Madhugiri - RTMC Announce ride

For many reasons, yesterday's ride to Madhugiri will be one that I will not forget too soon. It was perhaps one of the best one day rides I've ever been on.

I reached the designated start point 20 minutes late, and with barely enough petrol in the tank. Felt lousy, making the entire group (31 other bikes) to wait for me to tank up. This is the first and last time that my tank was/will be empty before I head out.

Madhugiri - RTMC Announce ride at EveryTrailMap created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

The traffic jam from Yeshwanthpur to Dasarahalli was hellish, it took us almost an hour and half to negotiate that stretch. Mostly in first gear. We were, I am certain, the center of attention for other similarly disgusted and stuck occupants of the road. One couple were heading towards Goa - and they made sure they told me about it. Weird, how suiting up, makes utter strangers roll down their windows and chit chat genially at traffic signals. "I wish I could swap places with you"; "I hate these jams"; "Are you all together?"; "Where are you guys headed?", being the usual theme. More often then not, it'll be an older gent or a young girl, initiating such an across-the-window-conversation.

May isn't exactly pleasant to ride, and worse to be stuck in a traffic jam. I was cursing all those buffoons who didn't fill fuel or arrived late - including myself. I just hoped that it'd all be worth the wait.

We regrouped outside A1, just before Nellamangala the toll gate on NH-4, only to realize that we should've regrouped after the tollgate, an error which was quickly resolved.

Breakfast was at Kamath's near Dobspet. Nothing spectacular about the place - it could accommodate all of us; and at the same time, that was the biggest plus point. But service, was a little slow.

From Kamath's we headed towards Kortagere, bypassing Tumkur. The route was scenic and fairly engrossing - you never knew when a pothole or a muddy patch would catch you off guard. Things improved after Kortagere, and in no time we were at Madhugiri. Soup, had arranged for a very interesting reception party for us - full flower, garland and the works! Undi got the Kuthagie mele Flowers treatment, the rest of us were offered a red rose - Chacha Nehru style. One band-baja troupe was missing onlee :P



The next stop was the black buck sanctuary. A place, one assumes, relegated to an obscure appendix of a neglected register placed in a forgotten corner of a dusty government office. Many of us got to spot a black buck, some of us... ahem ahem.. a few of us got to trek through the park with a guide, who showed us some more black buck - brown though and a wild boar. A naturalist ( Krishna's pillion) among us also pointed out the presence of the brain fever bird. Very interesting bird, called the hawk cuckoo chirps "brain fever". Didn't spot it, but certainly heard it. Learn't something new!

Lunch was arranged at "Bakkar Saab ka Bangla", a structure from the Raj era nestled in the midst of a forest, approachable by a muddy road from a non descript turn off on the Madhugiri-Sira state highway. Seldom you'll find off-roading part of an announce ride, but this one sure included it :) The guys loved it. The food was fantastic. Soup did a fantastic job of organizing the whole thing.

Madhugiri - RTMC Announce ride at EveryTrailMap created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

After the usual round of introductions, we started back by 5 pm. The return leg was fairly uneventful. We did have one bike with a broken accelerator cable, something I had no clue how to fix. But then stepped in Shayam and the KA-18 and KA-19 bike dudes, who did a great job sorting out the mess. On the way back, after Kamath's, Kudz and I clipped in the dark, and whatafun it was! I must say, Kudz rode great, kept sufficient distance and yet didn't lose me!

Caman the more rides onlee!

P.S. GPS tracks from my blue tooth GPS unit + E51 :) and pics from the lousy cam on the E51

Coincidence - Almost 3 years ago, I burnt my shoe on Deverayana Durga, and this time I burnt my jacket on Madhugiri... and never in between - both in the same vicinity...
http://su-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2005/09/burnt-rubber-loose-rivet-and-docile.html

Madhugiri - RTMC Announce ride