Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Bangalore - Vellore ride.....redux

Hehe, what a corny heading eh.....but yeah, am glad to say that finally, I made the trip from Bangalore to Vellore and back...all in once piece. I am so glad that Anoop also came along. Actually Sanjeeb said he would be coming on the ride, but finally had to drop off due to leave problems. I had decided to ride alone and was ready to. Filled up the tank on friday night and headed home. Actually sent messages to Anoop to ask if he was in Bangalore and if he was coming along. Since there was no reply, I was fine to travel along. But when I reached home, Anoop was there, fast asleep. So hoped that he would join me in the morning, kept an alarm for 5 and went off to sleep.

Its been years since I woke up at 5. Granted, yes, I have stayed up till 5 in the morning, drinking or playing some game or watching TV. But its been a very long time since I woke up at that time. But it was damn exciting with the thought of the ride and woke up. As the alarm rang, Anoop woke up and was damn interested in the ride. So pack up we did and started off with a bag and the helmets. We left from home at around 5:30 and reached the outskirts of Bangalore at around 6:15. Hehe, even early mornings have traffic problems in Bangalore!! So we took the road to Hosur and reached it in quite a short time. Stopped off to have breakfast. Our mileometer showed exactly 55 kms.

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Thats when we stopped at Hosur...

Next, we started off on that really good road towards Krishnagiri. Man, I tell you, the roads were awesome. All 4 lane and all topped really well, so much so that there is not ONE pothole in sight.

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Thats on the highway!!

After Krishnagiri (we had to cut across the town, where we encountered bad roads for the first time after Bangalore), we got into the main highway again and it was awesome. The highways are great in the sense that though they may seem stand-offish (in the sense that there is no great scenery), the roads are constructed so well that not even towns break into it. There is always a guard-rail that prevents people and animals straying in. This is not to say that no one did...animals did not, but people did. After bending the guard-rails and sometimes even breaking them. Perhaps we gotta admire animals more. Aargh, they are good only for eating....so there!

Anyways, moving on, we made great time to pass along to Bargur and along to Vellore. We reached Vellore at 9:30 on the dot....total kms - 220!! What a great ride and we made it in 3 hours and 15 mins with some breaks in between!! We actually did the last 90 kms in an hour!!

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Touched 100 and kept it at 95 and 90 kmph.



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Some nifty photography by Anoop there....you never can guess that that is the relection off my black helmet!!

So reached Vellore and called up Manu and went to CMC. Met Manu, Anwin and Anwins dad. He seemed better and am sure that he will be alright soon. The transplant dates have not been fixed and will be soon.

So Karthik also comes along and we have a few beers and sleep kinda late into the morning. At around 2 in the morning!!. We'd actually decided to leave the next morning since we feared the heat. So got up again at 5:30 in the morning and decided to take the Vellore - Chitoor road. Well, this road is more scenic and nice but the roads are kinda narrow. Its just a two lane highway with no dividers. But thanks Renie, for that tip. Nice road and this was actually the more pleasant of the two roads.

Stopped off at one of the Reliance petrol pumps and met one of the Rolling Thunder Motor Cycle club members. Didnt get his name, didnt get introduced, but still the shared passion of a bike ride was there. He advised us to wear more appropriate gear and said he'd just been off the himalayas on the bike.


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Thats at the A1 plaza...some place on the way back in A.P

Hard ride back and we saw this road that stretched all the way to the horizon...nice. The bike did give me a scare there where it went off suddenly, but that should only have been cause of the stop that we just had.


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Great stretch of road....into the horizon

And finally back again to Bangalore.....this route was much shorter cause it was only 200 kms to be exact. Saved some time and nice route too. Great ride. Thanks Anoop, nice one.

Must say hats off to the Royal Enfield Thunderbird. What a bike! I am sure that none of the jap-indo bikes can sustain that speed for an hour!! Anwin and Sanjeeb, sad that you guys missed that ride. But once this is over Anwin, I am sure that we will go on longer rides. Hope your dad is fine soon....this ones for you!!!

Friday, August 25, 2006

Bangalore - Vellore ride....

Well, well, seems like I have to ride alone!!

Sanjeeb and me planned to go to Vellore on saturday early morning to meet up with Anwin and check on his dad. Sanjeeb did apply for leave on his leave intranet thingie but was not approved and will not be able to make it. Man, I am left to ride alone or to forget the whole idea. Karthik advised me not to ride alone and said that we will make it another day when he is here. Well, thats what we have been saying all these months, EVERY time we decide to take a long ride. Man!! I am kinda anxious thinking about travelling alone, but think that I can make it. The bike's been serviced and feels good. Just a little thingie about the route. Hehe, after all, it is my first long ride. Hope to take some photos and have a good time. Since monday is a holiday, hope that I can ride back on Monday afternoon or so. Hope the weather holds good and that I dont have a niggling feeling before leaving. Here's to my ride......or not!!

Bangalore - Vellore ride....

Well, well, seems like I have to ride alone!!

Sanjeeb and me planned to go to Vellore on saturday early morning to meet up with Anwin and check on his dad. Sanjeeb did apply for leave on his leave intranet thingie but was not approved and will not be able to make it. Man, I am left to ride alone or to forget the whole idea. Karthik advised me not to ride alone and said that we will make it another day when he is here. Well, thats what we have been saying all these months, EVERY time we decide to take a long ride. Man!! I am kinda anxious thinking about travelling alone, but think that I can make it. The bike's been serviced and feels good. Just a little thingie about the route. Hehe, after all, it is my first long ride. Hope to take some photos and have a good time. Since monday is a holiday, hope that I can ride back on Monday afternoon or so. Hope the weather holds good and that I dont have a niggling feeling before leaving. Here's to my ride......or not!!

Friday, August 18, 2006

Finally internet on Linux


Hehe, now that I have the broadband at home, I really wanted to try and use it on Linux. I remember all those years ago when me and Gerald, with some help from John Kenneth would try to get onto the net with a stupid Winmodem!! Needless to say, it never worked. Have been waiting for this all this time and thank that Airtel also gave me an ethernet modem. Still had some problems installing and working on Ubuntu and after 2 days of research, I have finally managed to get the modem working and the connection setup. Thanks for all the help from the Ubuntu forums!!... Theres a screengrab on the post....and who else comes online as the first person to get this news - John!!! Hehe, thanks man!!

Some great news....

Well, the first one is that Zayra is finally out of Rockstar Supernova....was getting really pissed off seeing her and her outlandish dresses....and that voice....man, sounded like a donkey braying for god knows what....thank the heavens she is finally out....

Another good news is that we have a new broadband at home and mom and dad were really so damn happy to see a site like www.wikimapia.org. I showed em places that I had labelled....great to see them so happy about some new technology...

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Most photorealistic vector art!!!

Man, this is really awesome!!!!! I mean, the images are all made on Adobe Illustrator....they are not real images....view them on this blog.....
To view the vector art, click on link below the images that says "Outline"...

http://basangpanaginip.blogspot.com/2006/07/worlds-most-photorealistic-vector-art.html

Ten percent

Well, nothing interesting to add on the blog....but came across this on my Google Analytics page yesterday....I have had equal hits from all the networks that accessed my blog yesterday....

Monday, August 07, 2006

Seven....

Well......just came across my site from long back......

http://geocities.com/thechowsatngl

And came across this pic that we had to take even though we were all drunk and hungover.....cause that we thought was the last time all seven of us could be together before Anand got married.....