In last four to five weeks, I went on two bike trips to western ghats and loved the greenery and scenic beauty in this hot dry summer. Biker in me was hungry for more. However, I decided not to go towards western ghats this time since I have a plan to ride to Agumbe in the first week of May.

Finished office work by 7.30 PM, attended a small office party till 8.45 PM, and reached home by 10 PM. Got the bike's chain tightened and lubricated on way to home. Packed my stuff and started towards my home town 'Chitradurga' by 10.15 PM. After getting through Bangalore's traffic, maintained a nice speed of around 80 K mph. Night ride, moon light, good roads and cool breeze made this one-stop journey of 194 K ms, a pleasant ride. Stopped near Sira for about 5 minutes. reached home by 1.45 AM. My mum gave me a sweet earful for riding during nights. Informed mum about my plan to go to Pavagada on auspicious Saturday. My mum reluctantly agreed.

For sometime I had a plan to visit Pavagada, a small town in Tumkur district bordering Andhra Pradesh, famous for Sri Shani Mahatma Swamy's temple and get Darshan and blessings of Sri Shani Mahatma Swamy and Navagraha Swamis.

I got up at 9.30 AM, got ready, had tea and started towards Pavagada via Challakere and Parasurampura. Distance of 110 k ms of single laner road laced with some good stretches and some horrible roads in total contrast with highway I rode on last night. But was fun.

This region is called as Bayaluseeme, plains.What a contrast to western ghats. However, this was a welcome change. They say that too much of anything is not good Western ghats are all about green and trees. Bayaluseeme is all about red (Red soil) and rocks. Western ghats are curvy. Bayaluseeme is plain straight with few curves here and there. Only common things I could find was narrow roads and attention my bike got

I left at 10.30 AM and gradually it was getting hot. But the wind due to lack of trees (Yes, due to lack of trees) was keeping me cool to some extent. In this region wind blows steadily due to lack of any interruption. Hence, you would find lot of windmills installed. Till Challakere, traffic is relatively more due to lot of trucks, Buses and cars. After Challakere, traffic becomes scarce. Lot of people here are bikers in their own right as 100 cc/ 110 cc bikes are the most common mode of transportaion. Road after Parasurampura becomes so narrow that if any heavy vehicle like a bus or a truck comes from the other side, you don't have an option but to get off the road, allow the heavy vehicle to pass by and then get back on road and continue with ride. you cannot take the risk of continuing the ride once you get off road due to many sharp stones and thorns, unless you are carrying a good puncture kit and you are an expert at using the puncture kit

Reached Pavagada at 1 PM. Parked my bike in front of temple under supervision of a pooja-items vendor. Had a nice darshan, participated in the worshipping rituals, paid my respects, obeisance, prayed, and took lord's blessings. Started towards Chitradurga at around 2.30 PM. I had lot of time to go back home. So, decided to stop at some places and take few pics of the stretch using my cellphone camera. Weather was also nice as Sun was playing hide and seek with clouds and also there was a hint of slight drizzle. Overall very conducive climatic conditions for a good ride.















































Look carefully, you will find lot of windmills at hilltop





Picture quality is not up to the mark as pictures were taken using my cellphone.

By 4.45 PM I reached outskirts of Chitradurga where there is a Sri Shani Mahatma Swamy temple. paid visit to this temple, paid obeisance, took lord's blessings, had prasadam and reached home by 5.30 PM. Spent rest of the evening with mum chatting about my bike rides and lot of other things. Hit the sack by 11 PM as I had to leave to Bangalore early morning since I had to attend two functions around 12 PM next day.

Got up by 6.30 AM, got ready, had tea-biscuits, took Mum's blessings and started towards Bangalore at 7.30 AM. Around 20 K ms after Chitradurga, there is famous Sri Ganapathi Swamy Temple. I wanted to go to this temple for quite sometime. Visited the temple, paid obeisance, took lord's blessings and started towards Bangalore. The feeling of visiting a temple early morning is so nice and refreshing. Rode to Bangalore without any stop. Reached home in Bangalore by 10.40 AM. A non-stop ride of 170 k ms was little painful at the wrong place. Freshened up and rode to functions I had to attend. A busy weekend with a different riding experience had come to an end. Overall, I felt happy that I tried a different region and landscape to enjoy my ride. All I can say is riding in plains was worth every meter