In my last post I described my journey into cycling and a bunch of memorable adventures from past years. Being a regular commuter to office on MTB having having clocked 3400+ KMs on speedo now, I must admit that cycling is one thing that happened in my life which is having a positive influence all through.
Couple of years back I was an avid Enfield Bullet rider! I was a proud owner of 1983 Enfield Bullet Std - did touring for 3-4 days with fellow bikers - went on solo rides to places around that I wanted to explore. There was a lot more speed, power and loved mile munching on such beautiful motorcycle. People around me, who didn't have the sense of what it feels to ride such a motor cycle, were poking fun at me to sell the fuel gulping Bullet and put few more grands on it to buy a cycle instead and thus I granted their wish! To be honest, I jump started my cycling life again in becoming a "monk-who-sold-his-ferrari" ;) I felt really glad that I have made them shut their mouth now.
Break-up with my beloved Enfield took its toll :( but my new love Khs Alite 500, did help me recover back from the depression very soon ;)
Thus as a close friend the first lesson my mountain bike taught me was "to move on in life"!
When I started commuting to office on my mountain bike (16km, round trip) folks around me said its not feasible/suitable in Bangalore traffic and they were too skeptical on lean me doing it even for couple of days. I confess frankly that it was hard for me too to begin with the plan of daily commute. People look at you as a dumb-idiot-attempting-the-impossible-all-in-vain. Sad but true - a lot of people wish to see others fail in their endeavor. But I had to break the ice in integrating cycling as a part of my daily lifestyle. That is when my cycle taught me second lesson to "just get on with it and don't hesitate of what people think of you". This lesson has helped me in welcoming funny comments at my cycling attire during commute - Once a passer-by called me out loud as "Hey, look at that Spiderman!" - Well, I second his thought as I wearing full sleeve red jersey with black neo-mask air filter in black-red shorts (Just to be more visible on road). Who knows he might call me a "Green goblin" when I wear a green jersey. Hehehe :D
Courage is not to be thought as "having-no-fear-at-all" but it is the power of your will to overcome your fear. It is just the 1st day that mattered when I started - the rest just happened on determination. Its been more than 1.4 years of my office commute now. It is like doing meditation (Yoga) - you keep practicing it daily and hope that you perfect it within your lifetime! I personally feel that anything you inculcate as a habit of practicing daily becomes a part of your spiritual life. I might not daily say mantras and sit and meditate at one place but I rather feel that every time I crank the pedals with my feet, it feels the same as chant! Thus the third lesson my bike taught me was "to contemplate and introspect at least once a while"
To be very honest, at first even I was skeptical about my fragile body (5'7", 60Kg) whether it could take long duration exercises. I was worried more about cycling associated pain and injury. That is when I came across an article about human body and its endurance. It read - Homo sapiens are not meant to be sprinters like other four legged mammals but we are very good at aerobic metabolism and have excellent body cooling system. Great, I thought and I did test myself in doing 100+ km rides endurance cycling to Nandi Hills and back several times now but I have never suffered any injury (touch wood :P). All you need it a proper bike-fit and good posture to sit on bones in your butt to avoid back pain and injuries. Thus the fourth lesson my bike taught me was "we have an evolutionary legacy to be athletes"
Took a very long break from my web log. So here I am saying hello as in Terminator3 movie - "I am back!!"
I dedicate this post to my beloved friend-guru-philosopher called "KHS alite 500" mountain bike who is just about 1 year old now but wiser than me who taught me a lot of things in life.
My journey into cycling started long time back in Mysore when I was a kid learning-how-to-balance on small hero bicycle with the support wheels on them. But I never had an opportunity to ride much of bicycle during schooling days as I always had to take bus due to longer commute. Since then I had a longing to own a bicycle looking at many of friends coming on bicycles to school. Years passed by but the fascination for bikes was never gone. Well the first thing I bought myself was the Hercules bicycle saved from my internship money after finishing my under-graduation. Yes you read it right! after finishing my engineering. It doesn't take people to be crazy to ride a bike but being crazy helps. Soon after that I got bit by the bug of riding longer and longer distances to satisfy the thirst and improving my endurance. Couple of guys like "Nomad" and "roasted neurons" inspired me (Their funny names and writing style itself are enough. Need i say more!) to take the cycling to next new level. That happened five years back exactly on this same day I had been on solo biking journey to Maakalidurga. A memorable journey indeed with lot of thrilling adventures of mountain climbing, taking dip in lake, hiking with other camping members en-route! Then the phase of office commute started on same bike and I called it operation Manyatha. Indeed it was a mission and a tough one but it is good that I am able to keep it running successful till now but on a much better bike now. The thirst for riding long distances and building stamina ever increased and that is when I had registered for Bengaluru cyclothon in 2009. My views about cycling changed a lot after meeting people at cyclothon and seeing more mature biking groups. This is where I met GGI and BBCh members for first time. I saw road race bikes for the first time in my life during the event who were zipping past ahead of me with their 9+ kilo imported race bikes while I was riding a steel-framed 30+ kilo purely Indian made local bike. :) My riding distance had got better by this time of about 60+ kms a day on my Hercules cycle. Soon after this cyclothon incident in my life, I pulled my cousin (Sumukh) into cycling. He was then new to cycling but i forced him one day for a Nandi hills ride, an overkill for a beginner indeed but it was the most funny ride ever as I did tow him for about 10+ kms with our bikes pulled by a rope after he started limping on our way back! Even more funnier part was that the rear mud guard fell off!! I mean it just fell off while riding and got stuck between the road and rear tire but it was this rope we tied to our bikes which helped us to avoid the disaster of me having a face-first-fall. Hehe.. With no tools with us, all we could find was a hardware store nearby where I only found a hack-saw blade to cut the mud-guard off the bike. :P
Too vintage.. i guess! :P
Country bikes with informal bikers then...
Are you kidding me? Tow away zone!?.. we were towing ourselves all the way back to Yelahanka!
Cutting the mud guard which fell towards the front of wheel!
Then I decided that it was the time for me to go for better and more reliable and lighter frame bike. But never found a proper way to go in search for proper kind of bike which suited my budget and my way of cycling. Road bikes looked really cool lean machines with those aerodynamic drop bars with those thin 700x25c tires and elegant frame geometry. But I am a kind of guy who takes too much adventure within and loved to be one with nature than on asphalted roads speeding at 40-50kmph. Thus I opted for Mountain bike and sooner I got to know about cycling-and-more(CAM) team who were having this regular weekend cycling rides around Bangalore. Me and my cousin both opted for rented bikes and took the ride as opportunity to get ourselves exposed to some modern day imported bikes with good components. We got Merida Matts 20V rented during the whole ride. It was then I realized the beauty of handling and braking of these Mountain bikes. We did the ride starting from Horanadu-Kalasa-Mudigere-Kottigehara-Sakleshpura, the heart of western ghats i must say, in-and-around the Charmadi ghats. The climbs were thrilling, tiring, challenging which were all negated by scenic beauty, greenery and pristine routes we took Not to forget the amazing food at Linger Balur estate! and the lovely bungalow built almost everything out of wood from 1850s. Made new cyclist friends who were riding Cannondale Trail 5, Mongoose Tyax, Rock Rider 5.2s, Schwinn hybrids etc., but just fell in love with the Cannondale bike after I took it for spins.
Lovely greens meadows between Kottigehara-Sakleshpur
I look like a charred version of me :P
Welcoming us to village life
A lovely water body with lotuses on the way (In the pic - Sumukh)
How often does one get a change to be there!?
Soon after this ride we went to BOTS, Wheelsports (specially for KHS, Merida, BMC), Pedals and Wheels, Wheel life adventures (specially for Giant bike) and other branded bike distributors. Finally I chose KHS alite 500 as it has best components for my budget range.
Then I did a lot of upgrades to my bike since it was mainly a commuter purpose bike for me but often a trail bike too. Got a Cree 950 Lumens torch which runs on 4000mAh Ultrafire 18650 battery with a custom mount made out of a reflector clamp. A simple DC-4W cyclocomp to monitor distance and speed. A custom built DIY project for phone/battery pack charger. The recent of all was to get the puncture resistant tire liners kit installed as I face lot of thorns in trail rides towards Nandi hills and Hesaraghatta. Here are some videos that I took during my rides sometime back.
Offroad cycling is just so much fun! Have been to Nandi hills thrice (Dared the 8K climb only once though, last 2 kms are killing!) and Hesaraghatta trails about 4 times now, each of these rides would be around 80+ kms from my home at Sahakarnagar.
At Hesaraghatta lake (water remains to be precise!) - with my schoolmate Nikhil
Sumukh and Jon during the Nandi climb
It was a 100+ km ride back tiring ride that day!
Then came another bike trip with the office colleagues who are more of marathon runners and share same level of enthusiasm and passion as mine in biking. It was 3 day ride to heart of Madhumalai, Ooty. The ride was memorable as it was through the famous wildlife - Bandipur, Madhumalai, Gudaloor forests. We started from Mysore all the way to Bandipur (1st day), Bandipur to Masinagudi (2nd day), Masinagudi to Ooty (3rd Day). The ride was splendid and so was our final day accommodation at Taj savoy at Ooty! Yipeee.. A refreshing star hotel pleasure after treacherous rides (but not to mention that it burnt a hole in my pocket though :P )
My colleague Manav with his Kona dew taking a break
Thats the way - Mahi way! :)
Took rest here for few mins before the start of climb when I saw deers cross the road next to me!!
I was probably in 1x1 gear ratio here - crawling the way up!
Bend it like hair pin :P
Hocus - pocus - focus!
The latest ride of mine was my second ride with the CAM team last month starting from Bandipur - Gudalur - towards Kerala, Wayanad - Sulthan batthery - Soochipara falls. The tea estates were mesmerizing at the Soochipara falls. The best moments of the ride was to sip the freshly brewed tea, taking a stroll inside the estate in which it was grown, kids cheering us and asking us for name in their pretty English, taking a full body water massage below the water falls soon after a long ride!
Horse shoe for sale in one of villages
Lovely morning sunshine
A piece of art from a tree right next to them!
Yes. It was Christmas time last month! We stayed at Hotel Issac regency.
Fellow bikers
Edakkal hills in Kerala.
Speeeeeedo...
Most lovely pic! No words for its beauty!
Tea estates
Vivek Kini - on the way to Soochipara falls
Scenic route throughout
Tea estates very close to Soochipara falls
I hope you enjoyed my photo log of my journey as a primitive biker -> to an informal biker -> to an amateur biker. :D
Having done past 3000Kms now (of which 2000+ would be in commute), even to this day I enjoy my office commutes as it keeps me energetic for the entire day in getting me exposed to the some sunlight and breeze and relives a lot of pressure at work. Special thanks to Endorphins here! Even though traveling is slow paced I reach faster than on Car and coolest part is that I know a lot about short cuts and also round about ways to reach home in-case of traffic jams ;)
I didn't say why I called my Bike as friend-guru-philosopher yet! I promise to come back with another post as sequel to this soon. Thus I would like to end this post as I started with Terminator movie quote - "I'll be back!!"
This is cut-copy-paste/edited(by me) version of travel diary by Sundar J dev, who accompanied me to go out for a vacation of 3 days to Goa totally unplanned!
26th September 2009, Wednesay: Karthik pinged me casually on Wednesday night at around 10 'o clock asking what had i planned for the long weekend ahead. I had thought abt backpacking solo to kerala and told him that. he had planned to go to Kanyakumari I believe. so both of us hit off instantly. first we thought Kanyakumari. Then Karthik suggested Goa. this was more interesting and exciting and so we finally decided on Goa! we thought we should do the entire coast, rite from North Goa all the way to Karwar- a distance of around 130 kms, on bikes. so this was what got me going- the idea of riding a bike along the coastline!
24th September 2009, Thursday: Karthik booked a room for the 2 of us at Palm groove guest house in this place called Vagator in North Goa. I booked the bus tickets for the 2 of us. so we were now ready to go!
25th September 2009, Friday: the 7.30pm bus left Bangalore at 9.00pm :( it was a loooooooooong bus journey, with unscheduled stops in between for tyre replacement and so on, and we reached Panjim at around 12.30pm on Saturday :( :(
26th September 2009, Saturday: we had told ourselves that we are not getting into the cab or the auto to reach the guest house. but as we got down from the bus, we were forced into the cabs by the drivers there. we inquired the price after getting into the cab and the driver told us 400 bucks. we told not a penny more than 250. It didn't work out and we finally got off the cab. we then thought auto might be a good idea and asked a rickshawala there and he asked 300 bucks and we had lost our minds to actually agree to his price and get into the auto. I mean what crazy?! we were stupid enough to actually not walk into the bus stand right next to the auto stand and board a bus :( so here was our first stupid mistake(1st day in Goa) - spending 300 rupees instead of a mere 36 rupees had we traveled by the local bus:'(. Never travel in auto/taxi when you can catch a bus.
Anyway, we reached the guest house at around 2pm. we then got ourselves cleaned and had our lunch in the restaurant attached to the guest house. Then we asked the restaurant owner for a Goa map and 2 bikes for which he kindly obliged. The bikes, one activa and the other a hero honda glamour, were in very good condition as against what we had initially thought. so we were kinda happy.
We took our bikes and left for Vagator beach which was a short distance(1.5km) from where we stayed. the beach was calm and not crowded and stretched a pretty long distance towards the south. we walked almost till the end and found a few outsiders.. It was "interesting" :P
We then went to Calangute beach which was about 6kms from vagator. this was the most crowded of all the beaches.. actually both this and the one adjacent to it- Baga. The beach was a long one and stretched from Calangute on the south end to Baga on the north. we parked our bikes in Calangute and walked all the way till Baga along the beach (again in hope of finding what we thought baga was famous for). we did get into the water in Baga just for the fun of it. It was nice but was crowded and was always being looked over by the life guards. we then got out and started walking back to Calangute.
We then did window-shopping after bargaining with the wooden jewel box and chucking the idea of buying it and i did buy a bag. We then took our bikes and decided on going to fortAguada and Candolim beach. The fortAguada was accessible on bikes. It was pitch dark there. We parked our bikes for some pics. we then went to a small patch of beach adjacent to the fort.There was a restaurant on the top which had installed a high beam light bulb which was the only source of light illuminating this beach. This beach was full of crabs; tiny ones i mean. But nevertheless it was nice place. There was also another view point in the same fort. we went there as well. It was a beautiful setting for 9.30pm in the night.. No source of light, with the Arabian sea below and a row ships at a distance. After this we thought of going to Ingo's flea market that happens in this place called Anjuna on every saturday night. Devaki had told me abt this place. It sounded very interesting and we thought we should go there. but unluckily it happens only during nov-dec time we were told :( we then did the 2nd stupid mistake- went to a posh restaurant for dinner and paid 700 bucks for the meal which didn't even fill our stomach x-(. we had lost our senses that day i must tell u! we then returned to our guest house.
27th September 2009, Sunday: We got up bright and early only to find the rest of Goa still sleeping and there was no water in the tap and no one around to help us out either :( So we just brushed our teeth outside and thought we should go to Chapora fort next to vagator beach.. We went there, parked our bkes and went up. There were hardly 3 other ppl there and it was a very pleasant setting. This is the fort that is shown in Dil Chahtha Hai. We walked down the fort to this small hillock below. As we were walking we saw 2 peacocks run across our path!! Karthik did a good job of shooting one of them on his cam. It was indeed exciting to see a peacock in the wild and thattoo when we least expected to see them! After sitting/meditating on the top of the hillock, we started walking back and on the other side of the fort we saw 2 more peacocks- This time with their feathers open! what-a-sight! We jumped the fort wall and followed them into the bushes. But we were not able to spot themagain :( we then returned back to themain entrance of the fort and then made our way back to our bikes. It was a perfect start to the day!
After getting ready and having our free breakfast, we left for Dudhsagar falls on our bikes at around 9.30am. we had to travel around 75 kms from our guest house to reach the starting point of the trek. On the way, we were fined 100 bucks by the traffic police for driving without helmets x-( i mean, what rot?! so anyway, we continued on our journey from there on with the helmets on, always.
Just a few kms from the starting point of the trek, in this place called Molem, we went to a small restaurant to fill our tummies for the trek ahead. we inquired what they had on the menu and the hotel-keeper told us he could get us channa masala,rotis for veg. We settled for the same along with roti's. I must say the channa masala was indeed good! and moreover the hotel-keeper was very hospitable and kind! so we had a decent lunch at a lesser than low-budget price! After this we thought the Activa that i was using had done enough for the day and so thought no point in pushing it any more. So we left the activa in the restaurant after taking the matron’s permission. We then reached the starting point of the trek on Karthik’s bike.
We now had an option of either trekking or riding on bike for another 14 kms to reach the falls. we decided to try our own bike :D but we used the wrong road, the one along the railway track and it was just not motor able :( and so we had to give up the idea :( we then parked the bike adjacent to the railway track inside a bush and started walking. it was around 1.30 when we started. we walked and walked and walked for almost 2 full hours and no sight of the falls yet . We were misguided by almost all of them at beginning of the trek that it might take us around an hour on foot! but actually the falls is a good 14 kms into the western ghats! we encountered numerous small streams and waterfalls all along the trek route :) Imagine just 2 ppl in the middle of mountains and no sight of anyone else around. I was loving it! After walking for around 8 kms we reached this railway station called Sonalium. not a railway station as such, but just a signal room with a station master (for a crossing is present for Vasco trains). It is not accessible by any other means other than by train! i was seriously wondering what was the purpose of this station! At this station, we met this Navy family, or rather a group of 2 families. Karthik inquired with them about how far the falls was from there, for which we were told that it was a good 6-7 kms further up along the track route and could easily take another hour to reach on foot.. Off went our enthusiasm in a whisker :( it was 3.30pm already i think. and the idea of trekking another 1 hr was not very convincing, but at the same time very hard to accept too :( this Navy family also suggested that we cud indeed go there and supposedly there is another railway signal room rite next to the falls(Dudhsagar station) where we could spend the night and return in the morning! sounded very exciting! had we not got our bikes, i'm sure we would have happily done that. But stupid bikes prevented us from doing it x-( nevertheless, the trek was a unique one for me and different from the others i have done! so we decided it was better we return back :( now happened the most exciting part of the whole trek- hitching a ride back on a goods train!!!! I must tell you I was excited to the peak :D I mean, how many times do u get an opportunity to travel on a goods train?! It was one of those rare experiences! We got onto the last vehicle in the goods train along with the Navy family.. The Guard was a real nice person! all along the track, when we trekked, we noticed milestone plates marked something like 43/500 and 43/400 and so on. we were not able to figure out what the numbers meant. I asked the gaurd this and he clarified our doubts! you read it as 43kms 500 mts or 43.5kms and 43.4 kms respectively :) and yeah i forgot to mention- it rained while we rode back on the goods train :D and we were more than happy to get drenched! I always thought we could get to see such things only in Hindi movies!?! So finally we got down at the Colem railway station, thanked the guard for the ride (one of those ride-of-our-lives for the both of us!) and the Navy family for advising us and also for giving us biscuits and potato bonda(:D), and then we walked a small distance to the place where we had parked our bike. we then rode back to the restaurant to pick up my bike and started towards our guest house at around 6.10pm
We now had to cover 75 kms along NH-17 (the one that connects Bangalore and Goa) which was full of trucks and state transport buses. At one point I used all the expletives i ever knew for a NWKRTC bus driver who could have easily sent me packing that day, nevertheless we safely reached Panjim at around 8.00pm. We then went to this udipi veg and non-veg restaurant (:P), a very small and dingy place on the first floor. Our stupid acts of spending lavishly the previous day had indeed taught us some good lessons! :) We ate veg fried rice and had cool drink Mirinda - Our bill was just 120 bucks :D and just fyi, the whole day's food cost was a mere 300 bucks for the both of us!! as we munched on the food, we also planned for the next day. We then left Panjim for our guest house and reached at around 10.00pm.
28th September 2009, Monday: We got up as per our schedule and got ready and checked-out of our guest house after thanking the matron there for all the nice facilities at the guest house. And btw, I would recommend this place to anybody heading to Goa. It was dirt cheap (1320 bucks for 2 days with breakfast. remember this was peak tourist season) and had ALL the facilities like hot water, attached restaurant, and even cable tv. we then got into a local bus to go to Panjim via Mapusa where we had to change buses. we reached Panjim at around 9.30am. We were right on schedule till now! We then bargained with a local person there for a bike and got one for 250 bucks as against the 300 bucks he first quoted. The bike was in a horrible shape(Fuel tank of hero-honda splendor was shaking as if it would fall off!!) and We only later realised that we should have bargained for even lesser :( nevertheless, after finishing our breakfast in a nearby restaurant, we left for Vasco which was a good 30 kms from Panjim and we reached there at around 11.30am. In Vasco there was nothing much to see apart from the harbor, which we tried our luck to enter but were driven away by the CRPF gaurds at the gate :( we also went into the railway station hoping to see the end of the track as Vasco was the last station for trains headed there. We didn't realise that the harbor was further down the station and that goods train ply all the way into the harbor. So after walking some distance out of the station, on the tracks in the hope of finding the end, we returned without finding one and realizing that the tracks led to the harbor :( by now we had given up the idea of going to Margao and Cape De Rama, both of which wud have taken us a good 5-6 hrs to cover to and fro and we didn't have that much time with us and also the bike we had with us was just not worth relying on to cover that kind of distance! We then spent our time going to Baina beach in Vasco where there was some life-guard training/conditioning camp happening. After spending somewhere like 30 mins there, we headed back to Panjim from Vasco. And yeah, we also had our lunch on the way back in Vasco and the bill: just 100 bucks. we were improving!!(But the Chapati's were really good!)
On reaching panjim, we thought we should go to Dona Paulo view point. This place was the one we “least” liked of all the places in Goa. It was crowded to the brim. There were speed water bikes here, but we had exhausted almost all our money to even afford 200 bucks for a ride :P We left this place heavy hearted and went to Miramar, which was a small distance from here. this place was very calm and hardly had few people. and this was where we saw the beach sand shifting due to strong winds like the sand dunes u see in deserts! both of us sat there for some time as we had a lot of time and nothing else to do for the day before we could board our bus back to Bangalore. It was here that Karthik got this crazy idea of getting the bike inside the beach and riding it! cheers to Karthik x-( luckily it never worked as he was not able to find a way to enter the beach with the bike! I'm sure we might have ended up getting kicked out from there by the locals had Karthik's idea worked :)
We then got back to Panjim and returned the bike and collected our bags from the shop where we rented our bikes. We then went to this restaurant near the bus stand for snacks. Had masala pav and coffee; bill - 96 bucks!We then reached the bus stand at around 5.10pm and our bus was to leave at 6.15pm. So we had a lot of time which we spent sitting on the side wall adjacent to the road and opposite the bus stand, watching all the girls there! It was here that i spotted this really pretty girl. She was with this guy x-( here started our story-making session where the main character was this pretty girl, the guy with her- we called him kuruda (as he was wearing those dark glasses at 5.40pm in the evening!), then there was this another person whom we had met on the day we landed in Goa and who was responsible for us spending 300 bucks on auto- we called him chombu (u know why J) and then there was this aunty character who was the pretty girl's acquaintance from god-knows-where and her father and mother(i think), who were ajja ajji in our story! This story had so many twists that we were back to square one in figuring out how kuruda was related to our heroine. The sequence of events suggested that he was her boyfriend :( but then there were a few things that made us think that he cud be her brother as well ;) we were too good in this! and the best part was when we realised that this girl's seat was rite next ours in the bus! I was more than happy to let Karthik take the window seat this time :D anyways, she looked very pretty and that was the point and that was what made our return journey rather interesting! We reached bangalore the next day at around 10.00am, rather early and much against my expectations, and thus came the end of our “unplanned” Goa trip! A very memorable trip it was!
3 cheers to Karthik for this! Maga, u rock, seriously kano!! J
Sunday - 16th August 2009, One more memorable day in my life.
I didn't know what to name this post, but since my "independent" ride was soon next after independence day I aptly named it so.
I was having one more of a lazy weekend (as usual)... sleeping, sleeping and more sleeping, stuck to my couch, wrapped up in bed, not sure of sunrise or sunset! maybe even the clock had doubts in displaying AM/PM! with awesome drizzling weather outside..this Saturday.
Few of our college friends tried to meet-up for lunch on Sunday noon but in vain. :( So nothing much fun this weekend, I thought and again pillow was my "best friend" till 10.30am on Sunday morning.
Mom called me up to get up and wash my face to come out of just-now-got-up look, for her elder brother had come home to bless her with arishina/kumkum (A custom which is usually observed, similar to Raksha bhandhan in North, I suppose) for the Gowri festival, Next Sunday. How sweet of him to come to our place, I thought.. and so sooner did the thought of me going to my cousin sister's place crossed my mind and that is when I decided to goto Mysore!!! It was already 11am on Sunday morning. Me, not yet having a bath or breakfast, realizing my thought was far from reality but I always am game for making probable things possible :)
Having no commitments/meetings, I had all the time in the world to get ready for 100 mile journey from Bangalore. I got it all arranged in quick time. Had a quick-short bath and light breakfast and bidding a tata :) to my parents I started my bike after a long time. My companion, bullet doesn't give up on me in crisis like this.. It started smooth as if I had "buttered" the inside of the engine the day before! Off I leave to Mysore at 12:15pm packing an extra set of clothes and fueling up in a nearby service station off the Mysore road.
I drove slowly for about 20-30 kms for getting the engine hotter. It was around 2pm when I reached kamat(not a Kha-Mat :P) restaurant, 11 Kms behind Maddur. Jowar roti meals with Brinjal curry(they call it ennegai) is too good a feast when you are really really hungry. I called up my mom to say that I was having lunch at Maddur and mom couldn't believe her ears as she had heard my words as a foolish thought and wouldn't do such a thing in reality to drive away so far!
I disturbed my mechanic a couple of times to guide me to tighten brake nuts(The splashing of rain water to rear brakes lessen the effect of drum brakes) and to check the need for topping up of engine-oil, dust in carb-valve. His solutions worked out well.
It was 3pm already but I enjoyed the ride and scenic beauty around as it was drizzling for few moments and bright sunshine the next. There was no need to rip my bike and go fast as I had already plans to come back next morning. Slow and steady, I dodged some bad part of Mysore road on the way and soon I reached the "royal" city of palaces.
Mysore is not the same as before when me and our family used to live there a decade back. It is stretching outwards just like Bangalore with coming up of ring roads and bypass roads. Those were the days where every road had a -puram attached to it! now replaced by large blocks of vast sites called colony.
It was not difficult in finding way to my uncle's place as I had already known the landmarks. I surprised everyone by my untimely visit and It was nice to see everyone at home. It was a almost a year since I had been to their place. I had loads of fun at uncle's place that evening. We played pagade (desi version of dice game - ludo) which I used to play with my late Grandma during school-days. It brought back a lot of memories. Aunt prepared nice onion bajji.. too good for the chilling weather :) Great to know that little sister's education is going well. Nice to know her ambitions of completing BBM with CS and taking up further MBA in Bangalore university. Youngest sibling sister of all in our family is in her 10th grade and kudos to see that she has joined Bharathanatyam senior in dancing classes. I spent a lot of time looking out for myself in uncle's marriage album and had hearty laugh at "young myself" :D
I went back to childhood looking at the cute barbie doll sisters treasured in their photo-album. Sad, that I dont have my own photos when I was a little kid. I seemed like more of Kamsa rather than Krishna when they used to get me fancy dressed for a photo shootout :P
It was late and heavy lashing rains outside with a bit power cuts in between, we could not go out for strolling around famous Mysore palace. Also I had to leave early next morning back to Bangalore. So I was forced to sleep at 11pm to get up early at 4:30am. Its been ages since I slept so early.. I am quite nocturnal type who usually does not go sleep without seeing 1:00am on clock. But due to the tiredness of treacherous journey biking for hours made me sleep like a baby. I do get sleep anyplace,anywhere in this world, even on a stone bench, when I want to rest ;)
Over-cautious of missing my work on Monday, I got up before the alarm. Ready at 5am, I left back to Bangalore and drove all the 140+kms at one strech without a break! till I reached home. This was my longest non-stop journey. Poor engine had to bare all the torture but I accelerated "with care" :).. I didn't care about my back pain and I couldn't stop anywhere because there was torrential rains from the beginning till the end of this journey and I was half drenched!! Not even Niagara falls come close to seeing of such a beautiful rainfall!
I reached back home at 8:15am and had hot shower to ease my cold numb fingers. But my mind was still numb in memories enjoying a memorable day gone by. I had enjoyed each and every single moment, A real bliss!
We, THE bulleteers scaled a new milestone few weeks back, riding through the everlasting rain and hairpin bends of the western ghats. The treacherous journey was worth the pain.
It was a beautiful friday morning(3rd of july)..an extended weekend "spirit" had already arouse- all set for long distance driving to Ooty(Ootacamund),TN.
It all started with Arvin, Visakh, Jai, Sunil and others organized by crossworks/travel-life with sponsors like Red Bull and Wranglers.
After preparing a list of to-do items like RC book update, Fitness certificate, Insurance, money, fueling up for the ride, the actual ride! then finally comes the last thing on my list(after the ride) a travelogue about the memorable journey. I have been updating and saving this as draft all these writings during weekends as i didn't have time to complete and post it. You know how worth is a weekend for an adventurous Software engineer like me ;)
Anyway, coming back to the thumping and roaring of engines on the state/national highways.. I should say this was my first long bike trip on my first bike which i had driven less than what 900 odd kms that we covered in those three days. Just a month after buying and riding in city conditions, it's a daring task to climb the ooty hill but with guidance of 20+ other bulleteers it was a good experience. It wasn't a drag of any kind but we enjoyed the ride.
Day 1, We met first in the country club resort on Mysore road,(Next to Raja-rajeshwari dental college, kumbalgod) to munch the breakfast, idli-vada-sambar and sandwich. After fueling ourselves with heavy breakfast we got our bike's tuned for long journey. Our mechanic Mubarak (AKA Mumtaz :P), got our bikes ready for long road ahead. Tighting of break nuts, adjusting of carburetor timing.. we reached Maddur cafe coffee day for our introduction session, then we set to our next destination - Gods own country. True to its name. I have been there 4 times now and trust me, Its the most beautiful place in south India i have seen. Leaving the tread-marks on the Mysore road we passed through the hump-ty dump-ty roads of Gundlupet where our bikes fork oil(for suspension) got warmed up. Landing in the MC resorts of Bandipur we had our lunch and set out to Panamaram, Wayanad for our home stay called ente veedu (meaning "Our house" in Malayalam). We bikers lost time in fixing up of our bikes and cleaning up of rain water logged fuel tanks(Yup! it rained as hell all three days long) and we had to drive all drenched in rain as we touched the borders of Kerala. Following only the boards available but no one else to ask in midnight we somehow reached the place and thanks to the good roads of Kerala. The best roads ofcourse promotes tourism there than anything else. The worst roads can be found in TN and in Karnataka roads are okie but not at all places though.. Finally reaching the place we found our dorms and rooms very comfortable but some continued merry in fueling themselves up with hot beverages. Of course you know I am non drinker, non smoker and Veggie, So i didn't afford any of the "so-called luxuries"! But a lot of caffeine in Red Bull energy drink had its own side effects in going to sleep. I advice not to drink more than 2-3 red bulls per day or you are gonna stay awake even on bed for more than 48 hours, Losing your brain cells instead of liver cells :P
Day 2, was a really round about way of going to Ooty from Kerala. We missed our route-maps and end-up 120 kms away from ooty after riding for severals hours which was actually more than what we had to cover if we started that properly in correct directions. But it is a part and parcel of every motorcycle diary to get lost in country roads and enjoy the serene beauty around or else where is the adventure without getting lost!? We visited a friend of Visakh whom we foLLowed all the way in Manjeri and Chungam..macha.. Chungam Chungam.. :P ( like I repeat.. repeat repeat.. Funny the way he reapeated every place while answering the phone call) Sorry dude for posting it here.. but you made our day of grand leg pulling! It was 8pm already and 100+ kms of night driving ahead very few retreated but courage, adventure and challenge took over the fears and we hit the roads non-stop till we reached Ooty hill. It was damn cold and misty all the way up the hill. We couldn't see past each other in the heavy precipitation around. Snake-like taillights ahead on the curvy roads was so good to see.. equidistant from each other we followed each other up the hill to reach our place. As planned we couldn't goto Avalanche, in Ooty as we lost time on the way.
Day 3, Getting up late and relieved of the body pains after refreshing bath, We made our way into Holiday Inn @ Ooty, and occupied the whole of car parking lot! I suppose, We scared away a bunch of people who were having breakfast when we came drenched to the luxurious hotel. Food was awesome and we billed around 7000 for a breakfast! We had made it temporary residence in the morning hanging our rain coats and riding jackets around and helmets everywhere.. :P After a photo-shootout in the parking lot we buzzed again riding down the 36 numbered hair pin bends of the ooty hill to reach Madhumalai forest range, a continuation of Bandipur forests in TN. It seemed like we brought rains along with us all the way back to Mysore, as we could see blue-black clouds on our back heavily loaded with water which showed us no mercy even after getting out of the Ooty! We saw elephants with their cubs, Fox, Lots of deers, wild boar on our way back in the morning which is very rare to see even if we go for night safari! Hitting the Mysore road SH-17 again.. It was pretty pathetic to see youngsters trying hard to race our constant speed Enfields which were going past 100 kmph all the way back till we reached Maddur coffee day again for a break. We cheered the other bulleteers we found on the way enjoying the ride more. At last bidding farewell to all those who accompanied three days, i reached back home at 00:00 hours on monday morning.
The unofficial-story-teller is back again to share his wonderful experience of last weekend trip to Dandeli. I still can't come out of memorable 3+ days that we spent together, from 23rd Jan to 27th Jan 2009. I was longing a journey in train for quite a time and that became too special with 21 other friends!
We all boarded Yeshwanthpur-Hubli train at 10:10pm on 23th friday night and reached Hubli at 7:30am the next morning. We had loads of fun in the train, right from cribbing our managers to pulling each others legs ;)
We reached Manish's place at Hubli and got ourselves refreshed. Manish's mother had taken a lot of trouble in preparing variety of dishes for breakfast - Idli, Upma, Chutney, Sweets, pathre vada,many fruits...(and the list continues). We all felt like we were at home. All the credit and million thanks to Manish's mother for everything.
Having "heavy" breakfast, we set out to Dandeli - Kali jungle resort. Thanks to Manish and his brother who had done all the travel, accommodation for all of us in beautiful resort.
It was noon by the time we reached the resort. We all had nice lunch and slept till 4:30pm until we had coffee/tea and got ready for evening walk to sunset point. It was awesome in exploring the place around till dusk. The sun hid under the blue clouds as it approached the horizon. Shimmering golden waters beneath the sinking sun was so beautiful to watch. Setting sun became a toy in our hands, as we captured in camera as if holding it, gulping it, and even smoking it!! Coming back to our base we had lots of fun in playing cards(with no bets, ofcourse!) Thanks to all the bluffers who taught me how to play. Later that night we all celebrated Manasi's birthday at resort and guess what the birthday gift was!! A pink heart shaped birthday cake, a pink adorable soft-toy bunny, which was named "Madhatter!" by her and a board game of scotland yard. All the credit goes to Sundar for choosing the gifts. It was already 1:00am by then and we had to leave at 4:00am for wildlife safari in the morning. So we decided to have a night-out that early morning and it all kicked off with the Director's cut! Hats off to Joseph's creativity (or perhaps the kick :P) in making 17 sequels of the same movie "Pati patni woh aur Doodhwaala!" with different ending and twists(by santosh) :P Hope everyone took it sportively.
The next morning we all went early morning safari with our red-painful-sleep-filled eyes and to our bad luck we could only see bears! and elephants! and bisons! and tigers! and panthers! on the road side boards below which it said "protect me!" :( All we had was good red-mud-facial for just 500 bucks! with all the muddy roads of the forest. We then reached a sunrise viewpoint in the forest and in a somber mood we returned back as we couldn't even have a look at real wild animals! Every one had to settle down in calling the stray dog as tiger (while having morning coffee) :P
Then we visited cytheri/sintheri/syntheri rocks(I really saw all three different version of names on billboards) and the red mud path till the giant monolithic granite! was just awesome. Harsha, Sanika, Prashanth and I practiced monkey-business on the way (and soon we realised - Latak ne se height nahi badtha, mummy ko bol complan deneko!) ;)
Coming back to our temporary residence we had lunch and slept for a while to go for the coracle(theppa) ride that late afternoon. The branches of trees and their reflections touching the still water were so alluring that I could not stop taking snaps from my camera.
Since, It was just 4-5 kms the way back to resort, some-of-us decided to take an evening stroll and on the way I found "biodegradable buttons" (This discovery would make Manasi happy :P), A beautiful shiny rounded seeds from a wild tree. Namarta was so happy to get a snap posing on asphalted road! And I can't forget the "boulevard of broken dreams" song - "I walk a lonely road.. The only one that I have ever known..." that Prashanth and I sang on our way back. So true, for the silence around and also it was the only path that we knew for our way back!
Soon after coming back we started off playing Kho-Kho till we started camp fire later that night. Sonu turned out to be champ at Kho-Kho! It was nice fun.
On 26th, The republic day morning we left early for most adventurous and famous Kali white water river rafting in Dandeli. As we reached the place early, at around 8:00am, we had nothing to do till all 8 rafts were brought to starting place. So we started off with celebrating republic day as I had got a tri-coloured plastic carry bag cover. We set it on a pole and called it our national flag and sung our national anthem and saluted mother India with great respects.We didn't show and disrespect by using the cover as we all have immense patriotism within us.
Again to kill time, we started off with Kabaddi and many of us really got hurt, but not so badly to discontinue rafting.
Rafting was the best part in the whole trip and the guide made us all sail together as a team. The fast rapids and the turbine-like river flow at the end forced the adrenaline to rush through our veins.
After rafting we had lunch at hotel Santosh (I do remember it as Shreyas, SL and Joe had Santosh spl ice-cream after they couldn't get honeymoon spl ice-cream that they had ordered for! :P) We headed back to Hubli thanking Manish's Bro on the way back and had great! great!! dinner again troubling Manish's family at his place.
Apart from all this literal documenting of the entire trip experience in words, there are certain things that I ought to share that I really felt from my heart.
I had never thought that Harsha could sing so well. It was surprising to see him sing with full emotions and expressions even at high pitches! I really enjoyed it a lot. Kudos to you mate! You eased all our comfort levels by mingling with every other as their own. And special thanks for being kannada teacher! to Sanika who was so eager to learn the new language. Reading out billboards in kannda named "Huballi Junction" and "Daandeli aranya pradhesha"(Dandeli wildlife santuary) were too much to ask for, that too from a beginner! But that was good to see her making an effort. I appreciate it. Hats off to brave and adventurous Sonu. He was the first one to drop himself into river water, even though he had no experience in swimming, when asked to show the demo of laying down on back in flowing water as a part of white water river swimming.
I have great respects for the girls of our gang and I envy that they were more united than the rest of us. I appreciate your patience and your ability to console the crying kid :P and bring back smile in minutes!
Foremost of all, I had not seen the doofus(in her own words :P) acting so sensitive like the curious little sister not being allowed to join the game played by her big brothers! I know, Birthday away from family seems not at all special but gloomy. The next day while coming back in the train I couldn't sleep for a long while and mind was bogged in those memories. So I borrowed train tickets from Rajesha, a pen from Sanika and disturbed a whole lot others(who were wondering as to why?) just to jot down whatever came to my erratic mind! and here it goes dedicated to little sister doofus ;) (Remember the song that I sang in cab? "phoolon ka thaaron ka sabka kehna hai.. Ek hazaron mein meri behna hai".. I owe it to you!)
In search of destiny, I met so many people on the way. Living in the past, I miss a lot of them long gone away. But forgot the eternal truth- That I only have today.
Family, Friends or colleagues - I don't know to choose when and how! But i want to live life the fullest and make the most of it now, being happy for and enjoying their affection, care and love.
Today is "also" my birthday, as I celebrate life every-single-day.
-Happy birthday again and again. -Forever cheers! I uploaded a collection of all camera pics that I could collect and selected ones are present @ Dandeli trip web album
I have embedded the picasa album slideshow here.
Have fun, Enjoy! 'Short is life; Sweeter we shall make it by living life like there's no another!' Cheers to our brotherhood!
