Riders
Mani - Triumph T100 Bonneville
Ashok - Triumph T100 Bonneville
Venky - Harley Davidson Street Bob
Sundar - Avenger 220 Cruise
Mahesh - Versys 650
It had to happen.. Kanyakumari being my native place, a visit to home soil on a bike was destined for me.. So it happened on Dec 28-30, 2018. A nice way to close down the year... !
The trip was envisaged as an endurance ride, to cover 1300-1350kms over 2 days.. The route was the famed NH44 (earlier NH7) highway all the way from Bangalore to Kanyakumari, so the quick ride expectation was very much possible. But, it was starting of long (year-end) weekend and we wanted to miss the early morning migration out of Bangalore that is common to see on such long weekends.
Hence, we broke the onward journey and finalized on
Day 01 - Bangalore to Namakkal (250kms)
Day 02 - Namakkal to Kanyakumari (400kms)
Day 03 - Kanyakumari to Bangalore (650kms)
Day 01: December,28,2018
The idea was to miss early evening traffic, so we synced-up and started by 2.30pm from Attibele toll.
Traffic was moderate and the weather was perfect for riding.. It was mildly sunny, just enough to keep things moving. Had a refreshing stop near Mangalam hotel, just after taking right turn towards Namakkal at Salem, for bhajjis and hot tea.. We rolled into Nala Hotel (excellent hotel at amazingly low prices) around 7pm...
Day 02: December, 29,2018
Had a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel and left by 9am.. While riding towards Karur, Ashok realized that the nuts at top of front forks had loosened on both sides and ride was bit wobbly.. We were stopped at a NHAI Highway Mini Nest place, having refreshments and asking for mechanic place, when another Harley Street Bob rolled in.. It was a couple also going to Kanyakumari.. They were visiting some remote tribal village near Pechiparai... The villagers actually welcome outsiders to witness their way of living and are willing to interact.. Sounds like fun to be done sometime..
Ashok eventually found the allen key required at nearby car mechanic shop and we were all set to go again..
The day was mostly cloudy with small spots of rain and we reached Kanyakumari TriSea Hotel by 7pm... We didnt have any plans to visit Vivekanada Memorial Rock anyway and were contended with looking at it from the hotel itself..
Some late night munching on small nearby restaurants closed our day.
 |
| Eerily watching us having lunch... what do helmets eat??? |
 |
| The ENLIGHTENED ones !!! |
 |
| Early morning sun break... |
 |
| Our rides.. :) |
Woke up early with the hope of catching sunrise (again from hotel) but the clouds spoiled the fun.. :(
Started by 7.30am from the hotel and was an uneventful ride back to Bangalore.. Again, weather was awesome.. and traffic surprisingly light.. we stopped for a break at every toll and this became a ritual on this ride.. :)
We reached Bangalore quite late, around 9.30pm.. thereby closing on first Kanyakumari ride!!!
