Sunday, May 15, 2011

Bike ride to Salem

Now that Badri became Halal ..err i mean got hitched ;-) i decided to go for a solo bike trip, this weekend.I decided for a ride to Salem , a small town in Tamilnadu.

I started at 6.30 am.




It was a cloudy morning ,so i knew that the heat will not bee much of an issue at least in the morning.I took the elevated toll way from silk board to electronic city(5-7 kms ).Driving constantly at speed of 75-80km/hr i felt my helmet almost being blown off my head.After the elevate toll way ended i took another flyover which cut thru Hosur busstation ,towards Krishnagiri .

Still riding at around 75km/hr i felt i was flying .With well laid roads and sparse morning traffic on NH7 road i was having an adrenalin rush .As i crossed Hosur i saw the geography change .Industrial sheds and factories were replaced by small hills and shrubs.





Though not very green and scenic , the horizon held a promise .

Vrrrruuuuummmm ........Vruuuummm i passed by many eateries and drive thru on the way.It was quiet early for breakfast and i wasn't feeling hungry. the wind from the bike was screaming in my ears and my eyes had become watery.
So took a 5 min break.parked my bike on the road side ...had few gulps of Litchi juice and set again for take off ;-)

Zooom......As i accelerated my bike my sight slowly moved to the speedometer.it read 85 km/hr.This is good enough ..i thought ;-) ...
It was 8.30 am now and i was approaching the pictures town of Krishnagiri.




This is a small lovely town with many hills surrounding it.



The beauty of this place was straight from movies ...As i rode along the hills i some times felt the hill
moved along with me ...as if to show off their magnanimity."What a place to spend one's life" ...




i thought ... if i would be living in this place i would be a very very busy person ...busy exploring one hill after another climbing the shoulder of one hill and then another ...... Therz some thing about hills and mountains that mesmerizes me .....


There was a small lake at the base of one of the Hill.As the sun played hide and seek in the clouds ,its rays seem to now and then sprinkle jewels and diamonds in the lake .I wanted to hold on to this scene for as long as possible ...i felt my system being overtaken by some great contentment as if i have seen GOD ....;-) .....



Next stop was Dhramapuri , which was another 65 km from this place.Keeping on the NH7 highway ,I speeded towards Drahmapuri.I was getting a bit worried about my bike .Would it be able to take this speed and distance ? Its engine was already becomming very hot and i could feel the heat on the footrests.



Zomm.....Zoomm as i crossed Dharmapuri i came across the Ghat road of "Thorpur".This was the most picturesque and amazing part fo my journey.huge magnanimous hill greeted me .I saw vehicles and humand drafted by the magnificence of the hills here.It was as if i was in the lap of nature.I stopped for 10 min just to let the scene sink into mee ....As i road slowly i came across this hug huge majestic hill.Rising as a phoenix form the dust ,It seem to tower over all the surrounding hills.






Not only was it high but it was also hugh breath wise.I felt as if some gentle giant was calling on to me with open arms ...there was such an urge to climb this hill ....but i had to keep moving ...as i followed the road which crisscross across the hill i figured this was one huge hill range .......it was like one big dragon covering all other creatures with its huge wings ...



Mesmerized and Energized i rod for another hour and half until i reached my destination.The Salem district of Tamilnadu.





The journey took 4 hrs to complete and almost 200km covered.

I had a cup of tea at Salem took 5 min of rest and started back towards Bangalore.




I was beginning to feel a bit exhausted and it was beginning to get hot.Hence i decided to go a bit slower.As it was

cloudy and the sun wasn't beating bright (to start with ) i decided to ride back without helmet.Riding at 60km/hr , nice warm breeze caressing my hairs and face , songs from my mp3 player buzzing in my ears it was a moment of trance for me .It was enigmatic till Krishnagiri (90 km from salem).
I took short breaks every 40-50 min , jut to allow my bike to recoup ;-).


I kept gulping in more juice and water and as i crossed Krishnagiri , the sun had escaped the cage of clouds , beating down in full blaze.It was almost baking the road and i needed to cool down in the shades of trees, time and again.At last 50 km form Bangalore i decided to take a longer break in an eatery (Kamat's ).While my bike enjoy the cool shade , i gulped in two choco bars ....cooling my systems ;-))




At 3.15 pm , speeding at 80km/hrs again i was on the Elevated Toll Way of electronic city .I had entered Bangalore few minutes back and as i descended from the flyover , traffic jaam greated me .Luckily i was able to still keep my composure in that jam (considering my bumps had become numb ;-) ).I reach my room by 4.00pm crashing into the welcome comfort of bed.

In retrospective , I had traveled more than 400 km at 70km/hr in 10hrs.That is some traveling haan .....;-)

For more pics click below

2011-05-14 SalemBikeRide