CAM - Bhagamandala Kasargod Jalsoor

Having only heard about the CAM rides and intimidated by signature of some members in Bikeszone forums, I thought I'd give it a try. I registered and soon my brother, inspired by the pics of last years CAM ride to Kasargod, said he'd give it a shot too. Voila, two seats booked two weeks prior to the ride. This was no race but to me it was more a mind over matter. A sound always heard in my mind " Do justice to your MTB u roadie scum"!! And so the Saga of the two day tour started. 6th of august approached real fast and I had redefined laziness by packing up just a couple of hours before the ride. I was to ride on my Trek 4300d and a rental bike for my brother. The plan was to load the bike on the canter (Tata 407) which would leave for Bhagamandala even before the bus starts. Reached the drop point exactly at 8:30pm on 6th and loaded the Trek on the canter . Ramesh (my brother) was so excited that he decided to create .. yeah you heard me right.. CREATE 3/4th from an old jeans lying around. He was ready with lycra and a dry fit tee but I convinced him that it was purely a roadie attire :-P. . Within an hour all the riders made it and managed to start by about 10pm. This trip was filled with a whole lot of "Firsts"


1. First long ride on the Trek 4300d.

2. First trip on the Brand New Ultra luxury bus.

3. First long tour on bike for my brother.

4. First ride in the rain with the new jacket from Decathlon. (Continuous drizzle or heavy rain). 

My brother and I had chaat for dinner. The bus stopped next at cafe Coorg which is just  before kushalnagar. Got down for a quick breather. The weather had gotten a lot colder compared to Bangalore. Reached Bhagamandala by 6 and we had about an hour to freshen up at Hotel Mayura Cauvery Yathri and ride to Kasargod. Unloaded the bikes from canter and they waited as the riders got ready. I was wondering, when was the last time that I never bothered about the rain or running helter-skelter for shelter. Probably that time would date back to the glorious school days. Things have changed a lot and the IT industry adding that extra few pounds to upset the BMI and a few inches to the waistline and make your friends say " You've changed a lot" or "You look different" when they literally mean you fat pig.


Plan was to have breakfast enroute but then it was decided against as it started to drizzle and soon it turned to heavy rain. Had two rounds of hot upma/uppit/kharabath and kesari bath. As soon as it stopped raining we headed towards panathoor. The ride map displayed some serious downhill for  DAY 1. Didn't have the need to pedal for almost 20 kms. No smooth tarmac this downhill. Mind at full alert to find out the smoothest path to glide over the potholed trail. One had to stay on the toes to maintain a low centre of gravity all the while until the beauty of waterfalls or cascades make you stop the bike though you may not intend to do so. Also got a chance to stop at a hydel powerstation. Just around the panathoor border my brother's bike ( Act 110) had a flat. Depressing, as we would lose time but good for my experience in fixing flats. Fixed the first flat in 20 mins and then realized that there was another flat. Disassembled the whole thing again and fixed the other one too. This held for about 5 or 6 kms and then the pressure dropped again. This was frustrating because I wasn't sure of the tube size and to wait for the canter truck to arrive and fix the flat would take longer. So called Vikrant (CAM Organizer)  and in about 20 mins he was there with a Btwin MTB. Quickly loaded the ACT 110s on the car and started off to the lunch point at Kanhagad. It kept raining intermittently. Vegetable pulao or peas pulao bundled with curd rice was really good combo. This is the point where quite a few riders boarded the canter as they didn't want to waste more time by riding and miss the beauty of the Bekal Fort. By this time Mohit and I were only riders and we took the climbs with finesse and I was delighted. Then we hit the West coast highway the NH-17 which was as rough as a teenagers face!! Then after some quick doses of sprint we hit the most horrible stretch for about 3-4 kms. I'd say that there wasn't any road, but the Trek made its own way thru the puddles, potholes, mounds of muck and gravel. There is a teeny bit in my brain which rumages about the investment incurred on a bike like this. And to this day I stand corrected - "Worth every PENNY". Mohit and I raced against the clock and reached the Bekal Fort entrance, believe it or not, at exactly 4:30pm. A sigh of relief when Kishan mentioned that it closes only by 5:30. Great, now we have an hour to relax and enjoy the view, which we did. A lot of snaps followed in the drizzle. 

Result - Water on the Nikon S220 screen and the next thing and the only thing I can see is solar eclipse instead of a photo preview on the lcd. Yaikes..!!! At about 6:30 a few riders wanted to complete the Day 1 riding so the ones who had headlight were the lead of the convoy and I stuck by Mohit whom I had to abandon after 20 minutes due to a fault with the vbrakes on his schwinn Searcher. But after about half hour he caught up and rode with us. Just about 2 kms from the Speedway Inn. there was this valley shaped highway which dipped at almost 15 degrees giving the advantageof speed to make the same 15-20 degree climb. The major problem was that the climb was littered with pebbles and it was hard for quite a few riders. Pradeep mashed thru on this Act 110 and so did my brother. I was off the saddle ever since the climb started and didn't stop till I completed the 200ft of climb which lasted for about 100-150 mts. An immense sense of acheivement. A mini celebration on my mind and a pat on my back. 2 more kms later we arrived at the Speedway INN where we parked the bikes in the basement. An hour to get fresh and head for dinner. With the tummies satisified with the South indian meal, and a deep slumber. 




Surprisingly my brother was awake the next morning, a lot earlier than I,  but was just sitting idle :-). He mentioned that Vikrant had called requesting that we be ready and present at the basement by 6:30am. We were one among the last bunch to make it and lo behold what do we outside.. any guesses ??




Rain.. rain and more rain. This time I tried some DIY stuff. Here's what I did ...try spotting. 

I had managed to find some loose plastic sheets at the ground floor of SpeedWay INN and my mind immediately went to work. Checked with the hotel receptionist for an insulation tape but got the transparent packing tape. Couldn't get better. 15 minutes of carving, cutting taping and the result is the above waterproof shoes. Mine weren't really shoes. It was more of a hybrid from sandals and sports shoes. Hmm..i know you're confused. Let me put it this way, my shoes (reebok's) can be compared to a convertible car. 


Using the copy of printed maps I managed to ask for directions time and again to ensure that we're on the right track. Had to head towards Mularia which was the breakfast point. Kharabath and kesari bath. In the Bengaluru terms it was Chow-Chow bath. My brother left early and I started about 20 mins later. Had some more sprint sessions after a relaxed ride for 8 kms or so. Caught up with my brother only to realize that he doesn't have the bag which had the essential toolkit and some spares. No way to return to find the bag so had to forget that it happened and just tried to enjoy the beauty around. The river flowing and following the course alongside the road on the right with only tall trees separating me from the banks. On the left were again tall trees and some stretches were simply breathtaking. At one point I had a glimpse of a black swift (car) which popped up around a curve and just 50mts behind was a stream of water and puddles on both sides. This driver drove right thru the centre line and made the most beautiful sight. Water splashing in both directions ever so perfect and that moment reminded me of a scene in the Pixar's movie CARS. Venkat has managed to capture half the beauty with the Swift driven by Vikrant but the one I saw had a beautiful backdrop. Just half the beauty captured  ::

Just one of those picturesque moments which could just be captured only in mind, which otherwise captured in pixels does no justice to the true beauty that lies within. I managed to reach Jalsoor by about noon and it still was drizzling. Slowly the rest of the riders and at last the second sweeper truck arrived. By the time the last few riders made it to the finish line it started pouring cats n dogs. Next stop was lunch at Suliya. Meals + an extra treat of ice-cream.
Once the batteries recharged, the conversations started and then some conflicts arose while deciding whether to play  Baasha (Tamil movie) or The flying scotsman or fast n furious 5 or Life cycles. Majority opted for the Life-cycles, unfortunately the dvd player didn't support divx/mkv. Baasha's intro song was played and a hullabaloo broke out which prompted the movie switch to "The Flying Scotsman". Quite an inspiring movie. Reached Bangalore at 10pm and then I rode home from silk board and my brother took a rickshaw. Would have to be better prepared for the next CAM ride or any such organized rides. All in all this is the best trip on the bike in my life yet. 




Been There Done That !! 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to RIDE before I sleep,
And miles to RIDE before I sleep


Day 1 - Route and Elevation - http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=wlcwyukypumsltrr
Day 2 - Route and Elevation - http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=skgmosytiqwrevtf
Link to the pics - My Photolog.