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Bangalore – Rajahmundry via Kolar, Chittoor, Tirupathi, Naidupeta, Nellore, Ongole, Guntur, Vijaywada, Eluru
Roads Taken : NH4 – NH18A/SH61 – NH5
Total Distance : 896 Kms
Total Riding Time : Approximately 16 Hours
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Like I said earlier, before a long ride I cannot sleep for a long time.
Woke up pretty quickly by 3:30 a.m.
I wanted to have an early start, as early as possible. I was feeling fresh and the early morning air was chilly. Put some water to boil in the kettle and went to attend to nature’s call. I stay slightly on the outskirts of the city and I like it that way. The din and dust of the city does not quite affect the parts where I live and I can hear birds chirping at the wee hours of dawn.
According to custom and teachings by my mother from a young age, I lit a couple of incense sticks to appease the Gods, filled the plates with would be prasadam, and said a small prayer to keep everyone safe and in the prime of health.
Gear Up time was here.
I already had my gear laid out the previous night, and proceeded to don it all.
By 4:30 a.m. I have had my cup of tea, rechecked all the documents and bags, and headed downstairs to mount the luggage.
With a little help from Avishar, my roommate, the luggage was on the bike in 15 minutes.
Tried calling my friend Avinash who had very kindly agreed to see me off till Kolar, but he was nowhere to be seen! I left him a text about my departure.
I thumbed the starter, and the motor cranked to life. Choked the engine for a couple minutes to get the oil upto temperature and I kneeled down in front of my bike. Funny as it may sound, whenever I embark on a journey I make sure to talk to my bike before I start. And this one could not be an exception.
“Hello Mate! Feeling fresh?” I asked.
He purred in agreement.
And why not? The previous day he had got a visit to his favorite mechanic and all the slight scars were streamlined.
“Okay dude. Listen. This is it. It is a long haul this, the longest we have done. I promise not to hurt you in anyway, and will keep you fresh as new all throughout. All I ask in return is you never let me down. Never.”
He agreed with a bright twinkle in his eyes.
That was all I needed to see.
Waved goodbye to Avishar and took his mother’s blessings, who was also incidentally visiting us. Felt bad that I was not there for most part of the time she was there.
Put the helmet on, felt the happilyy revving engine note with a slight twist of my right wrist and rode out into the night. It was 4:50 a.m. Daylight had not broken.
The roads till Tirupati were well known to me, since I had done this solo earlier in 2013.
I had tanked up the previous night itself, and thus there was no fuel stops planned till the next 300 kms.
I crossed the city limits soon enough and was on the highway leading upto Kolar, Chittoor, and Tirupathi.
The NH4 was in great shape when I had visited Tirupati, and I expected the road to be in same great condition. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Till about Mulbagal the roads are good, after which continuous roadworks made it a big pain to ride.
Rode till Palamner, where I took my first stop, 130 Kms away from home, had a cup of tea and pulled a quick smoke.
Checked my phone and saw a couple of calls from Avinash.
Called him back and came to know that he started riding to catch up with me but was unfortunately almost 50 kms behind me. Bade goodbye to him and he wished me luck!
The sky was starting to become slightly orange and the fog was starting to lift.
I was slightly nervous, and a little scared to be honest. I had not done this sort of thing in sometime and after a major crash which had happened 3 months prior to that day, I was still a bit shaken from that incident. Dear Readers, I urge you not to ask me about that, suffice to say that I could have been killed that day and this trip would have never happened. I am lucky to be alive and don’t want to remember that mishap.
On with the story.
I resumed riding and the sun had risen. I quickly stopped for a photograph.
Averaged less than decent speeds due to broken road conditions, and as most riders will know, dawn and dusk are the most difficult times to ride. The light is scattered and the visibility is poor. The headlamps don’t have enough power to light up the roads in front, and the haze in front makes it even more difficult to ride.
Reached Chittoor in an hours’ time and it had again become foggy. The sun was playing hide and seek with me, which meant that, the conditions would be temperate and thus easier to ride in.
Here is what it looked like at 8:10 a.m.
Kept riding and reached Tirupati via the Chittoor bypass.
The roads here were in much better shape than those earlier and thankfully cleared the city traffic before the rush hour had properly set in. Headed towards Naidupeta, from where the main NH5 leading to Kolkata is reconnected to the SH61.
10 a.m.
Fuel level low, 320 kms away from home.
The hunt for a petrol station began. Strange thing is, a lot many fuel pumps in the area did not stock petrol. When enquired, a straight faced “No” came the answer from 3 petrol stations for no particular reason. The dispensers said Petrol but the stocks read nil! When further probed about a fuel station which stocked precious liquid gold, I was informed that I could get it at a place 3 kms away on the outskirts of Shrikalahasthi. Eventually found the petrol bunk, brimmed the tank and rode on. The bike did not hit reserve.
From this place to Naidupeta, the road isn’t a major highway. It’s a single road (SH61) that goes through a couple of small villages and connects to the NH5. Some cattle and school children aside, the roads were pretty much deserted. The road condition was decent but had to be dealt with caution because of the narrow width.
The first encounter with someone giving me weird looks and suspicious glances happened at a Railway level crossing further down the road where I had to stop because of an oncoming train. An old farmer carrying back his produce from his farm kept looking at me as though I was an alien of sorts. The riding gear was to blame, I presume. To reinstate his belief in my human form, I took off my helmet and gave him a smile. He scurried away like Jerry from Tom! I looked left and saw lush greens for the first time on this trip. I guess a part of the land there belongs to that farmer!
I smiled to myself. The train had passed and the barriers had risen, permitting me to go through. I stopped at a tea stall to ask for directions, because the road did not seem like one which would connect to a national highway. I was informed that the route was correct, and there was no fear of getting lost. I found an auto stand down the road, and cross checked with the drivers, and sure enough I was seemingly on the correct road. The road opened up and joined the NH5. I took a left and the highway story began.
It was here that I saw the first signpost which showed the distance to Kolkata, 1666 Kms.
I could not stop to take a photograph as I was doing good speeds, but also decided to stop at the next sign which indicated my destination.
It was 11:30 a.m., the sky was blue and the temperature was pleasant. I spurred on.
The NH5 looked in good shape, and I was averaging good speeds.
Bumblebee seemed happy with the conditions around which was evident from the way the gear shifts happened. Hot knife through butter!
I have always said this. The NS suffers due to 2 things. Bad quality stock rubber and bajaj 10000 dtsi engine oil. Happily, I had taken care of both the things and the bike purred on like a satisfied well fed kitten.
100 kms later I came across this huge milepost that said, “Kolkata, 1566 Kms.” Stopped and clicked a couple of photos.
The roads till now were in great shape and I was hoping for it to be like that for the rest of the journey ahead.
Found a scenic cool-down spot and stopped to click a couple of photos. Mixed myself a refreshing drink and got re-energised! It wasn’t anything else, Chill! Tang! It was!
I pushed on.
As luck would have it, the good road turned bad, and then ugly within the next 35 kilometres. Right after I crossed Nellore, the NH5 was undergoing repairs and 6 Laning work was in progress. Diversions galore and the average speed dropped. Till that time I had averaged about 70 Kph, which steadily dropped to about 50 Kph and to 40 Kph by the next 100 odd kms!
Met a guy on a bullet here, and gave him a thumbs up. He lifted his visor and we exchanged pleasantries. Srinivas was travelling from Chennai to Hyderabad. We rode together for the next 50 kms, where we parted ways after a quick chai break.
Post this point at Ongole, the roads became better, however there was severe ridging on the roads.
In a car this would be no menace but the bike started tramlining like crazy.
I hit the first patch at almost a triple digit figure and I scared the bejesus out of myself.
The bike was skipping about like a mad dog, there was barely any traction and the light was starting to fall.
By now I had done about 500 Kms and I was absolutely unhappy with the roads. The NHAI website had told me earlier that the NH5 was at 99% completion except for a few flyovers which was at the end of completion stage. That however was far from the truth.
I suppose the best way to know about existing road conditions is to ask fellow travelers who have done the same roads in the near past. That way you don’t have to rely on useless sources, your best bet of knowing is the HVK forum. However, I came to know about HVK forums only after the completion of my trip and was cursing myself that the bike was in pain.
The roads started to even out in a while as I spurred on towards Vijaywada. Filled up at a petrol bunk and moved on.
I was supposed to meet my cousin Debdutta Guha at Vijaywada, an avid traveler himself who was coming back from Kolkata by car that he'd recently bought.
In fact, the original inspiration for doing the trip was him, who had done the Kolkata leg solo on a bruised and battered 3rd hand Pulsar way back in 2009. He still has that bike and after 75000 Kms on the clock, still pulls like crazy. He is by far one of the very good riders I have seen. Respect.
The diversions started to become rampant just before entering Vijaywada, and I initially thought I would stop there for night. I reached Vijaywada at ten past 6 and the sun was going down.
I crossed the bridge on the Krishna River, took an U-turn and called up my cousin. He was 10 minutes away, and I quickly snapped the sunset.
Met my cousin over tea and a quick smoke, discussed some details about the road conditions, and took the customary happy peppy photograph.
According to him, the road from Vijaywada to Vizag was well laid out and there were no road works. I toyed with the idea of closing in on my destination that evening by a couple of hundred kilometers more, and decided it best to make Rajahmundry that very night. Bade goodbye, exchanged pleasantries and soldiered on towards the halt for the night.
As informed, the road was good, and I covered the distance to Rajahmundry of about 220 Kms, in 2 hours and 20 minutes. It was dark and I did not bother with photographs. The roads were well patched with high visibility stripes and the median crossings were well marked, thus maintaining good speeds was possible even after darkness.
Crossed the bridge over the Godavari River before entering Rajahmundry, and was averaging good speeds when I hit a big pothole bang in the center of the road!
Clang!
A metallic sound reverberated in my ear! I feared a bent front rim.
It was more of a crater and pothole is a definite understatement.
I feared the worst at that moment, parked the bike to a side and slid off the saddle to check if things were alright.
The bike seemed fine, however my right shoulder had taken severe impact and I was starting to singe in pain. I took out the volini spray from the tankbag and applied. Cooled down for a bit, and had a smoke.
It was 9:00 p.m. and I was 18 Kms out of Rajahmundry.
Got on the saddle, the pain was slowly starting to mellow down, and rode of towards the halt for the night.
Took the detour from the main highway 16 Kms later to reach Rajahmundry.
The road was pitch dark and even though the stock headlamps on the bike were powerful enough, it was not quite adequate to light up everything in front. However, I kept going.
The road started to widen and I saw a circle with a statue on it, which demarcated habitation. From the circle to Rajahmundry is about 2 kms, and the road was bad. Potholed and battered, the bike took a few more hits and I ultimately reached a small inn, Hotel Ashraya.
Parked the bike outside and went to the reception.
The following conversation ensued:
Me: “Saar, Bike ka covered parking hai?”
Receptionist: “Yes Sir,” came the answer, “Security bhi hai raat bhar ke liye”
Me: “Good! Room Rent kitna hai?”
Picked out the cheapest room and paid the full amount since I would be leaving early the next morning.
I am not a sadist to wake up an elderly innkeeper from sweet slumber at 4:30 a.m. in the morning. Not everyone is as crazy I am! They have families and health problems.
Ordered some food, paid for that as well and parked the bike inside.
With a little help from an attendant, took off all the bags and wiped the dust off from the bike. Checked the ODO, and it read 896 kms for Day 1.
I was happy.
My bumblebee had a companion for the night, a bright orange scooty pep. A lot might have happened through the night, of which I have no clue. If these two were upto something, I need to find out in about 9 months’ time. 
I went up to the room and slotted in the key. The lights came on.
The room was well appointed and for its price or 896 INR per night, was pretty decent.
The washroom was clean and the linen was fresh.
I took off all my gear, hit the shower and soaked myself in hot water.
I sprayed a whiff of deodorant, the name of which was very apt for the journey, took off my watch and attended to the door.
The waiter had come up with the food, gave him a tenner and eagerly gorged on it. Fried Rice and Chilli chicken never tasted better!
For long days of riding, I don’t eat much through the day. Snickers Bars and Tang are my general consumption. Rice makes me sleepy. And fat. And well, yeah, chocolates don’t. 
Checked the phone for messages and replied to the ones that mattered.
NOTE: My parents were unaware of my ride. They were opinion that I would take the last flight out of Bangalore on 31st December and reach Kolkata by late night. However, I had kept my brother and all my friends posted about my whereabouts.
At precisely 11:17 p.m. I hit the sack, as I needed a good sleep to cover the distance on Day 2.
I started dreaming.
Ride on | Ride Hard | Ride Safe
Goodnight!
