The XBHP edition of ISG2G meet for the year 2019 marks the 10th year of the event. It welcomes all new riders and the old timers of XBHP to be part of this meet and make it another success story.
For those who are unaware, XBHP offline meets and Interstate Get-ToGether (ISG2G) are held all over India hosted by one state. For this ISG2G, it’s one of the tri-states from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala that take turns each year. This time Tamil Nadu plays host and was decided to have it at the hill station of Yercaud.
In Bengaluru
The registration form came online on 03rd of September 2019, taking in basic information of the participants along with cost per person of Rs. 2500/- (includes stay, food and goodies) to be transferred to one representative for the event. There’s always a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) of each state for any clarifications, updates and/or for contacts. There were 15 confirmed participants from Bengaluru, representing the state of Karnataka.
Start meetup point : 6am, Nice road-Hosur Road junction.
Dates : 27, 28 & 29th September 2019
Destination : Wellington Hill Resort, Near 5 Roads, Retread Road, Yercaud 636601 Tamil Nadu (Google Maps location).
Bengaluru to Yercaud
Day 01 : Fri, 27 Sep 2019
Got started at 6:00am and waited a few km ahead for the others on the Hosur highway. About half hour later, they rode past signing me to join. We rode to the first break point for breakfast. Second break/meet up point was at CoCo IO fuel station at Dharmapuri to tank up and also have some refreshments/hydration fluids at the Coffee shop close-by. By half past noon, we reached the resort of stay. Riders from Tamil Nadu were already there. We got to the allotted cottages, later had lunch and then settled in for the day. Towards end of day, riders from Kerala turned up as well. T-shirts made for this event were distributed to all participants.
XBHP ISG2G at Yercaud
Day 02 : Sat, 28 Sep 2019
A lazy morning. We had our breakfast by 9am and 2 hours later we were ready to ride out. Rode in small groups to gather at Manjakuttai View Point, Puliankadai. Group photographs for XBHP were taken. By noon, we got to a coffee shop. Here we split up into small groups (5-6 bikers) to explore more of Yercaud. By 1pm, we got to point where the road ahead didn’t seem favorable to sports bikes amongst us, and so 3 turned back. Five of us – Hero Karizma, 2 Bajaj Dominars, 2 Duke 390s went ahead. It’s wasn’t easy but exciting nevertheless. A route downhill over stones and uneven pathway that was taken by the local folk on their 100cc motorcycles likely on a daily basis. We got the national park barricade, where we were told the road we came in was meant for locals only and so a fee per bike was required to be paid by us. Past that point till we got to a railway crossing. It was 3pm and we were hungry. Found a small eatery close-by and ate what was available. Good food. It started to rain and had to wait till it died down. Rode back from here and by about 6pm we got to the resort of stay.
We had a meet up of all those who were to attend the XBHP ISG2G. Mementos were given away, experiences by first timers and some old timers were shared. Even had a lady ride her Jawa 42 motorcycle to attend this ISG2G event. Hope to see more ladies take to motorcycle travel too. The meet was disbursed with cheers to all the participants who were present. This was followed by dinner and lots of conversations on through the night.
Yercaud to Bengaluru
Day 03 : Sun, 29 Sep 2019
Some were up early to head back. Most had their breakfast and started out. Bidding goodbye to who where still there, I started out solo by 10 am on a route that showed on the google maps. Rode on the narrow badly tarred road through villages. Lovely route indeed. Rolling terrain down the hills of Yercaud to stop several times to take photographs. Having covered about 27 km, it was 11:20 am when I reached the finely tarred roads that lead towards Bengaluru. By about 1:30 pm, reached my place of stay.
Another memorable event with like minded people who love to travel on 2-wheelers and are a part of XBHP. A big hug and thanks to the organizers and SPOCs for their time, patience and contributions to make this event another success.
