Lone Rider - Rider Mania 2014 (Nov 20 - 25th)

Hi, this is my first blog, I m not a great writer but tried something here so, please excuse me if my English is bad :)

There have been so many solo rides clocking 300km to 400km (one way) Max but this one to Goa was around 900+km (to) from home. There were lots of things to be taken care of.

Tirupur -> Bangalore ->Goa -> Calicut ->Tirupur = 2180km

Firstly - Preparing my honey(TB) to be at her best for the big ride which is going to be 2000km (to and fro) for which I took her for a service two weeks prior to the ride, so that I will have time to recognize the service issue and fix them. She was given a general service and I myself changed engine oil, after which did a test drive to my office(100km to & fro) during which I observed loosened chain and a strange gear paddle sound for which I took her to the service center and fixed them on the weekend before the ride. Also I fixed one of the led lamp light indicator that stopped working sometime before then I changed the rear number plate with the "Lone Rider" theme and believed she was perfect and good to go.

Molly's Nest, Mandrem, Goa

Secondly - Accommodation, earlier during my trip to Coorg, I’ve faced a problem in finding a place to stay on arrival which taught me a lesson that if place is famous for tourism then it is wise to book the stay in advance. Well this time to Goa its going to be a lone and long trip, so to be on the safer side I booked room online in advance by beach side, to stay by the beach is a long time wish and thanks to Goibibo which helped me providing this beach hut in molly's nest, Mandrem at 45% discount :-p . Mandrem is around 15km far from the place where Rider Mania - Vagator was happening, but I thought it wouldn't be a problem because I've got my TB with me, also in a ride of 2000km on the whole. 15km from resort to RM won’t be a big deal.

Thirdly - Tools and accessories, I always carry tool kit that came along with my TB but I knew that alone was not enough for this grand trip. One thing that always scares a rider is the flat tyre and I am always prepared for such a nightmare with foot pump, puncture plasters, puncture glue, tyre removing levers, file, etc., all sorts of required spanners, insulation tape, plier, couple of extra bungee cord, couple of spare tube, spare accelerator cable, spare clutch cable, chain lubes etc., The list sounds little huge to be carried but I just wanted to be prepared for any surprises and yes it was accommodated in my saddle and not in my backpack ;-). Riding in rain is fun and I have a lot of experience in it during my western ghats ride and I was very much aware of what it will do to the shoes, so bought a gum boot so that unexpected showers at any cost wouldn’t eat time which is a much expected scenario when ride were hundreds of km together. Then gloves, boot, sandals, new steel bird helmet with visor etc., accompanied the list too.

19/11/2014: Wednesday

A good start to my plan, Woke up as usual by 7am.. As I planned to start the next day (20/11/2014 Thursday) by 2am, I believe going to office by bike or train will make me physically tired, so drove to office by car but as it was a tiring day at work even car wasn’t  great. As soon as I reached back home around 9pm I was a bit tired. I had a huge list of items which should be well arranged and to be packed and verified. It took a couple of hours to do the packing and finally everything was ready and set to go, my head was damn tired so thought of taking a nap for an hour before starting, but the temptation about the ride didn't let me to.

20/11/2014: Thursday

It was 12am and I couldn't wait to kick start my TB, so I rushed to take a hot shower and it kicked off the tired and there I was brisk n ready. I did a quick check on her oil level, fog led lights, lubricated the chain. fitting the new tool bag was a little headache which took a while and it seemed the tool bag that I bought doesn't directly fit with the new TB, like it fits on other R.E's but some how managed to tie it in front of the shock absorbers with the help of a bungee cord.

 

During my earlier trips only my mom used to be there to send me off, but this time it was mom, dad and my brother who were awake till late night to give me a safe send off. Everyone wished me good luck and there I left home, went straight to Prakash to collect a jacket and he was waiting for me and he wished me a safe ride.  it was 2am Waved a bye to him and started the ride as scheduled. Setting the “Trip A” meter to zero I was on my way.  It would have been around 20-25mins, my head started feeling a little heavy and tired. Then there was the nightmare, rear disc brake was not working properly and I didn’t take it seriously at that time as I thought it will be fine after a while as it usually happens taking back from service. I wasn’t feeling sleepy anymore, the brake didn’t get better but I still managed to reach Vijayamangalam toll gate and stopped for a cup of tea, checked the rear disc and it was damn hot. I tried to find the reason but nothing came out, meanwhile a few people from the bakery got interested and came to me asking about the problem and help me. they said there is puncture shop 2km ahead, the guy there may be able to fix it and 5 people in bullet just passed by before 15mins. after few minutes from there finally I found the puncture shop by God’s grace and asked the guy for help but he said I need to find a mechanic to fix the problem and he have no idea about what might be the problem. I trust my TB a lot, there is something between she and me that others cant understand, I always feel that I will be safe when i am with her. So planned to ride forward and if possible to catch the 5 riders ahead of me if things favors I could use their help, after half an hour on the road I saw two classic at a bakery shop, by the look of baggages on it I realized they should also be heading to RM. I entered the bakery, ordered a tea and shared the table with them, they were from Kerala riding from Trivandrum, seems they started their journey on the previous day 7pm, they were on a very long ride compared to me. I explained them about my brake issue but sadly they had no idea about TB rear disc. I had no choice but to take frequent breaks to cool down the disc. said good bye to them and started, maintained the speed around 60kmph. It was around 4am, after 5mins that the two riders I met at the bakery crossed me they were real fast should have been keeping up the speed around 90kmph.

After a while dawn sets in and I realized why it was so cold, everywhere it was covered with mist so pleasant so pleasing. I’m always fond of riding during the early morning hours.

foggy morning

Managed around 200km without rear brake and reached Hosur, found a mechanic shop, workshop board showed that it is specialized for Royal Enfield, it was around 8.45am when I enquired a near by seat cover shop the guy said that the mechanic Imran is his friend and he will come in sometime, I waited for the mechanic having a chat with the guy, after half an hour Imran showed up. I told him I’m on the way to Goa to RM and explained the problem he made the bike to run with main stand on and checked the disc. he asked me if chain adjustment was made lately and I said yes, the chain was loose and I took it to the service center. He said the wheel is misaligned and the adjustment is not properly done, he fixed it in 5mins and took it for test drive and she was back to perfection, felt relieved. Imran had sound knowledge on the bullets. I had so many question on the maintenance that were bugging me for very long, he clarified all of them and he gave his card and told me give him a call in case of doubts in future :) said good bye to him and the seat cover shop owner and continued to Bangalore.

After crossing electronic city I called my best buddy Gyane and informed him about my arrival and reached there after half an hour by 11am. Had hot yummy noodles, hot tea etc., thanks to his wife. didn’t had time to rest so, after a hot shower. started from his home, Hung out with him at Gopalan mall and as usual we kept on talking talking about all the stuffs and then I realized i  deviated a lot from schedule. took some selfies together, said good bye to him and I was back on the track by 3pm.

Selfie with Gyane

Took the Nice road to Tumkur (Nice - name of the road) after an hour stopped by a petrol pump to check the air pressure (didn’t fill petrol) after checking the tyre pressure I was checking the map, the guy kept staring at me up and down.

Nice road, Bangalore

I asked what? he demanded me for tips, I just smiled cut him the tips. he said there was so many bullets on the road and where everyone is  going to. I explained him about RM and started the ride. After 45mins, again the heavy head and tiredness started back, stopped by a tea stall for a short break. in few mins 2 bullets stopped by they were 4 and bulls belong to TN registration. had a chat with them, one of them is Hosur R.E showroom's manager. I asked about their plan they said they will be halting somewhere by the night and I told them i’m planning to reach Goa by midnight without any halt in the night as I had already booked a room, they said it is tough and it is a long way yet they wished me safe journey and took my number to get in touch at the event.

Nice road, Bangalore

I maintained the speed of 90-100kmph consistently. She gulped the petrol like anything and I hit the reserve at Chitradurga, it showed 535 km in trip meter B, When I started tank was full with 15.5L above reserve. She delivered mere 35 kmpl and I should not blame her coz it was not a clean drive - brake issue, city drive, 90-100kmph etc. I filled for another Rs.750 at Chitradurga petrol pump thinking that should be enough to make it to Goa border, so that I can full the tank once again. Petrol price is just Rs.55 in Goa, in Karnataka it is Rs.70. Took a short break at the petrol pump and I was back on the road.

Nice road, Bangalore

Consistently maintained 90 kmph crossed Davangere in a while and distance to Hubli seemed to be a very long way more than 100 km. It was around 10pm and I was very tired, some how I managed to drive around 50km and saw the sign board it kept saying around 60-70km. I lost hope and I couldn't drive an inch more, I haven’t slept for nearly 35+hrs. I Just turned on the hazard light, parked the bike by the side of the road and took a nap.

21/11/2014: Friday

I was there hopeless for 1hr, then suddenly I heard a vrooming sound, I know it is R.E by the sound. That’s my ticket to Hubli, started my rival. The other guy was keeping up at 90-110 kmph and I did the same and rear red light design looked mysterious to me tried to find what R.E model is that, rear light and appearance looked very different. After 40-45mins of rivalry I reached Hubli. Came to know that It is Continental GT that I was tailing all the time. It was around 2am (~40hrs of no sleep) next checkpoint is Belgaum 100 km from Hubli and my destination - Goa is still 4hrs away. That’s a long way :-( . It was a painful ride I was dozing and mostly I was in auto pilot mode. Sometimes I stopped and took a nap I managed to reach Belgaum after couple of hrs ride .Yet 100 more km to go. finding petrol pump on the road was pretty hard. I am on wee hours so to be on safe side I filled petrol for another Rs.500. Temperature was freezing. I had to wear 3-4 tshirts, yet I was able to feel the chillness. My route was to skip the Ghat road and take the long way around to reach Mandrem. My bad luck, my tab ran out of battery and charger from the bike didn't work with either. So I had no choice but to take directions from the local people. After their directions I thought I am heading on the long road that I planned but it was on the ghat road and I felt surprised how the ghat road is on the way, realized It is wrong route :(  I was 20km away from Belgaum already I had no choice but to continue :( Another nightmare started I started hallucinating after 45hrs of no sleep with lot of stress to head. It was pitch dark forest, there was no one ahead or behind and I could see lot of freaky images, all the plants and trees appeared to be in some ghostly form to my eyes hallucination freaked me out I didn’t want to take a break in middle of no where. At last came across a village, felt bit relieved parked the bike over there and took a nap. It was around 5am almost dawn I started gaining brisk on seeing the light and road was decent via Chorla not like I imagined. Entered Goa by 6am via Sanquelim. Enquired the locals for the direction to Mandrem, 25km yet to go. Made a call to the Molly's nest and informed about my delay in checkin. With an hour ride and search finally reached the room. did all the check in procedure with id card etc., I just walked in with hands in the pocket :-D room boy carried all my heavy baggages to the room. Did a quick dress change and took a quick cool down in the Arabian sea and enjoyed the cool view of the beach from the sun bed. relaxed for an hour there, took a hot shower at the room, and dozed off. When I woke up on a phone call it was 2pm, I am late dressed up and vroomed to the venue

Venue Entrance

Parking only for Royal Enfield

it is my first time to RM at least 1000+ R.E should have been there at the moment parking was separate for R.E and non R.E’s proudly parked her in the R.E parking lot and walked inside the venue. Some event was going on at the hilltop and they had service area for the bullets near to the parking lot. I just showed my registration print out and got the wristband (its like a ticket) and 3 sticker. I was told to collect the t-shirt from the counter inside.

After collecting the t-shirt entered inside. It is my first time to a biker carnival there was lot of stall for food, accessories, stage for concert, lot of custom bikes in one end I just loved the ambience. I was hungry then went straight to the food court, there was a russian lady selling chicken, veg, mutton rolls. just asked for the price it was around Rs.150-300. She couldn't understand my english nor I. I asked for chicken but she gave me a veg roll finally. I had left with no choice, taste was not that great but it filled my tummy. There were lots of accessories stalls, zeus, official R.E outlet, took a round to all of them, what caught my eyes is the custom bikes on the display. Had a huge photo session on chopper, cruiser, and naked R.E’s custom bikes. Some looked great and some looked pathetic to me.

Slow race

Slow race

Made a call to Prakash, Hosur R.E manager (met him on the way remember?) it took a long time to find him meanwhile concert started, the music was so loud that I couldn't hear him over the phone, sms helped there. Again did another handshake to all their group members and asked them about their return journey plans. It seemed like they were also taking WCR upto Mangalore and reach Hosur via madikeri. Enjoyed the concert for an hour and they planned to leave so I joined with them and visited their room which was just 5min ride from the venue they asked me to join on next day for local ride to near by beaches and bazar. I had my own plans. There I met Shaik, after a long ride from Bangalore he was so damn tired, he is friend of Prakash and he has looking for room and I didn’t have any  problem in sharing my room so took him to my room. We missed short road and took a long way, I thought he is cool but kept on complaining about the distance between the venue and room is too far. I just wondered coz he has TB why he is very much worried about the distance. He complained too much I tried to help him but felt bad why I did it. hmmm may be he is too tired like I was on the previous night and 28km from the venue he might have felt like 280km ;-).. we finished our dinner at the resort and one thing I hated about the resort was even for water I had to pay, bought a water bottle for night and went straight to bed.

22/11/2014: Saturday

I woke up around 7.30am, went out and saw the beach it was very beautiful by then Shaik also woke up. I refreshed and prepared for the beach. Shaik said he wanted to leave as he had different plans with his friends and return journey. We spent our last minutes at the beach and said good bye to him. When I turn towards, the beautiful beach and glowing sands was waiting for me. Taking a long lone walk on the beach is something beautiful, it is one of my long time wish to do. so started long walk towards Arambole, It was a fine morning like all other typical Goa beach, I could see lots of foreigners enjoying their morning  doing yoga, running, jogging, playing volley ball, flying disc etc., after an hour returned back to the resort and had a nice bath at the sea, it was very refreshing after the long walk. Unfortunately all the sunbeds under the roof were full, I had to take the one in the open It was scorching, couldn’t relax in the open sunlight after a while I packed my stuffs and went straight to room. took a nice hot shower, thought of doing a short local ride, dressed up and locked the room. she is always ready to rock the roads, waiting for me, wished her good morning and we took off to Arambole we were head turner there like all the time but now some foreigners added to the list.

Chicken Steak

rode up to Arambole beach but couldn't find any decent restaurants :( spent sometime at the bazaar, coz of long walk and bath at sea I was starving so planned to finish my meal at my at resort. drove back but came across a fine garden restaurant on the way. we stopped by, asked the guy at hotel about the famous Goa's pork dishes but he had no knowledge about it, their menu list was same like any other restaurants. Steaks was there it is something new I wanted to try, ordered chicken steak and tried some fried momos too. that was a heavy meal.

Fried Momo

we started back to resort, felt boring as there was no TV, tried uploading the photos I’ve clicked but the resort's Wifi was damn slow. I couldn’t remember when I slept, when I woke up it was around 4pm, I slept too long. refreshed and started to RM after 20mins ride I missed the road to the venue some how, by then 4 Thunderbirds showed up and I know that they are heading to RM from their look and tone of their ride. I was welcomed to join them, 5 Thunderbirds together with thundering exhaust note, felt proud to ride along. reached the venue in a while. Came to know that they ride from Nashik and they are Rudra Riders. They liked the streamers on the my TB's handlebar very much. Many of my friends(non-riders) complained that streamers spoils the look of my bull but the riders I met so far they never failed to make a comment about the good look of it. They were just 4 at the venue but they are 25 actually, Vishal, Amber, Hement, Sakeet, they gave a wonderful company.

with Rudra Riders

Vishal seemed to be the initiator of the whole group and he is a doctor, couldn’t believe he is a doctor and he still has time for the ride :) . Hemanth cool guy, his passion towards R.E was amazing, check his height in the photo with me you will know why. Sakeet is another jovial guy enjoyed his company, Amber bought a jacket at R.E outlet I couldn’t control my temptation of buying the leather jacket of my own which i was planning for long and bought one for myself, I don’t know how Amber did it, he convinced the sales guy for free R.E authentic Tshirt and cap :) . had lot of chat with vishal about the group, Leh-Manali ride etc., he asked me whether I met sha?.(Sha is famous R.E spares dealer from vellore he is famous all over the facebook in the name of Sha automobiles).

With Sha

I was surprised Sha did come to RM, he called Sha over the phone, he was at the venue and showed up in 5mins. My dad already done business with him and when I said my name he recognized me. he was also alone, came by flight. Sha, amber, Hemant, Me, Sakeet, Vishal we all together had a great time enjoying the shopping, concert etc., finally we planned to leave. Me and Sha we absolutely had no big plans back at room.

with Hemant

Rudra riders, they stayed at Panjim it is bit far from Vagator. Sha said lets go for a ride up to Panjim with them. Me and my TB, we always ready for ride that was my first ride with a group. after half an hour of thundering ride we reached Panjim. just then noticed that Vishal had a modified seat with backrest did a check on it and I was impressed by the comfort. said good bye to them and we started back to the resort. had a light dinner on the way and reached the room around 11.30pm... had long chat with Sha about bike, business etc., slept around 1 or 2am...

23/11/2014: Sunday

I was damn tired, Sha woke me up it was 9.50am. I m supposed to check out the room by 10am and start my return journey in the morning. Unlike hotels at south 10am is the standard checkout time in Goa beyond that it is counted as next day. packed all my stuffs in hurry bury and headed to Sha's lodge to get refreshed, did all checked out procedure and started to Vagator. on the way we finished our breakfast and reached his place. it was very near to RM venue, he was staying in a furnished apartment with AC. I was very tired and went straight to the couch and dozed off. When I woke up it was 3 pm and no one was there and the door was locked from outside. Made a call to Sha, he said he will come in sometime. refreshed and started packing my stuffs again. Sha showed up and told him I need to start ASAP, there is very long ride waiting for me ahead. we got ready and saddled her up, did a check on engine oil level, brake. light, chain lube etc., fog lamp stopped working. there should be some loose connection, those fog lamps worked great gave a clear vision during the night ride but they are not of a good quality. In my onward journey, when I put my legs on the crash bar while trying to sleep accidentally I stamped the right side fog lamp and the clamp got broke. I need to stick with the stock lights :( but the stock head lamp itself good to take down the dark. We headed to the venue to say goodbye to Sha's roommates and RM 2014. Reached the venue after short drive we both were hungry Sha bought himself Russian chicken roll. I wanted to try Goa's special pork since I reached Goa. Barbecue Pork ribs were available at the food court bought a plate for myself. it was bit sweet and yummy. We finished our short lunch and took one last round of RM. We missed the dirt race that happened in the morning. Arm wrestling was one of the event and it was going on. First time I saw the arm wresting tournament in live, it was great to watch, eventually found Sha's room mate.

With Mr.Mani

Met Mr.Mani, Kingmaker behind R.E Wildboar exhaust and at the parking lot we came across nice bullet with all the accessories, extra tool boxes fitted to the front shock absorber, extra lamps over the handle bar, lots minor cosmetic mods, bull looked great. Clicked some snaps with the guy and we started the journey.

I’m supposed to drop Sha at Mapusa at 7pm and start my return journey, we missed the road to mapusa and we’ve been roaming in wrong road searching Mapusa for nearly an hour and found the right road but managed to catch his bus on time said goodbye and wished him a safe journey. I have long journey waiting for me ahead, tied my baggage on the pillion seat and cruised up. After half an hour saw a Kerala registered bullet at traffic signal and had a chat with them, they were to Margoa railway station. they wished me safe journey said good bye to them and headed to Karwar, Goa-Karnataka border it is nearly 100 km from Panjim. after an hour ride saw 2 classic with Karnataka registration heading towards Karwar. Rode with them for a while and at a point they stopped for a break had a chat and came to know that they are riding up to Karwar. I didn’t have time to spend with them said good bye and cruised up, reached Palolem check post in no time, Goa border crossing is always strict, they check baggage all the time but came to know that it is only for cars and buses. they didn’t stop me, after an hour ride we reached Karwar the road was decent but with lots of up and down hill as it sticks to Ghats section, I had dilemma among the 3 roads

1. Hubli - Bangalore - Tirupur

it is fastest and easiest one I didn’t want to take the this one because my onward journey was on the same road

2. Mangalore - Madikeri - Tirupur

I have already done Madikeri-Mysore road in my last ride I didn’t feel like going for it too

3. Calicut - Palakkad - Tiruppur

It is tough one becoz of improper road and traffic, For very long time I have plan to ride from WCR - ECR and if I do this Goa-Calicut now partial WCR will be done in this ride so decided to take the WCR

the night plan is to stay at Murudeshwara it is nearly 110 km from Karwar. The road from Karwar was narrow all the way with bit of traffic mostly lorries after a hour of ride we stopped by a motel saw tempo traveler there with TN registration, said hi to them, they were heading to Hosur via Madikeri, they were nice. after knowing that my journey is up to Tirupur they were surprised to see someone doing such a long road trip in bike all alone. Had a tea and meanwhile she too had a good rest said good bye to the Hosur tourists and we were back on  road to Murudeshwara

24/11/2014: Monday

By 1am sharp I reached Murudeshwara, I had to travel 1km from WCR to the temple. I was looking for a room lots of lodges were there picked a decent one and entered the parking area. I could see the reception from outside but couldn’t find anyone hoping to find the sleeping hotel attender was about to enter the lodge, A guy called me from behind, realized that he should have following me till that hotel. When I took a close look at him he didn’t look suspicious. he asked me whether I m looking for a room to stay. I said yes, he owns a lodge in that road it was the next building. The resort at Goa didn't had TV..  wanted to relax and watch TV so asked him for TV, tariff etc., he said he got LCD TV and room tariff is just Rs,500. It was surprising, didn't decide to stay at first but planned to take look. Room looked great, can't complain for the price. but parking space didn’t have any security nor compound wall.  I’m always prepared for these kind of situation I carry bike cover in all my trip, it really helps. this way she stays hidden and doesn't disturb everyone's eye. took the saddles off, covered her safely also insisted the owner to keep an eye on the her. went straight to bed and turned on the TV.  just kept tuning the channel. I do not know when I slept.

Leema Residency

Woke up by 7.30am took a hot shower and rode to the temple, not even a km.  parked her safely and took a walk inside. Gopuram was 18 storey high, they had a lift service to reach the top to view point. ticket cost R.s10 took a snap of the view nothing more up there. walked inside the temple after worshiping took a walk around the huge Murudeshwara. There was a  beach restaurant from the look of it appeared to be popular restaurant over there. it is built right on the sea, I have a long 600km journey ahead didn’t want to spend too much time there. done with my breakfast and started to room packed all the stuffs and checked out. after doing all the checks &  saddled her up, met a local person over there as usual he asked abt the ride, where I am from, where I am heading to etc., answered him and started. WCR is a pathetic one, lots of patches, potholes, traffic,  its a hectic road.  after 1.5hours of ride came across a beautiful stretch

I expected the whole WCR gonna be so hence forth but it was just few km. it was noon and the sun was blazing fire, had tender coconut and click some snaps and started the ride. I was planning to reach Muzhappilangad before nightfall tried to keep up with the speed but road condition and traffic didn't favor me, reached Mangalore around 2.15pm we have been riding for hours in scorching sun took a short break and finished the lunch. all the hotel waiters become curious to know that I m on lone ride. his name was Siddik, he left all his work and sat beside me asking lots and lots of questions about my ride like wen I started, when I reached Goa, what is Rider Mania, how long I've been riding on the day.  I patiently answered all his questions by then I finished my lunch too.  paid the bill and said good bye to him he wished me a safe journey.  Back on track, in 20mins I reached Karnataka-Kerala border.

It was 3.15pm more than 200km ahead to Calicut, nearly 5hrs journey considering the road conditions. My next checkpoint point was Kannur/Muzhappilangad nothing was interesting on the way but usual traffic. Road was bit better compared to Karnataka, by 7 reached Kannur and enquired local people about the drive in beach came to know that it closes by 7pm, couldn’t visit the beach, I was late.  I have a long ride ahead so didn't wait I was back on the way, after few minutes of ride I hit the reserve at 673 km with 17L of petrol, ~39km of mileage not a bad figure for that road.  was looking for a Indian oil petrol pump to fill her up.  I didn’t know that Mahe belong to Pondicherry.  just saw a sign board saying so, little happy, because petrol price will be less in union territories compared to other states. Found a IO pump there around 300km more to home so filled her for Rs. 800(Rs.62 per liter). she is bright and happy with tank full of petrol we rest for a while and started.  Should have been 10mins from Mahe, I got 2 fellow riders in classic, felt brisk and joined them on the road to Calicut, from the tone of their ride I knew I was invited to join ride with them. Rode together for nearly 2 to 2.5hrs.  when I was about to enter Calicut I couldn’t see them behind me.  waited for them a while but they didn’t show up. They should have stopped for a break where I should've missed them. 10pm at the Calicut, bit tiring because of hectic road and traffic stopped by nice highway restaurant in the Palakkad road for the dinner and refreshment.  I didn’t want to get hallucinations again so It turned to be a long 1hr break, I was running out of time. started from there after the break. Road from Calicut to Palakkad was very good it is not like the coastal road I came by, though it is a 2 lane road I was able to keep up at good speed.

25/11/2014: Tuesday

Though road was good traffic was a headache with lots of trucks and lorries. One thing I hated very much was I overtake 20-30 of them and when I stop somewhere for a break they will pass through me and again I will have to redo the overtake which was hectic. It was 2am, sleepiness filled my eyes, felt like I am getting hallucinations again, I stopped by a safe location, there was Hero showroom with all lights On nothing seemed to be odd over there, took a nap for an hour, refreshed and started the journey. Palakkad was not too far,  was very excited seeing the count in the sign board to home getting reduce with every km I cover. and there I reached the Palakkad. from Palakkad I never stopped, just 2hr of straight ride to home via Coimbatore. On reaching home.

Lone ride is something where we will end up meeting new people, making new friends, having our own rules, freedom to choose the destination, time and above all the Thrill. Felt like I achieved something which can’t be explained with words, one should experience it  :)