[neil.jericho]

They say, change is the only constant. Back in early 2016, eleven riders from our large TBHP group headed out from Bangalore to Kotagiri on what was the third overnight ride and suffice to say we had a ball of a time over two days of amazing riding. You can read all about our intrepid adventures right here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...-kotagiri.html (Our CCRO adventures: Ride from Bangalore to Kotagiri).

Talk about diversity in tastes

Fast forward a few years and so many things had changed from what they used to be in 2016. Some riders upgraded to bigger motorcycles and kept riding even more than they used to earlier. One rider smart-graded from a bigger motorcycle to a smaller one and couldn't be happier. Some riders sold their bikes and moved abroad for better opportunities in higher education. Some riders moved out of the group for various reasons and I haven't ridden with them in ages. I left Bangalore in that time frame and bought a second motorcycle but my riding has come down a lot. Like me, some riders moved out of the city but continued to stay in close touch to our old riding buddies, thanks to the lasting ties of motorcycling friendships that refuse to be broken and which continue to bring us together us together when the opportunities arise. And with all this change, life caught up with almost all of us and consequentially group riding went down.

Memories from 2016

But sometime in to late 2018, the seeds of a group ride idea began to surface and potential calendar dates started getting discussed. After a lot of deliberation, Kotagiri as suggested as it was a good middle ground for the TBHPians who were based out of Bangalore (most of the remaining group) and Kerala (TBHPians man_of_steel and myself) and we had good memories of the location and the excellent roads. From a potential late November suggestion, the dates got pushed to early January 2019 and the scene was set for a three day ride that was a departure from the norm. Now everyone would get a day to relax and unwind thoroughly on day 2 before heading back all fresh in mind and body, temporarily unencumbered by the pillars of work and family. As the day drew closer though, some TBHPians had to drop out due to unavoidable circumstances, a risk that hovers over every group ride irrespective of how well planned it is.

[neil.jericho]

This is a tale of two different cities from which the rides originated and so we had two starts on day one, one solo start on day two and on day three, we had two different rides starting from the same point with one branch away in between. It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is! I'll let TBHPian Porschefire fill in the details of the group ride from Bangalore to Ooty and back in a separate post. The team from Bangalore was scheduled to reach Ooty by 14:00 and the plan was for me to join them there at the same restaurant where we had lunch 3 years ago (those jambo biriyanis I tell you!) by that time.


Using Google maps, I kept tracking the time required from Cochin to Ooty in the preceding days and it showed me a total travel time between 6:30 minutes to 7 hours depending on when I checked. On day 1, I started off from Cochin by 06:45 and given the timing, I faced mostly empty roads that helped me keep my speeds steady. After a quick breakfast where I fielded questions on the usage of an action camera mounted to my helmet and the possibility of a pillion seat on a cafe racer, I was back on the highway and making good progress in line with my expected time of arrival. I took a quick breather just after the toll booth on the way to Walayar to stretch my legs and give my mind some respite from the countless prominent speed cameras that dotted the highways between Trichur and Walayar. My mind shudders at the very thought of them!

That moment when you look carefully and see what’s in the background

I kept riding past Coimbatore all the way to Karumapthampati where I turned off the excellent six lane highway and rode through the ever picturesque and welcoming sights of rural Tamil Nadu. Ive done thousands of kilometers of riding through inner Tamil Nadu and its unfortunate that more people dont wander off the regular six lane toll roads to really experience the visual treats that the state has to offer.

A quick breather near Annur

Post Mettupalayam, the roads became very inviting as the temperature dropped and the gradual ascent towards Conoor started. Now this is what the ride was all about, S bends more plentiful than IT companies in Bangalore and lovely weather that would make you think of relocating there, made for a brilliant combination for enjoyable riding.

Another quick breather on the way to Conoor

Maintaining an unusually slow pace, I eventually took a quick break at Conoor by around 13:40 when I got a call from TBHPian Porschefire who called to say that they had already reached. Well given that Conoor was the last stop before Ooty, I thought it would be an easy ride and I would be there in a jiffy but the slow traffic I encountered was the worst that I had faced all throughout the day and after a few wrong turns within Ooty (thanks to me not having a phone mount), I finally reached the restaurant 20 minutes behind my planned arrival time! After quickly catching up with the Bangalore team who had finished eating by then, I quickly wolfed down my lunch and we were ready to roll to the resort in Kotagiri.

[neil.jericho]

Me: Who will write the travelogue for the trip?
Porschefire (on his black Ninja with two thumbs up): I will! I will! I will!

The parking at the resort was on private property but it didnt inspire too much confidence as it wasnt gated off with security guards and watch dogs the size of Honda Navis to safeguard our precious motorcycles. It's not like we were expecting temperature controlled garages or anything but hey, a wall (no, not THAT wall) would’ve been nice. In these parts of the world, it is extremely rare to find any instances of anti-social elements wandering into resorts like this, since they are mostly owned by wealthy and influential businessmen, but why take a risk? Other than that, we loved everything about the Den and we quickly settled in and got comfortable since we had no real plans for the rest of the day.

Just amazing

The eventual sunset heralded the arrival of really cold temperatures that we city slickers aren’t familiar with. The bonfire that was made for the night wasn’t really a big one as the wood that they had collected wasnt enough but the conversations and banter were enough to keep us in high spirits before we had the most excellent home cooked dinner. As the night became colder, we eventually wound up and though we weren’t exhausted, the night soon resonated with the sounds of snoring from the different tents and cottage that we had occupied.

[neil.jericho]

I was one of the last of the group to wake up and take in the lovely morning sun and boy, oh boy, what a glorious sight it was indeed. With acres of tea estates surrounding us, a variety of birds and I suspect some squirrels, proving that nature was the best music conductor of all time, and a magnificently blue sky straight out of a painting, mornings just didnt come better than this. Over a sumptuous breakfast, the one question that we all had was, what time would TBHPian Added Flavour, reach Kotagiri from Bangalore, having left the city that morning at 05:30?


While we waited for him to arrive, we discussed our plans to visit some properties in Wellington which is a part of the country that is closely tied to the armed forces. Since one of our riders has served the country, we could visit certain properties and we didnt plan on doing more than some leisurely riding in the first half of the day so that we could keep our energy levels high for day three. There was some kamikaze talk of doing a quick ride to Kodaikanal for a cup of tea but thankfully that didnt materialize beyond that!

As it turned out, Added Flavour, fresh off his ride from Bangalore to Bhutan and back, reached our resort quite incredibly by 09:30 and once he had had his breakfast, we were ready to head out. TBHPian Snehal Shekar smartly chose to sit the morning's ride out as he needed to grab much deserved sleep given his regular working schedule and the half day ride that he had done yesterday. After visiting a property that was controlled by the Indian Navy, we decided to ride out to Lamb's Rock which was 8 kilometers away from Conoor.

The last bit of riding towards the view point had some really bad roads which was the worst (and honestly only poorly maintained) stretch that we encountered across all three days. Since we had reached there a little closer to noon than we would have liked, the sun was a tad harsh and hence we decided to enjoy the magnificent views from the parking lot itself instead of taking the small trek to the actual view point.

When the view from the parking lot is this ….

We had a rather enjoyable conversation with the gentleman who was churning out the most amazing lemon tea (dont miss this among all the available stall options, it is the best tea I’ve had in a long time!) at the state government run stall who was curious about the prices of our motorcycles and even exclaimed that we could have bought a car for the price of the Honda CBR650, the one bike that he appeared to take a fancy to.

[neil.jericho]

We picked up a few biriyanis and some vegetable pulao for lunch and rode back to our resort to unwind for the rest of the day. Our conversations as usual were extremely enjoyable with varied opinions and experiences from all across the board but when a TBHPian mentioned that MotoGP motorcycles use a reverse gearshift (i.e. one up and 5 down), many of our minds were collectively blown! It was a motorcycling equivalent of a Matrix realization, to put it mildly. Fortunately, the temperatures on day 2 werent as low as they were on day 1 and hence we were a lot more comfortable in the evening and night.

Look at that mesmerising sky!

Being the weekend, the resort was quite full and we had a loud bunch of young ‘uns playing cricket while listening to rather forgettable modern pop music on a speaker. Not to be outdone, our young at heart senior TBHPian r_nairtvm enthralled us with a classic rock playlist for the ages with everything from Pink Floyd to the Beatles to the Rolling Stones. Safe to say that Khaled’s Didi and MLTR’s Someday that made conspicuous contributions to the 2016 Kotagiri overnighter, did not sneak their way into our playlist this time! Thank heavens for that.


Our revelry was interrupted by the excited resort staff who called us to show us a huge bison that was present in the tea gardens just outside our resort. Apparently, this particular beast sometimes roams alone and not in a herd but since bison don’t damage or eat the tea plants, the estate owners aren’t really bothered by them. Going back to our 2016 Kotagiri trip, some TBHPians had a scary encounter with a medium size elephant but this time we had a relatively safer encounter with a really large bison instead. At this rate, I wonder what our next overnighter has in store for us!

Look carefully and you will see the bison’s outline

Meanwhile the plan for returning on day 3 was all set and we would all be departing from the resort together after breakfast with the Bangalore team sticking to the state highways for most of the return before joining the main highway at Thoppur. From there on it would be an easy return back to the warm and chaotic embrace of Bangalore. Meanwhile I would ride with them till Annur and then trace my way to Karumapthampaty and back to Cochin. With the bonfire being a little more lively and with warmer temperatures than the previous night, our dinner was later than what we planned but once again we were treated to some really excellent home cooked food that all of us really appreciated. The full resort meant that we had to deal with the sounds of the cricket game and another group’s loud chatting on top of an indecisive music controller but after quickly packing up, we were all out for the night and snoring away to glory.

[neil.jericho]

Another lovely morning that was warmer than day 2 greeted us and the temperatures were more pleasant for us to get accustomed to as we got ready to leave. After 2 days of excellent service and absolutely great home cooked food that was always served to us on time with a big smile, the resort staff disappointed us a bit by getting the food ready much later than what they committed to. It was understandable that the previous night was a late one for them since it was a full house and they were serving the other guests even close to midnight but we were keen on finishing breakfast, settling the bill and heading out as quickly as possible.

I will never tire of seeing this first thing in the morning

The big surprise was that the Bangalore team had changed their minds on the return route since we last discussed this as they would spend the same time either ways but save 50 kms of riding now. However TBHPian Snehal Shekar was keen on continuing through the originally planned return route (with me giving him company till Annur as originally planned) as the roads were more to his riding style and getting home once in Bangalore was going to be a lot easier for him.

The immaculately maintained Triumph Bonnie is unfortunately hidden from sight

With TBHPian Snehal Shekar leading the way at a steady pace, I kept a safe distance and enjoyed the amazing winding roads from Kotagiri to Mettupalayam. Since it was a Sunday morning, traffic was sparse and this gave me all the opportunity in the world to savour the ride and the jaw dropping views instead of trying to blitzkrieg down the roads as I usually would.

Once the winding roads umm wound up and the open roads began, the locomotive-esque Harley Davidson pulled away from the last corner faster than a teenager after dumping his girlfriend and soon we were chugging along at steady speeds past the beautiful inner parts of Tamil Nadu. As planned, we parted ways at Annur and with even more open roads in front of me, I made hasty progress while riding back to Cochin.

I decided to push on all the way home with limited short stops (for water and light stretching) and did not stop for lunch. This helped immensely as I encountered a lot less traffic as I got nearer to the lovely city of Cochin as it was lunch time. By 14:30, having covered a total of 670 kms from the start of day 1, I had rolled into my apartment’s garage and I was the first of the group to arrive back safely.

[neil.jericho]

Sometimes you don’t know what you have, until you have lost it. And that dear readers, certainly holds good for group riding which I have come to realize, is often misunderstood. Some believe group riding entails meeting up at a start point, discussions about the next meeting point and everyone then rides as they please and eventually group at the rendezvous point after having ridden to their destinations alone while supposedly on a group ride. Others believe that group riding means teaching all the group riders about every single safety hand signal conceived by over worried riders and strongly sticking to your position in the group for every kilometre of the ride while watching the rider behind you at all times even if it lulls your brain into a painful boredom. Believe me, I've been a part of both types of groups in the years gone by.


But what we have here, truly embodies what group riding is all about. The complete and fullest trust in your riding mates to not do anything stupid, on or off the motorcycle, that could jeopardize you or others. The maturity to keep sufficient space ahead of you and the willingness to encourage the group rider behind you to overtake you in open stretches so you get to experience different rider dynamics and styles. The unwavering resoluteness of at least one member of the group who at all points of time rode at a steady pace behind the slowest rider of the group to ensure that he is never the last one.


Be sure to pack in an open mind and a good sense of humour and you will leave such group rides with a feeling of camaraderie that is hard to describe. Don’t just look for group rides with folks who have bought the same motorcycle that you have. Or with people that speak the same language that you speak. Or people that share the same interests that you do. In our group ride, we had two gentlemen above the age of 60, both of them enjoy a passion for motorcycling and youthful spirits that their peers can only pray for. And the youngest rider of the group was much less than half of the age of the oldest rider. How about that for diversity? And yet, bound by our love for two wheels and friendships forged by weekend rides, we rode from different cities and celebrated our friendship in a wonderful way in Kotagiri. Four days after the ride, as Im typing this, Im already excited by the possibility of another inter state group ride in 2019.


Isnt that why so many of us love group rides? And isnt that why so many of us love motorcycles? And so it dawns on me that the more things have changed, the more they have stayed just the same.

[Porschefire]

After reading unk9ja’s awesome Bhutan travelogue, I was motivated enough to pen down our very own Kotagiri overnighter and I did volunteer as well (as has been pointed out)! But who was I kidding, when you have someone like neil.jericho in the group, it is but obvious that Neil saar (our version of ‘Sir’) does the write up and boy oh boy, what an amazing job he has done! It is hardly surprising though because Neil saar has always been good with words. Since he rode from Cochin to Kotagiri and wasn’t part of the Bangalore leg, he’s entrusted me to write our experience riding to Kotagiri and I hope to do at least half a good job. So here goes.

Bangalore - Kotagiri

The Bangalore group consisted of Bhp-ians Goandude, r_nairtvm, Snehal_Sekhar, Roomy and myself riding on the Friday with Added_Flavor joining us on Saturday. It was unanimously decided beforehand that we would take Kanakapura Road to get to Mysore-Ooty bypass and the rendezvous (RV) point was set at Kanakapura-NICE toll at 7am. Everyone except myself stayed far away from the RV point and had to leave an hour or so early to get to the RV point. I decided to take it easy as I was just 15mins away. Isn’t it the case with any group ride that someone always comes in late, citing reasons like ‘I got stuck in traffic’, ‘I woke up late’ etc.? Hence, I rode at a leisurely pace as I wanted to make it on dot, but I did manage to reach the RV point a good 10mins early. To my utter surprise, everyone was present already and waiting for me for a good 10mins! Clearly, all of us were super excited to ride to Kotagiri, wasting no further time, we got on the saddle and headed towards Mysore.

Contrary to the suggestions, Kanakapura Road was a bliss to ride on with occasional bad/broken patches in between. Being a Friday, the traffic was less and in no time, we had reached the Mysore-Ooty bypass, where we took a stop to fuel up. My bike’s OE battery is 6yrs old now and I was praying to god that it would last this trip but voila, after fueling up, the bike refused to start. Roomy came to my rescue, he helped me push start the bike (Roomy went on to become my official push-start mechanic for another 3-4 occasions during the trip with Neil pitching in one time. The sight of an RE owner pushing a Kawasaki was quite hilarious). The rest of the ride till Bandipur was uneventful and joyful considering the sparse traffic and good weather for company.

Goandude and I were connected on the Sena and were chatting away for most of the ride. We entered Bandipur when Goandude tells me that he’s got severe cramps and we must stop. I got worried, despite being a brilliant rider for his age, cramp attacks have always been his Achilles heel. My immediate reaction was to find a safe spot for the group to stop. I found one, stopped my bike (well, almost) and the very next moment had a slow speed spill! The bike was on the ground and I was standing besides it, wondering what had happened! There was loose gravel and pebbles on the side of the road, the front lost grip and I had to let go off the bike. A handful of cars passing by offered to help me out, but I was perfectly alright and politely asked them to carry on. In no time, my mates arrived and helped me get the bike up. My worst fears were before me and I was hoping that the damage was minimal. Thankfully, there was no damage, not even a scratch on the bike as the frame slider had taken all the brunt. Heaving a sigh of relief, I went to check on Goandude and it was encouraging to hear that he was feeling a lot better as well.


Me giving a thumbs up after checking the bike. Roomy's CBR on the scene as he was the first to arrive.

So, all being well, we proceeded towards Ooty, taking the 36 hairpins which was very entertaining for most of us except for one hairpin bend where there was a huge pothole right in the middle of the turn, which gave all of us the shrills! The lunch break was at the famous Hyderabadi Biriyani House where Neil joined us. After the sumptuous meal, we proceeded towards the stay and retired for the day.

Some random pictures -




The two elderly gentlemen were very interested in the Harley and were having an animated conversation with Snehal.













Kotagiri – Bangalore

Time passed very soon, the fun trip was sadly coming towards its end and as with every great story, the climax had to have some drama.

Before the start of the trip, it was decided that the Bangalore group would return through Kotagiri-Mettupalayam-Sathy-Mettur-Thoppur-Krishnagiri-Bangalore route on the account that Kotagiri-Thoppur would be a nice 2 lane highway and from then on, it would be a fast 4 lane to Bangalore. On the D-day, it was put across that Kotagiri-Mettupalayam-Avinashi-Erode-Dharmapuri-Bangalore would be a better option since it was a 4-lane all the way and we could do higher speeds. But the downside was that it would be a dry, boring highway ride. It was then suggested that we do the same route as our onward journey except for Kanakapura Road as returning via Mysore Road and connecting to Tumkur Road via Maddur was better. The delay in breakfast was not helping matters, but most of the group agreed to the last option of returning via Mysore Road. Snehal_Sekhar decided to take the Erode route as it best suited his riding style and would be comfortable for the Baron as well.

With the routes sorted, the two groups left Kotagiri, promising to return soon. We encountered some traffic on the return leg but with good progress, managed to reach Mysore Road where we stopped for lunch. There was one last twist to be unfolded! At lunch, couple of us decided that we should return to Bangalore via Mysore Road itself and not take a detour in Maddur as that would add unnecessary distance. Again, the majority wasn’t happy, after much debates and deliberations, the group stuck with each other for the sake of returning together. After wading through the famous Mysore Road traffic on a Sunday, we finally reached the Mysore-NICE junction where we bid goodbyes to each other and returned home.

Except for this anticlimax (It might sound a bit harsh but honestly, it wasn’t all that bad. I’m sure the group will agree that no matter how patient you are, Bangalore traffic does bring out the worst in us.) the overnighter was nothing short of amazing. It was a much needed shot in the arm to recuperate from our mundane, boring city life (ok, not Added_Flavor as he was fresh from his Bhutan ride!). I don’t have anything valuable or exciting to add to Neil saar’s awesome epilogue, he has very nicely captured all our emotions. Until the next overnighter then, adios.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[gururajrv]

Boy-O-Boy - nice and simple travelogue! They say - 4 wheels move the body whilst 2 wheels move the soul and it is seen in these pics. I’m missing the rides totally due to family commitments. Planning for bike upgrade in the coming months if everything falls in its place.

For a min, I was confused with Triumph to interceptor 650 in one of the pics!

[mohansrides]

Neil and Porsche.....Brilliant!! Absolutely fantastic. Thank you for taking the time to ride and then to write. Also appreciated are the crisp presentations. The racy narratives kept me invested. In the past, I've been known to TLDR thru posts. But this one I read fully. Thumbs up. Two thumbs up infact.

May the wind always be behind all of you.

P. S.

Incidentally, I have been yearning for a meaty long ride for a long time. I am especially fond of the south as it offers great diversity in landscapes. But as it stands now, the probability of such a ride for me is 0. So I am all the more focused on enjoying such rides vicariously through write ups such as yours.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

But what we have here, truly embodies what group riding is all about. The complete and fullest trust in your riding mates to not do anything stupid, on or off the motorcycle, that could jeopardize you or others. The maturity to keep sufficient space ahead of you and the willingness to encourage the group rider behind you to overtake you in open stretches so you get to experience different rider dynamics and styles.

Isnt that why so many of us love group rides? And isnt that why so many of us love motorcycles? And so it dawns on me that the more things have changed, the more they have stayed just the same.

Neil let me start by reaffirming what we discussed about your blogging or vlogging!

I had the good fortune to be the part of this group

(Parts of this may feel familiar to some but please excuse)

Someone said somewhere that motorcycle or motorcycling is a great leveller. If any proof was needed, this trip was it (not that I needed it).
Which other group can you find the youngest to be not even half the age of eldest? Still vibe very well with each other seamlessly.

I dont know about the others, but I really enjoyed it. Sorry if I held any of you back by my sedate ridding.

As I said it was my first really long ride in India after the last one being in 1992. Yes this one was far cry from then where I practically had the road to myself wherever I went on my RD350. The crowded areas we had to go through now was really not there in the era bygone but a necessary evil to live with now.

Three things that make one decide on joining a group ride according to me are 1. Destination 2. Route 3. Company.

And in this ride we had all the three gelling well enough, which made this a really good ride.

Look forward to more.

Porschefire - thanks for the precise inputs about those parts where Neil wasnt around

TBHPian Added Flavour deserves a special thanks for the Chocholate shop stop and must tell you it was really nice ones. Now my family wants to do the trip enmass just for those

Best Regards & Ride Safe

Ram

[Added_flavor]

Neil, Abhi, thanks for the travelogue. I don't have much to contribute since all I did on that Saturday was to ride non-stop so that I could spend as much time as possible with you all. While the ride was quick and enjoyable, the conversations were even better.

I'll just add this pic taken just before departure the next day.

[unk9ja]

Awesome and crisp write up, neil.jerico as you have been doing all along and Porshefire deserves a pat too for his short stint. I am happy that I could inspire one more guy in this forum to write a travelogue. I had to sit this out due to the issues with my bike after the Bhutan ride and now I am feeling what a great outing I missed out.

Can you guys put up more details on the accommodation and that chocolate outlet here for the benefit of other?

[goandude]

When Abhi initiated the discussions on this trip I was totally into it, as I just love the place, the weather and the roads. I have visited the Nilgiris on many occasions and spent a year while doing a course in The Defense Services Staff College, Wellington in 94 - 94.

The thing with these overnighters is that the number of participants cannot be finalised as early as one would like, to get confirmed booking and good rates from the resorts. So I went to booking.com and after discussing with the rest of the group settled for "The Den by Trees". This was a good decision in retrospect as we had one or two cancellations and one extra booking in the last few days. The flexibility was such that we could cancel till the evening of the booking and there was no advance to be paid, all payments at the resort itself while checking out.

Neil and Abhi have covered the ride in great detail. So I could just add a bit from my side. Waiting at Hyderabad Biryani House for food and Neil
Superb biryani, Bhpian Sojogator (a biryani aficionado, led us here last ride)
Our huts and tent accommodation were quite comfortable, with attached toilets and hot water at all times.Another view of the area.

The Naval Wing at the DSSC has the Naval Hydrographic Office also called
Dunmore House situated close by (near Sim's park) and it is one of the more picturesque areas around. So I took this opportunity to take my fellow riders and have a look around.

Dunmore house used to be the place where Naval Hydrographers, those guys who chart the coast line and undersea maps, come to do their chart work during the monsoon season. It's now a guest house for service personnel but it's prize winning gardens is the highlight of the place.

This underwater craft called a chariot, stands in the lawns.