| My saddle sore attempt - Successful
My special thanks to Prabhu, Bangalore Wheels and Yamaha for helping me with the ride.
This is a long dream and I started my preparations to realize the dream on my Yamaha Gladiator. Venkat Shyam, Vibhu, Prabhu, Dr Arn, Praveen Shirali, Vasant, Amruth and Prabhu were tortured with my mails to help me on this.
I rode several times on my Gladiator to make sure that I can attempt for the ride. Everyone in my mail list had one suggestion – change the bike plan and switch to a big one. Venkat knew my confidence but he was realistic. Buying a new bike was not affordable and I feel scared to ride others bike, that too for this kind of an event. So, I kept my dream strong to achieve this on my Glady. Prabhu called me to Bangalore Wheels and he had a surprise for me. An all new Yamaha R15 was presented to me for the ride. He extended his help giving me all the spares that may be required and also the gyan about the bike plus the repair techniques. He spent a day in setting up the bike for me and I was given the bike 2 days before the ride to ensure I get along with it.
Test rode the bike to Mandya and Tumkur and my confidence grew.
Another surprise was waiting for me at office. My AVP surprised me with a huge banner filled with the wishes of my colleagues and it was presented to me in a team meet. I was wished by everyone.
Then, it was the day of preparations, I dint know or was not sure of what to take. Few tools, puncture kit, first aid kit, a towel, clear visor along with Mercury visor, biscuits, chocolates, Gatorede and Red Bull, coolant and clutch cable was all I had in my Cramster. My waist pouch had my mobile, wallet, camera, a piece of paper and a pen to make the log.
I was not able to sleep the previous night as I was excited. Got ready, went to Bangalore Wheels, the venue of my ride start and flag off. To my surprise, everything was greatly organized by Bangalore Wheels and Yamaha. My colleagues, friends and BNers were already there to greet me. I felt so happy and I thanked my life for that moment – which I will cherish throughout my life.
I was flagged off by Prabhu and then the real game began. I was greeted by congested roads in T Dasarahalli which is going thru renovation. Reaching Nelamangala itself was difficult. The first hour I was able to achieve an average speed of 55kmph. Once I crossed Tumkur, the conditions were better till Chitradurga. Again, the incomplete highway took me for a task. Several diversions and humps and potholes really was a night mare. Continued the ride and I stopped for fuel at Ranibennur. Then, started the ride and went thru the same hassles till Haveri. Post Haveri, the road was good and I was able to maintain good speeds. Post Hubli, the ride was more better with better roads but the mercury level was increasing to put me in discomfort. But, my intension was to complete Saddle sore and that hope in my heart worked as AC to cool me down with a breeze and continue with the ride. I had to waste sometime in Belagavi as the petrol bunk I first visited had only Diesel. I had to go inside the city to find a petrol bunk that accepted Debit Card. Filled the bike again and I rode without breaks till Kollapur thru Nippani. I stopped at McDonald’s to eat something but it was a bad time for me as someone flicked the plain visor. I felt very bad but I had to continue with the ride without wasting more time with the security. I rode till Satara and I was delayed again as they were laying tar. Once the fuelling was done, I promised myself that I would not stop till I reached Pune. I reached Pune quickly and I thought I will continue the ride till Mumbai. Rode till Hingewadi but the traffic condition was very bad. I was stuck in the same place for close to one hour. Filled fuel again at Hingewadi and I thought I would return to Bangalore.
The real challenge I faced was on returning. No plain visor, face exposed to air was not an easy job. Added to it was my tiredness. Dust, insects were going inside my eyes and the air at high speeds was drying my eye. Every few minutes I had to stop to clean my eyes and the bottle of water was over very soon and there was no shop on the highway for me to buy more. I struggled till Satara and I thought I would by plain pair of glasses from an optician. To my bad luck and lack of information about that place, few kilometers of ride inside the city was useless. I thought I would not waste more time on this and I continued with the ride. Fuelled at Kittur again and when I reached Haveri, I was worried about the bad roads again. Thanks to the good lighting that helped me on this ride. But, at high speeds, I was a little scared.
In Davangere, I was frustrated and tired. Dark night, road full of loose sand and suddenly a black dog was crossing the road in slow motion. I was doing close to 100kmph. Braked hard in nervousness as I was sure the bike would skid as the surface was bad. To the bike’s ability, it braked where I wanted to and without any noise or instability. Thanked god and I started. Reached Nelamangala and I was again stuck in traffic jam. Made a fuel transaction at T Dasarahalli to ensure I took the receipt for proof. I was again greeted back at Bangalore Wheels. Venkat, Vasanth, Amruth, Pradeep received me and the glorious moment finally was mine. I was taking special care when crossing every city/town to ensure I am safe, it reduced the average speed little bit but brought me home safe and sound. I am very happy I did it with all those hassles.
About the bike, it is still going strong and you can just change oil, wash the bike and take it for more J
The toolkit I carried was useless. Thank god, not even a puncture.
Opening odo read: 415
Closing odo read: 2154
Kms covered: 1739 on odo and I don’t think there is any error as I had to go inside the cities of Belagavi and Satara.
Route: Bangalore-Pune(Hingewadi)-Bangalore
I thank everyone for the support and I will send my documents to Iron Butt Association to complete the formalities.
I thank my witnesses Venkat Shyam and Prabhu for all the time they spent to help me document the ride.
Best regards,
Renu Kumar
Post EDITED since it contained various [FONT], [COLOR] and [SIZE] tags.
Posting with such text formatting should be avoided on Team-BHP as it is inconvenient for members to read post.
Kindly go through Announcements section before proceeding.
Thanking You for your anticipated co-operation
The Team-BHP Support
Last edited by Jaggu : 2nd March 2009 at 15:28.
Reason: font tags
| 
2nd March 2009, 14:50
Hey congratulation on your ride buddy. .
No seriously.