The cycle ride

3.15 am on Sunday! I dont think anyone would think of getting up at that time on a Sunday. I had to and the only reason was the bike ride to Mabahalipuram.

TI Cycles was organizing a ride to Mahabs. They started new group called Chainreaxion on Facebook and then informed a lot of us about the ride. It was a while since I did my last ride. So I decided to do it. Manu, Kaushal, Bajji, Subbu, Abhinav and myself signed up for the ride. Subbu dropped out because of two full days of management training prior to the ride and that was more than enough to tire him out. Abhinav was dehydrated from the previous day's party. I wonder how because he was inside the swimming pool most of the time. Ultimately, it was just the four of us.

4.00am - picked up Bajji from Abhinav's place.

4.15am - reached the starting point to find out that no one had come. quite a shock. the emails that were sent out mentioned that if anyone turned up late, they would be left back.

4.30am - some ppl were there but no signs of the organizers. they were supposedly on their way. by this time, manu and kaushal were already there. we decided to start warming up and do some stretching. bajji was fast asleep in the car.

4.45am - some more ppl arrive. one car comes with some really cool Bianchi cycles. the employees of TI decided to show off with some of those expensive bikes.

5.00am - most of the organizers are there but the trucks with the cycles have not yet arrived. we were already 30 mins late. Tanvi Shah lands up. I have been talking to Tanvi about the ride over the last 2 days or so. In fact, I have been asking her questions over questions and she has been patiently replying to me. So I met her and told her that I was the one who was quizzing her so much. Later Bajji comes and tells me that she is Tanvi Shah, the playback singer. I didnt believe him. And then a lot others confirmed the same. I was like - Oh my god! I have been talking to Tanvi 'Slumdog' Shah! I hope I didnt annoy her too much with my silly questions.

5.15am - first set of cycles arrive. they are the usual BSA machs and the hercules ACT series. I rode the ACT during the last TI ride and i had a very bad experience. the resistance was very high and the gear shift mechanism was hopeless. so this time i didnt take the ACT. everyone is testing cycles, pulling up seats and making all sorts of adjustments.

5.30 - two other trucks arrive and i finally managed to get one mach cycle. there were a bunch of so called new cycles. and these cycles had air pumps, mud-guards, rear-carrier etc. I was like - who will buy this. all these things add so much weight to the cycle. it affects the ride quality. anyway, TI was supposed to come out with a geared version of the Mach, but they are probably sleeping on it. the one i pulled out had no gears. i changed my seat to a smaller one because it had to fit my gel seat cover that i had got. i was also wearing cycling shorts for extra comfort. just to ensure that i dont sleep on my chest the whole of sunday.

5.50am - we were all set to leave. we entered the road to ECR from thiruvanmiyur bus depot. myself, manu and kaushal crossed the road. bajji was a little behind. after we crossed, i started pedalling. i never looked back for a while. after sometime i noticed that there was no one behind me. i didnt know what was happening but i didnt want to stop as well. i kept riding.

our first stop was the PIT STOP restaurant. this was the only time for which, the vehicle that carried water was in front of me. I had some water. emails promised gatorade but there were no signs of that. started riding again. from there on, it was a very long ride. there were two stops before the final destination but i did not stop because then i will have had to wait for the vehicle to catch up with me. the vehicle was following the crowd and the crowd was way behind. only one guy (a blue dart pilot) was riding with me. and we were cruising at 25kmph roughly. the first half was really tough. i was quite pained to ride a cycle with no gears. it was horrible. i wanted to take my TREK but the only problem was getting it back; because our way back was by a bus that was arranged for us. when i saw the board that said 13km to Mahabs, I was thrilled because from there it was downhill by the numbers and I had to just keep going.

i was pissed that the vehicle was not leading us and trailing somewhere behind. i needed water and there was no chance of getting it. the only option was to walk up to some hut on the way and ask for some. i decided that i'll manage somehow. in exactly 2 hrs we reached the destination - Chariot beach resort. about 45 kms from chennai and past all the architectural beauty of Mahabs.

i guess the guy at the resort wasnt expecting us so early. breakfast tables hadnt been laid out. he took some time to do all that and in the meantime i stretched. english breakfast was served - cereals, muffins, donuts, baked vegetables, juice etc.

slowly people started getting in. by the time everyone arrived it was 10am. Action King Arjun was also there. his daughter was riding with us. so he decided to give us company. i heard that NDTV HINDU made some coverage during the ride but we were way past all of that action.

it was a great ride. would have been better if we had started by 5am. could have avoided a lot of sun. also, there werent any helmets. we were promised but it wasnt there.

hopefully, next time, this will get better.

Weekend Well Spent

My weekend started on Thursday evening when I boarded the train to Kodai Road. It was a fun filled three day weekend. Highlights as follows:

1. Ran to catch the moving train. I was actually sitting inside another train on the opposite platform until my friends came and told me that I was sitting in the wrong train.

2. Was forced to listen to a torture conversation from a supporting actor by name Y.Vijaya. She always comes in the tamil movies as someone who belongs to the bad guys family.

3. Got to see some of the spots where the movie Subramaniyapuram was shot.

4. Awesome breakfast at Sholavanthan.

5. Got to check out the Vadipatti artifical turf ground. Apparently, Vadipatti churns out the maximum enthusiasts for hockey from Tamil Nadu.

6. Tried Paneer Soda after almost a decade. God, it was so refreshing. And then, Bovonto, another amazing drink.

7. Took a small walk in Kodaikanal on Friday evening. Visibility was like 2 feet.

8. Saturday morning was bright and sunny. So, we ended up doing a 30 plus km cycle ride in the hills. Went around the lake and took the upper lake view road straight to the golf course, then Pillar Rocks and then the Berijam Checkpost. From there headed down another hill for about 15 kms.

9. Amazing uphills and downhills. Downhill speed of atleast 35-40kmph. Got knackered completely on the uphills. Every hill was a challenge. There was always this tendency to give up and get on to the support truck. But, giving an extra mile of effort is such a pleasant feeling and it gives you a great feeling at the end. So I kept riding the cycle until the guys just forced me to stop.

10. Bought half a kilo of home made chocolates from Kodi - Raisins, Dates, Butter Scotch, Almonds. Every possible flavor.

11. Took a scary ride back to Sholavanthan. The driver drove the Omni at 60kmph through the hills. He reached the foothills in about an hour. Every minute, I was fearing whether I was going to throw up.

12. Reached Madurai on Sunday morning and tasted the world famous Jigar-Thanda. There are only 2 shops in Madurai that are famous for this. Every other seller is trying to fake it.

13. Visited the Thirumalai Naicker Mahal, which was under renovation. So nothing much to see, other than concrete, cement and paint all over the place.

14. Silambattam - the best thing to happen in Madurai. Totally Simbhu style and killer movie.

15. A mindblowing concert by Vedanth Bharadwaj at the INTACH Madurai to end the holiday.

Trek 3700

I finally bought myself a TREK 3700



I wanted to get a nice road bike for a very long time. Over the last six months, I did a lot of research on different bikes available in the Indian market. Went through product brochures of BSA, Hero, Hercules, Avon, Firefox, Lumala, LA Sovereign, TREK, Merida, Raleigh etc etc.

All the Indian brands are mostly priced below 10K. But the build quality is not good. There is always some stiffness with the bike and the gear shift mechanism is not very smooth. I have tried the BSA ones very often. Even the latest one called ACT 105 isn't that great. There is something that makes the imported ones feel better during the ride.

Lumala is SriLankan. They are good, but very heavy. And there is no guarantee for good service. And also difficult to get spares. LA Sovereign is a joint venture with a Thai firm. They have good alloy bikes, but not that great for the price that you pay.

Then I checked Merida through a dealer in Bangalore. Great bike, but the logistics of getting the bike to Chennai and then servicing it here. Its not easy.

Raleigh - amazing bikes from the UK. These are produced right now in Asia. The Hypercity in Bombay has stocks but they dont ship to other states. If you have anyone in Bombay who is willing to ship it for you, then the Explorer and the MTRAX models are absolutely great bikes.

Firefox Target and Firefox Reloaded were also in my budget. I was almost buying the Reloaded, when the guy suggested the TREK. I had a look at the bike and it suited my requirements better than the Firefox. The Firefox has tyres that are better suited for the flat roads. So, for off-roading, you'll need to have another set of tyres. The TREK comes with the tyres used for mountain biking, but the best part is that the TREK on a flat road with such tyres is as good as the Firefox. Also, the Shimano gear system that is used on both these bikes is different. That enhances some quality of the product as well.

Anyway, now I am all thrilled about my new road bike. I am just waiting to hit Kodai in December for that wonderful cycling tour.

And if you need any help on buying road bikes, do feel free to reach out to me. I'll be glad to help.