Journal-Travel Log-Ride Report
Prologue
It was the last week of the year 2011. I had
11 days of leave left and only 5 would be carried forward to the next year.
Hence took off from 23-12-2011 to 30-12-2011.
23rd and 24th I spent making a fantabulous
crib @ church with the UTH and celebrating Christmas with the midnight
mass.25th I spent with family n friends.
The next week was supposed to be my usual
trip/retreat to my ancestral home in Wayanad. I had this idea to take my bike
there in a Volvo and do small rides to explore the surrounding. When I told
this idea to RF, he said he too could join if it was a 29,30,31 trip and
suggested to change the destination to Virajpet. We decided to choose the destination on the
day of the ride with a toss of coin.
I spent 26,27 and 28 in doing minor repairs
for the bike, watching Fringe and Eating. It was then I realized that I was
missing the vacation. So started googling for beaches to ride to. But the
nearest beach is Pondicherry (310 km) which would require 2 days to cover for
slow cyclists like us. Plus RF had to go for prayers on Friday, Hence the plan
was dropped (which probably saved us from the cyclone). 28th night I downloaded
"My Trails" android app and loaded it with the route(GPX) to Wayanad.
RF knew the route to Virajpet.
I slept at 12:15 am.
29 December 2011
3:00 AM : The alarm breaks my sleep and brings with it
the excitement of my first multi day bike trip.
The rule of "Canidae" over our
world had not ended yet. I could still hear a lot of howling. I got ready,
packed my stuff in two bags and filled my bottle and waited for the howling to
reduce.
4:45 AM : The dogs went to
sleep after working tirelessly to keep us awake all night. I wore simple jersey
and shorts and stuffed the other shiny stuff in my bag and started to ride.
5:00 AM : Met RF in ITI Gate and put the toss and decided to
cycle to Wayanad. Then I equipped myself with the accessories, the blinkers and
the light and started off. We were determined to reach maddur for breakfast.
7:30 AM : We reached Bidadi . It was
getting really cold. The glasses were getting misty and the hand was getting
cramped . We took a break telling ourselves that it was just to withdraw money
from ATM. After the break we ride on.
8:30 AM : We reached Janapada Loka and had the 80 Rs buffet lunch
at Kamat Lokaruchi. The sleep was kicking in due to lack of sleep. So drank a
lot of tea n coffee, but it didn't help . Then when I was drinking another cup
of tea, I slept holding the cup, spilling the contents onto my legs. That was
the end of all sleep.
We returned to the saddle after about half
an hour.
10:45 AM : We reach Maddur. We
drink tender coconut water and rest for about 15 mins.We resume cycling but our
pace drops a lot.
3:00 PM : After a couple more tender coconut and sugar cane juice
breaks we reach Mysore.RF's been busy checking in (FB and Foursquare) at all
places we stop. Someone told him he'll get discount at shops for which he is a
mayor. I stopped checking in after I became mayor of a Paani Poori stall and
the guy refused to give me even a single Poori extra :(.
RF's checking in although got us updates
from friends. One guy ( A regular Wayanad Visitor) comments on the FB that all
check posts to Wayanad closes after 6. So after a lot of discussion we drop Wayanad
plan and decide on Virajpet .
So a really sad me eats lunch and gets back
to the saddle by 4:30
5:40 PM : After cycling for about 20 Km, at a place called
Belawadi near Kirloskar Electric I realize that one of my bag is missing .
Hoping that I've forgotten it at the Lunch place I return back to Mysore in a
crowded private mini bus. RF stands guard for the cycles and other
stuff in that deserted place, holding a Swiss knife in his
hand.
After a lot of inquiring I realize
that the bus doesn't exactly go to the place I want to go and the nearest place
would be KR circle. Just before I get down the conductor comes I pay the fare
and get down and climb an auto. The auto guy asks me to pay 80 bucks. I knew he
was cheating so I asked him to put the meter. The meter too was flawed kept
jumping digits every second. When I reached the hotel and reached my wallet to
pay the auto I found it to be missing. I asked the auto guy to wait there n
went into the hotel to check my bag. My bag however was safe and
sound. I then asked the auto guy to take me to Kirloskar and also reasoned with
him about the flawed meter and the fact that I had lost my everything.
The beautiful wallet contained
2 debit
cards,
1 coin shaped chocolate,
1 3d Honda CBR picture,
my photos,
my visiting
cards,
my various membership cards, prayer cards,
a pen drive
and 300 rs in
cash
The auto guy said he'll drop me for 300. I
conveyed this to RF.
On the way back looking at my sad face, the
auto guy got me chai. That made me normal.
8:00 PM : We reach the place
where RF was. He took his bike to the nearest ATM and got cash while I pack the
stuff and wear the gear. Someone flicks RF's blinkers when he was in the ATM.
But luckily I had an extra.
My friend Kutty is called and she helps me
with blocking the Debit cards.
So then we continue our trip.
9:00 PM : After hours of cycling in the dark ups and downs of the
Madikere route. RF suddenly gets the urge to sleep. He halts his bike and
sleeps in the middle of nowhere. I try waking him up. He says 2 mins and goes
back to sleep. Again Kutty helps waking him with her screams and curses and
then we ride on.
10:30 PM : We reach a village 10 km from Hunsuru . We enter a
bakery to grab whatever we can find to fill our growling stomachs. The we met
the dumb Baker and his Sensible wife. The dumb baker kept asking dumb questions
like "Why do you cycle just to save some little petrol?" , "You
try killing yourself cycling just to save some money eh?" etc and the
Sensible wife kept replying "They cycle because it's fun for them and they
love it" , "It will cost them as much. But it's not cost but passion
that drives them". We were just watching and eating all their pastries.
11:00 PM : We pray for a truck or anything to take us to Virajpet
since it was too dark for us to travel the forest. And our prayer was heard. We
get a truck direct to Virajpet. We tie the bikes on top of the truck and sleep
inside the truck near the warm engine. The driver put some old Hindi songs that
sounded like songs that I knew but were not. Time drifted as we reached
Virajpet.
2:00 AM : We reach Virajpet. We ride to RF's home for about 2 Km
where hot rice and fried fish was waiting for us.
30 December 2011
11:00 AM : Woke up from a
refreshing sleep. Got freshened up.
Ate my breakfast and lunch sitting in front
of the TV watching all survivor series back to back.
(There seems to be a lot of them lately. It's
like the discovery channel is preparing us for doomsday. They probably found
some clue to 2012 in young Tut's grave )
Watched "Man, Woman, Wild"
,"I shouldn't be alive" and "Dual Survival".
2:00 PM : Took the cycle out for some "bird watching".
But we were disappointed, as we didn't see much. We roamed around the town and
interacted with the civilization.
3:00 PM : Headed to the dental
college. It was a steep climb and in some places we had to push the handle bar
down so that we don't fall off.
There was nothing much to see near the
college, so we passed it and climbed ahead. There was a lot of amazing scenery
on the way. We climbed till we found the way blocked by someone's land with
ancient gates and ghost movie type staircase leading still above.
4:00 PM : Started our descent, which was awesome. Reached RF's home. Spent the evening discussing the house plans for his upcoming new house with the contractor.
9:00 PM : Went around Virajpet with RF's
cousins and friends.
10:30 PM : Started packing stuff and
getting ready for the next day's ride back home.
31 December 2011
3:30 AM : Our combined alarms wake us. We get
ready, pack some cucumber and moosumbi and fill water in the bottles.
5:00 AM : We set off. It's not
as cold as it was in Bangalore, that was a gain. But the down side was that the
road was pathetic. Full of pot holes. We couldn't ride fast even though there
was a lot of down slope till gonikoppal.
7:00 AM : Reached Gonikoppal.From Gonikoppal
started the never ending set of up's and downs. Every down had an equal up.
This combined with the bad road made us slow as hell.
9:00 AM : Reached the check post to Rajiv Gandhi National
Sanctuary. We ate the oranges that we had sitting near the check post. The
officer asked us about our destination and reason for the ride and gave us a
thumbs up sign in an appreciative manner.
9:30 AM : Saw a herd of Elephants. They probably were tamed by humans, since they didn't seem dangerous.
10:30 AM : Reached some small bridge, where we ate the cucumbers.
RF cycled to a nearby ATM(1KM away) and
brought cash.
While eating we saw a fellow cyclist pass by
on a 5.3.
3:00 PM : Reached
Srirangapatanam. Ate our lunch there.
Since it was too windy and we were really
tired we decided to take a truck.
Then the Cyclist we saw pass by came by in a
Scorpio and offered
to drop us. But since we were two of us the
bikes wouldn't fit the car.
5:00 PM : We then waited and found a mini lorry carrying furniture.
We dis-assembled the bike and fit it in the vehicle and got in.
8:30 PM : We reached somewhere
near city market. We re-assembled the bike and rode back home.
9:45 PM : I reached home :).
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