99) Markonahalli Dam: (31/8/2014)

Place: Markonahalli Dam.Distance:  100 x 2 = 200kms.Directions: Bengaluru – Nelamangala – Kunigal - Markonahalli.Particiapants: Ashok(Momz) > Datta(Dattu) > Deepak(Deefu) >Karthik (Sp).Bikes: Zeus > Pulsar.Previous visit: Channarayanadurga Trek.
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:   Alright, this was a straightforward simple chapter. A decent ride of 200kms on a weekend with some great games & great food. More importantly an excellent meet up with friends after a month or so. A very well spent Sunday I must say. !!

INTRO & PLAN:It had been about a month since our last ride to Channarayanadurga. And it was nearing the month end, so we had to push a chapter through. All the plans for the previous weeks had flopped so we had to give in some thought carefully on this run. We decided to settle in for something short & sweet. Markonahalli it was! And about the krew, well not many changes we stuck on to the core on this one as well.TIME: 22:00 (30/8/2014)ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:Yeah I was up at 05:00, did a few puh ups & situps, had a cup of coffee and was all set to go. It was decided that we meet at Dattu’s place (Oh yeah, another Police Story :P) So left my home at about 06:30, cruised along at a very slow pace and reached Dattu’s place. In about 30mins the other two arrived & we left Bangalore.TIME: 07:30

  RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Nelamangala – Kunigal - Markonahalli)Okay, this was about a 100kms stretch, mostly on the huge but smooth Mangalore highway. As we left Bangalore, the initial ride was on the NH4 (Tumkur road) and the day being a Sunday saw some traffic. So we jibbed across the vehicles and made our way until Nelamangala. From here we took a left turn towards Hassan. Well, as we entered we were sweared at pretty severely. It was not the by people but by our tummies which were growling in hunger. So we thought we ride for another 30mins and pull over at some nice hotel & so we did. TIME: 08:30

After some yum breakfast, Dattu decided he wanted to ride my bike. So I sat behind looking here and there. Both the bikes stuck right next to each other and we went on chatting for next 50 or so kilometres. After about 20-30mins we reached the deviation on the highway which would lead us to the dam. We took the deviation, on our way we bought a few water bottles to keep ourselves hydrated until the we hit back the highway. About 30mins into the calm country roads we could the spot the blue shiny reservoir glittering far away.TIME: 09:45

  
MARKONAHALLI DAM:


First things first, found a nice cool place to park our bikes. Only after which, we decided to take a stroll on the bunds of the reservoir. We fooled around a lot these bunds,. The waters of the reservoir were sparkling and the winds were blowing with some good force. Wed did walk until the dam gates, but decided to return to the shore and play a few games. But trust me, if you do go this place I would recommend you guys to take a dam tour and see the construction from inside, it’s totally worth it. (And if you just want to read though what is there here’s the link – Markonahalli Fog Ride)

After walking back, we entered the fields and walked to the shores of the reservoir. The winds were pretty crazy trust me. The waters kept crashing on the stones and we just stood there enjoying it. Okay, after letting go our bags and jackets we sat on the shore for some time enjoying the breeze the sight of the waters. After which the games began!

  

The games included skipping stones, boulder throw & head crusher. I’m pretty sure you guys must be familiar with the firsts throuw. Well, basically the second one is just a slight modification of the first one, but the one who throws a big stone (acceptable by all) the farthest wins. And well, the third one, I’m not sure how to put this, but here goes. You choose a stone, a big one, think of the one person who’s been pissing you off the most and imagine the stone is him (or his face!) And then you take big, I mean real big huh, boulders and shatter the stone until it cracks into pieces. (Talk about anger management, we’re all a little jejamma’s inside :P)

 
Anyway, the games continued for about 2hrs after which our arms felt sore (Guess we had enough people to think about :P) So taking rest for a few minutes we decided to leave the place as we were hungry.TIME:12:15

RIDE 2: (Markonahalli – Kunigal – Nelamangala - Bangalore)This was a 100kms ride back to Bangalore. We decided to stop back Chandu Dhaba for lunch. But as we took off, we realized that we more hungry than we thought we were. So we decided to pull over on the Hassan Highway itself. As we rode on the dark clouds begin to cover up the sky, so yeah the rains were expected and we didn’t want to miss the ride in rain. So we pulled over at a dhaba after Kunigal. And trust me this was one of the best ones till date (atleast the time we had gone) The food was awesome I must say. TIME: 13:00

After spending 1.5 hrs drinking & munching nicely, we left the dhaba afloat. As soon as we left the curtains of the sky opened and down came the rain. We were so happy, even though it was pouring we just go on our bikes and started riding slowly enjoying the rains. After reaching Nelamaganla, we took a break for some hot tea.TIME: 15:00After which the last 30kms was covered at a smooth pace to reach back Dattu’s place. Here we thanked each other for coming and departed to our respective homes.TIME: 16:15

 

CONCLUSION:“Ah, a well spent Sunday is all I can say. Instead of lazily sitting back home (sometimes it might be just the thing required, but not most of the times), did have nice day with school friends, guess growing up is never meant for people like us:P  ”NEXT UP the " 100^th TRIP" \m/, Stay Tuned!

Until next time Cia \m/

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