Nandi Hills or Nandidurg (Anglicised forms include Nandidrug and Nandydroog) is an ancient hill fortress in southern India, in the Chikkaballapur districtof Karnataka state. It is 10 km from Chickballapur town and approximately 60 km from the city of Bengaluru. The hills are nestled near the town of Nandi. The hills are the origin of the Arkavathy river, where you can find a small  pond even today.

The long pending ride to the Nandi Hills was planned on Friday after Hari stepping into the shoes of Kinshuk. We planned to take our bikes in Airport Volvo bus to save energy to climb up the hill. The first Volvo starts at 3am from Electronic city to the Airport. We had to catch the bus at KR Puram.

We started at 3am from Hope farm. Cycled 10 kms to KR Puram, we were there by 3:30am. Bus came to KR Puram at 4. Bus driver agreed for carrying the bike in bus but told us he will charge 100Rs per bike.  We were expecting that but to our surprise he gave us ticket for the bike. Airport bus reached airport by 4:45am. We got down just before the airport and started cycling to Nandi Hills, which is 35 kms from the airport. Before the dawn broke we were at the foothills. To our surprise, there were many runners already lined up to run up the hill. Ofcourse, there was also the weekend crowd, thousands of bikes and cars but the gates were open so we didn't have to wait in a jam.

After having energy bars and drinks we started cycling uphill. Little we knew that its not going to be an easy piece of cake. There are about 40 curves, many of them being hairpin curves. They tested our endurance. We took rest but did not gave up. The runners cheered us up. By 8:30 we were at the top of the hill. And we were super hungry. We hogged masala dosas and idlis. And biked a little downhill to avoid the crowd and found a rock to rest.

After a quick power nap, we were recharged. Ready to ride back to the city. The downhill was indeed a piece of cake. And we biked easily till Devanhalli to be halted by a flat tyre. Yeah! Kite's first breakdown. The puncture shop was 4kms away. Chandrika as an angel came to rescue. I put my bike in her car and took to the puncture shop. After the fix, we visited the Devanhalli fort and had lunch at Chandrika's house and rode back to Bangalore via Hoskote route.

That's it. And if you have actually read the above story then care to ask for 2 toffees from me next time we meet :D

That's me

Nandi Hills as seen completely covered in clouds

Kite

Misty trees

Kite again

That's Hari

That's both of us with victory smile

Time for a power nap

They need rest too

Devanhalli fort

That's Hari coming out of Devanhalli fort

Route:


Total kms cycled: 115

Beware of: 
1. Dogs in your area because apparently you look like an alien to them in your cycling attire.
2. Animals who escaped zoos and somehow managed to ride a motorbike to Nandihills
3. Animals again who are driving cars to Nandihills.
4. Dehydration. Drink lot of water

Get inspired by:
1. Runners, who are running uphill early in the morning
2. Misty trees which have secrets to tell.
3. Masala dosas at the hilltop. [Yeah, surprisingly it was good].


Ramnath's happiness Index- 6/10.