Arjun's Biking Adventures: May 2012......Riding in the Nilgiris.

May is the month I look forward to the most in the entire year.Its holiday time with the family and friends up in the mountains which is always a lot of fun ,and along with that comes lots of bicycling.

Apart from the usual rides in and around Coonoor town, I was fortunate enough to do 3 longish first time rides this summer.The first one was a solo ride I did on the 12^th of May.The route was from my house near Sims park to the town of Kotagiri , downhill to the town of Aravenu and back up to Sims park via Hallakarai ,Bandishola and then home.It was a 40km ride and I was thrilled to have done it in 2h10min non stop.I had my driver following me in the landcruiser all the way, more for safety reasons since being the holiday season there could be at times a fair bit of traffic on the roads.It was a fantastic ride and I enjoyed doing it all by myself,especially the bit when you climb back up to Coonoor with grades between 7 and 10 percent for around 5 kilometres.When you are all alone the only thing to do apart from enjoying the views in the hills is to push yourself as hard as you can to see what can be done.I was loving the plush super fast and super grippy feel from the new VREDSTEIN Spotted Cat tyres that Sanjay had fitted on the OIZ just before the group ride to Droogs.A small lock up while slowing down for an oncoming car resulted in a flat spotted rear tyre but apart from that no real dramas on the ride.Its a great route and I definitely see myself doing it again soon with friends.

Jacob was back in Coonoor after a few days in Coimbatore,so on the 17th we decided to do a ride that Jacob had done once before.The route,going up from home(1830 metres above sea level) to just short of Dodabetta(2280metres above sea level) via the Kotagiri Road, across to the Ooty-Coonoor road joining at Ketti and back to Sims park via the Staff College at Wellington.A 42km ride which we managed to do in a riding time of 2h20min.The route climbs continuously for the first 26 or so kilometers before coming back down to the town of Coonoor.The traffic on the Ooty-Coonoor road leaves a lot to be desired.Other than that a great ride,quite challenging.The views on the kotagiri-ooty road are fabulous and it’s a nice,not very steep climb all the way to short of dodabetta which settles you into a good riding rhythm.We stopped just once to enjoy the view on our way up.

Overlooking Ketti Valley

The next stop was once we hit the downhill bit towards ketti.Jacob and I stopped for some pics, polished off a pack of Oreo’s and then headed downhill back home.The ride was quicker than I expected.It would be a much nicer ride during the off season.The traffic on the highway is not so bad then and the weather gets much cooler towards the end of the year.

May 19^th 2012.

The ride to Korakundah is something I have been wanting to do for a while now but somehow never got down to planning it with Jacob.On the weekend of the 19^th we decided to do a longish ride halfway down the road to korakundah ,around 26km from Sim’s Park and back after a nice cup of tea at the Chamraj Estate tea garden.Santha,Prasanna and TV were there as well for the weekend.Other than Jacob,it was a first time ride for all of us on that road ,and it was supposed to be a leisurely one to Chamraj and back,perfectly smooth tarmac roads over rolling hills and hardly any traffic.

We decided to leave Sims Park at around 7am…ended up leaving a half hour later thanks to Shantha being late as usual.

Shantharam.

Once past Katteri Junction the traffic thins out and with just tea estates on either side it’s a fantastic ride.While passing through one of the small settlements en route Santha,Prasanna and TV were invited for a cup of tea by an elderly gentleman doing his daily gardening .They politely declined telling him they would drop in on the way back,totally unaware that we would not be returning that way.

Tea Stop at Chamraj.

The Chamraj Estate Tea stop was 26km from sims park and we got there in a little under an hour and a half of riding time.

Prasanna,Jacob,TV,Shantharam

Prasanna,Jacob,Arjun

Jacob’s friend Preetham who is also the manager of the estates there joined us on the way to his morning rounds and treated us all to lots of tea and biscuits.The biscuits tasted superb,and I ate lots.We spent about 45 mins there enjoying many a cuppa and the lovely view,also it was a great day,bright but not too hot.

Enjoying a Cuppa!

On our way back we took a detour. Jacob and I had decided earlier that its best to avoid the main road from katteri junction to coonoor due to the heavy season traffic.We did not tell the guys this as it involved one short but very steep climb or so we thought.The plan was to take an alternate route and reach Mount Pleasant ,down to Coonoor town and up to Sims Park.What happened was a bit different.Prasanna and TV were not too pleased when they saw the road we had to take,it was atleast a 13-14percent grade.

After assuring them that it was the only big climb to Mount Pleasant we rode on.Went on to reach the top of the hill which ended up being close to a kilometer long at well over 12 percent average grade,heart rate over 185 beats and legs screaming.The construction workers at the top were amazed that we could ride all the way up as you see most cars and bikes having atough time on that gradient.

What followed was another climb and then another and so on.Having run out of water by this time we went hunting for water in a little settlement which had a few tiny shops but no water.Shared the two bottles of 7up that we could buy and rode on.After over an hour of climbing Jacob and I realisd that we were lost.We told the guys this and they were not very amused.The altitude reading on my bike computer confirming this by showing that we were almost level with my house in coonoor and the road ahead of us was still climbing.We finally figured that a short distance ahead was a road which would lead us to the Ooty-Coonoor highway.I suggested we climb a little further and hit the highway instead of riding down to lower coonoor and having to climb up again.

So after finding a shop to refill our bottles we went on to hit Aruvangadu Train Station ,Boys Company and then onto the Wellington War Memorial.Finally a breather riding down towards Blackbridge on the Ooty-Coonoor road,before the mild climb up again to the war memorial.TV,Santha and I decided to ride up to Bandishola on the back road past Hi-Field(don’t know what we were thinking).Jacob and Prasanna wisely decided to take the normal route to Sims Park and then home.Reached Bandishola completely knackered ,I decided to push it really hard to see if I would get there before Jacob did to his house.All the climbing maybe led to a bit of brain fade cause this is impossible in the best of times.When I called Jacob he had been at his house for a while.Waited for TV and Shantha to arrive,said bye to them and rode on home.I got home at half past 12 and the total distance was 62k.An incredible ride,the best ride of the summer for me.

The ride was super scenic and we got to ride through parts of coonoor and its surroundings we have never been to , getting lost and doing many big climbs and finding our way home was a thrill.Im sure the next time we do this ride it wont be so much fun……will probably hatch a plan to get lost again ;)

Some pictures from rides around Coonoor in May.