Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Tour of Nilgiris 2009 | Summary

From the rainy starts of the initial days, to the sunny-as-heck ride on the last day, ~70 riders made cycling ~800 km look like piece of cake.... There were artists, photographers, techies, scientists, doctors, entrepreneurs, students, unemployed folks..... all bonded by one common passion: cycling..... And they rode their heart (and lungs) out during the 8 day party.....

For me, Day1 (Bangalore->Mysore) had nothing much on offer in terms of scenery..... I took it as a race..... a race against myself to get my fastest 150km+ ride...... The remaining days, it was more time behind the camera than on the bike for me...... And the time spent on the bike too, was at a relaxed pace, soaking the surroundings in, conversing with curious onlookers..... Pumping down a descent hoping to scale up the next rolling uphill with ease...... but only to stop midway, for a nice photo opportunity (and then cursing myself for it as i battled the uphill later).....

Pics from the ride:

All the pics of riders are in a separate album and shared only privately..... (unless they are arbit subjects aiding in telling the story in a picture)

A few moments that would best refresh my TFN09 experience:
kids jumping around looking at us.......... The speed battles with Bharani (which he always won)..... Dumb charades..... Rum Charades...... The collective roar of a bunch of clicking freewheels*........ The Neil Armstrong** roads...... The sunset ride at Hassan w Manjula et al..... The friendly sound of someone shifting gears when you thought you were alone on that nasty long uphill stretch...... The ooty tea breaks...... the once in a few minutes butt breaks, on the way up ooty...... Following Srikar's wheel when he got into his maniacal dont-wanna-get-swept mode..... The dryfruits of the carb pack...... The 36 hairpins..... The lonely peaceful roads of Wayanad and Bandipur

*Freewheels are those things that go click-ick-ick-ick-ick-ick when you are not pedaling and going downhill......
** Quoted from fellow rider Anand Mulky's statement, "On that stretch, I was like Neil Armstrong going around craters. But after Wayanad, I was like Lance Armstrong ripping the road"

Do look at previous posts to look at the day-wise breakdown

Current mood: missing the good times
Currently listening to: All we ever do is say goodbye - John Mayer

6 comments:

Ahem said...

ahem is Malvika.
yeah .. u are right..hearing clicking gears just behind is frienldy but also a tad challenging!
:)

MJ

Ahem said...

n i also like yoru 'current mood' and 'currently listening to' thing.
!
MJ

Dr Arvind Bhateja,Neurosurgeon & Spine Surgeon said...

Sudhir
Firstly, belated birthday greetings! Didn't realise it was your birthday on the last day of TFN.

Secondly, congrats on a lovely blog and neat write up of TFN 09.

You certainly were the guy who "stood out" in the whole bunch of riders!

Cheers and look forward to the Rum Charades on the next edition of TFN.


Arvind

Unknown said...

Thanks folks....

@mj: its challenging, only if u try to not let him/her catch up.... I usually slowed down, so that we could ride together :) or in most cases, stopped to take a pic of the person huffing and puffing

Adarsh said...

superb!!! fantastic sud!

will indeed never forget the chai opposite the tea gardens on the way up to ooty!

Sangeeta said...

Hi..Wish you a very happy new year...and thanks for still following my blog. Have been kinda verbally challenged of late..and it so shows on my blog...