fatigue condition having a cascading effect on your performance and making a mess out of the whole thing.

Agreed, but stoppages are indeed necessary to help you unwind, moreso to stretch your legs and get blood to circulate better. All of us who have been in long haul international flights will know what I am talking about.

[sreenidhibr]

This travelogue (photo-logue?) is very unique. I admire your enthusiasm for driving.
Thanks for sharing.

[BlackPearl]

congrats tirthankar for completeing the long journey. The day we had a chat in Kolkata you mentioned that when you feel sleepy you dont stop but continue at 40 Kmph. But once you doze off you might be pressing the accelerator unknowingly and your speeds might go up. I always take a nap whenever I feel sleepy. Even a nap of 10 mins is very rejuvinating. Drinks like glucon D and Tang also help a lot during long drives.

[hvkumar]

I have my oranges and Electrals ot keep myself awake during long night drives.

[mobike008]

Basu, That was an amazing 3K kms trip and did you do the return trip non-stop as well? If yes, then we need to pick your brain ( or is it secrets to your physical prowess?) to know how you can drive all these kms non-stop.

Neverthless, it is an achievement and one which very few people can manage. Congrats!

[sriturl]

Drive safe man...
Anything more than 15 hrs how ever good the vehicle may be is tiresome.
You get into a state called "highway hypnosis" even before if you donot follow certain precautions.
where your mind is not yours anymore but of the highway.

It is like artificial intelligence where your mind records the lines on highway and the constant motion of them in front of your eyes, and makes your vision and decision impaired temporarily.
Take some breaks, wash up your face with water, and close your eyes, and look at far off and near objects, better some trees(green)


do not look at the road continuously. Look at your RVMs to avoid highway hypnosis. Look at the sides, the scenery etc. (Not very long to get you off the road though )
That is the reason to avoid night travel since there is nothing much you can see except the road, and adds to this syndrome.
If you have to travel at night, give some rest to your eyes, if you wear spectacles, take some anti glare eye wear.

[maddy42]

Great writeup. I admire your determination for such a trip. Good pics too.

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by mobike008

If yes, then we need to pick your brain ( or is it secrets to your physical prowess?) to know how you can drive all these kms non-stop.

Originally Posted by sriturl

You get into a state called "highway hypnosis" even before if you donot follow certain precautions.
where your mind is not yours anymore but of the highway.

It is like artificial intelligence where your mind records the lines on highway and the constant motion of them in front of your eyes, and makes your vision and decision impaired temporarily.

Originally Posted by btirthankar

This trip was a mental exercise of some sorts. Here I was pointlessly looking at the white dashes on the road and thought and ideas came to my mind. I found solutions to some of my office issues, I got ideas of caption for the photos I took. Even got the idea of putting text on photos.

Zooming on a lonely concrete-way in the dead of night with only the roar of the engine, I was so detached from the hustle and bustle of life I got a clearer perspective of most things that I generally worry about.

Originally Posted by btirthankar

The Khammam Road I took earlier, I did not remember a thing as it was dark..

Now I realise why I did not remember the road after Suryapet all the way till Rajahmundhry. I had certainly been hypnotized. Because the road was freshly painted, no potholes and no traffic.

Add to that I was listening to my fav songs ... all the 80's music I used to hear in my childhood that lullaby-ed me to this state. And it was fast 100 kmph average speeds I could maintain without feeling unsafe.

The next session ha penned when I crossed Rajamundhry and lo! I did not even realize Vizag had passed and suddenly it was dawn and I was at the Ichhapuram Crossing!

A similar situation when I was driving along Seoni between Nagpur and Sagar in MP. Cant remember - AUTOPILOT.

I just did some google search. Thanks for referring the term to me. Avi... thank God u have spared me of a brain dissection... an empty room will be enough for you to examine me .

Highway hypnosis

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On highways like this, the mental state of Highway hypnosis can occur.


Highway hypnosis is a mental state in which the person can drive an automobile great distances, responding to external events in the expected manner, with no recollection of having consciously done so. In this state the driver's conscious mind is apparently fully focused elsewhere, with seemingly direct processing of the masses of information needed to drive safely. 'Highway Hypnosis' is just one manifestation of a relatively commonplace experience, theoretically where the conscious and subconscious minds appear to concentrate on different things; workers performing simple and repetitive tasks and people deprived of sleep are likely to experience similar symptoms. Therefore, it is a sort of subconscious "driving mode."
In some parts of the Southern United States, the phenomenon is called white-line fever, in reference to the white lines painted on asphalt.

It Takes A Snap To Steer Out Of Highway Hypnosis

By Michelle Groh-Gordy [Learn More]

The wheels inside my head were humming along, focusing on all the things I had to do for the holidays: shop, decorate, bake (OK, actually microwave), change lanes.
Change lanes?
I suddenly snapped to, and the next frightening thought that passed through my mind was, oh man, how did I just drive that last 10 minutes? My body was behind the wheel, but clearly, my mind was on another planet.
The phenomenon is called "highway hypnosis" or "white line fever," and it usually occurs when you are driving on a fairly long, straight road at a consistent speed. Your body becomes relaxed and the repetition of the passing lines in the road sends your brain down the path of least resistance. Before you know it, you become lulled into a passive trance.
Welcome to La-La Land. You are literally driving on autopilot.
Rudy Nunez, of Murrieta, California says he experienced highway hypnosis quite frequently in his former job as a vanpool driver. "It's weird. One minute you are driving, and before you know it, you are there. As far as it being safe I'm pretty sure it's safe. I actually think that it's a great way to cope with the realities of the road."

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by sriturl

Drive safe man...
Anything more than 15 hrs how ever good the vehicle may be is tiresome.
You get into a state called "highway hypnosis" even before if you donot follow certain precautions.
where your mind is not yours anymore but of the highway.

My Special thanks to you for referring the term.

Originally Posted by maddy42

Great writeup. I admire your determination for such a trip. Good pics too.

Originally Posted by sreenidhibr

This travelogue (photo-logue?) is very unique. I admire your enthusiasm for driving.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the patronage. Let us all transform Indian Highways into a practical alternative like in USA.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I have my oranges and Electrals ot keep myself awake during long night drives.

You are the Baadshah of the Highways. Nothing can beat your skills.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Agreed, but stoppages are indeed necessary to help you unwind, moreso to stretch your legs and get blood to circulate better. All of us who have been in long haul international flights will know what I am talking about.

I might have halted for leaks.. but don't remember how many times. That released the blood supply.

[sriturl]

Originally Posted by btirthankar

My Special thanks to you for referring the term.

I have read "few times" at least 3 different driving manuals of different states in US where I stayed/driven extensively.


In India we do not have any good driving manual which explains in detail such conditions.
Before GQ project, we never had decent highways, and one had to be very careful to check local conditions, and directions, so there was never a scope to be hypnotized.
It is now more of a reality with decent highways, and there is a definite need to have a good compilation of safe driving habits on highways.

That gives a good project on hand. (Start a new thread on T-BHP about this.)
Extremely busy at work now. May be this weekend...

[krazydriver84]

Hats off basu...

great pictorial write up.

Must have been an experience in person...

[vnabhi]

Basu, I think you deserve the team-bhp driver of the year award, if there is one.

As regards the stretch from Suryapet to Rajamundry, I too had done that stretch on my WagonR in May 2003. The roads were equally good then, and the time of the trip was similar to yours. I could do speeds upto 100, but I do vividly remember the road, as I was not under any spell of 'highway hypnosis'. We passed through Rajamundry at midnight.

[smsrini]

Hats off for pulling such a feat! Although I would not advocate driving such long distances at a stretch ( guess age's catching up!), what you achieved is remarkable.

How is the road between Khamman and Rajahmundry ? what is the route you took between these 2 places ?

I did Vizag - Hyd in April, but took the Vijayawada-Hyderabad NH-9 instead of Khamman. Am wondering how the roads are and how much time can be saved going via Khammam..

thanks
Srini

[bblost]

As usual a great writeup.
Thanks.
Loved the pics.


Highway Hypnosis:
Once I was riding in the night with a couple of guys.
For lane marking I generally keep myself about 3 feet from the road shoulder.
Some people like to use the center white line.
My friend was marking his position on that pitch dark night using the white lines.
I was behind him by about 10 feet to his left when I see him brake hard.
Confused I stop beside him and realize he is bewildered.
The white lines had ended adruptly on the road.
He thought the road was over and he reached the edge of the earth or something.
We had a hearty laugh but its thanks to his skill levels that he did not fall off his bike under panic braking.

[PVS]

That was a nice HYD-CCU-HYD trip Tirthankar! More so ever - the photo-captions. NH( can get really messy most of the times, especially during the early morning hours, when most of the long distance buses come into HYD from the coastal parts of AP.