Madikeri

Date: 4 October 2016 - 6 October 2016

Start Time: 5:30 am 4 October 2016

End Time: 9:30 am 6 October 2016

From: Koramangala, Bangalore

To: Ponnampet, Kodagu

Distance: 355 kilometers

My school friend was getting married and the marriage was in Coorg. The wedding was on 5 October 2016 and 6 October 2016 in Madikeri and this presented the opportunity of going on a cycle tour as well. The concern was the luggage which was sorted out since the other batch mates were coming in a car, I handed over a bag to them and carried only the clothes and electronic devices required for the ride. I had to decide the ride route and opted to do the Hassan - Madikeri route rather than the Mysore-Madikeri route. I wanted to avoid the Mysore road route since I have done it quite often this year and moreover I could avoid Mandya in case of any trouble related to the deficient monsoon. The Hassan route is longer, however, the route from Hassan to Madikeri is very scenic which was one of the reasons to opt for the route and another being that the route will have a lot of climbing to be done which would give me an idea if my climbing ability has improved.

The distance to Madikeri through this route is 300 kilometers and even though I did have thoughts of trying to do this in one day, I opted to cover the distance over two days. The first day I would ride to Hassan and then ride to Madikeri on the next day. I planned to ride to Mandalpatti on the third morning and then return to Bangalore on the fourth day. The plan was made and I was looking forward to the ride since I would be riding in Coorg. There was one more decision to be made, which cycle do I ride? I haven't ridden the MTB in a long time and wanted to ride it since there is no time pressure and also since Mandalpatti was in the plan the MTB made more sense since Mandalpatti is an off-road location.

To Hassan:

Date: 4 October 2016

Start Time: 5:30 am

End Time: 18:30 pm

From: Koramangala, Bangalore

To: Hassan

Distance: 190 kilometers

Altitude Profile:
Koramangala – Nelamangala – Channarayapatna - Hassan

The day before the journey was hectic with work coming in and the cycle maintenance work taking longer than expected at RR cycles. I managed to hand over my bag only at 12:00 pm that night and then set the alarm for 4:30 am with a target to start at 5:30 am. I woke up before the alarm rang and went about getting ready. It did not take long and I was ready to go at 5:30 am.

It was dark and there was a slight chill going around. I did not have to use the lights since the street lights were on. It was the usual slow start to warm the body up and a gradual increase in speed. It was a pleasant ride through the city and as I made my way to Yeshwanthpur, it was day break. Traffic was thin and the traffic signals did not matter, even before I knew it an hour and a half had passed and I had covered 30 kilometers and was nearing the point where I turn from the Tumkur highway to the Hassan highway. I knew that the ride from this point would be difficult since the road begins to climb and I mentally prepared myself for a tough ride.

Although I was mentally prepared for a tough ride, I hadn't expected things to get very difficult. It took just 5 kilometers to realise that I was in for a long day since the Sun and wind were against me. It was only 7:30 am, however the Sun was out and there was head wind which did not allow me to relax on the down hills. I remained calm and concentrated on pedaling rather than on the vagaries of nature. I had crossed Nelamangala when I was feeling hungry, and the look-out for restaurants had begun. However, every time I came across a restaurant, I kept telling myself to get to the next one and pushed myself beyond Solur. It was 8:30 am when I stopped for breakfast. A plate of lemon rice and a vada and I was ready to continue the journey.

The ride after breakfast till Yadiyur was relatively easier since it was mainly a downward gradient. However, the wind had picked up and it did not give any time to relax. The landscape had changed to agricultural fields and hills in the horizon, which took my mind off the heat and the wind. The absence of trees on the highway was disappointing however, it gave a clear view of the landscape around. The road was straight and would give me a sight of at least 2 kilometers of road up ahead and I could visualise the effort that it would take to get past the section. As I got closer to Yadiyur the road started to climb again and it was long stretches of climbs followed by small descents which made me pedal constantly. I had expected to get to Bellur Cross only by 12:30 pm and had thought that I would have lunch there, however I reached Bellur Cross at 11:40 am and I stopped at Coffee Day for a drink. I was left to rue this decision later, I should have pedalled a couple of kilometers more and had an early lunch instead.

I restarted at 12:00 pm and continued the climbing. The wind did not worry me too much although I would have preferred to carry more speed from the down hills so that the effort on the climbs could be reduced. The Sun was getting more furious and the heat was picking up, however the wind although it was slowing me down, kept the temperature under control. I stopped to get my jacket off, however within a few kilometers the jacket was back on since the breeze was keeping me cool and pedaling with the jacket tied around the top tube was irritating. As I got closer to Channarayapatna, I got to see windmills on the hills. That's when I realised that this part of the country will always be windy if not the wind mills project would not have come up here. I knew that I would need to get close to the windmills and ride past them to get to Hassan and at the moment they looked pretty far off. Considering the speed at which I was riding, it looked like I might take an eternity to reach them.

The distance from Bellur Cross to Hirisave is 21 kilometers and to Channarayapatna is a further 20 kilometers. I had planned my next food stop at Channarayapatna which I had expected to reach by 2:30 pm. However, the climbs were getting difficult and I was expending energy quickly. I reached Hirisave and had the option to stop for lunch, however, I was stubborn and wanted to make it to Channarayapatna. I continued pedaling and pretty soon I realised that I had made a mistake by not stopping. I should have stopped for an early lunch at Bellur Cross instead of the stop for the drink at Coffee Day and I would have been able to continue, however, as I had not stopped the energy level had dipped and hunger was taking over. To compound the problem I ran out of water as well within a few kilometers from Hirisave and there were no shops around to refill. It was a slow ride from here and Channarayapatna did not seem to be arriving. The A2B sign boards indicating that there was still over 20 kilometers to go made me realise that I would not make it till there if I did not have anything to eat. I pushed on and the first sight of a hotel came up 6 kilometers from Channrayapatna and I stopped. It was a 'military' hotel which effectively means that it is a non-vegetarian hotel and I ordered a chicken biriyani and gulped down Jeera Soda. The biriyani was not what I had expected and I was not very happy with the food. It was 2:30 pm when I restarted the ride.

The first target was to get to the Channarayapatna by pass and to get the distance to Hassan down to 40 kilometers. Now that the stomach had been attended to the mind was free again to concentrate on the ride and also the view. It did not take long to get to the Channarayapatna by pass. The road changes to a two lane road here and the climbs kept getting steeper. At one point it looked like I had gotten very close to the wind mills and looked like I was in touching distance, however a climb to the top made me realise that it was still a fair distance away. The advertising for A2B at Udayapura from the by pass picked up and as I counted down the distance to Udayapura I was tempted to stop at A2B to cool off. The view kept getting better as I closed in on the wind mills neccessitating quick stops for photos. On one such occassion with about 3 kilometers left to A2B I forgot to restart the Strava app and realised that I have not restarted the ride when I got to A2B.

The stop at A2B was an unecessary stop and I got fleeced at the restaurant. I drank an Orange Juice and Pomogranate juice, quantity was half a beer mug and the bill was Rs 200. The quantity of the juice had left me unsatisfied, however the bill left me even more flustered. The only positive of the stop at A2B was that I realised that I had not restarted the ride on Strava. I got back on the saddle and had 30 kilometers to get to Hassan and some difficult climbing to do. I kept remininding myself that the real climbing would start tomorrow and whatever I was doing today was the easy part and that I should not be struggling to do the climb's today since it would have a negative impact for tomorrow.

It was 4:30 pm and the heat was not abating. I got past the wind mills and continued going up steep climbs. In between I miscalculated the distance between Hassan and Mangalore and was thinking that I had to cycle 10 kilometers lesser than expected. I kept blaming the marking on the kilometer stones thinking that they had got the distance wrong. It was only when I got to within 11 kilometers of Hassan that I realised that the mistake was on my part as I had erred in math. It was around 5:45 pm when the Sun began its descent and as the temperature cooled off the speed was back in my legs and I made quick progress. It helped that the road from Shanti Grama to Hassan has a long descent. I got into Hassan and my first stop was at a bike work shop to ask for the handle bar bolt to be tightened as it had gotten loose. I had ridden from Nelamangala to Hassan with a loose handle bar bolt, unfortunately the tool kit that I had carried did not have the right size key to fix the problem. The first bike shop could not help as he did not have the tool for it, the second shop had it and he fixed it for free. I made my way to Krishna hotel, the same place where I had stopped for breakfast during the 600KM brevet. Secured the cycle and checked into the room.

Washed the clothes, a quick shower and volini routine was done and made an attempt to catch a quick nap. It did not work, headed down to the restaurant, dinner was followed by a check on the cycle and a change in the parking location with a rapport built with the security guard so that he takes care of the cycle. I headed back to the room and repacked the bag and kept the electrical equipment for charge, set the alarm for 4:00 am and then hit the sack for much needed rest. I was looking foward to the next day as it involved climbing and I would be riding in my home town.

Ride Details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Koramangala	Solur	50	2:50	2.50	5:30	8:00	20.00
Solur	Bellur Cross	50	3.00	4.00	8:00	12:00	16.67
Bellur Cross	Channarayapatna	50	2.50	3.00	12:00	15:00	20.00
Channarayapatna	Hassan	40	2.75	3.50	15:00	18:30	14.55
		190	10.75	13.00			17.67

Hassan to Madikeri:

Date: 5 October 2016

Start Time: 4:45 am

End Time: 15:00 pm

From: Hassan

To: Madikeri

Distance: 120 kilometers

Altitude Profile:
Hassan - Gorur - Somwarpet - Madikeri

I was excited about the ride today and again did not need the alarm to wake me up. I was awake and was just lying around to kill time. However, I could not wait any longer and got ready and was ready to leave at 4:15 am. However, the check out and the fitting the accessories to the cycle took more time than I had expected. I had to wake up the hotel staff to complete the check out procedure. The original plan was to leave at 5:00 am, although I could have left half an an earlier, the delay at check out resulted in only a 15 minute early start. I was off at 4:45 am after tipping the security guard for looking out for the cycle.

The start of the ride was not very nice since the road from Hassan city to get to the ring road and then through the Hassan Industrial Estate was not very good. I was happy that I was on the MTB and not on the road cycle. I had not checked the altitude profile for the day's ride, however, I knew that that it would be a general up hill ride since I will have to climb up to Madikeri. The initial part of the ride would be down hill till I  get to the Gorur dam and the climb will commence from there. However, even as I exited Hassan the road was climbing and it took a while before the down hill started. The route till the Hassan Industrial Area had a little bit of light which assisted in the vision, however, as soon as I crossed this section, it was pitch dark and the saying 'the night is darkest just before dawn' made a lot of sense. I was passing through what looked like a forest area and with no one around it seemed pretty eerie and was giving me the creeps. Every sight of a vehicle was welcome since it gave me confidence that I was not the only one on the road.

I hit a down hill section and as I rode gingerly I was missing daylight as I could not enjoy the view around. I was regretting starting early, however, I also knew that the view would only get better as I rode towards Madikeri and was happy that I could spend more time in those sections. As I got closer to Gorur it was day break and I could see the catchment area of the Hemavathi reservoir. It was in the distance and there was a lot of dried up area as well. I rode further and spotted the dam. A little further water was flowing into the canal and then I crossed Gorur and got onto the bridge over the Hemavathi river. It was sun rise time and I spent some time on the bridge watching the Hemavathi river flow towards Krishnarajasagar Reservoir.

The excitement of having seen the river was done with and it was time to get back on the saddle and head towards Madikeri. The climb started and when I reached Arkalgud I had to take a right to go towards Somwarpet. I was out of water and stopped at a shop to refill on water and bought a litre of Jeera Soda and kept it in the bag. It immediately added weight onto my back which I was not very happy with. Had a piece of Sonpapdi to keep the hunger at bay and started the ride. The road was bad at places and the road work has been stalled. It does not look like the work will get done in the near future. I got to see the Hemavathi Reservoir from the other side now. In other words I was circling around the reservoir.

Frequent stops for taking photos was breaking the rhythm of the ride. I did not want to stop anymore until I reached the Coorg border. I pedaled on and in about 8 kilometers I reached the junction where I had to take a left to go to Shanivarasanthe. The scenery changed from the reservoir to hills and plantations. As soon as I saw the coffee plantation I knew that I was almost in Coorg. There were beautiful small lakes along the way and it was very tempting to stop at these locations for a while. As I got closer to the border the road began to climb and there were steep climbs. I was happy to see the climbs and was even more satisfied when I made my way past these climbs. I reached the Coorg border and stopped to click a photo of crossing over.

The road from here became a series of climbs and descents. Some sharp climbs followed by steep descents. Although I was speeding down the descents, I was not too happy since I knew that I would have to climb back up. I reached Shanivarsanthe at 9:00 am and stopped for breakfast. Had a plate of paratha and a vada, emptied half a bottle of the Jeera Soda and was ready to ride towards Somwarpet at 9:30 am.

The ride started with a steep climb which did away the effect of the rest that I had during breakfast. It was again climbing and descending with the climbing being far more than the descending. I took a break with about 5 kilometers left to Somwarpet and realised that Somwarpet in on top of a hill and that I would have to get to the top to reach the town. The speed was very slow and I was mentally preparing myself to reach Madikeri only around 5 pm if the same climbing continued.

It took me a further 20minutes to get to Somwarpet and I was happy that I had made it to the top and it was just 10:30 am. I had reached earlier than I had expected and what followed was a nice down hill. I was out of water and had to refill in Somwarpet town. A quick 5 kilometeres and I hit a junction where the right goes to Madapur and the left to Suntikoppa. I opted for the Madapur road and had 15 kilometers to reach Madapaur. The original plan was to reach Madapur for lunch. However, I did not know that there was a 6 kilometer down hill stretch which took me down the hill rather quickly. I was feeling very good, however the minute the uphill started I knew that I was tired since it took all of a kilometer for me to stop for a break. Some more Jeera Soda and I was off again.

The gradient was more downhill than climbs and I reached Madapur by 11:15 am. I had reached very early and made my way out of town and started the last 20 kilometers towards Madikeri. Madapur to Madikeri is a climb and I had gotten into a good rhythm. I was climbing at a decent pace compared to my earlier climbing experience. There were steep sections followed by sections where I could catch my breath. On one such climb I could see the Kaveri river flowing through a estate. A quick stop to get a snap and continued further on and in a few minutes I was at Hattihole bridge with the Kaveri river flowing beneath.

I got back on the saddle and started pedaling. I had to change the travel plan since I had got a call from work saying that I had to be in Bangalore on Friday. The plan to go to Mandalpatti on Thursday and then ride back to Bangalore on Friday had to be changed. I wanted to ride back to Bangalore, so I had decided to ride to Ponnampet on Thursday, leave the cycle at my uncle's house and then head back to Bangalore by bus. Based on the work situation I would get back to Ponnampet and then ride back to Bangalore on another day. However, since I was slated for an early finish to Madikeri, I started to think that I could make it to Mandalpatti today. I did remember that the road's are very steep however, it is at a distance of just 6 kilometers from Madikeri, so it would not take long. I stopped for another break to refill on water and started to ride again. It took all of 30 minutes for me to run out of steam again and I had to break again. I was done with the Jeera Soda bottle and water was also almost over. I restarted the ride and came across beautiful mountain ranges.

The last part of the climb to Madikeri was a little difficult, however I was able to negotiate it and was not complaining that there was more climbing to be done. The kilometers kept coming down with each pedal stroke and I was within 2 kilometers of the town at 1:45 am. The left turn would take me to the town and the right would take me towards Abbi Falls/Mandalpatti. I did not hesitate and took the right to go towards Mandalpatti. The road went down and then started climbing towards Abbi Falls. The climb was very steep and the speed at which I was climbing was at 2 - 4 kmph. I passed the Medical Sciences building and as I pedaled the climb did not look like getting over. I was hungry and when I saw a restaurant board I stopped. There was still 4 kilometers to go to Abhi Falls. I thought that it was better to eat rather than to repeat what had happened the previous day.

It was 2 pm and as I was getting through my plate of vegetarian meals I checked the distance left to Mandalpatti. The distance was 15 kilometers and that  made me reconsider the ride to Mandalpatti. 15 kilometers which comprised of steep climbs was what the doctor had not ordered for the day. I decided not to go since it would easily take a further 3 hours which I did not have. I had lunch and then headed back to Madikeri. It was 3pm when I reached the wedding hall. Even though I would have preferred to go to the room and freshen up I had to go to the wedding hall since my batch mates where there. 2 hours later we headed to the room, freshened up and then went for the wedding.

I was happy with the ride especially because I had not cramped anywhere during the ride. It was a positive sign and gives me confidence to try out more difficult climbs. The route was very scenic and kept me going. Its a ride in Coorg and having covered North Coorg with the exception of Mandalpatti, I will have to ride to South Coorg now.

Ride Details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Hassan	Gorur	26	1.75	2.00	4:45	6:45	14.86
Gorur	Shanivarasanthe	28	1.75	2.25	6:45	9:00	16.00
Shanivarasanthe	Somawarapet	21	1.25	1.50	9:00	10:30	16.80
Somawarapet	Madapur	20	0.75	1.00	10:30	11:30	26.67
Madapur	Madikeri	25	2.75	3.50	11:30	15:00	9.09
		120	8.25	10.25			14.55

Madikeri to Ponnampet:

Date: 6 October 2016

Start Time: 6:15 am

End Time: 9:30 am

From: Madikeri

To: Ponnampet

Distance: 54 kilometers

Altitude Profile:
Madikeri - Virajpet - Ponnampet

This was a forced ride, not one which I had planned to do on this trip, however, I did not have any complaints since it was a ride that I have always wanted to do. The wedding went on till late in the night and we got back to the room at 2:00 am. I needed to head back to the wedding by 11:30 am. Since I was in Madikeri, the intial part of the ride was going to be downhill and I assumed that the down hill section would be atleast 15 kilometers wherein I could save a lot of time. Instead of starting at 5:00 am, I opted to start at 6:00 am so that there would be daylight and I can enjoy the scenery as I ride. The plan was to start the ride at 6:00 am, reach Ponnampet at 8:30 am, take the bus and get back to Madikeri by 11:30 am.

I woke up at 5:30 am and tried as much as possible not to disturb the others and then started the ride at 6:15 am. The down hill was disappointing on two fronts, the road was not good with potholes in various places and the downhill was only 4 kilometers. I was in for another day in rolling terrain and not having rested properly it was going to be a bit of a struggle. The climbs were done at a slow speed and the down hills were done at good speeds with a maximum speed of 60 kmph.

I made my way to Murnad and then headed towards Virajpet. I passed 3 riders on their MTB's coming out of an interior road. I acknowledged and rode on. In a few minutes one of the riders came by asking me to stop. We introduced ourselves and started talking about cycling by which time the other riders also came by. They had a lot of queries about cycling and cycling equipment and the kind of rides that I do. They seemed disappointed that I had not made a cycling group and was riding alone. I did not realise that the talk was taking time and I spent almost 30 minutes talking to them. They must have realised that I was getting late, exchanged numbers and I continued the ride. In a short while I reached the Bethri bridge and stopped to take a few snaps.

I continued the ride and as I got closer to Virajpet, I saw the Tadiyandamol mountain range. I stopped to click a few more snaps and realised that I had not restarted the ride in Strava when I resumed at the Bethri Bridge. I was not too concerned about the ride in the app, the view was beautiful and was worth stopping. It took some time for me to realise that I had to get back to the wedding and I restarted the ride. I reached Virajpet and a look at the time, it was 8:45 am and I was going to be late. 

The ride from Virajpet to Gonikoppa was again very scenic as I passed a lot of agricultural land with paddy cultivated and mountains in the back drop. I got to Gonikoppa and then rode on to Ponnampet. I reached my uncle's house at 9:30 am.

Parked the cycle, took off the accessories and then went in to have breakfast. It was 10:30 am when I boarded the bus to Madikeri. Reached Madikeri at 12:15 am, and went to the wedding hall at 1:00 pm by which time all the ceremonies were done.

It is an unfinished cycle tour and I will be getting back soon to complete the ride.

Ride Details:

From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Avg Speed
Madikeri	Ponnampet	54	2.50	3.25	6:15	9:30	21.60
		54	2.50	3.25			21.60