How was Ooty conquered?

So I finally managed to convert an extended weekend into a successful attempt at Ooty, my previous two attempts being colossal fails: P The plan was modified slightly. I had a brainwave of cycling from Mysore, instead of hauling the cycles till Mudhumalai. This is how the trip panned out:

Day 1 (9 Aug 2013)
Route                                   : Mysore – Nanjangud – Gundulpete – Bandipur – Mudhumalai – Gudalur
Distance                               : 125 Km
Time on the road                  : 12 Hrs
 

Day 1 map

The previous evening, I loaded everything that I would be carrying, and did a dry run around home. Two bottles, one handlebar bag (carrying my dslr, tang, and brush), two seat post bags (carrying clothes/multi tool/spare tube/puncture kit/dry fruits), a pump and a raincoat attached to the frame were secured. Initial idea was not to have a backpack, but I ended up carrying a small one, just in case.

On Friday, I set out on ring road at 05:45 Hrs. Met Arun at the ring road – nanjangud road junction. and we were on our way. The weather was pleasant, but the traffic was quite heavy which meant we had to maintain a straight formation. Normal, as it was an extended weekend, and people wanted to head out in droves.

Tender Coconut break during cycling - one of the all time best things!

 It is advisable to clear this section early in the day, as traffic gets very heavy, and the road is quite narrow. The roads till Nanjangud are flat. We reached Nanjangud at 07:00 Hrs and had a solid breakfast. Setting out at 07:45 Hrs, we hit the road to Gundulpete. The landscape changes from here, we find more open spaces and less trees dotting the landscape. The roads are excellent, and traffic is thin. Almost never flat, the roads take you for a ride with its gentle up’s and down’s.

Open roads and vast skies, towards Gundulpete

 After breaks for tender coconuts and watermelons, we reached gundulpete at 10:45 Hrs. The sun was just beginning to show up. After loading up on some food, we were on our way again.

Arun's ride, the KHS 150

 One ultimate thing was, we paid a visit to all the petrol bunks till here, looking for a place which will fill up a tyre pressure of 55 Psi: P: P

Awesome watermelons on the way. Perfect!!

The route began to get more and more scenic, with lush sunflower fields playing havoc with minds. 

Havoc

Basking in the Sun :)

Dreamcatching among children of the sun :D:D

The countryside was very charming, a rustic picture of all things serene and calm. A perfect setting for cycling. Many kids in villages greeted the two cyclists. Thumbs-up signs, cheers and general support from motorists were on the rise. Soon, at 13:00 Hrs, Bandipur forest was here. At the gates, we took a break and mulled over the tactics to tackle the forest area, which mainly revolved around ways to avoid becoming food to the wildlife here :P 

Moment of reckoning!

As lady luck had it, a lone, stray elephant meandered by the road, that too on a slope, just as we entered Bandipur! As some daring (?) motorists stopped for a photo opportunity, we pedaled away furiously!! 

Deer will never be afraid of cyclists cos hey, we are for peace too!

Arun looking out for wildlife 

Clearing the danger area, we hit a series of hairpins. It was pure joy and adrenaline as we switched to low gears and tackled this section, to be rewarded by a freewheeling joyride downhill. It is just perfect and beautiful to cycle on this road, and you do not worry about braking on the speed breakers downhill because hey, we have MTB’s!! J 

Freewheeling

Happiness and Joy

Crossing bandipur and Mudhumalai, we reached theppakaadu, the junction where the path bifurcates, one leading to masinagudi and the other, to Gudalur, out stop for the day. Reinforced with snacks and tea, we set out for the last 17 Km of the day (which would test one’s limits, unexpectedly). This last stretch is where energy ran out and the legs refused to pedal. Gorging on dry fruits and chocolates, we filed on. The last few Kilometers into town was a pilgrimage by foot. We got some suspicious stares by the locals: P

Day 2 (10 Aug 2013)
Route                              : Gudalur - Ooty
Distance                          : 46 Km
Time on the road             : 8 Hrs 15 min

Day 2 map

The day of the big climb was upon us. Immediately from gudalur, there is a 19 Km climb, with an altitude gain of ~1000m. This was the toughie that we had to clear, and the rest of the day would not be that challenging. The first 10 Km of this climb is a killer! Switching to the lowest gears, we tackled this section, pedal by pedal.

Lush, plentiful, verdant

 A few kilometers into this climb, one is blessed with the verdant environment of the tea estates. Cycling here is a great experience, as the nip in the air and the cool shade aids your climb.Further up, there is a dream – like section, full of eucalyptus trees. They reach for the sky and hardly any sunlight reaches the ground. 

Hour for magic.  Where the cycling Gods dwell.

The aroma of this medicinal plant wafts through the air and lends a mystical quality to what you are doing, and you begin to answer some of the ‘why’s’. We took more than 3.5 Hrs to clear this section, with many breaks.

Lets reach for the sky

Arun catching a moment after the climb

Past this climb, one is rewarded with a short but amazing downhill section, into the town of Naduvattam. A quaint lake sits by the village, and cows grazing by the lake makes for a picture-postcard setting.

Feast for the soul

 Kilometers are devoured in this section, and average speed increases dramatically as one tackles the curves with tact and agility. 

Naduvattam. Beautiful section to reach this town. Feels like Le Tour!!!

A couple of more easy and short gradients later, it is just 15 Km to the finish point. This too is done easily, as they decided to intersperse the path with hardships and rewards. We reached Ooty at 16:45 Hrs, earlier than expected.  

The machines rest for the day

Please have a look at this and this for more data of this region.
 

Weird and awesome root formation

Day 3 (11 Aug 2013)
Route                              : Ooty – Masinagudi – Bandipur – Gundulpete – Nanjangud – Mysore (Part cycled, part hauled on trucks)
Distance                          : 50 Km
Time on the road             :  5 Hrs

Day 3 map

The great hairpins beckon on this day! 36 loops of pure thrill, adventure and playing with gravity, with a little danger on the borders. We made extra sure that the quick releases and the brakes are perfect. The terrifying aspect of hurtling off cliffs due to failed brakes played on our minds K This descent demands discipline of a different kind. Your senses are heightened, so is the beauty around you. A fine balance between appreciation and control should be struck.

The gradient is at its steepest, and you should be on the lookout for everything – the stray pebble on the road, the extra sand on the corners, that truck swerving upward, to your end. Perched at the top, scanning the snaking roads carve through the trees, you feel like an eagle, briefly. Tackling these hairpins is a lot of fun, one must also keep in mind to make way to the traffic making its way up. Keep your ears open at all times, you don’t want to be in the path of any vehicle here. The smell of burnt rubber and discs is everywhere, and many vehicles get overheated on the way up too. There is one section with a straight road halfway down here, with speed breakers on one end, and clear tarmac on the other. I remember my friend describing his climb of this section-with the lowest gears, and folks walking faster than he could pedal! 

Kalhatti hairpins downhill. I had tears in my eyes after down this stretch, so much thrill!!

After reaching the bottom, we ran into a bunch of folks from IISC Bangalore, who were scaling this path! After handing over lots of chocolates and dry fruits, we went on, into Masinagudi and Mudhumalai. 

Fellow cyclists we met after the hairpins. True heroes, these people are. They were going up to Ooty from the Kalhatti hairpins side. Grit, determination, mind over matter.

We crossed the forest and gorged on some more watermelons. It had become very sunny, and the prospect of ‘rest’ loomed. We decided to haul a passing truck, to haul the cycles and ourselves back home and get some rest. There was a sense of achievement and peace on returning home.

The joy of having completed Ooty on attempt 3 was pure and real!! It was a great experience filled with jolly company, great scenes for the eye, good food for thought and perspective. Cycling is the best way to experience a place – this belief is reinforced.

Ooty cycling attempt 2, June 2013

After the abysmal failure of Ooty cycling attempt one, the plan was fine- tuned. We headed out and bought a BSA cycling rack. It looked quite promising when we tested it. World environment day had happened on June 6th, and we wanted to mark the occasion by launching a second raid to Ooty, that fabled land.

The day began early, with me heading to 550's place to help secure shadowfax onto the rack. Harnesses were double-checked, lest something give way! Heading to my place, Shadowfax was secured too. Both cycles had their front tyres removed, to decrease weight on the rack.

On ring road. Forgot to set the lens to auto focus

I spent the journey looking back to the cycles, we were very anxious that that rack would give up and the cycles will fall :| so ultra care was taken to glide over undulations slowly, much to the chagrin of fellow motorists. A few in bandipur pulled over, fooled into thinking that wildlife has been spotted :P

Not supposed to stop in the forest, but did so , to secure the harnesses

Looks a little scary now!

Crawling through bandipur and Mudhumalai, we reached theppakaadu, where we thought we could park the car. Unfortunately the proprietor of the hotel said we could not, which meant we had to go to Masinagudi in search of a parking spot.

At masinagudi, a kind gentleman agreed to help the cyclists. We kept the car, unloaded and fixed the cycles.

Unloaded. To be assembled.

Jing was kind(confused) enough to listen to us, and designed a logo for the trip. A wheel and the earth, with a leaf appearing to connect the two. It was beautiful, and we stuck the logos them to our bags and let them flutter in the wind, spreading the message to go green! We are yet to pay him for this, though :P

Dreams fluttering in the wind, raring to go

550's wardrobe malfunction delayed t=0 slightly, and off we went at 10:30 Hrs! First stop theppakadu, junction where paths bifurcate to Mysore, Gudalur. 7 Km till here. From here to Gudalur it is 17 Km and we made short work of it, aided by the pleasant climate and generous roads.

Sandwich break

We rolled into Gudalur by noon, and had a big lunch at a really nice place. 50 Km from here to Ooty, a seed of doubt was planted now :D

Speciality parking, primary prerequisite. Cycles to be in line of sight/ accessible at a moment's notice. Paranoid about this fact!

Post a sumptuous lunch, we pedalled on, to be encountered by a big gradient. Something like this was not tackled, so we pedalled on cautiously and slowly. Half hour into the ride, we felt that we were in soup :P to add to the lingering confusion, a few muscles decided to play havoc to test our decision making :P

A swift regrouping later, we enumerated our options - haul a truck, head back to Gudalur? Entirely unsure, we decided to 'at least push the cycles towards Ooty'. Equations of average speed/ time were shredded, to unmask more shades of uncertainty. The constant drizzle further engulfed minds in fogs of doubt. So we ate some corn:

The cinders did a great deal to the souls cold to the bone!

And moved on towards Ooty, thinking that Ooty would be the destination for the day somehow. Dragging our feet, we pushed the cycles up the slopes, hoping that some truck would stop and haul us till Ooty :) To make matters worse the rain increased and now it was a steady pour. Fortunately, a goods auto chap took pity on the cyclists pushing their cycles and offered to haul us till some place Unfortunately, he did not take us the whole way, and we ended up just shy of Naduvattam, a picturesque village by a lake.

The next 1.5 hours was spent in Naduvattam shivering in the cold and rain, waiting for the truck chap to finish cleaning his truck! When we did get hauled into the truck, the rains kind-of increased, and I guess we came close to freezing on the top of that truck, struggling to maintain balance while the truck swerved on those curves!

The remnants of the day was spent in discussing 'Will power', 'The 50Km theory' and 'How much to pay Jing (for designing the logo):P', in high spirits.

Cycles secure in the room!

Day two was a more relaxed affair as it would be downhill on the kalhatti hairpins :D It was a very long time since I had gone on this road so I was raring to go! With 36 Hairpin curves, this section was the most steep I have seen ,around here. More care was taken to check and double-  check brakes and the quick release.

On the way down - day 2

 Soon the hairpins began , as announced by the board below. At this point, the view opens up and it is breathtaking to see the road snaking through the forest. A few clicks, and we were off.

The famed Kalhatti hairpins!

 There are some beautiful views along the way, but you have to be careful not to take your sight off the road. Speed builds up rapidly here. One cannot go without braking for more than 5 seconds,  the gradient is that high. All along the way down, one smells burnt rubber and metal, as vehicles splutter to make it up (and the novice's burn their discs on the way down). It takes some understanding of how things work, on this route.

It is a pleasure to sit and see these houses on the hill

Kids in a village on the way down

 I remember Bharath speaking about one straight stretch, where he struggled even with the lowest gears, with people walking past him faster than he could cycle. I knew it when I saw this :

Scary gradient, straight road here with speed breakers on one side!

 Going up here would be a true test of ones resolve, pure mind over matter stuff. It will take a strong will and huge lungs!

:)

A lot of fun to go downhill here

 There is a very perceptible change in temperature upon completing the slope and hitting the plains. Cycling down, we made our way to Masinagudi, Theppakaadu and Bandipur reserve. Post Gundulpete we hauled another truck to take us home :D

See the little one ? :)

My cycle named after this cafe :)

With two failed attempts at scaling Ooty, many lessons were learnt, and we promised to fine - tune the plan

 for the final assault!

Mysore - Ooty - Coonoor solo ride

“Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. ” – Anatole France

A restoration of harmony was on the cards. Desperately. So was a ride to the hills. When the call becomes irresistible , and restlessness rules the roost, one must wander to quell the anarchy and meditate on the calming effect that riding brings. So I packed up and set out.

Day 1: Mysore – Nanjangud – Gundlupet – Gudalur - Ooty
Distance            : 155 Km
Time                  : 06:00 Hrs - 12:30
Pit stops            : Many!!!
Road condition  : God Level

Set out from home at 06:00 Hrs, it was still dark, and quite cold too. The ring road is still under construction in some patches and I was not in a hurry. Wanted to break for food in Nanjangud which is 23Km away. Shadow was changing to light, and it was brilliant to observe the changing colours in the morning sky. Close to Nanjangud road – Ring road intersection, Betta presented a nice outline with an orange sky filled with promise:

Came across a huge bunch of birds hanging out on a tree, by a lake, just outside town:

Roosting

It was sunrise just before I made it to Nanjangud. After a quick breakfast, I was on my way. The road from Nanjangud – Gundlupet (37Km) were awesome, with minimal speed breakers where necessary. For some reason, they decided to pave the road again, which made riding here a joy:

My wonderful and trusted ride, at a break. Beautiful :)

The good roads continue into Bandipur forest reserve too. Inside the reserve, one is expected to ride understanding that this is an ecological hotspot. No honking, over speeding, littering please!

Inside Bandipur

One can spot a variety of wild birds and animals in Bandipur. This is a tiger and elephant hotspot.

A peacock struts:

The peacocks are brought to shame. Your strut is not in vain.

And a Vervet monkey gazes:

Vervet

It is a pleasant ride, and one can listen to un interrupted sounds of nature, provided there are no vehicles to spoil this! Good place , soothing.

Soon we enter Mudhumalai forest reserve, the name given to the forest on the Tamil Nadu side of the border. I wanted to get to ooty via Gudalur. The Gudalur route is longer than the normal route. But, it is less steeper. Did not want to put my bike through the rigours of a steep climb, hence this decision :) 

After Theppakadu, we get a diversion. The road to the left goes to Masinagudi and then Ooty. The one to the right takes us to Ooty Via Gudalur. Just past this junction is a river which runs along the road, and I saw some elephants being bathed :

Say hello to the 7000th click from the 500!

Milestone

It turned out that those elephants were getting out of the river, and into the road. My bike was parked right on that path, and it was a tense few seconds when I was faced off with the pachyderm :D

From Gudalur, the landscape changes to bamboo groves. Nice, cool, with lots of shade:

Further on, out of nowhere, there is this eucalyptus plantation. It is like entering some sort of dream land, as the scent of eucalyptus wafts through the air. These trees reach for the sky, very tall! A beautiful and serene place to be in:

Just loved this stretch

Eucalyptus trees everywhere

Scented breeze

Great roads and very pleasing environment

 

:)

Post this point there were some pretty unbelievable views of from the higher altitudes. I was too stunned to stop and click!

Reached ooty by noon, roamed around looking for a suitable place to stay. Finally stuck a deal to place my bike in a secure parking area in one hotel, and stay in another hotel!

 Checked in, freshened up. It was pretty sunny, and for some reason , did not want to roam around town in my bike. So went around town walking. Think I ended up walking some 10Km that day! Was good, though. Visited Rose garden and Botanical garden. Have blogged the pictures for these places over here.

Day 2: Ooy - Coonoor- Ooty - Gudalur- Mysore:

Distance            : 165 Km
Time                  : 06:00 Hrs - 12:30
Pit stops            : Many!!!
Road condition  : God Level

Decided to begin day 2 early, checked out at 07:00 Hrs and man, it was cold! I did not have those full palm gloves, and soon my fingers were aching in the cold! More reason to indulge in the coveted Alpinestars. Worse, nothing was open in town, so no piping hot tea to begin the day.

There are some pretty epic scenes on the way from Ooty to Coonoor. Coonoor is at a lower altitude than Ooty is, so it is a downhill ride. Along the way, one gets to see the whole expanse of the lower regions of the nilgiri range, and it is one of the most beautiful sights that I have seen in my life. Jaw dropping beautiful. Tip = If you are in ooty, get off your butt and visit this view point, just a couple of km towards Coonoor. You will not regret. The sun rises beyond the hills, and the lower plains are covered in a blanket of mist. Highly recommended ride!

Over the hills and far away

On the way to Coonoor

Very enjoyable ride to Coonoor. After reaching town, I scouted the town. Plan was to stay in Coonoor for the day and check out a few places. Coonoor is much smaller than Ooty, with very few options for stay. Think that people do Coonoor only from Ooty and stay back there for the night. Had piping hot tea in town. Life is restored to those veins! Had breakfast at a hotel near the centre of town. Made an alternate plan of getting back to Mysore today, as I found out that places of interest close by are mostly view points.

So I was on the way back to Ooty now! It was not that cold, and I was in Ooty by 08:30 Hrs. Took the Gudalur route to Mysore again. Did not stop many times, except for breaks to get the blood circulation back on track, and some tea breaks. Riding downhill needed another set of skills. Honk at all corners, judge the apex, expect the unexpected, be patient while overtaking the trucks and buses.

A few images from the return journey:

Reached Gudalur quite soon, as there were not many photo breaks on the way. Gundulpet came pretty soon too. Past this point, it was pretty effortless to reach triple digit speeds. Stopped for tea in Nanjangud past noon, and was home for lunch!

Do the Mysore - Ooty-Coonoor at least once, and do it on your bike. You get to stop where your heart pleases, and click to your content. In a car it becomes that much more difficult to park on those winding roads :) Highly recommended ride!