Monday, June 4, 2012

Itinerant: Solo bike trip

Got my Royal Enfield Classic Chrome 500cc bullet in May. After the run-in was over, planned a 900km solo trip to western ghats, as per the following plan:
Jun 1st: Bangalore - Mysore (stay at my village near Mysore) (about 150 kms)
Jun 2nd: Mysore-Madikeri-Talacauvery-Panathur-Sulya-Ujire (about 420 kms)
Jun 3rd: Ujire-Charmadi-Hassan-Magadi-Bangalore (about 330 kms)

Let the pictures tell the story:

In front of my ancestral home in the village


Near Bhagamandala, just before the ascent to Talacauvery, my first experience of hair pin bends and real "ghats". Thought the monsoon had not started it was cloudy and there were few short spells of drizzle along the way.


Panathur Forest. There is one less traveled and lesser known road from Bhagamandala to Panathur in Kerala, which is the shortest route from Talacauvery Kanhanghad and Kasargod. This road is narrow, twisty, descends fast and goes through a thick jungle. I took about an hour to cover 30kms and encountered about 3-4 jeeps in this period. Elephant dung was visible on the road. Didn't dare to stop and get down anywhere, until I passed the forest.







Charmadi was as majestic as ever. Got up early and was on the road just to see the mist covered ghats of Charmadi and I was not disappointed.






It was a great experience, especially given that I started riding bikes only in Feb 2012 and prior to the trip had a riding experience of only about 800kms or so.The "Bull" is great, especially once you cross 60kmph - its as comfortable as driving a car.

Next one is planned in Sep/Oct exclusively in the district of Shimoga.


2 comments:

Krishnakumar M said...

Liked the pictures with bike as the hero. Great one.

Arun Rozario said...

Wow, just reminded of the days I had rode to Kodaikanal, Yercard and Ooty. The snaps were great. I recommend you have the company of a tripod on your Solo trips, you on the beast should be a good snap.