The Jungle Trail - Flashback from the past

I happened to blog of this very route (muthati-galibore-bheemeshwari) The jungle trail along side river cauvery on

http://100kph.blogspot.com/2005/06/sangam-bheemeshwari-cross-country-ride.html


and the pics are on

http://100kph.fotopic.net/c594365.html

Sangam-Galibore-bheemeshwari bicycle/MTB bike ride Along Side river cauvery

I am planning a cycling trip from Muthathi Sangam-galibore-bheemeshwari. All Bangalore based bikers are welcome.

The idea is to pack our cycles in a car and head from Bangalore to kanakpura and then to mekedhatu. Here in Mekedatu we park our cars, dismount and re assemble our bikes and head thru galibore.

I am a photographer, and I am looking to capture some real action images…. So if you are a photographer/biker too welcome. We can work together on the strobe lighting

Facts:
Route: Sangam, Galibore – Bhimeshwari. We will be raging our MTB bicycles along side Cauvery river.
Distance: 20 kilometers ?? one way ?
Road type: Mud and gravel.
Date: 26th or 27th December after the ooty ride flag off, very early in the morning from bangalore. We will bike from sangam at 6 AM

Things to get:
Your bike (hopefully not a road bike)
Helmet
Pneumatic pump
Flat Tire Kit and knowledge on how to use that
Control Cables.. you decide from your bike and the installation knowledge
Chocolates, water, salts
Camera if you want to capture this – or never mind I will do that for you 
Iodine patches and first aid kits and a crepe bandage.

I will arrange the other things like permit etc etc

Do mail me at OneHundredkph (convert this into a number) [at] gmail [dot] com, if you want to be a part of this.

There Goes Agro

I went to agro motors today to get my bike serviced for the chickmagalur trip, I was shocked to see a brick wall constructed separating the workshop. Apparently the whole site was in dispute and the case has been running in the court for like a quarter of a century according to the guys who work there.

Today when i went there, i saw a bunch of rowdies playing carom while listening to the music from a cheap set of speakers connected to an amplifier and a battery. There's a big poster that says karnataka dalit congress (basically a rowdy group) and posters of BRAmbedkar. These guys line up eunuchs on normal days says the manager, but today i could not see them :)

They are not taking any more bikes but in my case he agreed for delivery like next week. Considering with these trouble makers as neighbours i opted not to leave my bike there, who knows it may be target of arson. There is a festive spirit at agro, the chief mechanic wants to retire, the others want to sleep at home. Wow - too good to be true!

I was suggested a mechanic on ORR by them, That guy is like doing a pickup for my bike :) Something unheard of among RE mechanics.

The tale of 2 lenses – ady’s dilemma

Ok Ady wants a new lens – he needs it now!! He has a 50mm, 18-55 kitty, 70-300 4/5.6f and a 10-20 mn

So ady wants to be a fashion photographer and cannot forget the biker within him needs a wide lens too. He has a 350d with a 1.6x crop.


Ady needs:

Lens for Full Frame ofcource
Image Stabilization
Max Lens Power
Long lens – equivalent of 100mm on a 35mm
Short lens – starting at a normal technical angle of view
Price value – the lighter the better
And No vignetting when he upgrades to a Canon 1Ds Mark III (he has no imminent threat on a crop sensor)


So the lenses under the compare glass are the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM and the newer EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.

The 24-70 has a better power, but no IS and a low focal length and is COSTLY
The 24-105 has lower power, IS and high focal length and is CHEAPER

24 – 105 mm
Advantages
Long range
Cheaper
Image Stabilization
L – Build
Lighter, smaller

Disadvantages
Slow Lens
Low power (f/4)
Vignetting

24 – 70 mm
Advantages
High Power, fast
Low Vignetting
L – Build

Disadvantages
Low Range
Heavy, larger


The MTF charts of the 24-105 and the 24-70 (available on the links of the lenses above)

In Closed Aperture Mode,Contrast replication of the 24-105 falls just at 13mm (from the center of the image toward the edges) and the 24-70 falls somewhere around 18 (18*2 = 36) So vignetting could happen earlier in 24-105

In OpenMode, its at 13 mm where the drop occurs but then remember the 105 is a f/4 lens while 70 is a f/2.8


Price factor:

Jayesh/fotocircle asks for 42k, Vinod asks for 38k for the 24-105


So if the price is 100$ more for the 24-70 mm I don’t mind having a faster lens that performs great!

Nikon Vs Canon debacle and my new camera flash :)

Its so amusing to see 2 guys (nikon and canon users respectively) argue at vinods place in a heated burma bazaar in majestic. That too over speculation on what their cameras can do.

I think its you - the photographer who decides which camera is
better

Dudes fight it over at some photo contest !


In midst of this mayhem :)), i pickup a 580 EX II flash.


Will update my flickr with photos!

RiderMania 2008 rocked!

I am back! The photos are ready but the blog is not ready (the usual).

The Wanderers did a cool job ! The place was just cool!

DJ BlackJack - hope your throat is just fine (you rock anyways, even when you were playing oldies :)). Thanks for letting me be your reverse pillion - many pics came out just great!

Imran- nice jokes dude - you can just mingle with any one ! You are one hell of a sweet guy to be a biker - hahhah

k-Chat: great job - well done.

The gonna-be long haired guy from highway nawabs - dude you are smart and sweet, keep riding and do mail me !

Anand - dude i wanted to take srisalem - ride was long, photographs took time, so the time was short

Lalit - nice seeing you!! Nice Jeep!

Rider Mania:
2 road survivors
A bunch of noisy Royal Beasts ( ;) )
3 Shillong Bikers,
a handful of eastern bulls
a bunch load of pune guys (road shakers)
a lovely set of indie thumpers
and a load of rtmc bikers.
And a load of madras-bulls

I "might" write a detailed stuff later, but for now Enjoy guys: the pics are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/100kph/sets/72157603778257369/

Preparing for Rider Mania

Tomorrow - All enfield bikes are heading to that one place - Ramoji film City for Rider Mania (which is on the 18th and 19th January 2008)

I am starting at 6:00 AM from bangalore into the route i am taking is Bangalore-Chikballapur-Penakonda-Ananthpur-Gooty-Kurnool bypass-Jadcherla-Ring road to Ramoji film City.


The gear mountedon my bike is - the usual set of spanners, puncture kit, my camera kit, sleeping bag and ofcource some clothes

The idea of this ride is to photograph and i will be detouring to nagarjuna sagar dam, gooty fort, and the heavenly route between Dornala and Srisailam.


To do this, what i need is a good nights sleep!

RiderMania 2008

WanderersMC of hyderabad is hosting this years rider mania. RiderMania modeled like the bikeFest is our own desi Royal Enfield way of meeting other bikers. Mark your calendars for 17th 18th 19th january and plan your vacations :)

I am planning to cover pictures of scenic places all thru bangalore to hyderabad. So if you see a yellow biker on the way clicking snaps, do stop by and say hello :)

The Date and Place are:

Date: 18th and 19th January 2008

Venue: Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad