The target place, Chaliyakkara Aqueduct, was shared by Jyothish through Instagram post a while ago. It is near to the place called Punalur, where I have been multiple times. So, I decided to check this place out as a part of this weekend ride.
I woke up around 04:30, got refreshed and prepared for the ride. I took the necessary energy bars and gel, and left the room by 05:20. I started my ride from the front gate of my institution. The CISF people know me quite well due to cycling, so they will cheer and allow me to go out early before 06:00.
The route I planned was through Chullimanoor, Pazhakutty, Venjyaramoodu, Ayoor, Anchal, Punalur, the target place, Thenmala, Madathara, Palode, Chullimanoor and back to campus. I started from front gate, reached Chullimanoor, enjoyed the descent towards Pazhakutty and reached Venjyaramoodu.
There is some bridge construction work is going on at Venjyaramoodu for a long time, and each time when I cross it, I use to go on the wrong way that will be the shortest. But this time, I followed the other vehicles that will head towards Nilamel and got an amazing sunrise view. It is the view I chose as the cover pic for my ride, you can see it on my cover pic of this blog as well as below. The sun was rising inside an arch made by trees connecting both sides of the road, plus the climb view of the road made me to get the morning feel.
I got the highway past the construction and proceeded towards Ayoor. On the way I saw the Gaurdapara, which I do everytime as I go along this path. I thought of climbing it to see how it is, but then decided not to go as my present target is not this place. May be I will chart a ride specific to this place, that would be less than 100km, perfect for the morning ride so that I can be back to campus for lunch.
I don’t know if I got used to this road, or my stamina increased, I reached Ayoor within a blink of my eye. On the way I saw about eight riders going on the opposite lane, that usual cheering of each other thru hand signs happened. I think they were a part of some other club and going on a group ride to somewhere. I reached Ayoor, and had breakfast at a veg restaurant. It was at sharp 50km distance from Institution.
After breakfast, I continued the ride to junction where I need to deviate towards Anchal. There were beautiful climbs and descents when going towards Anchal, which I always enjoy by riding with the hands on the drops to get good control and speed through aerodynamics. I experienced the effect of aerodynamics twice in this ride alone. One is during one of the decents towards Anchal, where I overtook a car without pedaling but just by crouching more with the drop bar. That reduced the aerodynamic drag on me and made to overtake and go further. The speed would have been around 50kmph.
At Anchal, I decided to go into the town instead of taking bypass so that I can refill my bottles at one of the fuel stations. I was looking for a fuel station that has water purifier instead of water cans, so that I can get cold water, found one, refilled and headed towards Punalur.
I reached Punalur wooden bridge by 10:00 itself, that showed that I got improved on my stamina and speed. I stopped by wooden bridge, checked the directions on map to go to Chaliyakkara and headed on the road to Sabarimala. That Sabarimala is also in my ride list, I will get there one day with my bike.
On the way I saw the sign board showing just 100km to Sabarimala from near Punalur. Then I decided that I will ride to Sabarimala one day, because its fun, and just over 200kms from institution. It can be my first 400km personal BRM. I was riding, riding, riding and found the side track to a place called Koravoor. It is the place that has good roads, at least according to the google maps.
I headed on the route to Koravoor, which is not having good roads, but the sceneries are just jaw dropping. I was riding through forests or agriculture landscapes that grows rubber trees. The temperature change, sounds of nature, small river beds on the sides are just mesmerised me. The population in that area is also very low. I can see only a couple of houses for every couple of kilometers.
I took a few pics and videos on the way and reached Koravoor, where I saw one Aqueduct on the map. I reached the bottom of that Aqueduct, and wondered how to reach the top. I saw the water flowing from one of the sides of the duct. I checked the map, and saw that I have to reach Chaliyakara to get on this duct. So, I headed to Chaliyakara.
On the way, I saw several river beds and took a small deviation to stand on a riverside where I parked my bike, took a video, enjoyed the ambience and continued towards Chaliyakara. I reached the point where the Aqueduct view point is mentioned, but I am standing below the duct, about 200 feet. I checked the map again, and found that I have to go further to reach the entry point.
I went further on the same so called road, and reached the diversion that will lead me to the aqueduct entrance. I started to ride on the diversion road, it is completely off-road ride only. At few places I cannot ride without getting a flat. So, I walked a few places and found a flock of peahens walking ahead of me. I liked them the way they didn’t get afraid of me, I took videos of them and continued further. A few steps away, I saw the peacock with big feathers. I loved the view, took video and continued to the starting point of the duct.
Finally, I reached the starting point of the duct. Took a pic with the sign board showing the Chaliyakkara Aqueduct project as a memory, and saw the bridge that I saw on the Instagram post shared by Jyothish. But, as usual, I am late. I reached there by around 11:30 and it is not the right time for the views I imagined. It is hot and bright, whereas in the post they showed foggy views with greenery. I should have come in the early morning in here to experience that, then I should start mid-night from campus, that will involve the gate pass formality like I did for the Tour de Kanyakumari event.
I spent some time there and returned. On the way to the diversion point, I saw a couple of cars going to the spot. I don’t know where they are headed and I just continued to the diversion. After reaching, I checked the map to get to the road that connects me to Edamon, which is an in between place on the road connecting Punalur to Thenmala. On the way, the sceneries were great, it would have been best if I come during raining time or in the early morning.
I reached Edamon and continued towards Thenmala. I rid on severe climbs at which I can hear my own heartbeat, I must have been riding on level 2, where my body burns fat along with calories. I reached Thenmala, and continued towards Kulathupuzha. Earlier, I decided to have lunch as well, but now that I didn’t feel much hungry or energy drained, I stopped at a shop, got couple of bananas and a cool drink and continued.
On the way, I had those bananas and cool drink, and was hitting each of the checkpoints that I made in this route to Palode from Thenmala, like Melemukku, Sivanmukku, Madathara etc… These places I use to see when I go the Thenkasi by KSRTC bus. Everytime when I cross these places, I think proud of myself like earlier I came only by bus but nowadays through my physical effort.
The other aerodynamic effect I experienced when reaching Madathara. I had a cross-wind from my right. That almost flipped me like my wheels pushed-up towards left and I was pulled down on my right. I managed that and was wondering what would have happened if I had a bike that has disc wheels, i.e. thick rims, thats all I would have been flipped on the road with my head down and legs up.
I reached Palode in less time than last time, I have improved my capacity it seems. Then the route is usual, from Palode to Nanniyode, Chullimanoor and back to campus. I reached back gate by around 03:00 PM, checked it and ended my ride. It was an amazing experience. But, the road could have been improved at my target place.
Below are the pics and videos I took on this ride.
Below is the Strava log of this ride.
