[nandita_bayan21]

Saturday afternoon, got nothing to do, Atul and I were surfing through the internet for a possible instant ride on Sunday morning. Did some permutation-combination, checked our biking forum, Bangalore Bikers for options and finally we decided to cover the famous ‘Bangalore Bikers’ circuit – if I may call it so – Home, Kanakapura, Anchetty, Denkanikottai, Panchapalli Dam, Attibele and back home. We messaged our friend, Arun if he wanted to join. As always – he said yes. Bingo! Sunday morning instant ride planned. Around 10pm, we thought let’s check with few more folks if they wanted to join this ride, of all Zakariya (Zak) agreed, few were at native, some had other ride plans, etc. Nonetheless four of us were confirmed to ride, provided no rain and we all manage to wake up so early.

Riders: Zak, Arun, Atul and I
Bikes: Honda Stunner, Duke 390, Pulsar 200NS and Honda Dio
Meeting Point: BTM Udupi Garden signal (towards Jayadeva)
Route: BTM > Kanakapura > Anchetty > Denkanikottai > Panchapalli Dam > Denkanikottai > Attibele > Silk Board
Total distance covered: 230kms (as per my ODO)

Alarm rang by 4:45am, everyone pinged each other and yes, the ride was happening. Atul and I left home around 5:45am, our meeting point was BTM Udupi Garden signal. Zak was the first one to reach and we had to wait for our ‘GoPro’ man, Arun. Around 6am, Arun reached and we started our ride towards Kanakapura road (we took Bannerghatta road then turned towards JP Nagar and entered Kanakapura road). We did a quick tea-stop and started our journey ahead. The ride through Kanakapura road is always a bliss – so scenic and greenery on both sides of the highway gives a pleasant feel. The early morning cool breeze, slight foggy weather and the dramatic sky – all adding on to a beautiful ride (you might come across few potholes here and there, but manageable). Around 8am we reached Kanakapura town, pit-stop for breakfast and bio beaks. After devouring masala dosa, idly vada and tea – we decided to move ahead. From now on the only thing consistent throughout our ride was RAIN. It started drizzling and the ride amidst was nirvana. The feeling of being not a pillion and riding your own bike is heavenly – hope you all agree with me. Though my speed wasn’t that fast but I appreciate the boys for having patience and sticking with me, matching my speed all the time.

We took the Kanakapura – Hunasanahalli road to reach Anchetty. The roads were pretty good, curvy, scenic and breath-taking. On our way, we stopped by to do some photo-shoots with the bikes (I guess this was the only place where we could take some pics – rest of the time due to rain, I couldn’t even bring out my cameras). Around one hour we spent in clicking pics, selfies, Zak and Arun trying out 390 and my Dio as well. Around 11:45am we reached Anchetty town and did a quick tea-break. All the villagers and passerbys gave us looks as if we were from some other planets and are aliens trying to invade their place. By now the rain started to pour at a much faster pace and we had to put on our rain gears. We stopped by a shop, which was luckily closed, put on our gears and sat down for a while to chit chat and let the rain subside a bit.

12 noon and we agreed to move ahead towards Denkanikottai. The ride was pretty normal with four of us riding through the rain. Sometimes the visibility would be so poor that we had to ride super slow. Nonetheless, at around 1:30pm we reached Denkanikottai and by now all of us were super hungry. We roamed around the town for some place to eat finding none we decided to head towards Panchapalli Dam which was 22kms away and while returning back look for some place and hog.

After some 45 mins of ride, we arrived at the Panchapalli Dam. A bit disappointed as we were not allowed to go inside the dam due to heavy water flow. The dam was inundated with water and surrounded by lush green mountain ranges. Clicked some quick pics and headed back to Denkanikottai – dying of hunger. The next 22kms ride was a painful ride for me as my stomach was making all sorts of sounds and noises. However, the ride was amazing through twisted curvy roads and green nature. Reached Denkanikottai by 3pm, straight headed to this place which was serving food and that too non-veg. Ate our lunch – kerala paratha, chicken fry, omelet, kottu paratha, sunny side up and some beverages. Now, all of us had some relief.

It was already 3:45pm and after some petrol filling, bio breaks we headed towards Attibele via Mathigiri road and Attibelle Rayakottai road. Some parts of the road were really patchy and had too many potholes, so had to be super careful while riding. To add to my dismay, my tail light got fused so no one would know if I was braking – had to be extra cautious. Anyways, around 6pm we reached Attibele and then took the Electronics City elevated expressway to reach Silk Board. We parted with Zak in Electronics City and he zoomed into the city traffic.

I must say Sunday traffic is getting horrible day by day. We reached Silk Board by 7pm and Atul gets a call from another friend Dinesh, “where are you guys?” He invited us for a small dinner get-together. So we headed towards Dinesh’s home in Sarjapur for some awesome hot hot food.

An instant quick ride became a whole day ride, yet it was a wonderful road trip which I am sure all of us enjoyed. I enjoyed it more because I completed the entire journey on my own, on my own vehicle, on my Dio – a sense of accomplishment. This is a very brief write-up guys, as most of our time went in riding, riding and riding, just wanted to let you guys know about the experience. Also the number of clicks are less due to continuous rain all throughout and I was skeptical in taking my camera out. So here are some of best clicks we took.

A lake on our way to Kanakapura



A pic by the lakeside



Selfie Time



Food to calm our stomach down




Somewhere towards Anchetty





Somewhere near Denkanikottai




Panchapalli Dam





Selfie with the rain gear on



Few bike show-off clicks













Disappointed for not able to click many pics



Finally, yes! I did it on my Dio!

[Tushar]

Gotta love these spontaneous trips. Minimal planning, but the maximum fun. This light read with a few, but great pictures is just what the doctor ordered.

Around 11:45am we reached Anchetty town and did a quick tea-break. All the villagers and passerbys gave us looks as if we were from some other planets and are aliens trying to invade their place.

That's the magic of riding in a group with protective gear. They look at you like you're aliens, but that often makes them keen to start up a conversation too.

An instant quick ride became a whole day ride, yet it was a wonderful road trip which I am sure all of us enjoyed. I enjoyed it more because I completed the entire journey on my own, on my own vehicle, on my Dio – a sense of accomplishment.

An awesome feeling indeed. It's only a matter of time before this sense of accomplishment becomes an addiction. Looking forward to your future write ups, hopefully ones with even larger numbers on the odo.

[abirnale]

Have you built a bucket list or something similar? Almost predictably you have TLogs coming up on regular intervals!

Great going, Keep riding.

Awesome pics as always left craving for more

[motorpsycho]

Good Post Nandita, Doing 230 KM on a Dio is not easy. I once did a 150 Km run on an Activa in Pune on very good roads and by the time I was back I was very tired and had back ache. Kudos to you for doing this on a Dio.

[mazda4life]

Awesome , sitting here in a far away place, photos are such a comfort to my eyes and my stomach has started making noises seeing the masala dosa

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by Tushar

Gotta ... Looking forward to your future write ups, hopefully ones with even larger numbers on the odo.

Thanks Tushar

Originally Posted by abirnale

Have you built a bucket list or something similar? Almost predictably you have TLogs coming up on regular intervals!

Great going, Keep riding.

Awesome pics as always left craving for more

Indeed, I have a bucket list of 'must go' places. So please expect some more T logs from my end. Thanks!

Originally Posted by motorpsycho

Good Post Nandita, Doing 230 KM on a Dio is not easy. I once did a 150 Km run on an Activa in Pune on very good roads and by the time I was back I was very tired and had back ache. Kudos to you for doing this on a Dio.

Thanks! I even did Bangalore - Lepakshi - Avalabetta - Bangalore route, a total of 330kms on my Dio. Waiting to try my hands on geared bikes as well.

Originally Posted by mazda4life

Awesome , sitting here in a far away place, photos are such a comfort to my eyes and my stomach has started making noises seeing the masala dosa

Masala Dosa my all time fav!

[phamilyman]

Nandita - Congratulations on another well photographed ride. You know, you have an alternative profession ready for you!

So when are you buying your own touring machine? Pillion isnt even half the fun!

PS: You folks remind me of our early married days - we used to travel every month like clockwork. The car did 33k km in the first year.

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Nandita - Congratulations on another well photographed ride. You know, you have an alternative profession ready for you!

So when are you buying your own touring machine? Pillion isnt even half the fun!

PS: You folks remind me of our early married days - we used to travel every month like clockwork. The car did 33k km in the first year.

Thanks @phamilyman. I am indeed looking into taking up photography as my passion-cum-profession. Lets see how things turn up.

More than a touring machine, I would be getting a better FX body DSLR. D390 is doing amazing job till now, until Atul thinks of upgrading it. Moreover, Skiddy (my Beat) is also there to help us cover some miles.

Our plan is to cover as many places possible in our life. Hopefully can do so. "Finger crossed"

[theexperthand]

Nice pics as always - should do another trip together to get some Display Picture material clicks

Nice to know that you did it on your DIO and yes, it is always more fun when you ride. Next step - try mastering the Duke, so that you don't need to invest in another bike, and can get the FX which I am sure you will put to good use.

--Anoop

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Nice pics as always - should do another trip together to get some Display Picture material clicks

Nice to know that you did it on your DIO and yes, it is always more fun when you ride. Next step - try mastering the Duke, so that you don't need to invest in another bike, and can get the FX which I am sure you will put to good use.

--Anoop

Thanks!

Mastering the Duke - hmmm! Its a super powerful bike for me. Tried once, got hell scared!

[vandemanw]

Fast forward to 2022. How has this stretch held up? Planning for a family outing/picnic this Sunday along the same route. Has anyone recently done this? Wanted input on road conditions

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by vandemanw

Wanted input on road conditions

Not sure of the current road conditions with the heavy rains, here's another recent thread on same topic.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...een-ka-tn.html (Roads without borders | The inconspicuously delightful roads between KA-TN)