Avalabetta Hilltop Ride: The 200km Sweet Weekday Ride & View from the Famous 'Beak Rock' | Chapter 120 (Dec 29, 2015)

Place: Avalabetta Ride.    

Distance: 100 x 2 = 200kms.

Directions: Bengaluru – Hebbal – Devanahalli- Chikbalapur - Avallabetta

Particiapants: Arun (Aaku Bhai) > Karthik (Sp).

Bikes:  Unicorn > Pulsar                                             

Previous visit: GoldenTemple, Bylakuppe

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

This was a sweet riding chapter with some funny moments here and there. This ride was again done on a weekday –Tuesday. But this new place lived up to the expectations and we were pleased with it. The ride to the place is something one can enjoy a lot. And this ride marked the closing of 2015. Gudibanda Fort (Gudibande) is another place one can tag along with this place. But we kept it as a separate chapter.

INTRO & PLAN:

As far as the plan goes, Arun was back in town and he had taken leave from office. So, I took one as well and asked him whether he was up for a ride. Once he gave me a thumbs up, riding out was fixed, but where to? Sukesh in office casually mentioned about Avalabetta to me and we googled the place. After checking the distance, altitude and some photographs I closed the tab and said “You will see  my photo at that place tomorrow :P"

TIME: 13:00 (28/12/2015)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yeah I was up at 05:00, did a push ups & situps and was all set to go. The meet up was scheduled at my place. This trip also marked Arun’s last ride on his Unicorn. Arun arrived at my place and we took off from Bangalore.

TIME: 07:00

RIDE 1: (Bangalore- Hebbal – Devanahalli – Chikbalapur - Avanahalli)

This was a 100kms stretch. Initially we took off on the ORR and rode smooth until we reached Hebbal. After which the traffic started becoming slightly dense as it was a weekday and people, well had to go work or schools. Finally once we made it past hebbal, it became a little smooth flowing but the relentless taxis kept whooshing past us at top speeds. We sailed smoothly and pulled over McD to have breakfast for a change.

TIME: 08:30

We sat at McD and discussed a lot about future trips. But first Arun had to complete his thesis. Arun told his progress on buying a new bike, it was almost finalised to KTM. After which, we continued until Devanahalli from where we could spot the mighty Nandi hills & Skandagiri. We continued further to reach Chikbalapur, I realised we had to taken the same route when we had been on the Gudibande trek. We rode non-stop on the super wide highway to reach the outskirts of  Prerasandra. We a deviation much before the town on the advice of the locals. Oh yeah, throughout the ride, one thing we kept remembering was the awesome ride to Lepakshi a few years abck on the same road.

 

This route was very pleasant and ran through some old villages. Even though the sun was up and shining, we felt fresh and cool as the ride progressed. After a couple of lefts and rights we made it to the actual entrance of the hill ride.

The hill initially began with some cement roads. And riding on these was pure joy. Riding each curve to perfection we cruised along one beside each other to reach the top.

TIME: 11:00

AVALABETTA:

At the top, we spotted the temple, but first we rode off until where the road would take us. This lead us to a guest house maintained by the Karnataka Government. We spoke to the guard and explored  the premises. We went to the terrace of the guest house and relaxed a little. After which we decided to go the temple. Riding about a kilometre back we reached the temple, parked our bikes and climbed up a few stairs to reach the temple. 

   

But the famous “beak rock” was nowhere to be seen. So, headed to the left of the temple and went on exploring. After climbing some height we could spot the beak rock down below. But there wasn’t any easy path down to it. But yeah, I tried going here and there but finally since both had to go, we retraced our steps to the temple and took a right turn. Going a few steps further we reached the beak rock. 

We spent a good 20-30mins relishing the view from the top. We sat near the temple for a few more minutes and decided to take off from the place. (I am pretty sure; this place will be off the charts for people in sometime, the place is dangerously inviting some deaths)

TIME: 12:15

RIDE 2: (Avalabetta – Chikbalapur – Hebbal – Bangalore)

The ride back was a smooth one. It stretched for about 100kms. As we left, we took the Prerasandra route this time, just to get the over-all perimeter’s picture. After joining back the highway we hit the throttle and cruised at a decent pace to go past Chikbalapur and Devanahalli. 

   

After reaching Devenahalli a really funny incident happened. We were cruising at a decent pace between 60-70km/h. Two cops were standing on the left side of the road, Arun all of a sudden went off-road onto the service road and going just past the cops re-joined the highway. Yes, we had all relevant documents, we were wearing helmets and we weren’t over-speeding. The cops looked at us and began scratching their heads and I was equally confused as well :P

Anyway after reaching hebbal, Arun suggested the route through the city would far shorter than the usual ORR route. I thought I’d give it a try as well. But uh, the traffic was little too much for me and we kept getting stuck here and there. Finally after making it to Mysore road, both of us rode to his place. Thanking him for making it for the trip, I continued to reach back home. A leave well spent!

TIME: 15:00

MAPS:



ALL PHOTOS:

   

⬅️ 119. Golden Temple 121. Bhasmangi Fort Trek ➡️

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Bylakuppe – Golden Temple: The Challenging 500km Ride to the Tranquil Tibetan Monastery & Fury on Mysore Road | Chapter 119 (Dec 12, 2015)

Place: Golden Temple - Bylakuppe.  

Distance: 250 x 2 = 500kms.

Directions: Bengaluru – Ramnagara – Mandya – Mysore - Bylakuppe

Particiapants: Gautham (Gauti) >Madhu (barca) > Karthik (Sp).

Bikes:  FZ 16 > Pulsar                                                 

Previous visit: ShivangangaTrek

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

This was quite a long ride (500kms) for a single day, that too on a pulsar. But yes, we pulled it off, that too in style the way we rode back, unleashing all fury on Mysore road. Initially it was planned to KRS backwaters, but finally we ended up at the Coorg border.

INTRO & PLAN:

As far as the planning goes, lot had been expected of November 2015, as it had seen 2 trips in first 5days. But the stats remained the same throughout the month and we were on the edge of the seat to get out. Start of December called up Madhu and Gauti and asked them if they were up for a ride. Once they confirmed their spots, we decided to meet at Mysore and then go to KRS back waters or “Balmuri”

TIME: 22:00 (11/12/2015)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yeah I was up at 05:00, did a few push ups & bicep curls and was all set to go. As the meet was scheduled in Mysore, I first left my home and headed towards Nagarbhavi. After picking up Madhu, re-joined the Mysore road at Kengeri.

TIME: 07:00

RIDE 1: (Bangalore- Ramnagara – Maddur – Srirangapatna – Mysore - Bylakuppe)

This was a 150kms stretch on our butter smooth home ground Mysore road. Initially as we left Kengeri, Madhu rode my bike and I was sitting behind. We rode at a decent pace, discussing about college life and how it had changed over the past few years. Good thing was, we both were the only constant factors. After reaching Bidadi, we decided to have breakfast at Maddur. Cruising past Ramnagar & Channpatna, we pulled over at Maddur Tifany’s for some yummy breakfast.

TIME: 08:30

After the breakfast, we went to the wooden gift shop outside and browsed through the items. I bought a chess board, I had been crazy about the game since a few months. After purchasing the nice wooden board we proceeded ahead. As it was a Saturday, the traffic had gradually increased but the neat wide roads made riding easy. Getting out of Mandya, we pulled over near Srirangpatna for some hot tea. After which we intimated Gauti that we would arriving at Mysore shortly. 

Just then, I asked Madhu about his view on visiting Golden temple near Nisargadhama, Bylakuppe. We misjudged the distance to be approximately 50kms from Mysore and so we agreed to go ahead. As we reached Mysore, we cruised on the by-pass road and waited for Gauti at the same spot we had waited the last year December. (Mysore Ride)

TIME: 10:30

    

After Gauti’s arrival, we greeted him. And told him about our plan to visit the Golden temple as it would serve as a good weekend ride to Gauti as well. KRS, well would be a little too short ride for him. Once he agreed we took off towards Madikeri. Memories of our Coorg ride kept flashing throughout this stretch. The roads still being awesome, we rode at about 70km/h one behind the other. Then we spotted a board which read Bylakuppe 90kms ahead. That time we looked at each other confused and decided to ahead.

Once we closed in the 90kms mark, we slowed down and to spot the right deviation. As Mr. Dalailama was expected to be in the Tibetan town in the coming week the whole of the town was flooded with festive mood. All the monks were sweeping the roads from the highway until the Monastery and decorating the light poles. It felt like another world once off the highway. After the final cruise, we reached the beautiful monastery.

TIME: 12:45

GOLDEN TEMPLE:

Well, the monastery and the region around it, like always, had a peaceful and tranquil air surrounding it. We parked our bikes and entered the monastery at about noon. As it was a Saturday, it was flooded with people and some noisy school kids. We visited the main building and sat there for about 30minutes admiring the paintings on the roof and the wall. After about spending an hour at the place, we went knife shopping at the mall outside. After which we departed the place.

TIME: 14:15

    

RIDE 2: (Golden temple – Mysore – Maddur – Ramnagar – Bangalore)

As we left the place, our tummies were growling in hunger. And Madhu’ s don’t even ask, it was shouting for help :P Haha! Riding ahead we re-joined the Coorg-Mysore highway.  We realised we had a long way to go back home. Gauti invited us to stay over at his room as well just in case it got late. But we continued further riding below the hot sun, with our energies draining fast and well Madhu getting restless minute by minute. 

Gauti and me tried convincing Madhu that we knew a good dhaba, but it was in the outskirts of Mysore. But Madhu’s hunger had taken over and the monster had awakened :P he tried to pull over at each and every stop. But finally we settled a new dhaba for some lunch.

TIME: 16:15

Surprisingly it was a pretty good find and we enjoyed the meal thoroughly and left the dhaba afloat. The sun already had begun it’s traverse down towards the horizon and the air had turned icy cold. We reached Mysore after about 30mins of riding and pulled over at the by-pass road and told Gauti that we would continue towards Bangalore at a slow pace. Thanking Gauti for making it that day, we said good bye and I told I would take over the riding part.

TIME: 18:00

     

From here all hell broke loose. The air was real cold and the traffic had turned worse, so asked Madhu to buckle up as I would be crawling through like a rattle snake through all the vehicles. And then began the relentless riding towards Bangalore. We made it to Mandya in about 40mins, after which Madhu rode until Ramnagar. After which I took over again and rode past Bidadi to reach Bangalore at about 20:30. From here proceeded towards Nagarbhavi to drop Madhu to his home and then reached back my home.

TIME: 21:00

MAPS:



ALL PHOTOS:

⬅️ 118. Shivaganga trek 120. Avalabetta Hilltop ➡️

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