Place: Melukote & Tonnur LakeDistance: 150 x 2 = 300kmsDirections: Bangalore - Maddur - Mandya - Melukote - Pandavpura - Tonnur LakeParticipants: Chethan (Zethu) > Karthik (Sp)Bikes: PulsarPrevious Chapter: Kabbaldurga Trek
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:Alright, this was one of the catching up trips we had to have under our belt for the smooth functioning of the club. Ride to Melukote, like always was smooth & the peaceful Tonnur lake to finish off made this chapter a memorable one!!
INTRO & PLAN:It had been about 2 months since our previous chapter! Even though we don’t keep targets & all, once the duration for non-trip is more than 3 weeks the lag begins. So, as soon as I returned I called up Zethu asked him as to when he was comfortable to travel. After a long discussion both of us decided to take leave from our respective workplaces and head out! The place now, yeah this is funny , we had three places on our minds – Hogennekkal, Balmuri & Mahadevpura!TIME: 22:00 (22/5/2014)ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:Yeah woke up at 05:00, did a few push-ups & sit-ups, had a sip of coffee & was all set to go! We had decided we both would go on my bike, so I took off from my place at around 06:15 & rode on ORR & reached Zethu’s place at 07:00. Then we played Rock, Paper & Scissors to take a call on the place. Finally guess which was the place?? (Oh Crap! Wait, the article’s heading I’ve already typed.. basically it was neither rock, nor paper or scissor it was Edward scissor hands :P)TIME: 07:30
RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Bidadi – Maddur – Mandya - Melukote)Okay, this was a good 150kms stretch, mostly on the butter smooth SH-17. We rode non-stop until Bidadi & pulled over at our regular hotel to munch down on some breakfast. Oh yeah the talking hadn’t begin as of yet :PTIME: 08:00
As we left Bidadi, firstly I spotted our hotel Vision, where all of these adventures began for the very first time way back in Nov, 2009! Then we started filling each other on the happenings of the past. We pulled over a couple of times for tea. It was not long before we reached Mandya where we took a right deviation and entered into the peaceful country roads!Trust me, the roads to Melukote are pure bliss to ride upon. Surface wise they’re excellent & ambience wise they’re heavenly. We spoke about all sorts of shit like music, bands, college life, lecturers, (I wouldn’t mind picking names of people who we swore at Haha!! :P)
We did make a couple of pull overs just to sit on the road & admire the greenery surrounding us. We enjoyed the very act of breathing I must say, the freshness of the air was something we weren’t use to thanks to the shitty cities! Anyway gliding along the beautiful curves at a slow pace we reached Melukote.TIME: 11:30MELUKOTE:
We parked our bikes, visited the Kalyani Pond first. Then we decided not to visit the temple, but to head out to our regular peace spot and crash under the shade of the trees for a few hours. Oh yes, like said it was peaceful alright! We threw down our bags & pullovers and began to explore the place a little. 
Then we sat down speaking about where the club was heading and also about the much awaited 100th trip. We took a call and decided it shouldn’t be too big or too small, but it should be something totally different (What do you think happened?) After this we crashed looking into the sky through the veil of branches and leaves, listening to the rustling of the leaves we drifted away into deep sleep! (Shit was real trippy man!) We awoke after 1.5 hours or so. The clock had struck 13:30, the breeze was still pleasant. We felt totally afresh after the brilliant nap. With a freshened up mind, we decided to hit Tonnur Kere as well.TIME:13:45
RIDE 2: (Melukote – Tonnur Kere)This was hardly a 10-15kms ride. After bidding adieu to Melukote, we rode abck to Pandavpura from there on asking for directions (& not stealing sugarcanes this time :P) we cruised along to reach the peaceful lake!TIME: 14:00
TONNUR KERE:Ah, like always she looked B.E.A utiful! The conditions were cool & breezy, so we decided to trek up the hillock and settle down peacefully on top of the hill. The climb to the top took us only 15mins. Once we reached the top, we just found a nice peaceful spot. We sat down starting at the glittering waters and kind of hypnotizing ourselves. With the breeze off the lake hitting our faces and the sun’s rays dancing gently on the surface of the water we kinda began to drift. After an hour or so, we decided to leave as our tummies had begun to swear at us.TIME:15:15
RIDE 3: (Tonnur Lake – Srirangapatna – Maddur – Ramnagar – Bangalore)Okay, this was the last stretch. But it was way, way different from the ones we’d done till date. To start off, we left Tonnur Kere & reached back Srirangapatna where we had a tea break. From here we continued cruising on SH-17, told Zethu I wanted to munch on Dosa as it had been more than 2months.
So we pulled over at Maddur Tiffany’s and belted some Masala Dosa. After this as we were cruising Zethu told he wanted to munch down on some Dhaba food as well. So we pulled over again near a Dhaba near Ramnagar for some snacks & drinks! (point being, we hear each other out!!) We spent about 1.5hours at the Dhaba after which the sun left back towards it home & so did we! Dropped back Zethu at his place, thanked him for making it, and headed back to reach my place.TIME: 21:00CONCLUSION:“I must say, this was one the wonderful trips till date. With a lot of catching up to do, and facing the fact that the number of trips from hence forth would reduce. Coming up with counter plans for such happenings, as to keep the club flying high, then finally drifting into the nature’s beauty and getting high by just breathing was just …”Until next time Cia \m/
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