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After abstaining from road trips for over a year, I have decided to traverse as much of Southern India that I can. My last road trip to Ooty in July taught me my limits; What I can do and what I can't. This time, I wanted to ride to a place where I can test my bike's potential. Places like Meghamalai, Valparai and Munnar seemed too mainstream. When my aunt's family was in Bhadravathi, we have toured Karnataka intensely and that nostalgia helped me in finalizing my destination.
Having heard about Kodachadri's charm during monsoon, I wanted to give it a try. However, I wasn't really comfortable camping in Karnataka. For an avid traveler that I am, camping took me a tad close to nature where I can sit or sleep inside my tent while gazing at the galaxy. This made me consider Vagamon and a few other places where I would be comfortable camping. Later, I chucked the idea of camping and started searching for hotels online. Having three days for the road-trip, I decided to ride through Chikmagalur so that I can spend all three days riding through serene landscapes. Started packing a day before the trip and scrutinized the bike's condition a week prior. As always, the week before the trip felt lackluster and the day before the trip was vivacious than the actual trip itself. On Friday, October the 2nd, I started at 6.30 from Chennai and decided to take the NH4 for a change.
I have ridden through this route once before, which happened to be a bitter pill. I was riding my Unicorn and hit a crater which broke the clamps holding the headlamp mask. Thinking about this, I was skeptical in taking this route again but decided to give it a go since I had a lot of time in the daylight to reach my destination for the day 1, Shimoga. As I approached the first toll near Sriperambadur, I saw a long queue of cars, buses and trucks honking notoriously. Squeezed my way through some 16-wheeled monsters and continued onwards. Soon after crossing Walaja, took the right towards Kolar on NH4. Sparing a few major junctions in the outskirts of some small town, the road was clear of traffic and the ride was pleasant. Stopped somewhere in between to take a leak and got back on the saddle to enjoy the ride through lush fields. This route is more engaging and interesting for quarter liter motorcycles as you can ride at a comfortable pace while carving some beautiful corners.
Upon reaching Chittoor, the weather became hotter and my stomach was starting to grumble in hunger. Right about time, spotted a Cafe Coffee Day and stopped there for breakfast. Ordered a cappuccino and sandwich and devoured it slowly only to realize that I had spent a little more than an hour.
I knew that the roads were going to get better and wider as I near Kolar and decided to tank up on this highway. As soon as I hit the 6-lane highways, wide opened the throttle and was cruising at 115-125 with ease(Thanks to the windscreen). Stopped at an HP bunk to tank up and update my locus to Dad and friends. The weather was cloudy and I was praying(for obvious reasons) that it doesn't rain until I cross Banglore. I relied on Google maps to navigate through the Outer Ring Road to Tumkur road, but it screwed up things. It took me through some worst stretches and made me take some unwanted U-turns and diversions. Finally, after battling the metro traffic, I was on the Tumkur Highway. Even in the afternoon this Highway was filled with cars and to make things worse, there was an accident which caused a traffic jam on the highways. Luckily there was a little passage for the bikes to pass.
Karnataka is a state that is obsessed with speed breakers. The road, connecting the NH4 to Tumkur is already in a bad shape and the speed breakers laid every 10 meters on this stretch made me grumpy. By the time I got on the Banglore-Honavar road, it was afternoon and I stopped at a small Dhaba for lunch. After the lunch, I decided to ride non-stop to make it to Shimoga before dusk. The roads were in good shape and I was constantly cruising at 90-100 on this stretch. Stopped at Tumkur to tank up and continued onward to Shimoga.
Took a few snaps on the go using the GoPro and soon after crossing Tiptur, it started raining. It was pouring heavily and the visibility was too poor even in daylight. Was riding at crawling speed for a few km's and the rain gradually changed to a mild drizzle. The wet trees to the side of the road made the route scenic. Took the right before Bhadravathi and continued towards Shimoga. By this time, it stopped raining and the daylight started fading. Reached Shimoga at 18.30 and navigated the way to the Jewel Rock hotel which I booked online. This time, though luckily, Google Maps didn't mislead me and took me to the place in the shortest route possible. Parked the bike, unloaded the saddle and tank bags, checked in and hit the sack for the day.
Having heard about Kodachadri's charm during monsoon, I wanted to give it a try. However, I wasn't really comfortable camping in Karnataka. For an avid traveler that I am, camping took me a tad close to nature where I can sit or sleep inside my tent while gazing at the galaxy. This made me consider Vagamon and a few other places where I would be comfortable camping. Later, I chucked the idea of camping and started searching for hotels online. Having three days for the road-trip, I decided to ride through Chikmagalur so that I can spend all three days riding through serene landscapes. Started packing a day before the trip and scrutinized the bike's condition a week prior. As always, the week before the trip felt lackluster and the day before the trip was vivacious than the actual trip itself. On Friday, October the 2nd, I started at 6.30 from Chennai and decided to take the NH4 for a change.
I have ridden through this route once before, which happened to be a bitter pill. I was riding my Unicorn and hit a crater which broke the clamps holding the headlamp mask. Thinking about this, I was skeptical in taking this route again but decided to give it a go since I had a lot of time in the daylight to reach my destination for the day 1, Shimoga. As I approached the first toll near Sriperambadur, I saw a long queue of cars, buses and trucks honking notoriously. Squeezed my way through some 16-wheeled monsters and continued onwards. Soon after crossing Walaja, took the right towards Kolar on NH4. Sparing a few major junctions in the outskirts of some small town, the road was clear of traffic and the ride was pleasant. Stopped somewhere in between to take a leak and got back on the saddle to enjoy the ride through lush fields. This route is more engaging and interesting for quarter liter motorcycles as you can ride at a comfortable pace while carving some beautiful corners.
Upon reaching Chittoor, the weather became hotter and my stomach was starting to grumble in hunger. Right about time, spotted a Cafe Coffee Day and stopped there for breakfast. Ordered a cappuccino and sandwich and devoured it slowly only to realize that I had spent a little more than an hour.
I knew that the roads were going to get better and wider as I near Kolar and decided to tank up on this highway. As soon as I hit the 6-lane highways, wide opened the throttle and was cruising at 115-125 with ease(Thanks to the windscreen). Stopped at an HP bunk to tank up and update my locus to Dad and friends. The weather was cloudy and I was praying(for obvious reasons) that it doesn't rain until I cross Banglore. I relied on Google maps to navigate through the Outer Ring Road to Tumkur road, but it screwed up things. It took me through some worst stretches and made me take some unwanted U-turns and diversions. Finally, after battling the metro traffic, I was on the Tumkur Highway. Even in the afternoon this Highway was filled with cars and to make things worse, there was an accident which caused a traffic jam on the highways. Luckily there was a little passage for the bikes to pass.
Karnataka is a state that is obsessed with speed breakers. The road, connecting the NH4 to Tumkur is already in a bad shape and the speed breakers laid every 10 meters on this stretch made me grumpy. By the time I got on the Banglore-Honavar road, it was afternoon and I stopped at a small Dhaba for lunch. After the lunch, I decided to ride non-stop to make it to Shimoga before dusk. The roads were in good shape and I was constantly cruising at 90-100 on this stretch. Stopped at Tumkur to tank up and continued onward to Shimoga.
Took a few snaps on the go using the GoPro and soon after crossing Tiptur, it started raining. It was pouring heavily and the visibility was too poor even in daylight. Was riding at crawling speed for a few km's and the rain gradually changed to a mild drizzle. The wet trees to the side of the road made the route scenic. Took the right before Bhadravathi and continued towards Shimoga. By this time, it stopped raining and the daylight started fading. Reached Shimoga at 18.30 and navigated the way to the Jewel Rock hotel which I booked online. This time, though luckily, Google Maps didn't mislead me and took me to the place in the shortest route possible. Parked the bike, unloaded the saddle and tank bags, checked in and hit the sack for the day.
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