Bangalore to Tirupathi/Tirumala by road

On the 14th of March I was on the road from Bangalore to Tirupati/Tirumala...sharing details on the trip - route, distance, road conditions, places to watch for from this trip of mine.

We started off from Bangalore on the 14th of March at around 3 PM...We were driving in a Wagon R LXi (my uncle's car) ...I stay near Hennur on outer ring road and hence took a short cut from the Hennur Bagalur main road to get on to the OMR (Old Madras Road) to reach Hoskote. From the point we join on OMR (near Manjunatha hospital, 1 KM before BPL factory on the way towards Hoskote) it is 7 Kms to Hoskote.

Here is the route from Bangalore to Tirupati/Tirumala:

The total distance from Bangalore to Tirupathi is close to 250 Kms and can be covered in within 5 hours comfortably. Some information on the various landmarks and the distance between them

• Bangalore – Hoskote : 32 KMS
• Hoskote – Kolar: 60 + Kms
• Kolar - Mulbagal – Palamner – Bangarapalaya - Chittoor: Approx 70 Kms
• Chitoor -Putalapattu – Tirupati: Approx 69 Kms
• Tirupati - Tirumala: 24 Kms (Ghat section)

Hoskote is a small industrial area and is crowded for most parts of the day...people visiting this place from Bangalore and Kolar.


From Hoskote we proceed towards Kolar - The road in this section is very crowded with lots of truck/bus traffic. The average speed you can clock here is about 60-70 Km/kr...overtaking is a challenge with only two lane roads...however good news is that there is a 4+4 lane road which is coming up. The trees on both sides of the road have been cut (very sadly) and the road expansion is in progress...I believe the road should be ready in August 2008. When we get to Kolar we don't need to get into the town...we take the by pass and keep proceeding towards Chitoor.

The next main stretch is Kolar to Chitoor -which is approximately 80 Kms...the route is Kolar -Mulbagal – Palamner – Chittoor. This is a great stretch of driving...the roads are nice (with just some bad patches!)...one can easily touch the 100-140 Km/Hr based on the car he/she drives ! The road is only a two lane one ...what makes driving good is very little traffic in this segment (may be I was lucky!)

Come Chitoor and you will hit some high traffic area...you will need to cut through the town to get onto to Tirupati...of course there is a by pass before getting into Chitoor which leads you Tirupathi road...however the road isn't great there and there aren't any signboards as well (I think I saw something like BARN residency as an indicator to this by pass)

Chitoor is also the place where people heading towards Chennai split from the NH 4 - You will take a left on NH4 to get into Chitoor and head to Tirupati and a right to get onto the Chennai road. Chitoor Tirupati road is also good...however there are three railways crossings on this road and one could get stuck there. You also need to watch out for a couple of speed breakers without any indication...I had to break really hard not to jump one of the speed breakers !!! It takes just more than hour to reach Tirupati from Chitoor.

Tirupati to Tirumala is 24 Kms and it is a small ghat section. This can be covered in about 40 minutes. Be sure you watch out for all the sign boards and only overtake at the right locations.

Two things to watch out when going from Tirupati to Tirumala:
a) Don't carry and cigarettes/drink to Tirumala - It is banned at Tirumala
b) The vehicle you are driving will need to be checked/supervised and a pass should be obtained before you start moving up hill from Alipiri (main point for moving up hill)

Tirumala surely is the place to visit, however there are some other nice temples around Tirupati/Tirumala which attract devotees. They are:

• Sri Kalahasthi - 38 Kms from Tirupati, known for its Rahu Kethu pooja.
• Alamelu Mangapuram - This is on Tiruchanoor road about 3 Kms from Tirupati
• Kanipakkam Ganapati temple, this is before Chitoor
• A Siva temple in Tirupati
• Govindaraja Swamy temple near Bheema hotel in Tirupati

I am sure there are many more ...however these are the ones which I know :)

Alright...time to take off for me...hope the above information was helpful...post your comments here...will be good to read them.

Cheers,

Vaithee

How I got hooked on to F1

Formula 1 (F1) racing has been an area of interest for me from 2002...I always used to wonder what is it in F1 that people follow it so closely...it is just cars going in rounds on a circuit and there is absolutely nothing in this sport !

3rd March 2002 - I was watching the start of the F1 season opener in Australia (don't recall why I ended up watching it). The Ferrari of Rubens Barichello was on pole with fellow team mate Michael Schumacher on 2nd, Michael's brother Ralf Schumacher then driving for Williams was on 3rd.

The opening lap of the Australian GP was the most dramatic ...I had not seen something as spectacular as that for sometime...Rubens made a good start and so did Ralf from 3rd...Ralf bumped into the back of Rubens Ferrari and his Williams car just flew ! It was a spectacular sight....keeping in mind I was following my 1st Formula 1 race ! This race made me read more about F1...understand what the cars, drivers and circuits are all about.

See highlights of the F1 2002 Australian GP on YouTube

Let us look at some of the facts of F1, these are the facts which make me believe F1 is a great/tough/competetive sport. Check out the pictures also in the blog, these facts and pictures are courtesy of a forwarded mail on F1, the car in picture is a Honda. The conceptualization to show a F1 car in parts is simply awesome !!

F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled 99.9% correctly; it would still start the race with 80 things wrong!
When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through a BRICK wall at 300kmph!!!

An F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!!!!!!!


F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly before blowing up on the other hand we expect our engines to last us for a decent 20 yrs on an average and they quite faithfully DO....that's the extent to which the engines are pushed to perform...

An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour (Yeah that's right!!!)


At 550kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini !

To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and added down force can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track.

Without aerodynamic down force, high-performance racing cars have sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160 kmph. They usually race at over 300 kmph.

In a street course race like the Monaco grand prix, the down force provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race all of the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent this from happening!

The refuelers used in F1 can supply 12 liters of fuel per second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50 liter family car. They use the same refueling rigs used on US military helicopters today.

TOP F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds. It took me 8 sec to read above point

During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5 kg in weight due to wear.

Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km.

A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best grip) when tread temperature is between 900C and 1200C.(Recall that water boils at 100C remember)

At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.

Check out some of the interesting aspects of Formula 1 on Wiki

Today, I am a big fan of F1 racing and follow the season very closely. I am sure many of you have interesting facts to share o F1...please feel free to let me know your thoughts

Cheers,
Vaithee

Road Cars Vs Formula 1 Cars

Today is March 6th…I am all excited…it is just more than a week to go for my much awaited Formula 1 2008 season to begin!

Motor Sport is one of the most exciting sports for me…and of course F1 stands on top of that list J So what is that makes Formula 1 racing so exciting ! It is the sleek cars, the high end technology used on cars, the drivers, the circuits and the rules in racing which makes it an amazing sport !

Here are some of the elements and characteristics that make up a Formula One car and give it a completely different appearance to other types of racing cars:

Open wheels: Unlike the road car sitting in your garage, one of the most obvious elements of a Formula One car is that its wheels aren’t covered.

Central cockpit: Formula One design teams don’t worry about the comfort of passengers – because they don’t have to!! Formula One cars have room for only one driver. The cockpit is mounted in the dead centre of the car, which is vital for a car’s centre of gravity. Of course there are twin seat cars used for demo purpose, this is just to give the common man a feel of what it is to be in a F1 card

Agile and lightweight: Believe it or not, a Formula One car weighs a fraction of what a road car weighs. Most of the car is built from carbon fibre, making F1 cars super light weight and, therefore, very fast.

Lack of bumpers: Formula One is a no-contact sport, which is why you won’t find any safety bumpers at the front or rear of the car to fend off the attention of other cars. Instead of bumpers, you find aerodynamic wings.

Aerodynamic wings: The front and rear wings of the Formula One car, which are designed to push the car down onto the ground, are very exposed – which they have to be if the car is going to be quick. (They also provide perfect billboards for sponsors.) These wings are the result of months of research in high-tech wind tunnels and contribute to the speeds which the cars can generate.

The power and speed a F1 car generates really fascinates me...would love to get into the cockpit of a F1 car and see how well I can drive one !

Checkout some of the interesting facts of F1 cars on my blog

Cheers,
Vaithee

Indian IPO Market - Mad rush?

Indian IPO Markets

Why is it that Indian Investors are so crazy about IPO's?

There was lots of action in the Indian IPO (Initial Public Offering) market ….with the sudden fall in the equity markets the action seems to have died down!

Let us look at why IPO’s are hot with the public? Why does a person invest in IPO's?

Companies go in for IPO's when they want to sell a part of their equity to the public and use the money (raised from public) for specific needs. IPO money is debt free (no need to pay interest)…but is compensated with dilution of equity.

What are the things I should keep in mind while investing in IPO’s

* What kind of business is this company in? How is the sector growing, what are the potential risks?

* Do I understand the company business, its promoters and its past performance?

* What are the growth prospects of the company in the long term?

What is happening these days is very different - The IPO makret is over heated with many IPO's hitting the market in quick succession....most of the IPO's are fully valued and hence don't have much scope for upside...people (including me) subscribe to the same without understanding risks of the listing, valuation and long term prospects.

The only reason people seem to be investing in an IPO is “I will be able to double/triple/quadruple” my money when this IPO lists in the secondary market…call it pure luck if you are able to get 50-100 % return consistently on these IPO’s !

Why is it that getting 50-100% (or more !!!!) returns consistently not feasible?

* Companies understand that people are willing to go to any extend to get good shares and hence are pricing the IPO’s very aggressively – Valuations are on the higher side and a further premium on listing is not realistic/sustainable

* Short sighted view of other investors (investors are people who can invest for a longer time and hence buyers would be a better term right !!!) who want to sell on listing – This selling pressure will bring down the price

* Some of the risks/valuation concerns of the stock come out only once the subscription is complete or once the stock lists, a classic case being the Reliance Power issue on NSE recently…before the IPO opened many fund/brokerage houses recommended a buy on the stock without looking at the valuation…the IPO was over subscribed a whooping 100+ times and then came the valuation concerns from all fund houses…where were these people when the IPO was in subscription…where these risks/valuation concerns hidden !

People need to apply judgment when investing in stocks…they should buy into businesses which they understand and only buy stocks from a long term perspective !

Happy Investing :)

Cheers,
Vaithee