[VSG12777]

Hi everyone,

I am trying my hand at writing a travelogue for the 1st time, having been inspired by the many others who have written some really nice interesting travelogues on this forum. So if this travelogue is not really upto the mark, please do not mind it.

I have recently got a group of Avenger owners together at Tidel Park where my office is located (3 of them), along with 2 others whom I knew a little earlier too. So now we are totally 6 people, all with Avy 200s except one guy who has a silver grey Avy 180. One of these guys Vivek has one of the earliest Avy 200s - it was purchased in Oct 2007 / early Nov 2007 soon after the bike was launched. He and I were very excited about doing rides, and we just decided to start off the "rides" thing in this group with just the 2 of us taking a ride down the East Coast Rd to Mahabalipuram from Chennai.

We met at Adyar near the Malar Hospitals by 1pm, filled up our fuel tanks to the brim, checked air pressure in the tyres and headed off through ECR to Mahabs (short form for Mahabalipuram, commonly used, for those not familiar with Chennai). On the way, we stopped at Hot Kitchen for lunch. Those guys really delayed the food like hell since the place was full due to the public holiday, so we ended up wasting almost 2 hours there for lunch. But we got good food which we enjoyed, and then proceeded on ECR.

One of my friends, actually a close colleague from a company where we both worked together from 2000-2003 (who has bought a blue Pulsar 220 last month) told me that there was a street from ECR not far from
Mayajaal, which led straight to the beach. Vivek and I were really excited about this and decided to check it out. We found that turning and went straight in for about 500-600 metres and there we were !!

We literally squeezed our brakes, skidded and stopped at the edge on that road as there was drop into the sand after that !!! What a shock. The sea was facing us and we just stopped there with our bikes looking at the
ocean and the waves for a while. What a beautiful sight it was. Once we started enjoying this view and the serenity there, we felt that we wouldn't have minded even riding straight and just dropping onto the sandy area with our bikes !! It was just a beautiful view. And not much of a crowd so it could actually be enjoyed, listening to the sound of the waves. So peaceful, and it wasn't something we could have done in
any of the city beaches. We just loved this.

Since I had taken my Canon PowerShot S3 digital camera (6 megapixel, 12x optical zoom) and the tripod with me, we decided to get some shots there and we did. The photos are attached at the bottom of this
travelogue. We got a few photos at the Hot Kitchen restaurant too and in the parking lot with both our bikes as is described with the photo attachments. The snaps have come out pretty well.

We then decided to keep going till Mahabs and just started from there. On the way, I decided to check out the supposedly excellent photo and video capabilities in my new Nokia N96 mobile phone (which I got just
12 days back on 18 Sep 0. So I took a nice video clip of us riding the bikes on ECR .... wow !! It's come out really well. I took 2 video clips at the highest quality and for about 2 minutes duration - they are about
64 MB each in size. So I definitely can't attach the videos here. However the clips have been uploaded on YouTube and the links are as follows:

Mahabs ride - part 1

Mahabs ride - Part 2


Instead of watching the embedded video on the posted message, to view the same videos in high quality, please go to the links from the embedded videos, and choose "Watch in high quality". This would take longer to load but is a much clearer version of the video taken using my Nokia N96.

While doing the ride itself, I had decided to post the photos and a description of the ride on the forum as it would also serve as a practice for me in writing a travelogue. My dad being such a great scholar (he'd got 2 Ph.Ds and a D.Litt in Indian Philosophy - one Ph.D. from Madras Univ & another from McMaster Univ, Canada) I hope I've inherited at least a bit of his excellent writing skills !!

Anyway once I was done with the video clips, we rode straight to Mahabs and then stopped there since Vivek wanted to have a smoke. We also had some nice cold Maaza to drink and we were off from there in about 15-20 mins or so. We decided to come back through OMR (Old Mahabalipuram Rd) on our way back since we found there was a lot of traffic on ECR for quite some distance. Another reason was the umpteen police check posts (and random stopping & harassing of 2 wheeler riders by the cops for no rhyme or reason) and the ridiculously low 40 kmph speed limit boards in so many sections on the ECR. We hear that the cops stop many 2 wheelers in those 40 kmph zones for over speeding !! We did not take a risk and
maintained the speed around 45-50 kmph in those zones which eventually made our ride a much longer one in terms of duration. So we rode upto the Kelambakkam turning on ECR and turned left there - this is a
lovely curvy road with water and greenery on both sides and leads to OMR. Going straight down OMR would lead to Tidel Park and then on to the Madhya Kailash temple, Adyar, IIT Madras etc. Once we got to the
OMR junction, we simply had to turn right and keep going straight till Tidel Park signal with no turns or deviations anywhere.

OMR was where we both actually enjoyed the ride - do you guys know why ? Cos there were 3 lanes on each side with a divider so it was safe. 2nd thing was we could both ride side by side on the same lane, listening
to the sounds of each other's bike engines !! We also tried riding on adjacent lanes, in sections where there was no traffic - which was practically 50 to 60% of the way. We were totally relaxed and just didn't care about the time, so by the time we reached the OMR junction on that connecting road, it was dark. And it was time to turn on my HID !!! Well well .... a long stretch on OMR had no lighting yet. This was the case
for nearly 10-12 kms I think. However there was not much traffic and we both really enjoyed the ride there, my HID beautifully lighting up the road ahead. Vivek's Avy 200 is in stock setup and now he wants to
go for some add-ons like my Avy 200.

Once we got to Vivek's apartment complex (he's a bachelor who's been placed in TCS, Chennai for the last 2 years and stays with 3 room mates) on OMR on the left side, we were totally shocked since the Chennai
Corporation had dug up the entire front of the apartment complex, so there was no way to enter !!! But Vivek said he could take a U turn and enter the complex through the back, from somewhere near Lifeline
Hospitals (apologies for those not familiar with Chennai, once again). So he took a U turn shortly after the complex, while I continued on the ride and got back home. We waved a "bye, see you soon on another nice
ride" kind of goodbye to each other and proceeded to our respective homes. His apartment is only about 2-3 kms from the Tidel Park signal. So I reached home from there in about 10 mins flat. I happily cruised on
that Tidel Park Road (continuation of the OMR) - a stretch of about 3 to 4 kms at a nice 70 kmph.

The maximum speed we ever touched on this ride was only about 80 kmph but we really enjoyed the ride. The stops for photos, videos, drinks, lunch etc was good too. We really felt that we were going out of town somewhere but before we knew it we were back in town - our own Good Old Chennai !!

From the Malar Hospitals petrol bunk where I reset my tripmeter at Adyar, the total distance covered when I parked the bike at home in the evening was 101 kms.

Whew !!! That was one superb ride. Hope you all enjoyed this travelogue, and please do see the snaps attached and enjoy the video clips too. All your comments are most welcome.

Thanks and warm regards,
Venkat

[VSG12777]

Hi everyone,

I've attached the 1st set of snaps with this post. Here are the captions:

1. This was taken at the Hot Kitchen restaurant on East Coast Rd (ECR) on our way to Mahabalipuram. These shots were taken after we had finished lunch as we were famished by the time we got there. And
these guys delayed the food like anything due to the place being quite crowded (due to the public holiday). Taken using Canon PowerShot S3, self timer mode, on a tripod, 02 Oct 2008.

2. Same snap but taken with flash activated.

3. An extra one, since Vivek was not smiling in the previous shot !!

4. Shot of both our Avenger 200s in the Hot Kitchen parking lot. It was a nice shady place and lovely spot to take photos. We just made good use of this spot ! Vivek's is an Oct 2007 Avy 200 while mine is a Mar 2008
Avy 200. Mine has imported chrome alloys while Vivek's is in stock setup as of now. Upgrades on his bike to be done soon, with me for guidance !!

5. Close up of our bikes.

6. Another shot of both our Avy 200s.

7. Close up shot of just the wheels.

8. Close up of the rest of the bike (both of them).

9. Self timer shot using the tripod, but oops !! The top of my head was chopped off !!

10. Now that's better !!

11. Close up shot of both the proud Avy 200 owners with their bikes !!

12. This was taken at one of the streets off ECR, which led straight to the beach. We skidded and stopped, using all our braking power as we suddenly noticed that the road ended, and there was a drop into the sand
right ahead !! We stopped merely a few inches away from the edge !! Whew ... that was close !!

13. Slightly closer shot of the same scene.

14. Both of us with our Avy 200s. But again oops - my right hand has been chopped off a bit !! Taken using self timer mode on the Canon PowerShot S3 using the tripod.

15. Ah ... that's better. Both us completely in the frame with our bikes.

16. Shot of both our bikes from a different angle. The road behind the bikes continues along the beach for some distance (ie parallel to the ECR). It would have actually been nice to ride along that road, looking at
the beach. Hmm ... we missed out on that one. Maybe next time !!

17. Slightly closer shot of both our bikes.

18. This was taken on ECR when we had stopped on the left, using my new Nokia N96 phone which has a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, image stabilizer and a dual LED flash. Amazingly clear for a
mobile phone camera and it really stunned us.

19. This was taken using my N96 (which can be seen as a reflection on the rear view mirror), mainly to capture Vivek who was right behind me. Again a superb clear shot.

20. Shot of my speedometer / odometer / tripmeter to see the distance. Can't believe I've already clocked 3500+ kms. The tripmeter was reset from the petrol bunk in Adyar (near Malar Hospitals).

21. One final shot of the road before continuing towards Mahabs.

Higher quality versions here.

Enjoy the snaps !!

Warm regards,
Venkat

[anupmathur]

This is a worthy commercial for the Avenger 200s!!

That you truly enjoyed yourselves comes through clearly! Which is why I say it's a worthy ad - the JOY of owning an Avenger 200!!

Enjoyed the photolog!

[anupmathur]

Great! A well written piece.
But I think it should be linked to the photolog, so I'm merging them, OK?

[VSG12777]

Hey thanks Anup. Glad you enjoyed the photos as well as the description of the trips. Yes - we had a blast. No high speed riding, but just relaxed enjoyable cruising on the Avenger 200s. Yup - merging them is fine. Thanks for that !!

[KurtRules]

NIce log VSG ... More photos of the place wud be appreciated..

Is it just me or is every photo attached twice?

[Salil]

Good log and photos, VSG. but some suggestions about posting travelogue, specially photos. Hope you take these positively.

1. Post more photos of the place you visit, and less of personal photos. I can't find a single dedicated photo of the place that you visited. This is what we travelers look for in a travelogue. For instance, see the Tales from the roads of Sikkim and Bhutan... travelogue and observe the ratio of personal/bike photos to the photos of people and places that they visited.
2. Bike photos are fine, but better when there's some interesting action associated with them, like a shot you you riding your bike along the beach.
3. Refrain from posting repeat shots of the same type. Post the best among them instead. Eg, photos 1, 2, 3 and 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 are literally the same, and there was no need to post them all. 1 each from these 2 sets would have done the same job. Hope you get the point.

Thanks for posting. the travelogue was beautifully written, and I enjoyed it much.

[VSG12777]

Hi Salil,

Thanks for your comments and I definitely take them in the positive sense. No problem at all.

Yes I realized that I had posted all the photos (though some were almost repeats) only in the morning. Like I probably mentioned before, I had posted the photos and the text for the travelogue in the middle of the night - around 3am or something. So in my sleepiness, I guess I just attached everything. Plus, this was also my very 1st travelogue !!

I concentrated more on the description of the ride and the place (especially for my 2nd ride to Vedanthangal), and spent more than an hour typing each of those 2 travelogues. I guess the text is now being liked, enjoyed and appreciated by almost every reader.

However I shall definitely do a better job for my next travelogue which would hopefully be soon.

The thing is, on my 1st ride, there was not much to see since it mainly a beach and nice roads to ride on. More a scenic ride. For the 2nd travelogue I have written, I think you would find better photos of the place compared to my 1st one.

I guess we all learn from experience and for the next travelogue, I now know what all I should do that I missed out on my 1st 2 travelogues.

Another thing is, on this forum people seem to prefer more snaps of the place visited whereas on the other forum Team BHP where I am also a member, they prefer more bike snaps. So this makes it a bit tough to post the same kind of travelogue on both forums, since the preferences on both forums in now apparently different. This again, I have realized from the reaction of all the readers on both forums after posting the travelogues.

Oh well - I take this all as a learning and hope to give a better travelogue next time, keeping in mind what I've picked up from these 1st 2 rides.

Thanks for all your comments everyone and I really appreciate them.

Warm regards,
Venkat

[KurtRules]

venkat, we too like pics of bikes nd people...its just that if we get to see how the place is like thru pics, it wud giv us an inspiration to venture out to such places...India has lots to offer to us, we just need ppl to exfoliate locales nd let d rest f us experience them as wel...lolz

[hitanshu]

To add to Salil's comments, most of which I agree, I would suggest please TAG your threads as heavy. They are heavy even for the broadband users!

Consider using an image hosting site like imageshack so that you post thumbnails on the forum.

Repeating several, almost same pictures isn't quite a good practice.

And yes, the conversational style in the triplogs is quite nice. Good nice small trips I see you having!