Homestay in Wayanad - Maple Oak

Me and Rubert recently went on a ride to Wayanad - which is a district in Kerala. I've gone there previously with Abhilash and Tom and even once on a ride with my Bullet Club - the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club - RTMC for short. On the RTMC ride, we'd stayed at some nameless resort, which, though was quite decent, wasn't very friendly.

On this short ride, we decided to stay at the Maple Oak homestay in Chundale, Wayanad. We made some inquiries and found that there were vacancies and the pricing was great. We were planning to go for a friend's daughter's christening in Wayanad and this homestay was quite close to where he lives.

The ride was awesome. Rubert, in charge of the route, planned to take this route - Bangalore -> Mysore -> Gundlupet -> Gudalur -> Wayanad. Though I was a little put off with the increase in distance of the ride, I was fine to go ahead with it since Rubert loves making em chappathis on the roads. Hehe, that is slang for riding in the twisties! And love it we did - the route from Gundlupet to Gudalur is simply spectacular! There is very little traffic and the roads are neat and clean and lots of twisties. Not the hair-pin bend kind but the good kind with nice sweeping curves and corners!

We reached Gudalur and then only did we know that we'll have to go to Sultan Bathery and then only towards Chundale. Anyways, it was a great ride and we reached in the evening.

The best part was the warm welcome we received at the homestay. Our friend was waiting for us there with the boss of the homestay - Franklin who showed us the cottage we were to stay at. Wow, I should say - very nice accomodation. The gallery speaks for itself - we'd stayed in Opal which can easily house 5 or 6 people. After a quick shower and a small nap, we settled down for a lazy drink and a late dinner.

The next day, we had the christening to attend - a nice family function. Breakfast was complimentary and we should really appreciate the D'Cruz family for a lovely breakfast. They are wonderful hosts who are not pushy and allow you to take in Wayanad as you like - fast and hectic or slow and steady. We chose slow and steady and decided to do a lazy ride around the district in the evening and we did. Riding around tea gardens and the lake etc.

We started back early the next morning but weren't allowed to leave until the family served us breakfast and sent us off on a full stomach. All in all, a nice ride - made all the better because of the lovely homestay. We were treated like family. The cottage is neat, clean - with all amenities in place. Hot water, showers, a small kitchenette where you can even prepare some food.

If you do make a visit to Wayanad - do stay at the Maple Oak homestay - you'll not regret it!

Marco Simoncelli - RIP

Marco Simoncelli. No, I will not pretend to have followed his career all along or to quote from rote all his podium wins or teams that he has worked with. I just know that this racer really caught my fancy in MotoGP though I have been really following it only for the past 3 seasons or so.

What really interested me was the fact that he would somehow take positions from seemingly impossible places - overtaking at just the right time, taking calculated risks sometimes that even hardened "veterans" would think twice to! And that crazy hairstyle that he had - his hair peeking out from under his helmet too! I have thought that it would even slow him down sometimes! Just cannot say anymore rather than say that he will be missed. I will miss watching him on his white Honda screaming down at a turn, stick out his lanky leg and try and take the turn full on - with that stupid orange hair sticking out of his helmet, trying to fly away! I am sure he had a crazy grin (picture) stuck on his face everytime he overtook someone. Will miss you Marco! MotoGP has surely lost a "cool" racer!

R.I.P!

Metal or plastic - biking? Royal Enfield and other assorted oil-leaks!

I've been an Royal Enfield fan for many years. My earliest memories of a Royal Enfield was in my hometown where we'd have many regal old men dhup dhupping around in their Enfields. In fact, many of them still own it but cannot ride it and neither are they willing to sell it to the next gen.

Well, its this love that kindled a fire that has been living within me for all these years. I really believed that a bike should be a Royal Enfield and nothing less. But as the years passed by, I did get some respect for even the smallest of bikes and understood that biking is more than just about one bike. I even owned a TVS Max 100R for around a year or so and really, really loved the bike. To look back, I really appreciate that year spent with that bike - it has taught me things about the philosophy of biking that I might never have learnt otherwise. It was a modest 98.2cc two-stroke engine that was way more fun in those days. Modest mileage too. But fun, yes!

Anyways, fast forward to the future and I start earning and all that - no savings though mind it! But loans were cheaper in those days and I was confident enough to try on an Enfield. Though my heart earned for the Standard 350, I thought that the Thunderbird would be a more suitable choice - what with it being a newer bike with the new AVL engine too. So did the test ride and was impressed - what with having ridden a Max 100 R last! So plonked down the money and have owned the bike for 6 years now. Not without its problems though.

But that is not what this story is about. The Royal Enfield has its share of problems. The damn machine would be fine for a month and suddenly, out of the blue, would not start. You take a rickshaw to office and go through hell for that. You get back from office and try to start the bike - she would start without any problems at all! WTF!!

I have had days I would wake up early in the morning just so that I can start the bike up and keep it ready to ride to office. But start it up, it would still not start up, leaving me stranded. But again, that is not what this story is about.

I have had times I've totally hated the Enfield. Hated it. I then decided that enough was enough and that I would buy another reliable bike at the first opportunity. Planning came to fruition when I could finally lay my grubby hands on some cash and I decided to buy the Honda CBR 250R. But again, that is not what this story is about.

The story is actually about the attitude. The biking attitude that I have come to respect. This respect has also been helped by my Royal Enfield club - Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club where members not just love the Enfield but all other bikes as well. When some noobs loudly proclaim that "Plastic (read Japanese) bikes suck. Metal (read Enfields) are the best", they are met with sniggers from the club members. Though we love our Enfields, we have equal or more respect for other bikes - including so-called "Jap Crap"! To tell you the truth - I hate that term. I'd equate that to some sort of racist chant!

It is this what I actually wanted to write about. Biking is about the attitude. The sense of one-ness with the open roads. Respect - for the bike, for your fellow-biker, for traffic rules and for other road users. To understand that biking requires your complete attention - you are not driving inside a cage that protects you from all the elements of the road.

To all Enfield-only fans - I have this to say. Open your mind - biking is about the attitude. Not the attitude that the Enfield is the only bike there is and there ever will be. I wouldn't totally agree to this statement from a forum - "Once you've ridden another bike, you'll never ride an Enfield after that". But I would ask you to try other bikes too - including so-called "plastic" ones. You will realise that there is another spectrum to the rainbow too. Err, not sure if that can ever be correct technically but you get my drift.

Ride safe!

Finally the pics are up....

Harley Davidson

Well, I have a feeling the iconic bike makers are gonna foray into the Indian market - finally! Though I would have loved for Triumph to do so, we'll have to settle for Harley.

We were invited for a bike workshop on Saturday by a company that gathers a lot of statistical data and provide groundwork for pre-releases of automobiles. They had some amazing (to say the least) bikes on display and we were asked to rate the bikes on around 20 different criteria. Out of a total of 18 bikes, there were just 2 Indian bikes!. And out of this 18, 8 were Harley Davidsons!. Drool Drool. Though I am not the biggest fan of the Harley, it was near-heaven to be able to touch, feel and see these amazing pieces of machinery! I loved the Harley Davidson Ultra Classic the most. Beautiful bike - all complete with speakers, ABS and an awesome back seat. Would love to ride across long stretches of good road in the back seat - with a beer in my hand! :)


The picture is courtesy http://www.milehigh-harley.com and here is the link to the page on the Harley Davidson site itself.

One other model that I was so damn happy to see was the Sportster. As mentioned about a year ago on this blog itself, I was looking forward to seeing this bike and I was drooling all over the Sportster. Sat on it and the stance was awesome. I loved the Nightster too but the damn thing had such a lousy sound to it and when I sat on it, I knew that your back would go for a toss on long rides!

Loved the Harley Night Rod too....beautiful looking bike. But didn't like the stance again.

Well, there were some other bikes that I have always wanted to see to - MV Agusta and the Ducati. Another model that I don't think you can ever lay your hands on here in India was the Cagiva.

Blown away by these bikes, "Balls" asked whether we could go and down a couple of beers at the Windsor pub quite close by. Happy to, we were off and actually sat there for a looong time. Downing beer after beer accompanied by awesome Pork, Beef and great company is simply awesome. The manager - Satish, who we know through our RTMC association also suggested some great food. The food was simply awesome. Finished it all with some awesome Kappa and Meen Curry!

Aaah! Sigh! - of utmost satisfaction. Great weekend.

Harley Davidson coming to India

I definitely think so! I've just seen, drooled over and felt 10 different Harley Davidson models and think they're just about to enter India.

Rider Mania pics slideshow

Rider Mania 2009

Well, well well....we are just back from Rider Mania 2009 and to say the least - its fucking horrible to be back in reality and I really miss the open roads and the biking fun!

Rider Mania 2009 this time was hosted by our club - the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club - RTMC for short. It was hosted in Ooty on the 24th and 25th of January.

The plan was for 8 of us to ride out as a group on the 24th morning. With me having broken my arm in November, I could not ride and had to ask Balls and Bluetooth to take me and the wife as pillion riders. Plans set, me and Jackie reached the Shell petrol bunk at Mysore road at 4:30 AM.


Bluetooth was the next to arrive and soon thereafter, Inyub and Balls arrived. Zeshan arrived and some other guys who thought we were a different gang ended up waiting with us. Sunje (dude, sorry if the spelling is not right) came next and Ady soon after and we were ready to start off with only Sai missing. All the guys were getting a little restless and Sai finally arrived. Started off at around 5:30 (not sure) and made straight to the CCD on Mysore Road. It was fucking freezing cold and I can only sympathise with Bluetooth who was riding. Froze our nuts off!!


Got a good pic of CCD with the dawn just around the corner.

Recovered with some piping hot cups of coffee and started off back again. Soon after, Bluetooth's bike had a problem and the rest of our group had zoomed off.


Bluetooth doesn't look too sad in that pic, but we were disappointed thinking that we might have to tow the bike back to Bangalore and take my bike for the ride. Thinking of all that time wasted pissed us off. Made a whole lotta calls to lotsa guys trying to get a solution but finally problem was solved by an RE mechanic and it worked. By this time, Balls had come back with a mechanic from Mandya. Checking with Jackie, she told us that Sai was the point for their group now and was zooming off and was not intent on stopping! :)

We started off and made some good time but we were never going to catch Sai. Did some hard riding and reached Mysore and had a decent lunch. Heard that the others were at Gundlupet and were moving off. Intent on reaching Ooty soon, we started off back again and reached the Bandipur Game Reserve. Awesome place and it was great to see some elephants on the road as soon as we entered. Went through the Reserve looking out for some wild animals and all we did see were some spotted deer and tame (!) monkeys.

That stretch was really good and some of the InddieThumpers overtook us. They were riding all the way from Mumbai. Started on the ghat road section and made some nice twists with 36 hair-pin bends!. Sai and party were waiting for us and we made our way to Sterling Resorts where we registered and got our rooms. Damn, what a view of all the bikes. Fucking awesome.

There are some great pics at my Flickr Page.

Kinda tired, we crashed out for a while and then I got up to take some great pics of the bikes assembled at the parking area. Damn, that must be a bike lovers and especially a Royal Enfield lovers paradise! I did see some great modified bikes too. Some built for comfort and some for cosmetic beauty - they were all awesome. None bad, none at all! I can go on in this vein.

The night ended with me taking some good pics and having a few drinks with some new friends and the rest of the gang. Fun filled day.

The next day, we had a rally of all the bikes (more than 400 of them) around Ooty town. Me, Sushil and Bluetooth along with a number of other volunteers including Balls manned the roads and helped in managing traffic when the Enfields roared in Ooty.



Bloody hell, everyone was curious as to what these bikes were doing in Ooty and I am sure the sleepy town was irritated a little with all that thumping! Every local and tourist wanted to know more.

More events filled the day - with some really insane games and competitions. Balls decided to have a tattoo done. (Let me know how it went at home dude!).


There was a nice event sponsored by Lee where the motographers could upload their pics and have a chance to win a $40,000 prize. But even better was that we all got Rs.1000 worth of Lee vouchers for uploading our pictures. It was at this time that we met Blackjack - a really fucking cool dude. Swapped some stories with the man and even got a great pic of an axe hammer sticking out of his back pocket! (Sent the pics dude!)


The rest of the evening was kind of a quiet one with riding back to Ooty town looking for some local food (Dosai and Sambar - yumm!) and quintessential Ooty chocolates. Bought some and made the way back to the resort with the idea of having a good drinking session at our room with the gang. Ended up not drinking too much as we planned to start off early in the morning the next day - at 9!.

Good start to the next day - we were already out of Ooty by 9 AM. Damn, that must have been a trick of some magician somewhere. Only problem was that Maxi's bike was starting to act up a bit and the front shocks had taken quite a beating so he could only ride slowly. Anyway, it was all in all a good ride and though Zeshan's bike gave us a scare on the way back, we made it to Mysore in quite good time.



Another problem was that I should have been in office at 1:30 in the afternoon. Somehow got some permission to make it after that. Arun by this time wanted to leave and zoomed off back to Bangalore. Thanks Bluetooth for the fast ride back to Bangalore!

Reached Bangalore and made it to office - dead as a zombie and very tired.

All in all, a wonderful time at the Rider Mania RTMC Ishtyle. What made it even better was some great company, some great friends and the open roads. Thanks dudes and looking forward to more rides with you! And dude Horny - you missed on a great ride! Next one is on you mate!

And for all of you interested - I have some great pics of the ride put up at my Flickr page.

Crash......

The things that saved me from more harm - a good helmet, good jacket and hardy boots. To all you dumbfucks who ride without them - do the earth a favour and go green - walk!!!

RTMC Announce ride to Nandi Hills

Was working Saturday night. But still thought that me and the wife can take a short, hard ride to Nandi Hills and also meet up with the guys in the process. Finished work at 8 and Bluetooth called me to say that they were already starting off after breakfast. Got into the cab and was home at 8:35. Quickly fuelled up and started off. Reached the foothills at 10 and Bluetooth messaged to say that they were just having the intros and all. Reached a bit late but damn happy to have made it. Good to meet all the guys after having last met them in RTMC 7A. They all planned to ride to the new BIAL and do a formation but opted out since I needed to sleep. Got back all fine. Nice ride!

Pics up as usual on Flickr - Love the panorama of the bikes at a curve!

RTMC 7A

What with my official trip to the Philippines being postponed for at least 2 weeks due to market conditions, I decided to go ahead for the 7th Anniversary celebrations of the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club. This year it was held in Yercaud.

Me and the wife decided to start off early morning with the 7 o'clock batch. Turned up before time and as usual, no one was there! Then Sandeep joined us and slowly, one by one people turned up. By the time it was a sizable number, we decided to ride off. By this time, it was already 8 AM. No worries, rode a fast one and had breakfast in Hosur. Then continued on a very scenic route without touching Salem. I have never been on this route and it was awesome to say the least. Due to a large number of stops, we actually reached close to 2 in the afternoon.

Organisation was great and we got our rooms in no time at all. Before settling down, we had a spot of lunch and a couple of beers along with it. That was enough to put us off to sleep and sleep we did!

Night fell and there were quite a number of bikes already. Dinner and some sly drinking (pre-mix) had me in the mood for some really good sleep.

The itinerary for the next day was some insane stuff like Lemon and Spoon and slow bike racing! Took part in the Lemon and Spoon and came in 3rd. Not good enough and had to sit in the sidelines after that. The games continued and I suddenly found out I was short of cash in hand. And Yercaud has no ATMs!! Thought it would be a great time to take a ride and me and wife took off on a ride to Salem.

That was actually a very nice ride. Scenic and very relaxing. Also, good visibility in the hills and made it downhill in no time at all. Fueled up and took money at an ATM in Salem and made it back up again.

This is where things start getting interesting. At lunch, we started chatting about taking a ride around town with some of the guys there. Namely, Horny, Balls, Sandeep and Sai.. :)

So took off with some plans in mind and made it to some perfumery that sold us some really potent locally made medicines. All natural and awesome. Moving on, we went to the Servarayan temple, which is the highest point in Yercaud. Lovely view from there - you can check out a panned image here. Next stop - Bear cave at some local businessman's estate. That was quite a trippy ride inside the jungle on a stony, muddy path. Damn beautiful place and also the cave was scary but fun. Had to crawl on all fours sometimes and locals tell us that this cave actually ends at the temple!

Next stop - Lady's seat which is akin to Suicide point in Kodaikanal. The view from here was incredible! You can see all of Salem from this point and even see the winding ghat roads leading up to Yercaud. We stayed there for some time and waited to take some great pics of the night lights of Salem.

Then rode back to the hotel where a party was awaiting us. Rider Mania 09 was kicked off and some of the prizes were up for grabs. Then started the partying which was to say the least - mindblowing!!! Met some awesome people like Katz and the others from Madras Bulls. Made some new friends and blown, went off to sleep...

Next morning, we were supposed to ride at 8 in the morning. But we finally started off at 9:30 and this time again, it was the six of us riding together. And to say the least - I enjoyed this ride most and loved the company of these great guys!. Beautiful roads and great company - what more does a biker need?

Stopped off for lunch at a dhaba on the way and reached home in the afternoon. Great fun guys! Balls, Horny, Sandeep and Sai - thanks for the company and really enjoyed the ride in Yercaud and back home with you all! Hoping to have more in the future!!

Wonderful....still dreaming of open roads and no-traffic situations....

Update - Pics are up at my Flickr page......