Day 2 was tough and long, the toughest day so far in the tour. Distance wise, it was 157km - not too long. But very tough indeed. Partly due to the climbs, partly due to the hot afternoon sun, and partly due to some very bad roads, and partly due to my shoe biting into the little finger of my left feet. I am glad that I completed the ride. Some captures below
Early morning second day - bikes waiting for the riders. While riders were getting ready for the day, I clicked some pictures of the machines
Anand's BMC
Paul's Pinarello Dogma
During breakfast, we were handed the day's route map.the last 15 km of the map is on the other side of the paper. To bandipur, 157 km ride.
Riders starting for the days ride.
The day didn't start off well for me. Myself, Sunil and Deena started together. 2 km into the ride, my bottle was out in the ground. Realised, the bottle cage is done.
Another 5 km into the ride, one of the rider overtook me in a hurry, came in front of me, and braked hard as there was a bus coming from the other side. I had to suddenly brake, and in the hurry to uncleat, the pedal bounced off and created a deep mark below my knee. Stopped, washed my knee with help for villagers, put some band aid, and carried on.
While Deena stretched, I used my camera to take some pics. Pradeep and his wife in the frame here
Me and Deena reached the first service station , at 40 km mark.
Vandit, Sumit in the frame
Around 20 km further into the ride, I stopped to take a pic. Deena kept going, and I couldn't catch him there after.
By now, my my left shoe was giving trouble. It was biting my little finger, and I had to stop and take of my shoes for 5 -10 min after every 45 min. Heres Hrishi Nair, TFN's youngest rider and her mother Rossana rides through as the official TFN photographer captures the moment.
Another break, another rider 
Going down a hill
I kept taking breaks to take my shoe off, and the pictures flowed
Service station 2 - villagers checking out our bikes
These and much more on offer at ST. And the peanut butter is real yummy
Volunteers in action
I was riding alone at times.
While I take my shoes off and give me feet a breather, 2 more riders pass by. This was around 1 pm, and it was getting tough, especially with the climbs.
98km covered, and the sight of service station gives a relief. It is also the lunch station. It is 2 pm.
Volenteers and riders taking some rest. I had my lunch, waited till 3pm to avoind the afternoon sun, and then started my ride. This time, there were around 5 more riders with me. But breakes every 45 min means I will have to ride alone in short while anyway.
Around 20 km down, road marking showing the right way. The sign of home though was illusive and 35 km away from here.
At last we reach gudalur, and take the left turn at highway. I was running out of time( it was 5 pm already, and i had to cover 3o more km), and the sight of the smooth highway after those bad roads did wonders to my morale. I caught up with Ankur here, who is in this frame. On the way, we caught up with another bunch of 8 riders, and we rode the rest of ride together.
Close to the our resort in Bandipur, we spotted lots of deer. One of the bunch here, although the autofocus didn't work properly. Reached resort at 6.30 pm, and it was already dark. Dead tired, but happy on completing the ride without being picked up by the sweeper truck. Heard later than only around 60 odd out of 100 completed the day's ride. Also came to know later that Paul had spotted a leopard 10 metres from him on the same route.
Early morning second day - bikes waiting for the riders. While riders were getting ready for the day, I clicked some pictures of the machines
Anand's BMC
Paul's Pinarello Dogma
During breakfast, we were handed the day's route map.the last 15 km of the map is on the other side of the paper. To bandipur, 157 km ride.
Riders starting for the days ride.The day didn't start off well for me. Myself, Sunil and Deena started together. 2 km into the ride, my bottle was out in the ground. Realised, the bottle cage is done. 
Another 5 km into the ride, one of the rider overtook me in a hurry, came in front of me, and braked hard as there was a bus coming from the other side. I had to suddenly brake, and in the hurry to uncleat, the pedal bounced off and created a deep mark below my knee. Stopped, washed my knee with help for villagers, put some band aid, and carried on. At around 20 km mark, deena wanted to take a break
While Deena stretched, I used my camera to take some pics. Pradeep and his wife in the frame here 
Me and Deena reached the first service station , at 40 km mark.
Vandit, Sumit in the frame 
Around 20 km further into the ride, I stopped to take a pic. Deena kept going, and I couldn't catch him there after.
By now, my my left shoe was giving trouble. It was biting my little finger, and I had to stop and take of my shoes for 5 -10 min after every 45 min. Heres Hrishi Nair, TFN's youngest rider and her mother Rossana rides through as the official TFN photographer captures the moment.
Another break, another rider 
Going down a hill
I kept taking breaks to take my shoe off, and the pictures flowed
Service station 2 - villagers checking out our bikes
These and much more on offer at ST. And the peanut butter is real yummy
Volunteers in action 
I was riding alone at times.
While I take my shoes off and give me feet a breather, 2 more riders pass by. This was around 1 pm, and it was getting tough, especially with the climbs.
98km covered, and the sight of service station gives a relief. It is also the lunch station. It is 2 pm.Volenteers and riders taking some rest. I had my lunch, waited till 3pm to avoind the afternoon sun, and then started my ride. This time, there were around 5 more riders with me. But breakes every 45 min means I will have to ride alone in short while anyway.
Around 20 km down, road marking showing the right way. The sign of home though was illusive and 35 km away from here.
At last we reach gudalur, and take the left turn at highway. I was running out of time( it was 5 pm already, and i had to cover 3o more km), and the sight of the smooth highway after those bad roads did wonders to my morale. I caught up with Ankur here, who is in this frame. On the way, we caught up with another bunch of 8 riders, and we rode the rest of ride together.
Close to the our resort in Bandipur, we spotted lots of deer. One of the bunch here, although the autofocus didn't work properly. Reached resort at 6.30 pm, and it was already dark. Dead tired, but happy on completing the ride without being picked up by the sweeper truck. Heard later than only around 60 odd out of 100 completed the day's ride. Also came to know later that Paul had spotted a leopard 10 metres from him on the same route.
