Chennai to Hyderabad by Road by Bike

The ride of my life till now..It all started with one of my best friend inviting me for his marriage in Hyderabad.
One of my craziest ideas that ever struck my mind was to ride alone from chennai to hyderabad for the marriage. It just remained as an idea until the night of the previous day when i called my friend and told him that i was coming.

On Thursday the 2nd Feb 2012, @ 6.15 AM i was ready pumped up though quite nervous to experience my first lonely long drive till now. With almost very less or no planning for a ride which is over 1500Kms,
i packed my bag with just the basic amenities as if were to travel on a train/bus. I wasn't prepared for
a puncture or for any major problem with my bike and thank god i din't face any. All i had was just an extra clutch cable in case the existing one fails. Hoping only for the best and nothing else, i started my bike in the foggy early morning from Chennai.

Driving directions:

The distance between Chennai and Hyderabad is 704Kms
The fastest & Safest route from Chennai to Hyderabad is

Chennai - Nellore - Ongole - Medarametla - Addanki - Nekarikallu - Miryalaguda - Nalgonda -Narkatpalli - Hyderabad

This route is more safer as half the distance you will be travelling in the GQ(Golden Quadilateral). From Chennai to Medarametla, you will take the NH16(part of GQ). From Medarametla(around 30 kms from Ongole), you have to take a left to drive on the Hyderabad road that meets the NH9 at Narkatpalli. At Narkatpalli, take a left and from there drive straight to reach Hyderabad from its eastern/Ramoji Film city end.

Site Seeing on the route:

If you just want to hit it slow on the road and in a much relaxed way..there are quite a few places enroute which may interest you. The Pulicat lake which is at a distance of 50kms from chennai might be a place of interest to you. You can really catch up some exciting views of landscapes covered with salt that appears
till horizon.

Further north, Nellore is a place where you get the best taste of Andhra cuisine. You can plan your travel
such that you can have either a breakfast or a dinner at this place depending on which way your travelling form.

Close to Nekarikall, there is a fascinating dam - The Nagarjuna Sagar dam, which is one of the world's oldest masonary dams still in operation. One can expect some boating and travel to an island in the lake.
Close to the dam, there is also an exciting falls - The Ethipothala falls which poses a great view for tourist both in day as well as in night where it is lighted up.

Moreover, if you want to visit the Nagarjuna sagar and the falls you have to take a different route from Nekarikallu than the one mentioned above. However, this route is not much longer and it also goes through some scenic landscapes as well. So its worth the travel via this route and also for the fact that you get to visit the dam and the falls.

The Do's and Dont's of a long drive:
What to do on a Solo Ride:
1. Look for important places that come on your way.
2. Enjoy the topography of the road no matter how bad it is. Try to look for humps well ahead
    and ride on them as smooth as possible. Its only then that you get the time to enjoy the ride on humps.
3. It important to expect the unexpected to happen for you in order to keep your mind steady and
    concentrated.
4. Drink water consistently to avoid dehyderation.
5. Lookout for signboards "Take diversion", "Men at work" and appropriately slow your pace.
6. Have a secondary plan for all sorts of problems.

What not to do on a Solo Ride
1. Never drive on a constant speed. It makes you lazy and you tend to be in a day dreaming state of mind
    which is very dangerous. Vary your speed by 5% often. That's good for your bike as well as you.
2. Do not start a ride on a empty plan.