Ramnath Kamat: biking in bangalore

RE diaries- Ride to Ooty.

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Monsoon ride - Day 5 - Halebidu to Sringeri

And we parted our ways. Vadya left to Bangalore and I turned the handlebar towards the mountains. The mountains were calling and I couldn't say no. The early morning checkout at Halebidu and quick ride to Chikmaglur for breakfast. The routes were new and I was riding solo this time. Highway signboards didn't disappoint. I headed to Mullayanagiri first without knowing what will I do for the rest of the day. The morning was surreal and quiet. The road to the peak of Mullayangiri offered many twists and turns. The rain soaked sholas were pitch green.

Mullayanagiri parking lot

Falcon cruised through the snake alike roads like it enjoyed it to the core. While people were just waking up to the rooster's crowing in nearby villages, I was on the top of the highest hill in Karnataka. Let me tell you one thing about Mullayanagiri, winds are crazy here. Sometimes, you feel like it is blowing you away.

Road to Mullayanagiri

Other side of Mullayanagiri

I spent some time at the peak, frequently checking myself that I have not blown away in the wind.

Thats me showing the altitude

As the tourists started pouring in, I decided to go away. Time now was to goto my next destination which I had not decided yet. The one which was in mind was Kalhatti waterfall but a localite told me the road to it is pathetic and is not worth the travel. So, I decided to visit Baba budangiri. A dattapeetha at the top of Baba budanagiri hills, again one of the highest roads in Karanataka. To my surprise, the roads here were concrete. Falcon cruised easily to the the Dattapeetha.

Where do I go next? I was in no mood to stop, so I rode on the edges of the hills, aimless, time unbound, fearless. The wind on the Baba budangiri was no less, tried to move me more towards edges but falcon cruised as it mapped the entire range on its wheels.

There was a small waterfall on the top of the hill. I didn't like it much. Avoided it and continued my ride until I found a ruins of what seemed like a bungalow. Perfect photography spot.

A small lake on top of Baba Budangiri

That's the trail I took..

Manikyadhara waterfall

I put a brake to my adrenaline rush. I had to ride back to the next place which was probably Sringeri. I climbed down the valley, touched footpegs and now I was hungry. Rode as fast as possible to Chikmaglur because that was the only place I was familiar with. After a quick lunch I headed to Sringeri which is again more than hundred kms away.

On the way to Sringeri, I found this interesting coffee hut. The coffee here was amazing. Helped me revive after the rain soaked ride.

I reached Sringeri by 5, found a room, freshened up and had the Masala dosa quickly before heading to the temple.

Stone carved math of Sringeri

Masala dosa to the rescue

Day 5 Ride: Halebidu -> Belur -> Mullayanagiri -> Baba Budangiri -> Sringeri

Route Map:

National Parks covered: Bhadra WS
Waterfalls covered: Manikyadhara waterfall
Total distance traveled: 259 kms

Ramnath's happiness index: 9/10.

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Monsoon ride - Day 3 - Kasargod to Puttur

2015 7:55 AM

Day 3 started with the chants of shlokas at Vadya's place. I woke up, had the yummy breakfast and decided to roam around Kasargod. I had the time till afternoon. So decided to cover as many places as possible.The plan was to leave to Puttur after lunch.

Mom's wish was that I should visit the centuries old Edneeru matha. Couldn't say No.. So the first visit was to Edneeru matha. This Matha is situated in Kasargod Taluk. Its followers are spread around south of Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragodu Districts. They speak the Tulu language. Unlike Shivalli Madhava Brahmins the affiliation of Shivalli Smartha Brahmins to the Smartha mathas is not exclusive. People can be followers of more than one smartha matha. In some parts of Kasargod and southern Dakshina Kannada the Madhava mathas also yield some influence.

Edneeru matha, photography isn't allowed inside

The second pitstop was the Bekal fort. The fort is about 20kms from Kasargod town. The fort is situated on the sea shores which reminds you of Chapora fort in Goa. Bekal Fort (Malayalam: ബേക്കല്‍ കോട്ട), is the largest fort in Kerala, situated at Kasaragod district, North Kerala and it is 67 km from Mangalore spreading over 40 acres (160,000 m²). Some important features of this fort are the water-tank with its flight of steps, the tunnel opening towards the south, the magazine for keeping ammunition and the broad steps leading to the Observation Tower, which is a rarity. From there one has an ample view of towns in the vicinity like Kanhangad, Pallikkara, Bekal, Kottikkulam, Uduma etc. The nearest railway stations are Bekal Fort, Kotikulam, Kanhangad,and Kasargod. This observation center had strategic significance in discovering even the smallest movements of the enemy and ensuring the safety of the Fort.

Bekal fort

The wave hits the shores

I also find some butterflies..

The fort was huge and took a lot of time to cover. So, I decided to head back for lunch. On the way, I visited one more temple called Madhur temple.

Madhur temple was originally Madhanentheswara (Shiva) Temple and as the lore goes, an old so called "low caste" lady "Madaru" discovered an "Udbhava Murthy" (a statue that was not made by a human) of shiva linga. The Ganapathy statue was drawn by a priest's son, a small Brahmin boy, on the walls of the Garbhagriha(sanctum sanctorum) while playing. Day by day it became big and fat; so that the boy called Ganapathi as "boddajja" or "bodda ganesha". The legend of Kumble seme says Tipu Sultan wanted to demolish the temple like Adooru Mahalingeswara temple during his invasion of Coorg, Tulunadu, andMalabar. But after drinking water from the well of the temple, he changed his mind on attacking and demolishing the Garbhagudi and marched towards Malabar. But to satisfy his soldiers and Islamic scholars he made a cut with his sword symobolising the attack. The mark is still visible on the building that is built around the temple well.

Madhur temple

Being Sunday, the temple was crowded and I had reached just for the mangalaarati. After the aarti, I left to Vadya's place for lunch..

After lunch, we started riding to Puttur, to Vadya's home. The ride being small there weren't any pit stops inbetween. Though we stopped for ice cream after reaching Puttur.

Gadbad

Vadya's house

Night we tried to utilize the dark sky before rain struck and moon rose over the horizon. Had a little success..Day 1 Ride: Kasargod -> Edneeru -> Bekal fort -> Kasargod -> Puttur

Route Map:

National Parks covered: None
Waterfalls covered: None
Total distance traveled: 110 kms

Ramnath's happiness index: 5/10.

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Monsoon ride - Day 2 - Wayanad to Kasargod

biking 4:31 AM

The morning was misty. It had just rained. Kalpetta town was just waking up and so were we. The morning breakfast Appam and Egg curry were a boost as we bid adieu to Wayanad.

We were in our rain suits above the riding gear, prepared for anything to come. We passed through Padiri reserve forest and Begur reserve forest before cruising through the road sandwiched between Nagarhole NP and Thalpetty WS(Wayanad WS).

Thalpetty WS

Tiny planet

Vadya cruising

As we headed out of Jungle we were invited by a board that said "Irupu falls, not so far". Tempted us to take a detour again through a coffee estate. The waterfall had already invited quite a lot of visitors. Hiking 1km with riding gear did not sound attractive. So, we kept all the riding gear at the ticket counter. The guy happily agreed to it.

Irupu waterfall full view

Irupu waterfall

The Paris Peacock.

From Irupu falls, we headed towards the land of typical mustaches aka Coorg. We were taking the route via Madikeri to reach Sulya and from there to Kasargod. We reached Virajpete by lunch. After searching a goodrestaurant for about half an hour we finally settled for an ugly one where he offered only meals.

And we put on the rain gear again as the clouds emerged from the north western side. Soaked us for some time while we passed through coffee estates and forests. We took a bypass to Madikeri and directly joined the Mangalore Highway. The downhill ride with twists and turns definitely made the day.

10 kms downhill, you can see Devarkolli waterfall on your left side. There are some tea stalls for a quick refresh.

DevarKolli waterfall

We reached Sullia by evening 4 just in time for a cup of tea. The road from here goes to Jalsoor and you need to take a left towards Sullia from here. Ah! This road definitely has been the highlight of the day. It was about 4:30 but felt like its too dark. The forests were thick and the twists and turns tested our flexibility. And we touched Kerala, no! Karnataka, no Kerala again! Yeah! That's right, we crossed states 3 times within a span of 5 kms. As we approached the urban land, it started drizzling again. And we rode to Vadya's uncle's house.

Day 1 Ride: Kalpetta -> Irupu -> Virajpete -> Madikeri -> Sullia -> Kasargod

Route Map:

National Parks covered: Padiri Reserve forest, Begur Reserve forest,Thalpetty NP, Pushpagiri WS, Brahmagiri WS
Waterfalls covered: Irupu
Total distance traveled: 270 kms

Ramnath's happiness index: 7/10.

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Escape: Cycling to Nandi hills

2015 7:55 AM

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.

Happy Biking. :)

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Ramnath Kamat

RE diaries- Ride to Ooty.

Monsoon ride - Day 5 - Halebidu to Sringeri

Monsoon ride - Day 3 - Kasargod to Puttur

Monsoon ride - Day 2 - Wayanad to Kasargod

Escape: Cycling to Nandi hills

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