300 kms for a Dosa!!

Yes!! It's as crazy as the title suggests. We at RIEOC, are just that crazy about riding our bullets!! It all started as just another discussion on what to do on the upcoming Sunday. This soon changed to a plan to ride till Mysore, to enjoy some amazing dosas from Hotel Mylari, Nazarbad. The last few rides had all been executed flawlessly. They hadn't been boring, but they certainly lacked the excitement and anxiety when everything goes wrong!! Not saying that everything went wrong in this ride, but a few things certainly did.


We had planned to start from the Mysore Road - NICE Road junction at 5am. Sticking to the plan, I was ready to leave my house by 4.30am. I had planned to meet Jathre Rags somewhere along the Outer Ring Road. Just as I was about to leave, I got a call from him. He had had a busy night, and had been unable to fill fuel the previous night. He had thought of filling it at a 24/7 bunk, but having miscalculated the fuel left in the bike, it had stalled under the Hebbal flyover. I went to rescue him with an empty bottle, and started draining fuel from my bike. It was slow, and time consuming. After extracting about 200 ml of fuel, I gave up. I thought that it would be enough for him to reach the next bunk. Quenching his bike's thirst, we moved to the nearest petrol bunk praying it was open. The attendant at the bunk informed us that it would open in 10 minutes, and so we had no choice but to wait. After finally, re-fuelling his bike, we reached the start point 40 mins late.

Waiting for the rest of the gang!!

To our surprise, there were only 4 others waiting for us there. We were not the last to arrive. The missing bikers were still at Silk Board waiting for Go go to come with his "Chello"!! Finally they arrived at 6.30am. We were already 1.5 hours late, but we decided to continue on towards our destination. Moreover, we had to ride with a max speed of 70kmph, as one of the bikes was still being run-in.

After almost 5 rides, being the sweep, I was greatly joyed at the opportunity of being a runner. It was fun, and certainly a different type of responsibility, but for now, I think I can safely say that Sweeping is much much better. The ride towards Mysore, was pretty normal. With just a stop along the way, we reached the outskirts of mysore by 8.40am. From there onwards, I led the group till the hotel. We reached the hotel by 9am, to find it completely crowded with no space to sit. The waiter agreed to serve us outside, while we sat on the footsteps of a closed shop.

Mylari serves a dosa unlike any other that I have ever eaten. The Dosa is both soft as well as crisp. Served with a generous dollop of butter, it just melts in your mouth. Eating atleast 5 dosas is common, as you don't realise the quantity due to the yummy taste. The waiter seemed to have a special eye for Sidd, serving him more dosas and really taking good care of him ;-). After stuffing ourselves, we sat in the hot sun, waiting for the others who had gone halfway across mysore to buy sweets and condiments from a well known shop. They returned with more free samples, than purchases. The initial plan was to visit a place called Kokkure Belur (A well known bird sanctuary) on the way back, but considering the time, we decided to reach for Bangalore directly.

It is common for a group of people with common interests who keep meeting often to consider each other as family. It is also well known, that most families, after a sufficient period of time has past, introduce babies to the world. Our family had a giant baby, loved by all!! He had a small fall which caused him to pull his calf muscle. This gave him "unbearable pain", and he just couldn't ride for more than 5 kms a stretch. Moreover, dehydration had also set in, which was making things worse for him. Stopping so often gets frustrating for everyone, and so we had to employ a simple reverse psychology, that would make our baby endure the pain and ride back. We told him, that we would load his bike onto a truck, if he stopped once more. That did the trick, and all of a sudden, our baby had grown up. He endured the pain, and rode back without any further complaints. Our final stop, before the end of the ride was at Kamat for 30 glasses of sugar cane juice between 12 of us!! Yes, 30 glasses!!

The heat was actually horrible. Even as I was riding, I felt blasts of hot air hit my forehead. It felt almost like I was standing in front of the exhaust of an Industrial generator. Proof, that Bangalore's amazing weather was starting to take a turn for the worse. Enduring this horrible weather, we concluded the ride at the same place we had started, by 4pm. What was meant to be a breakfast ride, had turned out to be a Brunch Ride!! Fun, but a bit too tiring!!

The riders minus me!!

Have a bullet? Want to ride? I'm sure you would, having read so many stories!! Ride with us this Sunday. We are starting from opposite Iskcon temple, Bangalore at 5.45 am on Sunday, April 7th. We plan to ride till Tonnuru kere and head back. A total of around 250 + kms. This is one ride, you shouldn't miss!! Over 100 bullets will be on the roads and it will be a sight to see. Be part of the biggest gathering of bullets in Bangalore!!