Story of 5 Bullets and a Pulsar – Bangalore to Yercaud to Munnar & Back
(Guest posted by Sai.. Great post man !!)
“Sun Soaked Departure – Rain Lashed Arrival”
Any trip log starts with the description of an ‘itch for a ride’ reason. So, lets go ahead and say that a bunch of bikers/wannabes wanted to ride and ride long.
[image above: the team]
Introducing the riders (from right to left)
1) Kamlesh aka ‘Sherpa Kamli’ –> the snow trekker –> Bullet 350 (Standard)
2) Guru aka ‘Guru bhai’ –> ice cool biker –> Bullet Machismo 500
3) Sai aka ?? 
–> Pulsar 180 (UG3)
4) Nasir aka ‘Nazi bhai’ –> team photographer, fog clearer, super entertainer, official account keeper (MBA works!!) –> Pillion on Kallu’s bike
5) Joe aka ‘Joe Rocket’ –> globe trotting navy man –> Bullet 350 (Electra)
6) Calvin aka ‘Kallu mama’ –> true dreamer (the one responsible for all 7 of us in the above frame) –> Bullet 350 (Electra) (getting a pillion who does not happen to be your girlfriend is a true achievement … its friendship … hats off to you)
7) Sumesh aka ‘somer sault man’ –> official timekeeper –> Bullet 350 (Electra 5S)
Life is very funny.
It gives you a lot of friends and lot of TIME to play around with when you are studying (ie., not financially INdependent). And now, you have a decent sum in your pocket not knowing how to get back those engineering times.
We are a lucky group (touch wood) and this discussion would always happen when we met at least twice a month. This trip is a very pleasing conclusion to that question and i pray that i keep concluding like this frequently on our future trips.
Kallu and Joe took the initiative and planned out the trip. The below power point presentation being a testimonial to that.
[slideshare id=210601&doc=cut-thru-breeze-part2-119835783220189-2&w=425]
Day 1 (15th December)
Me, Joe, Kallu+Nasir and Kamli meet up at HAL and ride to Madivala to meet the others (Sumesh and Guru). After an initial chat we start our road trip at 5:30 AM.
[image above: Band of bikers (including the photographer) at the starting point at madivala]
The ride from Hosur to Krishnagiri was very flat & smooth (literally speaking). A very well maintained road. Nice cruising, being invited by the dawn. Calls for another butt break right?
[image above: "N the road becomes my bride", the bikes thundering down hosur road]
[image above: We cross Krishnagiri where Joe, 'rocketed' ahead and found us a good place to have hot hot breakfast for the morning]
Finish breakfast and head out towards Salem. The road WERE GOOD (more on that later). We keep a good pace and stop for narial pani + celebrate a milestone.
[image above: Guru's 500 doing a 1000 for the first time]
This is the point where the evolution of ‘seating arrangements’ begin.
[image above: Nasir being coaxed to reinvent the wheel again - a butt cooling mechanism for our only pillion rider]
Once we get moving, we observe that the road widening has forced everybody to ride only on one side of the road and given the TN bus drivers’ penchant to push off the bikers from the road (yes i am stereotyping… any body want to refute?) one bullet goes tumbling to the ground while trying to avoid a beast bus coming head-on trying to overtake and being very indecent to the oncoming traffic.
We all stop to comfort the rider, access the damage, thank God that nothing serious happened. We resume our ride, simultaneously planning the stuff to be taken care of regarding the damaged bike – a completely broken left footrest and a cracked crash guard.
Destination Salem. Bike repair and food.
[image above: Happy biker without any postoperative trauma]
[image above: "Chilli Parota.... WHAT THE HELL..." the waiter chewed on it before it reached our table???? (pardon me... still a n00b, learning photography)]
A pretty uneventful ride till the foot hills of Yercaud. Then starts a very pleasant, cherish able ride uphill through the 20 hairpin bends to the top.
[video above: riding up to yercaud]
[image above: Mother nature, view from road leading up to yercaud]
[image above: Reached the top before the mist descended on the hill, to be invited by eager eyes who thought we were a "bunch of insanes coming on bikes to this place"]
Now, what happened after we checked in…
What would you guess a group of friends on bikes would indulge in? Lots of food and lots of liquid to quench our thirst!
Day 2.
Ready to go!!
[image above: Glued to the TV and sharing a good moment before we left..]
[video above: warming up the engines in the very chilly morning at yercaud]
The ride to Munnar was stop go, stop go, since it involved a lot of enquiring for directions. Scorching heat of TN, to the point of driving us to dehydration. Our average speed dips and gives rise to the general apprehension regarding our arrival time at munnar. Hence the group decides to ride nonstop through udmalpet (the awesome swarms of wind mills) all the way to Munnar. I did not like the sudden rushing up. But an individual decision comes second when compared to a team decision.
The uncomfortable heat is replaced by a pleasant chilly green atmosphere of the Chinnar forest. The best forest road i’ve travelled on. Till now i had only heard of the good Kerala roads. Now, i’ve experienced it first hand.
Lots of ‘picture postcard’ moments lost.
The mix of the setting sun, the mist, the mountains, the forest and then the small waterfalls here and there was just divine. Wish i had a cycle and stamina to ride through this stretch all the way to munnar. The waterfalls were like these gold watches embellished with diamonds. Sometimes the clouds focused the sun rays on some mountains as though God held a flash light in a dim surrounding to show us the beauty of nature. Also spotted some black faced langurs waiting to be snapped on camera, but alas, i aint stoppin now monkeys 
[image above: An unsatisfactory try to quench my thirst]
Once you cross the chinnar forest, there is another check post after which you reach Munnar through the tea estates of Kannandevan. The good roads don’t seem to end at all. They keep getting more and more twisty turvy but the grip and quality of the roads were worth applauding.
[video above: ride to munnar]
We reached Munnar by 6.
[video above: reached munnar & view from balcony of our home stay]
We walk through the temporarily put up weekend eating stalls of munnar and purchased some food. The night spent on food and some hydrating and dehydrating liquids 
The round table discussions were full of things ranging from Joe’s foreign escapades and other stuff… no details, censored you see.
Day 3.
Kallu comes back from the Mass in a church at the foot of the hill we stayed on. I am basking in the sun to get off some hangover. Every one else is asleep, its 7 and the sunlight is playing with green tea estates and white mist, which made us pull out our bikes and go out on a small ride. By the time we started our bikes there were two more companions on the mini ride. So, 4 bikes head out.
[image above: Our home stay bungalow basking in the morning sun]
One of the bullets makes the cardinal sin of using the front disk brakes on a high speed, super leaning, tempting, well-tarred corner. The fall was a scary one, the first one i’ve seen first hand. The bike takes a lot of damage and luckily the rider is safe. We cut short the ride and get back to the lodge to find to our surprise that there is a small tin hut with a bullet and its internals opened up for repair.
out comes Jerry, a student of MS Ramaiah college and a very knowledgeable mechanic. All of a sudden everybody start seeing problems in their bikes which weren’t talked about till then. He gets on with every body’s problems patiently while i take a tablet to stop the headache and dose off for an hour or two. Getup after that to watch the group still with Jerry, in the hot afternoon sun.
A proposed short munnar trip got postponed from 11 to 4:30 due to the heat.
We take a beautiful ride through Munnar – Madupetty – Eco Point – Palar – Kundala – Top Station and back. The view at the Dam was amazing and so was our group dynamics while on the ghats…. evenly paced and evenly distanced, with every bike in view and riding up and down the roads like a snake with red dots on its body (our tail lights!).
[video above: Ride on amazing roads from Munnar to Mattupetty dam]
[image above: view of mattupetty dam]
[image above: "Nature's playground", anaimudi peak in the distance]
While biking back from the ‘Top Station’, there was one sunset, which was half visible due to the tall trees. This was the only time my mind got into destructive mode … it wanted to chop down the trees so that the view was a complete one. I can understand why heavy pocketed celebrities buy villas and want to cut down trees for a better view.
[video above: Night ride from Mattupetty dam to Munnar]
[video above: Dinner at "Lonely planet recommended Rapsy Restaurant", Munnar]
Day 4.
The sun bathing ends here. Give way to the rain lashing!
I decide to leave a bit early than the others so that i can catch up with the lost opportunities on my way to munnar. Kamli and Sumesh agree to do the same.
We leave Munnar at 6:15. The weather is dry and we cross the first hill. All of a sudden we are in the mist of munnar and getting pretty wet too. I am confused, we were not mentally prepared for a rainy weather. We still force ourselves into assuming that its just mist charged with water… hence the wetness.
We cross two more hills and the truth finally hits us. I forgot that there was a camera pouch dangling on my shoulder. Take a quick stop, and put it inside the saddlebag which i always water proof from inside no matter where i go.
Now, when its raining cats and dogs in a beautiful forest, what do you do…. i saw a sign board reading the direction to a water falls 2 Km ahead and i grabbed this opportunity with both hands!
A wonderful experience. Thigh deep, crystal clear water… all the pebbles washed and laid out as in a costly aquarium. I always think twice before getting my feet wet (given the distance we have to cover in a wet sock and wet shoe). But here? No second thoughts. I readily jumped into the stream, which initially sent a shock through my spine due the chillness. Enjoyed the water while Sumesh was mobbed by a big band of monkeys… it had spooked him enough… he was ready to hurl his helmet at them in case they had come anymore closer to him.
Me at the falls (shot on a K750i)
By the time we were out of the falls and heading to the check post at the tea estate we see the rest of the bikes already heading towards us… we were overjoyed since it was raining heavy and now the group is complete.
We had the best breakfast of trip in the smallest of the huts with the smallest expenditure.
Freshly made vada… what more can you ask for when you are soaking wet and a hotelier is ready to entertain you with hot crispy food. The icing on the cake was ‘Palam Puri’ which Nasir’s probing eyes discovered. They are hot crispy banana fry whose taste cannot by described.
Holla?! Whose there??
A camera less journey ahead.
We take nearly 13 hours to cover the total 336 Km to our destination – Yercaud.
You would ask, why come back again? Well i asked myself the same question even before the trip started. You need to look logical, so i put it this way. Every good place has to be visited twice no?
Destination Yercaud. Every body is wet to the bone. The only consolation till then was a very good food served at a ‘irani hotel’. Me, Kamli and Sumesh had waterproofed our luggage. The same was not the case for the rest. We immidiately ordered for room heaters and then for an iron box.
Kallu gave us a scare by showing us black fingers when he pulled out his biking gloves. And to our relief, it was no frost bite or what ever, it was just that the new glove’s color had given way and got on his skin 
We get warm, have food, no one wanted to have a conversation … so we hit the bed pretty fast.
Googled up the weather map for that day (thanks Sumesh)
Day 5.
I had enjoyed every bit of the rain infested ride, but was feeling bad for the group who were shivering with no dry clothes to wear. I can understand the discomfort they have been through. I just hoped that every thing would be back to normal by the morning and i was right. Every body woke up with a smile and determination enough to get us back to Bangalore even though we knew that the rain would not stop.
A chilly one, tough to capture on camera
Joe, Nasir and Kallu went out shopping for raincoats and were back by 10:30. We decided to leave by 11 since the checkout time was 12 noon. But to our surprise we find that the checkout was 24 hours from checkin. Hence we decide to leave Yercaud at 3 in the noon so that we dont have to bear with the traffic after hosur towards madivala. We did this factoring in the ok experience we had with the Salem – Krishnagiri stretch.
After having the most comfortable lunch of the trip at the hotel itself. We leave Yercaud as planned and reach Salem.
We did not expect the roads on the Salem – Krishnagiri stretch to change so drastically in a matter of two days. It’s surprising that all the seven of us had a doubt that we had chosen the wrong route. This niggling thought was despite watching the same landmarks on our way. The stretch has changed that bad.
The roads looked like mine fields laid out for the bikers riding it. Again the rash TN bus drivers gave us a hard time. I say hard because, you are not riding alone, but are riding as a team. Any bodies weakness is your weakness. This stretch, with the rash driving busses were hell bent on exposing those weaknesses… and adding to the complexity was darkness.
You had only two options:
1) Ride with the helmet visor down…. find yourself in a pothole.
2) Ride without the visor down…. bear with the slush hitting your face when you overtake or get passed by an oncoming vehicle.
Obviously, we chose option 2.
We took nearly 6 hours to cover the first 100 Km (all the way to Krishnagiri). But even the good roads ahead did not help and we took three hours to cover the second 150 Km.
Reached Bangalore at 11 in the night. Exchanged celebratory hugs and headed back home. Not a memorable way to call it a day. But we were tired and shivering, and could manage only that much jubilation.
A lot of firsts on the trip.
1. Group dynamics. It gave me a good perspective of team work, role of a leader, what it takes to keep a team as one. The birth and death of conflicts. Importance of formation riding, laying out the basic rules, forcing to conform to it (i am much better prepared for all the three in future). The importance of a close interaction b/w the first and the last person in the formation – i was ten minutes from peeing in my pants since we lost contact with one bullet while on the Salem – Krishnagiri stretch.
2. The joy and scares of riding on a fog filled ghat section with visibility to less than 5 meters.
3. Stretching my mileage in the rain. New experience with the hostile bus drivers. Hadn’t done a 13 hr bone drenched trip so far.
4. A journey covering three states (my previous being only two)
5. A trip that gave me many more biking buddies
6. Finding the weak links in my waterproofing armour. The cramster jacket needs a lot of tinkering around and so does the saddle bag. Finally found out a comfortable way to protect my neck using a muffler – 5 days gave me a lot of time to ‘live test’ my ideas.
The ‘dry feet’ idea – contributed by guru and sumesh
7. Need for new methods of cleaning my visor quickly for improved low light visibility. I will have to purchase an AGV due to the famed protection and the ease with which you can pluck out and snap the visor back in. This way i can keep the tinted visor on the present helmet and use an AGV with a clear visor.
8. Need for a spare camera (the best would be a mobile phone camera – water proofing would be very easy).
9. Importance of a small umbrella in case main camera is required.
10. Pair of sandals. Without them on a rainy day and a wet floor in the hotel, you are screwed.
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Trip Stats.
————————————————————————————-
14th Dec
Filled 11.65L of fuel (Rs 600 @ Shell)
Tripmeter reading – 0 Km
15th Dec
Odo Reading 28594.8 Km
Started the trip at 5:31 AM
Reached Yercaud at 4:01 PM
Tripmeter reading – 261.3 Km
Distance travelled – 261.3 Km
Time taken – 10 and 30 Minutes
16th Dec
Left Yercaud to Munnar at 8:02 AM
Reached Munnar at 6:01 PM
Tripmeter reading – 571.5
Distance travelled – 310.2 Km
Time taken – 10 Hours
17th Dec
Second day in Munnar
One trip in the morning
One trip in the evening
Tripmeter reading – 653 Km
Distance travelled – 81.5 Km
18th Dec
Left Munnar to Yercaud at 6:25 AM
Tripmeter reading – 0 Km (Running on reserve fuel)
Refuelled for 2.17L (Rs 100 @ Maryoor, Kerala)
Tripmeter reading – 113.3 Km
Reset trip to 0 Km (Running on reserve fuel)
Refuelled for 6.32L (Rs 300 @ Palladam, TN)
Reached Yercaud at 7:15 PM
Tripmeter reading – 223.0 Km
Distance travelled – 336.3 Km
Time taken – 12 Hours and 45 Minutes
19th Dec
Left Yercaud to Bangalore at 3:05 PM
Refuelled for 4.2L (Rs 200 @ Yercaud)
Reached Bangalore (Madivala junction) at 11 PM
Tripmeter reading – 476.6 Km (Including the distance to my house from madivala)
Distance travelled – 253.6 Km
Time taken – 9 Hours
Total Distance Travelled –> 1242.9 Km
Total Time Taken –> 42 Hours
Average –> 27.7 Km/H
Pulsar Mileage Statistics
Mileage for the initial full tank
Fuel 11.65 Liters
Distance 653 Km
Mileage 56.1 Km
Mileage for the second refuel
Fuel 2.17 Liters
Distance 113.3 Km
Mileage 52.2 Km
Mileage for the third and fourth refuel put together
Fuel 10.52 Liters
Distance 476.6 and counting
Projected average mileage (worst case scenario for the third refuel) – 51.2 Km
The waterfall experience sounds good and the trip sounds too good. Boy, am I a little jealous.