Which was the best drive of your life?

tifosikrishna · 26th February 2006, 18:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

I love driving in the hills in the winding roads allowing the tail end to wag a bit. to pick one is very difficult, driving a bolero in munnar was a fascinating experience and the next one was drive from trivandrum to sencottah via ponmala.

aforementioned was my best drives till the recent one happened during january in my new scorpio. this was from coorg to kasergod. especially drive along side a river from point of entering the kerala state (SH55) to cherkala on a beautifully laid road for around 35kms will last in my memory forever.

Samurai · 27th February 2006, 10:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Oh man I did that one on my KB100 with a bunch of friends on other bikes and there wasnt much left of our bikes by the time we staggered into Kodai, bedraggled, sleep-robbed, tyres and egos punctured. That is a KILLER ride...proof of that is 17 stitches across my spine. We got chased by bison on the way - man that was scary.

Did you have an accident, what were the stitches for? BTW, there are no bisons in India, I guess you are referring to gaur which belongs to cow family.

It is hard to pick my best drive, there have been simply too many. One drive I recall vividly was the drive to ISKCON temple at Wheeling in West Virginia, the road was twisting like a snake for hours through a beautiful mountain range.

himanshugoswami · 27th February 2006, 10:58

Leh to Manali in my cousin's Gypsy King in 2003- The roads (wherever they existed!) the scenery and the fresh air---- breathtaking man. The gypsy must be the best suited Indian car to tackle this road, and in 4L this car is a virtual mountain goat.

porsche_fan · 27th February 2006, 13:48

Hampi to Goa and Goa to Mumbai....the monsoons had just started and the road condition was still good. lots of greenery and good weather too...

Pune to mahabaleshwar on bikes, also in the monsoons...lotsa fog in m'baleshwar....only way to navigate was by seeing the brake lights of the bike in front come on....

finally, the fastest drive of my life, on the expressway from lonavala to pune(162 kph).....

anarchist · 27th February 2006, 15:55

Bikes - BLR - Mangalore and BLR - Hoganikkal falls in TN
Cars - KL - Penang, BLR - Goa, BLR - HYD, BLR - Mangalore, BLR - Cochin

coloneljasi · 27th February 2006, 17:39

1.Boston-Hastings in my bro's Mercedes Benz E200K.That sure was a blast.
2.Calicut-Bangalore on my Suzuki Shogun.I did that trip in a body-numbing 6 hours flat.Now I can't imagine doing something crazy like that.
3.Bangalore-Hubli in a Tata 407!!And no,I wasn't in handcuffs.We'd gone along with a friend who was an officer in the Central Excise in Hubli and was moving back to Bangalore as he was reassigned.If only they had the Turbo 407 back then...
4.Calicut-Kodaikanal-Munnar in a friend's Hyundai Accent DLS.A bulletproof engine but cries out for a turbo.
5.Mumbai-Daman & Diu in a rented Toyota Qualis.That was a few years ago...It was raining non-stop,trains were cancelled,parts of the highway was washed away.So what do we do?Rent a Qualis and drive through.I still don't know the route which we took.It was scary and fun at the same time.
6.Alwaye-Calicut in a Ambassador Isuzu Diesel.....where's the fun in that,you ask?Because I left Alwaye at 4 in the morning and was in my driveway at 6:30am!!I was shocked...and still am somewhat.I wasn't on the clock or anything,I was just enjoying the empty roads and my lazy friends were asleep in the back throughout the trip.That sure was an under-rated car.

Aditya · 28th February 2006, 00:33

My most memorable drive was sometime in the late 90s
I was staying at Kashid. Sometime after 8pm, I drove to Murud with my firangi cousins for dinner. You guys won't believe which car we drove in. It was my family's old Ambassador Mk3. It may have been old and conky, but, everyone loved it. Apart from probably a Mahindra Jeep, there's no car available in India that can match an Amby for character. Steering column mounted gears that were difficult to engage, a heavy clutch, supertanker like steering, rock and roll handling, brakes(?) and a lethargic engine - it didn't matter. That car provided me with some fun times that I can never forget.

Rehaan · 28th February 2006, 10:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

BTW, there are no bisons in India, I guess you are referring to gaur which belongs to cow family.

Samuraiji!

There are definitely bison in India!! Especially around the Kodai area where i went to school.

Indian bison are the biggest in the world (and believe me you will believe this when you see the size of the steaming piles they leave behind!)
These guys are huge, once we were trekking in the dark and i shone my maglight into the distance and i see two reflectors light up.... so i tell my friends "hey look there is a jeep parked on the other side of the valley"..... and we keep going closer, until finally we realise it is actually a bison sitting about 15mts away from us!!! (with me repeatedly shinning a torch in his eyes....boy did we run!!)

Speaking of Kodai and crazy rides, me and 3 friends once did the kodai ghat (52kms) at 2am on a fullmoon night on BICYCLES!! It was pretty amazing, everything looked like it was in black and white (mostly black). We got chased by dogs in the villages, pretty scary too (not as scary as bison though) and you tend to wonder when there is a snapping dog at your leg "should i keep pedalling or should i stop pedalling to kick this dog in the face?"....

cya
R

ex670c · 28th February 2006, 10:44

EVERY MORNING When I start my JEEP and roll into 1st Gear....................the full-blooded roar of the F4-134 "Hurricane"

Steeroid · 28th February 2006, 10:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Did you have an accident, what were the stitches for?

The 17 stitches came in 2004, double disc prolapse that was squarely attributed by my doctor to my biking escapades when I was younger.

PS: We didnt stop to ask the animal whether it was a Bison or a Gaur. It was as big as a truck and trust me the Jeep guys who do this track occassionally are **** scared of these beasts - they're known to have attacked and overturned quite a few of them.

Samurai · 28th February 2006, 15:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rehaan

There are definitely bison in India!! Especially around the Kodai area where i went to school.

Indian bison are the biggest in the world (and believe me you will believe this when you see the size of the steaming piles they leave behind!)

Nope! sorry. The picture you have shown is of Gaur, which belong to the cow family. It is mistakenly called Indian bison even in many books. Gaur is the correct term. Bisons belong to the baffalo family. I have been chased by one when I was just 11 in Nagarhole forest. Just recently too I saw many of them in my Kabini trip, look at the snap of the gaur and the comments.

Previously thought to be closer to bison, genetic analysis has found that they are closer to cattle with which they can produce fertile hybrids. They are thought to be most closely related to banteng and said to produce fertile hybrids.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaur

Rehaan · 1st March 2006, 05:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Nope! sorry. The picture you have shown is of Gaur, which belong to the cow family. It is mistakenly called Indian bison even in many books. Gaur is the correct term. Bisons belong to the baffalo family. I have been chased by one when I was just 11 in Nagarhole forest. Just recently too I saw many of them in my Kabini trip, look at the snap of the gaur and the comments.

Hey Samurai,

Well I guess the Gaur is commonly known as the Indian Bison, and i guess from your link that it has been recently proven that they are closer to cattle than bison.
I have heard of a few humans being attacked, the most popular story is of a tourist who used his flash on his camera and lost most of his jaw. Wonder how the picture turned out..?

cya
R

shazikon · 1st March 2006, 12:58

My Best drives:
Abroad:
1. Mount hood loop - Hillsboro-Portland-columbia river lodge-Mount Hood-Portland-hillsboro : Car-Mazda 6
2.Around the Crater lake rim in oregon,US. car: Mazda 6
3.Hillsboro-Oregon beaches-Hillsboro
4.Newyork-Boston-Niagara-Boston: Car -Freinds Toyota Celica, loved the changing lanscapes..and loved some competetion/company of some well behaved Newyorkers

5.Portalnd - San Fransicso
6.Around Munich in germany, Munich-Mt.Zugspitz, Munich-neuschwanstein

in India:
1.Bangalore-Nagarhole-Kabini jungle lodge get to see lots of elephants and peacocks. Car: Ford Ikon 1.6
2.Bangalore-horanadu-kudremukha-Sringeri-Kemmangundi-Bangalore. car: Ford Ikon 1.6

In India,never driven out of karnataka, plan to do bangalore-Pune some time!!

zenx · 1st March 2006, 13:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sideways

the drive from manali, to Rohtang and Kunzum la in this years raid de himalaya.

Cheers,

Sideways.

yep, the kaza-gramphu stretch is something i'll remember. On a bike tho - and not in the raid - just twin up on a Pulsar - leisurely. About 120 kilometres of PWD 'maintained' road - mostly defined as the rubble brought down by the melting snow. Slush, water, rock and gorgeous scenery all around. Did that stretch in two long days with a camp-break at chotta darra. The only thought was about getting past and the only action was to keep riding, breathless by the raw beauty around us, and at the same time never wanting it to end.

Bike #1: The above and the entire 2000 kms in fact. The scary Recong Pero - Puh stretch has to be mentioned. HAVE to redo that.

Bike #2: The Jog falls to Honnavara curves. Lovely tarmac, low traffic, densely green
Bike #3: The climb up Kudremukh coming from Manipal and then down to Kalasa, Mudigere. 25kmph never felt that cool.

Car : Somehow remember Tvm - Blr trip in the old Zen (with just changed front struts, new donuts) as the most exhilarating.

Most frustrating : SF - Flagstaff (near the Grand Canyon) during the Thanksgiving weekend - killing traffic - yes Bangalore standards - for hours together. Imagine a 10 mile traffic light! But this was the drive that most counts as a 'road-trip' - overnight.

Samrat Banerjee · 1st June 2006, 18:16

My best ride:
2005 monsoon- return from goa to mumbai through belgaum. we went there just for the weekend, 5 guys - 2 of us knew how to drive - hence the 12- 13 hr journey was split between two of us and cans of beer. thank god we were in a CRDe Scorpio.. it had tons of power even at 120 and the beer put a lot of confidence while driving!!!
we started off on friday 6 pm; drove all night and landed in Goa around 7... partied saturday and through sunday half day.. and left 6 pm sunday, carrying the same diet of beer.
The return journery is something all of us would never forget.. I have done numerous trips from Delhi to northern parts, to Jim Corbett and from Mumbai to Khashid beach and places around, on Mumbai-Pune highway in a VTec , but this was the most amazing drive I have experienced. The sheer exhaustion, pressure of reaching Mumbai before office hours, the rain, the tree lined empty track, the unknown pushed us to the limit. Part of the journey (don't know the name, but it was an hour and a half from Goa) was ghat with a steep fall on one side... the fog was so dense that I could hardly see the end of the Scorpio bonnet... there were empty trucks going to the mine driving at breakneck speed- we saw one palio thrown to the side and Sumo with its nose down and one wheel in the air. I followed an empty truck religiously through the twists and turns and trust me, even with the CRDe engine it was tough.. those guys know the terrain sooo well and with no load they know how to zip.. nevertheless I was more or less on its tail for safety against the oncoming vehicles but more to catch the bends with the turn of its tail lights.. when we crossed the section we found a line of vehicles parked on the left hand side... chilling out after what they have been through. We did the same over some sweet chai and a pack of smokes. The rest of the journey was beautiful with tree lined wet road and few vehicles... I did one of the thingies I used to do in Delhi on similar roads - in the pitch black night while travelling as fast as comfortable take a mental snap of the road ahead and ask everyone to look ahead, simultaneously switching off the headlights- the sudden transformation to darkness along with the speed of travel freaks everyone out!! i get quite a few curses everytime I do that, but nobody forgets the few seconds of that dark travel and even years later follow up with more curses...
Throughout the journey, we were distinctly divided with my co-driver having the time of his life and the three in the back on the edge of their seat. I drove till 12.30, we had dinner and the other guy took over. We slept as comfortably as we could. We hit Mumbai early morning, and walked into our individual offices later in the day in a strange state of euphoria.
Samrat

27th February 2006, 10:58	#33
himanshugoswami Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: !!!! Posts: 2,303 Thanked: 2,619 Times	Leh to Manali in my cousin's Gypsy King in 2003- The roads (wherever they existed!) the scenery and the fresh air---- breathtaking man. The gypsy must be the best suited Indian car to tackle this road, and in 4L this car is a virtual mountain goat.
	() Thanks

27th February 2006, 13:48	#34
porsche_fan BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Epinal,France Posts: 83 Thanked: 8 Times	Hampi to Goa and Goa to Mumbai....the monsoons had just started and the road condition was still good. lots of greenery and good weather too... Pune to mahabaleshwar on bikes, also in the monsoons...lotsa fog in m'baleshwar....only way to navigate was by seeing the brake lights of the bike in front come on.... finally, the fastest drive of my life, on the expressway from lonavala to pune(162 kph).....
	() Thanks

27th February 2006, 15:55	#35
anarchist BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Chicago / Namma Bengaluru Posts: 372 Thanked: 6 Times View My Garage	Bikes - BLR - Mangalore and BLR - Hoganikkal falls in TN Cars - KL - Penang, BLR - Goa, BLR - HYD, BLR - Mangalore, BLR - Cochin Last edited by anarchist : 27th February 2006 at 15:56.
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27th February 2006, 17:39	#36
coloneljasi BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: KL-11 Posts: 686 Thanked: 251 Times View My Garage	1.Boston-Hastings in my bro's Mercedes Benz E200K.That sure was a blast. 2.Calicut-Bangalore on my Suzuki Shogun.I did that trip in a body-numbing 6 hours flat.Now I can't imagine doing something crazy like that. 3.Bangalore-Hubli in a Tata 407!!And no,I wasn't in handcuffs.We'd gone along with a friend who was an officer in the Central Excise in Hubli and was moving back to Bangalore as he was reassigned.If only they had the Turbo 407 back then... 4.Calicut-Kodaikanal-Munnar in a friend's Hyundai Accent DLS.A bulletproof engine but cries out for a turbo. 5.Mumbai-Daman & Diu in a rented Toyota Qualis.That was a few years ago...It was raining non-stop,trains were cancelled,parts of the highway was washed away.So what do we do?Rent a Qualis and drive through.I still don't know the route which we took.It was scary and fun at the same time. 6.Alwaye-Calicut in a Ambassador Isuzu Diesel.....where's the fun in that,you ask?Because I left Alwaye at 4 in the morning and was in my driveway at 6:30am!!I was shocked...and still am somewhat.I wasn't on the clock or anything,I was just enjoying the empty roads and my lazy friends were asleep in the back throughout the trip.That sure was an under-rated car. Last edited by coloneljasi : 27th February 2006 at 17:44.
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 00:33	#37
Aditya Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 17,841 Thanked: 77,079 Times View My Garage	My most memorable drive was sometime in the late 90s I was staying at Kashid. Sometime after 8pm, I drove to Murud with my firangi cousins for dinner. You guys won't believe which car we drove in. It was my family's old Ambassador Mk3. It may have been old and conky, but, everyone loved it. Apart from probably a Mahindra Jeep, there's no car available in India that can match an Amby for character. Steering column mounted gears that were difficult to engage, a heavy clutch, supertanker like steering, rock and roll handling, brakes(?) and a lethargic engine - it didn't matter. That car provided me with some fun times that I can never forget.
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 10:44	#39
ex670c Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Chennai Posts: 2,470 Thanked: 1,939 Times View My Garage	EVERY MORNING When I start my JEEP and roll into 1st Gear....................the full-blooded roar of the F4-134 "Hurricane"
	() Thanks

1st March 2006, 12:58	#43
shazikon BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 391 Thanked: 24 Times View My Garage	My Best drives: Abroad: 1. Mount hood loop - Hillsboro-Portland-columbia river lodge-Mount Hood-Portland-hillsboro : Car-Mazda 6 2.Around the Crater lake rim in oregon,US. car: Mazda 6 3.Hillsboro-Oregon beaches-Hillsboro 4.Newyork-Boston-Niagara-Boston: Car -Freinds Toyota Celica, loved the changing lanscapes..and loved some competetion/company of some well behaved Newyorkers 5.Portalnd - San Fransicso 6.Around Munich in germany, Munich-Mt.Zugspitz, Munich-neuschwanstein in India: 1.Bangalore-Nagarhole-Kabini jungle lodge get to see lots of elephants and peacocks. Car: Ford Ikon 1.6 2.Bangalore-horanadu-kudremukha-Sringeri-Kemmangundi-Bangalore. car: Ford Ikon 1.6 In India,never driven out of karnataka, plan to do bangalore-Pune some time!!
	() Thanks

1st June 2006, 18:16	#45
Samrat Banerjee BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 72 Thanked: 0 Times	My best ride: 2005 monsoon- return from goa to mumbai through belgaum. we went there just for the weekend, 5 guys - 2 of us knew how to drive - hence the 12- 13 hr journey was split between two of us and cans of beer. thank god we were in a CRDe Scorpio.. it had tons of power even at 120 and the beer put a lot of confidence while driving!!! we started off on friday 6 pm; drove all night and landed in Goa around 7... partied saturday and through sunday half day.. and left 6 pm sunday, carrying the same diet of beer. The return journery is something all of us would never forget.. I have done numerous trips from Delhi to northern parts, to Jim Corbett and from Mumbai to Khashid beach and places around, on Mumbai-Pune highway in a VTec , but this was the most amazing drive I have experienced. The sheer exhaustion, pressure of reaching Mumbai before office hours, the rain, the tree lined empty track, the unknown pushed us to the limit. Part of the journey (don't know the name, but it was an hour and a half from Goa) was ghat with a steep fall on one side... the fog was so dense that I could hardly see the end of the Scorpio bonnet... there were empty trucks going to the mine driving at breakneck speed- we saw one palio thrown to the side and Sumo with its nose down and one wheel in the air. I followed an empty truck religiously through the twists and turns and trust me, even with the CRDe engine it was tough.. those guys know the terrain sooo well and with no load they know how to zip.. nevertheless I was more or less on its tail for safety against the oncoming vehicles but more to catch the bends with the turn of its tail lights.. when we crossed the section we found a line of vehicles parked on the left hand side... chilling out after what they have been through. We did the same over some sweet chai and a pack of smokes. The rest of the journey was beautiful with tree lined wet road and few vehicles... I did one of the thingies I used to do in Delhi on similar roads - in the pitch black night while travelling as fast as comfortable take a mental snap of the road ahead and ask everyone to look ahead, simultaneously switching off the headlights- the sudden transformation to darkness along with the speed of travel freaks everyone out!! i get quite a few curses everytime I do that, but nobody forgets the few seconds of that dark travel and even years later follow up with more curses... Throughout the journey, we were distinctly divided with my co-driver having the time of his life and the three in the back on the edge of their seat. I drove till 12.30, we had dinner and the other guy took over. We slept as comfortably as we could. We hit Mumbai early morning, and walked into our individual offices later in the day in a strange state of euphoria. Samrat Last edited by Samrat Banerjee : 1st June 2006 at 18:21.
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