Manipal Revisited... Day 2: Madikeri to Mangalore

Day 2(April 2nd 2010)

The day started with us waking up at 6 so that we could leave

early, but then it turned out to be that we were gonna get late... We visited Sunil's uncles place near the Home stay and with some more off roading that was the perfect way to start off the day... :)

After the visit we got ready and we started towards Manipal, the ride down from coorg was beautiful, some awesome mountains and the roads were all winding so did some foot scrapings... Me and Abhi shot off initially then i took off leaving the guys behind... After some hiccups of Sunils dome breaking off we managed to reach Sullya by 11... We had to refuel here and pick up some cash... After the refuelling our Ice cream man Abhi found an ice cream stall near the petrol bunk so we had ice cream and other stuff... ;) After the snack break we found that Abhi's bike had gotten punctured so we got delayed by an hour...

After getting the puncture fixed we again left and this time me and sunil took off... Again some amazing winding roads... We stopped just before Mangalore for some tender coconut and then managed to cross Mangalore by about 1... The bus gang had already reached Manipal and were getting restless for our arrival... We decided to stop for lunch at Bittu da dhaba at about 20 kms from Manipal where we hogged like hungry dogs... :) Finally we managed to reach Manipal at around 5 and reached Tiger circle where the reunion of the boys happened... :) Then we went to Chira's place to freshen up and go to the fest which apparently we came for... While a few guys were freshening up i was narrating on the happenings of the ride to the other guys bringing them upto speed...

We went to the fest after everyone got ready and it was a complete disaster... The fashion was boring and the dances were horrible... But we guys had a ball dancing and shouting for everything... No one was sitting next to us with the amount of noise we were making... Pity the guy who came and asked me which college we are from and my prompt reply saying "BTMT dude" and we all burst out laughing our backs off... Finally we got bored with the stupid fashion show so we decided to start our own party back at Chira's place... :) And so the party began with all the arguments and discussion after the booze we laughed like crazy... The star of that night's show was the newbie Karthik... Sunil was tripping on him royally with his GG rantings...

Half of the guys crashed after dinner, while Me, BK, Chira, Suppu and Karthik were talking about all kinds of random things... Till we crashed outselves by about 4 30 in the morning... ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Into the Darkness... :)

On the shores on Vagator beach (Goa)... It was one of the most beautiful sunsets i have ever seen... :)

Lone Rider

On the shores Marvanthe Beach... On the ride back from RMX mumbai...



Please leave your comments.. :)

Kodachadri: The Trek of a lifetime

Kodachadri that was the place we were heading too this time around.. It was one trip i was apprehensive about initially, but after the forcing of the guys I had to accept to their demands and agreed to it... So the check list was made, we were planning to trek, we were planning to camp, we were planning to party... In a nutshell we were planning for a blast of a weekend...

We booked the tents and sleeping bags from BMC... We could get the tents but they were short of sleeping bags, but we managed get them with some quick thinking(Thanks to me)... After another addition to the initial group of 10 there was a new member to the gang a fledgling to our gang...

The good fellas gang comprised of Me, Sunil, Abhi, BK, Rajanna, Chira, Harish, Pradeep, Supreeth, Bharavi and the new fella Suhas... :) We had stocked up for the evening at camp site thanks to Supreeth for the drinks and Abhi for the MTR ready to eat... :)

D day(25th DEC 2009)

We all met up directly at the bus stop where a last minute check revealed that we had forgotten basic stuff like i forgot my tooth brush and we had forgotten to take cups for the next day... Once we put the luggage on the bus we were all set and there was no turning back.. :) It was a riot drive in the bus, just imagine a group of 11 guys together under the same ceiling... After some talking and bantering we all retired for the night...


Day One(26th DEC 2009)

Thanks to the ksrtc driver who drove in the ghats like an insane man who had lost his nuts... We reached kollur at 5 45 in the morning to find kollur was filled with people... To our luck it was some kind of an auspicious day and pilgrims were flocking the place... We had a tough time even to find a place to freshen up... After running around from one end of the town to the other for almost an hour we found a matta called the hegde matta that offered us shelter... It was no fancy place but we found a place to wash away our filth and get ready for a day that would be one of the most adventurous days for us... :) After a bath and a photo session we were all ready and raring to go...

We walked back to the town to have breakfast and to find a jeep that would take us to kodachadri that is about 40 kms from kollur... There was some talk about why only jeeps could go to kodachadri and i got the answer why it was that way once i took the ride... It was one helluva ride on the jeep some stomach churning experience... I am still wondering how the jeep made it all the way up to the peak... We reached the bhatta's house who runs a temple there and also gives food to people who come there...

That was the last meal we had for another day and a half... We trekked around till our lunch got ready and explored some territory around... After we were done with lunch we trekked to the camping spot which was another nice trek up hill... On the way we visited one of the caves which also houses a temple... :) We finally made it up to our camping site just in time to catch a beautiful sunset... We set up our base camp here and set off to get some fire wood for the night...

After the sunset started the party and some awesome time.. We sat there talking about totally random things keeping ourself warm with the campfire that we set up... Once it started getting cold we got into our sleeping bags and started star gazing, thanks to Sunil and Abhi who started drawing maps on the sky... :) Then we crashed for the night once it was getting real cold...

Day Two(27th DEC 2009)

We woke up early morning in the hopes of catching a good sunrise... But the weather played spoil sport and we couldnt see the sunrise because of a foggy and cloudy morning... After we lazed around the camp site clicking some pics we decided to head down to bhattas place... The trek down was beautiful as we took the longer route in search of finding a waterfall which we only heard and never saw... Finally decided against it and got back to Bhattas house...

After a light breakfast we decided to trek down from the hill top... Got our water supplies and started the descend... The trek down was long and tiring but one of the best treks we ever did... The forest was simply mind blowing... After a trek for almost 6 hrs and a leech bite to me we reached the bottom of the hill in one piece...
We caught a bus from there back to kollur and got back to hegde matta to freshen up... We were wasted and totally hungry but we dint wanna have dinner at kollur...

We were right on time to the bus stop for our bus but the bus was 45 mins late... Thanks to the traffic jam because of the over flowing pilgrims the bus got delayed for another hour... After another leg pulling session we crashed for the night...

Another traffic jam at nelamangala ensured some more delay and the driver decided to take magadi road instead and we reached the station at about 8 in the morning... Got back home by auto with Abhi and Pradeep... All in all an awesome time with the guys...

For renting tents and sleeping bags: http://www.bmcindia.org/
Few pics from the trek: http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak3565/Kodachadri25thTo28thDec2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCLDJ167kxPH1PA#

This is probably my last post of this year unless my mind cooks up something real soon... :) If not then have a great new years eve and an amazing 2010 guys... :)

Rapping at The Rappa

With hang over of Cloud valley still lingering in the head there was another ride planned to The Rappa. The most relieving thing about the ride was it was away from the dreaded Mysore road which we take on almost all rides and riding back on a Sunday on Mysore road is the nightmare of any rider with maniacs driving like they do in the city.

Rappa is close to Hassan about 230 kms from Bangalore. This time around there was a big bunch that had signed in for the ride about 40 of us were all set to hit the road. The route that was planned is
Bangalore-->Magadi-->Kunigal-->Channarayapatna-->Hassan-->Rappa

I was getting used to all this riding every weekend(almost every weekend) so the anxiety had died down a little so could get some good sleep on Friday night. Meeting point was Mekhri Circle at 6 30. Praisy would join me on 100ft road and we would ride from there to Mekhri Circle together. I was just leaving from my house a gentle drizzle started which turned out to become a pretty heavy rain. Met Praisy at 12th main indiranagar and we left to Mekhri circle in the rain. We were kinda late so couldn’t catch up with people who were already there, we left as soon as we reached Mekhri circle.

First stop was at Kunigal for breakfast the whole route through Magadi was a blessing away from nellamangala traffic. The road was full of twists and turns and a biker’s paradise provided we are in control of the bike. Reached Kunigal by8 and had some brilliant thatte idli’s and some amazing vada’s. Hit the road after some coffee from here it full on patrang wonlee. Everyone was in a mood of clipping through the roads. The roads were pretty decent too. Next regroup point was outside Channarayapatna for some tender coconuts and then from there the next stop was just outside Hassan where Biju was waiting for us to lead us to The Rappa.

We were welcomed by 3 amazing dogs Brownie (Irish setter), Shadow (Bassett Hound) and Shunti (American Spitz). And one haunting long Rock Python. They were our official guide around The Rappa. After a much awaited lunch we headed to the water for kayaking. It was an awesome experience me and Ratish went kayaking about 8 kms almost till the dam. It was a tiring and muscle building experience. After all the fun we realized that our Aritra (Little Johnny) was missing. He had shot away swimming alone without any life jackets and went missing. It was a horrifying experience for everyone. We had search parties sent to find him but no sign of him everyone was pessimistic about what happened to this fellow.

Later Vijay gets a call from little Johnny saying the currents took him away towards the dam and I kind soul picked him up and dropped in some village. The villagers must have thought this guy must have been some extinct bear of some kind coming out of the water. ;) Somehow prashi went and picked up and came back to the base camp. It was relieving to know that nothing serious had happened.

Then was the party in the evening it was superb to say the least we had a camp fire for the cold and people were enjoying their drinks I was having a gala time talking to guys and with the music and my usual drink Pepsi neat. The icing on the cake was the local folk music that they had arranged. It was simply awesome and I just let go and danced like a maniac. Then we had dinner and started talking all kinds of random stuff about ride experiences and stuff like that. Then we decided to retire for the night and hit the bed.

The mornings when we leave are the most difficult part of any ride when we have to head back. We decided to leave late take some pictures on the way at the ruins of the church and then head back to Bangalore. The ruins were simple great we got some real cool pics here. Had lunch on the way at kamat and again the full patrang wonlee. Praisy had a minor break down on the way but got it fixed also Ratish had a minor fall thanks to the riding gear it was nothing serious.

Reached Bangalore at about 6 and was home by about 6 30. Awesome ride and an amazingly planned trip to the Rappa.

Cloud Valley Ride to Coorg with RTMC

As I was just thinking about where to do the next ride there came a post from prashi on yahoo groups about the cloud valley ride to coorg. Always wanted to ride to coorg and there was my opportunity to one of the most beautiful places in Karnataka and the place where Cauvery originates from.

The ride was planned to be on May 31st and we were to take the normal route to coorg
Bangalore -->Maddur-->Shrirangapatna --> Hunsur -->Periyapatna -->Kushalnagar -->Madikeri -->Cloud valley.

Well the day arrived and I had to get my gear patched up after the fall I had while coming back from Kodai. Gave the Jacket to my mom and she freaked out and almost dint let me go. But somehow got her convinced and was ready for the ride by Friday evening.

Meeting point was Bangalore university at 5 45 in the morning. Woke up early and managed to reach there in time. Already quite a few people were there Mr. Ratish (lamp) just came after I reached . After that arrived Praisy. People from Madras Bulls had come to see us off. Who were supposed to ride with us but stayed in Bangalore. :)

We were all set to go, the first regroup point was Indhradhanush where the breakfast was scheduled. There was a light fog cover reducing the visibility but riding was pretty easy. We were doing good speeds and reached the place. Had a good breakfast topped with coffee to clear the morning daze. Finished breakfast fast and hit the road. Next stop was Shrirangapatna at the Hunsur turn. We were doing pretty good speeds and managed to reach the point pretty fast.

Spent sometime here for sutta break left after everyone regrouped. Next the stop was supposed to be just outside Periyapatna where we refilled with some snacks and got some water. We were doing good speeds reached this place by 10 in the morning. Covered around 150 kms in 3 hrs of riding. Next stop was Madikeri town, I was excited about the next stretch as it was Ghats. I was pretty confident of the ghat riding after Kodai so wanted to have a rip at it.

But then Praisy who got her Bullet recently was going a little slow so thought will ride with her and was tailing her through the Ghats. We were doing decent speeds of about 50 kmph. We were just outside when Madikeri when Praisy had a fall. There were 2 buses one was going at 20 kmph and the other was trying to overtake this one at 25 kmph. The whole road was covered and Praisy tried to squeeze in from the left but then there wasn’t any road there she did a somersault and jumped over the bike into the small pit full of thorns. Luckily I was right behind her and helped her out. But I would not have been able to lift the bike by myself. Waited for sometime Sushil arrived and then kishore came.

Managed to pull the bike out after we had a nice laugh and clicked a couple of pics and left to Madikeri. Had a little break there and started to cloud valley which was about 20 kms from Madikeri. Again I started tailing Praisy but after a couple of kms I just couldn’t control myself and let go. Started ripping in the Ghats foot pedal scraping all over the road. Overtook balaji on the way with his wife who was lost and dint know where to go. :)

Stopped on the way and got some real good pics of Praisy riding. Finally reached the destination after abhi led us into the wrong road but managed to reach there by 1 30 to have a super coorgi meal with pork and chicken. Hogged royally till I could eat no more, Learnt that a few guys had problem with their bikes one flat tire and some other minor problems.

After that we were just lazing around when the biggest laughter riot happened. Mr. Krishna (Kinky Kong) arrived on his thunder bird everyone thought it was the great Anshuman Biswal and deepshit was all red to beat him up. But then we realized it was not actually Anshuman. It was some laugh we had.

After that came the fun part when we headed to the stream where everyone went into totally berserk in the water, we played along like kids we were all ten yrs younger. J
Then headed back to the home stay pulling each others legs on the way deepshit teasing Mr. Lamp and vice versa.

Evening was total full on fun we had one memorable introduction session with lamp and guy from Mysore bulls Pratap totally stealing the show with their foot in the mouth comments and questions. It was full on entertainment the best intro session I have ever witnessed.

Then came dinner some awesome pork and chicken again. Just when I thought the night was over after the sumptuous meal the fun started again. At 1 in the night me, poo Praisy and deepshit were laughing our guts out with various stuff. Till 4 in the night the 4 of us were just laughing it out. Then we decided to crash and somehow managed to find place to sleep.

Woke up at 7 on Sunday and drank some coffee while some people left early and decided to go to the Tibetan monastery on the way I got a small nap again. Woke up again at 9 and got ready to leave. Again had some real good coorgi special breakfast. Some kind of puttu with egg curry some tasty stuff. Then we decided to leave at 10 30 headed back with Praisy. Again I had a good ghat ride and we reached Madikeri where we fuelled up for the ride and hit the road again. We had decided to go have momo’s in the Tibetan camp in the way at bylkuppe.

Managed to reach here by 1 me Ratish and Praisy had a good meal here again. Met Manas and Arpita who left in the morning in the monastery. Again hit the road and managed to do good speeds and reached Shrirangapatna with just one stop in the middle. Clicked a few pics here and hit the road to get into Mysore road. With all the weekend getaway people driving back to Bangalore the whole road was busy with traffic and people driving like maniacs. People were driving like how they drive around in cities total irresponsible driving. With all the traffic reached the NICE road intersection at 6 with a stop at the Maddur coffee day.

Just then it struck me that the weekend is over. L Me and Praisy were heading back through the NICE road and just touched bannerghatta road when it started raining. This was a wonderful welcome back home. Reached home fully drenched in the hard rain and had a much needed dinner and crashed.

Was one hell of a ride coupled with full entertainment and fun…

Chasing Mad Bulls to Kodai

My first ride… The ride to salvation, my baptism as a rider... Thanks to "precious, my precious new thunder bird"

The ride was for the Madras bulls 7th anniversary in Kodai. Registered with RTMC for the ride and the D day was here before i could realize. Did my packing the previous night and got my bike checked from the service station. all seemed to be fine and the only thing i had to do was get some good sleep so that i can wake up early but in spite of hitting the bed at 9 30 i couldn’t sleep very well because of the anxiety and anticipation of the ride. Well i decided i couldn’t sleep anymore and got up at 3 and got ready.

The decided time to leave was at 4 shell petrol bunk from hosur road i reached shell bunk and 3 45 and no one was to be seen. After about ten mins the cavalry started to arrive first to come were Trishul and Ratish... then one after the other people started coming in one by one... And we were ready to leave at 4 30...The feeling of doing 500kms in a day on your first ride felt a daunting task but with my precious i thought 500kms that would be easy... ;) The route decided was hosur-Krishanagiri-Salem-Dindigul-vathlagundu-Kodaikanal.

Well that felt easy till the sun came out... managed to cover about half the way till it got real hot... Reached Salem at about 8 and had breakfast there and hit the road again… By this time the sun was high and it was getting real hot… After it got sunny nothing was happening around you everything was stand still, I was doing good speeds of about 80 to 100 and hitting 110 at a few stretches... Was feeling a little tired and almost dozed off a couple of times because of the heat took a couple of breaks result of which i got separated from the group also bike needed a fuel so got it tanked up and reached dindugal... was asking the way to vathlagundu from dindugal when abhi found me... then found out
Where the group was and joined them… Then half of them went to have lunch at veni biriyani and the other half left towards Kodai i went with the 2nd half thinking they were going to have biriyani missed the biriyani.. :(

Anyways we hit the road and reached vathlagundu in half an hour and had a light lunch there before hitting the Ghats... the Ghats were a real thrill ride... the twists and turns and a few hair pin bends the reducing temperature were such a blessing after the long hard ride in the sun... was maintaining speeds of around 60 and 70 in the Ghats i thought i was doing well when suddenly 2 bikes just buzzed past me like a bazooka it was prashy on his bullet and anand on his bmw never seen anyone do the stuff they were doing with their bike incredible riding guys... would love to learn a trick or two from you guys…

Reached the venue (Cliff Top hotel) in Kodai at about 3 30 had a bath and came down to the city with Ashish only to find out that it was a bad idea.. The city was packed with people as it was a long weekend and we got stuck in traffic... somehow managed to get back with some bhel puri for the drinkers and that’s how i got my nick name BHEL PURI now that’s an interesting way to get a name.. ;)

Everyone was chilling around drinking and i was having my drink too coke on the rocks... ;) Then hit the bed after a tiring long day...

Woke up in the morning and got ready and wanted to go do some shopping only to find out that one of the clamps on my silencer was broken… :( now had to get it fixed got it welded from a guy nearby and then did some shopping... Rest of the day was just chatting away and listening to people experiences was a first timer i was getting so much of gyan from the riding gods... :)

That night was party again had some good food and danced after a long time felt real good... :) Had to leave early the next day there were 2 batches one of them had decided to leave at 2 30 and the other at 4 30.. My roomies Ashish and little john wanted to leave at 2 30 and my sleep got disturbed and when i hit the bed again to wake up only at 5... :( missed the 2nd batch of guys…

So I and the other roomy Mr. Anbumani decided we will take the route we came by and catch up with the bunch in krishnagiri… Managed to leave Kodai by 6 and were doing great speeds... decided not to have breakfast just had some water with electral powder and it kept us going till we were about 40 kms from Salem when disaster struck...

My silencer clamp broke again... :( Then our momentum dropped and our speeds dropped… Somehow managed to tie up my silencer and ride again was just managing to do speeds of 90 because of the leakage in silencer… Then another disaster struck the heat was getting to me and i lost concentration over a curve i turned late and thanks to the gravel on the road i skid and went off the road… The crash guard saved my bike and the riding jacket and gloves saved me managed to get away without a scrape...
Managed to ride with the broken crash guard and reached adyar anandh bhavan just outside krishnagiri and had lunch there… Then bumboo and party showed up at the same place for lunch we said our good bye after the lunch and hit the road… After that it was just hard core riding with just a couple of breaks and before we knew we reached hosur at about 3… Another chai break there and I and Mr. Anbumani said our good byes...

Reached home by about 4 with a sore and numb body... All in all a great experience for a first timer... But something was telling me this is just the start there is still lots of kms left on the bike and in me of course...