Well, not in general, but this time the ride to SkandaGiri got the spark from a forwarded mail. It had a couple of pictures of skandagiri in the morning time, and a small description about the place. As soon as I checked out the pictures the trip was on the charts!
I dropped in the invitation to ride to a couple of friends, bulleteers and non-bulleteers alike.
Here is a part of conversation between me and Chandra, when he confirmed in the last hours that he'll join the ride:
Me:
Welcome Chandra! I knew u wud come ;)
Chandra:
Dude... be prepared to face some tough time ;) The photos you sent will put you in trouble... enjoy
Me:
:)) To get the best picture out of a place depends on the photographer also ;) so in case of any discrepancy I am not entirely to be blamed :P
Chandra:
get those nice looking clouds... u'll be spared ;)
Me:
Kamlesh: The lotus God (not the clouds :P)
P.S.: Now don't start asking for the lotuses :P
It was an early morning ride, we met at MG road, refuelled and rolled on to Hebbal flyover. We had to wait for some 10 minutes for Chandra and Jobin.
Well, this was my chance ;) I told Chandra "Itna late kar diya! Ab mujhe ye mat bolna ki clouds nahi dikhay!!" to which all Chandra could do was just stare hard at me looking lost for words and after a while gulped down all his expressions! Aah!
By 6.30 in the morning we were on the road, engines roaring high.
NH7 is a 6 laner highway till Devanahalli and I maintained good speeds in the morning.
I had donned my leather riding jacket and gloves and even after that it was chilly beyond all the expectations. As time progressed so did the chill factor and before we reached Chikaballapur I could feel the hairs rise all over my body!
That did slow me down!
At Chikaballapur we stopped and with shivering hands and body I managed to put the side stand on my bike. Next 10 minutes were spent in shivering and discussing about the cold with others.
Seeing my bike loaded with cramsters PKM was a bit surprised
Other riders were riding slowly and it was around 20 minutes before the last thumper i.e. Chandra reached.
We had our tea (For warming up our hands), breakfast. Followed with another round of tea, this time for drinking!
Almost an hour long break. No point in hurrying it up when the sun was already high, clouds were nowhere to be seen and more than that the destination was only a short while away.
PKM wanted to ride my bull, so I gave him my keys exchanged his keys with Jobin's bull (Std. 350) and we started for our remaining 5 kms. Around 1.5 kms of this part was an offroad track, it was a breeze on Jo's bull.
On being asked his experience of riding my bull, his comment on the maneuverability was "yaar meine kuch nahi kiya, jaha bull chalta gaya mein bhi wahi ho liya!"Of the 10 riders only 2 went uphill for the full trek. The rest of us just went up a small distance, only to relax, chit chat & consume the eatables brought in by me and Sachin.
After spending enough time there we thought to head back to Bangalore. The return journey was rather a relaxed one. Couple of other bike exchanges between Cast Iron - AVL bullet/ Bullet - Non bullet and we reached Devanahalli.
Lunch there and not so remarkable but relaxed journey to Bangalore.
I could not find those clouds, but I found some relaxation and a well deserved break from the routine city life and had a wonderful company. Those clouds were missing but I believe I would find them.. one day!
Ride stats:
Destination: SkandaGiri (KalavaraHalli betta)
Route: Bangalore - Yelahanka - Devanahalli - Chikaballapur - Skandagiri
Directions from Chikaballapur: Take a left turn, reach the market circle and take a right turn, follow the road and there u reach at the SkandaGiri foothill.
Distance: Around 65 kms from MG road, Bangalore.
Stop-overs: Shanti Sagar @ Chikaballapur for breakfast and some punjabi dhaba in Devanahalli for lunch.
Recommendations: Try to be there in early morning time, thats when there are clouds and you will have a good chance to witness a fresh sunrise.
**Photo courtesy: Chandra/Ajey
