Tour of Eastern Ghats - Day 3
"Goof morning. Coffee ready🙂" message from Krish started most of the riders' day.
As per the original schedule, the day would look like this:
Day 3, Mon 02 Sep 2019 : Narsipatnam to Araku, 140 km/1434 m
We were told that there would be a big climb initially and that it would be 'rolling' afterwards. Since we would be climbing the longest continuous stretch about 15 km into the ride, the idea was to have solid breakfast before the ride. Which is why we ventured out yesterday night to find out places that serve early breakfast. We were supposed to reach the breakfast joint by 5:30 AM and start rolling by 6 AM.
As most of the folks were still checking out, few of us decided to go ahead to the breakfast joint and save some time.
Venu garu, Pravin and I started after 5:40 AM with Narayan a little behind.
We asked around for the breakfast point as we could not find the exact location, and we heard mixed views. Some say that it would be open, and some say that it would be closed on the account of festival.
We finally figured out that the originally planned breakfast joints are all closed.
Luckily, we were told about a joint that would be open, and we were even accompanied by a couple of local kids on their bicycle to the spot.
The joint was open and were having very limited menu. We quickly ordered some idlis and sent the location to the rest of the riders. Slowly the remaining riders arrived.
The chutney was almost as if it were made at my grannie's place. Which meant it would be too spicy for the likes of Sam :)
The 'Mojaa aagayaa!' phrase was back from Dev as some nice tea was also served at the breakfast joint. The phrase and energy were so infectious that Somnath, Pravin and I too started saying the same thing every time after having tea/coffee.
We took a group photo with the Ganesh idols next to the breakfast point, and started rolling at 6:20 AM for the next immediate destination - Lambasingi: known to be the coldest place in Andhra Pradesh in winters.
We were all mentally prepared for the climb and it did start right after 15 km.
With the energy from breakfast and 15 km of warmup, I was able to find my rhythm and tackled the climb with steady pace as I wanted to complete the 15 km climb, the longest for me, without stopping or having any issues. Raunak was attacking the climb with intervals. Initially he was either ahead or behind me, but later we were riding together for most part of the climb. We stopped at a point where the view was spectacular, and took some snaps.
With about 1-2 km remaining to the peak, I felt hungry and started having my energy bar. This disturbed my rhythm and the pace dropped a bit. Nevertheless, I climbed strong in my own terms and finished the climb at Lambasingi - 30 km after starting.
Just when I was about to stop, Prajwal tells that the segment would be a little further and asks me to go a few meters ahead and come back. I follow his instructions and come back to stop at the shop where they were relaxing. I grab a cool-drink and relax while others arrive.
All the three fast riders - Gokul, Prajwal and Sam were shivering because of the cold climate and I was enjoying the chill as it was helping me to cool down.
Krish too arrived shortly and riders started having puri in the breakfast point on the other side of the road. They were getting some shelter from the cold there. And if that wasn't enough, Prajwal and Sam would sit next to the fireplace where the puris were being cooked. I too went ahead and ordered a plate for me.
The puri would instantly cool down if I come onto the road.
That was one of the rare occasions when I thanked my body-fat and my core temperature for keeping me cozy.
After puri, we had some nice tea again.
Some kids were dancing to the songs and beats at a Ganesha idol near the place. The beats were inviting for a dance, especially for Dev and Somnath. But we had to leave with unfulfilled wish to dance.
But before leaving, Krish, for the first time, comes up with a route option that would shorten the ride by about 15 km. At the fork ahead, if we take right instead of left, we would cut through the mountains instead of going around them. This sounded thrilling and we started rolling after some of us loaded the map on to their devices. I took a head start and Raunak too joined me.
If the 'goof' part of Krish's message at the beginning of the day did not make sense till now, it will smack a lot of sense into us in a very short while :P
I was riding with Raunak and he had the navigation. It started drizzling after a few minutes.
We would stop every time the view gets awesome to take some snaps and kept riding slowly.
However the roads were inversely proportional to the nature and views. While the nature and beautiful views kept coming and stopping us in our tracks, so did the bad roads.
After a few km, the road conditions slowly deteriorated even more. I ask Raunak if we are on the correct route and he says yes.
This repeats every few km and consistently I get the answer - 'Yes'.
The road is now similar to the bad village roads I used to travel on in my childhood - no tar visible, the base layer of stones too missing in some spots, on top of the dirt road which is wet and slippery due to rains. At some points it would be water-logged and we had to get down and walk. The brakes were already screaming every now and then, with enough mud gathered on rims from riding on bad roads in wet conditions.
Tackling such trails would be fun on mtb, but very draining on roadbike.
We stopped after doing some climbs to rest for a bit, and kept moving.
I kept wondering if we were on the right route because Krish mentioned before the tour that the roads are good - in fact newly laid in some stretches. I was yet to encounter a road. Newly laid road was out of question.
This bad stretch continued for a good 8 km, making it really tough to ride.
But the meaning of toughness would soon reveal itself along with the sight of a nasty hill with the road going too steep on it. This is nothing like I saw/rode before. This could be the great-grant-father of the steepest section I ever rode.
The approach was a wet worn-out cement road with plenty of potholes and broken sections scattered all over. There was no way to build momentum into the climb that seemed to have 20% or even more inclination gradient.
My fixie/single-speed riding experience came to the rescue as I was able to ride up without falling over, while zig-zagging all over the road, slippling on the water-dripping worn-out cement-road steep-incline with very less traction everytime I turned by handlebar.
Raunak wisely got off the bike few meters into the climb and started walking.
After tackling about half of the climb, I could see that the climb is not going to end anytime soon, and I wasn't sure if my legs have the strength to last the entire climb, especially when the summit is not visible. I can manage to ride a bit more, but I didn't want to end up with a cleatfall if my legs cramp-up. So I thought of stopping and walking a bit along with Raunak.
Here comes the funny part.
I wanted to un-cleat my left-leg but stopping pedalling even momentarily meant coming to stand-still in that incline and falling. So I had to face the challenge of un-cleating while still pedalling. As if the challenge itself was not enough, I had the additional problem of mud in the cleats due to walking over the bad sections earlier, which made it difficult to turn the shoe sideways to un-cleat.
All of this while leaning my chest onto my handlebar as I was scared of losing traction if I ride up-right.
After riding for at-least 25 meters in this situation, I finally un-cleated and immediately stopped as soon as my left leg got freed from the pedal.
I too started walking.
What could be even more funny one might think.
Just then, the guys on the motorbike coming in the opposite direction almost scolded us asking - 'Why are you coming on this road instead of the other one?' and I replied - 'To enjoy the nature!'.
I must have sounded either over-enthusiastic or totally moronic to them.
Prajwal came flying from the base of the climb and passed us as if he was taking off into the air.
Within a few seconds, another motorbike comes in the opposite directions and I ask them how long this stretch would be. They say that the nasty section would be over after taking the turn ahead.
By now I walked maybe 30-50 meters. Their words relieved me a bit and I again got back onto my bike, this time with a leg left un-cleated to give me the secure feeling of coming to a stop whenever needed without having to worry about falling.
The front wheel continued to slip with every handlebar turn, and sometimes I would end up turning on the edge of the road, narrowly missing the side of the road which was wet, slippery and muddy.
Surprisingly the nasty cement sections were only on the nasty climbs. Tar road after the climb, even in bad shape, relieved me so much.
Somehow my legs took me to the top of the steep section and I stopped to the side, and waited for Raunak to come.
I must mention an even more funny fact here - Raunak mentioned while we were walking up, that the elevation profile was showing zero on his device :D
What would be the funniest part then?
I remembered the 'newly laid roads' part and started laughing :D
In the meanwhile Raunak slowly comes up and was visible to me while I was laughing.
I can't stop laughing and he asks me what's so funny, thinking if it had something to do with him.
I tell him to come all the way up to me and then I would reveal.
I told him what's on my mind after he comes and he too starts laughing.
Dev came in the meanwhile.
I tell Dev about the cleat fall thing that I was worried about, and he says that he already had a cleat fall.
Krish comes just then with a few riders inside the car.
I wave to him first and then as he passes us, I think of teasing him about the road conditions and call out to him. The rest of the riders start laughing and Krish too laughs as he pulls over.
The riders in the car got down and I narrate my woes.
Somnath says that his hands would pain while braking, and I tell him that we need to apply brake from the drops. Since he was riding a new bike, he is still not accustomed to the posture.
In the meanwhile, Gokul arrives towing up the single-speed.
Shortly afterwards I refilled the water and got ready to tackle the climbs ahead.
Raunak and Dev too were willing to climb on their own.
But shortly afterwards into a climb, Raunak says that it would be difficult for him and goes back to the support car.
I stop after climbing one section and start again to tackle the next one.
While I stopped, I clicked a few pics as the nature was too good to be missed.
Clouds were tickling the hills around while passing by.
After that, I see a climb with mud road. I again stop to mentally prepare for it and slowly tackle that.
After a few climbs and completing 47 km of the ride, on top of a summit, I realise how scary the down hills can be.
All the advice given/taken on Day-0 would prove invaluable now.
Before I realised how steep the downhill was (20% or maybe even more gradient) I was already descending it.
I was on my drops but descended ever so slowly by grabbing and releasing the brake levers from the drop-bars as much as I can, as the rate at which the bike can accelerate was plain scary.
Other problem was again my cleats. I might lose balance if I try to un-cleat while descending that slowly on such steep section.
The other problems of wet worn-out cement roads with broken sections scattered around and water drippling down were already there. The bigger problem was to tackle such road in nasty hairpin bends at that gradient. I just hoped to avoid a fall while making it to the base of the segment.
I un-cleated one foot as soon as I descended and stopped to relax a bit.
This is probably the first time when I was more scared of a descent than a climb.
I rode the next climb and descent with one foot un-cleated, but it did not feel that bad.
I again cleated both legs to tackle the next climb with better balance.
Though the balance part helped me by narrowly escaping going off-the-road, the descent part that came next just scared the hell out of me!
Before I knew it, I again ended up in a short nasty downhill section, but with a challenge in the end of the section - the cement road ended abruptly, and there was at least half-foot dead drop to the road after it ended. Water logging and puddles made the situation even worse, as I could not make out if the road after it is solid or not, and if my judgement was at least correct.
With no other way except face the situation, I approached the base ever so slowly, trying not to lose my balance. In the hindsight, I felt that riding my fixie helped a lot in improving balance in very low speeds. Also, in a satirical way, this seemed like a step up (or may be several levels up) from the slow-cycling competition from school-days. Whatever sideline thoughts came up, the main thought was to land on to the road after cement road section without any damage to me or the bike. I must avoid toppling forward.
I managed to go till a meter before the drop, and just when I was about to come to a stand still pace, I let go of my brakes and lifted some weight off the front wheel, and managed to successfully cross the 30 cm drop. This felt like a very big achievement to me.
I hoped the support vehicle won't have trouble crossing that part.
I then started enjoying the views around without worrying much about the roads, as the difficult sections finally seemed to be over.
Dev joins me after a few minutes and we clicked snaps when we stopped to appreciate nature's beauty. Soon after he leaves me behind.
After 12:40 PM about 58 km of riding the most difficult ascents and descents of my life, we were finally done with the alternate route we took from Lambasingi.
I felt hungry and stopped at a shop in a village I just entered to buy something to eat. I spotted chikki balls in a jar and ask the shop keeper for 10 chikki. To my delight, he gives me the rectangular ones which are packed individually, and very convenient to carry. I had a couple of chikki then and there, while answering the shop person's queries about the ride.
I start off and have another chikki on the go.
Few minutes later Krish comes from behind and asks me if I need anything.
I say that I am good and keep riding.
We get to stop for lunch at Paderu after riding for almost 80 km at 2:00 PM.
It was raining non-stop and the shoes were slipping on the hotel floor at some places.
The food was not that great, and the service was even bad.
However, we did enjoy the omelette and some items in the meal.
We had meals and started riding for the destination of the day - Araku valley.
Somnath and Dev would occasionally pass me.
The roads now felt great and the ride felt smooth.
The views of course continued to be amazing.
We stopped after approaching a waterfall at about 4:20 PM as Krish stopped ahead of us.
He told us that this is the waterfall people usually visit after visiting Araku.
I remembered that I visited this with my family more than 10 years ago.
We took a few snaps and started rolling.
After a few gentle ascents and descents, with some rough waterlogged road sections in between, I finally reached Araku valley. Krish told us that Raunak had a flat and went ahead to help him.
Dev and I enquired for the hotel and got to the turn leading to the hotel, and saw Raunak.
Krish too was there, and so Dev and I moved ahead to the hotel.
The day's ride, the toughest day of the tour, ended at 4:50 PM after covering 122 km and a whopping 2728 m of elevation gain.
After parking the bike outside and entering into the hotel, I see Gokul and Sam in the restaurant.
I quickly join them. Dev too follows.
Coffee was ordered as it was Araku's special, and it was indeed special!
Krish too joined us and he reveals the fact that he recced the shorter route we took last year, and that it was in bad shape then. This time he went by the words of locals who mentioned that the road was laid. Looks like they mentioned about the road sections towards the end that were patched.
After coffee, we enquired about the available snacks and ordered pakodi, and some more coffee.
Riders kept coming in and we all enjoyed the coffee and pakodi while reliving the day's ride.
After grabbing the luggage from the truck, we head to the rooms, and then realise that we need to climb a lot of stairs :(
While climbing them, the leg muscles felt as if they were rock solid, depicting how much they were worked up in the ride.
I went to the room, washed my clothes and had a shower.
The view from the balcony is just dreamy!
We were told that we can put our bikes in the room, and we had to carry them up while climbing the stairs all over again!
We celebrated the achievement later in the evening.
We had to again go downstairs for dinner and again climb up the stairs.
We can all have a good night sleep as tomorrow is a short and easy ride to let us recover.
As per the original schedule, the day would look like this:
Day 3, Mon 02 Sep 2019 : Narsipatnam to Araku, 140 km/1434 m
We were told that there would be a big climb initially and that it would be 'rolling' afterwards. Since we would be climbing the longest continuous stretch about 15 km into the ride, the idea was to have solid breakfast before the ride. Which is why we ventured out yesterday night to find out places that serve early breakfast. We were supposed to reach the breakfast joint by 5:30 AM and start rolling by 6 AM.
As most of the folks were still checking out, few of us decided to go ahead to the breakfast joint and save some time.
Venu garu, Pravin and I started after 5:40 AM with Narayan a little behind.
We asked around for the breakfast point as we could not find the exact location, and we heard mixed views. Some say that it would be open, and some say that it would be closed on the account of festival.
We finally figured out that the originally planned breakfast joints are all closed.
Luckily, we were told about a joint that would be open, and we were even accompanied by a couple of local kids on their bicycle to the spot.
The joint was open and were having very limited menu. We quickly ordered some idlis and sent the location to the rest of the riders. Slowly the remaining riders arrived.
The chutney was almost as if it were made at my grannie's place. Which meant it would be too spicy for the likes of Sam :)
The 'Mojaa aagayaa!' phrase was back from Dev as some nice tea was also served at the breakfast joint. The phrase and energy were so infectious that Somnath, Pravin and I too started saying the same thing every time after having tea/coffee.
We took a group photo with the Ganesh idols next to the breakfast point, and started rolling at 6:20 AM for the next immediate destination - Lambasingi: known to be the coldest place in Andhra Pradesh in winters.
 |
| Posing after breakfast at Narsipatnam |
With the energy from breakfast and 15 km of warmup, I was able to find my rhythm and tackled the climb with steady pace as I wanted to complete the 15 km climb, the longest for me, without stopping or having any issues. Raunak was attacking the climb with intervals. Initially he was either ahead or behind me, but later we were riding together for most part of the climb. We stopped at a point where the view was spectacular, and took some snaps.
 |
| Fire place for warming up |
Just when I was about to stop, Prajwal tells that the segment would be a little further and asks me to go a few meters ahead and come back. I follow his instructions and come back to stop at the shop where they were relaxing. I grab a cool-drink and relax while others arrive.
All the three fast riders - Gokul, Prajwal and Sam were shivering because of the cold climate and I was enjoying the chill as it was helping me to cool down.
Krish too arrived shortly and riders started having puri in the breakfast point on the other side of the road. They were getting some shelter from the cold there. And if that wasn't enough, Prajwal and Sam would sit next to the fireplace where the puris were being cooked. I too went ahead and ordered a plate for me.
 |
| Raunak attacking while I steadily climb |
That was one of the rare occasions when I thanked my body-fat and my core temperature for keeping me cozy.
After puri, we had some nice tea again.
Some kids were dancing to the songs and beats at a Ganesha idol near the place. The beats were inviting for a dance, especially for Dev and Somnath. But we had to leave with unfulfilled wish to dance.
 |
| Anyone wants tea.. oops.. puri? |
If the 'goof' part of Krish's message at the beginning of the day did not make sense till now, it will smack a lot of sense into us in a very short while :P
I was riding with Raunak and he had the navigation. It started drizzling after a few minutes.
We would stop every time the view gets awesome to take some snaps and kept riding slowly.
However the roads were inversely proportional to the nature and views. While the nature and beautiful views kept coming and stopping us in our tracks, so did the bad roads.
After a few km, the road conditions slowly deteriorated even more. I ask Raunak if we are on the correct route and he says yes.
This repeats every few km and consistently I get the answer - 'Yes'.
The road is now similar to the bad village roads I used to travel on in my childhood - no tar visible, the base layer of stones too missing in some spots, on top of the dirt road which is wet and slippery due to rains. At some points it would be water-logged and we had to get down and walk. The brakes were already screaming every now and then, with enough mud gathered on rims from riding on bad roads in wet conditions.
 |
| Eating puris as soon as they were out of kadai |
We stopped after doing some climbs to rest for a bit, and kept moving.
I kept wondering if we were on the right route because Krish mentioned before the tour that the roads are good - in fact newly laid in some stretches. I was yet to encounter a road. Newly laid road was out of question.
 |
| On one of the turns of climb which looked amazing! |
But the meaning of toughness would soon reveal itself along with the sight of a nasty hill with the road going too steep on it. This is nothing like I saw/rode before. This could be the great-grant-father of the steepest section I ever rode.
The approach was a wet worn-out cement road with plenty of potholes and broken sections scattered all over. There was no way to build momentum into the climb that seemed to have 20% or even more inclination gradient.
 |
| A selfie at Lambasingi. Dev with his energy drink - tea! |
Raunak wisely got off the bike few meters into the climb and started walking.
After tackling about half of the climb, I could see that the climb is not going to end anytime soon, and I wasn't sure if my legs have the strength to last the entire climb, especially when the summit is not visible. I can manage to ride a bit more, but I didn't want to end up with a cleatfall if my legs cramp-up. So I thought of stopping and walking a bit along with Raunak.
Here comes the funny part.
 |
| Me sharing my woes of my toughest climb |
All of this while leaning my chest onto my handlebar as I was scared of losing traction if I ride up-right.
After riding for at-least 25 meters in this situation, I finally un-cleated and immediately stopped as soon as my left leg got freed from the pedal.
I too started walking.
What could be even more funny one might think.
Just then, the guys on the motorbike coming in the opposite direction almost scolded us asking - 'Why are you coming on this road instead of the other one?' and I replied - 'To enjoy the nature!'.
I must have sounded either over-enthusiastic or totally moronic to them.Prajwal came flying from the base of the climb and passed us as if he was taking off into the air.
Within a few seconds, another motorbike comes in the opposite directions and I ask them how long this stretch would be. They say that the nasty section would be over after taking the turn ahead.
By now I walked maybe 30-50 meters. Their words relieved me a bit and I again got back onto my bike, this time with a leg left un-cleated to give me the secure feeling of coming to a stop whenever needed without having to worry about falling.
The front wheel continued to slip with every handlebar turn, and sometimes I would end up turning on the edge of the road, narrowly missing the side of the road which was wet, slippery and muddy.Surprisingly the nasty cement sections were only on the nasty climbs. Tar road after the climb, even in bad shape, relieved me so much.
Somehow my legs took me to the top of the steep section and I stopped to the side, and waited for Raunak to come.
I must mention an even more funny fact here - Raunak mentioned while we were walking up, that the elevation profile was showing zero on his device :D
What would be the funniest part then?
I remembered the 'newly laid roads' part and started laughing :D
In the meanwhile Raunak slowly comes up and was visible to me while I was laughing.
I can't stop laughing and he asks me what's so funny, thinking if it had something to do with him.
I tell him to come all the way up to me and then I would reveal.
I told him what's on my mind after he comes and he too starts laughing.
Dev came in the meanwhile.
I tell Dev about the cleat fall thing that I was worried about, and he says that he already had a cleat fall.
Krish comes just then with a few riders inside the car.
I wave to him first and then as he passes us, I think of teasing him about the road conditions and call out to him. The rest of the riders start laughing and Krish too laughs as he pulls over.The riders in the car got down and I narrate my woes.
Somnath says that his hands would pain while braking, and I tell him that we need to apply brake from the drops. Since he was riding a new bike, he is still not accustomed to the posture.
In the meanwhile, Gokul arrives towing up the single-speed.
Shortly afterwards I refilled the water and got ready to tackle the climbs ahead.
Raunak and Dev too were willing to climb on their own.
But shortly afterwards into a climb, Raunak says that it would be difficult for him and goes back to the support car.
I stop after climbing one section and start again to tackle the next one.
While I stopped, I clicked a few pics as the nature was too good to be missed.
Clouds were tickling the hills around while passing by.
 |
| Posing to the riders in car after steep climbs |
After a few climbs and completing 47 km of the ride, on top of a summit, I realise how scary the down hills can be.
All the advice given/taken on Day-0 would prove invaluable now.
Before I realised how steep the downhill was (20% or maybe even more gradient) I was already descending it.I was on my drops but descended ever so slowly by grabbing and releasing the brake levers from the drop-bars as much as I can, as the rate at which the bike can accelerate was plain scary.
Other problem was again my cleats. I might lose balance if I try to un-cleat while descending that slowly on such steep section.
The other problems of wet worn-out cement roads with broken sections scattered around and water drippling down were already there. The bigger problem was to tackle such road in nasty hairpin bends at that gradient. I just hoped to avoid a fall while making it to the base of the segment.I un-cleated one foot as soon as I descended and stopped to relax a bit.
This is probably the first time when I was more scared of a descent than a climb.
I rode the next climb and descent with one foot un-cleated, but it did not feel that bad.
I again cleated both legs to tackle the next climb with better balance.
Though the balance part helped me by narrowly escaping going off-the-road, the descent part that came next just scared the hell out of me!
Before I knew it, I again ended up in a short nasty downhill section, but with a challenge in the end of the section - the cement road ended abruptly, and there was at least half-foot dead drop to the road after it ended. Water logging and puddles made the situation even worse, as I could not make out if the road after it is solid or not, and if my judgement was at least correct.
With no other way except face the situation, I approached the base ever so slowly, trying not to lose my balance. In the hindsight, I felt that riding my fixie helped a lot in improving balance in very low speeds. Also, in a satirical way, this seemed like a step up (or may be several levels up) from the slow-cycling competition from school-days. Whatever sideline thoughts came up, the main thought was to land on to the road after cement road section without any damage to me or the bike. I must avoid toppling forward. |
| Amazing views all over the ride |
I hoped the support vehicle won't have trouble crossing that part.
I then started enjoying the views around without worrying much about the roads, as the difficult sections finally seemed to be over.
Dev joins me after a few minutes and we clicked snaps when we stopped to appreciate nature's beauty. Soon after he leaves me behind.
After 12:40 PM about 58 km of riding the most difficult ascents and descents of my life, we were finally done with the alternate route we took from Lambasingi.
I felt hungry and stopped at a shop in a village I just entered to buy something to eat. I spotted chikki balls in a jar and ask the shop keeper for 10 chikki. To my delight, he gives me the rectangular ones which are packed individually, and very convenient to carry. I had a couple of chikki then and there, while answering the shop person's queries about the ride.
I start off and have another chikki on the go.Few minutes later Krish comes from behind and asks me if I need anything.
I say that I am good and keep riding.
We get to stop for lunch at Paderu after riding for almost 80 km at 2:00 PM.
It was raining non-stop and the shoes were slipping on the hotel floor at some places.
The food was not that great, and the service was even bad.
However, we did enjoy the omelette and some items in the meal.
We had meals and started riding for the destination of the day - Araku valley.Somnath and Dev would occasionally pass me.
The roads now felt great and the ride felt smooth.
The views of course continued to be amazing.
We stopped after approaching a waterfall at about 4:20 PM as Krish stopped ahead of us.
He told us that this is the waterfall people usually visit after visiting Araku.
I remembered that I visited this with my family more than 10 years ago.
We took a few snaps and started rolling.
After a few gentle ascents and descents, with some rough waterlogged road sections in between, I finally reached Araku valley. Krish told us that Raunak had a flat and went ahead to help him.
Dev and I enquired for the hotel and got to the turn leading to the hotel, and saw Raunak.
Krish too was there, and so Dev and I moved ahead to the hotel.The day's ride, the toughest day of the tour, ended at 4:50 PM after covering 122 km and a whopping 2728 m of elevation gain.
After parking the bike outside and entering into the hotel, I see Gokul and Sam in the restaurant.
I quickly join them. Dev too follows.
Coffee was ordered as it was Araku's special, and it was indeed special!
Krish too joined us and he reveals the fact that he recced the shorter route we took last year, and that it was in bad shape then. This time he went by the words of locals who mentioned that the road was laid. Looks like they mentioned about the road sections towards the end that were patched.
After coffee, we enquired about the available snacks and ordered pakodi, and some more coffee.
Riders kept coming in and we all enjoyed the coffee and pakodi while reliving the day's ride.
After grabbing the luggage from the truck, we head to the rooms, and then realise that we need to climb a lot of stairs :(
While climbing them, the leg muscles felt as if they were rock solid, depicting how much they were worked up in the ride.
I went to the room, washed my clothes and had a shower.
The view from the balcony is just dreamy!
We were told that we can put our bikes in the room, and we had to carry them up while climbing the stairs all over again!
We celebrated the achievement later in the evening.
We had to again go downstairs for dinner and again climb up the stairs.
We can all have a good night sleep as tomorrow is a short and easy ride to let us recover.
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