My first group ride
Having finished my Solo ride to Kodanad, Pykara, the southern part of the large beautiful Nilgiris landscape, I was pursuing my everyday work with great memories and a refreshing mind. Missing those landscapes and my solo ride experience, I have been thinking about that for so long until I got a message from a known friend, Jithu Joseph. He offered me to join his group ride to Pichavaram which he had planned. Having stressed my motorcycle for more than 1000 km, I and my motorcycle were not ready for that. But thinking twice and since it's not that far from Chennai, I said to myself "Let's do this trip!". I asked my other friend, Ram also to join me and this blog is about the experiences which I had on my group ride with new people to Pichavaram.
On my way to the meeting point
We were asked to meet at the toll plaza on East Coast Road, Chennai. I'm glad that I have already bought the necessary riding accessories. It was quite a drizzly morning. It was 5 am and I reached the meeting point. One of the friends of Jithu Joseph is already waiting there. Having reached there, somehow I found Hussain bro in the Tea shop waiting for us. Not knowing how to start the conversion, we started to talk about our motorcycle which was the same FZSv3. We had a great talk, he answered all my queries and I admired the custom design of his motorcycle. Other fellow riders joined us in the meantime and we met and welcomed each other.
Being the Guide
After having some chai, we started to the lineup and we decided to stop by the next location which is Kovalam bridge, the place for watching beautiful sunrise and every ECR guy has to stop there on his journey, no question asked!. Having visited Pichavaram before, Hussain bro suggested me to be the guide in the front. Unexpectedly I was given a great responsibility to be a guide for 6 riders who has to believe that I would choose the correct route and had to follow me for the rest of the trip. I had to maintain nominal speed and I have the responsibility to stop by for a break and to fill fuel. Hussain bro and Jithu Joseph gave me some tips and it is very generous of them. We started soon after the discussion and the drizzle started to increase, which we are prepared for.
A snapshot and a crash
We reached the Kovalam bridge. Our motorcycles are looking beautifully reflective which leads to a snapshot of our lineup. But not just stopping there, we took some selfies together and also with our motorcycles. Since it was the weekend, a group of Harley riders passed us who got everyone's eyes on them.
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| the lineup |
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| The helmet guys |
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We decided to start without spending much time and no sooner than 100 meters, we encountered a car crash. Two cars just crashed behind the bus, watching it made my mind go dull. The drivers are just fighting in the road and cops made us wait until they move the bus and the debris from the middle of the road. We were waiting for some minutes, watching them fight, I think all our moods got changed. I had to take it positively about the trip on how careful I had to be on the road.
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| the crash |
A chai break in the rain
After the incident, I started to concentrate on the roads, speaking of which it felt so good going in the drizzle and wind.
Wind on my face!
In that drizzle, we were on our halfway to Pondicherry We surpassed the Harley riders, and with that weather, the trees and the roads were much more vibrant which was so pleasing to the eyes. With our hazard light on, flashing with a different pattern, we were like a team. Once we were near the salt lake, Jithu bro and his friends came up with the idea to take a video of our lineup, which I never thought of. It was extraordinary of them and the lineup video turned out to be amazing.
We finally decided to stop by for some tea, I mean the drizzly rain, the road, and the chai make a great combo. We had some little talks, relaxed for some time, took pictures of our beloved motorcycles, and started to our destination.
The way missed
We had breakfast in Pondicherry and the roads were not that good towards Chidambaram. We had a second tea break on the way, during which I had an idea to mount my action camera DJI Osmo action on the back of my motorcycle to capture the fellow riders. Everything was going good until I got an important phone call. I got separated from the group for a while and Jithu bro backed me up. During the time I had finished the call, my fellow riders have gone past a few kilometers. The way to Pichavaram is an intersection to the left on the way, but most of them have gone past it. When I reached the intersection, we called them back and we waited to team up again. It was not an early morning and the way used to be great when I came before. It was a little bit sunny and we were charged an entry fee.
Paddling towards the Mangrove
We parked our motorcycles in the Boathouse and we booked two boats for 4 members each. I took my camera, an action cam to not miss any moments. The sun started to build its heat up. Jithu bro bought a portable speaker, and I started to play some music for the vibe. We went near the mangrove trees, I started to share my experience when I was there before in the morning. We took some pictures and had some fun spending time under the shade of the mangroves while the sun started to emit more of its radiation. It's afternoon and we decided to leave there. Before leaving, we had a motorcycle lineup again and took a group picture with our motorcycles. Another fun thing that happened is that when a guy came on a scooter, talked to us just to promote a restaurant nearby while we are in the middle of clicking pictures. Eventually, we ended up having lunch in the restaurant which he promoted and the food was just okay for me at a very high price.
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| The lineup picture |
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| the lunch |
I have always loved google maps in this kind of aspect. When we are returning I thought that we would be going on the same road which we came through. Google maps just suggested a path with less time to reach, and I took it. I love to explore for which google kind of helped it. Other fellow riders were also okay with the new path. I really loved the road which is suggested. I was asked to stop by if I found any beautiful place to take a break. But you know I only found places after it has passed by.
A visit to Paradise beach
We had a break on the way, during which we decided to change the plan slightly by visiting the Paradise beach of Pondicherry before we reach our homes. We had to pass through several local streets to reach the paradise beach. We parked our motorcycles safely and had a slow walk towards the sand. We relaxed a bit while hearing the sound of the tides with the warm weather compensating for the cold air from the shore. We had a little bit of fun and talked, and we decided to start at our home before dusk. Before leaving, I thought of taking a group picture of ourselves with the mirrorless camera I had bought. With a bit of trial and error, I mounted my camera in a gorilla pod, adjusted the frame accordingly and we got a good group picture.
Goodbye until we meet again
We crossed half of the journey to our homes. We took a break after dusk where we had recorded a motorcycle lineup in the morning. The sun even after its dismissal, left its vibrant beautiful colors in the sky. On the way, we stopped by to refill fuel. Having so confidence in my motorcycle, I didn't care to fill the fuel. It ended up in reserve which left me in trouble that if stopped, I had to push my motorcycle all the way up to the next fuel station. I also came to know about my motorcycle's fuel economy which gave me 72 km in reserve. I felt so proud of my motorcycle. After crossing Mahabalipuram road, we sent each other goodbye and promised to meet on a new ride once again.
Everything in a single video!
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