Saturday, December 26, 2009

Bangalore to Kanyakumari

Went straight down - via Salem - Madurai - Tirunelveli. Original plan was to cycle down to Chennai and then trace the cost via pondycherry - but leave days got reduced .

Overall a nice and luxurious ride –total of around 750 km – over 6 days - average 125 per day – overall down gradient – light tail winds – cool air – intermittent drizzle – 4 lane highway with a wide shoulder.

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D1: Blr to Krishnagiri – 90 km

8.40 am to 4 pm (check out to check in time including time taken to locate accommodation) – cruising at 18 kmph. lots of breaks due to seat height and other adjustments.

easy ride – 60% effort levels

steep down gradient from hosur onwards- must be around a 30% dn.

 

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D2: Krishnagiri to Salem  - 110 km

8 am to 5 pm (check out to check in )  – cruising at 15 kmph – wind neutral to diagonal tail.

easy ride – 50% effort – mostly down gradient – seemed like an overall 15% down.

 

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D3: Salem to Karur – 100 km

7.45 am to 4.30 pm p- easy ride – mostly down gradient 7% – 60% effort levels.

D4 : Karur to Madurai – 130 km

7-45 to 6.30 pm – 13 kmph cruising – easy ride – down gradient – last 50 km there was a strong tail wind, cool air and light drizzle - 60% effort levels

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D5 : Madurai to Tirunelveli – 140 km

6.45 am to 5.45 pm (check in to check out time).  16 kmph cruising. overall a 10% dn with cool air, intermittent drizzle and light tail. easy ride – 65% effort levels

D6: Tirunelveli – Kanyakumari  -Trivandrum – 180 km

6.45 am to 9.30 am – time lost due to roaming around in kanyakumari / valve breakdown / night riding rigging up / chain cleaning for sand clogging

overall 15 kmph cruising. Tirunelveli to Kanyakumari was a down gradient 7% with strong tail wind – crusing at 20 kmph .  Kanyakumari to Trivandrum was a tough road – two lane – no shoulder – heavy traffic-rolling terrain with overall 15% up gradient.

effort levels at 80% – mostly due to taking a shortcut on meals initially.

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