It was sweet escape when Abhi told me that I could ride with him on Saturday (07-07-07) on a ride that was supposedly a 2-day rendezvous to Kalhatti near Ooty. But,since we had to get back the same day, we dint have a fixed destination in mind. We thought we’ll ride with the guys as far as possible and then head back home by a reasonable time. I got to know I was going on this ride when I was desperate for a reason not to go to an official get-together at my workplace on the same day.
Woke up at 0500 and gave Abhi a call; he had to pick up Ravi (a.k.a Trooper, Chennai) from Silk Board who was to join us on the ride. A while later I hopped onto Abhi’s bike and we were off to JnanaBharati Arch, Mysore Road which was the pre-decided start point. We were just about there, and I heard a ‘swish’ past me; Abhi had looked back to check if Trooper was with us, and off went the helmet visor, caught up in the wind and under the wheels of a rick! Ahh shucks! There was no way he could ride without the visor! Luckily we had a spare helmet at home and since we seemed to be early to the start point, we did a quick trip home and got the replacement.
Finally we were on our way on the 4-lane expressway towards Mysore. The weather was beautiful, with slight drizzle here and there all along the way. With the tarmac alternating between wet and dry and the song ‘Rain drops keep falling’ playing in my head, we cruised along the highway. Reached the first regroup and breakfast point, Indradhanush (Behind Cafe Coffee Day), Channapattana. The area was pretty crowded but we managed to find a couple of tables. I realized here that the ride had a good turn out – around 12 of us on 10 bikes, mostly thumpers (Royal Enfields and a Beemer F650) and a couple of RDs. Had idlis and crispy oily Vadas accompanied with steaming hot sambar and strong coffee. Decided to regroup just outside Mysore City and hit the highway again. The bike was in good condition and we were doing nice speeds. Cruised through Ramanagar, Maddur, Mandya and Srirangapatna. It was good to see Kaveri river swollen due to rains and it was almost touching the the base of the bridge near Srirangapatna. Got to the regroup point and waited for the rest of the group. One of the bikes hit a snag and was spewing out smoke like crazy; the guys fixed it enough for it to last the ride.
 The motorcycles on the ride |  The FSR t-shirt |  Colourful bullock cart |
We rode through Mysore and took the road that goes towards Bandipur. We got to Nanjangud, at which point, I remembered a Kannada poem from my school days about various towns in Karnataka being famous for unique things. The town of Nanjangud invoked a vague memory of a line from a this poem which refers to a particular species of banana which is indigenous to this town. No time for that this time around. Entered Gundlupet, and Abhi mentioned that if there is any place where you need to follow the sign ‘Speed Limit: 30 kmph” it is this place; people just zip-zap across road as if they were walking across some paddy fields! heh! We refueled and got to a fork in the road just after Gundlupet town. Since this was a regular regroup point and also the place where the first timers usually take the wrong route, we thought we’d wait for the rest of the bunch to catch up. Waited for a while, but no sign of any of the bikes. Sent a message to Santosh that we would proceed to Pug Marks and got going. Saw some beautiful sunflower fields on the way and took a couple of snaps and some tender coconut water. Pug Marks is a nice little restaurant just before Bundipur and is a good place if you want to relax for a while. We were contemplating whether to go all the way to Kalhatti or to start back towards Bangalore. Then we thought what the heck! It was another 50 odd kilometers and we decided that we would go to Kalhatti, or as these guys say, “lets do Kalhatti”.
 Sunflower fields at speed... |  ...and at stops. |  Say, did you learn how to make pandi curry? |
With not much sunlight, and on and off drizzle, the weather just got better as we got closer to the wilderness. We got to Bandipur, passed the interstate check post to Mudumalai. Not much luck on the wildlife scene. No lone Tuskers, but got to see some Langurs and Wild Boars on the way. Did not mind that though, considering the fact that it was such a luxury to be riding amidst the dense forest with sights and smells that is particular only to the jungles. We thumped along passing Theppakadu and Masinagudi with the towering Nilgiri range running parallel to the road. On the way we met Sandeep and Deepa with a couple of their friends, en route to Ooty. After some ‘whassup dudes’ and some snaps, we got to the lovely winding hair-pins of the Kalhatti ghats. With the sun playing a game of hide and seek behind the clouds, the glistening sunlit water rushing down the lush green, cloud-topped hills and randomly visible waterfalls all over, it was a fantastic treat to the senses. I almost forgot I was on the bike for a moment till Abhi told me that we had to watch out for the gate that was between the 19th and 20th hair-pin leading to Kalhatti Jungle Camp. We were a bit skeptical about both of us riding to the camp from the gate since the approach was a steep off road route. But we rode anyways, down the rocky path, over little creeks and some heaps of elephant dung, hoping we wouldn’t become a part of the mountain on the way :D. The path only got steeper as we got nearer to the camp and I had to get off the bike a few times. We got to the camp where Dutta, Chentil and gang were waiting with their cameras. We decided to park the bike just before the last climb as walked up to the cabins. The climb was pretty steep and we dint want to risk the descent since we had to leave back within an hour.
 One of the small streams on the off road path. |  Looks like no one cleaned up after the dinner last time. |  Spooked some bikes from going to the top. |
The view from the camp was fabulous; Gurgling sounds from a stream below, rustling trees, chirping birds made it worth the trip. The camp itself has 4-5 rooms and tents are available too. A while later we could hear the rest of the guys first coming up the
 View from across the valley at the place we just came back from. |  2 up, locked throttle, 600km days, no problem. |
Once everyone got to the camp, we had lunch, some rice and Egg curry. Then it was time for us to head back despite Adrian's futile attempts at tempting us with thoughts of the sunset, campfire and barbecued chicken. Sigh! :(
The climb back out of the valley was pretty smooth and we managed to ride two up most of the way out. Some quick shots from across the valley, and we were on our way back. We got to see a peacock, a couple of peahens, few deer and also few dumb idiots in cars throwing some food at them!
 Fat peacock, must be eating too much junk food ;) |  Hey Esteem-ed idiot, did you get that zinger burger wrapped in plastic? Grass is getting pretty boring. |
With glimpses of magnificent Kaveri and the setting sun we headed back to Bangalore. We were home in about four and a half hours, thanks to the good roads and some spirited riding! We covered a ride distance of ~600 kms overall, and except for some discomfort in my shoulders, I felt fine. A warm bath and hot dinner later, I was fresh enough for another ride! :)
