[naveenroy]

Whattay, whattay aasome ride! Nicely written and great pics and videos too! Next time, I am in.

Nice to see a riding group forming at Team-BHP.

[shan_ned]

This was not only my first overnight trip with TBHP, but also my first excursion trip without my family. Initially, I was concerned that I might miss my family, but that faded off as time passed by. That can happen only if you have wonderful riding buddies with you. Thanks a ton to all . This trip is one of my everlasting memories. My heart has already started longing for the next trip. Lets start planning for that

[Urban_Nomad]

Awesome pics guys! Looks like a fun ride

Question - Why is this not in the travelogues section?

[VLOCT]

Great to see such group rides. Please keep it going. May be some time in the future I'll be able join one of these rides. Would love it.

[FuelInjector]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Until the next one...! Ride safe, Ride Hard.

Awesome write up. Excellent photos. Really glad to see bike trips happening down south. For the next one am in mate.

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

So, will I be riding with them again? Heck yeah!

Excellent narration IronH4WK. Was like with you guys all the while
So the next time - am also gonna join ..

[IronH4WK]

a short drive by video of the group - heading to the resort.

https://youtu.be/VEkFaFyhD90

[RJ411]

Fantastic write up IronH4WK. The photos and videos makes it even better.

For a person born and bought up in Salem, I have never heard about "The Loop"

Reminds me of those college days when we use to ride there. My FZ-16 has visited there more times than me.

[sunil.nv]

Beautiful photos and glad you all had fun.

It brings a smile when I see or read bikers and Yercaud. One of my favorite getaways from Bangalore and I have been going there since last 7 years may be and that too at least thrice a year. So there is a pretty deep connection with that place.

Also may I know the rider with the CGI parking sticker? I am at TPLS.

Regards,
Sunil

[PatienceWins]

Nice report and beautiful photos. Hope to join you guys soon.

[n_aditya]

Thank you all for the kind words of appreciation.

Here is a video of us ascending the Yercaud ghats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3awYttjxQ0

[Sojogator]

If the word 'terrific' was coined, it was for moments and experiences like this one. The kinds when everything goes perfectly fine and you get a memory that is so strong and vibrant that you remember them for a long time to come.

Me, being one of those who had never done an over-nighter on two wheels, was thrilled beyond limit. Right from the preparation for the ride, to packing, to mounting the luggage, to riding, to resting, to meeting the 'person' beyond those riding gears was a revelation for me.

The life experiences of everyone, varied and across the spectrum as they were just like our steeds, was an eye opener with lessons entwined in what each one told, mostly garnished with dollops of good humour, about themselves. The 'friendly mod' factor was the icing on the cake

EPIC would be an understatement for the ride. 'The Loop' ride was very special to me as it took me back to my childhood when I was still growing happily, unaware of the nasty world of that the elders lived. The incessant rain during the ride played stimulant. The green looked greener. The clean air that filled your lungs felt cleaner. One would be 'recharged' if being with nature is someone's way of meditation.

The roads were perfect, just like our steeds and our co riders.

Special thanks to @goandude for initiating the plan about 2 months back, to @Added_flavour for managing the entire thing like frog manages food before going into hibernation, to @n_aditya for reminding us about the safety measures and keeping us in control on the road, to @shan_ned for taking out his magic hat and pulling out tasty 'kothhu paratha' and 'chettinad chicken' out of it, to everyone else for being so helpful, understanding and tolerant with everyone else, to the makers of the 'Minions' movie without which I would probably still be at home and last, but not the least, the people we interacted with who were sweet and welcoming throughout; especially 'The Lady At The Hut' during the ride of 'The Loop'.

That sounded right out of the 'Best Newcomer Award from Filmfare Award Ceremony but I really do mean them 'Thanks', right from the heart !

Brilliant one and to more hopefully ! Cheers !

A video I captured:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPW8SHb2PrY

Originally Posted by sunil.nv

Beautiful photos and glad you all had fun.

...

Also may I know the rider with the CGI parking sticker? I am at TPLS.

Regards,
Sunil

That would be the posterior of my Roadbuster
We are at TPLS too !

[sammyboy]

Right, so; I am quite well known in the riding circles for having a 2010 Ninja that is like new. No, not because it shines like Abhishek’s Ninja; because its done less kms than Suhas’s CBR which is 6 months old.

When Leslie suggested an overnighter, I thought it over, pleaded to my dear wife and she was more than happy to say yes, probably because she understood, even before I could, that a bike ride for me is like a phoenix resurrection. One can break all the chains of work pressures, and all the drab things it comes along with it sometimes, and come back renewed ready to start another week.

The Tbhp riders I rode with are a special group; they inculcate the values of discipline, road manners, safety and a great sense of belonging (like we have known each other for years). I could not think of a better gang of riders to go on my first ever overnight ride with.

So, once we finalized on the place, I decided to ping Aditya if he wanted to join us. He said yes and the entire gang was really excited. Then Adi mentioned Anil would be joining us as well and we were even happier. What better than to have a top tbhp vehicle spotter amongst us.

Suhas had booked the cottages, and had taken over the entire organization of the trip so a special Thank you to him. Brilliant effort and a flawless execution of the entire plan.

The day of the ride, we all met up at the designated point. Aditya and Anil were lifesavers as they had some extra pair of bungee cords, which meant that Sojo and I did not have to carry our bags on the shoulders.
The ride till Salem was great, everyone riding very sensibly and looking out for each other to ensure no one got left behind.

Salem was hot, and had a lot of traffic.

Then, we got to the twisties and all of us forgot the traffic and the heat. It was like letting the kids free in a candy store, beautiful roads, little traffic and trees all around. Before we knew it, we were all at the top grinning from ear to ear. Everyone checking out everyone else’s tyres to see the chicken strips.

We then went to our hotel, which was about 500 meters from our stopping point; our “detourer” managed to get lost there as well and reached a few mins after we all did, hee hee.

Settled down in the rooms, and watched all the videos captured on the helmet cams.

A delicious lunch and more chit chat followed.

We then planned to go for the popular yercaud loop, rain meant that the group was cut down to 8 members, beautiful roads, greenery all around and pouring rain. It was incredible. We were all completely drenched; our gloves, shoes, gear wet but nothing could wipe off that smile from our faces.

Had a wonderful time once we came back, chatting, getting to know the other members and having a lot of laughs. It was like a family reunion .

Woke up next day to some iphone alarms, no i don’t have an iphone ;-) and prepared to ride back.

A couple of our friends left a little early so we said our goodbyes to them and then got back to check our gear which had thankfully dried to quite an extent (after the loop ride).

Had a nice lunch at the Shoolagiri McDonalds and then stopped to say our goodbyes.

The trip was much more than just a ride, it was a get together; a reunion of friends we had always known all our lives but never met.
Had an absolutely wonderful time, and I feel lucky to have done this trip with a lovely bunch of folks.

[mashmash]

Absolutely fantastic pictures, videos and stories. All the bikes looking amazing too. Making me feel like getting a bike too and heading out with you guys.

[Sojogator]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy58QO54ewQ

The climb to the summit. Gives a clear idea of the lovely roads, the crazy traffic and our superb riders

[Shanenanigans]

Right well, this is long overdue, but I thought I'd do a small write-up of my own just so I could convey my version of the ride.

Now, while I've been a lurker on the site for a long time, I just created an account some time back, and once I joined, I found out about these Sunday morning rides that the riders here organized every weekend. Since I hadn't been on a road trip for very long, I went for a small ride with the guys, and I had a really good time.

My bike's initial run in was already done, so I was slowly taking it to its paces to keep up with these guys. Nonetheless, after that first ride with the guys over to Shoolagiri, I felt right at home. I'm not a biker by default, after having had an accident fifteen years ago, I picked up a bike after a very long time a couple of years ago for some random riding. Since I've been driving from the time I was the legal age to drive, I've always felt at home in a car.

But riding with these guys was a whole another experience. I remember goandude asking about Yercaud in that very first ride, and I thought, why not. These guys seem nice, and they're like-minded. I think the Yercaud ride became such a great experience because the discussion about it started right after the trip, and as the days were getting closer, it was getting harder to sleep because I simply couldn't contain the excitement of the ride, and riding with these guys. The night before the ride, just like everyone else, I had barely slept in anticipation that I'd miss my alarm. When I couldn't take it anymore, I got up, took a shower ( mom made me coffee too, sweet of her ) and was all ready to bounce. Took the best part of two minutes to bungee my gym bag over to the back of my bike, and get ready to meet Sammy, goandude, and Chida over at OMR, near my office. This was good for me, since I'm very new to Bangalore, and I didn't want to GPS my way to the meeting point again.

Once we all met up, with considerable delays from a certain someone, we were off to the CMH bus stop to meet Ironh4wk and Ned and then we moved on from there. As we got closer to the meeting point for all of us ( just off the elevated expressway ) I could barely contain myself, but then I remembered I needed some energy for the 250 odd kilometer ride. Once we all got to the meeting point, it seemed that our group was one of the last to reach, with four riders left to join us. While we were waiting for them, we got ourselves acquainted with n_aditya and Ironh4wk who I was riding with for the first time, got in our morning share of naughty quips. Once the remaining riders were in, we had a small issue. Sojogator's second backpack wasn't tied to his bike properly and this resulted in an awkward moment where about 6 or 7 people were standing around his Z800 when Aditya finally got his spare bungee to hold down Sojo's bag.

Before we started, we had a small pep talk, but to be honest, I was just a tiny bit freaked out when the topic of "kin to notify in case of any event". Considering I've been driving for a very long time, in all my road trips, we never had such discussions. Either way, with a safety brief, we were all set, and headed to Shoolagiri for breakfast. By this time it was pretty late ( around 715 am ), but thankfully there weren't miserable amounts of traffic. Once breakfast was done, with half the riders taking advantage of the South Indian spread and the other half doggin down some McDs and once a few of us had tanked up ( neither of the dukes, surprisingly ) we set off with a predetermined next stop. Once we started off and got into our grooves with the riders around us, it was hard not to enjoy the amazing scenery and the frankly, excellent highways ahead of us. It may not be one the best driving roads in the world, like Top Gear says, but it was great for us riders.

...All until we got to Salem. It was so hot ( true TN weather ) and there was just so MUCH traffic. Added_flavor, who was our point man/navigator for the trip claimed he was taking us through the "bypass", but in reality, was just a terrible road probably running through the city. I couldn't help but grumble my way through, what with my bike and its silly ratios for the first 2 gears but once I told myself that twisties were ahead, that dread of running through the traffic soon went away.

And then, the Yercaud board showed up. It was like the sweet nectar of heaven after riding through traffic in Salem.

Before I get to my next bit, I must say that my only experience in the twisties has been in various cars, here and outside the country. This would be the very first time I was going to do a hill climb with a motorcycle and not a car like I'm used to. Not to mention my CBR still has the ContiGos which are notoriously bad tyres when it comes to grip. So I was a little careful on my way up, but as I started exploring the limits of my grip I started to enjoy the ride more and more. It was just turn after turn after turn. Kept my bike at high RPMs the entire time, like I used to on a car, but the feel was different. It was exhilarating and a new feeling that I had never experienced before.

Getting to the top and comparing chicken strips; boy was I surprised when I barely had any tyre left on my lean-ins. I won't bore you guys with the same pictures for reference. The resort that Added_flavor had put us up at was frankly excellent. Sure the road to it could've used some work, but the views were truly amazing all around the cottages. I won't bother you guys with the details and what you already know, so I'll get onto the rain ride...

...Which I didn't go for. I was already paranoid about the weather and my tyres but I was like oh well, let's go for the ride. So three or four of us had already made it down the small hill waiting for the rest of the guys to gear up and come down. But then there was this huge downpour which soaked my jeans in a couple of minutes, so the four of us decided to head back up and we thought it'd be best if we did the ride in the morning or something. However, the others were hellbent on going for it and the four of us who got stuck in the downpour didn't have spare pants and didn't want to risk getting these drenched. Riding with wet pants isn't fun. Also, the rain gear that the rest of the guys had, invariably ended up with stuff dripping into their clothes as is. Either way, we had a good time chitchatting around in the cottage while the guys on the yercaud loop rain ride introduced their gentlemen parts to some cold rain at a hill station.

After everyone got back and dried off, we all just kicked back for a nice session, which was the highlight of the trip for me. It was great getting to know the background of the riders that I was with, where they came from ( no, not location ) and how we were all, in a way, similar, yet so different.

Oh well, good times can't last forever. But they can turn into better times. The morning greeted us with mist all over, and even the astonishing pictures that IronH4wk and Chida captured really didn't do justice to the serenity of the place. There's nothing like waking up without the city roaring around you (it was like that for me in Gurgaon and Bombay, but never in Chennai and Bangalore) where you go out and can smell what nature meant for you to smell.

The morning was uneventful, barring Porschefire's "abhishekam" of his bike, and another five guys huddled around his Ninja 250's exhaust to see why on earth it was loose.

Soon it was time to head back, if we had to beat Bangalore traffic, and we started on our way down. This time, I was determined to push my bike harder than I did on the uphill ride, and I was not disappointed. Except for an instance of an unnaturally stupid downshift on entering a turn from second to first ( the CBR250R has a short first and tall second, so that left me with a high tyre speed after the downshift and a little slip, but regained control a milisecond later ), I was heading down right on Porschefire's tail blazing the downhill tracks. I have to say, this feeling was infinitely better than the way up. Sojogator and Added_flavor were all the way ahead, since they got ahead of a minibus before we could, but if you see the downhill descent video, it was some great stuff. Once we all refueled and tanked up, my fuel monitor app told me I had done a measly 22km/l on the twisties and I was proud. I was raking the machine through the coals on my way to work and other rides, but it always gave me a good average of 30+. This was new. Either way, once we got onto the highway, things were normal, but the elation of Yercaud and the previous 30 hours hadn't worn off. In all this time, while we were regrouping, like usual, Sojo had pulled away and had invariably gotten bored waiting in the heat at the Krishnagiri toll, and took off for Bangalore, reaching home a good 1.5 hours before we did.

As I was heading home ( sammyboy and goandude had given me company till the Tin Factory, and somehow Chida caught up with me much later on the ORR ) I realized that this was such an amazing experience and it would be seriously hard to top this. The sheer number of riders, to be among friends who adapt and adjust as need be ( and are willing to listen ), is an incredible amount of to ask from normal people on a regular basis. But the guys I rode with, they have these qualities in spades and I'm very thankful to have been a part of this particular ride.

A few mentions, thanks Added_flavor for the excellent management and handling of basically everything from start to finish of the trip. We never had to worry or think twice about anything cuz he had all the answers.

And Ned, thanks for taking out time to ensure we got our food into our system, what with all the nonsense that was going on that Saturday night.

It was seriously, a great trip. Would love to do something similar again.

Note for mods - I know my post has to get approved, but I haven't proofread it yet. As a result, please forgive any grammatical errors.