Sorry am a little lagging in the trip-logs for the rides..... but will be posting them one-by-one. Nandi Hills - 3rd Time..... Another trip to Nandi Hills ;) Well… this time it was due to a new BN guy – Vinay Kumar Shukla. He had a AVI 200 and wanted to go to Nandi Hills. Me & Ritesh (my old room-mate) were the other 2 guys. We as usual had to stay awake the entire night so as to reach there on time for the sunrise etc. So, 12th December we were awake, gup-shupp and beers :) We left from my place at 3:30 am on 13th. Went via Hebbal – as that is the only way I knew as of then for the Hyderabad road. Hit the highway at 4:45 am !!! I felt that we’d get late as sunrise was sure by 6 – 6:15 am. But then bless the new airport (only reason I like it), the road till it is made so amazing that we crossed the airport by 5:15 am. From there the Nandi Hills are around 1 hour ride till the hill-top. So, we made good speed (doing an average of almost 70 – 80 kmph except while going uphill). Reached the top at 6:20 am exactly. Lucky for us that the sunrise was a little late. So, we were able to capture some awesome shots of the cloudy sky & then the sunrise as well :) Then proceeded on for breakfast at the regular joint – omelet, maggi etc. Started back for Bangalore at 9:30 am. Ride back was boring due to heavy traffic & regular traffic-signals (while going to Nandi Hills you don’t encounter any of these ;) ). Anyways, reached back home at 11:30 am and then took a bath, had lunch & went off to sleep.
Finally the loong awaited Trip Log....... Most is done (atleast i got the route info right ;) ) Anyways..... finally posted upto the 3rd day of the ride.. not gonna post more for this ride !!! 4th & 5th days were ok kinda... had fun but already this post took a lot of my time. Will be posting about the other trips soon !!
Update 31st July: Was talking to Santoosh the other day. Seems i have forgotten some parts of the 2nd Day. Will be correcting that soon enough, bear with me ;)
Now for the longest BN Trip I have been on – 5 days. There was planning going on for a long trip, something like 3-4 days trip to a place and then roaming around there and coming back to Bangalore. It finally came to a 5 day ride with a few bikers joining in from Mangalore :D
Total Kms Covered : 1300 kms
Date of Ride : 1st October 2008 – 5th October 2008
Route Taken : 1st Day - Bangalore – Neelamangala – Tumkur - Shivamogga – Sagara (Halted at Sagara)
2nd Day - Sagara – Jog Falls – Back to hotel in Sagara
4th Day - Mangalore – Bekal Fort – Panambur Beach – Mangalore
5th Day - Mangalore – Hassan – Bangalore
Troupe : From Bangalore – Vasanth (ZMA), Santoosh (R15), Sachin (P150), Saai Pradip (TB) & Me (ZMA)
From Mangalore – Sujay (P200), Rajat (Dio :P), Zahin (RD350, ZMA) (met us in Mangalore)
1st Day –
Vasanth & Santoosh had planned to meet up at Neelamangala at 6:00 am. Saai & me did not exactly where was Neelamangala and how to reach there. We were still new to the Bangalore roads :( So, we reached the Neelamangala junction at 6:30 am. Thankfully Vasanth and all were ok with that and were still there, waiting…….. otherwise they would have left ;) We all had a tea / coffee there and started for Shivamogga at 6:45 am. Santoosh was the lead (he has R15 so its quite obvious). But then he was going steady at 80-90 kmph. If we needed to catch up someone or check for someone left behind, he was assigned the task ;) Initially the road was not too good, but after the initial 20-30 kms it improved and we were able to do an average of 70-80 kmph :)
Reached Shivamogga around lunch time i.e. 1:00 pm. Had a light lunch and then moved on towards Sagara. The roads were ok types…. bends and all. Some places it was patchy but we made good speed and reached Sagara at 2:30 pm. Checked into the hotel, freshened up.
Opening the faring of ZMA was one experience :( hell of a task. Vasanth & Santoosh did the major job…. I was looking how to do it. Vasanth had an extra 55/60 W bulb, wanted to try it out…. The ZMA stock bulb is such a crappy bulb :PFinally got a good enough headlight bulb ;)
Then thought ‘why not roam around a little’. So, out with the bikes again. We took my ZMA, Santoosh’s R15 & Saai’s TB. I was solo, Santoosh had Vasanth as pillion and Sachin was riding TB with Saai as pillion. Went to a nearby place which was supposed to be a Dharamshala types (as per Vasanth). When we reached there, came to know that we had the wrong info, that place was someplace else LOL. Had a great laugh, but the location was great, had a small lake, temple and a small trek-path into the forest. Had reached this place around 5:00 pm. Took our bikes i.e. my ZMA, R15 and Saai’s TB inside the forest on the trek-path itself ;) Found 2 kids there…. they were just roaming around. They were all ga-ga over our bikes :) clicked a few snaps with them !!! Returned to the hotel around 6:30 pm. Had to tank-up…. Santoosh had a good idea about Sagara and he took us to a reliable petrol bunk. Got a full-tank there :)
We had dinner etc at the same hotel. It had a nice garden open-types restaurant and we had a great time together !! Were awake till almost 2:00 am, just yapping away and pulling each other legs ;)
2nd Day –
Plan was to cover Jog Falls and look around some places near-about Sagara. Left the hotel at Sagara around 6:30 am types. Had our breakfast on the way itself. Jog falls was approx 60 kms from Sagara. The road was not that good, in fact it was almost like off-roading :( At places there was no road at all !!!! We had left early as you are supposed to cross the Jog falls reservoir in a barge (they load all the vehicles even a bus ;) in it). That launch/barge has timings. Its available every 30 mins. We had planned to board that launch at 12 – 12:30 types so that we can be back by latest 6:00 pm. The early morning sunrise and the light mist was lovely. Took some great snaps of our group while going.
The road upto the reservoir was HOPELESS :( all broken road….. ‘road’ sorry to use that word…. There was no proper road and at a few places it was only mud and sand. We did our breakfast at a small village shop on the way. Initially we were able to do 40-50 kmph for 2 hrs and then had to slow down to around 30kmph. Still made it to the barge boarding point at 12:30 pm. A barge had just left so we had to wait for the next one to come through. The reservoir was amazing and huuuggggeeee.
Finally when the barge came we were surprised to see a bus loaded in the middle and all other vehicles on the sides ;) There was another bus waiting to load onto it after the previous one got off. We all had to wait for this bus to get on the barge and then the cars etc were loaded on. Finally our bikes were allowed to get on. Thankfully we were able to fit all our bikes in.
After crossing the reservoir it was another 10-15 kms to the falls. Again the road initially was pathetic…. In fact there was no road at all. Still made it to the Jog falls by 2 pm. Parked our bikes and went on to the view-points for the falls. Amazing falls, I did not know that they were the 2nd highest falls in the world. Total drop of 963m. People were at the foot of the falls as well….. we did not have much time so could not go there…. But it was worth taking all that trouble in the morning and going there. We had to get back to the hotel and for that we had to take the barge back latest at 4 pm.
So started back for the barge at 3 pm. Somehow made it back by 4:30 pm to the barge boarding point, battling all that lovely path (not gonna call it a ROAD :P ). Photo-shoots were really great. We found an abandoned barge while waiting to board the barge. Climbed on it ;) Santoosh posed as Duryodhan and we even played cricket on that barge :) Finally were back to the hotel by around 6:30 pm. Day was great and had a lot of fun. Dinner and drinks were light as we had to leave early morning the next day. We had planned to reach Mangalore by 3rd October evening.
3rd Day –
Woke up at 5:30 am, had a bath, put on our riding gear, saddle-bags etc all and hit the road at 6:30 am :) Vasanth was really happy that we kept the timing of starting early !!! Had to cover a lot of distance today… plan was to reach Mangalore by evening 6:30 – 7:00 pm.
From Sagara, the road was ok kind of….. but as we got nearer Kollur the road kept on getting better & better :) Took a small tea & breakfast break around 8 – 8:30 am, no idea where we were at that time ;) Vasanth & Santoosh said that we were going through a small stretch of Kerala so that roads would be really good. Believe me it was like butter as we got near Marwante Beach.
Reached Marwante beach around 12:30 pm. The road was beautiful, sea on one side & backwaters on one side. Had some fresh tender coconut & then moved on the Turtle Bay Beach Resort for lunch. We were told that the lunch preparation would take approx 30 – 45 mins. So we had to wait till then :( So, we ordered a mix variety of sea-food & vegetables and decided to roam around a bit on the beach :)
Meanwhile, Santoosh decided to try his bike in the sand :( to his back luck, the portion of the beach he chose had fine sand and the bike got stuck in it !!! We had to rush there for the rescue, and the best part was that, that portion of the beach had fish spread out for drying… the stench was really really bad :( Also the bike was so badly stuck that revving it was of no use, we picked up 2-3 planks of wood & literally lifted the bike’s rear wheel onto it. Then slowly revved it and moved the planks as the bike moved forward. Took us around 1 hour to get the bike out !! Got back to the resort and by this time the lunch was already being served. Had a great lunch :) the food was good & nice cool air from the sea added to the fun.
After lunch relaxed a bit and then started to get ready to leave for Mangalore by 2:30 pm. Left Marwante beach and headed for Mangalore. Nothing much…. Just straight highway…. Reached the outskirts of Mangalore around 6pm, unfortunately there was work going on so, lost each other and had a tough time gathering together. But finally met up and then checked into a guesthouse.
I think that is quite enough for this ride :P 4th day we went to Bekal Fort and then spent the night in Mangalore. Left for Bangalore on the 5th day morning at 6:00 am and reached by 4:00 pm !!! Nothing much to tell there !
It was a good experience, 5 days out on a ride :) Lots of gelling and fun. Have left out some of the fun part, but then everything can’t be written, has to be felt ;) So, next will be posting about my other rides soon. At least was able to finish this ride log after a loonnnggg time ;)
Hi Guys..... sorry have been busy with office for some days... but have a surprise for all !!! Will be posting the 5 day trip we did from 1st - 5th October 2008 very soon. Its half - cooked, just finishing the final draft. ;)
Sorry guys..... yet another apology ;) The 5 day trip details are still going on :( Will be posting it this weekend most possibly. Sorry for all the delay !!!
Finally.... back to blog posting after a loooonnnnnggg time. Was too busy... naah.... was too lazy to write and post :( But no worries.. better late than never ;) So, this is about another trip done last year. We had gone for a 1 day trip to MM (Male Mahadeshwara) Hills.
Total Kms Covered : approx 450 kms
Date of Ride : 14th September 2008
Route Taken : Bangalore – Kanakpura – Malavalli – Mettur Dam – Dharamapuri – Raikodai – Balakodu – Hosur – Bangalore
Troupe : Professor, Saai Pradip & Me
Left Bangalore at around 6:30 am. Professor had planned to leave at 6 am and was quite pissed off at me for delaying the start :( Anyways… we had a great breakfast in Kanakpura and then proceeded to Malavalli at approx 8:00 am. Around 10 kms from Kanakpura we encountered real bad roads….. in fact, no proper tar roads as some work was going and then the truck traffic was there as well.
Still managed to navigate thru them and reach Malavalli alright, though a little shaken up & butts aching ;) Did take some snaps on the way…. !!! Reached MM Hills at approx 11:30 am. But then, got a call from my sister, she was not well and my brother-in-law was not in town. So told Professor & Saai that I had to head back for Bangalore asap. They were ok with it and agreed to leave from there asap. We did a quick tour of the temple there, had lunch at a nearby hotel and started back for Bangalore at 2 pm.
Thankfully, Professor had an alternate route in mind for going back. So, we did not encounter the LOVELY roads as we did while going to MM Hills. Riding back was real fun, we had good roads… with good bends, unlike ghat bends but decent enough :) We were ripping at 80 – 90 kmph all through upto Hosur. Finally was able to reach Bangalore at around 7:00 pm.
Some pics of the Trip -
P.S. - Sorry guys forgot to mention a better route to reach MM Hills. Its as follows -
Bangalore - Maddur - Malavalli - MM Hills - (after this its upto you to come back the TN side via Mettur Dam or the KR side via the same route you take while going)
Sorry guys.... have not been updating my blog for quite some time now. Lots of factors for that :( Have been busy at work + riding around on trips + just plain laziness :P Actually was stuck up coz was not sure of a route we took on a trip, so was waiting to get the route info. But that escalated to such an extent that stopped posting for soooo many months !!! Now will be posting somewhat regularly ;) Atleast once in 3-4 days. Surely one post every weekend.
Just posted the trip log and pics link for the Hogenakkal Trip we did on 31st August 2008. Check in the 2008 Archive :P
Finally found a cool Biking group - Bike Nomads. Had been searching such a kind of group since long. Went for the first ride to Horseley Hills !!! And had a pillion with me as well :) It was a butt-breaking ride.. but enjoyed myself.
Total Kms Covered : 450 kms.
Date of Ride : 17th August 2008.
Route Taken -Troupe - Professor, Vasanth, Sunil, Anoop, Me, Saai & Ritesh.
Well.... the First BN. What do i say about it ?? Got introduced to Bike Nomads thru a colleague in office (Sunil Dhummi)... that too by fluke. One of my close friends' (Abhinav Tickoo) went as a pillion with Sunil on a bike trip to Hogenakkal Falls. Later when he came to our flat he was telling about the trip and all. Me & Saai jumped at the opportunity and asked Abhinav to introduce us to Sunil. From then on...we became members of Bike Nomads :)Went on this 1 day trip with them for the familiarization trip. It was really fun. Never experienced this kind of biking before. Had been on trips in groups, but not following any particular rules or such long distances in one day. Started from Bangalore on 17th August 2008 at 6:00 am. Met up all the bikers at KR Puram. In all we were 7 guys on 6 bikes. I had a pillion rider. From there proceeded towards Kolar. From then on I really don’t know the route :( Will have to ask the other guys for it. But anyways… our first pit stop was somewhere after approx. 100 kms. It was a great view of the mountains from there - check out the snaps.
Then we reached Rishi Valley School. It was really great to see a school still following the “Gurukul” tradition. Met 2-3 students there. One of them was Jinu George – snap below.
Started from Rishi Valley and then reached Horseley Hills after approx 1 hour. Took our bikes to the hill top. Took some great snaps on it. Had a hugggeee problem getting Saai’s TB there and then taking it back off the hill LOL. There were 3-4 guys supporting the TB as Saai maneuvered it off the hill :)Then ventured to see the small zoo that was there.. with rabbits, peacocks, monkeys etc etc... Had lunch at the Resort restaurant there. Food was typical Andhra style, it was good. We all were so stuffed after the food that no one wanted to ride back immediately ;) Still we started back around 2:00 pm. Did not come back the same way we had gone..... We returned via Hosur. Took SH13.... it was a lovely stretch of road for approx 20-25 kms. Had a cooool ride on it before joining NH7. Then onto Electronic City road and finally home by 7 pm.
You must have thought - Okie this guy has been to Mysore, Nandi Hills, now something new !! Right... well surprise surprise.... Nandi Hill again. Went to Nandi Hills again on 14th - 15th August 2007. Actually this was a sudden plan. We were enjoying at home on 14th as 15th was a holiday. Then Ritesh proposed - why don't we go to Nandi Hills, anyways tomorrow is a holiday !! The idea caught on and me & Saai agreed to it. So Nandi Hills 2nd Time was there now ;)I would bore you all with the entire same trip details again. Read the previous post to know the places we visited on Nandi Hills. Only this time the bikers and the bikes were a little different. Of course is was there with my ZMA. Saai was on his TB and Ritesh was pillion with me. He could not bear to sit on the TB - fear of butt ache LOL ;) Ya.... but this time the snaps were even more amazing than the previous trip.Check out the Pics :D
My second outing from Bangalore was to Nandi Hills. Had heard a lot about it from Baljeet and then decided to go along one day. The pain point was that you had to reach there by 6:00 am to see the sunrise and enjoy the clouds around the mountain. So, had to start from Bangalore around 4:00 am :( Anyways, did go and had a lot of fun.
Total Kms Covered - approx 150 kms.
Date of Ride - 21st - 22nd July 2007.
Route Taken - Bangalore - Hebbal Flyover - Nandi Hills
Troupe - Baljeet, Sunil Nahar, Prashant Sharma, Manoj, Me, Rishi, Abhinav.
We were 7 guys on 5 bikes. Abhinav was pillion with me. Started from Bangalore around 3:30 am on 21st July 2007 night. Reached the diversion for Nandi Hills around 4:30 am i.e. approx 50 kms from Bangalore. Took some snaps there and then started on the final 20-25 kms towards Nandi Hills.
The final road climbing up the hill was really quite bad.... but then i have been on worse roads now. Still the scenery was amazing. Clouds all around :) It seemed as if we were riding through the clouds. Finally reached the top at 6:00 am and parked our bikes. There they have a rule like - 4 wheelers are allowed inside the fort but 2-wheelers have to park outside :( I think that is grossly unfair. Still we had to walk around another 2 kms before we reached the actual Nandi Hill granite block. On reaching there the view was fabulous :) I really can't describe it. You have to see it and take it in. Its really beautiful..... waking up all night, riding thru all that bad road - all is worth the view :)
Then went to the guesthouse there. Again the view from the guesthouse is spectacular. Saw the sunrise from there. We went crazy taking snaps.... where would you find such scenic beauty and that too only 70 kms from Bangalore. Took some great snaps. Then had breakfast.... omellete + bread. Spent another 1 hour there sitting on the granite block. After that started back around 10:00 am. Reached back to Bangalore at 12:00 noon. Had lunch and dropped dead on the bed. :)
Nandi Hill Pics
Our first trip from Bangalore was when Me, Saai & Rishi went to Mysore. We just wanted to get away from Bangalore..... had been in office everyday for somewhere around 4-5 months. Hadn't gone out anywhere. So, we planned to go to Mysore on our bikes. Saai had just got his new TB. In fact it hadn't been for the 1st Service also... he was very clear - "I won't ride it over 60 kmph". I was like - "Okie", Rishi did not bring along his Unicorn. He pillioned with me or Saai along the way. That was good in fact, we had a full-time photographer for us ;)
Total kms Covered - 350 kms.
Date of Ride - 6th May 2008
Route Taken - Bangalore - Mysore Road
Troupe - Rishi, Saai & Me
We started from Bangalore on 6th May 2008, 7:00 am. Rishi was pillion on my ZMA. Saai wanted less load on his bike as it was brand new ;) We took a pit stop at 8:00 am around 40 kms from Bangalore at a small tea shop. Had our breakfast and tea. Then started off again to find a CCD on the way. Took a diversion to CCD... mainly to check out the junta there. Were not disappointed ;) Wasted around 30 mins there and then got on our bikes again and left CCD. From then we were a l'il faster as we got the info that the CCD was half-way between Bangalore & Mysore. So reaching Mysore from there would not take longer then 1.5 hrs.
Touch-down in Mysore at 11 am. Asked some people on the road the directions to the center of the city and directions to a good decent hotel. Finally found one soon enough... very near to the center of the town. Luckily had basement parking etc.... So, we parked our bikes, checked in and went to the room. Freshened up a little and then all of us went off to sleep for sometime.
Got up around 2 pm... fully energised. Went to have our lunch and then moved on to see the Mysore Palace. Took some great snaps of the palace. Sat on a camel in the palace.... it was soooo scary.. decided my bike is the best for travelling around.. camel - bad idea :( Returned to the hotel around 6 pm. Went in search of a good resturant or pub for the evening. Reached Planet X around 10 kms from the city. Went in a auto coz lost our way on the bikes twice. Unfortunately the dis there only allowed couple entry. The crowd there was tooo good. Was there till around 11:30 pm. After that came back to the hotel in a auto.
Started from Mysore next day - 7th May 2008 at 2:00 pm after lunch. On the way back we stopped by Vrindavan Gardens.... was hoping to see them. But came to know that it was closed due to the Cauvery issue. So, had to be content clicking snaps outside it and had watermelon there :( Reached the CCD again around 4:00 pm. Had some refreshments and then reached back Bangalore at 6:00 pm. Took a lot of time coming back... but could not help it.. we were tired. It was our first long trip from Bangalore and had slept quite late in the night too !!! But anyways... was fun and enjoyed ourselves. Atleast got the outing we wanted desperately :D
Snaps of the Trip
This trip came up just by chance. Vasanth called me on Friday evening and told me that Professor was doing a Solo Ride on Sunday and if i wanted to join him i could go along, mainly becoz i could get more riding experience.... especially on the highways. So, i was game, called Professor... he was more than ready. But then, by Saturday evening it turned out that the so called Solo Ride was no longer solo. 3-4 xBHPers were joining us for it. Professor had planned to go upto Anchatti and then just explore some nearby area.
Total Kms. Covered - 350 kms.
Date of Ride - 31st August 2008.
Route Taken - Bangalore - Kanakpura - Anchatti - Hogenakkal - Hosur (SH13) - Bangalore.
Troupe - Professor, Me, John (xBHP), Mithun (xBHP) + 1.
Started from Bangalore on 31st August, 6:00 am from Jayanagar 4th Block. Were supposed to meet one of the xBHPers at Kanakpura, METRO. So, reached there at 6:30 am. Took some initial bike snaps :) Had to wait for some time for a guy.... His bike got a puncture, so he was pillioning with another biker. Started from Kanakpura Metro around 7:30 am. Had our breakfast in Kanakpura.. then proceeded on.
The road was lovely till just before Anchatti. Nice views and great ride. Mithun (R15er) had a narrow escape. We were going thru some flowing water over the road, unluckily it was slippery, his dear R15 was just saved. He slipped miserably on it. Stopped there, did a status check... everything seemed fine :) so we started off again.After reaching Anchatti the guys were like - Hogenakkal is only a few more kms from here, why don't we go till there also. So, went on till Hogenakkal. Unfortunately, we had a time constraint, so could not go and see the TN side of the fall... had to be content with the KR side only. Also the current was high so the small boats that ferry you were not available :( Still had a good time. Had fresh fried fish there and took some snaps.
Left Hogenakkal at approx 3 - 3:30 pm. Had a long ride back. Did not take the same route while coming back. Will update on that soon. Don't remember the exact route now :(
Trip Pics
Hey guys... my first blog.. let's see !! Have been biking since 2002 end. Learned to ride a bike on a CD100 :P Then bought a CBZ when i was in Mumbai. Did some small trips on it - Matheran, Lonavala, Khandala, Pune etc. No major long rides. Those started sometime later... i.e. now in August 2008. Had few narrow escapes and a major accident on the Mumbai - Pune highway.. on the way to Panvel. Was admitted to ICU for 2 days and then hospital stay for around 15 days. Luckily everything got healed up pretty good, no long-term disability or wound. Just a few stitches.Shifted to Kolkata in mid-2005. There i upgraded to Karizma... cost me too much, but was really worth it. The pickup was awesome and the bike was sooo stable even at 100 kmph. I became a fan of ZMA then itself. Anyways am a loyal HH customer & fan. But ZMA took the cake. Loved driving my ZMA on the road to Salt Lake in Kolkata. Straight stretch of around 5-6 kms. Used to race it upto 110-120 on it.After Kolkata shifted to Gurgaon - took my ZMA alongwith me there. Then came to The Garden City - Bangalore on 29th Jan 2007. Went to Mysore on it in June 2007. Nandi Hills on 20th - 21st July 2007 & then again on 14th - 15th August 2007. Had the same ZMA till July 2008. Sold it off here because of registration issues and got the new look ZMA in mid-July 2008. This one is even better. Goes upto 120-130 kmph like a charm.Sooo.... that's primarily my biking experience till now. Have been biking for what.... approx 7 years now !!! Love it.... and enjoy it a lot :D
Pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/guptadiw/MysoreTriphttp://picasaweb.google.com/guptadiw/NandiHill2122Julhttp://picasaweb.google.com/guptadiw/NandiHills2ndTime
