Riding with the Princess of hills...

       
          Love... needs a personal touch, is enjoyed with fantasy and away from the hush hush world. Men are from mars and cherished with their machines. For me its a black Avenger. The time spent with an Avvy is never deducted from your life. It just grows. And the urge to feel the passion at a place where sun kisses the sky is best when you roam to rising horizon. I was racing the rain on NH4, when my cell blinked. That was an invite for anniversary ride of Club-BAC Chennai. For me it was like a moment to actually meet the elite riders from a southern city. For ages the city has been synonymous with culture and food. But, sometime back it nourished a fine riders' dream.

          The dates were near to 26th January and the destination was the princess of hills, Yercad. Unexplored and still in primitive stage on tourist map, nothing can be better to feel your machine and fall in love. I was in notice period at my office and taking leave at this stage was an issue. But then happiness is always the priority. On 24th Jan when I peeped out of window, it was still dawn with dimming street lights on Bangalore roads . Me and the black beast were ready to zoom on. I remembered the club safety directions. The instructions were clear. Arrive on time and in complete riding kit. I took a look at my gear set, picked, stared and then simply kept it in the box. Yo Macho...here comes my brand new hand crafted leather riding jacket. Less armored and high on style. Breaking the rules is an offence but God forbid, I just did that. At around 6:30, I was on the doors to deep south. Once on NH7, it took less than half an hour to reach the elevated highway of electronic city. This 10 km long stretch makes gliding look pale. Followed by the iconic Biocon and Narayana Hridyalaya, I was on the verge of Karnataka. Every time I enter Hosur, the first thing that fascinates and then irritates is the Sipcot industrial state. Good to pass so many companies and at the same, hate the traffic chaos for a span of 12 km. Once this zone is zoomed on, the only thing that waits is the beautiful scenic views on both sides of highways.

        One after the other the dhabas goes by. Then the small town and big cities. The piping rays from the hills near Dharampuri was a rider's delight. Soon I was in Salem city. From Salem it takes a diversion and state highway takes the lead. I took a small halt for refreshment and my bad habit of trying all chatar-matar street food took over. After a brief pause i saw an array of head lights moving towards me. Enough to act as a head turner. Its time for onlookers to give way. A riding battalion of BAC-Chennai is now heading towards Yercad.And the machine sound stops. The villagers are surprised. All the riders are down the machines. One fellow with an LS2 helment approaches me.

Wow, the friendly face of BAC Chennai Admin, Mr. Karthik Viswanathan is here to assist us on this historic first anniversary ride. I got warm greeting from the team and then we headed towards the first hairpin turn of the trip. The group was divided in two trips. I took the tail position. Some riders believe that riding as the last man is like the sweep position. But personally, I was always a back bencher and still love that. Soon the team moved towards the hills, crossing one turn after the other.Couple of initial turns are a bit challenging but then the near 10 Km steep stretch with 20 hairpins make you comfortable quite soon. For faint hearted it is advised to look forward and stop taking the height readings or looking down the city. At the 20th position the mark of Salem city hotel was a welcome sign. Within the next 15-20 minutes we were parking our machines outside the resort. The Admin started discussions with Resort managers.

         For me, the deep fried golden crisp onion bhaggi with a cup of tea was more enchanting. I sat on the lawn and started munching. Thought that, rest of the salutations can be taken care later as well. Suddenly, our trip Leader kapil Jawahar calls us and we are requested to be ready. By this time it was near sunset. We are informed that the highest peak of Yercad will now be covered along with city late. We all got ready and the engines roared. Soon we reached the mall. I found it like the tiny version of Darjeeling mall with a beautiful lake. On both side of the road people were enjoying the sunset. After this, the next 15-20 minutes were a bit challenging. It was near dusk. With height, the climate changed drastically and the fog was quite a lot. Finally when we reached the top, I found none but us standing on the top.The misty woods with deep forests is all I could feel. Although we are at the top. I could see nothing downhill’s. At one point I literally wanted to shiver. Honestly, after leaving North India, this is the fist time that I am experiencing this kind of ultra-crisp and chilled weather. I loved it. After a few attempts of photography which mostly failed we headed back.

           Going downhill all I can follow was the tail light. Sale ko agar yaha kuch hua...to bhai apni to lag jaygi...me being the last man of this array. But we did managed to reach the resort back and got another sip of tea. Soon we checked in our rooms and the night campfire plans took shape. The team was happening and Regularly Used Medicine with lots of snacks were served. Clubbing together, we came to know each other. The gang was having people from all walks of life. Be it a final year engineering student to some high end developer. The popping sound of fire was breaking the ice and gestures were becoming more friendly than ever. We also had a celebrity rider Sukhmani aka Speed Girl with us. She covered Kanyakumari to Kashmir in less than 65 hours and that is a record for a female rider in India. To make the event more memorable all we needed was photographic skills of Paddy. The effort that he put for each single click was really motivating. 
         
          Next couple of hours we drank; we ate and shared some light moments. After 2 pegs, the inner spirit comes out and after 4 we are super human. I can still remember how one of our rider Arshad managed to get his bike from his parents. A bit long story So, will share some other time. One thing was sure.  Next morning, The place was at its best. Imagine a panoramic view where white clouds take the sky and hills have blue shade. Places where flora is in mild breeze that touches you and make you feel the warmth of mother nature. Such is Yercad in winter. At this point we headed for the next ride. We headed towards, ATV machines. The track was good but then I had a lot of experience on these so decided to roam around on foot.

Soon I found orchids and then a perfume outlet. the place was refreshing. Unlike the city mall outlet, here everything was natural. The fragrance of mist was deep there. At this place we saw a giant animal, the wild buffalo. This huge 6 feet animal with white legs followed by the deep dark skin will make you shiver if you are alone witness it at night. Anyways after this we headed for Kiliyur Falls.

 This is beautiful but if you are having any kind of issues with trekking down a steep path, please avoid. This involves quite a good number of stairs and these are really steel.

          Once this was completed, I bid a good bye to the team and started my journey back to Bangalore. I was lucky that the team captain Kapil got some work at his home in Salem city and we rode together. Karthik was there to give company and the trio headed downhill. Crossing the terrain at night was really a challenging task. I got a view of Salem city from the hills and that was awesome. if you can bring a million stars and lit them with white and golden light with shades of green and red scattered all over then paste it on a sheet with mountains all around then maybe you can view this. Soon the hilly terrain was over and we were in city limits. Kapil invited me to his home and I was honored with a nice dinner. The recipe was Adai. I was having it for the first time. This was a bit different experience. The flavors were derived from coriander, red pepper, garlic and fennel seeds. Each was low yet distinct. The tangy touch of onions when coated with traditional coconut chutney was a foodie's luck.  And I got all this in served at Kapil's home. What can be better way to finish the team ride at Salem. After a brief halt, I started my journey.
        
          Riding back was a different experience altogether since the highway curls create optical illusion and the temperature was dipping down. After a ride of around 4 hours I was back at my bed. Thanks to Team BAC Chennai, for Organizing a safe riding experience. Ride captain, BAC Admin and Paddy deserves special thanks for their time and effort. After this group ride i can definitely tell you that there is a difference between being alive and breathing year on year basis. After all we are emotional riders and we do what we love.