Nature Nirvana Cycling trip around Madekeri :- A first timers account of the experience !

As I opened Prasad email which read "want to try this ?" with the link to cycling and more I had no idea what I would be getting into in the coming weeks. The link was passed among a few of my colleagues at work and by that day evening we were a team of 4 who wanted to venture into the Nature nirvana ride, a promised ride through the beautiful paths of Coorg, across coffee plantations and water falls. The next week surprisingly did not see the enthusiasm drop amongst us, we went ahead with the registration and booked our seats. Cycling had always been a mode of transport while at school and the thought of this as a mode of adventure prompted me to consult Yatheesh /Viki/Harsha to understand what was needed to embark into this adventure on 2 wheels. They all had one answer to my question "Decathlon" (A huge sports mall). We made our pilgrimage on a rainy Saturday afternoon. What was supposed to be a 2 hour affair to get the cycling shorts ended up as a 5 hour expedition exploring all sport equipment. End of it we had our shorts, gloves and Vasanth had a fairly good idea as to what qualifies as a change room!

Friday October 22 nd

After dragging Harsha ("the latest one") ( he was still searching for his slippers) and picking Prasad (spot) we reached the hockey stadium at 9:20 PM. Pleasantries were exchanged between known and unknown faces and we settled down into our assigned seats and the bus started towards Mysore road at around 10:00 PM.

Friday Oct 22nd 9:45 pm inside our bus.( Photo : Sree Ram)

First stop was around 1:30 AM at a small private bus stand with blaring Malayalam songs confirming that we were heading west. The parked PK travel buses did not fail to inspire Yateesh to churn out yet another Pj ( "Which is the most dangerous travels ?")

Saturday October 23rd

4:30 AM:Crisp fresh air welcomed us at a resort close to Madekeri town. This was supposed to be our pit stop. After freshening up and getting our rear into gear it was time to find our cycles. Outside we were met by bike owners who with a few twist and turns of the spanner and Allen key were getting their bikes ready. First timers like us huddled around Harsha to help us setup and assign bikes. By 7am we were rearing to go on the bikes. After a few trial rides & briefing by Yateesh and Sree Ram we were all set to start.

Harsha fixing up the bikes. At the start of the ride. ( Photo : Sree Ram)

Destination Madekeri (Photo: Sree Ram )

The warm up lap of 6 kms took us to Madekeri where we had our breakfast. Spot made a mistake by calling me for direction. The crucial left turn was communicated over cellular network as right and down went spot to unknown territory. A few more frantic call and with the help of Harsha and Sandeep. Spot arrived with a mouth full of curse. All the bikers left towards the long ride towards Virajpet ~60 Kms. Vasanth and me stayed back to fix Aditya's punctured tire. Yateesh was at his usual best tackling all cycle related technical issues single-handedly, the confidence and poise with which he deals with them is worth the mention (The Allen key in his hand is synonymous to the cigarette in Rajini sir's hand ! ).

Waiting for Spot ! (Photo : Sree Ram)


Towards Virajpet

At 10:00 AM myself, Aditya and Vasanth headed towards Virajpet, armed with maps and now getting a hang of the gears on the cycle. We crossed several small waterfalls as we rode,each better than the previous one ! The waterfalls gave us good opportunity to refresh and continue our ride. The ride took us through coffee estates on either side of the road, traffic was minimum and the air crisp. The cloud cover over the head with occasional downpour made the ride a very relaxing one.

Till Sidapura the route was down the slope, we enjoyed the shear drops and the wind rushing past us. The route tracked on my phone reveals the change in altitude and that we sped downhill at an average speed of 20 Km/hr. Check it out here http://goo.gl/hTOr

Part of the Day 1 Route tracked on my phone

After countless tea/ water breaks, photography experiment stops (Harsha remembering the Ladakh experience was not to be seen anywhere close during the first days ride, he had to ride at least 20 times past me before I got the shot right during our Ladakh trip !) .

Harsha panned in Ladakh. Vasanth zooms past

we finally reached Sidapura. After another break we started towards Virajpet, the downhills had now given way to planes or uphills.The cycle seat suddenly seemed rock hard. But we three continued on our way. We braved short bursts of heavy showers, sought shelter when it started pouring hard. As I prepared to start once again I noticed Yateesh ride past me he slowed down to tell me that the canter was on its way and I had the choice to stop. I stopped tracking on my phone as I was running out of charge, wanted to save the last bit of juice in it for the SOS call ! Next 90 minutes saw me ride along with Yateesh who slowed down at times keeping me in his radar and like a master Shepard led me along to the place where lunch was waiting for us.

Chelavara Falls

After a quick lunch which was served to us by Ashok and Harsha we got into the bus which took us to a point close to Chelavara falls. It was a 3 km route to the falls. The sound of the water gushing but nothing coming to sight made way for the "false fall" pun ! Slowly we made our way to the falls and it took us more than 45 minutes to find the place. The sight which greeted us was nothing short of being magical. The roar of the water as it dropped down from the skies and the force with which it was gushing out made up for the long walk to reach the place. A few fellow riders did get into the cold waters of the falls.Words fail to describe the beauty of the falls, the pictures might do semi justice.

Chelavara Falls

Gonikoppal

After experiencing Chelavara falls we were saved from the return walk as the canter had come to gather cycles from the "expert riders:" who had completed the ride till the base of the falls. Like cattle we got into the canter. 26 tired souls reached Gonikoppal at around 9:00 PM and made it straight for the dinner.After which Harsha allocated rooms at Nandanavana.

I (dont) Like the way it Hurts.

The Eminem feat Rihanna song has the lines "I like the way it hurts" I wanted my mind to say the same and soothe the pain the body was is in but mind and body teamed up and said it hurts like crazy !. With muscle becoming rigid, the back, the thigh and the shoulders muscles ached and pulled. The posterior had taken the maximum beating and the thought of sitting on the seat the next morning gave nightmares! Communicating the same to folks at home had them in splits !

Sunday October 23rd

As per schedule we were out of the lodge by 6:30AM and headed for the nearby restaurant for breakfast. We had to wait for a considerable time to have breakfast served and this gave us ample opportunity to think about cycling more or Cycling no more (Photo: Sree Ram). Spot judiciously waved the white flag saying he was done with cycling and would be happy to follow us in the bus. Aditya went for the wait and watch strategy. The morning shower had eased bit of the pain and seeing rest of the riders get their bikes ready for the ride made me want to start the ride too. I said lets go ...with a promise to stop at the slightest change in gradient, push the cycles up and then ride down the slopes. Vasanth agreed , Sandeep nodded (while on the phone) and we took that for a yes. So off started day 2.The route map showed that we had to do 40 + Km's and reach Baylakuppe and the terrain looked flat with occasional uphill slopes. I had Harsha for company and that meant some more experimental photography with Harsha making multiple passes across the camera lens!We took it easy stuck to our plan enjoyed the ride with lot of breaks to refresh ourselves this included

one in which we had tender coconut (Photo : Sandeep), which was cut open by a guy who had never done it before ! ( Harsha strongly believed that he used the same "macchu" to cut chicken as well ! and refused to have the tender coconut). Aditya/Sandeep/Vasanth showed off their Tarzan skills as well during one of our breaks. The ride took us cutting across Rajiv Gandhi national park towards Periyapatna. At Periyapatna we took a left hit the highway had tender coconut and continued towards Bylakupe. We had Harsha riding with us along with the Hubli trio. A huge hoarding welcomed us Bylakuppe (Tibetan settlement). The At 12:40 PM we finally reached the parked canter at Bylakupe and ended our second day of cycling. The route tracked on my mobile revealed that we had done close to 45 kms of cycling in 4 hours , check out http://goo.gl/4SZA. After a quick break we loaded the cycles on to the canter and headed to the golden temple (A 4 km ride in the canter)

Golden temple

Sree ram , Vasanth , Adithya , Harsha and me trod towards the monastery. We did a a quick 45 minute tour of the monastery. The golden temple is magnificent , the huge Buddha statue within is splendid.

After the visit it was time to pack the bikes and head for lunch. By 3:00 PM we were done with the lunch at Baylakuppe and headed straight to Bangalore.


Ajab Harsha ki Ghazab Taste.

As we headed back to Bangalore the movie Ajab prem ki ghazab khanee was played mainly due to Harsha's persistence and he thoroughly enjoyed watching it for the 3rd time ! As i dozed of I could intermittently hear him laugh away wtih praises for the film " Sakath Film" , "Sooper" and also could faintly hear the clinking of bottles from the other end of the bus announcing the start of the celebrations.

Let the Party begin

After a much needed break for coffee and snacks at a hotel in Mandya we were back on road towards Bangalore. Sandeep started off the proceedings with the Harmonica. This built up party spirits and made way for Sushruta and Venkat to hit the make shift dance floor ( the aisle of the bus).


Venkat the Master.

The next 2 hours went in a blur as Venkat donned the dance floor and pulled one by his "students"( aided by Sushruta, who kept a close watch on the dance floor attendance ) first for the audition and then teaching them the moves to groove. There was

1) Brake dance ( applying hypothetical cycle break to the beat of the songs)
2) Brake dance -2 ( This time it was the 4 wheeler break ! )
3) Tap dance
4) Bulb dance
5) Kite dance
5) Harmonica/Keyboard/Guitar dance
6) Vada dance

Like all good things have to come to an end the dance school wrapped up amidst burst of laughter and claps as we had reached the outskirts of Bangalore. Goodbye's were exchanged and thus our weekend adventure was successfully completed.

Vote of thanks

It was a wonderful experience to get back pedaling (seeking thrills) after a gap of so many years and I whole heatedly thank CAM Cyclingandmore.com for providing the opportunity. Thanks goes to Yateesh, Harsha and Manohar from CAM who did a great job in managing things and made this experience more enjoyable. Venkat for rejuvenating us during our bus ride back home! and all the fellow riders who gave awesome company. See you all sometime soon !

PS:- Photos of the ride can be found here
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/roopa.pandit/CAMSNatureNirvanaMadkeriCycleTrip#