0 Bicycle Ride - Bangalore to Mysore to Bangalore

The most memorable cycling excursion, was during summer of 1986.

Just after my PUC-I exams, Babu Prasad and I, did some basic planning for the trip. A little village near Mysore was our destination. Mom was against our idea while Dad was cool about it... We made sure our Hero cycles were in good condition, especially the brakes. We carried one back-pack each. Both of us had Walkmans and few cassettes.

We started our journey early morning since we had no idea how much time was required to cover 165km. The first 20-30kms was mostly uphill, with the sun going up, the day was getting warm. Sweating and panting, I started wondering if I could ride all the way to Mysore. This is where our Walkmans came handy, thoughts of giving up were blown away by the numbers blasting into our ears... we passed by Ramnagar, place full of hills where Sholay was shot.

We had breakfast at Channapatna and continued with our journey. Riding a bicycle on the highway was a totally new experience. We had to be careful, watch for traffic... turn back every now to check... especially notorious KSRTC bus drivers. We made our way to Mandya by lunch time, we had covered close to 100km, 60 more to go. Paddy and sugarcane fields flanked the roads now. We stopped by a farm and got fresh tomatoes from the farmer. On with journey... Srirangapattana and river Cauvery... the turn to Ranganathittu, the bird sanctuary... We were riding through the streets of Mysore, it was around 5pm.

We were yet to cover the last leg of our journey. The road to Babu's village was full of ups and downs. At one point of time, we both got cramps in our legs... what a coincidence! Almost fell off our bicycles by the sudden pain. We relaxed for few minutes and resumed with the journey, it was dusk and would be dark soon. As we reached the village, we looked up at the sky and saw the first few stars twinkling... we felt as though they were smiling at us, smiling at our joy.

Babu's relatives gave us a warm welcome. We freshened up, had coffee and went around the village... looking at the houses, dim light spilling out of them, people relaxing on the door steps, cattle tied to their posts, carts parked by... seeing rural life so closely for the first time in my life... Had a satisfying dinner, offered with so much of affection and care. We went out again, walking the empty village streets.

Next morning, we bid our hosts bye. Riding through a narrow dusty path, I suddenly realized that we were meters away from KRS... reservoir created by the dam Kannambadi Katte across river Cauvery. The dam is almost 2km long, we rode end to end and back... it was an unique experience. By evening we reached Mysore. We stayed at Babu's friend's place for the night.

Heading back to Bangalore...some where after Mandya, we passed by a cyclist riding a rickety old bike...in couple of minutes this guy was next to us, trying to pass us... he was racing us! The race was fun for us though it was not fair, since our bikes were much better than our competitor's bike. Our friend was increasing the pace of the race... we picked up speed and left him behind. Then, slowed down to let him catch us... ride faster to stretch the gap... slow down again...let him close the gap... (guess it was mean of us to do this) I don't remember how long our race went on...the guy gave up...probably he had reached his destination. Hoping to meet another character... we rode on, looking at every mile-stone- 80s, 70s, 60s... we counted down all the way back home.

We'd ridden 380km in three days, testing our stamina, testing our determination to complete the circle.

.........

Detail: Bicycle Ride - Bangalore to Mysore to Bangalore

0 Mangalore and Kerala on Kinetic Honda

1992

Anish and I decided to celebrate my birthday at Mangalore and also decided take my Kinetic Honda for the trip.

We left early, took NH4 and then NH48 towards Mangalore, riding between 50 to 70 kmph. Soon it was warm and some place just before Hassan we had tender coconut water, it was cooling and refreshing ...I had four of them and Anish had two.

Our first stop was at Dharmastala. Anish got his head shaved. He looks scary! Mid March the temperatures are high and it was very humid. We enjoyed the meals served by the temple, simple n tasty, served on leaves and we had to squat on the floor. Anish was amazed at the speed local kids emptied their leaves, his point was that they had more than us in much lesser time. It was true. I guess they were accustomed to having this food squatting on the floor. What ever it is, the food served is simply superb.

We went exploring the nearby Jamalgudda which is about 22km from Dharmastala. We climbed about quarter way up and gave up.

Next morning we headed towards Manipal, Udupi Sri Krishna temple was our destination. This was our very first visit, apart from that I cannot remember anything more. From here we went to Kollur Mookambika temple. Few kilometers before Kollur we stopped for a drink (coconut water) at a small shop by the road side. We were relaxing on a light wooden bench in the cool shade of big trees. Anish got up and the same moment I went down! The bench's legs were way too inside and my weight on the extreme end disturbed the equilibrium. No injuries. We had a good laugh and carried on with th journey. I remember seeing an elephant inside the temple premises, pilgrims feeding it banana nd coconut and getting blessings in return. Our final destination was for the day was Hattiangadi, a small village popular for it's Ganapati Temple. We reached the village after sunset and managed to get one of the rooms the temple lets out to pilgrims.

Hattiangadi is situated next to back waters and surrounded by coconut trees and paddy fields. One can see fishermen in boats going about their business peacefully. It's a nice place to be in if you wish to get away from maddening crowds. So far, we had been goody goody types, visiting temples, praying and all that. Now our trip takes a turn...

We traced back the journey on NH17, which runs along the coast, till Udupi and soon we were at Mangalore. We checked into Hotel Roopa on Balmata Road, a decent place which fit our budget. One thing unique about this hotel was that all it's 3rd and 4th floor rooms were rented out to college students. That evening we went in search of a a friend of Anish's, a doctor. It was the doctors suggestion we eat at an open air joint popular for seafood in the city outskirts towards Ullal. I relished every dish on the menu, in fact I was busy with my beer and plates of squid, prawns, etc. etc. while Anish and the doc went on with their conversation. We met Lavin and his lovely friend, Lavin another friend of Anish. I think we went to Panambur beach where we got a glimpse of dismantling ships ...old ships being broken down and sold as scrap.

Our next destination was Kannur. At the Karnataka-Kerala border a policeman waved us down and questioned us; where did we come from, where we were going, what did we carry in our bags, etc. He was convinced we were not the underworld type and let us pass. it seems gold smuggling is rampant in these parts. He was doing his duty.

Kannur is Anish's home town but his parents lived in Middle East those days. We did visit a friend, another doctor who was down with relapsed jaundice. The whites of his eyes were yellow and of course even the skin had a hue of yellow. What an irony; a doctor with a relapse. Anyway, he was a jovial person, I'd met him once earlier at Bangalore. Anish showed me around Kannur, we saw the St. Angelo Fort. Evening we had been to the sea coast, no beach here but rough and rocky coast line. Most of Kerala's coast line is rocky and very few beaches. We found plenty of crabs crawling up and down these rocks ...I learnt that certain types of crabs turn poisonous during full-moon/no-moon and fishermen do not catch them on such days. Talking about crabs and sea food reminds me of a small joint popular for sea food. I can tell this is the best sea food I ever had in my life. The place is small packed with simple wooden tables and benches. The basic meal on the menu is rice and fish curry and varieties of fishes are carried around by waiters ...all you need to do was call the right waiter and get what you want instantly. I wished I could stay in Kannur forever and visit the place everyday. I cam to know that Kerala restaurants follow the JIT system, Just In Time, food prepared for the day is sold by the end of the day, that way food is always fresh in most places in Kerala.

Well our holiday was coming to an end, time we head back to Bangalore. We rode towards Mahe, a less known Union Territory. Anish did not let me fill petrol in Kannur because it would be cheaper here, we filled the tank, we did not save a great deal but still saved a few rupees. On with our journey, we touched Calicut, Sultan Battery, Gundlupet, Mysore... The road between Sultan Battery and Mysore passes thorough forests and it's quite common to see elephants and other wild creatures. We did see a herd of wild elephants to our right. The group leader a big tusker was slightly away from rest of the herd (closer us) kicking dust and warning us to keep moving. If by chance he charged at us we had a bleak chance of escaping safely. We took off before our friend decided to charge at us and reached Mysore by evening. We checked into KSTDC Lodge, the place has an antique feel about it. Later we found a mess which offered sea food, no way comparable to the place at Kannur. We retired early that night, the ride through the jungle had left us tired.

Following morning I think we went to KRS before heading back towards Bangalore. The ride back home was little slow since we had to stop more often. My bottom was sore because of the continuous riding. Our entire journey spanned close to 1300 kilometers in 5 days.

I still have my Kinetic Honda (I call it 'wife') it's traveled 1,20,000 kilometers and resting in Bangalore at the moment. It's one of the safest two wheelers on road, it had real good braking power.


.........

Detail: Mangalore and Kerala on Kinetic Honda