Monday, January 17, 2011

Bidadi trip gone bad

Friday, the 14th of Jan. Varma and I decided to go on a 100 Km trip (would have been my first. He did a Nandi before). The plan was to start early, at about 6 AM, reach Bidadi, a small town on the way from Bengaluru to Mysore, have Thatte Idli and be back by about lunch time. The first one hour of the trip was very nice.





The road to Bidadi is mostly downslope. As a result, we were doing very nice speeds with very little effort. The road, unfortunately, wasnt very nice. Pssssssssss.


Damn. I had a puncture kit and a spare tube. But guess what? I didn't have a pump. haha. I was hoping that 1) since my tyre was relatively new, it would be reasonably resistant to punctures
2) even if there was a puncture, I could just change the tube and fill air somehow (which turned out to be impossible without specialized equipment. For the technically inclined, my tyre has a Presta valve for which you need special pumps. Or at least a Schrader to Presta converter. Needless to say, I didnt have either.)

We then walked back up to K.R.Market, a distance of about 12 Km before we could find someone with a pump that could (barely) be used with a Presta valve. We then started riding again. Very carefully now. I still felt like the tyre was ready to burst anytime. Stopped for breakfast at India Coffee House, Churchstreet. Then had a few Momos at a Tibetan place on Brigade road. We had eaten too much. The ride home, as a result, was very uncomfortable.





Overall, a good experience. A few lessons learnt. Some confidence gained. Too bad we couldn't have Thatte Idli.

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