Bike ride : From a pillion’s (Tharang’s) point of view :)
The BikersAmit
Prashanth
Kushal
Sarang
Aditya
Uday
George
Jasim
The PillionsPruthvi
Tharang
The Bikes3Thunderbirds and 3Pulsars
Adventure, Thrill, Laughter, Fun, Endurance, Capability a pinch of tension and rising above that. The feeling of having achieved the dream of conquering 1300 km on your dream machine. That is what our bike ride was all about.
Stretched over 4 days, with ample stops to view scenic beauty all around us and discovering new places, it was a mutual understanding between the machine and the people
not to let each other down. :)
Day 1: 6 bikes and 9 people started of from Bangalore.
Time 8am –Jalahalli cross. Already an hour late.. :) Destination was Sirsi via Tumkur, Arsikere and Shimoga. Through the heavy mist in nelamangala we proceeded towards Tumkur. After our first break for breakfast we continued on our journey. Our agenda also included Jog Falls on Day 1 but had to be postponed due to ample stops for tea and tender coconuts and the silencer which fell off from George’s bike( which by the way, he did not miss at all :) if it was not for the people following him, we might have proceeded a nice long way without the silencer..) We had a wonderful 1.5 hours of relaxation and photo session while the silencer was being welded back. After a wonderful combination of snacks and lunch at Shimoga at 5pm we started towards Sirsi. The chillness in the air was evident. The peaceful surroundings and the wonderful feeling of getting away from the mad hustle bustle of the city. After a brief stop for dinner we reached Sirsi at 11:00 pm. ( we lost our way once and might have landed up in Jog falls if not for some guidance by a good samartian whom we had all eyed with sufficient suspicion initially, especially since he was drunk to the core) After covering 400 kms on the first day we were indeed ready for some rest and sleep. Next day was scheduled for adventure and fun, and we got more than we expected.. :)
(Day 1 familiarized us with both smooth and rough roads. Our backs cursed us during the pot holed stretches which was promptly forgotten every time we hit a smooth stretch.)
Day 2: After a good night’s rest and a filling breakfast we set of towards Unchalli Falls – 30 kms from Sirsi.
Udays’ wife Pruthvi joined us at sirsi for the most happening day of our trip. The ride was quite smooth and after a short climb down for the best view of the falls and clicking about 50- 60 snaps, ( some grand modeling sessions for the same ) we decided to move to destination 2 – Yana.
This was one ride none of us expected or were prepared for except for Prashanth who was riding with a ‘I told you so’ look on his face while we had a feel of these wonderfully red muddy roads with the mud so fine that we felt we were riding through thick red clouds. What an experience traveling at a speed of 20 km/hr looking fantastically mud red. It was at this beautiful location that Sarang tried his skills as a biker with a wonderful wheely that added to the adventure (though it would have been better if he had tried it without a pillion :) ) while I experienced my first fall from a bike. It was an exhilarating experience, one we laughed about quite a bit later, but at that point of time we were covered in mud from head to toe, and once all bones were confirmed to be intact, our fellow bikers decided to capture our muddy attires on camera.
Destination Yana was reached at about 4pm. After a wonderful 2 hours there among the most magnificent rock formations, visit to the temple there, (I do hope we got some blessings from the good lord there, coz I really doubt if he would have recognized any of us) we decided to proceed back, The same wonderful muddy tracks, but with an added attraction, riding on this road but in the dark, crossing a stream with smooth pebbles n nice chill water, with the bike (of course while Navigators –Amit standing outside the stream and Kushal standing knee deep in water did a grand job keeping the bikes from stalling) . we proceeded trying to get a glimpse of the tracks ahead of us while trying not to get lost.
The first sight of tarred roads made us feel like getting down on our knees to worship them... :)
Next destination: Kumta – well the beach was in our agenda, and we could not skip it could we?
Reached Kumta at about 8:15pm and spent a peaceful hour on the beach. A really amazing sight with thousands of stars above, the gentle sound of the water and the pleasant breeze to wash away all our tiredness. After some emergency welding that needed to be done on a couple of bikes it was time for some dinner and headed back, Short stop for Dinner. Where we tried to get rid of as much Yana mud as possible in the hand wash area before eating ( much to the dismay of the restaurant staff) and after some adventurous night riding, with just 1.5 hours of sitting continuously on the bike, we reached back to sirsi at 12:30 pm.
(Another highly exhausting, memorable, adventurous day over :). This was almost beginning to feel like a reality show. )
Day 3: We were supposed to head back to Bangalore after a brief stop at Jog, which we soon realized was not to be. Well when we were on schedule anyways... :) After some easy riding we reached Jog at noon. The moment we reached there no one was in any mood to leave in a hurry. After some nice juicy pineapple, rock trekking, some relaxation and some cooling off by the guys, some more nice juicy pineapple and this time cucumbers too we set off.
Next destination: Sagar – for lunch.
Well that was not to be... Not so soon anyway... :) Jasim decided to have some adventure on his own this time. (But glad he decided to have his adventure without a pillion :) ) One smooth fall while negotiating a curve did put him out of action but did nothing to dampen his spirits. While 4 people waited with Jasim in the hospital while his wounds were being given gentle care, (we also did hear that he was just not ready to leave the hospital coz of the ambience there) the other four waited under a banayan tree in Sagar , bag baggage and bikes , much to the amusement of the locals and a few school children who thought it was better to stare at us rather than use their playtime playing.
After a while and more curious locals, the waiting area was shifted to a nearby restaurant, where we decided to occupy the entire family room where the major attractions were the cushioned seats. Food never tasted better. The others joined us shortly, looking tired and hungry. The waiter there was quite hassled at our strange manner of ordering just 1 or 2 dishes at a time again and again specially when he had to climb the stairs for each cup of coffee.. :)
It was obvious that Jasim would not be able to ride for this trip, not with his cast anyway (He would have maybe- If he was allowed :)) but he was bundled off to Bangalore by bus along with George who magnanimously offered to be his caretaker.
From 9 – down to 7 with aims of reaching Sringeri for the night. Instead broke our journey for the day at Thirthahalli,
(Kushal showed of his skills of riding while sleeping – Must be related to Arjuna in some way...:) )
Prashanths’ place where both the nice hot home food and accommodation was very gratefully received by all of us. Amit also decided to demonstrate his imitation skills, by imitating a bullet. But, since it was in the middle of the night, specially while he was fast asleep, and the others were trying to, it was not very well received by all... :)
Prashanth always got more time to enjoy the scenic beauty (day or night) before the others could catch up with him... ;-)
Aditya’s penchant for driving without a helmet was giving us all nightmares which he thankfully altered after Jasim’s fall , though it would have been better if we did not need such a glaring example.. :)
Day 4: (Not initially in our agenda – but got added anyways :) ) Must say Mornings away from the maddening crowd of the city are always so much more peaceful and pleasant. A morning walk makes u realize what exactly is the oxygen we breath. After some nice hot coffee and Tea (Thanks to Prashanth’s mom) we proceeded to Sringeri. All of us were glad to get our share of blessings from the goddess; Aditya had his own reasons also, for being glad to be in Sringeri in front of the goddess. After a wonderful darshan, that too on sankranthi, we proceeded for some brunch at a nearby hotel.
Next stop: Chikmaglur (Ambitious planning... :) ) the scenic beauty enroute to Chikmaglur was just plain beautiful. Nature at her best. A short break for some snaps in the middle of the road, and another short break for ‘Just relaxing’ and we were gald we were on schedule at last…, well guess the good lord heard us and decided that it was against our principles , so we had a flat tire.
Another hour of sitting on the roadside while an enterprising mechanic (who was smart enough to leave his card in a shop nearby, knowing fully well that this was a lucrative stretch for him) came to fix the flat tire, Some waiting, some snaps later, we were again on our way, but now decided to skip the stop in Chikmaglur and proceed to Hassan to make up for the time lost. The ride from Chikmaglur to hassan was the fastest of the trip, with wonderful roads bringing out the enthusiasm in everyone to speed away.
The beautiful sunset added to our growing number of snaps.
Sarang decided that the route needed some washing with petrol and contributed generously from his own bike when he suddenly realized he needed some petrol to reach Hassan too. So Uday contributed some petrol generously from his bike so that all of us could reach Hassan together.
Hassan at last… Time for some filling snacks in a Hotel (with well cushioned seats again).
Now was the last lap of our journey – Back home to Bangalore after the most exciting 4 days which tested everyone’s endurance, patience, stamina and fulfilled our entire quest for adventure, thrill :)
Touched Bangalore at 11 PM after 1300 Kms on bike. Mission accomplished. It was a reality show in complete sense and we just cannot wait to take off again... :)
- Tharangini Balasubramanian
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