Trail Tour (Mysore, KRS) - 01/03 & 02/03/2008

Shree, Mallik and Abhi where busy giving shape to the trail tour. The idea sounded interesting and I decided to join the trail riders. After giving the dogs a work out in the early morning and after scaring a few dogs by barking back at them, I was halted up a pack of dogs on an uphill. I better call up Shree and ask him to come and join me, said me conscience. A ring to shree, soon got me company and suddenly I realised Shree had a calming effect on the dogs. I dunno the peace treaty Shree has signed with dogs, amazingly they went mum after seeing him. Abhi had just picked up a flat tire somewhere else and I was pesimisstic in making to the Railway station on time. Shree had his own set of problems, with the wheel squealing all the way. He would get restless and check his wheel and kick himself for having not located the source of problem. We reach City railway station and make the count of trail raiders to 8. Hi...Hi...Hi... greetings exchanged and each other eyeing the bike of the other and after updating their shopping lists for the next buy for the bikes, we reach the luggage room only to be told that the room opens only after 6:00. We decided to take the Thanjavur - Mysore express at 7:30 a.m. I was happy that our bikes got a neat little place in the luggage compartment and so did we in sleeper class.
Idlis, Madur Vada, Coffee... find ways to our tummies and the payment time to the vendor gives me the opportunity to play the role of treasurer for the trip. Boys! Rs.500 for the kitty, calls out the treasurer in me and I get fresh minted notes which are yet to kiss the dirt.
Its 10:45 or so and we reach Mysore and unload our bikes. The RPF guy issues gate pass for the bikes. We dress up pushing the eyeing public to the obilivion and tight our bags to the carrier. Ready, set, go.... push...push..push... on the rail track a few metres and we meet a road which will take us to KRS dam.

Our first pit stop was a hotel which was 10 kms away. We did not waste time and mind counting the idlis and vada we ate...all I can say is... the shop had run of idlis and they had to make another set and give us fresh steaming idlis. I was amused like kid with the new accessories I had got this trip. A Garmin etrex HCx - GPS, a wonderful Camelbak and seat post rack. The bikers were impressed with seat post rack, probably they were with aching hearts after having seen their bikes getting rammed by hammers as they got their carriers fixed on their bikes.
Trail riding started in the backyards of KRS dam. The trail was inviting to the riders, the tyres were too inviting for the thorns.


[pic: Abhi @ blue lagoon, bikers raring to go]

Innumerous, I would say the no. of times, the thorns kissed the tyres and left a mark a hole on the tube. Raghu would beg to differ, as he painstakingly counted the no. of kisses. The meticulously marked the where,why,who and how. We ended with 24 flat tires...with the trail riders agreeing to gift Faiq a "metal" tube. Heee... my bike and raghu's were spared without the 'deadly' kisses (prickly should be the right word, I guess).


[pic: Raghu fixing punctures @ blue lagoon]

At times, I was wondering whether we were on a trail tour or puncture fixing tour. Infact, I have loads of puncture fixing photos and videos. At times the morale of the riders where so low, that Raghu had to pep up the scene with his idea of making a film titled "Pumping to Glory".



Here is Raghu's Gyan sharing video - Titled "Giyo-mini pump for Dummies"



All that stays in mind after the trip is the wonderful sunset, the lovely coleman dome tents, retreived venugopalsamy temple, Yummy MTR foods and the amazing speed we picked up from Srirangapatnam to Mysore. OK...OK... another scene that refuses to fade is that of almost getting conned by a shop keeper at Srirangapatna who wanted to Rs.15 more than the MRP printed on the bottle.

[pic: lining the bikes , hexagonal dome tent]

Well, one question is still unanswered? The one Faiq asked, why were we doing this?
Well, my friend Faiq, we did this trip to hone our puncture fixing skills and expand our skillset.

[pic: Paddy fields - Treat to eyes, Gautham n Mallik @ Blue Lagoon]

[pic: Trail riders - Raghu, Murali]


[pic: Mass puncture fixing exercise, Shree riding]


[pic: who moved my wheel, bikes in the back drop of paddy fields]

I look forward to another puncture fixing tour. So, guys... next time when you bored... ping me. Lets go on a puncture fixing tour.

Savandurga - Machinbele - Big Banyan

KP and me, decided to go on a long ride with decent inclines. I proposed Savandurga, and KP gave it a nod. I had heard about Savandurga from Gaurav during my Tour2Chikmaggalur and his comments was that Savandurga was nice weekend getaway of a bike.

I left my home at 6:15 a.m. and caught up with KP who was waiting for me at GPO near Vidhana Soudha. We started at 6:40 a.m. and the plan was to catch the Magadi road. After getting directions from people, we were on the Magadi road. We had too much of traffic on the road and which left me wondering what all the people were doing at early hours of the day. Once we crossed the road which leads to the NICE Expressway, the road was all ours. An odd mini Truck or BMTC bus would cross us now and then, but the conditions were apt for cycling with the sunrising on one side thereby clearing away the fog and the cattles grazing on the roadside complemented by the site of villagers getting ready for their daily work. At times, we had to cross thick fog, the fog was so dense that KP had to call me on my mobile to check whether I am ahead of him or behind him ;-).

[pic:KP Cycling, on Magadi road]

20 kms ahead of Magadi, we noticed the roads curling upwards and sending out an invitation " Take me on". Most of the roads, were being relaid, courtesy :- Pradan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. All credits to the people laying the road, the roads were of high quality. The villages on either side of these roads are gifted ones. KP was sharing his Treking & Biking experience in US during the climb. It was 9:00 a.m. and 12 more Kms to go, I was very hungry and opted for a pitstop. There were no roadside shops, but the lays chips packet I was carrying was enough to feed two of us.

After 10 kms or so, we reached Magadi and took a 30 mins break to taste some "Tatte idlis" and Vada. I also packed some "puliyogare" directly into my stomach, expecting hard climbs ahead. The hotel man was friendly and started a debate.... on which was the highest peak of Karnataka. He was staunch on his point that Savandurga is the tallest. Well, me and KP said its "Muliangiri". He said, "Well, my wife is from Chikmaggalur and he has been there many times and seen that Muliangiri is no the tallest". Settling the discussion by agreeing to his point, we exchanged greetings and headed towards Savandurga. The Hotel man, suggested that once we should make a trip to Shivganga which is 30 kms from Magadi, he said Shivganga has too steep inclines and it would be fun to climb on bicycle.

Savandurga is just 8 kms away from Magadi Village. As we were racing on the flat road, KP asked me to slow down and enjoy the view on the left. Wow, it was quiet a sight... a huge monolith jotting out of the earth, gleaming under the sun. I pulled out the camera and saved the scene for eternity.




[pic:Savandurga, a sleeping elephant]

We had a small pitstop and thats where KP gave a session of bicycle gyan to me. The story of How "Thunder turned into a Wonder". He had dressed his Thunder with components which would cost 12K and upwards. The Crank was from Shimano Deoro. So were the rear deraileurs. The gear shifters looked nice. Now, his bike was sporting a 9 speed cassete. The headset was a threaded conventional one. The wheels were 'canibalised' from his "omega". All that remained unchanged was the Frame of Thunder and ah.. that sticker 'Thunder MTB" ;-)
After the gyan session, we took the diversion to Savandurga and near the foothills of the huge monolith, we had some tender coconuts. As the tender coconut-wala said it would take 4 hours to trek the mountain, we decided to give it a skip. We enquired, who built that fort on the mountain. He said it was 'Bangalore erstwhile Chieftain: Kempe Gowda". The fort on the mountain was clearly visible from the foothills.



[pic:KP and his wonder]



[pic:KP, before monolith in Savandurga]

We bid adieu to the 'sleeping elephant' and we were soon hitting a good patch of road leading us to Machinbele dam. 6 kms, away from Savandurga is Machinbele dam. And as all dam sites would have it, this dam site also had some short and steep climbs, before gifting the biker with a splendid scenery of blue waters under blue skies. We stopped and took the shade in the bus stop there, which presented the view of the waterbody. If atall Bangalore hosts an Ironman in future, Machinbele is the nice place to hold the swimming leg of the competition. KP was sharing his cycling adventures during his Pune to Goa trip and the sheer determantion he possesed in those days when he used to climb all the peaks enroute Goa. Each climb was coupled with a downhill ride, taking him to the sea level. Numerous was the number of climbs he said enroute Pune to Goa.



[pic:machinbele dam -view from mainroad, backdrop - Savandurga]

It was around 12:00 a.m. and the sun was mercilously baking us. To make the conditions worse, we had very very bad roads and a bit of head wind resistance. At times, there were tippers passing on these roads, which would force us to slow down or stop. These tippers where carrying gravel,sand and all other stuff for a building complex, which housed 2 huge antennae pointing towards the sky. I wonder whether it is for Chandrayan project (India's Man Moon misson) or its a part of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Life). Anyway, I took a picture of it, because it is not that often we get a chance in our daily life to see such mordern structures ;-)


[pic: Antenna for Chandrayan?]


When we hit the 100 km mark and the clock struck 1:00 p.m., we were at Ramohalli. Yes, this is were the 400 year hold Big Banyan tree stretches on a whooping 3 acre land.


[pic:Big Banyan, as I open my eyes, after sleeping]

After downing some tender coconuts, I took a little nap under the shades of the magnificient tree. It was 1:45 p.m. and we decided to leave the shades of the Big Banyan and here we go again on the worst village roads and the scorching sun. Enroute Kengeri, I stopped by a roadside Hotel for lunch. KP decided to give the lunch a miss and have a evening snack at house. 4 parotas, and 1 omlette , my tank was full and we hit the road ahead. Soon, we joined the mainstream traffic flowing towards Bangalore from Mysore. This time, it was good road but bad traffic. Each Bangalorean knows about the traffic and I would not mince words hear. When I reached home, at 4:45 p.m. I smsed KP and received a reply 2 kms to go for me. :-)


[pic: bad roads, not so good for road racers]


Another wonderdul weekend ride comes to an end. As I open bikeszone webpage, Harsha is talking about a single day 200km trip on a Saturday. Hmmmm.... tempting.

Trip Stats:-
Loop :- Bangalore - Magadi - Savandurga - Machinbele Dam - Big Banyan - Kengeri - Bangalore
Distance :- 140 km (start and finish at Koramangala I block)
Moving Time :- 6h:52m
Moving Average :- 20.5 kmph
Max speed:- 51 kmph
Average Cadence: 69
Fuel:- Tender Counts - 5, Water - 5 litres

Bangalore - Kolar (Kurkki Mountains)

Ride Date:01.12.2007 ~ 02.12.2007
Route: Koramangala - Marathahalli - Whitefield Rly Station - Hosakote - Narsapura - Kurkki , and back.
Distance:140 kms

Myself,Chandru and Sandeep gathered on the Marathalli bridge at 4:00 p.m. I was curious to see the tent which Sandeep was carrying and I was expecting his backpack to be bulkier. Unusally, it was very very small. It could not see the tent. But Sandeep was swearing that he had the tent in his bag. Well, I would have to wait till night unfolds to see that ultra small, light 3 men tent. Our idea was to camp in the moutains of Kurkki near Kolar. We pedaled our way through the deafening traffic...particularly the traffic near ITPL was horrifying. Bangalore's tech zone, certainly deserves some broad roads. May be a 8 lane... for our population.

When we were near the Whitefield Railway station, the sun was setting and that meant we had to pedal for some time in the night. Soon at around 5:20 p.m. we reached the crossroads of NH4. We bought 1 kg of banana (hee hee), some oranges, chikkoos, berries all that would serve as dinner and breakfast. It was twilight and the dust was shining in the air. We were racing against time, trying to cover the maximum distance in dusk. All we could do is reach Hoskote before night engulfed NH4. My guess was that the Volvo plant was just 4 kms away from Hoskote and the Kurrki mountains may be another 4 kms from Volvo plant. But a passer-by dropped a bomb...shocking us that Volvo plant was 22kms away...and the Kurkki mountains some further 8 kms from Volvo plant. Oh... no... we yelled in unison... By the time it was pitch dark... and to ride on the NH4 alongside the speeding buses and truck was a challenge.

Sandeep pulled out his 10 rupees flashers which had a LED and star, and it started flashing in red and blue upon turning the pin. Great! Made in China...Sold in Majestic met our requirement for the night. The trucks and buses were keeping safe distance from us, because the light was very flashy. We felt safer riding in the night than in daylight on NH4.

We had dinner at a road side Dhabba and enquired 'How far the Volvo factory was'. The dhabba guy said he had come from Himachal pradesh and had no idea where it is. :-(. We set off after an hours break and we reached the village of Narasapura... none of us tracked the time...because it was immaterial to track it on a weekend....we asked for the directions to the Kurkki mountains and set-off.

Soon, we could see a Bajaj Chetak following us.... We stopped and gave way for it to pass.. But the rider stopped and enquired who we were and why we were going to Kurkki mountain at this weird hour. After a self-introduction, we asked for the stranger's name and he introduced himself as Poornachandra. "I am a sculptor" he added. Surprised, We asked what? Sculptor? He continued. "Yes! I make carvings on stones, I also make scultpures of Gods and Goddessess in Gold and Silver." We said.. WoW... and shook his hands... he was a humble person and felt shy... He showed us a few paper cuttings which were about his sculptures which had appeared in a newspaper.

He was very friendly and invited us home to stay in his house for the night. We were pleased by his kind gesture and told him that we had plans to camp in the mountains by erecting a tent. He laughed at it and said.. if required we can make the tent in a nearby temple which he had built. The idea sounded good and we soon headed towards the village. The villagers suggested us to camp in the village school instead of the temple. That was a fantastic suggestion and we were happy that everything was going our way...

We parked the bikes in the school and got ready to prepare the tent. Sandeep pulled out a sheet and said here it is.... he had a Orange colored Polythene sheet in one hand and a rope in another. All the adjectives he had used that morning to describe the tent were true. It was light,cheap, economical,superfast.. 3men tent. In the night, we had all the fruits and chit chatted till we fell asleep... in the night we were fighting for the woolen bedsheet ... and it was fun. Sometimes, the pull for the bedsheet was so intense... I thought one of us is going to bring the tent down. It was very windy night and we were happy that we and the tent had survived through the night.


[3-men tube tent, campin at night] [the village school... camping spot]

In the morning, we had a curious visitor at our tent. A kid who studies at the school had come to play in the school and was puzzled to see us camping there. With no words.. we smiled at each other. We packed the things and by 6:30 a.m. we were heading towards Kurkki mountains on our bike. A video shot enroute is here for you...




[boulders...at kurkki] [more...boulders...for..you]


The place was splendid with small rocks strewn all around the place. It would serve as an ideal place for BMX riders to demonstrate their stunts. We parked our bike near a pond and we started our trek uphill. At the top of a huge boulder, we had our breakfast... some cream buns...oranges..bananas..etc. It was a stunning view from the top to see the NH4 and the small mountains which surrounded the place. We basked on the morning sun for 1 hour or so. Vitamin D, huh?



[too inviting for off-road biking] [NH4, crawls as a snake ... as seen from top]



[I love to take..the pictures of this beauty... a bike that carries me... and one which I can carry]



[sandeep..up close.. on the mountain] [call it a silhoutte... boulders of kurkki]


[a perfect place....trees..grass..boulders] [boulders....they are everywhere]


As the sun became hotter, we started to descend the boulders. We were happy to see our bikes intact and the village junta had spared it. We started our journey back to Bangalore. Here is a video as we started leaving the Kurkki mountains



The return journey was much quicker and we had a stop at Hotel Athithi for Breakfast. This hotel is next to Volvo factory (on the side of Bangalore). We left the reastaurant at 10:50 a.m. and we were back at Marathalli by 1:00 a.m. After a lunch at Hotel Bagini, we dispersed and I had to pedal my way all through to Koramangala. When I set my eyes upon the time-piece in my home, it read 2:25 p.m. Another exciting weekend was crawling to its end.

[we n our bikes.. backdrop..volvo] [Hotel Attithi, 100m before Volvo]

Total Distance Bangalore to Kukki & back :- 140 kms.

p.s. :- Kurkki mountains is just 10 kms before Kolar and the local crowd said there are many more interesting rock-cladden mountains around. We did not have time to see them...may be next time.