With tusker bailing out the last minute as he had to stay back at office it was finally Chidu and I for the ride. I hadn't got a confirmation about the start time and the meeting place. Luckily, he replied at 5:30 in the morning and I got ready in about 15 mins and left home. Saw Sushant Chandra waiting for his friends at merida junction. I continued as I had to meet Chidu in about 5 minutes just beyond Metro on the Kanakpura road. Considering the weather conditions, I decided to wear sandals. Chidu was on time and we continued to ride on the lovely stretch till we reached Harohalli where we turned left towards Hunsanahalli and Balakrisha, Susanth Chandra planned to head back to Bangalore from that point. Little did I know that I'd be reliving moments of the CAM ride @ Bhagamandala. Superb roads with lush green mulberry farms, groundnut fields and various other crops that failed to recognize. Just beyond a km from the Kanakapura turnoff the roads got better and it looked like they were newly laid and there was a lovely rainbow that had formed. What next ?? Time for the Carl Zeiss to work its magic on my Nokia. To be honest this beats the picture quality of my Nikon Digicam. As we continued we found village huts/colonies and that took me back 20 years when I remember my grandparents home which had a huge sitout area/ verandah and as you open the door its a tunnel. One just has to turn left or right to enter which ever the room he wanted else head straight for the backyard. Stopped at a Somanahalli kere where Chidu found a Silkwork coccoon. Took some pics and set it on the roadside. In a few weeks after the morph cycle a beautiful moth probably would emerge. As he is fondly known in the cycling scene in Bangalore as Chidambaram 'Anchetty' Subramanian due to his frequency of visit on this trail, this time around the climate was fantastic and there was never a feeling of dehydration or exhaustion. The longest ever MTB ride for me 194.6kms. 12 hours on the saddle is gruelling for the Gluteus Maximus but the astounding beauty of the landscape, fields and the villages with kids waving by simply kept the mind busy.
Soon we crossed Hunsanahalli and as Chidu Quipped " You'll soon forget the count of how many hills you've climbed" and that did happen. Not being a fan of cosmetics, Chidu got a few sachets of coconut oil to use as a sunscreen lotion - "The Naatu Vaidyam" The rest of it was used to lube the chain. Riding through Anchetty, there are two hairpin bends and about 100 mts after the hairpin bends, there a rock with black and white stripes and just before the rock on the right there is a clearing or a ledge, "A secret passage" which can be used by the bikers to trek down to the falls. I relaxed on the rocks as Chidu had fun dives into the falls. This was a refreshing stop after a 120kms of ride. The next stop was Denkanikota where we topped up supplies. Just a few kilometers before entering Denkanikotai there was a heavy downpour I put on my rainjacket and we continued. After a half hour stop for lunch we left for Hosur. It was about 6pm and I was thoroughly exhausted as I survived only on Glucose, Mazaa and a pack of good day for the entire trip. From Hosur till electronics city I purely gained energy by following Chidu as close as possible. It was such a relief to see silkboard junction. Just a few more kms and I'll be HOME..!!!
Back home at 7:45, I did take a look at the odometer and it was 194 and just 6 more kms I'd have done a double century. But all I wanted was to get home to be ready for office the next day. More miles to ride before the end of this year...!!!
Route >> http://g.co/maps/z2rsr
Photolog.
gud one and keep loving the nature..
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