Came across this link which gives the maps for all the Bangalore Brevet 2011 rides -- nice collection! :)
(The 600kms ride happened a couple of weeks back.)
2011-04-27
2011-04-25
[CAM ride (Charming Kodagu - 2011-04-09_10)]: good terrain, scenic routes ...
Did my second Cycling And More (CAM) ride on the weekend of 09/10 April. It was a ride in 'Charming Kodagu (Coorg)'. It was a nice mix of terrain -- good climbs, and better still, good down slopes too. :) But most of all, superb views.
Talking of views, here are the pics I took (from my year 2004 Canon Power Shot S30 -- cutting edge! ;P) -- set1 and set2.
As for the trip --
We started off on Friday (08 April) night -- the usual CAM mode -- I had dropped my bicycle off at RR Cycles Madiwala the previous day itself, from where the CAM canters had picked it up before they came to the start point. The canters (carrying our all important bicycles), and the bus (carrying the incidental riders) left from Shantinagar (Hockey Stadium / Divvyashree Chambers / Nanjappa Circle -- Bangalore, in case you are wondering! ;P) around 2200hrs.
We picked up some folks along the way, and then off we went.
Couple of stops along the way (including a CCD style 'Cafe Coorg'), and we were at the Mayura Hotel in Bagamandala by early morning. Didn't get much sleep in the bus, but then hey, where's the challenge in riding after a good night's sleep? ;P
Got fresh at the hotel, and assembled outside by about 0630hrs. The canters hadn't arrived. So we waited. (As Nathan Muir said in Spy Game -- "Then came the waiting. It's the worst part; it gives you time to think "What if?". ;))
The wait gave me chance to do my 'complete warm up routine' (tm), which I'm told is quite amusing to watch; apparently everyone was looking at me while I went about it with singleminded focus. ;P Oh, well! If there is one thing that I have learnt with time (infact, I think I might have learnt just one thing with time! ;P), it's that everyone's body get's old; even mine! ;P And one's got to listen to 'time'; afterall, it is the best teacher. (Unfortunately, this teacher also eventually kills each one of it's students, but I digress.)
The canters arrived as I was close to completing my 'complete warmup routine' (tm). I completed my routine while the cycles were getting unloaded. Took some time to arrange the various things -- electral, snacks, etc. in the backpack (strapped to the carrier), and I was ready to go. Ofcourse, breakfast was ready by then, so I had that first - idli, vada and hot milk (well, milk for me; others had tea / coffee).
All the 'expert' riders (of which spectrum, I lie at the lower end, if at all), had already taken off by then, for the first part of the ride which was 'for expert riders only'. With my breakfast done, I too took off - bringing up the experts' rear.
The first day route, as per the CAM hardsell, was --
"Start from Bagamandala, an 8 km climb to Talakaveri for the experts. Get back to Bagamandala and ride towards Madikeri. A beautiful rolling terrain and a good climb to reach the top of Madikeri. Post lunch, start the 35 km ride to Somwarpet. Initial 20 kms of complete downhill takes the rider to Hattihole. After some rolling terrain, the last 8 kms is a beautiful climb with coffee estates around."
If you feel that sort of route descriptions are for sissies, I suspect this is what you are looking for - day1 route technical details.
So, the expert riders -- me bringing up the rear -- were off doing the 8km climb to Talakaveri. I was keen to see how I handled it -- I was told it was considerably easier than the Nandi climb (which it was). And my legs were fresh. (Except for the lack of sleep in the overnight bus ride, I did not have any reason to be tired.)
So, I started the ride, and soon came to the first steep section. I got off the saddle, something that I had practiced on the ascents on my rides within Bangalore, including the Nandi climbs (2, so far). It felt nice to do the climbs at a better pace than I otherwise would manage, sitting in the saddle. But stamina and leg strength is still something I need to build up a lot; after a few steep sections within the first couple of kilometers, I had to take break.
Same story more or less, as the kilometers progressed, with the breaks becoming a bit more frequent, ofcourse.
I passed 2 or 3 more riders, who too were taking breaks, or riding slowly, as the ascent got to them. But as the effort started taking it's toll, the view was also getting better. Due to the wait for the canters, we had started well after sunrise; though there was fog initially, as the sunlight grew, the fog started receding. But not before giving some really good views from various sections of the climb. The initial couple of pics in the collection that I have posted, are from that time. I decided to take those pics then, rather than on the descend, as there was a good chance the sunlight would be quite sharp by the time we started descending, and the fog would be all but gone. (And that was indeed the case when I got to this section on the descend.)
Infact, the sunlight was quite sharp by the time I got close to the top; I started feeling the pinch. Some of the riders had already passed me on their descend. But there still were a bunch of riders at the top when I got there, about an hour or so after I started. As they were getting ready to start the descend, the 2 or 3 riders I had passed, too got to the top. We took some time to rest and rehydrate (sipping our electrals and the mildly cold fruit juices that were available at the shop there).
That aside, we took a few pics at the top, including that of the Talakaveri temple. I didn't go inside the temple, but was told that in there is the spot (a sort of a pond), which is considered the origin of river Cauvery (hence the name 'Talakaveri'). From those pics you can see that the sunlight was quite bright by then, and the fog had cleared.
I rested / hung around till all the other riders had started their descent, and then I followed suit. I went down at a slow pace, making sure I took time to enjoy the route that I had laboured so much to cover on the way up. Plus I took a few breaks, for taking pics from the various points from where, the view was simply superb. At one place, there was a shop (a concrete ground floor structure), whose shopkeeper got out a ladder and got me to climb up, so I could get a much better view. I did -- have some pics from there -- but the climb up and down the ladder was a bit unnerving. Oh well, I came down in one piece. :)
At another vista point, there were a bunch of guys travelling in a Maruti van, who were taking pics. As I pulled up to take pics, they got quite excited at the sight of me on a 'geared' bike, wearning a helmet, goggles, and what not. They asked to take some pics with me and my bike, which I was fine with. After the short photo shoot with them, plus my shots of the scenery, I was off again.
At one point, I saw the canter, as it was going up to check on the riders -- it had already picked one up -- he had gotten a flat on the way down. I confirmed to the canter driver that I was the last person descending, and the canter turned around right after that.
I must have gotten down in about 30mins, and as I passed the Mayura Hotel where we had freshened up, Vikrant from CAM checked on me to make sure I had had breakfast; as the expert riders were to do breakfast after the Bangamandala-Talakaveri section.
Since I had already had breakfast, I simply continued towards Madikeri. The sun was beginning to get strong (must have been 1000hrs or so), and the stretch to Madikeri was ~33kms, with quite a bit of climbs (especially the last few kms).
I passed couple of riders, and then there were two others (Vishwa and Alphonso) -- the 3 of kept passing each other from time to time, as each one of us took break at different times. At one point on this stretch I believe was a cluster of shops where I picked up some small bananas. I had 2 or 3 bananas, while chatting with one chap there who was curious to know where we were coming from etc., and then took off again.
Did some more riding in the sun, and then took a nice break in Charambane, ~12kms from Bagamandala. There was a shop there with a nice shade and bench, and cold mineral water. They also had jaggery, of which I picked up couple of small blocks. Having rested, ans hydrated (and jaggeried), I took off again.
From then on, the scenery picked up -- we went through some nice green patches, which are captured in the pics. Was a nice stretch, after which the Madikeri climb started. The ride got steeper, and the sun too was close to max, as it was around noon. I passed a few more riders who were taking a break or were done riding and waiting for the canter to pick them up. As I was taking a break with one group, the canter pulled up and asked about lunch. While the others decided to do lunch, I skipped, as my plan was to do lunch once I reached Madikeri (after the climb was over).
I continued the ride and went past couple of vista points, from which I took some pics. Also passed couple of other riders. Finally, around 1315hrs, I got to Madikeri and the place where the first canter was parked, serving lunch. There were a bunch of riders there, some having lunch, others already having finished, and resting.
I freshened up, and had lunch -- veg pulao and curd rice -- it was a nice meal. Other riders were starting to leave by then. It was getting cloudy, and folks were wondering if it would rain. People had mixed feelings about rains; while it would make things cooler, the ride could get a bit tricky too.
I left around 1430hrs, just as it was starting to drizzle. I ended up taking another ~15min break, as I found a shop that had nice cold Sprite and mineral water. I hydrated, filled up my bottles with cold water and then took off. The rain had picked up a bit, but it was still fairly mild. After a ~2km ride from the point where we had lunch, we got to the turn from where the down slope to Hattihole started. There were couple of riders around me, and we started gliding down. Along the way, the vegetation was quite thick, and at some points, there were nice green fields, some of which I captured in my pics.
I finally got to Hattihole, and then went on to Madapur, which is where I believe we crossed the bridge on a small river (might have been Harangi, not sure). Have some pics of that place. It was around 1630hrs by then, and I needed to make good time from then on, to make sure the 2nd canter did not sweep me up. So decided 'no more pics', and then I started the final stretch to Somwarpet.
The sun was quite low by then, and the temperature was getting lower, but the last 10kms or so to Somwarpet was a bit of a climb, so it was still a bit tough. I took another nice break in a village where one of the shops had good cold mineral water; some other riders too were taking a break there. Snacked on a snickers bar, and took off again.
The last 2 or 3kms to Somwarpet were tough, not so much because of the climb, as because of it being the wee end of a ~90km ride. Me and Alphonso rode that stretch kinda/sorta together, and we finally reached Somwarpet. I asked for directions to the lodge, and realised that it was another insanely steep road. No way I was going to be able to cycle up that at this point. I just walked, pushing the bike along side, and so did Alphonso. Saw a few shops before we got to the lodge; had a nice ice cream bar there, and then finally walked the last couple of hundred meters to the lodge. It was around 1800hrs.
Parked the bike, picked my bag from the bus which was parked at the nearby bus stand, and got into the lodge room (which I shared with Vaibhav & Harsha). Rested for a bit, and then took a shower and stepped out around 1930hrs. Dinner was scheduled for 2030hrs, at the lodge itself, so had about an hour to walk around; did just that, looking at the shops around there. The evening breeze was nice and cool, so it was quite refreshing. Checked which place served ice creams, so that we could go there after dinner, and then headed to the lodge for dinner. Had a simple south indian dinner at the lodge, and then Vikrant, Manohar and I stepped out for ice cream. Vishwa met us there later. Had a couple of ice creams, chatted for some time, and then by 2130hrs, I was back in my lodge room. Vaibhav and Harsha were just going to bed as I got there. I was thinking of watching the ongoing IPL match (Kochi Tuskers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore) for some time, but realised I was too tired, so ended up going to bed right away.
Next morning, woke up at 0530hrs -- had had a good sleep, and was feeling quite rested, though my legs were still a bit sore. I did my stretching / warmup (ofcourse! ;)), got fresh, packed and left the room a little before 0700hrs. Vaibhav & Harsha had left a bit before.
Went down, picked up my bike, put my bag in the bus (still parked at the bus stand), took some pics there, and then came back to the lodge, where everyone was getting ready to start riding. Took a few pics of the hub-a-dub.
I got ready -- filled water in my bottles, mixed electral, put my backpack on the carrier, and I was ready to go. Couple of pics with Manohar, and then I took off.
The route for the second day was --
"A downhill ride to start the day. Needless to say that the route passes through some of the nice forest and coffee estate areas. Rider would also cross some hamlets on the way, Sanivarasanthe, Shukruvarasanthe, etc.. before reaching Sakleshpur."
Again, if you find yourself spacing off as you read that description, then chances are you are wired for this description. Well, knock yourself out!
As soon as I got out of the immediate Somwarpet town area, I found the scenery was very good. Nice greenery on both sides of the road, as the road wound and sloped down gently. There was a climb from time to time, but it was primarily a descent. I passed a few riders, but then as I stopped from time to time to take some pics, they passed me again. :)
A bunch of stops and a bunch of pics later, I reached Sanivarasanthe (~20ms from Somwarpet) where the first canter was parked, serving breakfast. Had breakfast -- yummy idly-chutney-sambar, and kesari bhaat. And then took off again.
The descent ended at Sanivarasanthe, and from then on, till Sakleshpur, it was a rolling terrain. As I left Sanivarasanthe, for Kodlipet, the scenery continued to be good; nice greenery all along the road. So while there were a few more climbs now, the scenery made it all worth it.
We went through some stretches where there were nice green plains, plus also a small river with a bridge over it. Have covered those in my pics. Spent some time at those spots, taking pics, but moreso, taking in the beautiful and soothing sights.
As we got close the Sakleshpur, it was getting hot. While it was cloudy earlier in the day, the cloud cover had pretty much receded now, and we were feeling teh heat now. There was a bit of a climb too in the terrain, so it was a bit tough. I was tracking the distance on my cycle computer, and at one stage (a few kms before the expected end distance), I reached a spot where a bunch riders had parked and were sitting around, resting. That turned out to be the end point of the ride; we were stopping a few kms short of Sakleshpur, as the final stretch was the Mangalore highway, where traffic would be heavy.
So -- the ride had ended. Had done about 60kms on that day. Parked my bike where the others had, and then freshened up at the restaurant there. And then had a sprite and an ice cream bar. Then went to the bus, changed into a fresh set of clothes and got comfy. :) Stepped out again, and had a few more ice cream bars. By that time, all the riders had arrived (and most were have ice creams).
The bicycles were loaded in the canters, and we were ready to leave. Everyone got into the bus. Vikrant / Manohar took count of the folks, and then we did a short ride to a restaurant, where we were scheduled to have lunch. Had a nice thali -- complete with rasam. The curd was superb; had a extra helping. Vikrant and I each downed a cold badam milk (energy drink!) too.
Had a nice pan, Manohar took couple of group pics, and then we took off for Bangalore. It was about 1400hrs then.
On the bus, had a nice chat with Swathi, who was a hardware engineer. Tried to get some insights from her into what hardware design involves. But I think it will be a while before I design my first chip -- don't hold your breath! ;) Also chatted with Manohar about various things. We were sitting in the last row, and at one point, the bus went over a bump, and we were thrown up quite a bit. I had my head quite hard on the overhead luggage shelf; got a bad bump on the had, but fortunately, nothing more serious.
There was a light drizzle from time to time, which kept the air fairly cool. So the over bus ride was quite comfortable.
At around 1600hrs, we took another halt at one a nice hotel/restaurant on the Mangalore highway -- Manohar, Vikrant and I had milkshakes. :) Spent some time there, took a few pics using Manohar's camera, and finally resumed the ride.
By about 1900hrs, we were at the outskirts of Bangalore. Traffic became quite heavy and from then it, was stop and go, till we finally reached the Hockey Stadium around 2030hrs. A few folks had gotten at various points along the way, but the majority got off at the last point (Hockey stadium).
Some folks were riding back home from there, but not me. I was done riding for the day. As planned, I sent off my bike to RR Cycles Madiwala, from where I would collect it the next day.
Folks started dispersing, and finally the cab that I had booked arrived, and I took off for home. Got home a little before 2200hrs, and that brought my second CAM trip, to an end.
Talking of views, here are the pics I took (from my year 2004 Canon Power Shot S30 -- cutting edge! ;P) -- set1 and set2.
As for the trip --
We started off on Friday (08 April) night -- the usual CAM mode -- I had dropped my bicycle off at RR Cycles Madiwala the previous day itself, from where the CAM canters had picked it up before they came to the start point. The canters (carrying our all important bicycles), and the bus (carrying the incidental riders) left from Shantinagar (Hockey Stadium / Divvyashree Chambers / Nanjappa Circle -- Bangalore, in case you are wondering! ;P) around 2200hrs.
We picked up some folks along the way, and then off we went.
Couple of stops along the way (including a CCD style 'Cafe Coorg'), and we were at the Mayura Hotel in Bagamandala by early morning. Didn't get much sleep in the bus, but then hey, where's the challenge in riding after a good night's sleep? ;P
Got fresh at the hotel, and assembled outside by about 0630hrs. The canters hadn't arrived. So we waited. (As Nathan Muir said in Spy Game -- "Then came the waiting. It's the worst part; it gives you time to think "What if?". ;))
The wait gave me chance to do my 'complete warm up routine' (tm), which I'm told is quite amusing to watch; apparently everyone was looking at me while I went about it with singleminded focus. ;P Oh, well! If there is one thing that I have learnt with time (infact, I think I might have learnt just one thing with time! ;P), it's that everyone's body get's old; even mine! ;P And one's got to listen to 'time'; afterall, it is the best teacher. (Unfortunately, this teacher also eventually kills each one of it's students, but I digress.)
The canters arrived as I was close to completing my 'complete warmup routine' (tm). I completed my routine while the cycles were getting unloaded. Took some time to arrange the various things -- electral, snacks, etc. in the backpack (strapped to the carrier), and I was ready to go. Ofcourse, breakfast was ready by then, so I had that first - idli, vada and hot milk (well, milk for me; others had tea / coffee).
All the 'expert' riders (of which spectrum, I lie at the lower end, if at all), had already taken off by then, for the first part of the ride which was 'for expert riders only'. With my breakfast done, I too took off - bringing up the experts' rear.
The first day route, as per the CAM hardsell, was --
"Start from Bagamandala, an 8 km climb to Talakaveri for the experts. Get back to Bagamandala and ride towards Madikeri. A beautiful rolling terrain and a good climb to reach the top of Madikeri. Post lunch, start the 35 km ride to Somwarpet. Initial 20 kms of complete downhill takes the rider to Hattihole. After some rolling terrain, the last 8 kms is a beautiful climb with coffee estates around."
If you feel that sort of route descriptions are for sissies, I suspect this is what you are looking for - day1 route technical details.
So, the expert riders -- me bringing up the rear -- were off doing the 8km climb to Talakaveri. I was keen to see how I handled it -- I was told it was considerably easier than the Nandi climb (which it was). And my legs were fresh. (Except for the lack of sleep in the overnight bus ride, I did not have any reason to be tired.)
So, I started the ride, and soon came to the first steep section. I got off the saddle, something that I had practiced on the ascents on my rides within Bangalore, including the Nandi climbs (2, so far). It felt nice to do the climbs at a better pace than I otherwise would manage, sitting in the saddle. But stamina and leg strength is still something I need to build up a lot; after a few steep sections within the first couple of kilometers, I had to take break.
Same story more or less, as the kilometers progressed, with the breaks becoming a bit more frequent, ofcourse.
I passed 2 or 3 more riders, who too were taking breaks, or riding slowly, as the ascent got to them. But as the effort started taking it's toll, the view was also getting better. Due to the wait for the canters, we had started well after sunrise; though there was fog initially, as the sunlight grew, the fog started receding. But not before giving some really good views from various sections of the climb. The initial couple of pics in the collection that I have posted, are from that time. I decided to take those pics then, rather than on the descend, as there was a good chance the sunlight would be quite sharp by the time we started descending, and the fog would be all but gone. (And that was indeed the case when I got to this section on the descend.)
Infact, the sunlight was quite sharp by the time I got close to the top; I started feeling the pinch. Some of the riders had already passed me on their descend. But there still were a bunch of riders at the top when I got there, about an hour or so after I started. As they were getting ready to start the descend, the 2 or 3 riders I had passed, too got to the top. We took some time to rest and rehydrate (sipping our electrals and the mildly cold fruit juices that were available at the shop there).
That aside, we took a few pics at the top, including that of the Talakaveri temple. I didn't go inside the temple, but was told that in there is the spot (a sort of a pond), which is considered the origin of river Cauvery (hence the name 'Talakaveri'). From those pics you can see that the sunlight was quite bright by then, and the fog had cleared.
I rested / hung around till all the other riders had started their descent, and then I followed suit. I went down at a slow pace, making sure I took time to enjoy the route that I had laboured so much to cover on the way up. Plus I took a few breaks, for taking pics from the various points from where, the view was simply superb. At one place, there was a shop (a concrete ground floor structure), whose shopkeeper got out a ladder and got me to climb up, so I could get a much better view. I did -- have some pics from there -- but the climb up and down the ladder was a bit unnerving. Oh well, I came down in one piece. :)
At another vista point, there were a bunch of guys travelling in a Maruti van, who were taking pics. As I pulled up to take pics, they got quite excited at the sight of me on a 'geared' bike, wearning a helmet, goggles, and what not. They asked to take some pics with me and my bike, which I was fine with. After the short photo shoot with them, plus my shots of the scenery, I was off again.
At one point, I saw the canter, as it was going up to check on the riders -- it had already picked one up -- he had gotten a flat on the way down. I confirmed to the canter driver that I was the last person descending, and the canter turned around right after that.
I must have gotten down in about 30mins, and as I passed the Mayura Hotel where we had freshened up, Vikrant from CAM checked on me to make sure I had had breakfast; as the expert riders were to do breakfast after the Bangamandala-Talakaveri section.
Since I had already had breakfast, I simply continued towards Madikeri. The sun was beginning to get strong (must have been 1000hrs or so), and the stretch to Madikeri was ~33kms, with quite a bit of climbs (especially the last few kms).
I passed couple of riders, and then there were two others (Vishwa and Alphonso) -- the 3 of kept passing each other from time to time, as each one of us took break at different times. At one point on this stretch I believe was a cluster of shops where I picked up some small bananas. I had 2 or 3 bananas, while chatting with one chap there who was curious to know where we were coming from etc., and then took off again.
Did some more riding in the sun, and then took a nice break in Charambane, ~12kms from Bagamandala. There was a shop there with a nice shade and bench, and cold mineral water. They also had jaggery, of which I picked up couple of small blocks. Having rested, ans hydrated (and jaggeried), I took off again.
From then on, the scenery picked up -- we went through some nice green patches, which are captured in the pics. Was a nice stretch, after which the Madikeri climb started. The ride got steeper, and the sun too was close to max, as it was around noon. I passed a few more riders who were taking a break or were done riding and waiting for the canter to pick them up. As I was taking a break with one group, the canter pulled up and asked about lunch. While the others decided to do lunch, I skipped, as my plan was to do lunch once I reached Madikeri (after the climb was over).
I continued the ride and went past couple of vista points, from which I took some pics. Also passed couple of other riders. Finally, around 1315hrs, I got to Madikeri and the place where the first canter was parked, serving lunch. There were a bunch of riders there, some having lunch, others already having finished, and resting.
I freshened up, and had lunch -- veg pulao and curd rice -- it was a nice meal. Other riders were starting to leave by then. It was getting cloudy, and folks were wondering if it would rain. People had mixed feelings about rains; while it would make things cooler, the ride could get a bit tricky too.
I left around 1430hrs, just as it was starting to drizzle. I ended up taking another ~15min break, as I found a shop that had nice cold Sprite and mineral water. I hydrated, filled up my bottles with cold water and then took off. The rain had picked up a bit, but it was still fairly mild. After a ~2km ride from the point where we had lunch, we got to the turn from where the down slope to Hattihole started. There were couple of riders around me, and we started gliding down. Along the way, the vegetation was quite thick, and at some points, there were nice green fields, some of which I captured in my pics.
I finally got to Hattihole, and then went on to Madapur, which is where I believe we crossed the bridge on a small river (might have been Harangi, not sure). Have some pics of that place. It was around 1630hrs by then, and I needed to make good time from then on, to make sure the 2nd canter did not sweep me up. So decided 'no more pics', and then I started the final stretch to Somwarpet.
The sun was quite low by then, and the temperature was getting lower, but the last 10kms or so to Somwarpet was a bit of a climb, so it was still a bit tough. I took another nice break in a village where one of the shops had good cold mineral water; some other riders too were taking a break there. Snacked on a snickers bar, and took off again.
The last 2 or 3kms to Somwarpet were tough, not so much because of the climb, as because of it being the wee end of a ~90km ride. Me and Alphonso rode that stretch kinda/sorta together, and we finally reached Somwarpet. I asked for directions to the lodge, and realised that it was another insanely steep road. No way I was going to be able to cycle up that at this point. I just walked, pushing the bike along side, and so did Alphonso. Saw a few shops before we got to the lodge; had a nice ice cream bar there, and then finally walked the last couple of hundred meters to the lodge. It was around 1800hrs.
Parked the bike, picked my bag from the bus which was parked at the nearby bus stand, and got into the lodge room (which I shared with Vaibhav & Harsha). Rested for a bit, and then took a shower and stepped out around 1930hrs. Dinner was scheduled for 2030hrs, at the lodge itself, so had about an hour to walk around; did just that, looking at the shops around there. The evening breeze was nice and cool, so it was quite refreshing. Checked which place served ice creams, so that we could go there after dinner, and then headed to the lodge for dinner. Had a simple south indian dinner at the lodge, and then Vikrant, Manohar and I stepped out for ice cream. Vishwa met us there later. Had a couple of ice creams, chatted for some time, and then by 2130hrs, I was back in my lodge room. Vaibhav and Harsha were just going to bed as I got there. I was thinking of watching the ongoing IPL match (Kochi Tuskers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore) for some time, but realised I was too tired, so ended up going to bed right away.
Next morning, woke up at 0530hrs -- had had a good sleep, and was feeling quite rested, though my legs were still a bit sore. I did my stretching / warmup (ofcourse! ;)), got fresh, packed and left the room a little before 0700hrs. Vaibhav & Harsha had left a bit before.
Went down, picked up my bike, put my bag in the bus (still parked at the bus stand), took some pics there, and then came back to the lodge, where everyone was getting ready to start riding. Took a few pics of the hub-a-dub.
I got ready -- filled water in my bottles, mixed electral, put my backpack on the carrier, and I was ready to go. Couple of pics with Manohar, and then I took off.
The route for the second day was --
"A downhill ride to start the day. Needless to say that the route passes through some of the nice forest and coffee estate areas. Rider would also cross some hamlets on the way, Sanivarasanthe, Shukruvarasanthe, etc.. before reaching Sakleshpur."
Again, if you find yourself spacing off as you read that description, then chances are you are wired for this description. Well, knock yourself out!
As soon as I got out of the immediate Somwarpet town area, I found the scenery was very good. Nice greenery on both sides of the road, as the road wound and sloped down gently. There was a climb from time to time, but it was primarily a descent. I passed a few riders, but then as I stopped from time to time to take some pics, they passed me again. :)
A bunch of stops and a bunch of pics later, I reached Sanivarasanthe (~20ms from Somwarpet) where the first canter was parked, serving breakfast. Had breakfast -- yummy idly-chutney-sambar, and kesari bhaat. And then took off again.
The descent ended at Sanivarasanthe, and from then on, till Sakleshpur, it was a rolling terrain. As I left Sanivarasanthe, for Kodlipet, the scenery continued to be good; nice greenery all along the road. So while there were a few more climbs now, the scenery made it all worth it.
We went through some stretches where there were nice green plains, plus also a small river with a bridge over it. Have covered those in my pics. Spent some time at those spots, taking pics, but moreso, taking in the beautiful and soothing sights.
As we got close the Sakleshpur, it was getting hot. While it was cloudy earlier in the day, the cloud cover had pretty much receded now, and we were feeling teh heat now. There was a bit of a climb too in the terrain, so it was a bit tough. I was tracking the distance on my cycle computer, and at one stage (a few kms before the expected end distance), I reached a spot where a bunch riders had parked and were sitting around, resting. That turned out to be the end point of the ride; we were stopping a few kms short of Sakleshpur, as the final stretch was the Mangalore highway, where traffic would be heavy.
So -- the ride had ended. Had done about 60kms on that day. Parked my bike where the others had, and then freshened up at the restaurant there. And then had a sprite and an ice cream bar. Then went to the bus, changed into a fresh set of clothes and got comfy. :) Stepped out again, and had a few more ice cream bars. By that time, all the riders had arrived (and most were have ice creams).
The bicycles were loaded in the canters, and we were ready to leave. Everyone got into the bus. Vikrant / Manohar took count of the folks, and then we did a short ride to a restaurant, where we were scheduled to have lunch. Had a nice thali -- complete with rasam. The curd was superb; had a extra helping. Vikrant and I each downed a cold badam milk (energy drink!) too.
Had a nice pan, Manohar took couple of group pics, and then we took off for Bangalore. It was about 1400hrs then.
On the bus, had a nice chat with Swathi, who was a hardware engineer. Tried to get some insights from her into what hardware design involves. But I think it will be a while before I design my first chip -- don't hold your breath! ;) Also chatted with Manohar about various things. We were sitting in the last row, and at one point, the bus went over a bump, and we were thrown up quite a bit. I had my head quite hard on the overhead luggage shelf; got a bad bump on the had, but fortunately, nothing more serious.
There was a light drizzle from time to time, which kept the air fairly cool. So the over bus ride was quite comfortable.
At around 1600hrs, we took another halt at one a nice hotel/restaurant on the Mangalore highway -- Manohar, Vikrant and I had milkshakes. :) Spent some time there, took a few pics using Manohar's camera, and finally resumed the ride.
By about 1900hrs, we were at the outskirts of Bangalore. Traffic became quite heavy and from then it, was stop and go, till we finally reached the Hockey Stadium around 2030hrs. A few folks had gotten at various points along the way, but the majority got off at the last point (Hockey stadium).
Some folks were riding back home from there, but not me. I was done riding for the day. As planned, I sent off my bike to RR Cycles Madiwala, from where I would collect it the next day.
Folks started dispersing, and finally the cab that I had booked arrived, and I took off for home. Got home a little before 2200hrs, and that brought my second CAM trip, to an end.
2011-04-17
VeloTab on the web (aka, all over the place) ...
Other places on the web where you can find VeloTab --
* youtube -- user velotabvista
* twitter -- @velotab
* facebook -- page http://www.facebook.com/pages/VeloTab/215939398432320
* youtube -- user velotabvista
* twitter -- @velotab
* facebook -- page http://www.facebook.com/pages/VeloTab/215939398432320
Happy Cycling.
Pedalling off this blog ...
Hope this blog will evolve into a nice place to keep tabs a mix of things related to cycling.
The name VeloTab, comes from the two words --
* velo -- Swiss-German, meaning high-precision, accurate-down-to-the-nanometer, bicycles. And,
* tab -- English, meaning keeping track of something in a very broad sense (not accurate at all).
* velo -- Swiss-German, meaning high-precision, accurate-down-to-the-nanometer, bicycles. And,
* tab -- English, meaning keeping track of something in a very broad sense (not accurate at all).
So, a mix of the precise, and ... well, the not-so-precise. Hope readers find engaging posts here, and keep coming back.
Happy Cycling.
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