Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Thanks a magnificent ton for the quick reply. Keep your tales coming...

Cheers

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Thanks Guys

Below is a summary of Day 1. Hope you guys enjoy it. I will try to complete Day 2 by tomorrow, but it looks like there will be slow updates from my end.

Note : After making the post, I felt that the image dimensions may be bigger, do let me know, will try to reduce it for the next post.

Day 1 :

Woke up at 3:30 got ready by 4:00, I knew that putting on the Viaterra Fly bag and Rynox Optimus M would be a pain in the a** , as I had still
not figured out the best way to tie them to my bike.
So started tying these bags, and lost good 30 min's, so had to hurry up, when Jeevan messaged he has already reached, i was cursing myself as I
dont like to be late. So did my Prayer's, yes I did, and started the bike and left. 5 min's into the ride, and I immediately realized I forgot
my wallet, so I turned back rushed In, took my wallet and scrammed, all the while my mom showing me everything lying in my room, do you want this
, this, this. I was scramming to catch up with Jeevan.

So met Jeevan at 4:45 after Hebbal fly over, apologized, and asked him to lead as he knew that route better. Anyways the dude seemes to be having a good time
there, obviously he was having a smoke...
Before we started Jeevan told me let's have a smoke and tea, so once we crossed the toll booth, we stopped for tea and a smoke. We were discussing about the road
conditions and Jeevan told that he has ridden this stretch till Chitradurga and the roads are excellent till then, which came as no surprise to me, since
I had already heard a lot about this stretch

We finished our tea and started riding and I was still nervous about what to expect and it was still dark and I was a little shaky, though I did not show it
to Jeevan, it was obvious that I was scared.

A little further into the ride we saw a truck which had lost control and got over on the median, this scared me to my bones, which brought all new thoughts of how I
could be meeting with accident and die or be miserably hurt, I started gettin scared and was breathing hard and my Helmet visor started fogging up. The fear
of meeting with an accident was not exactly helping me, I calmed myself down and realized that I was making things only worse. I came up with this plan, it's up to
me to spine up and ride, so mentally decided let's do this, let's see what happens and started riding, trying to forget all the bad things that could go wrong, decided to
take in things as they come.

We crossed the accident area and I started calming myself down and soon started enjoying the ride.


The ride to Tumkur was smooth and we crossed it very soon and reached Sira, and we decided to have some tea again. It was very cold here, we were
having a tough time even turning on cigarette lighters. Here had a chance to take a photo of the road.






Once done with the Tea, we started discussin the road conditions again, Jeevan told from here, all you gotta do is just hold the accelerator and let the bike do
it's thing. The ride to Chitradurga was also very smooth, we were hitting good speeds which in my book is around 100 KMPH. Just as we approached Chitradurga we started
noticing windmills, another photo op



Jeevan's Ride near Chiradurga


My Ride near Chitradurga






The Roads



From there we headed to Chitradurga. Jeevan stopped again for a Tea and a smoke :/

We continued to ride towards Ranebennur, after crossing Ranebennur, we fueled up and decided to have breakfast.
During breakfast we had a look at the route map and decided to go through Sirsi, i dont recollect why, but we decided on that route.
After crossing Rane bennur we took a detour after about 90km's or so. (@Jeevan.life can you please share the exact route details)

Photos from places between Chitradurga and the detour to Sirsi..
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Once we took the detour, we stopped for a smoke break near some cotton fields.













Entering the detour, the roads had changed, which was a welcome change. The long smooth roads until now were good, but this looked like fun. And so we thought....





As we rode, the roads started worsening, there were huge potholes, we were finding it difficult to maneuver between the pot holes. At some stretches, there were only
pot-holes, and at some places from left to right there would be only pot-holes. These soon started reminding us that things were not going to be smooth, and we
were going to have to work harder to reach Gokarna.

As we continued to ride, we started getting used to the pot-holes, rather I believe they were reduing, it was around 12:00 now. Soon we hit a stretch where we could
see a beautiful lake surrounded by hills. Some pics from around that place.













We continued to ride, and we decided to stop at the next place for lunch. As we continued to ride, dealing with pot-holes was getting tougher. As it was around noon,
it was like the pot-holes were hiding under the shady trees, we would never notice them under the shade and as we got closer and noticed the pot-hole, it was difficult
to slow down and maneuver out of them. Several times we just rode through the pot-hole, giving our body a taste of what a shock absorber does.


We reached a town, I guess it was Marigunj, it was around 2:00 pm now, we found a place to have lunch.
After lunch I discussed with Jeevan about possibility of going to Jog Falls because we would reach Gokarna by 4:00 pm and we really did not have much to do there.
Jeevan was showing exhaustion on his face and he wasn't really interested in riding to Jog Falls as it was a good 60 KM's away from the ride to Gokarna. Then I suggested
how about Yana as it was only 35 KM's away, he was again not interested. As he was looking echausted I really didn't want to push him, as it was very hot and the roads
which we just rode through were not exactly the smoothest roads.


So Next Stop Gokarna. It was DECIDED.


Done with our lunch, we started riding, the ride was getting better, but the heat was taking the fun out of it. As we approached a junction, I noticed a sign-board,
stating Yana 35 KM's. I was just hoping that Jeevan would stop and take a right turn, but the douche bag just kept on riding and.... suddenly he pulled over, I stopped behind
him, he asks
Jeevan : do you want to go to yaana ?
Me : only if you're OK, as you seem to be exhausted
Jeevan : No I am not, let's hit it.

Took a U-Turn.Took a left. And hit Curves.

On the way to Yana...


We started riding, without knowing what to expect, but what we didnt expect was to have the most fun of the day.
We were greeted with some beautiful curves. We could make out that the roads were empty, and as it was very quiet, we would easily know if there's any oncoming vehicle
by it's sound. 15 KM's In, riding the curves, though fun, was exhausting, I was leading here and I wanted to check on Jeevan, so I pulled over and asked
Me : Are you OK ? The roads are awesome
Jeevan : Yes (The grin was back on his face)
Me : Do you want to ride or turn back and go to Gokarna.
Jeevan : There was a sign, that said Gokarna 75 KM's from here.

This was obviously good news, as we were nearing to Gokarna as well as riding to Yana. Bad news was we were short on fuel. We were confident of atleast hitting
another 100 KM's with what ever fuel was available. So we continued.


We continued to ride and were having a blast on these roads. I am a slow rider, but no matter who you are you cannot deny the fun of cornering...woohoooo.

Though the roads were good for the most part, there was gravel all over and some parts were very slippery because of the sand and pebbles strewn over it.







The best part of riding to Yana were these school kids, these guys were encouraging us and just waving at us everytime they saw us.



As we approached Yana, we realized there was a school trip there, and these kids noticing our bikes were just too excited and started waving at us.
It was simply the most fun of the day. PERIOD.
We were riding down hill and there lots of kids on either side of the road who were just too excited and waving at us all the way, this was just the kind of
therapy that can take the exhaustion out of anybody. I just wish I had an action cam to capture this moment

To be continued....in the next post, unable to add more photos in this post.

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

We reached the Yana entrance point and one guy told, there's no checking, just take your bikes around the blockage and ride to the bottom. Listening to this we
were more than happy to oblige
We started riding down, again more school kids and tourists who were shocked at what we were doing we weren't. We knew there are guys who have done crazier things.
BUT THIS WAS FUN

We kept going until a point, I decided to stop and told Jeevan.
Me : It's getting steeper, not sure if we can continue the ride.
Jeevan : OK, lets stop and get back.

It was getting steeper than this...



We stopped and started riding back.
We exited Yana, had a smoke again and started riding towards Gokarna, again the roads went from Good to Bad to worse to No Roads. Jeevan was apparently cursing me, which he confessed to me later for taking him through that stretch I was having fun though

We continued to ride and started climbing up hill, at one point, and as we started climbing the steep, all we could see was the Sky, and when we reached the tip, we
were greeted with the most beautiful view of the day. The view was absolutely staggering, photos cant do justice to the view........





Having statiated our eyes, we started riding down and within 5 minutes we were out of the Ghat section, some pics from this place.









We continued to ride and soon we reached the highway, asked people around way to Gokarna and started riding towards Gokarna.


It was getting dark now, it was around 6:00 pm now, and we had to find a place to stay. Being holiday season, all the rooms were full, and finally we found a place to
stay. Cost 1200 INR/night. We didnt want to haggle as it was close to the beach and we were tired and the 3 places we checked before this were full, So we agreed and
paid up.

Lots of foreigners here, hippes you can say, if it isn't derogatory.


Anyways went to room freshened up, went to a close by restaurant, had dinner, and called it a day

Verdict : The ride to Yana and the school kids made our day

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Lovely narration, candid pictures i must say!! I literally laughed my heart out when i read you forgot your wallet in this hurry burry . It was really great to see you put all your nerves together to finish the first day of your ride, considering the fact that this was your first ever long ride, helmet's off to you saar! The fear of an accident which you had initially is common to everyone, and I would say that even today sometimes I do feel that on a fast lane. It is part of touring and I am glad you have recovered from the initial phase of it. Keep riding more and more, I am sure the tourer in you is now hungrier .

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Thanks Suvra Glad you liked it.
Also I am glad to know that I ain't the only one who gets scared
Hunger ?? I am famished, but I also know that I can't go for a long ride until the end of the year......
So I wait patiently.....lurking around...

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

do not worry, this group would not let you finish before the end of the year, rather you would be riding into the next year for sure

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

nah....it's not about the group, it's me, i have to accumulate leaves till the end of the year.
It's easier to get leaves only towards the end of the year.

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Kya mast travelogue,,, muh se kuch nikal hi nahi raha hain ------ 'to praise!!!


Awwzomee!!

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Super!

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Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Finally got time to read :P

Nicely written. it was good to meet you both at valparai waiting for further log

oh ya awesome pics!!!!

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Day 2

I woke up at 5:00 am with the intention of hitting the beach at 6 and get some photos.

The previous day we had plans of leaving Gokarna by 7 am. So i was ready by 5:30 stepped out of the room, started walking and soon faced a problem, it was very dark, so decided to go back and get the torch. Went to the room, picked up the torch and got out again, some way In started hearing dogs barking at me, but it was so dark I couldnt even see where the dogs were, also walking was very difficult which I would soon realize as to why. For now I dropped the idea of hitting the beach and went back to the room.

Jeevan was up at 6:30, he was ready by 7:00 and we started for the beach at around 7:15 am.






But once we got through the tricky part we were greeted with the very beautiful view of the Kudle beach..










We had a good time waking around the beach, there were a lot of foreigners and lots of Indian shacks who also liked a lot of foreigners here, but did not like the Indians, same happens in Goa too..

It was almost 8:00 am and we decided to head back to the room, pack up and head to Kasargod.

We packed up and left the room, the first big problem of the day, I was not able to tied my Tank Bag. It took me fifteen minutes to get it to sit properly on the Tank. We paid up and left the rooms by 8:30 decided to head to an ATM, refill our pockets and then head to petrol bunks and refill our bike tanks.

Views we were greeted by in the morning.








So left the hotel, and started riding, and within minutes we reached the Edapally-Panwel highway. I was feeling annoyed that because of me we lost more than an hour, and I wanted to make up for my mistakes. I was leading here. So we decided to make up for the lost time and we hit the road, we were making good time, but we were not really enjoying the ride. It was getting hot and at the back of our minds we knew we had to make up for the lost time, and we were really hitting it. The roads were good, we hit some nice curvy roads, and we started to have a good time in these sections of the roads.






























So we rode to Kasargod, reached there around 6 pm, and decided to ride to Bekal. Initially we lost our way in Kasargod trying to find a way to Bekal fort, then when we found the route, there was road work going on and we had to take a detour, which was again confusing and we were lost again. So finally found the route to Bekal Fort and when we reached close to Bekal fort, we decided to stop over a tea and coffee, i would like to mention, one of many we had today.

So we had reached Bekal Fort, our bikes were getting enough attention again, as it was for the most part of the day. I ordered tea, came back to Jeevan and started reminiscing the day, that is when the Tea boy came and asked something, I dont understand Malayalam and was trying to explaing things in broken Tamil, the best I could manage, but apparently Tea boy seemed to be having a very clear Malayalam conversation with the guy behind me. You know those WHAT THE FCUK!! moments and your left wondering what just happened. This was exactly that. Jeevan was speaking in Malayalam. I was like WHAT THE FCUK!!.
This guys has been planning this ride with me all the time, and he didnt once mention that he can speak Malayalam. He was apparently in Munnar for 3 years during his education.
Anyways jolly good, getting through Kerala was not going to be a problem, at least when it comes to communicating with the localites

From there we headed to petrol bunk, as we were anticipating a Petrol Bunk strike the next day, which did not happen. Once tanked up rode to Bekal fort, we couldnt view the fort, as it closed by 6 pm and opens the next day only 7:00 am. We found a place to stay, expensive , but again we were too tired to haggle, and paid up. But the room was really good. Freshened up, went to a nearby local place to eat, came back and called it a day.

Room Rent : 1500 Rs

Verdict : Very Exhausitng ride, nevertheless had our share of fun



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Some more photos from Day 2

After Day 1's offroading




Some more pics from around Kudle beach..







On the way to Udupi

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Awesome pics and interesting narration
Specially the Malayalam part, I was just imagining your face at that time.
Keep bringing on.

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Yeah...u can say that again.
It was one of the WTF moments of this ride

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

Fantastic blog. Some pics came out really well !!! Way to go

Re: Ride of our lives -- until now

The hotel was Sharada international . I got yummy curd rice there..

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