Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Thread Approved

Beautifully complied, and aptly started . Keep it coming and hope you ride even more out of the horizon.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Thank you Vijay! I'll continue the log.


November 2013:


Me: Amma, I want to do a solo ride. I am so fed up of work, tensions and life. I want to spend time with myself and my bike.


Amma: Hmm do it! You are a good confident rider. Go ahead! Tell Appa and go! (LOL)


After this I started preparing for the ride (Mind you, it's my first time ever, even though it will be only a 3 or 4 days ride. So I wanted to be meticulously prepared for it). Started buying things I would need in case of a puncture or a breakdown. My dad of course noticed this and by now he had received the information from mom.


Appa: Are you going alone? Why do you give us unwanted tensions?


Me: There's nothing to be tensed about. I'll be safe. I'll keep you posted regularly.


Appa: Become a dad you'll know. Hmmpphhh!


Me: .....


A lot of friends asked me why I want to go alone and if I will not get bored. I told them I won't get bored as I'll be doing something I love - I'll be riding! It is just impossible for people to comprehend that somebody can just go on riding! For them a journey is a way to go from point A to point B. For us, the whole JOURNEY ITSELF IS THE DESTINATION. In hindsight, if I get bored, I can turn back and come home anytime, I thought.


With this I started the planning and the route. I always had Mangalore/Charmadi Ghats in mind as I had never ridden to Mangalore/Udupi. On the other hand I wanted to ride in Malnad too because it's the best time to ride in Malnad after all the rains. So I designed the route.


Here's the route I took: https://goo.gl/maps/7HDVW


Preparations:

For Duke:

• Visited the ASC and got the engine mount bolts, gear and brake lever pivots loctited. Accelerator and clutch cables checked.
• Cleaned the chain and lubricated. Clutch play adjusted.
• Borrowed a tubeless tyre puncture kit from my cousin, bought a foot pump from a cycle shop.
• Bought spare clutch cable, accelerator cable and a spark plug just in case I need them.
• Kept a bottle of OKS chain lube.
• Colin and a soft cloth to clean the helmet visor.
• Bought a Viaterra Claw tail bag which is tailor-made for the Duke. My old Cramster Colt can't be mounted on the Duke as it needs support on sides, else it will touch the wheel.

For me:

• A few pair of clothes, floaters, toiletries.

Day 1: January 1st, 2014: Bangalore-Sagara-Honnavara-Gokarna


After a simple new year celebration at home, I tried to sleep at 1 AM. Ended up sleeping at 2 forcibly. Woke up at 5.30 before the alarm. First thing, I wondered if I actually slept because I was feeling all fresh and awake! It gave immense pleasure to know I'll not be going to work and I'll be headed on a ride. At the same time I had butterflies too. Finished all morning chores and had a cup of coffee. Mounted the saddle bag on the duke.


All set, I left home at 6.45 AM. Not much traffic in the city but it was seriously cold! My jacket was keeping me warm and I hit the highway. Took the service road near Kunigal cross and in no time was at the toll plaza! Was quite cheerful that I didn't have to pay toll and sneaked through the two wheeler lane. Just after the toll about a kilometre ahead I saw a line of tail lights. Duh! A traffic jam?!?


I saw a few cars reversing and coming back in the same direction with their headlights on. Impatient buggers I thought! I slowly navigated to the front of the traffic pile-up. There was a cop standing there and I asked him if I can go. He said "Yes two wheeler can go". Before I could understand why he said that, I saw the reason for the pile-up. There was a man's body lying on the road surrounded by a pool of blood and a private bus next to it. It was a junction and I could imagine what had happened. The cops there were insensitive enough to keep the body uncovered. The sight gave me shivers! What a start for the ride I thought, and moved on trying not to think about it.


A hundred kilometres later, I was at Mayura hotel Bellur cross for breakfast. A few (now) cliched questions from the waiter about price and power (cc) and I was hogging up the hot idli vada and sambhar! I was wondering and was a little happy that he didn't ask the usual "Kitna Deti hai" question when he came back to my table with the question. LOL!


Me: 50 kodatte (It gives a mileage of 50)
Waiter: Haa? Houda? Eivattha? (Really? 50?)
Me: Huu 2 litre ge (Yes! For 2 litres!) *Smile*
Waiter: *After a full 30 seconds* Hahahahaaha! Volle Comedy Sir Neevu! (Nice comedy Sir)


I continued and was doing decent speeds as fog was playing peek-a-boo with me! Some stretches were totally foggy with bad visibility where as some were fine. Crossed the next toll booth and proceeded towards Chennarayapatna where I was supposed to turn towards Arsikere. Meanwhile, I was constantly noticing a white Indica Taxi in my mirror. I'm generally aware of who's tailing me as I am always paranoid about being rear-ended! I lost him near the toll booth and later I stopped to adjust my ear plugs as one of them were not sitting properly. I adjust it, wear my helmet and I'm about to leave when the Indica stops next to me!


It has what looks to me like a family and the chap sitting in the front gets out in a hurry. He says "Hi Dude! I am also a biker" and I'm relieved. A small chat and I say goodbye to him and proceed my way! I take a deviation on to Chennarayanapatna bypass and I'm on my way to Arsikere. The road is an absolute treat to ride on! These roads are lovely to ride on but you can't do very high speeds. I passed through people, animals and villages constantly with school kids excited to see a gaudy bike with a alien-like-person sitting on it!


I stopped for refueling after Arsikere in a clean looking bunk. Wherever I went the bike with it's loud colors was an attention magnet. I crossed Kadur and Birur at a brisk pace. The average speed in the MID was constantly above 80 Kmph! Soon I hit patchy roads from Tarikere towards Bhadravathi. On twisties, I generally finish braking before I enter the curve and accelerate through it. On one of the curves, I realized I was a little too fast to enter the curve and braked half way. The bike slowed down without much drama and was totally stable. Thanked the metzellers for the way they stick to the road!


Soon I crossed Bhadravathi and Shimoga. Messaged by dad about where I am and went on to the road towards Sagar and Honnavar and after I crossed the city stopped for a couple of pictures!









Here a couple of bikers went in the opposite direction and one guy on another 390 waved at me. I proceeded further to be greeted by wonderful twisty roads towards Sagara. I was surprised to see a real time mileage of 32-33 kmpl. Yes, the sweet spot is between 70-90 kmph in top gear. At these speeds, the bike returns a good average and has enough torque to take on the twisties with ample engine braking!


I reached the spot where left takes me to Jog falls and the road straight will take me to Honnavar. Decided I'll visit Jog and took the left. Jog Falls turned out to be a little disappointing. I was hoping after all the rains this year, they would have opened the gates. Unfortunately no. The place was crowded as usual though. Asked someone there to take a picture of me with jog in the background and he happily clicked about 6 pictures in all angles! Here's one of them.







Here I met a fellow biker, Jay, who was on his bullet. After a brief chat, I left Jog and proceeded towards Honnavara not aware of the awesome ghat section that awaited me.


I'm not sure what this ghat section is called. Google says it's Bangalore-Honnavar road. But boy-o-boy is it fun! Some curves are super deep and have opposite camber. I had my foot pegs and shoes scraping the ground here. To add to this there's lush greenery throughout. This made sure I was alert and I was in a state of anxiety, adrenaline and excitement all put together - if you know what I mean. Soon I found a petty shop which had buttermilk written on a small board! It was hot and buttermilk will do no harm! I was right, buttermilk (Masala Majjige) was amazing! Had two glasses to quench my thirst. The shop owner told me there are twisty roads till Gersoppa.






Moved on to find the shop owner's words true and enjoyed throwing the Duke on the twisties! Duke behaved very well and never stepped out of the line. Here again I found one more Duke 390 carrying a couple going towards Shimoga. I wondered how the pillion manages to fit on the puny rear seat!


Negotiating one corner after another, some deep long high speed ones and some hair pins, I reached Honnavara. Two restaurants greeted me the moment I touched NH 17 from NH 206. Chose the first one as it was not very crowded and moreover my bike was visible even when I sat inside. Had a sumptuous South Indian meal at INR 55. I loved the typical meal and Rasam was wonderful.







The father-son duo in the background were busy clicking pictures of the Duke while I was having lunch!




Filled her up after lunch and realized she's given an average of 33 kmpl full tank to full tank! This from a mean 375 cc motor was really surprising! Next was Kumta to be followed by Gokarna. I was a little apprehensive about the kind of hotels I'll find in Gokarna. So for a brief moment I even considered staying in Hotel Pandurang International, Kumta. But the prospect of riding 30 Km back to Kumta at night put me off and I decided to head straight to Gokarna.


About an hour from Honnavara, I reached Gokarna. Being 3.30 PM the roads were deserted and the place looked sleepy. The moment I entered, I saw Hotel Ashokavana. This hotel is just 1 Km before Gokarna Temple and about 4 Km away from Om and Kudle beaches. Moreover I looked at the rooms which seemed quite clean and simple. They had a pure vegetarian restaurant as well and the parking was inside the building and seemed quite safe. However, I thought I'll give Hotel Gokarna International (they have a branch near Kudle beach) a try and rode up all the way till Kudle beach, only to find that they are full. Came back down to Hotel Ashokavana and settled for the day. INR 1500 with safe parking seemed quite fine.


It was 5 PM when I had a quick shower and decided to venture out. Since I just had a shower I decided to go to the Mahabaleshwar temple first. Even though I'm not a religious person, my parents would be really happy if I told them I went to the temple. I dressed with a Tee and Shorts since I planned to go to the beach after the temple visit. This was a mistake!


The moment I went to the temple, I saw that it was still quite crowded. One of the poojaris there told me I'll not be allowed since I'm wearing chaddi! WTF I thought - Since when did God start specifying dress code? Anyway, with no option left, I prayed to God standing outside and apologized for wearing Chaddi!


Next, I sat on the beach for sometime and gobbled up some junk food available there. It's amazing how far Gobi Manchurian, noodles and fried rice have reached. However did not dare eat them fearing hygiene. By the time I finished strolling the small by-lanes looking at all the artifacts on sale, it was 7.30 PM and I was totally tired. Came back to the hotel and decided to visit Om and Kudle beaches next day. Had an early dinner and slept like a log.


Some stats for Day 1:


Distance covered: 530 Km
Overall Mileage: 30 kmpl
Average speed: ~ 68 kmph
Name of Hotel: Hotel Ashokavana
Start Time: 6.40 AM
Breakfast: 8 - 8.30 AM
Lunch: 2.30 - 3.00 PM
End Time: 4.00 PM
Total time for multiple small breaks ~ 35 min.

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Cheers! And welcome again to our biking brotherhood!

Great going! Ride On & Ride Safe

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Thank you bro! Been 'here' for quite some time now. Been more of a passive member.

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Bring it on Suhas... Bangalore riders just can't resist that route can we... Love it too... the roads after Sagara is truly delightful... something like Charmadi Ghat... and the road conditions must still be good... it had a fat layer of good tar when I went on that route Jan 2013.

Cheers

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Day 2: January 2nd, 2014: Gokarna-Murudeshwara-Udupi-Malpe


After a good night's sleep I tried my best to wake up by 6 to catch the Sunrise. I woke up to see that it was still dark, thought I'll wake up in the next 5 minutes. Typically I woke up by 7.30 AM. The night was surprisingly cold in Gokarna considering how hot it was during the day. Got fresh and headed straight to Om beach.
Being early in the morning, the beach was beautiful, calm and not crowded. Absolutely loved the whole atmosphere.





Soon, I found a comfortable table under the tree shade inside Namaste Cafe. Ordered a Milk Coffee and some Omlette toast which was very tasty! Hogged on the food cursing myself for not coming to this place last night!






The boatmen were offering a ride to Paradise and Half moon beaches. Unfortunately I was the only one in a 10 seater boat and it would be expensive. The bad side of being there at a time when it's not crowded. Next time I thought.





I was sitting there under the tree staring at the ocean with only the sound of waves hitting the shore. No traffic, no people, no tensions, absolutely nothing to disturb me - completely at peace with myself and the world! These are the moments when you tend to introspect everything about yourself, your life, the people around you, your family, the mistakes you have done and what you intend to do to undo them. All of a sudden you feel all philosophical! Just when I was pondering about all this, "Saar Bill" came the waiter's voice bringing me back to reality.


Enough of being philosophical and trying to behave like the hippies of Gokarna, I thought to myself. Gave a final look to Om beach and went towards the bike to go to Kudle beach. Kudle turned out to be quite silent and dull with almost all huts/shacks closed. Returned to the hotel in sometime, packed and got ready to head out of Gokarna. A final pic with the hotel in background.



Next up in the plan for the day was Malpe. Not much riding today, just about 200 km. I had a faint thought of going to Murudeshwar as it's on the way and I had quite a lot of time, but wasn't sure of a visit to the temple there as I would have to find a safe place to dump my luggage and riding gear.


Soon I was out of Gokarna and onto NH17. Beautiful road again and I was cruising at good speeds. Before I knew it I had crossed Kumta and Honnavar and was proceeding towards Mangalore. It was here that I caught up with a KA19 registered Maruti Swift. This guy was driving sanely until I caught up with him and then overtook him. His ego was hurt that a stupid two-wheeler could go past his expensive car and he starting tailing me desperately trying to overtake me! I let him go and again he was in front of me driving sanely. Stupid egoistic dude, I thought.


I've a self made rule that when I find idiots on road, I either stop and let them go ahead or I blast past them in a way that they can't catch up with me at all. Here I chose the latter. When I found a good stretch of road with good visibility, I went past our Mr. Ego until he became a small peck in my mirror and finally out of sight.




I saw the diversion towards Murudeshwara and took it. As expected, it was crowded. But the first impression I got about this place was that it was much cleaner and better planned in comparison to Gokarna. Just when I was pondering if I can find a place for my bike, luggage and gear, I saw the RNS Residency right next to the temple and headed straight to their reception. After a brief chat with the manager who was surprised that I had come alone all the way from Bangalore, I dumped my luggage and gear in the luggage room safely. Bike was parked in RNS parking and off I went for the Darshan. It was 12.45 PM and was searing hot.


Soon I was inside the temple and luckily I got the darshan just before the temple closes at 1 PM. Took some pictures of the mighty wonderful Shiva statue, which is the second tallest in the world! Got down from the temple to look at the water sports in the beach and spent some time looking at the beach buzzing with activity. I was the only one on leave even after 1st January I had thought, until I saw how crowded all these places were. Families, kids on school trips, big groups of guys in Tempo Travelers - they were all there! The guy at the temple office told me that it will get so crowded by evening that the cops will not let vehicles come inside the arch from the NH during evening!





Finally, went back to RNS, mounted the saddle bag on the bike and geared up. Just wanted to be on the move as the heat was unbearable. Once on the move, I was comfortable again. As I continued cruising on the highway, at one point I realized I'm practically next to the Arabian Sea! I did not know the NH goes this close to it and surprisingly on the other side of the NH is the Suparnika river. It was a beautiful sight and at this point I just looked at my position on the map.







Spent some time here and at a short distance I could see a petty shop who had tender coconut stocked. Stopped for tender coconut when a white Duster pulled over. His name was Shafiq (If I remember right), a student in Bangalore and he was in Mangalore for his semester holidays. Had a chat with him about the journey and the bike. Soon another Ritz pulled up with three inquisitive men who asked me a lot of questions ranging from details of the bike to "Did your parents give you permission to come on bike so far?". Soon, bid goodbye to all of them and only when I saw Shafiq turn his Duster towards Mangalore, did I notice the teamBHP stickers on his car.


Meanwhile, before leaving Gokarna, I had made a couple of phone calls to Mr. Thirunathan of Silver Sands Resort, Malpe. He assured me a cottage right on the Malpe beach with safe parking at a decent price. Was looking forward to the stay in the cottage with a nice view of the beach.


It was 2.30 PM and I decided I'll ride to Malpe without any further stops. Soon I hit some rough patches of road from Kundapur to Udupi where work was still going on. Frequent deviation boards coupled with increasing traffic towards Mangalore ensured I reached Malpe only by 4 PM. After a bit of confusion on the location of the resort, a few phone calls to Mr. Thiru, I finally reached the resort at 4.30 PM.


I was greeted by a cheerful man and a wonderful little bright cottage surrounded by greenery, from where I could hear the waves hitting the shore. Let the pictures do the talking!



With the bike parked right next to my cottage, I could sleep peacefully at night.



A quick shower later, I was on the beach exactly for Sunset. This is where my phone camera felt puny to capture the beautiful Sunset.


Note to Self: Next investment whenever possible should be on a good camera.





Even though the beach was buzzing with activity, the crowd evaporated as darkness fell. I just had a stroll and checked out all the restaurants and little shops and sat in Paradise Isle Food Court for the evening. No more riding for the day meant I could relax with a couple of chilled drinks.


Here in the restaurant, casually caught up with a couple of men from Delhi who were here on a vacation. The discussion started with me telling them about my ride and then went on to lack of awareness to traffic rules in India. As they got high, the discussion was about anything and everything under the Sun! At this point, I excused myself as it was 9.30 PM, paid my bill and started the walk to my cottage unaware of what was in store for me.


Let me explain the way to my cottage from the beach. Whoever has been here would have seen the famous Gandhi statue on the beach. The area around this statue is commercial with all the restaurants and shops and is lit up after dark. Now, to my cottage I have to walk in the direction away from the statue, on the beach and after about 500-700 metres, I have to turn right which goes directly to my cottage in the Silver Sands Resort property. This property is not fenced and hence is a part of the beach itself. There is a tarred road to the main entrance of the resort, but one can walk on the beach to go to the rear entrance. In the evening when I got out of the cottage, I had seen a brick compound and a couple of yellow and orange cottages and made a mental note of these as landmarks.


I started walking, crossed the Gandhi statue, into complete darkness! I need to walk on the beach itself for another 500 metres and take a right near the brick compound. But duh! Where is the compound? Where are the yellow and orange cottages? It's all so dark everywhere! I take my cellphone out of the pocket and ping-ping it says "Low battery" at 15%! Quickly switched on the flashlight which gives me visibility of about 5 metres. Took a right and I thought I'll walk next to the compound wall. And tadaaa !! - it's a dead end! Where have I come? Have I crossed that brick compound? Why don't they have lights here?


I came back on to the beach and saw a shadow of a man in a distance smoking and walking. Is that guy looking at me? Is he walking towards me? He seems quite tall! God!!! Couldn't I have been a few inches taller? Bloody beach sand! Can't even walk fast! My leg is cramping. What all do I have? My phone, wallet, room and bike keys.


Soon I took another right where I could see another compound. Hoping this was the brick wall I wanted it to be and walked past it. In a distance I could see a cottage! God please tell me I'm in the right place! Is that a two wheeler standing in front of the cottage? I go closer. Yes !!! I was never so happy to see the Duke and my cottage! At last I was here, panting and relieved! Opened the door and got in. Stupid bugger - I thought to myself, you were such a sissy to get so scared!


Now I was feeling all secure and brave! The ride, hot sun, the chilled drink, the little walking adventure had all drained me mentally and physically. Soon I was snoring away to glory.


Some Stats for Day 2:


Distance covered: 190 Km
Overall Mileage: 32 kmpl
Average speed: ~ 60 kmph
Name of Hotel: Silver Sands Resort
Start Time: 11 AM
End Time: 4.00 PM

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Nice ride suhas.

Me: 50 kodatte (It gives a mileage of 50)
Waiter: Haa? Houda? Eivattha? (Really? 50?)
Me: Huu 2 litre ge (Yes! For 2 litres!) *Smile*
Waiter: *After a full 30 seconds* Hahahahaaha! Volle Comedy Sir Neevu! (Nice comedy Sir)

Was funny

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Well written...

sent when the wheels took a break from rolling....

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Very great ride.. And equally gud write up.. KTM Duke 390 is surely a eye candy (Orange Candy)... I have visitied Gokarna 4-5 years back.. Its a very great place.. Regarding this trhead. worth to read again and again..

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride


Thank you Santosh! It is indeed funny that people ask these questions!


Thank you!

Thank you for the kind words @Aniruddha Shinde!

Will post the final day's write up soon.

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

So I come back to XBhp intermittently and to this thread today, only to realize that I haven't completed it. Well, better late than never to complete it!

Day 3: January 3rd, 2014: Malpe-Udupi-Karkala-Charmadi-Mudigere-Hassan-Bangalore
I woke up early to the beautiful chirps of sparrows and next moment I remembered that I had woken up in the middle of the night to my own little shriek. I vaguely remembered telling myself it is a bad dream and sleeping. All thanks to the highly tense walking adventure I thought.


Got fresh and walked to the beach in search of some hot coffee. Had a long look at the place where I was lost in the darkness and I realized I had entered somebody's private property next to the beach. Funny how such a calm beautiful place can seem and look eerie after dark!


Walked further to find all the restaurants/shops closed. Came back to the cottage and decided to visit the world famous Sri Krishna Matha in Udupi. A quick look at the map to see the road to Udupi is on the other side of the NH and I continued further to witness nice broad roads and good infrastructure in Udupi and Manipal wondering why only Namma Bengaluru has such bad roads when cities like Udupi and Mysore have lovely roads! Found the direction board to Sri Krishna Temple and in no time I was in front of the temple.




Once I entered the temple, I realized there's a big neighborhood inside with hotels, ATMs and of course numerous temples. The whole place has a sense of serenity while constant chants can be heard everywhere.








I was wandering about clicking pictures and taking in the beauty and calmness of the place and soon there was a long queue for the darshan. Here too I noticed a board signalling dress code - no shirts allowed! Then I noticed Kanakanakhindi - Apparently this was a crack in the temple wall caused by an earthquake through which Kanakadasa was able to see god's idol and even now one can see god's idol through this small window.


A couple of colorful chariots!








With one final Namaskara to Lord Krishna, I left the temple and headed back to the cottage. On the way clicked a picture of the every busy Malpe harbor.




It was 8 AM now and I had to decide where to head today. There were 2 route options I had in mind. One was to head to Mangalore and subsequently to Mysore via Sullia and Madikeri. I had a plan to stay in Mysore at my grandmother's place. The other plan was to take Charmadi from Udupi and head to Bangalore. The entire ride was planned as I wanted to ride Charmadi/Shiradi as I mentioned earlier. Updates that Charmadi was freshly tarred a week ago and also that Sullia road was in bad condition ensured I decided to choose Charmadi and head to Bangalore. If I decide to head to Mysore, I can still go from Sakleshpur or Hassan I thought.


Had a brief discussion with Mr. Thirunathan, the resort owner on the route and he gave me the precise directions and road conditions. Soon I packed, geared up and bid goodbye to Mr. Thiru and Silver Sands resort. I wanted to have some authentic Udupi breakfast and I was suggested Hotel Sarovar by Mr. Thiru which is right on the NH junction.


I pulled over in front of the hotel and an elderly security guard directed me to park my bike. Me, being the idiot I am sometimes, put on a Mangalore kannada accent and told him "Swalpa nodthiri Sir, nanna luggage untu" (Please keep a watch Sir, I'm leaving my luggage here). He realized I can't speak Mangalore Kannada for nuts and probably noticed the Bangalore registration too and replied in English in a strict tone and a straight expression "Don't worry, I shall keep a watch". (LOL) I was stunned momentarily, mumbled a quick "Thank you" and disappeared inside the hotel. *Facepalm* I thought.


I was not disappointed at all with the food - the idlis were super soft, vadas super crispy and sambar was to die for. All our "Darshinis" in Bangalore should learn Sambar from here I thought as I hogged like a pig!


It was 11 as I pulled out of the hotel and bid bye to Udupi. It was super hot compared to the pleasant morning weather and I started the ride towards Karkala. Again, the moment I exited Tiger circle in Manipal, I saw glass pieces all over the road and a Maruti Omni that had just flipped over. Man! What a jinx! - I thought, after starting another day witnessing an accident.


I was out of the hustle-bustle of the city and was soon riding on well laid roads with picturesque greenery on both sides. The road turned out to be average as it was patched up in several places. These are the kind of uneven patches you'd notice only on a bike (especially my duke with it's suspension in the 5th setting) and would go unnoticed in a car perhaps. I quickly realized I have to follow the direction boards to Dharmasthala as I have to pass Dharmasthala to head to Charmadi. Rode through Bajegoli, Naravi and Aladangady where a few stretches were bad enough to slow me down to 2nd gear. Soon I reached Guruvayankere where I had to take a left towards Belthangady. By now I had covered about 100 km in the day. A break and a cold drink later, I continued to Belthangady and Ujire. Here I saw the entry arch for Dharmasthala and for a brief moment thought about entering, until I felt I have visited enough temples in this ride (worth the next one year, considering I almost never go to temples :P) and continued further.


A couple of kilometres later, I was greeted by the checkpost. Charmadi it is !!!!




The road was beautifully tarred and I warmed up the tyres MotoGP style for the upcoming twisties.
Soon, the most anticipated roads of my jouney started. Right handers, left handers and narrow hairpins were galloped by the Duke with sheer ease, simplicity and arrogance. While all the 4 wheelers were stuck behind a painfully slow truck or a bus waiting for him to show mercy on them and give way, I sprinted through in the Duke with absolute aplomb. A few metres of visibility were enough for me to tap 2nd gear and zip through. This beautiful motorcycle taught me angles that I was never aware of!


As Mudigere approached nearer, I could see beautiful landscape all around. Found a safe place on a straight stretch of road to park and captured some of my favorite moments of the trip.






A few pictures of the western ghats and some fresh air later, I was back on my way to navigate through the last few corners of the Charmadi ghat. As I came towards the final corner I saw this couple selling fresh fruit bowls topped with chat masala.






I continued on my way to Mudigere and then towards Belur where I suddenly noticed the trip meter reading 995 km! I was not sure whether the trip meter would reset to zero or display 1000km. So I slowed down and waited for 999.9 km to click this!




Yes, that's 1000 kms on this trip now! This was a wonderful feeling and a sense of accomplishment for the biker in me!


I continued and reached Belur. Just when I thought all the curves are over and it's plains and straight roads from here on, the Belur-Hassan road caught me by surprise! The beautiful curvy roads continued, but these were broad roads with long sweeping 90 kmph corners! Enjoyed thoroughly and reached Hassan. Missed the bypass and entered the city but google maps helped me find another galli road that led me to the bypass. Soon I found a decent looking hotel where I had lunch. By the time I finished lunch and started towards Bangalore, it was 4 PM. The next 180 km were covered in 2 hours and 15 minutes - I know that's some serious speeds. This road is a biker's bliss - one just has to look out for junctions, people and animals crossing. At 6.15 PM I was home. Dad came out to greet me and exclaimed "Great" and I was grinning ear to ear under my helmet.


A final picture clicked by dad.







So finally, after all the discussions, thoughts, insecurities, fears and conversations with self, my first solo ride was a success and a big one at that! The euphoric feeling after I reached home is just not explainable in words!


Some people asked me questions like "Didn't you get bored?" and said stuff like "I'm sure you'll not go alone again". To them - well, motorcycling is something that can't be explained or taught. It has to be lived through. And hell yeah, I will ride solo again!


Until next time, adios! Ride Safe and remember ATGATT - All the Gear All the Time!


Thanks for reading!






Some Stats for Day 3:


Distance covered: 422 Km
Overall Mileage: 24 kmpl (Remember the Hassan-Bangalore stretch? :P )
Average speed: ~70 kmph
Start Time: 11 AM
End Time: 6.15 PM

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Somehow missed it earlier. Superbly narrated and shot!

Re: A Tale of a coast, beaches and temples: My First Solo Ride

Thank you buddy!