Tour of the Nilgiris

1- This entry will not be organized because I am not claiming to be a reporter of the event

2- This will not be in any sequence of events

3- These are purely my impressions

I still can’t believe I was a witness to something so incredible!!

It was outstanding and if I were to describe the event it would kill the feeling that I experienced, I feel.

It was a fairly simple itinary Bangalore –Mysore- Madekeri- Sulthanbattery – Ooty, but something I still cant get over is the whole spirit of the journey ,(25-40 odd people, most of them beating their own records each day). For a lot of them it was the first time that they saw themselves do the amount of cycling that they did and not one day ,but day on day.

I am not sure what is it that was on their minds when they were riding! Some were maybe trying to get over something, others were trying to look for answers, others doing just another routine, and maybe others just wanted to show off to themselves and back home.

Another thing I noticed was how most of these people seemed fairly successful in life, by successful I mean the traditional way we define success( a good degree and a good corporate job, after all how many people can afford bikes that cost anywhere between 40 thousand to more than a Lakh)

Well for me- I just wanted a break and the whole unpredictability of the trip, almost forced me to have no expectations, which I guess made it fun. And then there was the thrill of me driving alone/by my self (some other bloggers joined me though, but they were strangers to me at the start of the journey)

For Ram I think it was

1- The fact that he could actually participate (with his Austria trip lined up)

2- He had only done about 80-120 kms to Nandi hills and this was his first big trip (almost 150 kms for 3 Full days)

3- Despite only limited practice he was one of the first few to finish the trip each of the days, this was probably due to his previous cycling experiences

4- Luckily, for these 3 days did not have any injuries and was fit and fine

Highlights of the trip-

1- The fact that one of guys who was apparently some big shot in one of the corporates had his tire punctured not once but thrice. This was’ nt surprising but what was surprising the fact that he seemed unperturbed by the incident

2- Mr Joshi, a 47 old man had a bad fall, where he broke almost 3 teeth and had a wrist fracture..bounced back in a no time

3- We often saw Sharad ,26 year old , stopping in the middle of nowhere(I saw in a jungle) meditating

4- The drive starting from Wayanad to ooty was splendid, despite the steep climb, none of the cyclists felt the pressure