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Yeah thats also true, as the size increases interaction etc will go down. With the number of participants from BLR, we didn't even get time to properly introduce to each other :)

As a friend was mentioning, in an event like Rider Mania there is no such thing like formal introduction. So cant expect O team to help us with this. More than that the scrutiny day we were royally late thanks to vehicle breakdowns in transit itself.

Truly admirable thoughts , LKCRUISERS clap:

We are definitely going to make all attempts to ensure that TPC 2011 will exceed everyone's expectations and it will continue to be a beacon in the Off-roading scene in India ( and progressively, in Asia) . TPC10 has been a learning experience in more ways than one : this is but natural, as TPC grows in size. This learning will definitely help to make TPC2011 even more bigger/better/tougher, while at the same time retaining it's unique character.

LKCRUISERS - I am assuming you are Sean. Hi! :)

It was great to meet the team. Love your spirit and never-say-die approach to attacking the SSs. I also really appreciate you guys assisting on SS5-Day1 along with Allan's team in getting Sunil Shetye un-stuck from the 3rd Obstacle.

You guys also helped us try and get the 1-Ton moving at the end of Day-1. MANY thanks for being there with us when you could have just headed back to camp. Standing out there in pouring rain with us and having a laugh at the "talkative" villager who seemed intent on getting a part in the "Film" we were apparently shooting :)

Can I get a quick intro to the rest of the team as things happened so fast I didn't have time to fully register names to faces.

Hi, My Co Driver is Ushantha, Basker's (Bangalore) Co Driver was Prashan (Petrol Head Fixing the 1-Ton) and Tariq - The Bubbly Malay - Co Driving Zubin from Kerala.


It s truly a unique event concept in a unique terrain. It was good to meet you. You are one of the most professional officials that I have met in all my years of racing. Keep up the good work, your dedication is the key.

Thanks for the compliment !

12 Aug 2010 : THURSDAY : DAY ZERO


My first TPC : I was excited about it and looking forward to getting started. The reporting time for competitors and other participants is 4:00pm, but being part of the O-Team, I was supposed to be at AZ (Adventure Zone) much earlier. But then again, there was some O-Team activity that needed to be done in the city itself, and myself and Mahendran (matchless) stayed back to help finish it. We finally reached AZ at 9:50 pm , thinking that we would be the last to arrive, but we were surprised to see that there was a pile-up of 4X4s at the gate. Came to know later that some teams got delayed and were just reporting in.

AZ was buzzing with activity (gsferrari's Gypsy was being fixed by Mohammad Ali, Patrick's Jeep also was being worked on etc. etc.) even at this 'late' hour (around 10:30pm). Well, 'late' is relative, I know. Little did I realise that today and the next two days would continue to be real long days, with sleep lasting only 3-4 hrs each night. BUT, one thing was sure...I was not complaining, and I was going to enjoy each and every moment of it.

I had a quick bite, then took out my stuff from the Gypsy and put it in the tent allocated for us. A quick shower got me freshened up, then we sat down to 'some O-Team' talk, interspersed with 'some other' talk. gsferrari was trying to sleep, and those of us awake were taking extraordinary effort to help him sleep ! You owe us one, Guru !!! Needless to say, there were some 'high' points of this discussion which I cannot put here, due to obvious reasons !

13 Aug 2010 : FRIDAY : DAY ONE (D1)

When we finally decided to hit the sack, it was around 2:00am. At 4:30am, Arka's loud voice broke into my dreams. 'Good morning...time to get up'. Whaaa....:eek: I was just getting into a deep slumber...aargh ! Ok, then I realise groggily that D1 of TPC10 had dawned for the O-Team. As the sleep was slowly forced away, (and I gained more consciousness ) I was able to find my way to the bathroom. The cool shower made me fresh and ready to take on D1, and the hot tea that was available in front of the tents made be truly awake.

I went to the dining area to collect my O-Team gear for D1. Also, came to know that Babu,one of the AZ staff, was going to accompany me in my SS for today. We collected the packed food and ice-box for us, loaded the Gypsy and were ready . Then, I realised that there was something pending : the sponsor stickers. I collected the stickers, stuck them on the Gypsy. Also, collected the walkie-talkie / whistle, and most important, the scoring sheets. Now, truly ready to roll. It was decided that the O-Team would go in two batches (one for the blue team start point, the other for the red team start point). We started out at 06:25 from AZ. The convoy for the blue start line had 3 vehicles : the OneTon (Arcadeep), an MM540 (Bala) and my Gypsy. Manoj Shah (MM540) would be leading the competitors (Blue teams) into this start line. The re-grouping point for the Blue team start line was at the Chengleput bridge at 07:10. Then we made our way into the Palar river bed.

Arcadeep set up the SS1 for D1, while I moved further on to setup and man SS2, and Bala went on to SS3. He would be manning SS3/SS4 along with Arcadeep. Once the SS was setup, myself and Babu decided to have our packed breakfast. It would take a while for the Blue teams to start arriving here.
Then started the O-Team members' activities : waiting for the teams to arrive ,once a team arrives, note down the in-time, get the details of the team (team name/order of vehicles/driver names for each vehicle), then brief the team about the obstacles in the SS, and then note the start time as soon as the first vehicle starts on the first obstacle, keep noting the number of attempts of each vehicle if it exceeds one, then note down the time when the last vehicle finishes the last obstacle. After a team finishes, the out-time is noted, and one of them would sign on the score sheet. Then me and Babu would check the terrain, and use the shovel to even out the sand, in case required. And then wait for the next team. And this cycle continues with each team!

From around 9:30am to 1:00pm, the Blue teams were passing thru my SS. There was a lull from 1:00pm onwards upto about 3:00pm. We had lunch during this time. The sun was also getting unbearably hot. Checked up with Bala and Arcadeep : no Red teams had reached their SS yet, so decided to move over to SS1, manned by Manoj Shah. This was closer to the river bank, and he had found a nice, shady area, where we parked our vehicles and decided to take a quick nap. This proved to be quite refreshing.

We then made our way back to the SS, as the Red teams started arriving. From around 4:00pm the weather started changing : from hot to breezy to cool. Dark clouds started gathering over us and by 4:35pm, it had started raining : very unusual for TPC !

The heavy downpur continued for about 30mins, I guess ; then it slowed down to a drizzle. During this time, the last 2 red teams for the day completed my SS and moved on to SS1.

Unfortunately, I was not able to take any pics when the teams were doing the obstacles. I had to hold the scoring sheets pad, the Sony H7 which I was using for the first time at an OTR is not exactly a compact camera ; holding/using the camera when manning the SS was not easy. Needed some practise ; I got used to this for D2. Some pics from D1, SS2 :

A couple of shots of SS2





SS1 as seen from SS2



SS3 as seen from SS2




By 5:45pm, there was confirmation that we were going to wind up for the day. As we exited the Palar river bed, Bala got a call that some help was needed with the OneTon®, I decided to accompany him. We then re-entered the river bed, and travelled upto the entry point of the Red teams, thus effectively traversing the length of the entire D1 transport leg. But by the time we reached, the OneTon® was out of the river bed, and on the Kancheepuram-Chengleput road. Arka told me to lead a couple of Jeeps back to AZ, they would fix the OneTon® and come back. While one of the Jeeps was refuelling at a bunk on the Chengleput byepass, we saw the OneTon® and other O-Team vehicles zip by (yes, the OneTon® was moving fast). After Madurantakam, the Jeeps that I was leading were able to find their own way. I had to do some quick shopping at Madurantakam, and then proceeded on to AZ. I dont remember noting the time, but I guess it would have been well past 9:00pm. I took a shower, then wanted to take a quick nap, before going for dinner ( must have been around 10:30pm by now). That proved to be a mistake. I conked out totally, without dinner.

14 Aug 2010 : SATURDAY : DAY TWO (D2)


Day 2 started off a bit late compared to Day 1. We got up around 5:30am, and by the time the convoy started from AZ it was 7:20am. The entry point for the Blue teams was near Boothur village. Mahendran and myself went along the south bank to setup SS8, SS7 and SS5. Arka and Venkat went along the north bank and setup SS6 and SS4.

Some pics taken at SS7, D2 :















Some videos taken at SS7, D2

YouTube - MOV02701 x264

The above video shows all the Blue teams at the start of D2 at SS8 (Major Roy), then zooms back to my SS7, pans around, zooms in to SS6 (Venkat : blue flag), SS5(Mahendran : red flag) and finally SS4(Arka : yellow flag).
The other SSs were further away.


YouTube - MOV02702 x264


YouTube - MOV02703 x264


YouTube - MOV02704 x264


The above three videos are of the winning team, Blue Four.


YouTube - MOV02705 x264

I got a call on the walkie-talkie during this video, and hence the camera shake and zoomed-in position, sorry about that !


YouTube - MOV02708 x264

The above video shows the blue teams doing SS6/SS5/SS4, while I was waiting for the Red teams to arrive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2gYowcdpYM

The above video shows Team Red Four.


By 6:30pm, all the teams had passed thru SS7. I moved to SS4, where we were all re-grouping before continuing for the ISS. Then we started moving to SS3. It got quite dark by then, and it became obvious that we were going to wind up now. We made our way out of the Palar river bed in the darkness.

The evening/night sky was giving out some beautifully coloured cloud patterns : how I wished I had a tripod with me then. Some pics taken just before it got dark :












YouTube - MOV02711 x264

The above video shows the sky at dusk, from SS4, the re-grouping point for D2 before winding up for the day.

Finally exited the river bed at 7:40 pm, and by the time the first convoy reached AZ, it was around 8:30pm. The usual shower to freshen up. Then went to the O-Team meeting room. Since the Individual Special Stages (ISS) and the technical events could not be held, the O-Team now had to decide how to evaluate the teams for these awards. These discussions went on for some time. Simultaneously, the score sheets were also being consolidated and entered into the computer. By now it was almost 11:00pm. I was too exhausted. I took a refreshing shower, had my dinner and realised that I wouldn't be able to keep myself awake for the awards ceremony. I went to bed, hoping to give a short respite to my aching back , and then go for the awards ceremony, but I literally conked out again!

15 Aug 2010 : SUNDAY

Next thing I knew, I was awake at 5:45am. There was no wake-up call from Arka, but I guess force-of-habit from the previous 2 days made me get up early ! I went thru the usual early morning routines, and was ready to leave from AZ by 7:00am. I could see that no one else was awake. While I was waiting for others to get up, I took the following pics :

The O-Team vehicles :










The various sponsors :














The competing team vehicles :



















After a while, I could see Major Roy was up, I informed him of my early departure from AZ and left. It was going to be a hectic day for me, since I had some important personal work lined up. But after the gruelling schedule of the TPC, this should be a cake-walk.

The END !

TPC10 : WEATHER CONDITIONS : Competitors pride, Organisers envy !


Now, one important factor which was unusual this TPC was the weather. It is usually hot/humid during this time of the year. But this year around, it rained heavily during D1 evening, and slight drizzle during D2 evening as well.


YouTube - MOV02653 x264

The above video was taken at around 3:30 pm on D1. It shows SS3 (Bala), zooms back, then 360° pan around SS2, showing SS1 (Manoj Shah) also. Notice the stray clouds here and there, giving no warning of the downpour that would follow in another hour.

PS : I found the 15X optical zoom of the Sony H7 quite useful.

YouTube - MOV02666 x264

The above video was taken at 4:00pm. The winds were strong, the clouds are more thicker on the south and west horizons, and moving fast towards the NE. But note that the wind at ground level is still blowing from east to west (the usual sea-breeze direction in Chennai).


YouTube - MOV02671 x264

The above video was taken at 4:15pm. The wind is strong but blowing in the usual sea-breeze direction.

YouTube - MOV02674 x264

The above video was taken at 4:25pm. The ground-level winds have now changed direction : it is blowing from SW to NE (the SW monsoon direction), the clouds, which seem like giant tsunami waves in the sky , can be seen moving fast.

YouTube - MOV02685 x264

The above video taken at 4:35, shows the thick black clouds completely over us, as if a thick blanket had been pulled over us. The NE skyline still continues to be clear, bright and sunny. The contrast is amazing. The first drops have started falling, and it would start pouring in another 10 mins.


YouTube - MOV02693 x264

YouTube - MOV02694 x264

The above 2 videos were taken at around 4:45pm-5:00pm, by which time it had started to rain heavily. The deluge would have lasted about 30 mins, after which it was a strong drizzle for some more time. This dowpour had an effect on the weather the next day as well. The temperature was a couple of degrees lower than normal, pleasant weather by TPC standards, and the ORS was not being consumed as much !

Last, but not least...


Aum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


ॐ






Those who cannot spot the ॐ in the below pic,will be disqualified from TPC 2011 :)

Hi Guys,

One more video from our official Media Partner's NDTV-Hindu, aired on 13th August 2010.

YouTube - NDTV Hindu Coverage on Palar Challenge 2010 VTS_01_1.VOB

Regards,

Arka

I'd really like to see detailed pix of all the 66 participants' vehicles. some look really interesting. esp the Land rover, the kaiser, Allan's jeeps etc. Does somebody have pix of these vehicles?

Hi Guys,

Some pics from Team Ignite (Red One).

Pics - Balachander.

Regards,

Arka

Excellent write up Senthil. Its almost a revisit of what we all had done during those three days….Its certain that with the level of preparations we undergo and degree of dedication we as O-Team show, TPC will always keep itself in competitive edge.