Riding again to Valparai
I wanted to ride again to Valparai to note how different it feels from 2008. I remembered riding in the rain through clouds and green tea estates and how beautiful it was. I had forgotten its details. I also remember it as one of the longest ones we did until then. So I thought it would be great to ride again to see what has changed and if Valparai is as pretty as I think.
It was just me on CB350 and Manju on his HD this time. We also planned to take a different route rather than the standard highway. We left on 3rd October at around 6 AM. The route was Electronics City - NICE Road - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Kollegala - Chamarajanagara - Satyamangala - Annur - Pollachi and Valparai. There wasn't much traffic, the ride was smooth, and the views were pretty. It was a good choice. I loved the ride through the Satyamangalam forest and the Dhimbam Ghats. Dhimbam Ghat road is about 14 Kilometers with 27 hairpin bends. It is beautiful and fun to ride. We reached Bannari RTO to ensure riding a yellow board Karnataka registered 2WL in Tamil Nadu is OK. Apparently, you do not need to do anything, though I am still unsure even after the RTO officer at Bannri assured me it's OK :)
By about 5:30 PM, we reached Valparai hairband curves. From there, we rode slowly, as it was very, very beautiful. We took lots of breaks. Manju remebered more than me. I did remember a few things after he reminded me. At one point, we rode through a cloud. We reached Valparai by dusk. It took us some time to find the Annamalai Club, where we stayed, thanks to a friend. I did add the accurate location of the Annamalai Club to OSM. The weather was great the whole day except for a bit near Coimbatore bypass.
The second day was a slow day. We visited the town and went around the tea estates. Then we visited a couple of water dams and a waterfall. There weren't many people, so it was good. The waterfall was fun.
We left around 7 AM on Saturday. Again, we took lots of time to ride down the hills. This time, I wanted to shoot some videos on my GO2. I had it attached to my jacket, so I was very cautious. We also encountered a couple of radio-tagged mountain goats on the way. The ride was beautiful. Also, the fact that Manju and I could talk on an intercom made it enjoyable.
We took the highway for the most part. We skipped the highway between Salem and Dharmapuri (We took Mettur road). We took a picture at Mettur dam like last time. The weather was fantastic all the way. The air became much cooler as we reached Dharmapuri. Then, we saw some wet patches on the road as we approached Krishnagiri. We thought we had escaped the rain. But to be safe, covered the luggage in waterproof covers.
As we reached Bommasandra, we were hit by massive rain. Thankfully, we were near an unopened metro station. We took coverage. We waited for two hours for the rain and traffic to reduce. I started again at 8:45 and reached by 10 AM. Traffic was OK, but I got hit by rain again close to MG Road. I came home thoroughly drenched. How can there be a ride to Valparai without that?
The ride was fun, enjoyable, and refreshing. A lot of water has flown in Cauvery since 2008. I have changed a lot, and things around me have changed a lot. This ride brought back many memories and allowed me to reflect on some things. Overall, as Manju said at some point during the ride on the intercom, life is not bad; we are doing OK.
