Pune to Payyanur and back. 3 days on the road!

Preface

Siva and I had just started savouring the peace at Tiger point, Lonavla. The full moon was out in all its glory and the entire valley lay bare before us, milked white by the moon. We had a “lucky” weekend looming upon us. May 1st and May 3rd were holidays. By obtaining leave from work on May 2nd, we could have 3 long days – perfect for the one elusive long trip we had had in mind for a while now. Just as we were discussing various possibilities – (Gujarat, Andhra, Ooty etc), my mobile phone rang. It was my mom, and she wanted me to go home (Payyanur, in North Kerala) on the very days that we were planning our trip! Slightly disheartened by the turn of events, I finished my conversation and hung up. And that’s when it dawned on us, that we could combine both into one mega trip. We could ride all the way home!

Day 0: April 30th

Leg 1: Pune - Bangalore

Departure: 1600 HRS, Pimple Gurav, Pune

Both bikes had been tanked up the previous day, with a view that no time should be wasted as we started off. The aim was to cover as much distance as possible when we were fresh and before sunset. Getting off work a little early, riding back home, and making final preparations, all these seemed to pass in a daze. The journey that lay ahead promised adventure and excitement. As the body prepared for the assault, so did the mind. A tingling sense of venturing into something new and challenging refreshed the mind. Yet, the grounding realisation of the many risks and challenges we would undoubtedly face cautioned us. Amidst this flow of emotions, we went through our final steps of preparation. As per schedule, we were to twist our wrist at 1600 hrs, but this was made stretchable on purpose, keeping in mind that it was a long journey. It was vital that nothing be rushed.

We finally donned our gear, bungeed our bags onto the pillion seats and started our engines. The customary punching of wrists followed, and it was then that it dawned on us. It was FINALLY happening!

And we were off. Dodging through traffic and reaching the highway at Hinjewadi took a good half hour. It was 1700 hrs when we finally hit NH 4, the Pune- Bangalore highway. The aim was to ride non-stop till Kolhapur, where we would halt for dinner. Things were all going as per plan until Khed-Shivapur tollbooth just on the outskirts of Pune.

Traffic was held up and as we filtered through the gaps between trucks, we witnessed the scene causing the holdup. A rowdy mob was vandalising the toll booth. About a hundred villagers armed with weapons such as huge sticks and lathis were shattering glass, breaking computers and destroying anything they could get their hands on. The presence of two vans full of cops did not seem to deter them, as they continued ransacking the toll naka. We stayed well out of their way, not wanting to get in the line of fire. As the pressure of held up traffic behind us built up, bikes were allowed to go through. Taking care to stay away from the crowd, we rode past the toll naka and sped away.

After all the excitement, we were back on the road. I was leading the way and Siva was following about 2 seconds behind. We were motoring along at about 95 – 100 kmph. The sun was going down as we crossed Satara ghat and then the town. It was finally 2030 hrs when we crossed Kolhapur and stopped for dinner at a dhaba nearby. My RVM was giving me problems, as it got loose at speeds greater than 100 kmph. So a quick stop at a puncture shop to tighten it solved the issue and we then had dinner at Kolhapur.

We had light dinner not wanting to complicate the trip with a disagreeable stomach and after a little warm up, stretching etc, we hit the road again at 21:10 hrs. Siva took the lead after dinner. The roads after Kolhapur were a delight, with absolutely no unexpected potholes and sparse traffic. We were routinely doing speeds of 100 – 105 kmph and had no issues getting past the occasional truck. We stopped for fuel and tanked up again between Belgaum and Dharwad. We passed by Tata Motors, Dharwad plant, but had no time to stop to take pics as we dint want to fall too much behind schedule. The road from Dharwad to Hubli is comparatively treacherous as it is a single lane and the oncoming headlights always blind you. Since I had better visibility, I took the lead again and we dropped our speed to carefully negotiate the most dangerous part of NH 4. The next major stop came at Hubli at 0000 Hrs.

Day 1: May1, 2012

0000Hrs, Hubli

Having finished just a little more than half distance we stopped at Hubli for a chai and a stretch. We also sent a couple of messages updating friends about our progress. After hogging on a couple of bananas and oranges, we were off. We then continued towards Bangalore, knowing that this would be a demanding section to get through. The ride was pretty uneventful, and started to get monotonous after a while. There was very little traffic – just a few trucks and the occasional bus. The next stop was near Davangere at about 0300 hrs. We were still 300 kms from Bangalore and the fatigue was slowly starting to show. Another fuel stop was made near Chitradurga to tank up.

Continuing further, truck traffic increased and a lot of diversions started to show up. Road repair was underway and at almost every 3 kms, a diversion was taken. We had decided that we would ride continuously all the way to Bangalore, but at the slightest sign of sleep, we would immediately stop to rest. But then, at around 100 kms before Tumkur, we felt it was imperative to rest. Stretching the limits of human endurance was not our goal and we still had a long way till we got back. So, we found a good spot and stopped by the side of the road - dozed off for a while. It was finally 45 min before we hit the road again, but the difference that the short nap made was tremendous! We were totally rejuvenated and headed towards Bangalore feeling pretty fresh.

As we crossed Tumkur, the Eastern sky was just turning light. Eager to reach our destination and cross Nelamangala before it got jammed with all the incoming buses, we headed with no further halts till we reached Peenya at about 0640 hrs. After a quick call to Kunal Bhagi, a dear friend and our host in Bangalore, we quickly took the outer ring road connection to Hebbal and headed towards Jakkur, where we were greeted by Kunal in his Tata Manza. We followed him till his house, where we finally shut off our engines at 0700 Hrs. Both bikes had performed admirably well, though the mileage definitely took a major hit. Siva’s P220 returned 33 kmpl, while my P150 returned 35 kmpl. This was understandable, considering that I had been at >8k rpm almost through the night.

There were many firsts for both of us. The first time we had ridden almost through the night. The first time we had covered such a huge distance continuously. And it was very satisfying to reach as per plan, with no hassles. What was also (surprisingly) evident was that neither of us was suffering from any kind of back/shoulder ache. In any case, knowing that we were not even halfway through our trip, we were probably telling ourselves mentally that we can’t afford to be tired just yet!

After a quick wash and a very heavy (and delicious!) breakfast, we hit the sack to catch up on sleep. The afternoon was relaxing, and we met up for lunch with more NITK junta. Prashanthi, Lakshmi and Pallavi were nice enough to take time out and come towards Hebbal for a lunch get together, as we were insistent that we didn’t want to venture into city riding, as it would unnecessarily tire us out. We then said our goodbyes, and headed back to Kunal’s house quickly, as we had a flag off time of 1700 hrs for our Bangalore-Mysore leg.

Leg 2:  Bangalore – Mysore

Departure:  1700 hrs, Bangalore

We quickly repacked our stuff and thanked our gracious hosts for their hospitality. The previous night’s ride had dirtied our visors and we promptly cleaned them out before leaving.

We geared up and set off for Mysore at exactly 1700 hrs. To avoid all the traffic, we headed to Tumkur road via ring road and took the beautiful NICE road towards Mysore Road. At the Mysore Road exit we met up with Anudeep G, a fellow Team NITK Racing buddy. A 15 minute break was taken to bring each other up to speed. Anudeep had recently acquired a Honda CBR 250 and both Siva and me parked our bikes and took turns on the CBR 250, to get a feel of the much talked about Honda Engineering!

After that brief stint we were back on our Pulsars, headed to Mysore. Bangalore-Mysore road (SH 17) is a beautiful four lane road, which cuts through the green environs of the Cauvery heartland. Unfortunately, we could not treat ourselves to too much of natural beauty as we were riding at night. Also, the traffic was considerable until Mandya, which is about 40 kms before Mysore. What was also irritating was the presence of an unusually high number of speed breakers on the road, which once caught us unawares. We then decided to follow a car that was doing similar speeds as us and use it as a marker for speed breakers. This technique worked well, as we found a Bangalore-Mysore taxi service car. The driver obviously knew the roads pretty well. We reached the Royal city of Mysore by 2030 hrs and met up with Arjun Manjunatha near my old house in Mysore. He received us in his Hyundai Santro and we headed home. We also surprised Kashyap Jayaram, my younger brother, who had no idea I was on this trip! We tanked up before parking our bikes for the day, as we had to leave really early the next day.

After depositing our bags in Arjun’s house, we didnt waste anytime in visiting the  Chamundi Betta, the famous hill overlooking Mysore. Siva had been subject to continued ranting and raving about this hill (from yours truly) since our college days and he finally got to witness the hill! We found our customary spot overlooking Mysore City, and as we sat there, the serenity, calm and peace that Mysore is so well known for caught up on us.

It was the most peaceful moment of the entire trip. After we spent a while admiring the sprawling city of Mysore from the heights of Chamundi Hill, we quickly headed down, not wanting to run into any cop trouble. A quick biryani sufficed for dinner and we hit the sack by midnight, fully aware that we needed to wake up really early the next day.

Day 2: May 2, 2012

Leg 3: Mysore - Payyanur

Departure: 0430 hrs, Mysore

The alarm jolted us out of our sleep, and the first thing we noticed was the rain outside the window. We were prepared with adequate covers for our bags in case of this eventuality, but it wasn’t what we had hoped for. Thankfully, by the time we were done with our ablutions, it had stopped raining. Arjun’s mom insisted on a strong coffee before we left and it held us in good stead as we felt fresh and ready for the ride. We left at 0430 hrs from Mysore and headed towards the forests of Coorg district of Karnataka. This would be the most ghat-infested part of the trip and after 1100 kms of continuous highway riding, both of us were thirsting for the twisties! :D

The road was good initially, for about 60 kms, with no traffic at all. Once we took a turn off towards Gonikkoppa, the road worsened and average speeds dropped to 25 to 30 kmph. At 0600 hrs, we stopped to stretch a little to ease off a few cramps.

After a 15 minute break we were on the road again, eager to clear the portion of bad road (which would stretch for another 35 km). We passed through the Rajiv Gandhi forest reserve and also saw an elephant camp on the way, which had a few tuskers. Siva was pretty thrilled and stopped to have a better look. The ride was peaceful. Despite the bad road, the whether was perfect; cloudy and misty, yet not raining. The forests lent an eerie, quiet charm to the ride and we rode silently, immersed in the rejuvenating beauty of Mother Nature.

We stopped at Gonikkoppa for breakfast and continued on, in anticipation of better road. Soon we passed Virajpet and reached the starting of the ghat section. This was market by a beautiful, tiny lake where we stopped for a few pics.

After this, the roads were brilliant all the way. About 15 kms of ghat section followed, after which we crossed into the state of Kerala and reached Irrity. Another 80 kms remained from Irrity to Talipramba (which is on the NH 17) and this turned out to be an amazing treat! The road was a single lane, but of impeccable quality with no aberrations at all! Even though we weren’t climbing or descending a hill, we were constantly on semi-ghat type twisty roads. We maintained pretty good speeds, but were totally concentrated as we had enough prior warning about the way Kerala bus drivers operate. It took almost 2 hours to get to Talipramba on the NH 17, by which time we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on what is definitely the longest, twistiest continuous 80 kms I have seen!

Once on the NH 17, we were only 20 kms away from Payyanur, our final destination. We quickly reached home and waited outside the gate, deciding on the best way to surprise my parents, who had no clue that I was going there! So finally at 1030 hrs, we pulled into the driveway, looked upon by my dumbfounded dad, who could not believe his eyes! We realised that surprising your parents by visiting them is an amazing way to realise how much they look forward to their children’s company.

After all the initial haahaa-hoohoo, we went for a quick bath and after a heavy breakfast, we hit the bed and slept soundly. We then woke up at 1500 hrs feeling fully refreshed and ravenous! We were treated to a sumptuous meal after which I headed out to show off my little village and its surrounding environs to Siva. We went to a tiny village nearby called Trikarpur and spent a while relaxing next to one of those customary temple tanks that you see all over Kerala. We then returned and went to Ezhimala, which is a hill close to Payyanur (about 15 km away). We stopped by a huge statue of Lord Hanuman on the way. The hill right next to the coast offered a breathtaking view of both the sea as well as the inland backwaters near Payyanur. We struggled in vain with our point-and-shoot camera to capture the beauty, but then gave up realising that there are some things that can’t be captured electronically. They just have to be experienced.

We then headed down to the beach next to the Ezhimala Naval Base and witnessed a peaceful sunset.

As nightfall descended, we quickly headed back home wanting to sleep early, as the next day would be our most arduous, both in terms of distance and nature of roads. After a quick dinner, we slept off by 2100 hrs.

Day 3: May 3, 2012

Leg 4: Payyanur - Pune

Departure: 0500 hrs, Payyanur

We were supposed to hit the road by 0400 hrs, but due to small delays and subsequent (again, delicious!) breakfast, we delayed the start till 0500 hrs. We bid goodbye to my parents and my grandma, setting off on the treacherous NH 17.

We would have to cover almost 450 km on this highway from Payyanur all the way till Ankola. We set off at a brisk pace, cruising at 80 – 90 kmph, as the roads were completely devoid of traffic and were pretty smooth. We passed Mangalore by 0710 hrs, reaching NITK, Surathkal by 0730 hours. We had a rendezvous with Anand KJ and Saksham Pahwa, our juniors from Team NITK Racing. We had a long chat with them, and after a quick juice at the college Food Court, we were off by 0830 hrs. It felt amazing to be back in college, even though it was only for an hour. As we rode by, the four most wonderful years of our lives flashed in front of our eyes. All our favourite haunts and all memories associated with them came flooding by. It had been almost a year since we had passed out and yet it felt like it had only been a day.

Finally, we set off from there by 0830 hrs with Siva leading me. The road from Surathkal through Udupi to Kundapur is dotted with diversions as four-laning is underway. Here we ran into the famed, mad-n-rash bus drivers of South Canara, one of whom was extremely angry because a couple of (puny) Pulsars had overtaken him! He refused to take it lying down and aggressively started following us, honking loudly. We thankfully managed to pull away from him quickly and set into our riding rhythm once again.

We then stopped at Marvante Beach at 1000 hrs. This is one of the most beautiful roads in India, where the road goes on for a stretch of about 2 kms, right next to the sea. The latter 1 km stretch is extremely picturesque as it is surrounded by the sea on one side and a river on the other! We stopped to relax and took a few pics.

As we were about to set off from there, a fat cop in a blue Tata Sumo stopped by and asked us what we were up to. Unfortunately, we were just preparing to leave and I had my balaclava on! This must have made me look like a total terrorist and the cop wanted to know what we were upto. After telling him about our plan and convincing him that we weren’t terrorists, we carried on. About half an hour later, we noticed a zigzag police check post that was setup. As we passed by, one cop gestured at us and I gestured back, but he didn’t ask us to stop. A few km ahead, we saw one more check post and here the cops stopped us and enquired as to what we were doing. They checked our bags and our ID and later told us that this was a routine exercise that was happening all along the coast. They were also extremely inquisitive about all our riding gear and commented that we look pretty odd wearing all of that! Apparently, they had caught two such bikers transporting bombs in a similar fashion in the area recently and hence we aroused their suspicion. The cop also warned us that we would definitely be stopped at all checkpoints, thanks to our attire!

We then turned off the highway towards Murdeshwar for an early lunch. As we entered the town, the cops-check-us story repeated. One cop saw my picture on my ID card and muttered something into his walkie talkie. A stout cop with a sten gun walked by and took a printout out of his pocket, which had a picture of a group of guys. This cop who had my ID card pointed at one of the guys in the printout and said he looked like me! Siva and me dint know what to say. So we just laughed it off and finally managed to convince him that the guy in the picture was much fatter (and balder) than me! Finally they let us go and we headed to Naveen Beach Restaurant, which is unique hotel, as it is built with its foundation in the sea! It was very breezy and it was awesome to eat Puri Sabji overlooking the sea!

We set off from Murdeshwar by 1215 hrs, and headed towards Ankola. We stopped at Kumta for fuel, where both of us tanked up. There were a couple of more checkpoints on the way, but since it was afternoon time, I guess the cops were taking a siesta! We were never stopped after that, thankfully. Finally at a village 20 kms before Ankola, we turned right off NH 17 and in towards the forests of Yellapur in Karnataka. We stopped by the side of the road and congratulated each other on successfully having negotiated one of the most “killer” roads in India.

We took a small shortcut through a few villages to reach the Ankola – Hubli highway (NH 62). As we turned right onto NH 62, we realised that we had landed in something special. The NH 62 is an AMAZING road! Stretching for 140 kms through the semi-forest regions of central Karnataka, the road is extremely wide and freshly laid asphalt greeted us! The traffic was pretty negligible and the tone was set by a Hyundai Tucson, which whizzed past us, as we turned into the road. Relishing the prospect, we twisted our throttle and started off on one of the most beautiful legs of the trip. 70 kms till Yellapur took about 50 min, as we enjoyed riding at pretty good speeds through the semi forest. We stopped at Yellapur at 1530 for a second lunch.

We had been on the road for almost 11 hours and as I checked in with my mom, she advised us to take a little rest, as we were well ahead of schedule. However, we decided to reach Dharwad on the NH4, so that we could finish off all the single lane roads before sunset. We continued on towards Hubli and took a shortcut to Dharwad, so that we could skip the single lane portion of NH 4 between Hubli and Dharwad. Finally, we reached NH4 at 1715 and turned left towards Pune. We rode on a little more looking for a decent resting spot and found a small grass patch well off the highway a little ahead of Dharwad. We stopped and relaxed, trying to catch a quick shut-eye. After trying for 15 min, we admitted defeat, as neither of us was feeling sleepy or tired. We thought it prudent to ride on, cover as much distance as possible before nightfall and stop when we felt tired or sleepy. So we jumped back onto our saddles and hit the homestretch: NH 4 back to Pune!

The Dharwad – Belgaum stretch witnessed some very strong winds. The crosswind was very strong, which was all the more evident when we overtook trucks or buses. The winds were so strong that our bikes were struggling to keep up the speeds and my P150 was struggling to keep up 90 kmph as we were riding directly into the wind. We witnessed a beautiful sunset over the plains of Karnataka and continued on towards Kolhapur, which would be our dinner stop.

We reached Kolhapur by 2000 hrs and stopped at McDonalds on the highway. By this time the saddle sores were catching up and the mental fatigue of having done close to 1900 kms in 3 days had set in. Also, the fact that we were almost home accentuated the literal “pain in the butt”. We had a quick diner and hoped to get home at the earliest, so that we could catch a good nights sleep and be ready for work the next day at 8 AM!

So we set off at 2030 hrs from Kolhapur and resolved to ride back continuously till Pune with no further rest breaks. A fuel break was necessary, which we took pretty soon and filled up enough liquid to take us home. As we hit the road again, I took the lead as Siva’s visor wasn’t exactly giving him brilliant visibility. We rode along towards Pune at a pretty good speed, cruising at 95 – 105 mph. We found a Mercedes car which was also doing similar speeds and shadowed him for a while. Unfortunately we had to let him go at a tollbooth and we continued on ahead.

The last stretch of the ride was just about finishing off on a high, reaching home with no incident which would mar what had thus far been an amazing trip. We passed Satara, but yet did not stop. As we neared Pune, it all started to flash in front of my eyes. The long hours of planning, all the preparation that went into readying the bike, getting maps and routes in place, reading up on techniques of long-distance touring, all the time spent reading up on forums, searching for tips and clues to have a successful ride… it all seemed to have paid off. The ride ended just as it had began – in a daze.

As we drew into the parking lot at home, we realised that we had finally done what we had wanted to do since ages. It was 2340 hrs as we entered home. Siva and I hugged each other at having successfully having completed the trip and with no further ado, we hit the sack knowing that we needed all the sleep we could get!

The machines:
Both bikes performed admirably well throughout the trip and gave the riders absolutely no hassles.

Kaushik Jayaram, P150:

The P150 required its RVM to be tightened once in Kolhapur and that was the only issue faced. Engine oil levels were checked in Mysore as well as in Kerala and found to be fine. But when the oil level was checked after the trip in Pune, it was observed to be very low, indicating that the oil had been consumed during the last days running. A post-ride service revealed no other issues apart from excess oil consumption. Mileage was 35 kmpl on highways and 40 kmpl on twisty ghat roads.

Siva Chaithanya, P220:

The P220 was an absolute breeze through the journey. It returned a decent average of 36kmpl (32 on highways and 40 on the twisties), but gosh it swallowed 4 tanks of fuel on one trip. No mechanical issues at all. There were those mini racetracks on NH 4 where it was pushed to 138kph for short periods – to wake the rider up! All in all, it was flawless except for a small drop in oil level. It needed a 40ml top up post the ride.

Trip Stats

Total Distance Covered	2253 kms
Total Riding Time	34.08 hrs
Average Speed	66 kmph
Average Mileage Returned	36 kmpl
Total Cost of Trip (fuel + food)	Rs. 5500

Overall Map

Safety

Adequate safety gear was worn at all times, which included a full face helmet, riding jacket with CE approved shoulder - forearm armour, ventilated hard-knuckle gloves, knee guards and strong shoes. All traffic rules were strictly adhered to and riding was fast, never rash. Group riding techniques were followed with both riders leading by turn. Communication between riders by using hand signs and signals was pretty effective.

Scope for improvement

The one takeaway was that riders need to remain punctual and start the ride on time to ensure that the ride stays on schedule. Thought this did not impact the ride, it can definitely be improved on. The importance of a clear visor was learnt. Anything less than a fully clear visor makes it really difficult at night with the oncoming traffic’s lights scattering on the visor. Carrying a tinted and a clear visor and switching between them would be a good option.

Thanks!

We would like to thank the following folks for their help and magnanimity, which was essential for the success of this trip. First of all, big thanks to Kunal Bhagi and his entire beautiful family, for housing us at his place and being ever so hospitable. Thanks also to Arjun Manjunatha, one of my earliest biking buddies and one of the few souls who saw reason in what we were doing! I will always remain grateful to my Dad, Mom and my Grandma for not confiscating my driving license when I landed up at home on my bike and for being ok with me and my biking! Big thanks to Karthik Jayaram, Priya and Kashyap Jayaram for convincing my parents to let me keep my license! J Thanks also to Karthik Jayaram for giving me his bike and maintaining it so beautifully, that even after 65,000 kms it could handle a trip of this magnitude with no hassles at all! Many thanks to Chaitanya Vijay and Atasi Giri for all their support and continuous encouragement. Finally, thanks to Siva Chaithanya for being the crazy guy that he is and for going ahead with all the crazy plans that we come up with.

May there be many more!