(TT) Titimati Nagarahole "Tandem Trails Trip 2"

Hi Guys,

Its been just a day after the cycling trip to Titimati-Nagarahole. Its was a wonderful feeling I had individually cycling along with all of you guys.
I spend lot of time in these two days with each one of you giving you all company while cycling. I just happened to meet some people who were very good and some having a great deal of attitude to complete the terrain. Hats Off to all of you. I am still shocked to know that most of you are first timers and completing this terrain which is Simply Great. Being so hectic with your personal and official work, it was very nice to be part of Tandem Trails for this cycling expedition. All the Participants were very good for each other and all were able to bond well and they were like a group, sharing great jokes.
By the end of these two days cycling with you all it was as though everyone knew each other from a long time. This is what I thought about each one of you…..

JAGADEESH S - With one word we can say he was the Lance Armstrong of Indian Cycling. He was always ahead of the team in terms of Speed. He was as good as some very experienced cyclist with good speed and always ahead of the team.

SANTHANA VELU - As he cannot compete with Jagadeesh, Always up to funny jokes, against him

DURAI SELVAM S - Always wants to give his best, second day he was fully inspired by Jagadeesh and was almost on top of everyone.

Shyamasundara - Never say never die attitude. Try till the last minute.

Prashant Adkoli - Always Silent and very good team player, taking things as it comes.

Suresh Vedagiri - Eldest in this Group who gave lot of motivation to most of the first timers.

Shankarnag - As always doing his things silently and in best of the ways. One of the first guys to complete Mulangiri in a Road bike.

Narayan reddy/Suri babu - Super models of Titimati-Nagarahole trip

Satish S - One of the energetic person who any time wants to look like a model. Always he had a Matching dress code to wear.

AMARTYA KONAR - The guy with Experience and Always praising everyone.

Again let me complete this mail thanking each one of you for being a part of Tandem Trails and continue for many more years to come.

Keep in touch
Thanks and Regards,

Pooran
--
TandemTrails - The Road Less Taken
http://tandemtrails.co.in

(TT) Mullayanagiri-Muthodi "Tandem Trails Trip1"

Hi Guys,

Its been just a day after the cycling trip to Mulayangiri -Muthodi.


Its was a wonderful feeling I had individually cycling along with all of you guys. I spend lot of time in these two days with each one of you giving you all company while cycling.
I just happened to meet some people who were very good and some having a great deal of attitude to complete the terrain. Cycling the Highest peak in Karnataka was a great achivement. Hats Off to all of you. I am still shocked to know that most of you are first timers and completing this terrain which is simply Great. Being so hectic with your personal and official work, it was very nice to be part of Tandem Trails for this cycling expedition.


By the end of these two days cycling with you all it was as though everyone knew each other from a long time. This is what I thought about each one of you…..

Karthik/JP- They were as good as some very experienced cyclist with good speed and always ahead of the team.

Mathew - Always up to funny jokes..

Raghunandan - Always wants to give his best, though he sprained his leg still he managed to complete the full terrain.

Abhinag - The kid with lot of positive attitude to do the best - Nick named him Khanda by Tandem Trails

Manjunath - Always very good team player and taking things as it comes.

Ramya - Giving her best on the first day to cycle for such a long distance

Shankarnag - Always doing his things silently and in best of the ways. One of the first guys to complete Mulangiri in a Road bike.

Sarvesh - One of the energetic person who any time wants to take risk. As soon as he sees a Hugh rock, he wants to climb it.

Rohith/Vidyanathan - Never say never die attitude. Try till the last minute.


Again let me complete this mail thanking each one of you for being a part of Tandem Trails and continue for many more years to come.

Keep in touch
Thanks and Regards,

Pooran
--
TandemTrails - The Road Less Taken
http://tandemtrails.co.in

The Green Triangle Cycling Expedition

“The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.”
So we asked ourselves – ‘What’s a good way to live the spirit of a green world through Cycling’? The best idea our club leader decided was to do a Cycling expedition, the route encompassing a Triangle, passing through the villages located in the green jungles of three states. The Green Triangle comprises of three places Bangalore, Mahe & Ooty. Our goal was not to just cycle to our destination, but GO THERE GREEN, cycling all the way, enjoying the green nature in the jungles of the three states.

Who we are:



‘Saahasa’ – Meaning ‘Adventure’ - That’s the name of our group. Our bold team leader is Mahesh Patil, our tenacious team members are:
Pooran Chandra (Alias PC-Photographer more-Cycling even more)
Abhiman (literally first)
Samsher, Srikanth, Balakrishna, & Prashanth (the rookies)
Raghavendra (Alias Rags-The OverTaker)
Satish & Sunil (Slow & steady; last here too).

A Trip with a Mission

The plan was to go to some of the best hill stations in South India.

In addition, not just cycle to our destination, but GO THERE GREEN, cycling all the way, enjoying the green nature, passing through the villages, interacting with local villagers, the true ‘HEROES’ making least impact to the environment, far away from the epicenters of environmental hazards, from the sources of global warming, WAN (Water, Air and Nature) pollutions. To save Forests, as they are heart and lungs of the world; they are its air conditioning too!

As an additional initiative we also planned to support ‘Save the Girl child’ campaign by distributing literatures across villages and town. The literatures was printed in three different local languages to ensure that all the villagers could read and understand our critical message about the incredible worth, value and diversity women provide in our country.


We desperately wanted the villagers to understand that the roles our women play in India has changed. There is an absolute need for all people of our country to be grateful for and to nurture little girls, allowing them to experience life by being cherished, allowed to be educated and be able to attain their dreams. The idea was to try to create more awareness against inhuman practices such as female foeticide, social discrimination against women and female illiteracy. Our team would like to thank Poorna Chandra Keelara who seized the task of writing and printing the literature, making sure we were all able to carry it in our relatively small backpacks.

Trip Planning

Who said we did? The logistics in entirety was planned, managed and executed by Shiva Kumar and Kumar.

From planning the accommodations to even the small details of helping us dispose a chocolate-wrapper, every miniscule detail was aptly planned and executed to perfection. The entire trip was self-sponsored, without any commercial promotions and sponsorships.

Our Route

It was only 10 km……..Yes only an average of 10 km an hour for 12 hours a day and 8 days in all. One need not be as good as me in math to tell it was around 950 km we did in all.

The Countryside Route Details

“There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.”
This is what we felt when we sailed through serene forest of Virajpet, Mahe, Nadapuram, Vythri and Gudular from where it took us to Ooty where humming of birds were crystal clear.

The ascents to Vythri & Ooty stretched and tested our mental and physical endurance at every hairpin bend. It was at these stretches we remembered what our beloved cycle partner Bala said….”CYCLING IS ALL ABOUT PHSYCOLOGY”. Raw Gravity tested our brakes while descending from Ooty to Madhumalai when we wondered gravity number was more than 9.8.

What did villagers say seeing us?

Some Comments by onlookers knowing about our trip:

‘You could have come by bus right?’
‘Didn’t you have money to come by bus?’
‘Have you taken any pledge / vow with God?’
‘See that bottle has petrol….. And this cycle runs on motor!’
‘Do you need a push…. Shall we push?’

Other VitalStats:

Distance: 950 KM
Bikes: Trek 3700
Average Daily Distance: 120 km per day

Our Cycling History:

2007 – Manali to Leh (Passing Rohtang, Baralacha-La, Nakeela, Lunchlung-La, TangLang-La) & Kurdung-La (Worlds Highest Motorable Road)

2008 - Shimla to Manali through Spiti Valley (Passing Kunzum-La and Rohtang Pass)

Great Himalayan Mountain Biking Tour ...

Hi All,
This was one of the amazing adventure experience I have done till date. Below is a brief summary of the experience and the link for the snaps
8 Guys from various professions, with varying waistlines and varying cycling speeds had just one aim for 11 days….. Complete 800 km cycling through the Spiti valley from Shimla to Manali.


The target of these 8 youngsters from Bangalore was to cycle 800kms to reach Manali on 8/8/8. And we did it in great style. The cycles were all Trek 3100, black bikes. Good sturdy bikes with a total puncture count of just 4…. A good figure considering the rough terrain. We accomplished the feat in 11 days as per the plan cycling across rugged terrains, all day rains and camping in sub-Zero temperatures. In doing so we crossed two major passes, Kunzum-la @ 4551 Meters and Rohtang @ 4000 Meters altitude.

Camping by the Chander-Taal Lake and stargazing with a hot cup of tea was a lifetime experience. Landscapes: ‘Sorry, No words to comment, please see the pictures’

The serene lake at Nako, the 1000 year old monastery at Tabo and the cute kids shouting 'Jhule' was worth all effort. As one says "Behind every pleasure there's a pain", we had our share of obstacles as well. Body cramps, headaches, sunburns, nausea, moments when we felt why we were doing this, moments of breathlessness, times when we thought…. "That's it...”. But what kept us going were 3 things, the nature, the togetherness and the spirit of 'Just do it'.
One might wonder what we had as food for these 11 days. Thanks to Raju, our guide and his team comprising cooks and a couple of helpers…

We had the entire sub-continental menu at our disposal. From kharabath, tomato rasam to parathas, biryanis and a birthday cake too. Lunch was strictly restricted to boiled potatoes, boiles eggs, paratha roll, a munch chocolate, an apple and some dry fruits. Couple in our team wouldn’t have celebrated wilder birthdays.



Do let me know if you need more details about the trip or if you would like to join us next time. Btb, we did all this with 30% less oxygen and 100% more determination.

Thanks to Nikhil & Rohan (bumsonthesaddle.com) for arranging the packing material.
Please click in the link below to view the breath taking snaps. http://picasaweb.google.com/kppoornachandra/GreatHimalayanMountainBikingTour