Just out of curiosity.Which bike you were riding? The last 30oddkms from Chikmaglur to Kemmangundi is also in very bad shape.

For someone who wants to head to NH-4 from Jog the below route will be ideal. Jog-Siddapur-Sirsi-Mundagod-Hubli(176km).Excellent road condition with zero traffic.

Hyderabad - Bengaluru (NH 7)

Distance: 570 km

I did this ride 15 days back. The roads from Hyderabad till Kurnool are excellent. One can easily maintain good speeds on this 200 km stretch. From Kurnool till Anantapur, the roads are really bad. There are diversions and railway crossings every now and then. At a certain stretch, the road is in such a bad shape that one cannot ride above 10 km/h. This 150 km takes a lot of time. From Anantapur till Bengaluru, the roads are better. But still there are diversions. This 200 km stretch also requires more time to cover than the normal time. There are speed breakers on the highway, once we enter Karnataka. These speed breakers also waste a lot of time. This continues till one reaches Bengaluru.


Bengaluru - Mysore (SH 17)

Distance: 150 km

I took the Tumkur road (NH 4) from Bengaluru. There was a flyover construction going on the way, which wastes a lot of time due to traffic jam. It took about an hour to reach the NH 4. This highway is excellent and good speeds can be maintained on it. One needs to take a left turn from this NH 4 towards SH 17 after about 17 km. This highway leads to Mysore. It was quite busy when I traveled. One has to pass through several cities on the way and hence it takes more time to cover this stretch. There are speed breakers again on this road which wastes a lot of time. There was some road construction going on the way which had caused a traffic jam. The traffic increases in the evening. One can encounter several traffic jams while riding in the evening.

Let the photo do the explaining





That road was actually the best bit in the whole stretch. The 34 km round trip took me 4 hours to cover, which included 10 min to walk to the waterfalls, and 20 min to remove the leeches that I collected during the walk

which point after chikmagalur did u see the water on the road ?
day be4 yest there was nothing la that . I did manage to see an antelope/Stag on the road. Damn it was huge

@Santa: Had to return to Bangalore early.

And I remember, but no other decent route to that part. No other go.

And the water on the road is on the way to Hebbe Falls from Kemmanagundi. Not near Chikmagalur.

That looks like the mud road from kemmangundi mines to the falls rather than from chikmagalur ot kemmangundi.

Anyway will check the roads again tomorrow and let you guys know

PS: No bike this time

@sksy: Exactly. That's the same road. And I did that road on Monday. I doubt things would have changed in 4-5 days. Pretty big round rocks all over the road, covered with moss/algae. Tyre was first of all not a very good one, and the bike was weighed down with my saddlebags. All in all, huge fun.

Going in a jeep or what?

EDIT: This should clear things up. The two blue placemarks are Hebbe Falls (the one on top is where I had to park the bike and walk).

Yeah yeah got it , cos u replied 2 mg's msg na so i thot its b/w chikmagalur
cos been ther so many times n never seen it .
Yeah 2 hebbe the road is lovely :-)

Amazing i must say

Around Hyderabad

Hyderabad to Guntur
NH9 to Vijayawada and to Guntur on GQ, 280KM + 30 KM .NH9 Traffic is more but If u are taking Bike then start in the morning between 7 and 9. This way you can avoid Traffic, else start between 3 to 4 in the Afternoon(For Cars).
Have 4 Lanes on the Hyderabad Side and Vijayawada side for about 50 KM ,then it is double lane in between and is prone to accidents and traffic jams,some times never ending.Avoid during festivals ,long holidays and during political activities.

State High way by tuning right from Narketpally-Nalgonda-Miryalguda-Piduguralla-Sattenepally-Guntur
Double laned roads which are OK to Good in most stretches, About 10 KM stretch near the cement factories at Damarcherla is vey bad. A lot of small towns and villages en route having speed breakers bring down your average speed considerably. Less traffic but you will find a lot of overloaded autos and some cattle on the roads. It will take time to get across Satennepally and Piduguralla as the roads will be crowded. Bypass Nalgonda or Miryalaguda town,I followed a RTC bus and wasted 1 hour getting into Nalgonda.

Hyderabad-Srisailam
One very enjoyable route for a single day ride,its about 230 to 240 KM of which last 50 KM are Ghat Roads and Nalamala forests, Traffic not allowed during nights in the forest.
Good smooth roads with exciting turns and bends and some long straights, Only state RTC buses contribute to heavy vehicle traffic.

Hyderabad - Nagarjuna Sagar
150 KM
The roads are Good but they are being widened from the Hyderabad side so lot of diversions upto Ibrahimpatnam.
The ride is monotonous with only the Krishna drinking water pipeline giving you the company for most part,the surroundings are featureless but the stretch near the Dam is exciting with Ghat road section.

Hyderabad-Warangal
NH202-about 140-150 KM
The road till Aler and Jangaon is good and is four laned for most part from Hyderabad and then double laned, Can find few bad stretches after Jangaon.

Apart from this.
Hyderabad-Nizamabad Road NH7 (I think) is four laned and good till Auto Park at Toopran but some work is still going on at some places.Havent gone beyond.

Hyderabad -Karimnagar
State Highway-Rajeev rahadari, Two laned , very exciting but accident prone.

saw this in paper today, Kudremukh road completely washed off, don't think traffic from Kalasa to Karkala will happen soon:

Holy SHit! That looks dangerous.

As expected no changes in the road conditions between chickmagalur and kemmangundi.

Summary:

Chikmagalur - Mulliangiri : Roads are rideable. Can maintain 40kmph+ in most stretches.
Mulliangiri - Attigundi : Slightly worse than above, but rideable nonetheless
Attigundi - Kemmangundi : Progressively gets worse. Landslides and fallen trees are common sight. Had to push aside a tree myself . At some points it gets really bad (walking would be faster).
Kemmangundi - Lingadahalli - Tarikere : Roads are bad as before for about 5kms or so. As soon as you exit Bhadra forest range, the roads are very good.
There are some bad spots (10-20mts) in between, but managable.

I remember this section of the road very well. Quite a fast 110kph section previously. But according the reports it should be fixed in a week or so. Will be riding on the route in a couple of weeks. Will provide an update.

Btw, How's the route from Chickamagalur to Kemmangundi peak and Baba budangiri. Can anyone please provide an update.

If possible Mullaingiri-Kemmangundi-Bababudangiri route... I've been to Mullaingiri in June and it was decent till the climb begins. Have heard its bad from Mullaingiri to Kemmangundi.

EDIT: Just saw an update from Sksy!

@SKSY: can you tell me the approximate distance to Kemmangundi and bababudangiri from Mullaingiri. I recall it being 20-25 kms to Kemmangundi and 40-45 to Bababudangiri. But have been warned about the off-roading to Kemmangundi. Any feedback would be great. Planning a group ride this month end

If you are going from Chikmagalur, the deviation to mulliangiri comes first, then after attigundi you get the deviation to baba budan giri. The roads to all these places are manageable. The problem starts only after you cross attigundi towards kemmangundi. The distance from there is about 25kms (to kemmangundi) it would easily take you 80min or more, more if you are in a group.

Thanks Sksy for the info! I've ridden to Mullaingiri but couldnt make it to Kemmangundi the last time.