Last time I rode a cycle for long trip was when I was 18, a trip to Nandi Hills from Bangalore and back. This was on a ordinary, non-gear cycle with lunch packed on the carrier.
It was that day and now, this weekend along with a group of cycling enthusiast (Tandemtrails.co.in, started by my ex-colleagues) took on the bigger hill... Mullahnagiri. The tallest peak in Karnataka, situated in Chikkmagalur district, covered by thick Muthodi forest... what more to inspire to summit it.
We started from Bangalore on Friday night in two vehicles with all cycles on the top, to reach Chikkamagalur at around 5am, a quick nap and bath and we were ready for breakfast. An hour of drive to the foot of the hill, and we were unloading the bikes, first timers were getting to understand the gears, adjusting the saddle height, tips from the seniors, etc.. A group photo and off we went to climb the highest peak in Karnataka.
"Nandi hill is easy to climb", "Wish there was lower gears than 1/1"... were some of the thoughts on my mind, but with other cyclists pushing and cheering...There were cars/vans which were struggling to reach the top, and we were without motors. Small breaks and few jokes, a sip of water…where refreshing and again on the saddle we went. The last 2 kms were testing, any amount of force on the pedal wouldn't move the cycle by an inch... the uneven road and loose gravel made me give in and I started pushing my cycle for the last 500-800 mtrs.
Spent quite sometime taking picture of the clouds, the valley and the triumph team. Coming down was great, in minutes we reached our lunch spot. A bit of rest and off we went towards Muthodi forest, were the night stay was planned in a resort called Nature Camp. The unending ascends and quickly fading descends were becoming very frequent. It was about 4:30pm, and we were still nearly 10 kms away from our night camp. The last 5 kms stretch was through the Muthodi forest, the road wasn't good, and our wrist took the blows in spite of front suspension. With darkness threatening to take over, midst the thick forest, and few sign boards screaming "Wild animals, drive carefully"... legs automatically would push the pedal... Phew!! the sight of compound wall of the resort was life giving moment...
A good dinner, with a songs and jokes made us forget our pain. A good night sleep and next day we were ready for the new challenge, the general feeling was if we would do the peak yesterday, this cannot be tougher. So were we told that, todays terrain would be mix of ups and downs and good natural surrounds, so we were told to keep our eyes open and cameras ready.
9am and putting the bum on the saddle was the toughest part, yesterday's cycling had taken its toll not on our legs, wrist or spirit but only our bums... I tried all angles to make myself comfortable, but none could be of help... it took a good 30 minutes to forget it. And 2 hours later, dehydration took its share, I sat down with pain in my thigh, thankfully, we had our van coming behind us and I got to rest for good 30-40 mins and hydrating myself enough.
Back on the saddle and all I had to do was to forget the pain and pedal, 15 minutes later we were crossing the river Bhadra, its a sight to behold. Another 15 minutes and it was time for lunch. A good lunch and 15 minutes break and we were back on the cycles, heading in the direction of Koppa. This trail was passing through the small villages and towns, curious villagers would come out to wave, some would ask "Where are we heading to?", "Why are we doing this?" "Is this a race?"... Some even thought we didn't have any better work. Kids would stop us to ask for chocolates, pose for photos, hand over flowers and enquire about the gears, the thick tyres and would try to race on their cycles.
The second day was tiring, the legs were aching, and the sun was sucking the water, no breeze and every 30 mins we would stop to drink a sip from our bottle. The deadline was fixed, that the bikes would be loaded on the vehicle by 4:30pm, and wanting to be the last one to be flagged down, everyone tried their best to get as far as possible from the vehicle coming behind... We were just 6 kms away from 100kms mark and about 20 mins from the 4:30pm deadline. The steep ascend did add to our worsening situation...with the thought that the van would be approaching us fast from behind we continued either pushing the cycles or pedal on gear 1/1. If you go up, you come down, and the ascend ended after 3 kms, then it was a descend all the way to 100 kms mark...
After reaching the foot of the descend the van arrived in 10 mins, telling us how close we were to be frisked and ending the trail in the van. A celebration, everyone was congratulating one another for completing 100kms... chocolates, juices, water, fruits were shared to celebrate the success.
Another successful adventure to remember and few more names to the list like minded friends.
Link to the photos:
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/raghuhukkeri/GreenCrown_CyclingTrail?feat=directlink
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