On day two at Tour of Nilgiris, a misty morning greeted us along with the sweet music of hundreds of birds vocalising their delightful morning orchestra! Although the weather was hinting at us to stay under the warm covers on the cozy bed, Thalacauveri climb was beckoning us.

Thalacauveri means the head of Kaveri or the place of origin of the river Kaveri, the third largest river in southern India after Godavari and Krishna. The day had 118km on the menu with the 7km climb with a 350m elevation gain in the middle. On the top of the climb is the temple built around the origin of the river. The Thalacauveri temple.

Since the climb was a competitive segment, we were going to pay homage to the goddess Kaveri, the source of agricultural prosperity of the region, through our sweat and suffering by going as hard up the climb as possible.

Starting on a sweet note – TFN Birthday Celebrations!

Three of our riders shared a birthday today with two of them being born on the same day and year as well.

Delton D’Souza, Sridevi and Senthil Kumar share the same birthday and the first two also were born on the same year. Team TFN arranged for a cake for them to cut before we started our ride today. It was a sweet note to kick start the ride on. !

16 Years Apart – The Same Spirit With Massive Change!

Mani Harihara took part in the very first Tour of Nilgiris back in 2008! This year he came back to the tour and says that he’s blown away by the sea change he sees between the two editions that he’s part of. I’ve been part of the last 12 editions(every year since 2011) and I keep seeing small improvements each year. Of course, 16 years is a long time. No wonder he notices the improvements.

He remembers that the riders on that first tour mostly rode on MTBs and there were very few road bikes. Now he sees only road bikes and a few gravel bikes with most riders seem to be quite experienced as per him. From the very basic accommodation he saw back in the day to the star quality accommodations and support he sees now is also a huge difference he says.

He has been raising funds for an NGO called Team Asha which funds education for kids from less privileged backgrounds. He says that he loves the experience of the tour and wants to spread the word about it among his team Asha and other groups that he is part of.

Registered Twice Rode Once! Spoke Too Soon, Sandeep!

Last year Sandeep Bhushan from Gurgaon signed up for TFN and made five of his friends sign up for it as well. He was all pumped and they all trained well for the tour. Unfortunately, just a week before the tour there was a death in his family and he had to drop off.

Five of his friends did take part and kept sending him pictures from the tour. This year he managed to make it to the tour along with his friend, Amit Ohja!

His team name was ‘Spoke Too Soon’ because they all realised they said yes too soon for the tour without realising what it involved when he asked them to join. What a fun bunch!

Coffee Stops Galore!

We have enough and more support stations on TFN. But every year we tend to find more stops, be it for biriyani, unniyappam, coffee or any other local delicacy!

Prashant Kochhar was apparently craving coffee and spotted a coffee place just 4km before the base of Thalacauveri climb where the CS was to start.

He wanted to throw a coffee party and flagged down everybody passing through to join him for coffee. We ended up with a group of twenty – thirty riders at Shriva’s Filter Coffee, Home Made Wine and Coorg Spices shop.

Thankfully all of us just struck to consuming coffee and didn’t dare to try the home-made wine before the climb.

Thalakaveri Climb!

After lazing around sipping on coffee, it was time to pay homage to the goddess Kaveri by sweating and suffering to the best of our ability on the climb.

Shaheem Rahiman and the young Rohan Kalia started ahead of me. 7km climb with about 350m of elevation gain meant, it was somewhat comparable to Nandi(7.34km and 406m of elevation).

I started out with a sprint and settled into a rhythm on the climb. The heart rate started to raise steadily but did not remain so steady. Within the first ten minutes, it got into the red zone. The flatter bits on the climb helped with the recovery or made me lose rhythm to continue to push depending on how I want to look at it. The power quickly plummeted from the target I had in mind.

But, as I began to see a few guys ahead of me, I slowly began to push again. I managed to go past Rohan and Shaheem with just about 2k to go.

With these efforts it’s always a negotiation between the mind and the body. There is always a gap to be bridged between how much the mind is willing to push the body and how much the body is willing to comply. On the very rare occasions when there is agreement between the two, the time just flies by. Today was not one of those days but I managed to negotiate enough for the body to comply maybe upto 90%. Not a bad day. But, we always want more!

After the descent, we rode straight for lunch at a Linger property on the route. The hospitality was amazing and the food was delicious. We almost had a five course meal with a variety of items.

A beautiful Descent!

After the climb, we enjoyed the beauty of the surrounding hills as we descended.

Linger Hospitality for a Sumptuous Lunch!

With our hearts and tummies full we rode on back towards Virajpet.

It was difficult to follow two skinny climbers, Rajesh Nair and Jan Fehr, as they effortlessly glided up the back road climbs through the coffee estates right after lunch. I didn’t want to lose my lunch on the road and let myself sit back as they both rode on!

The last 5km to reach Club Mahindra were through wet roads as it just rained and stopped before we got there. We ended up having to wash the bikes as soon as we finished another tough, tiring but satisfying day.

What’s Ahead!

Day 3 of TFN takes us to Wayanad. The same menu of roads pointing up and down constantly is on the cards over 120km. There is a 12km CS towards the end of the ride through the forest which is going to test those who want to test their legs.

For those who don’t want to partake in that suffering, which many people opt not to, it’s going to be a super scenic ride on winding roads through the forest. Of course, there is delicious Unniyappam to be had along with lemon tea along the way.