Ride to the upper fort (Melukote)

Hi guys!! I'm back after almost a month of not riding anywhere. Well, after a rather sleepless night, enjoying with my club brothers and watching RCB win their last match of the running in this year's IPL, I woke up, after about an hour of sleep at 5am on Sunday, 19th May, 2013. For the first time, there were 6 bullets parked in my house. A fact that I am indeed very proud off, and one that even my grandfather loved. We got ready, had some coffee and hurried onto our bikes being already quite late. We were supposed to be at the start point, 25kms away, by 6.30, and the time was already 6.25. Well, the others would have to wait.

Ready to leave

Pre-ride breifing by Shridhar

We raced to reach the start point, and managed to reach it within the grace time. A quick briefing at the start point, and all us eager riders were revving our bikes, ready to go. It had been previously planned to ride through mysore road, stopping at bidadi for breakfast. Then head to a small bird sanctuary called Kokkare Belur, after which head straight to Melukote (Upper Fort). Melukote, literally translates to upper fort. Though, there isn't really a fort there, the temple is built in such a way, that it could have easily doubled for a small fort whenever required.

It was a gloomy morning thanks to the cooling rains from the previous night. This was a boon for us riders, as it meant that the temperatures during the day wouldn't be too high. Starting off, we rode along Mysore Road, and reached Bidadi in no time. After all it was just a matter of 30 kms from the start point. Here, I had some yummy Thatte Idly with butter and chutney followed by a hot cup of coffee.

Thatte Idly at Bidadi

Leaving from Bidadi, the 18 bikes were thumping on towards the next destination, Kokkare Belur. The road towards Kokkare Belur, can be found just after Maddur. There's a sign on the highway, where you will have to take a left. From this point it is around 20kms. Around 15kms, down this road, we experienced our first and only breakdown for the ride - a puncture. The bike belonged to an old friend from my school days, Varun, who had very recently purchased the vintage 1982 model. With almost pit crew like speed, Bala and I had informed the lead, taken out the tools, pulled out the wheel, and identified the culprit to be a nail. Having done this, Varun set off with Sree to find a puncture shop while we waited. 20mins later they were back, and with even faster speed we had his bike up and running.

Varun's Bull minus the rear wheel

The only bird that we spotted

Now, the rest of the group had moved on to the bird sanctuary, leaving 6 of us to play catch up. This led to some confusion and we ended up doing an extra 10kms on the wrong route before we found the place. The place itself was a bit disappointing as there was only one species of bird there. Nevertheless, being the enthusiastic photographer, I quickly whipped out my new D90, and started clicking away. After around 20 mins of clicking, we decided to move on towards Melukote, which was around 65kms from there.

I was soon on the Mysore Road. While crossing Mandya, there was an intense traffic build up reminiscent of Bangalore on a Friday evening. Having successfully cleared the jam in the hot sun, I stopped along with the others around me for a quick coconut water refresher. To reach Melukote, we then took a right turn off Mysore road just after Mandya, from which point it was around 33kms.

Cooling Coconut Water

Yummy Lunch

Going through some nice curves, we reached Melukote, to find that the temple was closed. Rags had so kindly arranged for food for all of us at his uncle's place right opposite the temple. His uncle's house was one of those classic ancient homes, beautiful and ever so rare.

On the lunch menu, was yummy puliogre (tamarind rice), sweet pongal and curd rice. The sweet pongal especially was heavenly.

After the food, I was feeling very drowsy, and decided to take a small nap at the temple compound. The nap ended too soon and I was already setting up my bike, and getting ready to leave. We rode towards Bangalore, taking a different route through Nagamangala district to avoid the traffic of Mysore road. The roads were empty, and the bike in front of me was moving at a slower speed. My eyes started closing. I tried everything to keep myself awake, pinching myself, screaming, singing songs, but it wasn't good enough. So I stopped the bike, bought a bottle of soda, and washed my face with it. Refreshing, and just what I needed to keep me awake.

We soon reached the Blr-Hassan Highway, took a right and were heading towards Bangalore. Bala and I were far behind, as we had stopped a couple of times for others to refuel. At one point, I looked into my rear-view mirror and found that Bala wasn't behind me. I stopped the bike, and sure enough I got a call from him. It turns out, as he was riding Sidd's bike, he hadn't figured the fuel tap knob. It had been in reserve all the while, and so the tank had emptied completely without giving him any warning. Helping him push the bike, we reached a petrol bunk, fueled up and caught up with the rest. They had stopped 10kms from Nelamangala, for some cool drinks and to wait for us. A decision was also made here to mark the point as the end of the ride, and let everyone go their separate ways, but only after a group pic.

Thus ended, one more amazing ride. Coming up next month, will be my epic ride to the top of the world!! I can't wait.