Shamirpet Ride : 21-Dec-08

Following the beautiful rides last week in and around AOC, Chandra planned for a ride to Shamirpet lake - a 60km ride on Sunday. I was not really sure if I'd make it after the Medak ride, but was really wanted to go along with the group.

I reached the meeting point (AOC, Picket - opp. Ghanshyam super market) at 6:50am and met Nalin and Prasanna who were already there.

Prasanna was the new kid on the block, who had RSVP-ed for the ride. He was on his new bike (12days old) - LA Sovereign Wave Alloy, and Nalin on Firefox Cyclone. Chandra joined us at 7:10am and we were all set and ready to go!

Shamirpet lake was approx 25km from AOC, and we did pretty well in reaching the lake in just under 1.5hrs. We went inside AOC/Cantonment area, and exited on to Shamirpet/Siddipet Road. The roads were pretty good, and it was really big relief for me compared to Medak Road the previous day. Basically lesser dust and pollution and more greenery and cleaner roads. I guess we did that initial distance pretty quickly (about 45mins/8am), we were on Siddipet road.

Got a call from Ritu and confirmed, that we were on our way and should reach the lake by 9am. There was a nice slant from there on and we rode relatively faster, crossing Alankrita and Country club on the way, reaching Shamirpet Lake by 8:45am itself.

I had met Ritu just 2days back at a workshop, and got to know her interests with cycling, and coincidently she was residing at Shamirpet and us doing the ride there on Sunday!

Ritu joined us at 9am, and we hoped we could have some tea at her place. But we decided we'll put off our tea/breakfast plans for some more time as we wanted to explore the place a little bit. Ritu who took us around, along the water, waded the water and reached a tiny rock island.

Nalin and Ritu wanted to do some rock climbing...did a little and got down (former for his back, and latter on a loved one's request :-))

I got inspired and wanted to do the full, took an alternate route and started from the behind, and climbed up the first rock with a push from Prasanna. Climbed up the other two and I was on the TOP (Checkout the pictures in the album)! It was a terrific experience in all, and it was my first rock climb!

We also got to know that Ritu was an adventure freak, and we sure should plan for a lot of trip in the times to come. So the sweaty stinky riders were now off to Ritu's house, who welcomed us, and treated us to some nice breakfast (Scrambled eggs, and toasts, and tea). It was so relaxing that I wished I didnt have to ride back home and hoped I could Teleport myself home :-)

We started to head back at 12pm (Middle of the day!!). I did about 5km, when Chandra's car passed, and offered me a lift. I happily took it, and got a 10km riding-break upto AOC entrance. Then rode back home via Subway (Mayfair) where I packed a foot long for lunch.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience and according to me, our best ride till date.

Here's the approx. ride route, and pictures!

Total Distance: 30+30kms