The ‘splash and dash’ roadtrip

 

Ok. Trivia for you. How are you going to spend a lazy and cloudy Sunday morning if you have a little over four and a half hours at your disposal on a weekend and you are to come back home before midday? Look out of the window, smile to yourself that you have the best place in the house and snuggle deeper under your warm blanket? I would have done that too if not for a sudden brainwave or lack of brain, whatever you might want to call it, from one of my friends that we should do a roadtrip to Nandi Hills which is about 70 km from Bangalore on NH-7, Hyderabad highway.

So, off we went. The morning was absolutely cloudy. It made a pretty sight from your bed under warm covers. A quick refreshing morning tea and a quick little glance at the Sunday morning newspaper later, it was time to pull out the gleaming Zen from its slumber. We were three in all – Rohit, Jayesh and me.  All set to take in the beautiful morning. A quick prayer later ( I think the other two genuinely prayed that they return safely, especially with me at the wheel, although Rohit was involved in another roadtrip with me in April) the Zen nicely in gear, we set off into the mist of the morning.

Having read a lot about fuel economy drives in auto magazines, I was all excited and eager to try out one of my own. But then the first rule of a fuel economy drive, as they say, is to raise your windows to the fullest to minimize aerodynamic drag. We threw this theory out of the window because we were out to take in the cool, moist morning air. (Bangalore had got its first real monsoon shower of the season the previous evening) There were two jackets on two other human bodies, while  I was, probably, on a man-can-live-in-the-cold expedition

Anyways, coming back to the topic, we hit the outer ring road from the Old Madras road underpass. The first sight was a 40 metre fully laden Volvo truck. Shifting from second to third gear, it was light work getting past the truck. One more key thing I learnt from those economy drive descriptions was that you had to be as light as possible with your foot on the accelerator and be less monstrous on redlining the revs. ( I don’t have  a tachometer so I had to rely on the strains of the whining  engine to upshift). That involved a significant change in driving style. It was like playing Arnold in Terminator 2 on one day and playing Adam Sandler in The Waterboy on the other (With streaks of adrenaline secretion in the midst of the calm). The radio station was playing ‘Deewangi’ from Om Shanti Om – a fast number I soon cursed because I had to strain all muscles to prevent driving to its tune.

On to Hebbal junction, we did an easy right turn to finally hit the well-laid out and, now beautified, Hyderabad highway. The 11km stretch from CV Raman Nagar to Hebbal junction took about 23 minutes inspite of the forced ‘gentlemanly’ driving instincts. Hyderabad highway is very nicely laid out and looks a true six lane expressway until you hit the first traffic signal on the highway. And then it’s an assembly line of 4 consecutive signals (the full impact of which we realized on our way back!) until you zip past(or coast past it, in fuel economy mode) the Bangalore International Airport. Now it gets better here. You drive on for a further 10 km and you have a navigator who says he has been to Nandi Hills a couple of times before and eggs you to keep coasting along the highway and out of nowhere you suddenly find a detour to Nandi Hills on the left. You look at the navigator and he sheepishly says there’s another road ahead!! 

A small disapproving grunt later, you turn into the smaller road and now you realize that your fuel economy drive is in serious jeopardy with a series of villages passing by. But moments later, you are past those villages, since it’s a lazy Sunday morning and there arent many people on the road (Save for a few grape vendors holding up a bunch of grapes to passing vehicles and there’s a suggestion from somewhere in the car that we should just pick up the bunch on the fly from the vendor’s hand!!). Now you are onto the narrow winding ghat roads – this is a 11 km stretch from the foothills to the point called Tipu’s fountain. Fuel economy drives on a fast straight road are easy, just put your car in coast mode, run the accelerator light, and do not cross the 70kmph mark- But I realize that to extract maximum from every drop on the ghat section you need to be a little aggressive and attack the undulating terrain. This I learnt by example from a Trax. The trax was looming large in my wing mirror and begging for a place to overtake with its continous honking. Part of me said – hold on, this stretch is too narrow for me to let this guy go past and a part of me said – maybe he is the boss on these stretches. The other part in me took over and I yielded way to this guy. He zipped past and was out of sight. Now it doesn’t require rocket science to figure out that you can do the uphill terrains better on lower gears. It was not that I wasn’t doing the lower gears – but the uneven terrain was presenting a challenge because more often than not, I found the 900cc engine running out of breath on steep inclines. Now, it needed another course correction in driving style. Step on the gas a little more than usual, read the changing terrain better and be ready for a quick downshift( A lugging engine in higher gears consumes more fuel than an engine in the right gear!!) and we had caught up with the trax in quick time. Oh.. so much for the multi-dimensional capabilities that driving a car brings out. To extract fuel efficiency, you need to alter your driving styles for different terrains.  

Finally on top, we took in some of the most breathtaking scenery. Imagine this, you drive into a hilly terrain covered with greenery on both sides and signs of overnight rain in the form of drying up puddles on the road  and beautiful colorless clouds passing across (Now don’t already get the camera out, hold on!!). But then, the fun doesn’t end there. You park, get off and make your way to the viewing point.

You are swept off your feet with a brilliant blue endless skyline and a hazy white cold train of clouds crashing against the edge of the peak you are standing on and bouncing off it into your face. (Damn, I should have brought some warm clothing!!) Snap! Snap!! 

 

Maybe time to sit down here on the rocks and do some soul-searching.. or maybe better lie down for a brief moment or two and soak more of the atmosphere in – you never know when you can make it here again taking time out of your busy schedule (being politically correct!!)

Breakfast at a nice little eat out in the midst of a farm of gulmohar trees, with a wire mesh on top serving as a shield from the leaves. The chilly air made the idli-vada feel warmer than it actually was. The setup was complete with some old numbers being played from Rohit’s Nokia. Neither of us talked for a while.

It was only when we returned to the car did we realize how cold it was outside. It was nice to be back in the warmth of the  car and most importantly, back in the driver’s seat. Another roadtrip? Sure.. anytime!!! Just let me know the place.

PS: The fuel tank shows E and I have done 534 km since the last 32-litre refill. Hmm.. maybe more of roadtrips than city driving will improve that economy.