56) Yelagiri (Elagiri): (7/6/2012)

Place: Yelagiri (Elagiri).

Distance: 160 x 2 = 320kms.

Directions: Bengaluru – Hosur – Krishnagiri - Yelagiri.

Particiapants: Vineeth(Red monster) > Madhu(Barca k.) > Karthik (Sp).

Bikes: CB Unicorn > Pulsar 150.

Previous visit: BRhills – Smooth Ride.

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

This was another excellent but tiring ride to the hill station of Yelagiri. The hot sun & huge highway made the ride tiring, but the awesome ascension of the hill in the cool weather neutralized it all.

INTRO & PLAN:

Well this was one hill station we had let go for long. So we had to get it under our belt, we decided to cover it on 7^th June’12. After a stream of texts, the only people confirmed were Vineeth & Madhu.

TIME: 22:00 (6/6/2012)

 

ASSEMBLE:

Yeah I was up at 04:00, had some coffee, did a few push-ups & was all set to ride. Once they arrived at my place, we departed Bengaluru.

TIME: 05:45 hrs.

RIDE 1: (Bengaluru – Hosur – Krishnagiri)

This was a 100kms stretch. 6-lane, butter-smooth NH-7 made riding a bliss. We got out of the city in the early hours & then we cruised along the next 100kms to reach Krishnagiri for some breakfast.

TIME: 08:00 hrs.

 

RIDE 2: (Krishnagiri – Yelagiri)

This 2^nd stretch was for about 60-70kms. After about 30-45mins heavy breakfast followed by a smashing tea, we were all set for the next stretch. This stretch was again on a wide highway. As the sun was directly above us, we felt real dizzy on this stretch. After 45mins of riding, we got the first glimpse of the hill. We took a right deviation from the highway and continuing further we reached the foot of this mighty hillock.

TIME: 10:00 hrs.

RIDE 3: (Ascension of Yelagiri)

This stretch was for roughly about 15-20kms. But yeah this had to be the best part of this entire trip. 14 hair-pin curves to lead us to the top at 1410 feet made us really pumped up. We ascended the hill with great joy, negotiating each curve to perfection. The last stretch to the top was simply brilliant. Nilgiri trees all along, allowing only a few sun’s rays to hit the road. Also the cool breeze scented with eucalyptus aroma made it heavenly and we did stop at a few places to enjoy the surroundings.

TIME: 10:45 hrs.

 

YELAGIRI:

Alright Yelagiri is a small hill station, some of the important places to visit are:

i) Punganoor artificial lake: Well this is the most popular landmark of this hill station. Boat ride is the famous attraction of this place. The park around the place is ideal for loafin (I mean strolling) ha-ha!!

ii) Jalagamparai falls: This falls is created by the river Attaru at a village Jadaiyanoor. It is about 30kms from the main place and only worth visiting when it’s full.

  

iii) Swamimalai: This is the highest peak & a favourite trekking spot. It is an easy trek I’ve heard which goes upto 3kms.

iv) Telescopic house: This is situated on the way to the top. One can get a good view of the town below.

 

But yeah we visited only the park & lake sat there for some time, and left when the place was stormed by families. We rode back to the Nilgiri place, sat among the trees chilled out for about 30-45mins and decided to leave Yelagiri.

TIME: 11:45 hrs.

RIDE 4: (Yelagiri – Krishnagiri – Bengaluru)

This was good 160-170kms stretch, with lots of breaks of course. Initially we descended the hill with our engines switched off; it is always a joy to descend a hill with engines switched off. Then we rode back to reach the Vellore highway, after which started the pain. It was a gruelling, dizzy ride from then on. 

   

With the sun directly up the next 50kms was covered at a slow pace to reach Krishnagiri.Once we reached Krishnagiri, we pulled over near a water tap on the highway, washed our faces and drank a little water and rode back to Bengaluru with sufficient breaks taken.

TIME: 15:15 hrs.

CONCLUSION:

‘Trust me it might have been a short 300-350kms ride, but the energy which was drained out was something else. The ride back was one of the most difficult ones I’ve done till date, even though it was on a 6-lane smooth highway. But it was indeed a nice experience and riding under the tough conditions only made us better in our future runs, cheers!!”

Until next time Cia \m/

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55) BR hills (Biligirirangan betta) – Smooth Ride: (1/6/2012)

Place: BR hills(Biligirirangan hills).

Distance: 200 x 2 = 400kms.

Directions: Bengaluru – Chenpatna – Sathnur – Kollegala – BR hills – Maddur - Bengaluru.

Particiapants: Viswanath(Vishu) > Dhanush(Dany) > Karthik (Sp).

Bikes: RE Thunderbird(2) > Pulsar 150.

Previous visit: Maddur& Kanva – Bakery Ride.

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

Yeah this was another formal run to the forest ranges of BR hills. But this ride was one of the smoothest we’d done till date. Minimum stops & smooth sailing made this trip a memorable one.

INTRO & PLAN:

Talk about late night planning ha-ha! This trip was a result of the same. Late night about 23:00hrs (31/5/2012) the idea of visiting BR was conceived by 3 of us (Vishu, Dany & Sp). To hell with the boring city world we decided to pull this off even if it meant only 3 of us.

TIME: 00:45 hrs

ASSEMBLE:

Yeah I was at about 04:00, did a few push-ups, had a little coffee & headed out towards bakery where the meet up was scheduled. As I reached, I was quite surprised to find the other two already waiting for me (It doesn’t happen often you see :P). After a formal greeting, we decided to leave Bengaluru.

TIME: 05:30 hrs

 

RIDE 1: (Bengaluru – Bidadi)

This was a 30kms stretch. The weather was still icy cold as lots of clouds in the sky left SH-17(Mysore road) gloomy. We kept a decent pace to reach Bidadi for some breakfast.

We had some smashing Tate Idly’s, which tasted simply superb. A highly recommended stop on SH-17 I must say. With some food in our stomach we decided to continue further.

TIME: 06:45 hrs

RIDE 2: (Bidadi – Sathnur – BR hills)

This was non-stop 150-160kms stretch of some brilliant sailing. As we left Bidadi, we continued till Chenpatna, & took a left deviation. Excellent roads from then on made riding easy & we reached Sathnur in no time to re-join Kanakpura road.

Once we reached Kanakpura Road(NH-209), it was pure cruising past Shivanasamudra to reach the town of Kollegala.Riding cautiously through the shortest route known to us through our previous visits, we were out of the town and at the foot of the mighty BR.

TIME: 09:45 hrs

 

RIDE 3: (Sailing through the heavenly ranges)

Alright this is one stretch we’d never get tired of riding. I had told the others about our last visit to this place, where we had encountered about 10-12 wild elephants and about 5 bison. As we began the ride into the ranges, we rode at a slow pace making sure we do not disturb the wildlife and yeah looking out for the same as well. 

 

The lush green surroundings kept us satisfied. After about 15mins we stopped at the standard BR lake stop only to find the water fading off. We continued further the temperature took a steep dip & it became cool as we reached the top.

TIME: 10:30 hrs

BR HILLS:

We were greeted at the top by the cool breeze gushing at the top. We roamed around the temple visiting the various view points. From some the view points, elephants can be seen as ants moving amidst the thick forests. After spending about an hour or so we visited the temple, prayed for everybody we knew and left the temple premises.

We went to a hotel on the top for some hot tea & biscuits. After having which we bid adieu to our BR hills :)

TIME: 11:45 hrs

 

RIDE 4: (BR hills – Kollegala – Maddur Tifany’s)

This was a non-stop 120kms continuous riding. As we left BR, we cruised at a slow pace within the forest area. After which we resumed our cruising mode to reach Kollegala. Once we were out of Kollegala, the temperatures shot back again. Dany raced away forwards as Vishu & myself stuck together cruising at a decent pace. As we both reached the T-junction near Mallavali we couldn’t find Dany, but as we had decided earlier that Maddur was the next stop we continued further.

 

The road which connects Mallavalli to Maddur is one stretch which gives me creeps. It had been patched up to some extend but still lots of pot holes present. But Vishu & me kept a decent pace even on this road and his loud horn gave us all the road clearance we needed :P. Dodging the pot-holes & patches we reached Mysore road (SH-17). It was a huge relief reaching back the highway, we continued further to reach Maddur Tiffany’s and were quite surprised not find Dany.

 

We called him up; we came to know that he was still waiting for us at the T-junction about 25-30kms back. So we both grabbed a bottle of cold water and decided to wait for Dany to join us. Nearly 20mins into the wait, when we had just begun to relax, in came like the Dany like a bullet on a bullet :P. he had taken less then half the time taken by us ha-ha!!

TIME: 14:15 hrs

MADDUR TIFFANY’S:

Ah lunch/breakfast at this place is something we don’t miss when we hit SH-17. We had great food and little coffee. Once our tummies were satisfied we fooled around the swing for some more time and left towards Bengaluru.

TIME: 15:00 hrs

RIDE 5: (Maddur – Ramnagara – Bengaluru)

This was 80kms stretch of formal riding. We did stretch without a break. With our tummies full all we had to do was stay awake ha-ha. SH-17 being a smooth 4-lane offered very less resistance. We rode at a decent pace throughout to reach bakery.

TIME: 16:45hrs

 

Until next time Cia \m/

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54) Maddur & Kanva – Bakery Ride: (10/5/2012)

Place: Maddur & Kanva reservoir.

Distance: 210kms.(Complete Circuit)

Directions: Bengaluru – Ramnagar – Maddur – Ramnagar – Kanva - Bengaluru.

Particiapants: Arvnd(Arvi) > Ashok(K350) > Chengappa(Benz poolanda) > Arun(Slowpoke) > Madhu(Barca) > Karthik (Sp).

Bikes: Unicorn(2) > Pulsar.

Previous visit: Pondicherry& Gingee Fort.

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

Alright, this was another formal run to Maddur & Kanva. The main highlight of the trip was the food. Yeah we did this ride for the food and a quick swim at Kanva. And with this run we also welcomed the monsoons.

INTRO & PLAN:

We all wanted to get away from our daily routine from college. Breakfast at Maddur & Lunch at our Kanva Dhaba wass something that was too tempting to just let go. So we put the plan into action on 5^th of May 2012.

 

ASSEMBLE:

Yeah I was up at around 04:30, did a few push ups and sat down with some music. Went near our bakery at about 07:30 & waited for others. Once everybody arrived we departed Bengaluru.

TIME: 09:00 hrs

RIDE 1: (Bengaluru – Maddur)

This was a 80kms stretch. Butter smooth 4-lane highway made riding very easy. We cruised along at a decent pace. With about one or two stops in between, we reached Maddur Tifany’s.

TIME: 10:30 hrs

MADDUR TIFFANY’S:

Once we entered we grabbed ourselves a chair and had a proper heavy breakfast. Two-three rounds of excellent food filled up our tummies. Then we had coffee to put an end to a wonderful breakfast. After the breakfast we went outside & sat on the swing. After chilling around for some more time we left Maddur Tifany’s.

TIME: 11:45 hrs

 

RIDE 2: (Maddur – Kanva)

This was about a 20-25kms stretch. Having done with a very heavy breakfast, we were all a little dizzy. We rode slowly on SH-17 to cruise past Chenpatna. After reaching the outskirts of Ramnagar we took a deviation and continued further to reach Kanva.

TIME: 12:30 hrs

KANVA RESERVOIR:

This is one reservoir we never get tired off. Clear, clean and safe water makes this reservoir a perfect place. So without wasting anytime we got into the water & swam for sometime. Then we started the ‘Donkey’ & ‘First Catch’ Games with a half filled bottle. After about 1.5hrs in the water we got out of the water and started skipping stones as we dried up. After drying up we hit the road and reached the Dhaba for lunch.

TIME: 15:15 hrs

 

DHABA:

Again we sat down in a proper cell, and started eating like there was no tomorrow. The swim and the games had pretty much drained our energies. As we ate the skies became gloomy and it started pouring. This made the taste of food better. Once we were done with the lunch we sat for sometime staring outside at the rain and decided to ride back in the rain and greet the monsoons.

TIME: 16:45 hrs

 

RIDE 3: (Kanva – Bengaluru)

This was a decent 60kms stretch. With the rain coming down & the cool breeze hitting out faces, it was a real pleasure to ride. We rode at a slow pace enjoying every moment to reach back bakery for some hot tea.

TIME: 18:15 hrs

 

Until next time Cia \m/

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