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| Ooty to Kodai |
We
wake up the next morning all rested up and ready to take on the 251 Kms to
Kodai from Ooty through Coonoor, Mettupalayam, Annur, Palladam, Palani etc. We started
by around 8 am and moved in that direction. We started off slow as the weather was
pleasant even though last night we had a bit of rain for the last 8 kilometers
of the ride. It was cold, but not really cold. The ghat road to Kodai begins
from around 8 Kms from Palani. Now it was during the Ooty descent that Vineeth reminded
me to try the counter steering technique that he has been talking about.
The science was clear to me but I hadn’t tried it anywhere yet. Counter
steering is basically a technique that lets you negotiate curves better and
gives you more control. I tried it on these roads and it was better than I had
expected. So basically if you want to take a bend to the right, you push the
right hand side of your handle bar down a little bit towards the left.
And vice versa. (I know it’s a bit confusing at first. watch the video for a better idea. The
physics is sound!). The bike then automatically goes into a position to handle
the bend better and it’s so much more control. To straighten the bike back
after the bend, you only have to release the pressure on the handle bar and the
bike is back on straight. This was definitely more enjoyable and efficient than
how I was doing it all this while. Most of us are probably already using this
technique without knowing what it is anyways. So now I was taking on bends
after bends like a boss!
By
the time we were at the bottom from the hills of Ooty, the heat stared picking
up slowly and at the end we were back in that microwave again. The radiating
heat made it even difficult for us to keep our eyes open. We took enough stops
in between for the heat and powered through to Palani. On our way there we
found a parallel road to Palani from Palladam with lesser traffic. We pass through a place called Dharapuram and reach
Palani in good time. It was only when we took the road to Pollachi the next day
through Udumalpettu that we realised that the Dharapuram road was better to
ride on. But that would have workedout longer for us for our return ride as we were headed in Coimbatore direction. The roads in Tamil Nadu are broad and have a very low traffic
density except when it comes to towns. Our engines revved at their best and we
made good ground in good time. We loved it. We move together in a line and we
keep switching positions. And I've come to realise that being at the end of the
line is more fun as I can see all of us move in unison. Like the legs of a
caterpillar, we move across the road, overtake vehicles. We keep signaling each
other trying to warn us of the speed bumps and pot holes. And when you’re at the
end of the line, you also get to see people’s faces when they realise what they’re
witnessing. It’s a very abundant feeling.
We
see the famous hilltop Palani temple to our left as we rode up to the beginning
of the ghat road which starts from about 8 Kilometers from the temple. It was a
good 51 kilometers drive up to Kodai from the beginning of the ascend. That was
a good long ride up and the longest ghat road I have been to, here in the
Nilgiris. As soon as the winds started to get colder, we rode slow and enjoyed
the view. We reach the Toll booth to enter Kodai and just beyond the Toll booth
was the first tourist attraction, The Silver Cascade waterfalls. It was a very humble
waterfall, but there were cars parked all around it giving it a bigger touristy
charm. And like the last day, we got a bit of the rain when we reached the mark
where it was 8 Kilometers to Kodai. That’s when we noticed the surreal
coincidence of raining for the last 8 kilometers of our ride. Ha! We quickly moved
to Vattakanal where we were to bunk at Edwin's Guest house to give our backs
the much needed respite. We find Edwin and go to the top most cottage he had in
offer with a good view of the valley. The climb was fifty odd steep steps and
our bikes were to be parked below at Edwin’s Café. We make the long walk up to
the cottage critically balancing our saddlebags on our shoulders. There was a
pear tree in the courtyard and we made full use of the ripe pear fruits while
we were there.
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| Vattakkanal |
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