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