22 Dec
What goes up, must come down, says Manasij Ganguli, the Official BSA TfN 2010 Blogger. Find out more about the rest day and the breathtaking descents of the BSA TfN riders through the scenic Nilgiris here.
22 Dec
Our official Blogger, Manasij Ganguli, has a riveting account of how the BSA TfN riders conquered the challenging Ooty climb up at his blog. Read more about the third day of the BSA TfN 2010 here.
22 Dec
Read our official blogger Manasij Ganguli’s account of the 2nd day of the BSA TfN 2010 here and find out how the riders travelled 155 k from Kollegal to Bandipur. Read on to find out more about how sugarcane juice and coconut water can revitalize even the tiredest of riders!
20 Dec
The speedy downhill
After the massive climb to Ooty on Day 3, riders got a nice “Rest Day” on Day 4. So today was the time for the riders to bear the fruits of their hard work. Day 5 began with an amazing 45 kms of downhill riding. The riders were super kicked in the morning to begin the ride and what a start we had. As one rider described it, “It was awesome touching speeds up to 40 kms per hour and hearing nothing but the wind rushing past my ears and a slight constant whir of my cycle chain”. Considering the high speeds possible on the route, riders were advised to keep a check on their speed and dangerous riding was strictly prohibited.
One of the rider’s, Mark had a great photography session with a local whose bicycle was decorated with flowers; We’re talking pedals, wheels, the whole nine yards. Mark and the local had an HONORARY EXCHANGE of bikes for that session. After all, one was a technical marvel and the other a creative piece of art!
To know more about the downhill ride, click here
20 Dec
After the massive climb to Ooty, the riders got some much needed rest. Day 4 at the BSA Tour of Nilgiris was designed to give the riders the much needed rest after 3 days of continuous riding. The support team of volunteers who have been doing the difficult task of waking up earlier than the riders and setting up support stations at various points during the course also got to chill and horse around. We had a few riders going for massages including our featured rider Sudarshan Krishnamurthi. Arun De Silva, Vishnu Navda and few other riders went down to Wellington cantonment along with the Brigadier. A big bunch of riders and volunteers actually trekked to Dodabetta the highest point near Ooty. Man do these guys have some energy or what!
One of the volunteers, Gagandeep managed get pictures of markers from Day 1 – 3.
So we present to you the TOP 5 BSA TfN direction markers **Drumrolls please!**
To see the rest of the roadsigns click here
19 Dec
If there is a word that could describe the night halt on day 2, it would be ‘WILD!’ The riders and crew cycled into Bandipur (Rather nervously) amid Elephant calls coming from a distance, “I can speak the elephant language and they’re saying- buddy you’re in my territory!” joked a rider to ease the tense atmosphere. And going by the impatient calls, it was clear that the elephants had noticed our presence.
Relief came over us when we saw the guards locking the gates of the area we had just entered. Only a few minutes later, relief turned into bewilderment when one the guards casually told us how the volatile herds had gotten smart over time and learned to cross the electric fencing by treading over fallen logs!
Fortunately and with much admiration for the gentle giants, the night passed without any surprises. At morning, we were welcomed by the pleasant sight of many deer grazing in the bushes just by the side of the road. The early birds in the group of 100 were surprised to see the absence of fear among the deer even as many heavy-duty trucks traversed the roads.
Continue reading the article here
19 Dec
The guys on MTBs had some killer fun in the dirt trails
Having left the big city behind, Day 2 promised a lot more excitement and overall “prettiness”. And it did not disappoint. Today was a series of undulating hilly roads with a sprinkling of idyllic villages and lot of farmlands encased between the hills. For lack of a better knowledge of botany, we’ll describe it like this. Imagine acres of shades of green with a smattering of yellow (probably mustard) and intervals of tall stalks of what we think is sugarcane but with this creamy purplish flower on top. Yeah, yeah we know we could have asked the locals expect for a huge language barrier. Guess this is what city life does to you. Anyway we’re meandering.
Click here to continue reading the article
19 Dec
Riding by the Cauvery River
Day1: Bangalore to Kolegal (188kms) – Article from 16th December
Bangalore is known for a lot of things. IT, Beer, Pubs, Snarling traffic jams. It maybe this amazing concoction that is Bangalore, which makes it the perfect starting point for an event such as The BSA Tour of Nilgiris. A 1000+ km ride with over a hundred cyclists, spread over 8 days.
Read rest of the article here
17 Dec
Day 1 BSA TfN Ten
The 2010 BSA Tour of Nilgiris was flagged off today from the Koramangala Indoor Stadium at 7.15am. Besides the 100 brave cyclists, the event was attended with many from their families and supporters who came in the early hours of the day to cheer the cyclists. The event was flagged off by Dr H Sudarshan who is a winner of the prestigious Padmashri award and The Right to Livelihood award. Dr H Sudarshan is also the founder of Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra, which has been working with Tribals from 1973. He was accompanied on stage by Vinod Menon from BSA. During the event our own Sridhar Pabbishety from RAC-F spoke about the many initiatives the Foundation is active with, such as Cycle-Recycle program under which 2 bicycles were given away to Hemanth, a 1st PUC student and Amar, a 7th grade student. Sridhar also spoke about the continuous efforts of RAC-F to create bicycling lanes in the city in cooperation with the civic body BBMP. He also commended the efforts of the BSA TFN Ten Charity riders who’ve collected close to Rs 6 lacs with their charity efforts! The Charity riders were given the honor of leading the cyclists out of the stadium at the flag off ceremony.
The 1st day of the tour would bring the cyclists some 185kms out of Bangalore to Kollegal. The ride started pretty eventfully. The route was very scenic and the riders enjoyed it every bit. Stories continue to pour in from them by the min. Below are some of the incidents that happened during the first day!
Supreeth Srinivasamurthy (first entry on http://tourofnilgiris.com/?page_id=193) had a major fall after Jigani. He was hurt pretty bad, with scratches and cuts all over. The seriousness of the fall can be gauged from the fact that his helmet broke because of the fall.The riders on the BSA TfN are known to be a hardy bunch and this hardiness was amply displayed today. Supreeth chose not to give up, changed his bike (from a Schwinn Searcher Sport to a BSA Cruze {provided by our title sponsors, BSA}) and rode on. A true display of endurance and grit. Go, Supreeth, Go!
Imagine 40 riders, all on their fours, searching in the bushes for nearly half an hour. That was precisely the scene on the BSA TfN today as an unfortunate rider, Priyesh Vora, lost his Garmin GPS device. As Priyesh crested a bump, the Garmin flew off his hand and straight into the bushes. The peloton realized that a fellow rider was in distress and as one, dismounted from their metal steeds to aid their unfortunate comrade. All their searching was in vain though. After half an hour, they gave up and decided to continue the ride. While we are sorry for Priyesh, we correspondents like to see the silver lining in each cloud. We are delighted that the camaraderie between the BSA TfNers was on full display barely half a day into the tour. For Priyesh, we offer up the following fact which may cheer him up. Since Priyesh will not have to carry the Garmin’s weight any longer, he will ride a lot faster :).
We will surely gather more stories as we move ahead and try to bring them to you. Stayed tuned!!
© 2012 Tour of Nilgiris. All Rights Reserved.
