- Place: Pavagada Fort trek.
- Distance: 175 x 2 = 350kms.
- Directions: Bangalore > Dobbaspete > Koratgere > Madhugiri > Madakasira > Pavagada
- Krew: Anwar (Bhai), Karthik (Sippy)
- Bikes: Pulsar
- Previous Visit: Madakashira Trek.
- Budget: Rs 600/head (Total: Petrol = 850/2, Breakfast = 90/2, Lunch = 250/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Pavagada is a 600-year-old fort with 8 layers of fortifications. The trek as such is an easy one, but what makes this run challenging is the long ride to the place, then hiking up the mountain. It offers subtle lessons of planning your ride well and the ability to grind through a long day. But this chapter saw an insane morning fog ride, with visibility reduced to 10-15 feet, we crashed through hard! Let's go.
INTRO & PLAN:
As far as the planning goes, 2025 was in full swing. The past 11 weeks, we have rested for only 1 week and pulled off 10 trips. As 2026 was nearing, we had decided to treat December no differently than Oct / Nov. The plan was simple: after the completion of Madakasira last week, we stretched a little bit more and hit the 175km walk to Pavagada. Bhai was on the confirmed list, and the target was locked! TIME: 14:00 (10/12/2025)
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Okay, I was up at 02:30 and was ready to head out. Then realised it was too early, did a few pushups and pullups to pass time. Then at 04:00, I went down, wiped my bike, spoke to it for a few minutes, then realised the air was really cold. So thought I would go for a small ride within the city before Bhai arrived. Went for a good 7-10km ride on the ORR, and by 5am, Bhai arrived and after a formal greeting, we decided to leave. TIME: 05:15
RIDE 1: (Dobbaspete – Madhugiri - Pavagada)
Alright, this has to be the craziest part of the trip without a doubt. As we left Bangalore, we realised the air was freezing. We zoomed out of the city in a jiffy;before the fog wrapped us up post-Nelamangala. The visibility had dropped down to 10-15feet, but we kept riding at a decent pace. It was very challenging, was damn fun. Hands had become numb, and as we spoke or even took in a breath, we could see mist coming out. Haha. Insane stuff it was. We pulled over at our regular idli stop, where the sweet couple started laughing at our state, hands stiff, shivering like crazy, they offered us idli and set up a small fire to warm us :) TIME: 06:45
Post breakfast, it was still cold, but the sun had eventually begun to win the battle fiercely. The air being cold and sunlight hitting our hands, it felt strangely good. We zoomed past Channarayana Durga to enter Madhugiri, promising her a visit soon, as Bhai had missed it, we refuelled the bike and rode ahead.
We passed by the Ratnagiri junction and Hosakere to zoom into Madakashira, the hillock, for some reason, looked more and more like a lion sitting peacefully. It is also called Simhagiri for this reason. Post Madakashira, it was an easy 20km ride to Pavagada. TIME:09:00
PAVAGADA FORT TREK:
1. ASCENSION:
Pavagada is famous for the "Shani" temple. As we entered the town, 1000's of people had flocked to the town. We asked locals for directions to the start of the trek and parked our bikes, and awakening the goat's spirit within us started the trek. The trek as such is very simple, straightforward steps until the top. The grass had been for the next generation of plants to come. The hillock looked black and charred towards the top, but it looked beautiful in its own way. The fort has 8 gateways and can be completed within 1hour. But treks like these, time should not be considered, as it offers a lot of exploratory opportunities, just go out there and have fun. TIME: 10:15
2. TOP:
The top of Pavagada was very peaceful as there were no other people present. The top has a complex layout, where the king used to reside. And the absolute summit has a lot of outposts for fending off enemies. We admired the beautiful town, which was completely buzzing with people from top and decided to crash and rest for 20-30 minutes as we had a long journey back. TIME: 10:45
3. DESCENSION:
The descent took us only 30 minutes, and it was non-stop. As we zoomed down, we met a priest at the temple. We smiled and were making our way down, he called us and gave us bananas and asked to ride safely back to Bangalore. These kind of tender moments uplifts us, humanity still exists. That genuine care for people whom you don't even know.
As we made down, a local was coming up, with a bag full of biscuits in his hands, he asked us if monkeys were present. I told him not to worry and requested him to carry a stick. He said the bag of biscuits was for the monkeys themselves. And these kind of moments makes us lose hope in humanity :P haha! Poor monkeys had shifted their base of operation to the top, as the hill was burnt, and the person was feeding them. We felt so humbled by these two encounters. TIME: 11:15
RIDE-2: (Pavagada-Madhugiri-Dobbaspete-Bangalore)
Now, here was the challenge: the last 175km, we had to space it well and take enough breaks. As we took off from Pavagada, we thanked the locals and the hillock for a wonderful trek. We zoomed in to reach Madakashira. Made sure, we took the right turn as 5-6roads converge at this town, we zoomed ahead to reach Medigeshi. We decided to take a small breather here.
Looking at Medigeshi, we smiled, remembering the ass-whooping we had received a few weeks back haha! We continued at a decent pace; by now the sun was up, and it was draining. We zoomed past Madhugiri to reach Kortagere. Here we pulled over at a standard stop to re-hydrate. After about 30-45min surgical sitting, we took off to reach Whity dhaba for well deserved lunch. Post the lunch we hit back the road hard and reached homes safely :) TIME:16:30
CONCLUSION:
“This trip was a wonderful one as it blended a good amount of riding and a decent trek. The morning fog element made this chapter a very memorable one. It was hard and fun at the same time, the right combination that we enjoy. And the two events on the hillock restored some amount of faith in humanity :) ”
KREW:
1. Bhai: The silent crusader waded through the entire ride without any complaints. Ready for any decisions. Had to wade through all the rubbish I was throwing at him haha:)
2. Sippy: Was actually surprised I could pull off the fog ride flawlessly, sometimes wonder whether all this travelling has woken a monster inside of me.
Until next time, Cia \m/
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