South India Odyssey (2010)

In the middle of the night

I go walking in my sleep

From the mountains of faith

To the river so deep

I must be looking for something

Something sacred I lost

But the river is wide

And it's too hard to cross

And even though I know the river is wide

I walk down every evening and stand on the shore

I try to cross to the opposite side

So I can finally find what I've been looking for................!! - Billy Joel

Its been almost 4 years since my last memorable cycle ride (soloing the konkan coast).

Ever since that trip, a host of grandoise plans were etched in the itsy bitsy corners of my head;

well exemplified by the memorable lyircs from Billy Joel.

4 years stuck in a cubicle within a glass cage meant, none of those grandoise plans could germinate.

Not sure how many times i have shelved the Manali - Leh ride. However, a few silver lining that helped maintain my sanity were the rides to Pune-Mahabaleshwar - Panchgani , Satara & Raigad.

Hey, but there can be nothing more alluring than the joy of soloing a lonely road traversing the countryside for eternity; as it winds its way up the hills n plains.

Touring South India was always on the agenda... especially the N

ilgiri hills bordering Kerala - Karnataka & TN.

The TFN (aka Tour Of Nilgiri) initiated by a B'lore based cycling group acted as a catalyst. While TFN has been a brilliant initiative ( & I hope it grows in stature to become one of the most coveted rides in the country stretching across the Vindhya's); riding with a grp of 50-100 cyclists was a bit unnerving.

Therein lies the foundations of my South Indian sojourn.

Reached Bangalore yesterday, with cycle in tow in the cool comforts of an AC bus.

The volvo guys charged 500 bucks as luggage for carrying the cycle....

(after dealing with Lavasa & Pawar, Mr. Jairam Ramesh should take up the cause of cyclists :) )

Bangalore hasn't changed much over the years (atleast the C

antonment area) except for a few glitsy glass cages (read buidlings) & new flyovers.

With my young & restless cricketing cousin for company, it wasn't long before we thrashed the neighbours glass window. Currently hunting for a carpenter to repair the damage. In the excitement, also managed to twist my right knee which is now neatly strapped.

That apart, need to get my pdealling gear / spares in place apart from getting a fix on the route.

Hope to cover Ooty, Waynad, Kalpetta, Sultan Battery, Silent Valley National Park, Valpara , Sholayar. As things stand today, plan to start the ride from Monday.

(a possible route)

Tomorrow, a rock climb beckons at Ramnagaram (venerated as the abode of Gabbar & Sholay).

Hope the knee recovers, else will have to resort to some pain killers.

Cant write any further as Simba, Zorro, Casper & Minty are vying for my attention :-)

Simba the German Shepherd,

Zorro the pug

Casper the Persian cat &

Minty the cocker spaniel.

More later.