89) Kanva – Back to Basics: (7/12/2013)

Place: Kanva – Basics.

Distance: 60 x 2 = 120kms.

Directions: Bengaluru – Bidadi – Ramnagara – Kanva.

Particiapants: Sukesh(Banda) > Karthik (Sp).

Bikes: Pulsar (2).

Previous visit: Mahadevapura & Srirangapatna.

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

Well, this was another trip done to remind us about our roots. Yep a basic ride to place which has become our second home. And oh yeah Sukesh’s first 30+km ride alongside me as well. Finally the Bidadi border had been breached :P

INTRO & PLAN:

It was a 7days since the Mahadevpura ride with Manju. At workplace, Sukesh asked me if I was free on weekend for a ride out of town. I turned my head around slowly with a pokerface. For past 2-3 many weeks I had been asking the same question to him, this time it was the other way around. Told him I would think about it :P

TIME: 16:00

ASSEMBLE:

Yeah, I was up by 05:00, had a sip of coffee, did a few pushups and situps and was all set to go. At about 06:00 I went to bakery and sat with a cup of tea as I awaited Sukesh’s arrival. Once Sukesh arrived I asked him a ride to Kanva rather than the Bidadi ride as usual. He agreed. So having the place fixed to our Kanva we left Bangalore.

TIME: 07:00

RIDE 1: (Bengaluru –Bidadi -  Kanva)

This was a flat out 60kms ride with a super breakfast stop in between. As we left Bangalore the roads looked calm and the weather just perfect. Sukesh lsot in thoughts began to ride at the center of the road enjoying the fresh air of the outskirts. I was honking but his tight helmet prevented him from hearing.

After about 30mins we reached Bidadi for some smashing breakfast.

After a good breakfast told him he better stay at the left of the road due to increase in traffic. Kanva still being a good 20-30kms away, we left. The ride from then was good, the sun was up by now. As we entered Ramnagar the traffic increased I squeezed through and ended out of the town and continued for another 5-10mins, then realized the Sukesh was missing. Tried calling him up but ended in vain. Finally he turned up saying he had to put petrol and did not wanted to be disturbed whie riding :P We had a good laugh, I promised I would have my share of events too (it was not long)

  

As we departed from the city of Ramnagaram, we reached the deviation which would lead us to the reservoir. There laid a difference too, I realized I had reached the deviation but Sukesh with all his concentration didn’t spot the deviation board. I pulled over and tried calling him again, but again in vain the call was not picked up. Then I parked my bike on the centre stand and start to doze off. After a good 15-20mins a call came upon my phone and it from Sukesh, asking me where I was lost :P Requested him to take a U-turn and said that I would be on the road, literary on the road to cut him off at the deviation. After another 10mins finally like said I stood on the center of the road and cut him off. Finally we took the deviation road and reached the reservoir.

TIME 08:45

KANVA:

Ah, our home. But the sight of the reservoir kinda bought a strange sadness to me. I could feel the water retreating back to the center. The water levels had gone down a lot. But a few storks staring at us lit me up. We sat near the waters for sometime speaking all kinds of shit!

After which we went near the dam gates and it was the year end, more importantly 2013 end which meant a lot. After the sun turned to blaze mode we took a call and decided to leave Kanva.

TIME: 09:30

  

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88) Mahadevapura & Srirangapatna: (30/11/2013)

Place: Mahadevapura & Sri Rangapatna.

Distance: Total 300kms.

Directions: Bengaluru – Maddur - Mandya - Mahadevapura - Srirangapatna.

Particiapants: Manoj(Manju) > Karthik (Sp).

Bikes: Pulsar.

Previous visit: Kabbaladurga Trek

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

This had to be one of the come back trips for us. This I say because it was flooded with randomness (My native) and the right tinge of ‘not planning but still ending up more than normal satisfaction at the end of the day’ type. Overall at the end of the day, it was an old school hit on the road.

INTRO & PLAN:

It was 2 days since my visit to Kabbalu, which marked the 4^th year anniversary of our club. As 30^thNov 2013 was a Saturday, I decided to ride out again as I knew I could take more of the hit. Zethu, Dattu & Manju were on the confirmed list. And the destination was set to B.R Hills.

TIME: 23:00 (29/11/2014)

ASSEMBLE:

Yeah I was up by 05:00, had a sip of coffee, did a few push-ups and sit-ups and was all set to go. As the meet up was scheduled near out bakery I went there by 06:15 and called up others. This was I received 2 bad news. One being Zethu was up but bike had problems and he had decided to drop, after which Dattu felt a uncomfortable and decided to drop as well. And Manju, not picking up the call. I was stranded astray, but then Manju called back and told me that he was asleep, and was all set to go. When he arrived at bakery, we decided to go to Midegeshi Fort, a trek which we had not done yet (but we covered it anyway,) But then I suggested we stick on to B.R hills. So having the destination locked to B.R hills, we left Bangalore.

TIME:07:00

RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Bidadi- Mandya – Mahadevapura)

This was a 130-140kms stretch on butter-smooth SH-17(Mysore road). As we left Bangalore, we headed towards Bidadi which is about 30kms from the base point. As we reached Bidadi, we pulled over at our regular Tatte Idly Stop and began to dig into our breakfast. As we munched down on our breakfasts I suggested a change in plan to Mahadevapura. I told Manju that it wasn’t an easy place to find as we had struggled quite a bit last time we visited this place. But as he was more than ready for a new adventure the game was on!

After a smashing breakfast we continued on the Mysore road. cruising past Ramnagar, Channapatna, and Maddur. After reaching Mandya we pulled over for a tea break and enquired about the place. After getting the proper direction we took the right deviation from the highway and entered the country roads.

TIME:09:00

 

The air turned fresh with the aroma of the cane and the road looked like a snake crawling between the grasslands. We stopped for 2-3 times just to take in the fresh air and also to ask for the exact directions to the place. We knew the magic word “katte” haha yeah that was the golden word to reach the falls. So after asking for a couple of times, I kind of got the déjà vu moment and remembered most of the route.

After the various turns and twists we reached the Mahadevpura Bridge. The river that was flowing below had a soft gush and the blanket of mist resided on her surface. The view was fantastic and the weather was cool.

TIME:10:00

MAHADEVAPURA:

After watching the flowing river from the top of the bridge we decided to continue. From here we knew the directions and reached the bird sanctuary without much difficulty. As expected the place wasn’t crowded and had the pristine clarity as it had. We parked the bike and went down to feel the water’s flow force. Yeah it was gushing down in all its glory alright, so the plan of getting down was scrapped.

 

We decided to go on a bike tour like last time where we had spotted peacocks and other strange birds. This time we spotted a few black storks and other birds. We found the perfect place on the boulders to rest. We parked our bike and rested on the boulders and washed our feet on the cold waters.

TIME: 10:30

Oh yeah I even tried the new face washing technique or rather refreshing exercise, which Manju told me, he always does back in his home town. I laid down on my chest and gently dipped my face into the cold flowing waters. Trust me, that felt really, I mean really refreshing. After sleeping into the water for a twice or thrice, I felt energized and asked Manju who pretty much lost in the beauty of the flowing river that we hit back the road.

TIME 11:00

Before leaving we visited the falls once again and finally breathing in as much of the place as possible we left Mahadevapura.

TIME: 11:30

 

RIDE 2: (Mahadevapura – Srirangapatna)

This was roughly 15kms ride. As we left Mahadevapura, I was telling Manju about how we got lost and ended up in Mysore the last time we had visited the place. So this time we were careful ion watching the sign boards and asking people for the directions. But then Manju said if we could also visit Sri Rangapatna the same day.(I kinda get that hit when somebody gives a crazy for normal people, but reasonable for us kinda ideas) So it was a go to Srirangapatna. After riding for about 15mins we hit back the Mysore Road (SH-17) and we continued towards Srirangapatna and entered the magnificent city on the strike of noon.

TIME: 12:00

SRIRANGAPATNA:

Alright I wont take much of your time from here. Will list out the places we visited and which you might want to include that we didn’t visit.

1.  Daria Daulat: It was Tippu Sultan’s summer palace built in 1784. It’s a beautiful place with rich paintings on walls of the palace and various kinds of coins, medals, swords, guns & other ammunition used during Tippu’s reign are displayed.

2. Gumbaz: Burial chamber of Tippu, his father(Hyder Ali) & mother (Fathima). Interiors decorated with tiger like stripes which happened to be Tippu’s favorite animal.

3. Ghosai Ghat & Sangama:  About 1km from the Gumbaz. Famous picnic spot, river from here flows to the Mettur Dam, TN.

4. Jama Masjid: This was Tippu’s favourite mosque.

  

5. The Obelisk: Place where Tippu died trying to fight of the British.

6. Captain Bailey’s Dungeon: Place where Tippu’s prisoners of war were chained. The roof of the place which has a hole due to the strike of a cannon ball is something you would want to see at this place.

7. Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple: it is the main temple, opened throughout the year. Oh yeah, lot of gift shops outside the temple premises!

8. Lal Mahal: Main Srirangapatna fort constructed in Indo-Islamic style. Both our visits it was closed.

9. Thomas Innman’s Dungeon: Alright, one of the less visited places by visitors, so obviously it has to be better than others if you ask me. Like Bailey’s dungeon the prisoners were held captive here. Surrounded by pathway for water like “He-man’s castle” Haha :P

So those were some of the important places that you might want to cover during you visit to the place. After a few rounds of coconut water we decided to say tata to this wonderful place. We spent about 1.5hrs.

TIME: 13:30

RIDE 3: (Srirangapatna – Maddur – Bangalore)

This was about 130kms ride with a lunch stop in between. As we left Srirangapatna it was smooth cruising on the highway talking about various shit! It was not long before we reached Maddur, the clock was telling it was 14:30, our tummies not telling but shouting it was post lunch time Haha. So we pulled over for some light lunch.

 

After some light food, we left Maddur. The next 80kms was basically home to home kinda stretch. All we had to do was not slip on a mistake. So we spoke non-stop and showing Manju various places of importance as far as our club’s history is concerned we reached bakery for some tea. After having some tea & snacks we thanked each other for making it and we split to our respective places.

TIME: 16:30

CONCLUSION:

“if you ask me, this had to be one of the comeback chapters. And also this is was the chapter which tipped the year 2013 towards the end. The ‘quality of the trip’ is the one which mattered the most. And for Manju, I believe it was a super return after a long time!!”

Until next time, Cia \m/

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