Unforgettable Ooooot(y)ieeee !!!! #WANDERLUST

Saturday, 26-09-2015: The day begins as every other day, but it possessed some energy, Yep the biking adrenaline!!! Today was my planned biking trip to Ooty. I visited Ooty pretty long back, I guess around ~15 yrs back, yep that's way long back...

I finished all my routine stuff and all set to go, I ain't tell my plan to any of my family members ;) to them it was just a frnds meetup! I vroomd my bike by 10:00 AM, off to Ooty, I filled up petrol in a bunk near home, and revd my bike, reached cbe by 10:30, met my aunt en route, reached Mettupalayam around 12:15 AM, the traffic flow was high till Mettupalayam, then took a left turn in the main junction, took the road to Ooty. The busy road turned less busy and suddenly trees started appearing along the road instead of buildings, the ride started to become lovely, dense trees along the road started forming arcs, it was a pleasant sight, crossed black thunder, the railroad to Ooty and at last reached the foothills of Ooty, beginning with a hairpin bend the ghat road opens...

It was my second ride on the ghat road, the first one being the trip to Nandi hills, the traffic was a bit less even though it is holiday, the road was nice, there were only a few potholes en route. The ride altitude was increasing gradually, after crossing 500MSL I felt the temperature change, with more scenery opening up along the route, the ride was blissful, one scenery near Burliyar was heavenly, there were two gigantic stone pillars peeking out in the mountain, with greenish-blue contrast and a waterfall in between those, it was really mesmerizing, I stopped my bike for a while and njoyd the scenic beauty and the chillness, the chillness was increasing as I continue riding higher the mountain. Reached Katteri junction where the road deviated towards Kaikatti and Coonoor, I called Bhuvi a.k.a Bhuvana (One of my new sissie in the office), we thought of meeting in Ooty, she picked the call and told she is shooting shot, I had no idea where that is!!! :(, I inquired abt her next place of visit, she told itz dolphin nose, there was a route map near that turning, which helped me identify that itz in Coonoor itself, I felt a bit relieved. I asked a driver the route to dolphin nose and he guided me.

View near katteri

Coonoor was 2kms from that point, started to Conoor, the route was nice, railroad running along with me, the chillness was awesome! Reached Coonoor main junction, took right from there and following a u turn in a roundana, passing through the bus stand I saw a board with dolphin nose - 12 kms, I continued my ride in the same direction for another ~4 kms. Reached fretboard from where I took a right turn to dolphin nose followed by a left turn after the post office turn. Now the destination is around 8 kms, the road was getting narrower, slowly the atmospheric changes start rolling... the kind of feel now was splendid, misty tea estates on both the sides of the road. In a while the entire stretch of road was covered in mist, and started drizzling. It was really magical !!! Speechless, one should really feel that, driving in this was beyond words... I said to me 'even anything happens negative, I won't regret !!! :-P' ("thevaya onnak eth!!! goiyalz..." u'll understand why I said like that vry soon ;))

The climate was awesome, the ride mood was g8, then the trouble starts... Air in the front tyre got low suddenly. I thought it was due to riding in the mountain, since I have less experience riding in the mountain. I started feeling a toughness to ride the bike, still I somehow managed to reach the 1 km milestone to dolphin nose. The weather condition was stunning, just superb! Then came a small hair pin curve with lots of gravels and potholes on the road.

The biking control was not good by this time, I managed to ride and as I turned the hair pin curve, in a jiffy bike tyres got punctured!!! Sh** !!!!!  Only god knows how it happened, there weren't any glass pieces or damn sharp objects :(. The left most side of the road was covered with cement railing, a few guys were sitting over that, I inquired them for the nearest puncture shop and the reply was Coonoor!!!!
Wat ????? No way!!! If I start walking with my bike to Coonoor, it will take min 2-3 hrs to reach there. By now the time was 1:50, there was no tower in the cell too. I had to call Bhuvi and inform her my status... But no way to do that too :(. The weather was damn superb and I am with a punctured bike !!! Gr8 way to experience Ooty...

I was running out of time, since I have to somehow reach Coimbatore at least by 5, leaving back no choice, I decided to ride my punctured bike back to Coonoor. Started riding the bike, first it wasn't bad, but after riding for a few mins, I began to feel the real toughness when turns came... Literally, I had no control over the bike. Somehow I managed to reach Fretboard, enroute to Fretboard I inquired with a few people for the nearest puncture shop and they opted me a location, one guy briefed me with the exact location of the puncture shop, the people in here was really really friendly. Thanks a lot bros... The puncture shop was near a petrol pump which was hardly few meters from the Fretboard roundana on the left side by taking the right from the roundana, when traversed from the direction of dolphin nose road/ Coonoor road. I reached the shop and then came another twist, a guy in there told the mechanic went somewhere... I had no choice other than to wait, the time was around 2:15, the cell tower was there. I called Bhuvi and informed my status, sadly the meeting was not possible. Hence, instead of dolphin nose she went to the botanical garden. So now my goal is just to get the tyres repaired and returning back to Coimbatore...

 The guy who was there, pulled the air hose and inflated the tyres, and it looked like there are no puncture and the bike was in a good condition. I doubted that!!!! But he forced me to leave saying there is nothing and it's all good. I started riding back Coonoor, which was around ~4 kms from here. Suddenly it started to rain, I got drenched, sadly I was not in the mood to njoy the rain. Over the time, in few mins the bike got punctured again, I managed to reach Coonoor bus stand. I inquired to an auto driver and he helped to find another puncture shop for me. I reached the shop, it was behind the bus stand. A small shop on the ledge on a small hill "Mohammed Tyre Collection Shop", a husband and wife was there, she was reading a holy book and he was busy approaching me, I told its punctured. He came, saw and went back. He called and asked to stand near the shop, since it was raining. I kept my helmet and stood there for a while, he called some other person, a colleague I guess, he told him to remove the tyre, with my help, he pulled off the tyre and started working on that, Bai asked whether I would like to drink tea, I said no and I told him to finish as fast as possible. I was damn hungry and I inquired for any restaurants near by, he pointed me a shop. I walked towards that and I found a small snack shop, again, I had no choice!!!! :-P I entered the shop and ordered 4 bondas and a coffee. It was gr8, from morning this was my first food. The time was around 3 PM. I finished and went back to shop, they managed to finish by then, I was really surprised!!! I was heartfelt thankful to them... He briefed me the cost and I paid and thanked him. He warned me to go slow!!! I was feeling damn gr8, back in action.... The time was around 3:20 PM, started from Coonoor, I crossed the railroad crossing and turned towards the Coimbatore direction road and stopped my bike. I dialed my sissy and told her I will be reaching Coimbatore by 4:30-5.

I started riding back and few mins from the railroad there was an accident, a car and a lorry on a narrow road, no casualties... I continued my ride down hill slowly, it was gr8 to ride back happily, crossed Burliyar, and another accident here. Accidents may be due to wet road, it was raining all over there. Here, a car collided with a bus. All the passengers were stranded on the road. As I crossed, a lady of mid-age asked to accompany her in the ride enroute to Mettupalayam. She wanted to catch a train it seems, there was enough time for her. We travelled towards Mettupalayam, she was inquiring about me, my visit to Ooty, etc... We exchanged talks and I came to know about her. She was a school teacher, who teaches Hindi. She was almost the age of my mom. Surprisingly, she was comfortable in the ride... My mom has never travelled in a bike :-P, The time was almost 4:40 when I crossed Mettupalayam. She got down almost near Thudiyalur a place in the outskirts of Coimbatore.

Waved a bye to her and revd my bike... Reached Saibaba Colony by ~5:15. Reached my sissyz home and an unforgettable journey added to my memorie... One hell of a bike ride... I just lov my Bike !!!!!

Long bike rides are one awesome way to feel the adrenaline rush & to boost morale

Terrain Toughness	Easy
Risk	Low
Endurance Lvl	Low
Self Sufficiency	Low