Tour de Self Edition 3
October 27, 2024 and October 28, 2024
My First 200 km Bikepacking: Bangalore- Yercaud- Salem
by Chandra Prakash Agarwal with inputs from Saurabh Mittal
During one of our weekend off-roading rides (we do many such trips in Sarjapur, Bannerghatta and South Bangalore), our veteran rider Saroj Panda suggested a ride to Salem. “Arre Salem chalte hain na, bahut maza aayega” (let's ride till Salem, it will be great fun). Also, I wanted to challenge myself with a multi day cycling ride beyond our regular routes. After weeks of contemplation and planning, Saurabh Mittal and I finally drew up a plan for a 2-day ride wherein we cycle to Yercaud mountains and Salem. The target was to have a weekend getaway, enjoying nature, culture while ensuring the safety of the ride.
Saurabh had done dozens of multi day bike packing rides in the past [including first two editions of tour de self documented by Sauvik: Edition 1, Edition 2], but it would be my first. To give you a perspective, Yercaud is 1,515 meters above sea level, and we had to start climbing from Bommidi at 453 meters above sea level. Thus, the climb is more than 1,000 meters and is equivalent to 3 Nandi hill climbs. Yercaud climb is categorized as ‘hors category’ (rides are categorized as category 4, 3, 2, 1 and hors in increasing order of difficulty at tour de France, hors category being the most difficult one). The plan was to ride at least till Dharmapuri and reach Bommidi or Thoppur on Day 1 (135 km, all downhill), stay overnight in a hotel and subsequently climb to Yercaud and descend to Salem on Day 2 (65km, 1200m climb). Fair portion of our ride would be through forest areas and there would be no help in case of a breakdown. Bangalore and the rest of South India including our entire route had experienced heavy rains in October until 2 days before our ride.
Our planned route for both days
Another tricky part about such rides is to travel as light as possible to enable ease of climbing elevations. Also, since we were to ride on highways and Ghats we had to ensure that our luggage is fastened tightly on the bicycles to avoid any of our stuff from hanging loosely (if weight is not balanced well it can lead to difficulties on the ride like losing balance, overturning the bicycle, creating hindrance of view of the road, etc.). We were prepared to ride in the dark and in rainy weather. There was also the risk of the slippery and muddy Yercaud climb if it rains. We had to ensure that we carried as little weight as possible, and bikes were in good condition. Do refer to the Essentials for Bikepacking section for things to carry on such trips. While there was the thrill and excitement of the ride, I did have multiple thoughts about not being able to complete the ride. Saurabh, my wife Khushali, Saurabh’s wife Anubha and my neighbors (Bala and Viji) encouraged me a lot and provided the much-needed confidence. I still remember the call with Saurabh which included Anubha, Khushali and Viji as well wherein the final conclusion was “Ye dono pagal hain, kuch bhi kar rahe hain, lekin kar lenge, inko inke haal par chod do” (these guys are crazy, they are doing whatever they feel like, but they will do it, leave them to be themselves).
Preparation for the ride
Considering the route, weather and terrain, we decided on using mountain bikes for the trip. We ensured that our bicycles are in fit condition, brakes are working fine, drive chains are degreased, chains are lubricated, cycle tires are well inflated, the lights, power banks and mobile phones are fully charged, etc. Lots of effort and time went into deciding which bags and what all to carry and ensuring the stuff can be fastened well on the bicycle. We finally zeroed in on carrying 3 small bags each (with maximum 2L capacity) – one to be fastened on the handlebar, one on the saddle post and one on the top tube. We had multiple trips to Decathlon to gather our essentials.
At the start of the ride in Sarjapur
Our flag off
We consumed enough protein and kept ourselves well hydrated from 1 week before the ride. Saurabh insisted that we pack all our stuff 2 days in advance, load everything on the bicycle and do a 10 kms test ride to ensure that everything is fine. He instructed me "Nothing should shake, nothing should be loose, and you should be able to ride the cycle smoothly. Hope you understand that we could face problems at 55 kmph speed and on the highway which could be fatal". I did as told. I tested on a route around my house that covered bumpy terrain, smooth road, bad road, gravel-based road, sharp turns, etc. and rode at slow speeds, medium speeds and fast speeds. Saurabh drew up the route on the Komoot app not to exhaust ourselves on day 1, so that we can climb easily on day 2. We skipped work out for a couple of days before the ride to ensure full energy and fresh legs. We were aware that we will not get a mobile network on many parts of our route, so we loaded the routes and the maps offline on a spare mobile to be used as a GPS device. Considering the weather and terrain, we decided to ditch shoes in favor of waterproof sandals which is a tested formula for bike packing rides.
My house in Sarjapur was closer to our planned route, compared to Saurabh's house in HSR layout. Accordingly, we decided that Saurabh will cycle to my place one night before the ride and stay overnight to save time in the morning. The idea was to start at daybreak to avoid traffic and use the cooler morning weather conditions to our advantage. He arrived at 10:30 pm the previous night. We did a final check of everything, chatted for a while and called it a day around midnight. While we were both excited, we did manage to catch some sleep.
Day 1 – Bangalore to Bommidi – 135 kms
We woke up by 5:30 am on 27 October 2024 and got ready for the ride. We prepped our bicycles, filled water, prayed to God and left at 6:30 am flagged off by Khushali. The weather looked apt for riding and didn't seem like we will face weather-based challenges for the day. We took an internal route from Sarjapur until Anekal junction and hit the Bangalore-Hosur-Chennai Highway. Once on the highway we were able to gather good speed and move ahead fast. This trip was a few days before Diwali and both sides of the road after Atibelle toll were laden with shops selling crackers until Hosur and beyond.
Firecracker shops en route
We continued on the highway for some distance and left the Chennai Highway after Shoolagiri, onto Shoolagiri-Rayakottai Road to avoid the annoying heavy vehicle traffic on the highway. After completing 42 kms by 8:30 am we decided to stop for breakfast at a local eatery near Shoolagiri. We were served a wood fired omelet and dosai. After a sufficient meal, we resumed our journey by 9 am. After staying on this stretch for about 15 kms, we hit the newly constructed Hosur-Palacode-Dharmapuri Highway. At about 11:30 am, we stopped over for a water refill/ loo break at a local tea stall. After a half an hour break, we resumed cycling again at 12 pm.
Our breaks
Around 12:15 pm, I felt my bicycle wobbling a bit and to my surprise I had a rear flat tire, just before Palacode. Saurabh had gone ahead, and I called him to inform about the first obstacle for the day. He found a police check post in Palacode and asked me to reach there. I dragged my bicycle until there and on inspection of the tire, we realized a thorn being stuck causing the damage. Since we had carried extra tubes, we were able to quickly change the same. The policeman at the check post was surprised with our preparedness and wished us luck for the remainder of the ride. We changed the tube, ensured both our bicycles had sufficient air and resumed back at 1 pm, losing about an hour in the fiasco.
At about 3 pm we were 8 kms away from Dharmapuri which was the minimum target of Day 1. We stopped for a quick break, and I was able to grab a puff and a few biscuits at a nearby bakery and Saurabh chose not to eat anything. We had decided to go to Bommidi braving the fear of not being able to find a hotel/ lodge. Hunger struck us soon and we had to stop at a roadside fruit vendor on the Dharmapuri bypass. We gorged on water apples and guavas until we were full. To our delight the fruit vendor offered us two free water apples, which we happily agreed to accept and gobbled down our throats. Also, he assured that there will be hotels in Bommidi. The people were extremely nice and helpful.
Saurabh waiting on the highway
The scorching sun had sucked out a lot of energy from us and we felt drained out and we took multiple short water-refill/ loo breaks to ensure we were hydrated. At about 4:30 pm (we had completed around 120 kms until then), I felt my ankle was itching constantly and realized I had developed a shoe bite from the sandals. After brief bandaging, we decided to continue the ride with the pain. We slowly entered the Bommidi R S-Thoppaiyar Road and lost our mobile network as the area was through a forest reserve. We could barely find humans and were soon accompanied by farm animals. After traveling on the same road for 1 hour, we found a small shop in the Nagalamman Kombai village and stopped for a water refill break and ate nuts carried by Saurabh. On enquiring around we found out that Bommidi has a lodge and the road ahead is in good condition. We realized that we were about 10 kms away from Bommidi and it had started to get dark. We turned on our headlights and rear lights and continued further.
Our first mountain view
We were finally able to make it to Bommidi by 6:30 pm. To our surprise, Bommidi turned out to be a lively small town and were able to locate SP lodge opposite Bommidi railway station soon thereafter. Saurabh had come to Yercaud several years ago with Rajasundaram Balakrishnan, and immediately remembered that this was the same lodge he checked in last time. After f