Longest Commute Ever - Bangalore to Chennai

Bangalore to Chennai - This is a trip almost all of us who live in or around Bangalore and Chennai would surely have done. So, you might be probably wondering as to why I am writing a post about this. Well there is a reason, pretty small reason I accept but still a reason. What is the reason you ask? Well here it is:

These two wheels are the reason why I am posting about something as mundane as a Bangalore Chennai trip.

Now, Let me start from the beginning.....

It was the Tuesday of the Pongal weekend and I hadn't booked tickets to go home to Chennai yet. Went to book the tickets, but as my luck would have it, the bus I always take to Chennai was full. And I was feeling a little cranky that particular day, so was scowling at the people who had booked ‘my’ seats and then strikes the idea!

So, within the next 10 seconds had decided that I am going to ride to Chennai. Took the next 3 days to put it some extra saddle time and prepare the ‘delicates’ for the upcoming suffering. I had decided to leave directly from office on Friday (13th January) and head to my relatives place in Krishnagiri. This was the first part of the journey. The next day the plan was to ride from Krishnagiri to Chennai.

So on the Friday, started from office at around 5:30. This was not one of the best decisions I made. My office is in Indira Nagar, and I had to cross most of Bangalore and the nightmare traffic. Cycles aren’t allowed on the Elevated Tollway (for good reasons) and the traffic was horrible almost all the way till Attibele (Tamil Nadu - Karnataka border). It took me most of the evening to get to Attibele. And thus, the first one and half hours of the ride was spent getting fumigated by all those exhausts. I somehow managed to reach Attibele by around 7. Took a 10 minute break (read: photo session) at the border tollgate.

 
The traffic condition was only marginally better till Hosur. Made a mistake in Hosur, should have taken the flyovers to cross the bus stand, but the slope deterred me and I ended up getting fumigated pretty badly again. Not only that, I have been in better off-road trails than that particular stretch of road.

It was only after Hosur that there was the thrill of riding out. It felt like being out of the city only after that. You might not have noticed it when coming by car or bus, but the stretch from Hosur to Krishnagiri is full of hills and none of them gentle. Thankfully, it has more downhill sections than uphill section. So, a few minutes of hard pedaling could be followed by a nice downhill cruise. And the entire thing gets repeated again and again. Even though it was generally downhill, the uphill gave a fair bit of workout for the legs.

The next stop was McDonald's on the NH4. By now had covered about 60km. Took a pretty long break of about 30 minutes.

 

A break has to include some ice cream! I sat there for a while with my legs stretched out and eating my ice cream and was getting the usual stares from people.

I want to make a point here. Why is it that we Indians curb our curiosity? I heard people talking about me amongst themselves (they do not bother lowering their voices too much, as they assume that I am a NRI and I do not know the local language). I heard discussion ranging from “where am I from” to “which exotic wildlife am I saving by riding my cycle” (seriously! can’t a guy ride his bike for the joy of riding? Why do most people assume that there is some greater purpose behind us riding?) . But, not one of them approached me and asked me a single question. It was not like I was sitting in a corner and scowling and growling at anyone who came too close. I did smile at the little kids who were eyeing my bike and the only effect my smile had was the little kids’ parents pulling them away from me faster. The only person who came over and spoke was a Russian! He and his girl were on a motorcycle trip from Goa. We had a 5 minute chat about our respective ride plans.

Mounted up by 8:45 and was on my way for the last leg of the journey. Some more steep climbs and 10km later, the road stopped moving that much in the Z-axis.
I managed to reach my aunt’s place in Krishnagiri by 10 that night.
 

Next day woke up early and managed to head out by 5:15. It was nice and chilly morning. There were quite a few climbs, but nothing as steep as the ones from Hosur. Still the uphill took a toll and had to take the breakfast break pretty early on. So, I stopped at the Vaniyambadi tollgate at about 7:30 and had bread and eggs for breakfast.

Heights of coincidence! I had just finished my breakfast and was getting ready to leave and my college mate and fellow biker, Hamza walks in! He was on his way to Coorg with his family. What’s the probability that we both stop at the same restaurant at the same time!

After Vaniyambadi, the road was much more level, so was able to maintain a constant pace of about 23kmph. I didn't want to push myself considering the fact that I still had about 200km to ride that day.

At about 80km from Krishnagiri there is this bridge. This is the half-way point of the trip - 170km from Bangalore and 170km to Chennai.

It was past 9 by the now and the highway was no longer empty. Riding a good looking bike in full cycling gear is like having a huge spotlight on you. One good thing is that, I get more respect on the road then motorcycles. I was pleasantly surprised to see that even the Buses and Lorries give me wide enough space. But the highlight of the attention that we cyclists get was when an AUDI A6 slowed down and the passenger was taking photos of me! (If that person every by chance reads this: can you mail me the pictures please)

I came to Ambur a little before 10. And people of Ambur, am sorry to tell this so openly, but please, at least rent some traffic sense! Your little town in knows by car drivers as an accident hot-spot. That I can at least try to understand you as the cars are driving at pretty high speeds across your town (even though they are on the highway). But come on people, I am a cyclist and I am riding at 25 kmph , and I was almost killed a few times, thanks to your amazing judgmental skills and traffic courtesy. I did not expect to have to go through this while cycling in the highway. Most of my rides in the middle of Bangalore at peak traffic condition increases my blood pressure lesser than what I went through riding on the highway across Ambur.

Managed to cross the death trap and rode on non-stop till the toll gate near Vellore.  There is a Cafe Coffee Day in a HP Petrol pump about 10 kilometers away from the toll gate. I stopped there at around 11 for an early lunch. Another round of ice cream and a few drinks. Stretched myself out on a couple of chairs and a well-deserved break for almost an hour there. Here finally some Indian people came over and asked me what I was doing. But, still it was only the younger generation guys who approached me. The Moms still pulled their children closer to them and away from me on seeing me. At a point of time I had to check myself to see if it looked like I had some communicable disease or something.

Started from CCD at around 11 45. After that was Vellore. It maybe that I was starting to tire out a little, but I really do not recall having to go over so many flyovers to cross Vellore, while going in car. I was even thinking that they had built new ones just to welcome me. One good thing about the day what that it was cloudy, and of course! The moment I thought about it, I jinxed it and at around 2 the sun came out and was keen on making up for being behind the clouds from the morning. Did not want to fight against the all-powerful sun, so took another break at 2:15. By now, I had run out of my primary water supply as well. So stopped at a road side shop and refilled the hydration pack with chilly water. Searched the sky for some cloud cover, but it didn't look promising, so decided to wait out the sun at the shop itself. The owner obliged my request for a chair and I was there till 3. I bought another bottle of cold water before leaving. This water was for another purpose. I kept pouring water on my head every now and then to keep myself cool.

The next stop  was just to take this photo.

Just 100km to go

Continued riding till Kanchipuram, but was forced to stop here due to exhaustion. The sun was taking its toll on me, so was feeling a little dehydrated. Mixed the electrolyte and drank quite a bit of it. Ate some energy bars to keep me going. I started after about 20 minutes of rest. Home was only about 70 kilometers from there.

The next stop was also forced, but for a very different reason. A few kilometers after Sriperumbudur, a cop pulled me over and wanted to know everything from who am I to what am I! Gave him my card which proclaims to me to be an Aerospace Engineer. He looked satisfied by that and advised me to switch on the lights soon. I told him that I intend to reach Chennai before it got dark. But my pace had come down by quite a bit by now, so it was dark by the time I reached the Thiruvallur junction. Chennai traffic had started by now and couldn’t keep the pedaling rhythm going. Had to slow down and stop for signals and other vehicles cutting in front of me.

It was almost 8 by the time I reached home. And boy, did I get a warm welcome at home. My mom was waiting for me with a rolling pin in hand. But I know the secret to appease my mom. I happy gorged down everything she put in front of me and even asked for extra servings.

So here are the final stats:

Total Ride:
Total Distance: 346.44km
Total Time: 16 hours 05 minutes 46 seconds
Average Speed (pace): 21.52 kmph

Day 1:
Distance: 91.75km
Time: 3 hours 44 minutes 12 seconds
Average Speed (pace): 24.6 kmph

Day 2:
Distance: 254.69km
Time: 12 hours 21 minutes 34 seconds
Average Speed (pace): 20.5 kmph


Ride: Schwinn Searcher Sport

I know the question that is running through most of your heads now (I promise am not a psychic). What was my condition after all this? Well... My back had started cursing me from before Kanchipuram itself, and my legs were pretty fine, I was hobbling around a bit that night but was back on my foot almost perfectly the next day. I had a little pain in my knee so was walking around like Jar Jar Binks the next day. After that was perfectly fine. Another thing, to appease my mom  I had to promise not to ride the entire next week. I somehow managed to choke and splutter that particular promise and my mom enforced that promise by confiscating the bike for entire week.