This is my first ever long ride with The Knight Ryders . We were 14 knights mounted on our CB 350s . It was 6 am on 20th jan ( Saturday ). The machines were roaring to start from our usual spot under the Tambaram flyover.
The Lead of the Group Bike Ride, Captain Ramesh was giving the pre ride instructions and Flight Captain Santhosh was Sweeping thru each of us if we are listening to the instructions. Because he’s the ever watchful Sweep for all our rides. This was a 4 day long ride down south all the way to Rameshwaram, Dhanushkodi and Arichalmunai. All the pre ride recce were done by Ramesh and Santhosh.
Santhosh with his connections made the travel , stay and even the drink arrangements diligently! Sharp 6.30 the machines veered thru the fascinating Grand Southern Trunk road . As usual we had our breakfast at Hotel Oorvasi in Tindivanam,Varadan our Tech Guru joined us from Pondy and he took on being the Tail for the ride.
We started again towards our quest to explore the island of Rameswaram, the Ghost town Dhanushkodi and the tip of India Arichalmunai neighbouring Srilanka. The CB 350s were roaring in tandem with utmost road manners! The way the Lead ( Ramesh), Sweep (Santhosh)and Tail( Varadan) conducted the ride was like a Symphony in Ride like Symphony in music ! It was a thorough orchestration by the Master Conductors..
After crossing Trichy we waded thru the rustic landscape of rural Tamilnadu, crossing Pudukottai, an erstwhile Tamil Kingdom.
Reached the famous Karaikudi of Chettinad known for its delicious cuisine. Obviously we had lunch @ the famous Priya mess in Karaikudi. Can you imagine we did 450 kms by lunch? ! I wonder how our core team discovers famous restaurants wherever we go. The warmth with which the restaurant people treated was over whelming. We had one of the best lunches with a variety of side dishes from land, air and water( mutton, chicken, fish, prawn and crab). You name it they had it!
After a sumptuous meal we started again towards our destination Rameswaram. Most of us were dozing while riding and it became an arduous task for the Sweep and Tail to keep the flock together and move on. By 5 p.m. we reached Kushi Resorts in Ariyaman beach, near Mandapam . stay arranged by flight Captain Santhosh. This resort was close to the beach with a swimming pool. We rode 500 kms by then.
The Ryders before hitting the bed had a brief induction ceremony for the new members along with drinks. I was one of the new inductions. Next day being a Sunday and a lockdown too, we all locked ourselves in the resort drenching in the pool, while the tech wizard Varadan launched his drone to cover the captivating beauty of the resort and the sea by the side.
Next (Monday)morning Santhosh got special permission for the Ryders to reach Arichalmunai, the tip of India before sunrise! All were really excited to ride thru the ghost town Dhanushkodi devastated by the Cyclonic storm in 1964. The whole town was destroyed in the cyclone. Alas we reached Arichalmunai our Final Destination! Varadan flew his drone to capture the ethereal beauty of the landscape surrounded by the sea on either side. From here Srilanka is a mere 14,15 kms away !
Meanwhile The Creative Director in Varadan got us ready for a short film shoot with a concept Ghost Rider! Abbas did the lead character and we shot around the remains of the famous Church in Dhanushkodi and the destroyed school there. Had our breakfast in a roadside eatery .We reached back to our nest. In the evening we visited the famous Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram. This temple has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India. We reached back to the resort via the famous Pamban Bridge which is an engineering marvel where the railway track splits open for the ships to pass thru! Tuesday morning we headed back to home Chennai and reached by 8pm.
This group bike ride with the kind of discipline had imbued a lot of confidence and courage in me for many more rides exploring new landscapes and cultures !!!
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