Few months before the Gandikota ride where the idea of Club ROFL sparked, I went for a short ride to Mahabalipuram with CBR group of riders. Mahabalipuram is around 60 km from Chennai, in case it wasn’t clear ð !
Being the sweep of the group, I was thinking the lead (Chetan) would take us inside Mahabalipuram. Just after we crossed Hotel Mamalla, he stayed on the OMR and within a kilometer, there was a tea shop on the left side. Abetting the tea shop was a small road, your topical off road section.
I guess it must have rained the previous day or two because the entry was a bit slushy. The other riders were on Honda CBR 250R and I know it can tackle any road (or the lack of it!). I was however on Continental GT650, which was clearly not meant for these kinds of roads. Took the bike in anyway! It behaved quite well. For a bike weighing 200 kg approx, it was nimble enough to maneuver those sections.
Thought I have been to Mahabalipuram many times, the first time I visited this part of the town was around July 2019.
From the deviation on ECR, the place we halted at was maybe 500 m away. It was indeed a sight to see! Who would have thought that a place like this was readily there to see, that too just near Chennai? On the way back, we halted at Hotel Mamalla for breakfast before heading back home.
I again visited this place in August 2019 with other Interceptor 650 riders from the local Royal Enfield group.
Next time I head there, will surely take a video of the off road section and share it here!