[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Good to see you making another trip to Barvi dam.
...
Agreed, it's even lesser for me. Since I stay on the edge of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, for me the landscape changes within 8-10 kms. I just wonder why we so often miss these off beat tracks that are so very near from our regular commute roads.

Thanks for the kind words.

Even I feel surprised more people don't do this - I keep pushing my cycling friends in Mumbai & Bangalore to do this more than just repeating the same city rides again and again. You and Doc are some of the few others who I see it doing in Pune, thankfully!

I actually missed doing this in Pune - I started cycling pretty late during my ~8 years of stay in that city and when I did, I had explored only a few places around.

That's a clever strategy I must say. I will give it a try when I decide to do a ride to Lonavala, INS Shivaji, Ambi valley.

Please do. In the past I have done it from Pune twice - once to Kamshet (and rode ahead towards Lonavala & back home), and once to Lonavala (and rode ahead to Mumbai). Both times I believe I took the 5 am local - it remains quite empty and no hassles getting on or off the train. It'll be interesting to take the local towards south of Pune too, if there are options early in the morning in that direction.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Thanks for the kind words.

My pleasure

Even I feel surprised more people don't do this - I keep pushing my cycling friends in Mumbai & Bangalore to do this more than just repeating the same city rides again and again. You and Doc are some of the few others who I see it doing in Pune, thankfully!

Same here, I too like to explore new places & different routes. For me cycling is not just an exercise but an opportunity to unearth the hidden wonders around us, which we have conveniently forgotten in our day-2-day grind, its the best way to unwind.

I actually missed doing this in Pune - I started cycling pretty late during my ~8 years of stay in that city and when I did, I had explored only a few places around.

Even then I must admit you have done a lot of rides in and around Pune. For a person like me who has spent his entire childhood, adulthood, midlife in Pune, just think how much I must have missed. But as they say, "Its never too late". I took to cycling only 2.5 years ago but want to make the most of it now, till such time at least that my legs are not complaining.

[paragsachania]

That is some discovery and what better than doing it pedaling!

I too have been riding regularly now since 3 months and ended up exploring a lot of tracks and trails right within and around the neighborhood that I stay (Yelahanka). We riders keep telling each other that how the arterial routes here are less crowded since they don't lead to any dense residential or commercial areas or for that matter, there are a lot of alternate routes that each road remains peaceful most of the times. We also thank our lucky stars that we are getting to enjoy the nature for whatever time it lasts in this side of the city before it becomes a concrete jungle like the rest of the localities.

On another note, I had to drive to Aurangabad and then to Mumbai 2 weeks before and I realized how even the smallest of towns that I passed enroute have gotten serious about staying fit and more importantly cycling.

My sister's kid who is 16 manages to munch quite some kms each day and more so on weekends in and around Aurangabad that he appears along with the rest of the Aurangabad cycling group's members on vernacular press almost every weekend.

When I drove to Mumbai from Aurangabad and was passing Ahmednagar early in the morning, I could see a lot of cycling groups, all of them in proper gear and maintaining that discipline, riding towards Alephata on that beautiful and scenic road that leads to Malshej, that too on a weekday! Even when I crossed Solapur during breakfast hours, there were a lot of cyclists heading out of the city on their regular trails.

Whatever the reason be, I am happy to witness this shift from lazy morning to an active one among most of the people out there....and cycling certainly helps one explore the unknowns in the most peaceful way.

You certainly have managed to explore and cycle covering some of the most popular circuits that one otherwise does on fuel power.

[ninjatalli]

Route: Ghatkopar - Vashi - Panvel - Karnala - Pen - Mandawa jetty (Link)

Distance: ~100 kms

Difficulty: Moderate

Difficulty: This is a dated trip done back in September last year when the weather was still a mix of rain and sunshine every day. The idea was to head towards Mandwa jetty (near Alibaug) via the highway and take back the morning RoRo ferry back to the city.


The route

Turned out to be an excellent plan as the weather came out brilliant and the roads (for most parts of it) are perfect for cycling, leaving aside a bad patch of crumbling highway road sectors around Pen city.

As compared to our other weekend rides, we had a running clock on this trip. The ferry left sharp at 11 which meant we had to reach the dock well before 10:30 am. Left early morning before 5 and we were on the way at a good pace.

The highway route via New Bombay turns out to be quite a pleasant ride in the mornings with traffic being quite less and dust levels too. Just over an hour we got out of Panvel and then it was extremely pretty and green hills on the Mumbai - Goa highway for us as we passed by Karnala over the next hour.

The highway tarmac stays good till you reach Pen city when literally the road starts crumbling. Thankfully we didn't have to travel too long, as our route took us through the city to head towards the JSW steelworks factory and the crossover the Amba river beyond.



We do get a few stares from the factory workers who are filling in for their working Saturday duties, while we are all decked up in our gear and taking pictures

The scenery turns very pretty once you cross over the river as we shift to a nice rural scene with excellent dual lane roads and moderate traffic. I keep looking up at the sky for some possibility of rains but alas the sun was out in its full glory. Thankfully we soon hit a range of hills and the roads are lined up with tree cover on this patch.

We reach the jetty around 10:15 am when we observe the first ferry from Mumbai just having reached Mandwa and a host of cars and bikes come swarming down the otherwise quiet roads of Mandwa. Surprising considering till then the roads were mostly empty thanks to the pandemic. We also see a bunch of cyclists (most probably the MCE group) who seem quiet surprised to see us going the other way.



The ferry starts off on the dot at 11am, with a much sparse load so we have a good amount of seating area for us as we stuff ourselves with the food served onboard. Half an hour later we land on the other side and head back home.

[ninjatalli]

Route: Binnypet - Kengeri - Bidadi - Ramnagara - Kengeri - JP Nagar (Link)

Distance: ~100 kms

Difficulty: Moderate

Details: Bangalore is surrounded by numerous water bodies in all directions so it makes for a lovely ride heading to any of these over a rainy day. And so it was when I accompanied a small group that was heading to this small reservoir lake somewhere between Mysore and Bangalore, right outside Ramnagara town.

With some heavy showers in the morning, our start got slightly delayed but we eventually moved out accompanied by light drizzles at times. The weather was brilliant for riding as we saw throughout the entire ride as we passed Kengeri and Bidadi.


Lovely rain clouds seen throughout the morning ride

About 2.5 hours later, I reached the destination with hardly any visitors to this nice pretty spot. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) the rain gods had decided to move on so finally we decided to have a break before we get back to the road again on the return journey.


The rock setup covering one end of the lake


and the man-made dam covering the other side

By the time I started out back towards Bangalore, the sun had come out but dark clouds were around the corner. The Bangalore Mysore highway is fill of rolling hills terrain so it definitely was a flat ride back, especially as the elevation went up closer to the city/destination.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Bangalore is surrounded by numerous water bodies in all directions

Ninja, last monsoon you were in Mumbai. Have you moved to Bangalore this season? I recall you were in Chennai too sometime back, in addition to Pune and US that I am aware of. That's lot of relocations man!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Ninja, last monsoon you were in Mumbai. Have you moved to Bangalore this season? I recall you were in Chennai too sometime back, in addition to Pune and US that I am aware of. That's lot of relocations man!

Yup, moved to Bangalore end of last month. Let's see what Bangalore's got around the city! Hope Pune & the Western ghats are giving you good fun rides to try out!

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

And so it was when I accompanied a small group that was heading to this small reservoir lake somewhere between Mysore and Bangalore, right outside Ramnagara town.

Super! So you've already found a group. Nice. Happy trails buddy.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Route: Binnypet - Kengeri - Bidadi - Ramnagara - Kengeri - JP Nagar (Link)

Good to see you back in action

Attachment 2181062
Lovely rain clouds seen throughout the morning ride

Beautiful pics there

Two weeks ago had a similar ride here in Pune about 100 kms starting from Akurdi-Hinjewadi-Pirangut-Mutha-Bahuli-Khadak-Warje-Akurdi. Hope you don't mind me sharing some pics below from that ride.


Mutha Khadakwasla Ride Route Map


Other side of Khadakwasla dam


Sinhagad Fort as seen from Khadakwasla dam


Another view of Sinhagad Fort as seen from Khadakwasla dam


View from bridge on Mula river near Ghatawade Phata


View of the small check dam atop Mutha ghat

[ninjatalli]

Route: JP Nagar - MG Road - Hebbal - Yelahanka New Town - Hesaraghatta lake loop - Yeshwantpur - Outer Ring Road - JP Nagar (Link)

Distance: 100 kms

Difficulty: Moderate

Details: New weekend, new group, new direction. Last time we had done a ride towards the south (Mysore direction) so when a friend introduced me to a group that was riding to a seeming huge lake up north, I decided to join the group for a ride to a reservoir lake somewhere ahead towards the airport but more westward.

The rains usually had been omnipresent last two weeks but it was a dry cloudless day today. However, the weather was still perfect for riding with the temps remaining in the lower 20s as we passed through the center of the city and later head towards the airport road via Hebbal and Yelahanka.

About nearly 30 kms once we had reached the outskirts of the city, we weared off the main roads and took a small single lane detour that went through nicely shaded roads on both sides.





While on both sides we saw 'farms' enmarked for possible future construction, the majority of the areas were a mix of rich fields, man-made forests as well as natural vegetation on possibly govt lands, as we passed a few govt institutions on the route.

We soon reached the lake which surprisingly was almost stark empty and looking more like grasslands. A point that was further explained by some of the regulars was that the lake water had been drawn out via borewells and other means by people in all directions and it was not since 2001 the lake was seen completely filled up. A poor state which probably had much more reasons than the simple one given to us.



The loop around the lake was a beautiful one and one that was patronized by a huge number of cyclists that we saw passing us through the loop. At the midway point near a small temple premise, the customary group photos were taken





As we continued on the return leg, the sun came up in full flow and I was in no mood to go the roundabout route via Yelahanka as the temps started rising. And given the larger group size, I'm sure there would have been several halts for juice, snacks, and some more groupie pics.



So I bid bye to the group and took a shorter route albeit one with more traffic as it was through the inner roads of north-west Bangalore suburbs.
About 2.5 hours later, I was about a few kms away from home when surprisingly dark clouds started appearing around the corner. And like the last ride, I got to experience a few drizzles btw the time I reached home. If only some of it had come up a few hours ago

[ninjatalli]

Route: JP Nagar - Turahalli - Kengeri - Mysore highway - Manchanabele - Kengeri - Outer Ring Road - JP Nagar (Link)

Distance: ~80 kms

Difficulty: Moderate

Details: Independence day turned up (unfortunately over a weekend) and all the Bangalore cycling community was all abuzz doing Independence day group rides. Which I wasn't interested that much. So pinged a fellow rider I had connected over one of the recent rides and suggested this dam that was just a short ~40 kms away from the city.

Honestly neither of us had been to this place but I had seen a mention of this dam/reservoir on one of the Bangalore biking threads and had tagged it as a place to go. And a good thing I did that as the route was amazing pretty once we got off the Bangalore - Mysore highway.



With such amazing green sections with a single lane road (in pretty decent condition) with rolling hill terrain, we very soon reached the destination - a point that was made very clear as the descent started and our destination was visible right in front of us.





We went to the base and skipped the dam (doubt it was open to visitors) and turned around over there. Interestingly a bunch of cyclists just caught up with us and it was a pleasant surprise to see some familiar faces from the previous group ride. We stopped over for a cuppa and had a nice chit chat.



After some friendly banter we headed back to Kengeri (/Mysore highway) through a slightly different and longer route that went by empty streches of land. A lot of the empty sections were already set up into planned plots for future society setups with some big real estate names having their setups too.



A short while later we entered back into the city and trudged back towards home, albeit through some heavy (=normal) Bangalore city traffic that was up and running by now. Overall a fun Sunday it turned out to be.

[ninjatalli]

Route: JP Nagar - ORR - Harohalli - Kanakpura - Thattekere - Bannerghatta - JP Nagar (Link)

Distance: ~110 kms

Difficulty: Tough

Details: A 150 km ride with a fellow rider had to be postponed due to some personal constraints. However the need to do a ride was there so figured out a new option head on towards Kanakpura and then return back via the forest reserves in and around Bannerghatta sanctuary.

Turned out to be a brilliant decision - the weather was great with rain clouds overcast all day and temps in mid 20s through the first half.

The route over the first 50 kms was sorted - downhill descent over a gradual rate with a mix of concrete roads and at parts underconstruction roads with minimal to moderate traffic at most.



Passed the odd cyclist on the way - unlike the Mysore highway or the northern sections of Bangalore, this road wasn't really a popular choice with Bangalore cyclists it seemed.



I turned off the highway to take the inner routes via single lane roads that passed through picturesque villages and rural setups, with hills and mountains surrounding them in atleast one of the directions.



With the numerous turns, I'd often take the wrong turn, heading into a seemingly closed up valley like this but eventually the road would sneak out ahead and I would be back on track, heading towards Bangalore City.



The locals were quite intrigued to see me - if Kanakpura highway was lesser riden by cyclists, these inner lanes hardly saw any. Several times I had to clarify that I was coming from and heading back to Bangalore

The return with unfortunately a significant ascent and my numerous detours made sure I reached home much beyond my planned time lines.


route

[ninjatalli]

Route: JP Nagar - ORR - Marathalli - Tin Factory - Hebbal flyover - Yeswanthpur - Banashankari - Basavanagudi - JP Nagar (Link)

Distance: ~65 kms

Difficulty: Easy

Details: Generally as a rule, I love these within-city circling routes. Bombay has two extremely popular ones (Link 1) / (Link 2) both around ~65 kms loops. The reasons are quite easy to comprehend
- you are always an arm's distance from a auto/taxi to take back home if the need arises
- plenty of food joints to aim for and make it a breakfast ride if that tickles your tummy
- (generally) decent paved roads with minimal traffic and pleasant weather if one gets out early enough
- you get back home before the rest of the family is waking up (hey hot breakfast!)

Bangalore had the ORR (Outer Ring Road) - a perfect 65 km circle around the city with nice well paved roads. Excellent!



Or so I thought.

Bangalore ORR are also (in)famous for another reasons - traffic jams. And with metro constructions on several sections of the ORR, even getting out at 6 am (which usually worked well for Bombay) didn't really do the job. By the time I reached half way (and the other north end of Bangalore), I had full-on traffic to contend with.

Well atleast I could arrange a catch-up with a friend to have some awesome khaali dosae at Mahalaxmi Tiffin Room. And be back home by 10:30 am for an noon show of Shang-chi and the legend of the 10 rings!


Pic source: google images

[ninjatalli]

Route: JP Nagar - Yeswanthpur - Nelamangala - Dobbaspet - (off) Tumkur (Link)

Distance: ~70 kms

Difficulty: Moderate

Details: So a weekend plan at an airbnb farmhouse was made near Tumkur. The trip distance sounded perfect for a one-way ride to the place and getting the bike back in the car on the return.



The weather turned out to be funny - it started drizzling early morning as I passed through the city but as I headed out towards the Bangalore - Mumbai highway, the sun came out in full swing with full-on heat but thankfully with nice cool winds.



While there was a fair amount of traffic, there was decent space for a cyclist to pass through most of the sections. With opportunities to take short halts as and when needed.



And once I got off the highway, the inner single-lane roads were perfect for riding. A few halts as and when I felt the need to take a pic, and so went the last ~20 kms with several halts like these.





And of course, once I reached my destination, the rest of the weekend was more or less spent like this. With a book and other paraphernalia in hand. A nice way to spend the weekend, wouldn't you agree?

[ninjatalli]

Route: JP Nagar - Yelahanka - Devanahalli - KIAL - Bagalur - JP Nagar (Link)

Distance: ~100 kms

Difficulty: Moderate

Details: It's been a while since I took the cycle out, what with home-bound holiday trips and recent health issues. With some amazing rainy_but_not_actually_raining weather on a cold Saturday morning, I decided to head towards the KIAL airport and see how much further I could proceed ahead.

Started out by 5:30 am and the onward journey was without any hassles, with low to moderate traffic on the busy highway. Surprisingly saw a lot of cyclists heading in the same direction, seemed like some group based event that was being organized in north Bangalore side.

Reached Devanahalli when the rain started, so decided to take a halt at an Udupi outlet and had my morning breakfast. It was then I decided to head back but going through some inner routes passing by the airport rather than taking the main highway back as by then the traffic flow would have increased significantly.



Took a short halt just before I turned towards the airport and was very close to the KIAL railway station. Just then the daily DEMU service (between the airport and Bangalore station) passed by - a rare sight considering the service had been halted during the lockdown due to low patronage.



I remember reading a few news reports of the airport staff encouraging cyclists to use the airport roadways during non-peak hours and thankfully I wasn't stopped today. Traffic was building up, primarily due to the ongoing construction happening around the airport (metro line maybe?).



Took the backside route that passes through some nice rural but upcoming areas (loads of marked plots) via Bagalur when I decided to hit another cycling location I had heard from some of the Bangalore bhpian cyclists - 'Hennur Bamboo Forest', a government maintained forest reserve, popular with MTB riders, featuring dirt trails lined with bamboo & other trees. Had some trouble figuring out where the entrance was and passed by this interesting "cove".



Soon I finally reached the forest reserve through some extremely muddy dirt tracks but found out it was closed (probably due to the rains). Saw some opening through the fencing and was able to enter. However the fact that I saw no one around inside didn't really inspire a lot of confidence so decided to head back home.



After some nice single-lane routes that took me back to the city, I finally was about ~10 kms away from my home when the unthinkable happened - a puncture! All the riding through muddy tracks and dirt roads caused no issues but a few kms back on Bangalore roads gave me a puncture!



After 90+ kms and so close to home, I was in no mood to mend the puncture myself. Luckily found this wonderful ol'school cycling (repair) shop. The owner (on the left) was a wonderful cheerful person who laughingly scolded me on why would I ride my 'expensive' road bike on a rainy day (the whole cycle & my back was baked with a layer of mud) and personally repaired my puncture. After some friendly banter, I moved on and reached home just in time for lunch!