I had almost everything I needed for the trip . A bike , saddle bags for some clothes and me to ride . from the time I decided on the dates and made sure come what may I'm hitting the road, the stupid grin on my face was not going away .
Started at a very weird hour ( to other people ) on Friday . 3.15 Am . I had my reasons , I wanted to reach Pondy before it gets really hot ... for some one who is from the so called air conditioned city any other place especially a beach could be hard to take . I was playing it a bit sensible . I didn't want to be dehydrated on day one itself . So why didn't I ride all out on night ? That coz I didn't know the condition of the roads ahead of Krishnagiri . Ideally I wanted to cross finish the 4 lane highway around twilight .
Getting out of the city was not so great as I was just getting used to the saddle bags weight and the new clutch settings of the bike . Once I crossed the Silk board fly over we picked up speed . I was like a gold fish swimming around sharks . The truck drivers had no respect for a car leave a 2 wheeler . Since the road was less challenging and super smooth the job was only to avoid getting crushed by trucks and then to check on the mirror once in a while to make sure one one is fast enough at my back to over run me . We saw 2 trucks going side by side at about 65 kmph and ones driver chatting with the others cleaner , more over they were not letting their happy hours get affected by me . All thanks to the bays on the highway which is used by trucks to pull up for sleep for a break I was able to over take the happy monster couple. Crossed the toll gate ( learned that two wheelers pay no toll there ) and reached krishnagiri in a flash .
Even though I had only 2 hours of sleep that night I was very upbeat till then ... my mind was slightly shifting down gears as the road was just like a straight line and was not much of strain on brain . I knew sleep was inevitable if the situation prevailed . At Krishnagiri I took a left and just about 2 Kms later I see PONDICHERY ==> sign . The road from there was like 1/3rd of the road I was on till then . And my mind was back to full alert . Road from there was fun , enough turns and twists . some odd trucks or early birds on cars and bikes and I kept zipping past most of them . The best thing was I was riding towards a sky which was just set ablaze ... the twilight was clearing and the horizon was exhibiting all shades of red in a grey background . A bit later it was turning to a goldsmiths workshop , molten gold and gold dust of all shades and density and nature at its creative best . It was a hard task to keep my eyes only on the road .
I see grey clouds awaiting me in the horizon and they are getting larger and darker by the second ... I love rain but would like to avoid it at such situation .. a light or medium drizzle is welcome as it was getting hotter but not a rainstorm . I think the biker Gods heard my thought . I rode through the rain , not a rain but a heavy drizzle . enough to wet my bike and me but didn't leave me drenched nor did I reduced my speed . it lasted about 15 minutes. the road ahead was all wet and the the sides muddy , My luck in timing was good , If I was early to reach there I would have been stuck in the rain for some time ....
I could feel my skin getting sticky and the air more humid and my grin at its widest coz this means there's sea near by ...
The Arches welcoming you to Pondy felt like a good friend waiting to give you a tight hug .
I took the longer route along the city beach to reach to my hotel .
Was the only Indian there for that period .
Next day went to Auroville , it was closed being a holiday , I wouldn't have enjoyed to this level otherwise . No crowd at all , sat down in the garden looking at the Mathrumandir . closed my eyes ..... YEAH ...LIFE IS GOOD .
Sunday around 10 I packed my bags . Set up Ricky , before gunning it I had some butterflies in my stomach. Brought him to life and said this after a long time " I FEEL THE NEED .... THE NEED FOR SPEED " I'm sure even ricky had the same on his mind too . From the day I picked the words from " TOP GUN " it' s stuck to me .
The next 5 hours 45 minutes was underlining "MY RETURN TO THE TARMAC " in fluorescent . We ploughed the road , let it be a village road , good for only rallying or the super speed ways . Just near Thiruvannamalai , we had some thing I call as KOD ( kiss of death ) where you can see your picture hanging on the wall with a garland for a split second and something inside you says ... " NOT TODAY " . Got almost taken out by a transport bus .
" after that I reduced my speed to 40 Kms per hour and reached Bangalore in 7 more hours "
YA RIGHT ..... hello ..
unlike the onward journey I was looking forward to the highways on the return , I wanted to take the trucks and the other bullies to the task . Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore outskirts , there were very few places I eased the throttle , and a very few who overtook me ( 4 to be exact ) 2 MERC , one Scorpio and one Toyota Prado . That's the biggest rush I have got in the near past . The feeling of speed , the wind screaming loud on your ears , the concentration which does not allow you to even blink , the things on the road sides moving in a blurr .
when I was parking at home , The stupid grin was almost an arrogant smirk , which re assured myself " The wild - unpredictable - ready for anything brat is still around " and I just chose to act domesticated for the society which has huge huge expectations not only on me but on all youth .
Borrowing my sisters words " Growing old is mandatory , growing up is optional "
hey the heading " french connection" has a link to the pictures of this trip
will be posting my memories on my earlier trips next and on my build up to my Leh trip in June 07
comments are welcome
Cheers
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