73) Biligiri Rangana Hills (Br Hills) - Furnace Ride: (16/3/2013)

Place: Biligirirangan Hills.

Distance:  200kms.

Directions: Bangalore – Bidadi – Channpatna – Kabblu – Shivanasamudra – Kollegala – BR hills.

Participants: Chethan(Zethu) > Karthik (Sp).

Bikes: Pulsar.

Previous Visit: Kabbaladurga Trek.

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

This was another superb ride to the forest regions of the BR hills. But this time the entire area was scorched out as it was peak summer. Nevertheless the region looked good and the roads like always never disappointed us.

INTRO & PLAN:

BR hills is one place we never get tired of visiting. So it was always up there in the list. Once Zethu confirmed he was free the weekend, we decided to hit the road. Unfortunately he couldn’t get his Avy along, so Pulsar had to be geared up.

ASSEMBLE:

Yeah I was up at about 05:00, did a few push-ups, had a sip of coffee and was all set to go. At about 06:00 Zethu arrived at my place, parked his bike and we set off.

TIME: 06:00

RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Bidadi – Kabbalu – BR Hills Check post)

This was roughly umm., about 180kms stretch. With lot of breaks of course. As we left Bangalore we rode smooth on the SH-17 Mysore Road. Cruising past Kengeri, we reached Bidadi in about half an hour. After reaching Bidadi we pulled over at our regular hotel for some good Tatte Idly’s.  As we were munching down on our breakfast, the bright orange sun rose afar.

 

With good food and sun in our self we were all set to ride till Kabblu non-stop. That would be roughly 60-70kms stretch. We rode non-stop till Channpatna on the butter smooth Mysore road, then took a left deviation and continued towards Sathnur. The surroundings turned green and temperatures dropped slightly. The ride till Kabblu was a good one. After getting the first glimpse of the mighty hillock we stopped and sat on the road for a small break.

Continuing further we joined the NH-209 (Kanakpura Road) and from then we cruised at I must say a pretty good pace to reach Mallavali and then continuing further we reached Shivanasamudra.

At about 10:00 we entered the Kollegala premises. Since we knew the shortest route through the town to reach BR hills thanks to our previous runs, we reached the check post in just a matter of 30mins. Oh yeah we also had a wonderful pit stop amidst the green grass fields before reaching the BR hills.

TIME: 11:00

BR HILLS RIDE:

The ride to BR hills I must say is one of the best we've rode till date. This time it was pretty different as the trees stood like skeletons drooping from the sky. But nevertheless we felt happy cause chances of spotting wild were higher. As we started off we rode slow hoping to spot elephants like last time.  But the temperature kept shooting up and we picked up pace and finally stopped at the BR Forest Lake, and to our delight there was a herd of deer drinking the muddy waters of the lake.

 

Continuing further we made it to the temple on top. We observed a new monument being constructed. Even though it was blazing hot, cool breeze now and then hit our tired faces. On top we stood enjoying the aerial scorched view of the forest range we decided to leave. As we were just about to leave we caught up with a stranger who requested us to give an interview as he was conducting a survey about the place. Two pride horns shot out of my head and with an evil smile I spoke non –stop to the poor stranger.

Finishing the interview we decided to hit the road as it was noon and the sun rested directly above our heads.

TIME:12:00

RIDE 2: (BR hills – Kollegala – Kabblu – NanduDhaba)

The ride back to the check post was a smooth one, but unfortunately we couldn’t spot any animals. Once we were out of the forest region, I took over the bike and we continued to cruise along the village roads below the might hills. We stopped at a lot of places took light naps on the foot paths below trees, ate biscuits as we had fixed Bidadi as the place of lunch.

 

One incident that I would like to recall would be, as we were riding amidst the green fields towards Kollegala, we spotted a pipe overflowing with icy cold water which went into the fields. We rode a little further and looked at each other and then turned back and stopped and looked out for any angry farmers. When the coast was clear we sat below the pipe quenching our thirst as well as fiery heads.

 

After we made out of Kollegala, we began to hear a strange sound from the bike, Thankfully there was a mechanic nearby, we got it fixed and rode at a slow pace to reach Shivanasamudra. After this we were pretty much beginning to feel the heat draining out our energies. With lots of stops in between we reached Sathnur and continued further to reach Channapatna via Kabblu. After reaching Mysore road it was more or less like reaching home :D. Our energies shot up we rode non-stop till Bidadi as our tummies were real hungry.

TIME: 16:30

Once we reached The Dhaba we grabbed something to drink and ordered a good meal. Sat back and munching slowly we spent the next 1.5hrs at the Dhaba.

The last stretch was hardly 20kms, and the sun had was almost disappearing at the horizon, so during the last stretch all we had to do was to keep our eyes open after that heavy meal :P, without any difficulties we reached back home safely. Thanked each other for tagging along and headed our ways.

TIME: 19:00

 

CONCLUSION:

“ This had to be one of the those rides after which we were pretty much barbequed. But we did see a different side of this wonderful forest ranges & more importantly we accepted it completely  And after quite a break I must say I was very was happy to pull off a 400kms Run, Cheers!!"

Until next time Cia \m/

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