The week after Independance day was very hectic at work. I had to run up many things before I go on my long trip.
Car was serviced. Got the brake fluid drained and complete brakes checked and ensured they are fine.
All the belts were checked.
Engine Decarb done. Thank god for this!
Got even the coolant changed completely.
Got the car back on a wednesday. It has relatively new set of alloys and tires - done hardly 800 kms. Never tested on the highway yet. Had 1.5 days to ensure everything was ok. Especially since my drives had come to almost nothing in the last 7 months.
And associate with hosts of friends and relatives who sing the same song - time's not good. don't drive. And their clamours started getting louder and stronger after a freak accident earlier.
Friday night - 19th. Reached home at 11 pm. Tossed in a few clothes in to a back pack. Cleaned up the house a bit.
Lesson one - never clean your house before going out on a long trip, especially when you are dead tired. I misplaced my mobile and didn't realise that till 1 am. Went back to the car, drove to the ATM, resigned to the fact that the phone's lost. Later I find my phone on top of the pile of old news papers that were to be sold. 3 am, I sleep, with hopes of a 3:30 am start vanishing.
4 am I wake up and go through my checklist. Lock all cupboards. Remove all plugs. Disconnect gas connection. shut all windows. turn off the mains. Lock the door.
With the cold shower making me fresh in the morning, I connected my navigator and the vehicle black box to head out on a non stop drive from Mumbai to Chennai.
It was fun to drive over the Khandala ghats on a foggy morning.
Lesson two - only men have superstitions. Machines don't. I overcame the fears of bad omens, when I realised this - A car is there to be driven.
Around 9 am, I pull in to Mahendra at Satara. It was breakfast time. Had an extended stay so that both me and my car got ample rest. The route from Satara to Kolhapur is best traversed before the bikers come on road. Thankfully, I managed to do that in quick time. Kolhapur, Nipani, Belgaum, Dharwad, Hubli all went un-noticed.
Lunch was at Kamath after Hubli. It was pouring as I got off. Had to transfer the videos from my blackbox to laptop. So extended break there yet again.
Back on the road, I drove yet again at a steady pace. Stopped at a BP pump 416 kms since Kolhapur where I tanked to the neck. What can a combo of XM1+ with 800 kms on them, proper pressure, Neo alloys, newly serviced, Engine Decarb, lone traveller with 2 bags doing 100 - 110 kph do on this belter of a circuit, which was devoid of truck traffic thanks to the strike? That 416 kms was done with an impressive average of 21.63 km per litre of Motor Spirit.
Lesson 3 - my motor really performed like one possesed by spirit! Be a sedate driver and you will be rewarded.
Around 6 pm I was entering the elevated toll way and took the exit to Nice. Was very happy to see @parag.sachania with his father waiting for me. 2 mins is a lot of time to cherish when you meet like minded persons. Fleeting moments. Thanks for braving the rain and waiting for me. Sadly, his daughter and wife were inside the car across the road. Before I could move there it started pouring.
Lesson 4 - It is not the quantity of time you spent. It is the quality of the person you spend it with. All my tiredness vanished in a moment and I drove in terrible rains towards chennai.
I've seen such rains in coastal karnataka. I've never seen such rains 35 kms before chennai. Speeds reduced from 100 to as low as 40. Visibility was poor. Road surface showed deterioration and there were huge puddles of water all around hiding potentially dangerous potholes. Trucks were all around and slow moving ones near chennai made matters difficult.
I'd driven 1300 kms straight after a 1 hour power nap. However, being passionate about driving and not letting my concentration waver, I managed to get across stretches like this.
Lesson 5 - no matter how arduous the task at hand is, perseverence pays. Never lose sight of the goal. Better still enjoy it.
A little past 18 hours of being on road of which I'd driven almost 16 hours, I knocked the doors at Chennai - in to a home that's 1340 kms away from home.
The highlight of this leg was that I was getting over 20 kmpl on a petrol flair! had to pinch myself before I drifted in to a dream again.
This completes leg 1 of my trip.