Life on "2" wheels

It was in Manipal during my days in TAPMI that i realised the joys of biking. An eager traveller; combining biking and travelling came naturally to me. Manipal became my grooming ground for the biking trips; the place where my journey on 2 wheels started. Initially restricted to the places surrounding Manipal, it has since grown to be a passion covering great distances. Truely speaking the place (Manipal) with its serene beauty and the people (Colaco, Srini, Anna, Chotu, Sam and 'Hum nahi aa raha' Saria) inspired the many rides that i was a part of.

Manipal - Bekal fort - Manipal (Dec 22, 2007)

Manipal - Sita Falls - Aagumbe - Kaup - Manipal (Dec 31, 2007)

Manipal - Om Beach - Manipal

Manipal - Jog Falls - Manipal

Manipal - Mukambika - Kundapura - Manipal

Kerela: (Mar 17, 2007 - Mar 27, 2007)
3 bikes, 5 people, almost 2500 Km, in 11 days. This is what best describes our Kerela trip. But these are just numbers and there is lot more to the trip than these numbers can summarise. This trip was special in many ways. This was our (Mine, Anna, Condy, Srini and Boka) first major biking trip over such a long distance and for such a long time. The trip was entirely planned by us (having no previous experience at it). We were running on tight budget. Srini had dared and got perm from Ambika. Boka agreed to come. Condy got his bullet fully done up. Anna was roaming the Mallu land so extensively for the first time. This trip sure was special.....
As most things begin, the meticulous planning helped. We lost 2 bikes on the previous night. Srini couldn't find his bike papers (wow!!! what a timing) and Maadu stated his bike wasn't in shape (We would have agreed if Gadiyar has said so). What a start to the trip!!!!! That started a desparate hunt for bikes. Finally after a night long search we managed to convince Maadu for his bike and also managed (after loads of begging and pleading) to get another bike (courtesy: Rajat Vij) with half papers (insurance missing)....atleast we were ready to hit the road guys....

Since most night was utilised in hunting for bikes, we were already behind schedule. Adding to this was lazy Boka (Jaana hain kya???) and the hunger pangs...Finally we moved almost 2 hrs behind scheduled time at 9:00 a.m. The good thing was we had a sufficiently nice sleep and had our bellys full. This saved us a halt for breakfast (we already had one!!!!). Our ride started with a good photo session...to remember the days before we put layers of tan to give each one of us The Italian look (or the Somalian one as most called it....).

Our initial plans had first 2 days of hardcore riding (400 kms a day) from Manipal till Kanya Kumari. All our plans went for a toss by the end of day 1 when we realised that we were being too ambitious in setting our daily riding distance to 400 kms. We also realised riding is not that easy on our backsides specially with loaded bags. We were carrying 2 rucksacks, one small bag and a laptop. We started well by covering the distance upto Mangalore in good time but then on, the sun and the riding took its toll on us. We were riding in very hot conditions and decided instead to halt for lunch and let the heat recede. This helped us in getting some rest and also to cover up a good distance in the evening. We gto to catch up with a beautiful sunset on our way and made a short halt to see it. By 7:30 odd we were Kozhikode, almost 50 kms off our target. We decided to call it a day and to spend our first night there. After some searching around, we were able to find 2 rooms for Rs. 150 each. We parked our luggage and headed for the bar. There was no part of our bosy which did not ache. but nothing described this better than this picture.

Manipal - Kushalnagar - Bangalore: (Mar 31, 2007 - Apr 1, 2008)

Mumbai - Bhimashanker - Pune: (Apr 5, 2008 - Apr 6, 2008)