155) Marikanive Dam: (7/1/2018)

Place: Marikanive Dam

Distance: 200kms x 2 = 400kms

Directions: Bangalore > Nelamangala > Tumkur > Sira > Hiriyur > Marikanive

Krew: Avinash (Happy)  > Karthik (Sp)

Bikes: Pulsar                                                                                  

Previous Visit: Ethina Bhuja

Budget: Rs 500/head

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

Alright, this was an amazing ride to get things back on the road. Being Avi’s first ride with us, tit was a repeat ride to this serene reservoir to ensure a super hit. And more importantly this was a great way to kick start 2018.

INTRO & PLAN:

It’d been a while since we got on road and December 2017 we could not pull a chapter, hence was already feeling a little edgy. So, decided to head out to a known place with a good friend. Vanivilas dam was the choice of preference we were it wouldn’t disappoint.

TIME: 22:00 (6/1/2017)

   

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yeah I was up at 04:30, did a few push ups and sit ups, had a sip of coffee and was all set to go.  Left my home at about 5:30AM and headed towards Jayadeva to pick Avi. After picking up Avi, we rode back towards Mysore road and then joined the Tumkur road and zoomed out of the Bangalore with the air still cold. Btw, just a reminder it was a Sunday!

TIME: 06:30

RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Dobbaspete – Sira – Hiriyur – Vanivilas Sagara Dam)

This was 200kms straightforward ride. As we left Bangalore, we cruised along chatting peacefully. The weather was colder than we anticipated. We had some juice to warm up and we kept sipping now and then. We pulled over at our regular hotel to much down on some tasty idly vada.

TIME: 07:00

The ride post this was again on the 6lane NH-4. We cruised along in a smooth manner with 2 stops to reach the beautiful Vanivilas Sagara.

TIME: 10:00

VANIVILASA SAGARA DAM:

As we climbed the stairs Avi was quite confused as I had not told him about the place also I had told him not to search for the place over the phone. Once we were on the bund, he was awestruck and so was i. No matter how many times I come to this place, the beauty of the tranquil waters of this place leaves me spellbound. We walked over to the other side and the view just kept getting better. We found a nice place to crash and we just sat in silence admiring the beautiful picture in front of us.

We spent about an hour and then decided to leave back.

TIME: 11:00

    

RIDE 2: (Vanivilasa Sagara – Hiriyur – Sira – Tumkur – Bangalore)

Leaving from Vanivilas we began searching for a nice place to crash. Finally we just stood on the highway and finished off all the liquids in bag. Riding afloat we pulled over at some new dhaba just before Tumkur. The food proved to be amazing and the ambience was a killer too!

TIME: 13:00

After spending about an hour at the dhaba we realised my bike had a flat tyre. It was high time I got it replaced. We changed the tube and proceeded to cruise past tumkur and Nelamangala to reach the NICE road exit. From NICE road we got out of PES exit and proceeded towards BTM. After dropping Avi, reached back home!

TIME: 17:00

CONCLUSION:

“Welcome 2018, a repeat yes. But awesome ride, yes again! It was the first trip with a good buddy from office (hardly use those two in the same sentence!) haha! It was a kick-ass sstart to a fresh year   “

Until next time, Cia \m/

PICASA ALBUM:

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130) Vanivilas Sagara Dam (Marikanive): (19/6/2016)

Place: Vanivilas Sagara Dam

Distance: 200kms x 2 = 400kms

Directions: Bangalore > Tumkur > Sira > Hiriyur > Marikanvie

Krew: Chethan (Zethu) > Datta (Dattu) > Karthik (Sp)

Bikes: Bullet > Pulsar

Previous Visit: Gandikota & Belum Caves

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:                                                  

This was a 400kms ride, to send off Zethu on a 1000kms road trip (Bangalore-Mumbai) on his new Bullet-500. Vanivilas Sagara never fails to disappoint the visitor, with her tranquil & serene ambiance. Lastly please trust me on this “Earning an Enfield always feel different from buying one”

INTRO & PLAN:

Alright, Zethu had returned to Bangalore and due to pre-planned trips we couldn’t meet up for my birthday. Then on a weekday he called and told me that he had just picked up a new bike and revved the engine. I was like “OH my F’N G” Realized it was bullet, and it only made sense of him to buy a 500. So, I devised a plan either to Hogenekkal (to recollect our accident memories) or backwaters of KRS on the same Friday. But as I had work, we postponed the plan to Sunday. As Zethu told he would leave back to Mumbai on the same day, I thought why not join him until a point and ride back to Bangalore? Dattu quickly jumped up on the confirmed list as well.

TIME: 22:00 (16/6/2016)

    

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yeah I was up at about 04:00, did a bit of cycling and V-ups and was all set to ride. As the meet was scheduled at Dattu’s place, I left my home and rode slow on the ORR to meet Dattu at his place. It was quite some month since we last met, so we had a good chat (hoping we don’t get caught by police like last time :P). It was not long before we could hear the magical thump of the bullet afar and the Zatan himself on arrive on his moving throne of darkness. All three of us stood around the bike and admired it. It was a beast, no doubting it and it was the right beast to carry Zethu to Mumbai.

TIME: 06:30

RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Dobbaspete – Tumkur – Sira – Hiryur – Marikanive Dam)

This a 200kms ride to the peace dam – Marikanive. As it was a Sunday we knew traffic would be a problem. As we left Bangalore, we made it to the Tumkur highway without major hiccups. Once on the highway we began to throttle on forward. While Dattu and I were on my bike, Zethu had his bag-pack as his pillion on his. And as we touched the highway proper, the real beast behind the beauty began to reveal as the bullet throttled ahead. Zethu started doing 90+kmph with bare minimum effort. The bike looked so stable and calm even at high speeds. We rode about 50kms to pull over at our regular hotel overlooking  the mighty Shivagange for some yummy breakfast.

TIME: 07:00

After the nice breakfast, we stepped out for some tea. Listening to their Madikeri stories and filling them up of our Gandikota stories, we caught up with each other. Dattu took over my bike and then we went ahead full time. Cruising at 90+ we were finding it hard to keep up with the peace monster on the road. It suited Zethu perfectly.

After a while we could spot 50+ riders on their enfields thumping ahead. It almost looked like flies had swarmed the road from afar. Cruising ahead we rammed into the crowd and we went ahead. But Zethu wasn’t to be seen anywhere. He had secretly camouflaged in between the other bikers (We were told him to signal the bikers behind him to take a deviation and divert half of the gang towards Shimoga :P)

     

After cruising past Tumkur & Sira, we began to ride slow and pulled over just before Hiriyur and sat on the road side. As the deviation to Marikanive had to be explored, there was no point in slowing down Zethu as he had a long distance to go. We pulled over sat and had a long chat, then shoulder greeted each other. Wishing him a safe ride, we took the service road and Zethu took off on his majestic beast throne on the wide highway.

TIME: 10:15

Riding ahead forward I spotted the right deviation, but asked people around to get a confirmation. Riding another 20kms ahead we arrived the Dam premises.

TIME: 10:45

VANIVILAS SAGARA DAM:

It was Dattu’s first time at this place and I was sure without a doubt that he would love it. (I mean who wouldn’t right?) The dam was built pre-independence and is still considered to be an engineering marvel. It acts as the source of water for irrigation and other purposes for the villages nearby. This dam was initiated by queen (then widow) of Mysore, who named the Dam after her youngest daughter. The queen had to pledge her jewels in order to ensure the competition of the dam.

Coming to our visit, it was actually fairly simple. We walked across the bund to the other side admiring the windmills atop the mountain and the tranquil waters. (btw the second windmill – the lazy one was still not rotating :P) we climbed up and found our viewpoint and crashed in. We sat for good 15-20mins taking in the beauty that stood before our eyes. The crowd was decent even on a Sunday.  Once our tummies began to grumble we decided to leave the place. We had some coconut water and took off from the place.

TIME: 11:30

   

RIDE 2: (Marikanive – Hiriyur – Sira – Tumkur- Bangalore)

As we began the ride, the sun had come up and the heat winds were up full time. Dattu began the ride in full swing and the heat was getting to me us. It was becoming dizzier and dizzier. We made a full spring dash and finally pulled over for some fuel. Called up Dilli, Madhu & Ashok and asked them if they could make it to our dhaba at Nagarbhavi. When the responses were negative, we carried along forward. I took over the bike at Sira and started cruising along at 80kmph and Dattu began to doze off due to hot winds. Finally we switched back again and thought “Chandu dhaba” would be a better option as going to Nagarbhavi and back to Malleswaram afloat would be slightly risky. As we cruised past Nelamangala, we slowed down and pulled over at Chandu dhaba for some yummy lunch.

TIME: 14:15

After a good lunch, we left the dhaba afloat. It was only guiding the bike here and there and the bike did the rest. We reached Mahalakshmi layout, I dropped off Dattu at this place and cruised along ORR singing to myself to reach back my place.

TIME: 17:00

CONCLUSION:

“ this was a sad/happy trip. It was real nice to see the mighty Zatan on his moving throne of darkness cruise off to Mumbai. And dattu, well, he was on good mode and ripped through Tumkur Road without mercy”

Until next time, Cia \m/

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115) Melukote Trek– Welcoming the rains (19/6/2015)

Place: Melukote Trek.       

Distance: 200 x 2 = 400kms.

Directions: Bengaluru – Bidadi – Channpatna – Mandya - Melukote

Particiapants: Gowrish (Gorisha) > Karthik (Sp).

Bikes:  Pulsar                                                              

Previous visit: KabbaladurgaTrek

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

Alright, this was another very nice trip to the wonderful and peaceful land of Melukote. But this time we trekked to a beautiful spot and relaxed in the heavy downpour. And trek at this place was something new we did and well the battle between the sun and rain was something we were familiar with.

INTRO & PLAN:

It was about a week since my solo trek to Kabbaldurga. And I was already bored of not being on the road (yeah, sometimes I go towards the mental side of the spectrum). Gow had accompanied last, on our venture to Gudibande. So, asked him if he was willing to take leave, when it was a go from his end, I took leave as well and decided to head out. I decided the place to be Melukote as I knew it would be slush green due to the nice ongoing rains.

TIME: 22:00 (18/6/2015)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yeah I was up at 05:00, did a few push ups & situps, had a cup of coffee. Gow called me in the morning and said he couldn’t come to my place as he had problems with his Dio. So, I left my home at 06:15 and took the NICE road to electronic city. Rode to Bomnahalli to pick Gowrish up from his home. After which we took back the NICE road and as we were riding, we spotted the company bus moving in the opposite lane. We made faces and continued to reach Mysore road. Just before reaching NICE road exit, we spotted two beautiful peacocks resting on the boulders. Wishing them a very good morning, we were set for a good day on the road. 
TIME: 07:30

    

RIDE 1: (Bangalore– Bidadi – Channpatna – Mandya - Melukote)

This was a good 150kms ride, both on country roads and highway. Initially to start things off I rode at a decent pace chatting along the highway. As it was Friday, there wasn’t much traffic to ride to. We reached Bidadi in about 30mins to munch down on some usual tasty breakfast.

TIME: 08:00

After the breakfast, we had some hot tea and proceeded towards Ramnagar. The weather was pleasant and very nice to ride to. We cruised past Ramnagar and Maddur to reach the outskirts of Mandya. At the outskirts of Mandya, we again pulled over for some tea. After crossing the town of Mandya we took a right deviation and entered into the country roads.

       

The ride post this deviation never fails to disappoint us. Greenery began to flood both sides of the road and light drizzle made riding almost ideal.  The smell of the sugarcane being processed added flavour to the entire ride as well. The roads were in pretty neat conditions and we cruised along well until we could get the first glimpse of the temple.  

But just then, the clouds burst open and down came the rain with all its mighty force. We ran into an abandoned brick factory to take shelter. From here the hill began to look scary as the mist had begun to shroud it.

TIME: 11:30

    

Once the rains reduced, we made it to our bike which looked peaceful after a neat drench. (guess it was refusing to go ahead :P) We took off on our bike, the roads being wet I rode slow to make it to the base of the hills. The minor ghat section was executed to perfection with joy. We parked the bike at the Kalyani and headed towards our “Peace spot”

TIME: 11:45

MELUKOTE:

The temple looked pretty intimidating to be frank. Black clouded background gave it a dark hue. We walked down to our regular spot. After showing Gow around the spot, we decided to trek further. With no one around, the trek was actually pretty good. The greenery and the boulder filled terrain offered us a good amount of challenge.

After making to flat land we found some fruits which Gow explained, when thrown against rocks, it would explode and release this yellow powder just like a bomb in movies. First I tried a few, next thing you know, I was throwing them all over the place. The fake bomb kept us entertained for quite some time.

Finally after climbing a few more stretches we made it to a wonderful place. From here we got this beautiful view of a lake afar. There was grey clouds surrounding this lake, but the waters of the lake glittered in the beams of light that fell upon only it and nothing else. It was truly a breath taking sight to witness.

We decided to crash overwhelmed by the sight of the beautiful lake. After crashing down, we spoke about work, friends etc. It was not long before the dark clouds on top gave away to heavy rains. I gave my riding jacket to Gow to protect himself and well me? I began dancing in the rain with joy :P (I am not joking)

All of a sudden, we could hardly spot the lake itself.  Thin curtains of rain accompanied by fog whirled around us. And the fog had completely gobbled up the lake making it invisible. Once the curtains of fog died down a little, the sun again began to reveal itself. We decided it was time to head back. 

We trekked back along the same pathway (trying out the fruit bombs again haha:P ) and made it to the temple premises. We got onto my bike and took off from the place.

TIME: 13:30

    

RIDE 2: (Melukote – Mandya – Ramnagara – Bangalore)

This was 150kms ride back with one lunch stop in between. As we left Melukote, I asked Gow about his call on visiting Tonnur Kere. When it was a red signal, we rode back in the same route. As we rode back the rains came down gushing at us again, and this time pretty mercilessly. I was riding the bike, I pulled over. Gave my jacket to Gow to wear and I rode in my tee enjoying every bit of the heavy rains. Gow sat behind thinking I had gone mad. We reached back highway post Mandya and headed towards Mysore to settle in our regular dhaba. But as the cook was on leave, we proceeded a few kilometres towards Mysore and settled in the immediate next dhaba for some lunch.

TIME:  15:00

After the decent lunch, we left the dhaba afloat. After which Gow took over the bike and rode at a decent pace as the conditions were just ideal. The rains had left the roads and surroundings calm. And we rode pretty much a constant pace cruising past Mandya, Maddur, Ramnagar. As we reached Bidadi, we pulled over the highway for some hot tea. It had begun to get dark already. And as we approached the outskirts of Bangalore, we got stuck in rain again and this time along with traffic (deadly combo)  We pushed on through to enter NICE road at Mysore road and proceeded towards Hosur road. As we rode towards his home, again spotted the company bus returning back, again we made faces and proceeded. Dropped back Gow to his home at Bomnahalli. After that again (4^th time for the day) took the NICE road and reached back home. It was almost a 400kms kickass ride for the day.

TIME: 19:45

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106) BR hills – Ride across the river: (13/12/2014)

Place: BR Hills.

Distance: 200 x 2 = 400kms.

Directions: Bengaluru – Bidadi – Ramnagar – Channpatna - Kabbladurga

Particiapants: Gaureesh (Gaureesha)  > Madhu (Barca) > Datta (Dattu) >Karthik (Sp).

Bikes: FZ > Pulsar.                                         

Previous visit: Kabbaldurga– One last hit!

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

This had to be one of the strangest trips you will ever read. Yes the tag is “Ride across the river “as in Dire strait song. but literally we put our bikes on a coracle and rowed ourselves to the other side. Nearly got caught by the police as well.  And most importantly we almost drowned with our bikes. Anyways it is a fun chapter, stay glued!

INTRO & PLAN:

After a no-nonsense bashing Novembers, we had taken a break for about 3 weeks. As Gaureesh wanted to take his new bike for a long run, we decided BR would be just the place. Dattu, Madhu, Gaureesh were on the confirmed list.

TIME: 22:00 (12/12/2014)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yeah I was up at 05:00, did a few push ups & situps, had a cup of coffee and was all set to go. The meet up was scheduled at RR Nagar Arch. I left my home at about 06:00 and cruised on the ORR to pick up Dattu from his home at Mahalakshmi Layout. Once having done that we rode back to Mysore road and waited for the other two at the RR Nagar Arch. Once they arrived, even though they knew Dattu, I introduced him formally and we left Bangalore. 
TIME: 06:45

 
 

RIDE 1: (Bangalore–  – Channpatna – Kabbaldurga – Mallavali – Kollegala – BR hills)

This was about 200kms ride. Wait, but here this now. It was on highways, country roads, forest roads and ON THE RIVER. Haha, yes no kidding. As we left Bangalore, with the onset of winter the weather was cold and perfect for riding. We cruised along at decent pace to reach Bidadi for breakfast.

TIME: 07:15

After belting some yummy breakfast, we had some tea and left Bidadi. We rode at decent pace, cruising past Ramnagar we reached the outskirts of Channpatna. Here we took a left deviation and took off into the country roads. These roads after Channpatna towards Kabblu are a truly a bliss to ride on. We rode enjoying the ambience to spot Kabblu we pulled over for a couple of minutes.

TIME: 08:45

After taking a few minutes rest, we headed further to reach Sathnur. Once from the Sathnur the NH 209 (Our Snake Way)  made our riding easy. We stepped up a little and cruised faster to reach Malavalli for some hot tea., After which continuing further we found that the bridge to Barachukki had cracked and no vehicles were allowed. All vehicles were taking a detour via Talakad to get to Kollegala. 

 

So, what do we do? We change the plan to Talkad itself, or go off to Somanathpura? Everybody were confused. We rode on towards Talakadu for some kilometres after which we spotted a few fisherman standing on the roadside. We asked if they could take us across the river. He agreed gladly, 40rs/bike & 20rs/person.  We agreed gladly to as the experience would be something off the road and hopefully not off the boat :P. Riding in the interior mud roads of a village we ended up on the river banks. Finally we found quite a few coracles pretty huge ones made of metal resting on the banks. They asked us to get our bikes onto the coracle and off we went. Rowing slowly across the river. Madhu got a call from one of his friend the conversion went something like this:

M- hello

X – Where are you?

M – Well, umm.. in middle of river.

X – You said you would just ride today?

M – Bike is also there with me.

X –   (*confused*)Okay, I’ll speak to you latter. Bye. 

Hahaha, yes. We all burst into laughter and almost fell off the coracle.  As we approached the end we could spot police waiting. It was/is illegal to do this by the way uh, just in case you didn’t know. So we had to row ourselves into a small piece of island kind of thing and wait off the police. As we sat there waiting for the police to tire out, we had bigger problems.

 

There was a hole under the coracle and water was seeping in. We thought holy f’n shit. This is unreal. Dying is alright, but not by drowning man I thought. Then Madhu just stepped on it and said, it won’t leak don’t worry.  And then we took turns standing on the hole one by one. Once the police disappeared we made it to the other bank, paid  the fisherman, said that we would return by evening and hit back the road ( hoping we could do another river crossing, whata  rush it was!)

Riding smooth with about 1.5h delay, we reached Kollegala.  Taking the by-pass we entered into stream of villages and we reached the base of the hills.

TIME: 12:00

BR HILLS:

The ride began smooth. We slowed down, hoping to spot some animals. Thing about spotting animals is, whenever we expect and go, none show up. When we don’t they keep pouring out.  Now one might say, never expect and go, but it ain’t so easy huh. But all throughout he ride I was remembering how the elephants had chased us back in December 2014 (BR Hills). The ride was like always an awesome one. With few stops here and there we made it  to the top.

 

Once on top we parked our bikes, took off our shoes and visited the temple premises. The view of the mountain ranges surrounding the temple from the top is simply breath taking. After spending some quality time on top we decided to leave as our tummies were grumbling for food. We pulled over at the hotel on top as well and belted some good old meals.

TIME: 14:30

After some heavy and awesome lunch we decided to leave BR as we weren’t sure the coracles would be there and rowing across the river with our bikes in the dark is something way too dangerous (but fun!). Ride back was a sooth one. After the heavy lunch all we had make sure was not to doze off. We reached Kollegala in matter of 30-45mins and from then raced ahead towards Barachukki. Just prior we missed a turn to get to the Kaveri banks, so we ended up someplace apart. But we did find a few more coracles and fishermen who were eagerly waiting to take us across.

TIME: 16:00

This time, we decided to give the fisherman a break and decided to row ourselves. As it was winter, the sun was pretty low already and we experimented. Everybody took turns in rowing and slowly wavering we almost made it to the other side. Getting our bikes on the ground we paid the fisherman and off we went again.

Cruising at the decent pace we made it to Malavalli T junction for some hot tea. as it was already 17:00, we decided to take the Kanakpura Road until Sathnur and rejoin the Mysore road through Kabblu. But as we reached Kabblu darkness came upon us fast and the road became more or less invisible. As it is filled with patches and potholes, it was pretty dangerous ride. Dattu and me kept following a scooter guy, swearing at him if we rode into a pothole. Narrating and chatting about what that guy would be thinking we made it to the highway.(Sorry scooter guy for the spooky noises and devil laughs!:P)

TIME: 19:00

Once on the highway it was a smooth cruise until JB split stop. Once we pulled over for a few minutes. The air had turned real cold by now. I dropped Dattu at his place and reached back my home.

TIME: 20:30

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