The Build up
As soon as we completed the ride to Honnavara, the year before. I had almost decided that I have to do a trip to Ooty, which partially pushed me into buying my Cheetah the Roadie. I found a voice that echoed my feeling towards Ooty in Vishwa, my bike buddy from my earlier work place. There were a lot of uncertainties regarding my participation in the ride due to commitments at work. But, somehow I made up my mind, irrespective of the fact that I would make it to the final ride to Ooty or not, I would get some practice rides under the belt on top of the daily office commute. Vishwa and I planned a couple of rides together, we rode to Hesaraghatta, and Chikka Tirupati, I also met Sainath from BBC (Bangalore bikers club) during the practice ride to Chikka Tirupati. I would also go on to do a solo ride to Nandi, while Vishwa was busy running the mid night marathon. I had taken a break from running the marathons for a while after the very bad experience with Bangalore marathon.
I was still uncertain of my riding, but continued to plan the route with Vishwa. Vishwa proposed a route that was almost what the TFNers (The tour of Nilgiris) were doing. I wanted a route that was less repetative and more fun. After a lot of tugging and pulling we decided to add Madikeri to what Vishwa had already suggested. It would be a 800k ride. I was happy, it was 300k more than our previous outing, and a ton more challenging. We were all happy. We also kept picking brains of some of the BBCers to get inputs.
Eventually, I would get my leaves approved, and I would start preparing for the ride. At first, I was unsure if I had to take my Schwinn the MTB (mountain terrain bike), or Cannondale the roadie. I kept checking on BBC if anyone was interested to join the ride, Sriram and Manish acknowledge the mails on BBC and join the fun, with their entry my decision to take the road bike became a lot more easy, in fact, just a few days ago, I gave my Schwinn a new pair of tyres, and a service. I then had to sort out the problem of carrying the luggage with me on the roadie. I really didn’t want to put a carrier on my road bike. A bit of googling then gave me an idea of improvising my 20l compact bag from Decathlon as a 10l seat-post bag. I did a quick test ride of 30k, seemed impressive. I had sorted out how to carry my luggage.
Just the week before we start, the all famous TFN was flagged off, our friends Shailesh and Madhu would do the TFN, and I followed the blogs by Venky to get some tips and help plan. But the more I read, the more terrified I became about the famous Kalahatty! Kalahatty has been that one place that both, excites and intimidates cyclists at the same time, only time will tell how it will be.
Just before the kick off, we were eleven of us. Five of them will return from Madikeri and the rest would continue to Ooty
Santosh, Vishwa, Vasanth, Varun, Vasisht, Jineshwar, Sainath, Sriram, Manish, Upendra and I
Us vs the elements
With all the planning and packing done, we started the ride on the morning of 24th, we met in groups in a staggered manner. I would meet Vishwa and Vasanth at Sevanagar and proceed towards Banashankari. Since the rest of the pack were already starting to meet, we asked them to keep moving. They decided to stop for us at the NICE road – Kanakapura road junction. Sainath and Sriram were missing from the mix. Sainath, I was told, had skiped the ride to attend to some other important task. Sriram had messaged earlier that he would do a late start and catch up with us around Kanakapura since his Bangalore bound flight from Mumbai was delayed. After the initial hand shakes, greetings and acquainting with the ones meeting each other for the first time. It was truly us against the elements.
Us against the heat
The first day we would take the road to Mysore via Kanakapura. The road was mostly downhill for most part of our journey. The morning hours were pretty cold and chilly. With the sun just starting to rise it was a comfortable ride.
Although we had planned to stop at Kanakapura for breakfast, we decided to break at Harohalli due to a flat on Vishwa’s rear tyre. We fixed the flat and rode a bit off the highway to a little known hotel. We were not going to miss the Bidadi tatte idly just because we were not riding via Bidadi.
I called Sriram to check where he was. It was around 10:30 AM and he said he was just starting.
After the breakfast we got on to the saddles again. The ride from breakfast to lunch was really a battle of the bikers against the buring sun. The tree cover was far and few. By the time we reached Malavalli for lunch after gulping down a couple of tender coconuts, we were all huffing and puffing.
I sat down for lunch and topped it up with a curd rice, my life saver when I’m fighting the heat. After lunch, we all got into the saddles to continue. The terrain was supposed to be a gradual climb to Mysore. I thought for myself that I’ll make use of the declines before I am put to test by the terrain. I set a pace for myself and continued on. The climbs went past without notice. The sun was still shining strong and I thought I’ll rest once I reach the hotel. As the day was about to end, headwinds picked up ever so gently. The hotel was 16km odd away from the ring road junction. I slowed down a bit after crossing the Columbia Asia hospital. I met Jinesh when I stopped to take a breath 5-6km from the hotel. He had apparently taken an auto to reach Mysore after the lunch break.
We reached the hotel together and checked in, and waited for the rest to join. I freshened up and tried to get some sleep. But the party that was going on in the hotel made sure that I stayed awake after 10 at night. Varun and Vasisht were riding with us only to Mysore, Jinesh called it off at Mysore. It was a strong ride for him, given that it was his first 100k plus ride.
Our fight against the fire would return to us again in the final day, from Mysore to Bangalore.
Us vs the night
Six of us remained at the beginning of day two. Vasanth, Upendra, Manish, Vishwa, Santosh, Sriram and I. We started the day a bit late which would haunt us later in the day.
The ride out of the city was easy, with the weather playing so nicely. The sun was hiding behind a bit of fog. We reached cafe County near Hunsur for breakfast. We cooled off a bit and started again. By then, Upendra had started to feel some tummy trouble. We carried on, with Vishwa giving company to Upendra behind us.
We stopped again for some tender coconuts to beat the heat. By now, Upendra was a good hour away from the stop. Manish and I decided to stay back to ride with him and we sent the others to ride on. Later when I called Upendra he told me he was resting near a petrol pump. We waited for him a little while more and continued with him. As we rode, I got a call from Vishwa about a broken spoke and a bent wheel. I grabbed a spare spoke I had, gave it to Manish and sent him on a rescue mission. Vishwa by then had taken an auto to Kushalnagar to look for an LBS (local bike shop).
Upendra and I carried on. He checked if I had any tablets for gastritis, I gave him what I had and we reached Kushalnagar for lunch. By the time we got Vishwa’s bike fixed and had our lunch, we only had about a couple of hours of sunshine left for the day. As we approached Madikeri, the sunset views were breathtaking. By then, we read a message from Sriram that his dad had called in sick and he was heading back. We pedalled on, well into the darkness. We tried up regroup once it was a bit too dark, since riding alone would be dangerous in the winding roads. The roads were serpentine and gradually climbing. It would have made for a great view had it been a bit brighter. By the time we reach Madikeri, it was well past 8 PM.
The fact that the room booking service we used gives pseudo names to the hotels we book didn’t help either. We had a treasure hunt of sorts to search for the room. The room itself, or the homestay was pretty posh, comfortable, and expensive.
Vasanth and Upendra would return from Madikeri.
Us vs time
Starting late, by now had become order of the day. Once we all got ready and got down to pack. Vishwa noticed that the spoke fix done yesterday wasn’t holding up. Now, that put the entire tour ahead in jeopardy. After few thoughts on if we should risk it to Ooty or pull out, it just struck us that Upendra’s cycle was available for Vishwa to ride. And so, like formula one pit stop mechanics, we quickly unmounted the rack from Vishwa’s cycle and mounted it on Upendra’s. And we were once again back on the road.
The landscapes from Madikeri towards Virajpet were beautiful. Open fields, forested area and the winding roads were a sight to see.
Once we reached Virajpet, we decided to have breakfast at a Mangalore eatery. During breakfast, suggestions started coming that we should ride up to 5 in the evening and take a vehicle to Kalpetta. Later it was decided that we take a vehicle now, when the sun was beating down and ride when the sun was milder. We also decided to make a booking at Sulthan Bathery instead of Kalpetta, shaving off 25km from the next day’s ride to Ooty taking on the mighty Kalahatty. We then bargained a goods carrier to take us to the Kerala border near Kutta. From there, we cycled on. We ate our lunch at Kaatikulam.
The forests in western ghats and in Kerala are so pristine. People complain about bad roads, but fail to notice the condition of the forests. I felt, the forests in Kerala are preserved much better than in Karnataka.
Once we reached Payyamballi we tried to hitch a ride since we were fighting against time. Vishwa was fighting his own battle against getting used to a totally new bicycle. The change in size and posture he was not used to. We finally got a ride from a few kilometres before Neervaram to a hotel in Binachi, Waynadia if I’m right. We hadn’t had enough kilometres on that day. We reached late alright, but fresh to ride the next day.
Us against the earth
The morning was pretty fresh and the start was fine. We started our ride to Gudalur. We had our breakfast at the Tamilnadu-Kerala checkpost. One of the best breakfasts during the tour. We started the ride after breakfast, it was a gentle ride in the tea estates leading to Gudalur. I tried to engage in discussions with Vishwa on many topics to free my mind from thinking of the ride waiting ahead for rest of the day. We finished our lunch at Gudalur and headed towards the Mudumalai tiger reserve forest. Upon reaching the gate, we figured that cyclists were not allowed to ride into the forest. So, we waited to hitch a ride into the forest which we got in a while to Masinagudi. Once we got back on saddle from Masinagudi towards Ooty, the ride of the ride had started. The ride to Ooty from Masinagudi was about 36km. Which meant about 12km to the base of Ooty.
We rode to the CCD at about 3km from the base, refilled our energy stocks and continued the ride. I’m not sure if it was the mental attack by the Kalahatty or really the terrain. I was bonking (a term used by bikers to describe the zero energy zone) even before the start of the hill ride. I had read innumerable blogs by people who had ridden this, I wanted to do it so badly but, I would have done half a dozen hairpin bends and then I decided to walk.
What I didn’t realise was that, I might never get another chance to do the mighty Kalahatty ever again. Or perhaps never younger. That is when I start to regret, I should have made the climb on the saddle. If God permits, I’d want to come back and do this climb. Not younger, true, but stronger. Until then, it would remain the one unfulfilled wish in my cycling days.
All along the ride, we never missed out on amusing the motorists touring from other places and a few locals. They would ask us where we were headed, and then they would ask us, where were we riding from. Our answers seemed a little hard to digest for them. The constant thumbs up we kept getting from the KTMs, Harleys, the Bullets and cars were as much fun as encouraging. We also kept children along the way entertained.
There were places where walking and pushing the cycle felt difficult. Let alone riding. We borrowed water from motorists. We walked on. Vishwa and Santosh managed to get on to an auto and reach the hotel. They would later tell us that it took the auto two hours to reach the hotel. We reached the hotel around 8 or so. The starry night sky at that altitude was the highlight of the day – or night rather. We freshened up and joined the other two in the restaurant. With the toughest part of the trip behind us, we unwound and had a relaxed chat for the night, before we dozed off.
Us vs the air
We started the penultimate day with a lot of ease. Had our breakfast at leisure and off. The ride to Gudalur was beautiful to say the least. The roads, the hills, the trees, the tea estates, the birds, the animals. Everything adding up to a great experience. Vishwa by then had decided to stop riding at Mysore and take a bus from there to Bangalore, and by the look of things, Santosh would follow Vishwa. We reached Gudalur, finished our lunch, and went back to the same forest checkpost at Mudumalai tiger reserve.
Only this time we were heading to Mysore. The truck we got was heading towards Gundlupet and we got a deal to be dropped there. Unlike our previous entry into the forest, this time we were greeted by a lot of wildlife. Chitals, sambars, elephants, mongoose, giant squirrels, peacocks, woodpeckers, kingfishers, rollers among many others. Looking back at the path we came from, only left us in awe of the Blue mountains.
Once we were back on the saddles at Gundlupet, we broke for coffee. Over there, Vishwa and Santosh decided to stay back and look for buses to travel back to Bangalore. Manish and I decided to hit the road. From there on, we rode the fastest in the entire tour, a modest 23kmph for the rest of the 65km. The difficult part though was the steady headwinds and the crazy up again down again roads. We took a break at Nanjangud.
We planned to stay at a hotel close to Kalyani, the place where we stayed on our way up. I also kept getting updates from Santosh and Vishwa that they were about 15km behind us. Which made us feel great, since we were riding pretty superbly compared to a motor vehicle. We missed the turn towards the Mysore ring road and continued into the city. At this point, Vishwa calls me and says that they are riding as well and would meet us for dinner. I didn’t believe that they were really riding until we met. We were fast, they were crazy. They had decided to ride on after they didn’t find a bus.
We later had dinner and Amit offered us to stay at his place. We were thankful and reached his place. Bid farewell to Vishwa, as Santosh stayed with us to ride the next day. Thanks to Manish and Santosh I stayed the night. Else I was planning to ride the night out to Bangalore.
Us vs the elements the finale.
For the final day, I just had one thing on my mind. To not ride in the sun. But since we were starting early in the day, it was almost inevitable. We decided to take the Mysore road to reduce a bit of a distance. Our breakfast stop was Mandya. Up to Mandya the riders were challenged just by the headwinds. Once the breakfast was over, the headwinds were joined by the sun and the climbing terrain. With the riders battling the sun, air and the terrain, thirst was not left far behind. We were getting dehydrated pretty badly, gulping tender coconuts as we got them. We had our lunch at the Ramnagar Kamat.
Once the lunch was over, we rested for a while and got back to the fight with the elements. Milestone after milestone we were reaching closer to our homes. The feeling that the six day long tour on the bicycle was coming to an end was giving me mixed emotions. The ride on Mysore road was not the most pleasant, we were pushed to the very edge of the road very too often to be comfortable.
Tired, exhausted and spent, we bid farewell to each other one by one and continued towards our homes. Most of us crossing the 700km mark.
Few things worth a special mention.
Upendra and Jinesh riding superbly to Madikeri and Mysore respectively on their very first rides.
Vishwa riding outside of his comfort zone on a totally different bike to reach Ooty.
Santosh riding all the way through the tour on a humble Decathlon my-bike 7S.
Overall, it was a ride to remember.
Pictures courtesy: Santosh, Vishwa, Upendra, Santosh
The itinerary
Day 1:
Bengaluru – Kanakapura – Malavalli – Mysuru
Day 2:
Mysuru – Hunsuru – Kushalnagara – Madikeri
Day 3:
Madikeri – Virajpet – Kaartikulam – Paiyyamballi – Sulthan Bathery
Day 4:
Sulthan Bathery – Gudalur – Mudumalai – Masinagudi – Ooty
Day 5:
Ooty – Gudalur – Bandipur – Gundlupet – Mysuru
Day 6:
Mysuru – Mandya – Ramnagara – Bengaluru
santossuren 
You have enough stuff to write a
book on your adventure, keep going , all the best!
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