“Saar, no standing. Traffic police problem!”, warned the mini truck driver.
Poof went our plans of standing in an open truck and experiencing the wind in Titanic style!
Disappointed with not being able to stand, 10 of us managed to squeeze and squat into one of the two worn out mini trucks we had hired. In spite of the lack of space, everyone seemed amused!
‘Si.. Sisi.. Si Do la da,
Yaku sine ladu banaha….’
The kids of Vidyodaya sang the African greeting song and danced. We watched in merriment!
Riding through the forest:
Earlier in the day, Santosh had instructed all riders to ride in groups of 5. It was tusker territory.
We rode in groups. In our group were Sameer, Chiddu, Shilpa, Mayank, YVR Vijay, Manju,Priya and Pramod. The route was fabulous!
Heavenly, if I may add!
Go Green! Go cycle!
Wish you all a fantastic 2011!
May all your dreams come true! May the travel gods smile upon you! May your bikes take you places! May your cameras click wonderful images! May you live the life you always wanted to! May there be more leaves when you want to travel! š
May your life be wonderful!!!
2010 through the rear-view mirror:
2010 to me was fantastic in terms of travel and photography!! Initially, I thought I would do a full fledged year review, but thought year reviews are too personal and hence wanted to save you the trouble of reading through yet another boring review.
So, I thought I will just list a few memorable moments of 2010.
‘Anna, neevu racing maadtha idhiraa?’ (Brother, are you racing?)
Niranjan and Srinivas, the 2 kids, asked me as they pedalled with me for 2-3 Kms at Vaddagere, 110Kms from Kollegal.
‘Illa, sumne cycling maadthaa idheevi’ (no, we are simply cycling), I told the kids who clearly weren’t pleased with my answer!
‘Neevu, nijavaglu Bengaloorindha bandidheera?’ (are you really coming from Bengaluru?)
‘Nim cycle ge stand ilva?’ (doesn’t your cycle have a stand?)
The alarm rang at 4.45am.
I had already been awake for an hour or so before that, tossing and turning in bed … anxiously awaiting the moment!
Tip: Better catch your winks a day in advance before any major event!
It was D-Day! Dec 16! Also the longest day of the tour with 180kms to negotiate!
Got up, got ready, checked the bike, had a quick breakfast, bid goodbye to family and hit the road. It was 6am when I reached the Koramangala indoor stadium.
The place was already buzzing with activity… riders, volunteers, administrative team and their families and anticipation, anxiety and a myriad of other emotions on their faces… and the adrenaline flow!
Excited riders striking a pose!
TFN is done! Am back home!
What a tour it was! Had maximum fun throughout! While a detailed trip report is being written, here are a few notable points.
I hope to complete the trip report by this week. Do stay tuned!
Big day!
While you are reading this, I would probably have started on my TFN (Tour of Nilgiris) ride along with 100 other crazy riders. (This is a scheduled post).
If you are new to this blog, TFN is a 1000Km bicycling ride across 3 states over 8 days with 100 riders. From Dec 16 to 23, its gonna be the ride of my life. Take a peek at their site here.
A list of things to be taken was made.
And packed into a bag. (Apparently, mine was the smallest bag in the tour!!!)
TFN (the 1000Km cycling tourĀ over 8 days with 100 riders covering 3 states) is just a week away, starting next Thursday!
Its been 4 weeks since I confirmed my participation in TFN (and cancelled the SriLanka trip š ).
Ever since I signed up,Ā I had been busy on almost every weekend leaving me with very few days to practise on. This post is a quick update onĀ my practise and where I stand today.
CAUTION: If you areĀ a road biker or a super biker (or one wanting to be) who likes to zip past at dizzying speeds covering several hundred Km’s in a day and wanting to know about stuff like HRM, cadence, paceline, specialized bikes, etc… STOP! Read no further, for you will be wasting your time on this post! However, if you are the type who loves to be on the saddle, riding through scenic locations at your sweet own pace, not minding your position in the pack… then do continue reading!
The much awaited TFN is less than a month away.
For those of you who are new to my blog (or TFN), Tour of Nilgiris is a ~1000Km, 8 day cycling ride across 3 states (Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu) involving 100 riders. More information is available here.
Several discussions are happening on what to wear and carry and what not to. Here is my list of gear / clothing for the much awaited ride…for 8 days.
Whew! A lot has happened in the last week!!!
I have ditched Sri Lanka for Tour oF Nilgiris (TFN), India’s premier cycling event covering 1000Km covering Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu over 8 days. Its gonna be lots of fun!
TFN should have happened last year itself, but then I turned it down foolishly. This year too, almost turned it down due to lack of leaves and clash with Sri Lanka trip. Then, out of the blue, suddenly realized TFN is more important and had to happen this year… at any cost. Cycling and Nilgiris are two things I deeply love and both packaged together is a dream come true!
So, contacted Sameer and enquired if my slot was still open. In a day, I got a positive response… and here I am getting ready for TFN.
Will try to do another post with more details, my training strategy for the ride, etc. For now, my recent Facebook / Twitter statuses say it all. Am copying them here in case if you missed it.
