Place: Yercaud.
Distance: 250 x 2 = 500kms. (Our run came upto 560kms as the forest route was taken)
Directions: Bengaluru – Hosur – Dennaikotte – Anchetty – Dharampuri – Salem – Yercaud – Dharampuri – Krishnagiri – Hosur - Bengaluru.(Our run - 280kms)
ii) Bengaluru - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharampuri - Salem - Yercaud. (250kms)
ii) Bengaluru - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharampuri - Salem - Yercaud. (250kms)
Particiapants: Zethu > Sp.
Bikes: Avenger 220.
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
This was another classic old-school run to the wonderful hill station of Tamil Nadu – Yercaud. Known as the “poor man’s Ooty” this place is more of a picnic spot for family visits. But yeah one thing about Yercaud all motorcycle clubs love is the ride to the place.
INTRO & PLAN:
Well Zethu was the only one on the confirmed list, and both of us had to get back on SH-17a (the interior forest route after Hosur) as it would refreshen the blood filled memories of our Hogenekkal Trip. So… after having decided to meet at my place at 06:00 hrs, we crashed.
TIME: 00:00 hrs (22/1/2012)
ASSEMBLE:
Yeah I was up at 04:00 hrs, had a cup of coffee, did a few push-ups & was all set for a long day on the road. Zethu arrived at my place at around 05:45, it was more than 2 months since we both had pulled of a chapter, so both of us were pumped up and ready to hit the road. We decided to head out on Zethu’s Avy!!
TIME: 06:00 hrs
RIDE 1: (Bengaluru – Hosur - Saints bunk stop)
Alright this was a 50-60kmsstretch, we got out of the city early as the traffic was lean. After reaching Hosur road (NH-7), we cruised at a decent pace to reach the Karnataka-TN border. Once we crossed the border we entered the Hosur outskirts & took a deviation towards Dennaikotte and stopped at our signature petrol bunk.
TIME: 07:30 hrs
Ps: One can continue straight on NH-7 to Yercaud, the distance comes upto 250kms. But for us, this interior route is something special, a remembrance of our Hogenekkal Trip.
RIDE 2: (Hosur - Dennaikotte – Anchetty - Saints outpost)
We had some tea at the petrol bunk, we cruised along the excellent roads of SH-17a. It was not long before we spotted the small stone bench on which we had rested on our way back from Hogenekkal with blood dripping from our heads, knees and hands.
We crossed the two bridges of this route without any difficulty as it was completely dried out. We reached Dennaikottai and as we continued further towards Anchetty the roads became excellent with superb curves. The weather was cool even though the sun was up, this made riding conditions ideal. After some consistent riding we reached the perfect pit-stop.
PERFECT PITSTOP:
Well we were a little disappointed that there weren’t any clouds moving around mountain ranges like the last time, but we still sat here for a good amount of time speaking about our last trip & what we had been upto for the past 3 months.
We left the place after 15-20mins and continued further to reach our second signature stop.
SAINTS OUTPOST:
We spent about 30mins here sitting and sharing some of our funny/epic moments. There was thick forest surrounding us in all directions, the idea of night camping did occur but we decided to stick to the original plan.
TIME: 09:15 hrs
RIDE 3: (Saints outpost – Hogenekkal)
So… as we left the Saints outpost, we cruised at a decent pace. In a few minutes we spotted the mighty MM hills and we started recollecting the chapter where we we had spotted elephants. Soon the hair-pin curves started & Zethu enjoyed negotiating each one of them to perfection.
The last stretch to hogenekkal consisted of really good forest roads very similar to Mutathi & BR hills. And yeah everytime we spotted bulls grazing we would slow down & keep enough safe distance :P ha-ha!!
Cruising along we reached Hogenekkal, as it was Sunday the place was jam-packed. And it would also be time consuming, so we decided to skip and continued towards Yercuad.
TIME: 10:00 hrs
RIDE 4: (Hogenekkal – Dharampuri – Salem
Well this stretch was for about 120kms and a good one too. As we left Hogenekkal our first priority was to re-join NH-7. As continued further we spotted the place where we had met with an accident, had a hearty laugh and continued further to reach Dharampuri.
TIME: 11:00hrs
After reaching the NH-7 it was pure sailing on the butter smooth highway. We kept re-collecting our college clowns and it not long before we reached Salem
TIME: 12:00 hrs
It was pretty easy to get out of the city, thanks to the well organised traffic and broad roads to reach the foot of the mighty Yercaud.
TIME: 12:30 hrs
RIDE 5: (Ascension – Yercaud)
This stretch was for about 35kms which consisted of 20 hair-pin curves with beautiful views all along the way. As we started the ascension we found broad excellent roads. We negotiated the first 2 HP curves with joy and were ready to for more, But the next 25-30kms was just plain hill climbing with no HP curves, but yeah excellent scenery throughout.
The last 5-7kms to Yercuad is the best, the remaining 18 HP curves are clustered in this stretch, this made the ascension very quick and the drop in temperature could be easily felt. Once we reached the top, we were 1350 feet above sea level, and weather was cool even though the sun was up.
TIME: 13:00 hrs
YERCAUD:
Alright there are about 10 places to cover at this hill station. Vehicles can be taken, but yeah we decided to walk. The walk was for about 10-13kms which drained away all our energies and my right knee which had problems before had taken a the worst turn.
i) Yercaud lake:
First we parked Avy at the Yercaud lake. Boating is a big attraction at this place. But definitely not the thing for us, so we took small stroll and decided to continue further.
ii) Lady’s Seat:
We walked through the town; this view point is about 3-4kms from the Yercaud lake. The view was breadth taking and yeah there was a telescope for viewing assistance.
iii) Gent ’s Seat:
Continuing further, Gent ’s seat is about 10mins walk from the Lady’s Seat. We bought bottles of juice and sat down & sipping away. We could see the hair-pin curves which had lead us to the top, it looked like a snake :D
iv) Children’s seat/Park:
We thought to ourselves “why couldn’t the entire family have one big seat :P” ha-ha!!
v) Pagoda view point:
We walked back to the Yercaud Lake
Well in our opinion this is the best view point!! The overall view was superb, grabbed a cup of corn and started munching away – it was our first meal of the day :)
After spending about 30min we left this wonderful place.
vi) Kilyur waterfalls:
This is an excellent water fall, but unfortunately was dry. Have to take a 3kms deviation from the Yercaud lake to reach this place.
vii) Servarayan Temple:
The most famous temple of Yercaud
viii) Montfort & Sacred heart:
These are the famous educational institutions of Yercaud. We just had a peep from outside and left.
ix) Bear Cave
This is a huge cave next to the Nortorn Bungalow. This place used to be a play home for bears.
x) AnnaPark:
As we rode back to the Yercaud lake, we came across this park to witness kids playing on slides, see-saw etc., we had second thoughts of joining the kids and beating them at the slides … ha-ha kidding :P
So… these are the important places to see at Yercaud. With the coffee powder tightly packed in the bag & a few sit-ups to make my right knee feel better, we were all set to ride back Bengaluru :)
TIME: 16:00 hrs
RIDE 6: (Decension – Yercaud)
We switched off the engine & allowed Avy to take us down the hill. The HP curves were a joy to negotiate. And believe it or not we covered the next 35kms with our engine switched off to reach Salem
TIME: 16:45 hrs
RIDE 7: (Salem
This was a good 120kms stretch of easy riding with sufficient breaks taken of course.
About 30mins on the highway we could hear a sound from the bike so we pulled over & inspected the bike. We found that the engine guard was loose, so removed it. Continuing further we took sufficient breaks for snacks, and stopped at the outskirts of Dharampuri for a drinks break. Once we left Dharampur, the sun went down and the cold set-in real quick. The increase in the traffic was drastic but we cruised along to reach Krishnagiri.
TIME: 18:30hrs
RIDE 8: (Krishnagiri – Hosur – Bengaluru)
This was a 100kms stretch on the butter smooth NH-7, but it was no easy task pulling this one off. This was one of my hardest stretches till date, considering the fact we had done 450kms and my right knee was pretty much done.
The cold which set-in was a real bad one and the traffic which had increased drastically (Sunday) was something we both were getting bugged of. I could feel the extra cold as there were no hair on my head :P ha-ha!! So took out a monkey cap, wore it and continued. Zethu rode like there was no tomorrow to reach the outskirts of Hosur.
TIME: 20:45 hrs
Continuing further we entered back Karnataka, there was no turning back from then. Our energies shot up again and without taking any further breaks even though both of us were in bad shape, we reached back home.
We had clocked 560kms for the day as we had taken the interior route, it was kick-ass experience – Literally:P
TIME: 22:00 hrs
CONCLUSION:
I’d like to conclude this article by saying “ This was and excellent old-school run to one of the best hill stations of South India . Eating only corns & drinking only fluids we pulled this chapter off. And yeah it was a great come back for the both of us after the Hogenekkal trip & a great start to a New Year :D”
PARTICIPANT VIEW:
ZETHU: Rode the whole distance, flawless riding. His humorous stories kept us entertained throughout the day.
AVY: More of a companion, pulled 560kms in day :D
SP: Right knee dammar, Creep bandage time :P
Until next time Cia \m/
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