One for the Bromance: Chikmagalur

September 19, 2017

One for the Bromance: Chikmagalur

I do realize that I am pretty weird, sometimes, and I have come to a state where I no longer try to defend myself when my friends point that out. Posting about a ride that happened more than a year back is part of that weirdness. I really can't think of any good reason why I never wrote about one of the best rides in my life. I could blame laziness but I have already used that one for another blog-post. Also, I might have to use the same excuse if I ever decide to write about the Goa trip too (which happened two years back btw). So, let's leave the excuses aside and focus on what's important. The Chikmagalur Ride.

I will make this post even more weird by saying that I am writing this for Sandeep. Yeah, really. Because there was a divine revelation to me at around 11:15 PM today (May 18th 2017) that I really love this bugger a lot. Trust me, it's not the beer. It wasn't a great day for me today and I had decided to cheer myself up by going through some old ride pictures and it so happened that I came across the Chikmagalur ride pictures. Then, all of a sudden it occurred to me that I have really started missing Sandeep. When I generally think of it, there is pretty much nothing 'likeable' about this idiot. I mean, he is the least responsible person in the whole world, always late to show up for trips, hardly has any idea about the importance of specifics while discussing plans etc. are just a few annoying things about him to mention. Whatever.

One fine day, we were chatting as usual and decided to go for a ride that weekend. For no particular reason we finalized Chikmagalur as the destination and agreed to meet up at NICE road, Tumkur exit at 6:30 AM. Despite calling him now and then to remind about important things for the ride, I was pretty much confident that he would 'adult' this time at least and went for a good night's sleep on Friday. Saturday morning I got up early, got ready, and reached the agreed spot even before it was 6:30 AM. Not unusual of him, Sandeep hadn't reached there this time too. Going by his usual standards , I decided to wait for another 25 minutes before letting him spoil my mood so early into the ride. I called him at 7 to see what's his status and was disappointed to realize that I had high expectations from him. Sir told me at 7 AM that he is asking permission from his dad for the ride (he stays with parents) half an hour after we should have started riding already. I know him good enough to understand that there is no point in showing any anger to him since he was not capable of understanding the importance of being 'responsible' in life (btw he is still not capable of understanding that now even a year later)

I was still composed and in control of my emotions till 8 AM, after which I saw him zoom past the toll booth where I was waiting for him. I still don't understand how can someone miss a toll booth. Because there are huge structures and stuff, and an even bigger pile up of vehicles that literally slows down the traffic for half a Km and you can't simply NOT see such a phenomenon unless you have gone fully retarded. I shouted his name, screamed, threw the cup of tea I was holding at a KTM 390, which is accelerating at a pace it was not designed to handle, hoping that somehow the paper cup will break all the laws of physics and hit his helmet. All efforts went in vain. Phewww.

Explain me atheists, how can someone 'NOT' see this toll booth and cross it ?

Thank god I have good reflex and I called him over phone while he was still in vicinity. Obviously it took him a couple of tries to realise that his phone was ringing and by then he had almost reached Tumkur (yeah that's an exaggeration Ms. Literally ). After having made him realize that he made a mistake, I told him to take the first exit from the express way and to wait on the service road for me because we were supposed to take a left towards Hassan Expressway pretty soon. Our hero doesn't know what an exit is and made me question his sanity when he told me that he is near an Indian oil petrol pump because there are a million of them on Indian highways (another exaggeration, I had passed two IO pumps by then).

Having decided to not spoil my mood, ride and day, I told him to come to Chikmagalur somehow and give a call and I started off the ride without him. However, thanks to my sweet, caring, lovely, flawless, awesome, amazing character (god I am running out of words for myself), I thought that it was a little harsh on him to leave such a baby behind and decided to wait for him. Hero managed to find the route back to the Hassan Expressway and joined me another 20 minutes later. Finally we started our ride at a time we were supposed to reach the coffee land (another exaggeration). Since I honestly believe that I have taken out all the frustration that was buried deep down my heart for over a year, I will talk about another exquisite ride (I found this word on one of the Hotstar ads and have always wanted to use it ever since. Putting it here even if it doesn't seem fitting)

The ride was very boring for me until Hassan because the highway had nothing to offer but a mundane feel. We had a fun ride for another 20 Kms until we realized that we were on the Sakleshpur road instead of Belur road. However , the wrong turn gave us the idea of riding to Sakleshpur must be fun. We rode back and got on to the Belur road. Belur road is a decent stretch that compensates for the rough tarmac with significantly less traffic. Even though there were occasional potholes besides the rough surface for most part, you will still feel confident to let the throttle twist towards you. The road doesn't have a lot of curves to boast of but what makes it a fun stretch to ride is its narrow physique blended with the scenic geography on both the sides. Hillocks with windmills and infinite stretch of paddy fields take turns on either sides until it gives way for the beginning of the magnificent western ghats.

We reached Chikmagalur slightly before evening set in. It was a totally surprising experience for me because I was expecting a crowded, noisy town to welcome me. This was the first ride in my life where I was welcomed by popular tourist place with such calm. There were hardly anyone on the streets. We checked into a hotel and went outside to have food. We had settled for day one as it was already evening.

We had decided to get up early to go see sunrise on the second day. Contrary to our usual sunrise rides, we woke up well on time and rode to the most picturesque peak of Karnataka, Mullayanagiri. We had reached the check-post at around 5:30 AM but the gates opened only at 6 AM. There was another 10+ Kms of ride uphill which was brilliant beyond explanation. Me and Sandeep were the first people to enter the road after the gate opened for the day and there was literally zero vehicle on the road during our ride. The feel of safety combined with adrenaline rush is the best combo for a perfect ride. Sea Level kept on rising as we were brushing past the clouds. At one point we could no longer resist the temptation to take some pictures because the view was mesmerizing. We stood on the barricades to see clouds float below our feet and continued our ride uphill once we had enough of the view.

We kept on riding until we ran out of tarmac. Then we continued on the wheel trails made by Jeeps. We pushed it even beyond as long as we could, over stones and rocks before deciding to park the bike and walk. Western Ghats is a true beauty. As much as I have seen of her, she has always had something to surprise me, be it southern Kerala, northwest Tamil Nadu, or Western Karnataka. Every new hill has a new story. I can only imagine how beautiful it would get if I were to chase her further up north towards Maharashtra. Yet another thing in the bucket list.

PICTURES DO BETTER TALKING

Miss those days were this used to be a routine. Haven't Gone for a ride in an year.

That's me, the good boy. Always on time for trips.

Finally we met friends. (And that's how we take our Panoramas)

When he thinks that he hasn't annoyed me enougH, he stops to pee.

My bladder is a very responsible guy just like me. So, I use the time to click some sexy photos.

Do you see a ghost car? That's some mad photography skills

Hassan highway is chill. Very peaceful. Just try not to fall asleep.

That's how 'almost Hassan' looks like

So, we didn't know the right exit from Hassan bypass and we got onto the Sakleshpur road instead of Belur road. Had a fun ride for a good 20 Kms before realizing our mistake. However, we got a glimpse of the beauty of Sakleshpur road.

Finally on Belur road

The roads are a little uneven and rough. But it doesn't mean less fun.

Finally, Chikmagalur

DAY 2

We started as early as 5 AM to go see the sun rise

13 Kms of ride uphill. With zero vehicles ahead of us. Boyyy!!!

Stand here and call #SuvarnaKarnataka a beauty

and post a sideways picture to make it look like a natural, candid shot.

You can always post a selfie as long as the helmet hides the ugly

Fatty couldn't climb.

As we ride further up, we will get a good view of roads behind.

And of the mountains too...

The tarmac ends at this small township. However, the road goes further up with muddy trails. Perfectly okay for you to ride or drive.

Finally a glimpse of sunrise. We were getting closer to our destination

And here we were!!! on the edge of the world,

Watching the perfect sunrise,

Enjoying the morning breeze on our hair,

Tasting the dew drops on our lips,

Falling in love with everything that was around us,

Falling in love with life, all over again.

Found a nice spot for the ladies to rest for a while before we took off for a short walk.

Little did we realize that we were walking into even more mesmerizing views

This is not Sparta. This Chikmagaluru

Pretentious Yogi

Sandeep striking a retarded pose

We decided to ride further up, after the sunrise, to explore what was there.

We were proud of ourselves for making such a great decision 😁. I mean, look at these mountains.

This was on our ride back. Sleeping beauty. Not by Kanayi Kunjiraman though 😁

One final shot of Chikmagalur township in the backdrop of Mulayangri at a distance

Our ride was rather eventful. This tree fell on the road 15 minutes before we reached the spot. It literally cut off the traffic on Hassan road. We had to get our bike into the paddy field beside the road to get access to the other side of the tree. Slightly difficult but a fun experience. Wish I had an RE Himalayan with me.

This is how the adventure looked like

Even though I managed to get the R15 back to the road without getting my shoes dirty (Thanks to my amazing, extraordinary, unrivaled riding skills 😎 ) but fatty got stuck in the slush and I had to push his bike while he was twisting the throttle like a mad man

Back on Hassan - Bengaluru express way

This was the second incident. A fuel tanker lost control and fell sideways, blocking the road again. Luckily for the bikes, there was a narrow lane which would take us to the other side.

It was nice to ride in the drizzle, but we had to stop when it started pouring heavily. A good thing to do even if you are confident about riding in rain. 60% of Indians sitting behind a four wheeler steering are retarded. Safety first, always, and forever