Are You Planning a Bike Trip? My 700km Experience Might Help.

As someone who bought his first bike, I was eager to make a long road trip. I did a round trip from Bangalore to Pondicherry. This is my experience, do’s and don’ts.

One gruesome weekday at the office, planning to escape the 9–5, my colleague and I planned to go to Pondicherry on the weekend by BIKE (because why not).

As for the planning, we didn’t do any (welcome to bachelor life). It was a 4-day trip, and we packed some beach shirts, pants, and funky wear. We couldn’t hold it around our shoulders for a 6–8-hour ride, so we got a few bungee cords.

After planning to leave at 4 am, we woke up at 6 am and escaped by 8 am (punctuality is my passion).
After an hour of riding, we got into a 30-minute-long traffic jam just before exiting Bangalore. This was painful. After 2 hours of riding, we stopped at a restaurant for food. Your standard Idly and Dosai. We stopped every 40 km for 10 minutes to stretch along the way.

Halfway through, we thought to call the hotel and confirm our stay. We had booked through booking.com. They said the room we booked was not available anymore and they could give us the deluxe room, which was 6000 bucks per night. Naturally, we said no and THANK YOU very POLITELY (that is a lie).

We rechecked hotels and booked another one worth 1000 bucks on the Agoda app (add link). We tried paying, but it didn’t let us. We decided not to call this time since they might cancel or do drama.

After a ride of 10 hours, we reached the hotel. He told us that since we didn’t call and confirm, they assigned our room to someone else on a first-come, first-serve basis. The only room they had was worth 3000 bucks. Naturally, we again said THANK YOU very POLITELY (that is again a lie) and got the deluxe room.

Photo by Vojtech Bruzek on Unsplash

It was 8 pm, and we thought to cover a few beaches. Just as we stepped outside, it started raining (really lucky, right). We went to the room, scrolled Instagram, and slept (good times).

We checked the weather prediction, which showed it would rain continuously for four days straight (lucky us). Hence, we decided not to stay in the hotel and pay 3k for four days. So, we left the next morning (what a good plan).

Since we had come so far, we weren’t going without some sights. We went to a few beaches (because what else could you do in Pondicherry). Rock Beach, Promenade Beach, Paradise Beach, The Lighthouse, and French Colonies.

Photo by Sean Oulashin on Unsplash

We left Pondicherry by 4 pm and moved towards Bangalore (grave mistake). The prediction came true, and it started raining. We somehow got into a pocket where it was raining ahead and behind us. It’s like those games where you move too fast or slow you die (really funny, right? Well,It wasn’t for us).

It was already sunset and completely dark roads, plus occasional light showers, wetting my helmet visor. At this point, I had these:

• Occasional light showers wet my visor from outside and inside.
• I’m a specs person.
• Vehicles coming from the front with high beams.
• No drop of light, complete darkness.
• Occasional rain wetting my shoes and jeans thoroughly.
• Feeling the super cold winds after rain in a thin jersey.

These six conditions simultaneously made it a nightmare to return home after driving 250 km.

Anyhow/Somehow, I reached home around 11 pm. My fingers were all wrinkly and cold as hell. The wet shoe had changed the skin tone of my legs after being in it for 6+ hours.

These six conditions simultaneously made it a nightmare to return home after driving 250 km (like playing games on insane difficulty).

Anyhow/Somehow, I reached home around 11 pm. My fingers were all wrinkly and cold as hell. The wet shoe had changed the skin tone of my legs after being in it for 6+ hours.

I stripped off and went directly into a hot shower, staying for 30mins before crashing on the warm comfy bed (absolute pleasure).

This was my 700 km experience. These are the do’s and don’t for you.

1. Always check the weather prediction before going on any trip, especially for bike trips.
2. Make sure your helmet is good and protective, don’t go out with that cheap stuff.
3. Either wear thick sweaters or buy a riding jacket/gear.
4. Go out with waterproof shoes. Even if it doesn’t rain, some water-clogged areas might make your shoes wet, and driving like that will be a drag.
5. Book hotels in advance with payment.
6. Don’t drive at night if you have specs; otherwise, avoid night driving altogether.
7. Please wear riding gloves. Winds, Rain, and Pain all can be avoided.
8. Take breaks every 30–40 minutes and stretch a bit. All that is sitting in one posture isn’t good for your body.
9. Drive without a pillion for long rides. It can be a real pain to drive with a plus one. Especially an overweight plus one.
10. Get needed gear in advance, like bungee cord or racks as per luggage. You won’t be able to carry it on your shoulders.
11. Make sure your bike is in good condition. Air and Breaks are most important.

That is my experience and suggestions for long rides. It is super fun to ride nice and long highways, but only if you have all the correct configuration/gear.

Photo by Duncan Adler on Unsplash

Drive Long Drive Safe.
Cheers :)