Got some company, finally !

A diary of most of my bike rides, in approximate sequence.

Sub Title: Got some company
Approx distance: 200km
Companions: 'Senti' Dhamodharan
Target Destination: Conoor, Kothagiri and Catherine Falls
Highlights: Time, Distance, Speed and Sunlight approximation.
Pics taken: yes, but only available on paper
Route: Coimbatore- Mettupalayam- Conoor- Kothagiri- Mettupalayam -Coimbatore

The bigger picture:

A brief chat with 'Senti' Dhamodharan during one of the lab classes exposed each others passion for touring on motorbikes and we vowed to ride as much as possible during weekends.

I worked out a plan while riding on my way to college and gave some final touches to it 5 min before the start of the day's classes. That day, I had just the morning first hour alone, what a way to begin the weekend? I revved my bike out of the parking lot and to load the camera with film. The film made its first appearance only from this trip onwards. Also, some snacks and bottled water. In no time, my bike was eating up road faster than ever and targeting the Nilgiris.

A lunch break at Mettupalayam ensured that I caught up with my fellow biker on his riding skills and his previous experience of riding. We headed towards 'Black Thunder' theme park and started clicking photographs. I was happy that I could show-off to my 'lesser' friends who are unaware of the joys of motorcycle touring. I was making more stops for taking pictures than I expected. The beauty of the route was so magnificient and panaromic that my camera could hardly capture 10% of it.

I had someone with whom I could share mt thoughts on the pictursque locales and the ride. This was a pleasant departure from singing to myself or basking in the silence during the rides. My whim is to videograph myself during the ride and add a background voice to it, like 'Lonely Planet' or BBC Documentaries.

We reached Conoor later than expected, courtesy the innumerable photography stops en route. We crossed the Nilgiri Mountain Railway track and towards Sims Park. We spent quality time chatting about the ride and the ones which we could potentially take in the future. Later, we did repent for wasting time by chatting and not make the best use of the sun and light for better things.

We took the Conoor to Kothagiri connecting road as we felt that heading through the same route would be boring. This road had lot of potholes and irregularities for about 5km. We could hardly manage 30kmph. But after a small town with a football field, the road had a hair-pin bend. The road that opened up for us was very smooth and fine, with hardly any traffic. The descent was also very gradual that we could literally rip the bike and enjoy the smooth curves that it offered. We even took a picture of myself lying on the road and bike standing guard. The road was so clean that one could eat out of it. This piece of road proves that 'As the going gets rough, the rough gets going'. I would rate this road in my all time top #10 beautiful roads.

We entered Kothagiri town with almost no sign of tourist traffic or hotels. This is more of a tea-market town than a tourist destination like Ooty or even Conoor. A gentleman gave directions to 'Catherine Falls' which he said is 'really very good'. We headed in the direction only to find a very narrow road- Wide enough for two bikes to cross each other. The road meandered through a little village and then through some lush green tea plantations. There were no walls on the side to protect the road users, so high-speed biking is a strict no no. The road has a mix of ascents and descents that leads to the falls. The steepness is very high, infact I had to hold my brakes tight to descend in many places. Also, first gear 6000rpm only helped me in some climbs. We finally reached the dead-end of the road, and we could ride no more. There was no sign of water falls and a gardener directed us into a tea-plantation. The route lead us to some water gushing sound, and we headed to the source of the sound.

A concrete shelter designed like a pagoda welcomed us to the highest point on the route and threw at us a scintillating scenery. About 200m away from us a majestic falls cascades down the slopes of Nilgiris onto the plateau below. It falls from so high into the base of the mountain that we could not see where the water ends up. The height of the falls would be approximately 600m, before the water hits the bottom most of it gets evaporated and becomes mist. Unfortunately, the falls in present on the opposite hill from where we were standing and could not get to the water without doing a superman or spiderman job, but the view in the setting sun was pleasant and captivating.

We then headed to Kodanad View point based on directions by another gentleman. But,realised that it is located far away than expected and the setting sun did not motivate me either. I took a U-turn and headed towards Mettupalayam [Nilgiris- Base]. I almost forgot that highways become demonaic when the sun goes down and hence mentally adjusted myself to cover the maximum distance before the light fades. A chilling breeze forced me into my jacket and I headed downhill taking the curves and corners with precision, aided by traffic-free roads. The road does not have walls protecting the outer periphery of the road and hence utmost caution has to be followed while negotiating curves and bankings.

We finally touched the plains by 6:30pm and had nearly 50km to cover. The roads comprised of several irregularities and poor embankments and hence the maximum speed possible on a bike is 60kmph. There was no divider and hence the four-wheeler traffic showed scanty road discipline and had high-beam during most of the route. I had seere problems in tackling the menace of light beams and narrow uneven road. I had to take the left end of the road for most part of the ride back home.

Fortunately, I reached home safely after dropping my friend in his home.