Sunday the 20th of April started with Praveen waking us all up at 5:30am. We freshened up and after a quick wholesome breakfast of idlis and chutney and a quick photo session we were on our way. Christopher had a flat tyre right in the morning and Adrian and the RD pack stayed back with him They would be starting late they said but we all knew that it would not take them much time to catch up with us and right as we predicted they did catch up with us pretty soon.

We planned to take the route down Kundapur, Udipi, Mudabidri, Charmudi Ghats, Sakleshpur, Hassan, Bangalore.

This time we decided to make it a planned ride without too many people going too fast and in the process also made sure that the ones who would want to race would also be comfortable within a certain limit. This was done as we did not want anybody to get lost and since. It was planned such that if any mishaps occurred we would all be well within range and not lose any time. Karthik took the lead with the book in front o f his bike and Praveen took the rear.

We maintained the rule that our headlights should be on when we were riding. It was a pleasure to be on the road where there were no trucks and no buses it being a Sunday and the truckers were still on strike.

We started out of Kundapur and rode in a staggered formation to Udipi.

It was hot and well the heat was making us kind of dehydrated and Keerthi was complaining that he should not have played on the beach as his muscles were acting up. We reached Manipal pretty soon after navigating through the narrow lanes of Udipi.

As we entered Manipal I was amazed at this little town. I had heard about this town from a lot of my friends who had studied here and yes this place also reminded me so much of my hometown Shillong again because of the steep slopes and the awesome view.

As soon as we started riding the Charmudi ghats we were awestruck by the view and we had to ride carefully since there were so many hair pin bends.

Preeti went clickety click with the digicams and well here are the results.

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There is Praveen navigating one turn with his bandana flapping away

Somewhere at the top of the mountains we stopped to take a break and to appreciate the view and well the view was worth it.

Ranges of mountains spread out with lush greenery which makes one feel so one with the earth.

Sanjay took this opportunity to let out the monkey spirit in him by climbing on the perch of a precariously balanced tree at the edge of the road and one false step would have pushed him down down down deep into the forest. But I guess he was enjoying the view more than anyone else.

   
   As we continued up the ghats we came across small towns perched on the hillside which looked so cosy. As I looked up I could see that we were chasing a rain cloud and suddenly we were in the middle of the rain cloud as in the rain cloud was moving and we were moving directly beneath it. All of a sudden it was very cool. I could feel the cool breeze blowing and we though that we would be caught in the rain. It was a cool experience. Felt somewhat like a penguin in the Kelvinator Ad. We crossed the rain cloud to come up to the top of the mountain from where we would go down to hit Sakleshwar for lunch. It was well past lunch time and we were kind of hungry. Here we bid Rajshekhar goodbye. He would be going back down the ghats to work someplace and then would continue on his bike to Hyderabad.

   By this time I was kind of tired and lunch was a slow affair and after a stuffing our stomachs with food we carried on from Sakhleshpur. It had started to drizzle and it was very pleasant but it was dry after some kilometres. The air started getting warmer and we planned our next stop at Kamath for refueling and where we took a short tea break.

   Abhi was feeling sleepy because of the weather and he almost rode his bike to the side of the road. He gulped two cups of tea and then we continued to Kunigal. The highway was peaceful to ride in since the trucks were not there and it was one clear stretch of road. Out of the blue an Enticer tried to race Rocky. Rocky having this big aversion to Enticer gave it a good run going at 110kmph. and I was holding on to my dear life. All I was feeling was the wind and for a moment I closed my eyes and it was better. Thank god he stopped after sometime. I could very well imagine what Tara might be going through sitting behind Christopher in the RD which goes 120 to 140 and maybe to 160 kmph. Christopher had a great time racing with Jahangir, who anyway rides pretty fast.

   We regrouped at Nelamangala for the last time and Rocky and myself along with Gurjeet went on our way after saying our goodbyes to the group. The rest of the group were planning to have long dinner but I guess we were too tired this being our first trip. Thus ended our trip and back where we covered about 920 kilometres in all.

 THATS ALL FOLKS !!!! Looking forward to another great trip

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Kundapur Main Page

Day 1 : 18th Apr 2003

Day 2 : 19th Apr 2003