Place:Chamundi Hills. Distance: 150 x 2 = 300kms.Directions: Bengaluru – Bidadi – Ramnagara – Mandya - MysoreParticiapants: Nikhilesh > Arun (Aaku bhai)> Karthik (Sp).Bikes: Gixxer > KTM > Pulsar Previous visit: Melukote –Peace Kit
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:This chapter was a classic, point to point spot on trip. It was good old school riding3 people on 3 bikes, yes the golden formula for a classic road trip. I personally had an opportunity to witness two new bikes in action alongside both KTM & Gixxer. Both looked very promising bikes.
INTRO & PLAN:Arun had bought his new KTM Duke 200 and like always he wanted to go to Chamundi hills in Mysore. I had Chitradurga in mind, but since his bike was just coming out of the cocoon we decided to stick to Mysore itself. Arun’s friend from Chennai, Nikhil also confirmed his presence for the trip.TIME: 22:00 (20/2/2016)
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:Yeah I was up at 05:00, did a push ups & bicep curls and was all set to go. The meet up was scheduled at the NICE road entrance near PESIT. I first rode to bakery and then went to the NICE road entrance. Once they arrived, Arun introduced me to Nikhil and off departed from Bangalore.
TIME: 06:45
RIDE 1: (Bangalore- Bidadi – Channpatna – Mandya - Mysore)This was a 150kms flat ride. But we kept a decent pace as Arun’s bikes new. So 3 people on 3 bikes one behind the other started off from Bangalore. As it was a Sunday, the traffic was congesting. This existed until Kengeri, post which we stepped up a little to start cruising past vehicles to reach Bidadi for some yummy breakfast.TIME: 07:30
Over the breakfast, I got to know more about Nikhil. And the vada they had served was quite different and nice this trip. After the breakfast we continued at decent pace on our home ground – SH17. We cruised past Ramnagar, Channpatna and Maddur. We pulled over at the outskirts of Mandya for some hot tea. One incident that almost got me close to an accident I would now recollect.
There was this huge air filled fancy color tubs and other tubes on road side, I kept staring at them lost in thoughts and forgot to see what is ahead of me. Arun, who in front of me had slowed down as there was speed breaker on the road. I kept riding at my normal pace and almost crashed into him. Just time I applied full on brakes twisting my bike horizontally. Then kicking on to ground regained my balance and made sure the tub is for latter:P. Here Arun took the lead and guided us to the foothills of Chamundi.The ride uphill was filled with traffic as it was a Sunday.Jibbing in between vehicles we made it to the top. TIME:11:00
CHAMUNDI HILLS:A flock of people covered the entire hill top. So we made it near the temple entrance to find a long line of people. Nikhil & me insisted we stay out. We both grabbed something to drink and some roasted corn and sat on a bench. After 15mins Arun was out. All 3 of us rested under the hot sun. Then as our energies were draining out we decided to head back out.TIME: 11:45
As we rode downhill, we took another route, which ran in front of the Giant Nandi. We stopped at few intermediate places as the dry background made the KTM looked like a Cheetah waiting to be unleashed. Also I was impressed by the smooth sound of Gixxer even at high speeds. TIME: 12:00
At the giant Nandi, we had a cup of sugarcane juice. Then went around exploring the place to find a poor Tiger doll face blind. It was actually surprising and scary. I wanted to take off the cloth, but I felt people might be offended. Living or not, it felt real to me! With our tummies growling we looked at each other. I told them about the – “Swathi highway Dhaba” before Mandya. So another 1hour we had subside our hunger.
The ride downhill from the Nandi, saw a new route. As we 3 rode down, I remembered we had to take a U-ish turn after the Nandi. This time we went straight and ended up at the outskirts. Asking for directions from the locals we made to a empty site kind of place which further lead us to wide open road. Here there were very minimal vehicles. Even though this route meant a few extra kilometers, but it was worth avoiding the traffic. Asking directions from the Cops we made back to Mysore road.TIME: 12:45
RIDE 2: (Mysore – Mandya – Ramnagar – Bangalore)This was a 150kms ride back home with an intermediate lunch stop. As we rode back on SH-17, even though the riding felt excellent, the hot air started draining us. But I was constantly looking at both the Gixxer and KTM curiously. As the dhaba was known to me, I took the lead from here and rode at a decent pace to whip through Srirangapatna and keeping my eyes open I spotted the dhaba and signaled the others as well. Then we settled down with the food and drink, for a well reserved rest.TIME: 13:45
After spending about at an hour or two munching down some tasty lunch we decided to leave. The ride back again was decent one. We rode past Maddur, we thought it was too early for a tea stop. We rode past Maddur, Channpatna, and after crossing Ramnagar we pulled over at a small tea shop for a well-deserved tea. TIME: 16:45
After having tea, we started off at a decent pace. But the traffic kept picking up. But we kept squeezing through and made it near college. From here we thanked each other for making it for the day and went back to our respective homes.TIME: 17:30
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